A tower of walking boxes can be seen moving slowly on the streets of Asdorf. It was three feet tall, one foot wide, and weighed up to 20 kilos. There are three boxes, empty without anything inside them, but made from solid hardwood.
One person carries them in the struggle, not just because of their weight, but because he must balance the boxes, or his salary would be cut.
His clothes were soaked with sweat from each step he made. Dirt came from another direction and stuck to his white skin. The unpleasant smells surrounding him attract the insect to make a party near him.
The breath he makes is noisy, heavy, and full of hardworking spirits. But strangely, his bad appearance doesn't make the young girl in the streets switch their gaze from him. They were amazed by his hard work, especially at this time, when other people stop working after lunch and take a rest until tomorrow.
The person was Kagayama, and he took all kinds of odd jobs to achieve his goals, like cleaning the shop, watering an old lady's plant, and bringing animal feed to the barn. Now, he must carry more than thirty boxes to the storage, but fortunately, they were his last boxes.
Finally, he gets ten Fevein from this, and carefully watches the money in his hands before whispering to himself. "I didn't expect to be this hard just to earn 10 Fevein…How can I help the other elf if like this?"
He tucked the coin into a fold in his clothing, joining the other. In total, he got 23 Fevein. It was not many, but he had to work so hard only to get them.
The sunlight faded as it got away from the center, starting to move towards the horizon. It was 40 to 30 degrees elevation, making him stop working because he had another priority, and it was visiting the elf girl at the slave market.
With the still–tired legs, Kagayama forced his body to walk, heading towards the slave market. Each step he made was painful, like a hundred shallow cuts of a knife all over his body.
Though his journey is as heavy as the rock of Sisyphus, he remains focused on his priority. Kagayama made up his mind since he woke up this morning and wouldn't let it slip away easily.
But then a warm, comforting aroma of newly cooked foods drifted into his nose, with pleasure.
He sniffed the air, pointed his gaze in the direction from which the smells might have come, just to write a new location inside his brain.
It was a food market, filled with a rustling crowd. He knows it was not the way to the slave market, yet his leg moved by its own while his mind made an excuse for himself.
Although all of his previous focus, he let his body be conquered by his intrusive thoughts this time.
"Look at that food…This is not gonna take a long time, right? And I also feel a little bit hungry right now…Ahh, right, maybe I should buy the extra for the elf too."
From it, he strolled away inside the hustle and bustle of the market. His eyes were searching for the most convincing foods yet still affordable for him.
Each tend filled with various food–bread, cake, grilled meat, or even a soup. It all seemed delicious, making him gulp, widen his eyes to each delicious flavor nearby.
The food stall owner is shouting about their goods with the price, while waving his hands to the crowd. The clingy sounds of dropped money, playing children, sizzling of the meat, and the scream of the firewood below the stove filled the market.
He continued walking until he saw the bread shop tent near the sidewalk. It was two Ven per bread, cheap, affordable, especially if Kagayama wanted to share the food with the elf.
He was walking towards the food tent, watching it carefully, and found an old granny trying to bring firewood to the stove. Her thin hands hold the woods, her face had so many wrinkles, more than all of human fingers, both of her eyes look like a pearl, shining in white colour.
She seems to struggle, the woods in her arms about to collapse anytime soon, same as her poor balance. Her face seems scared, and her eyes are drifting in the direction wich she is about to fall.
Kagayama makes a quick step closer, catches her fragile body gently, and takes the firewood from her. The old grandma seems relieved as her body becomes balanced again.
Her expression is unwritten because of creases on her face, but her eyes become her second face to express her happiness. Her trembled hands, which were because of her age, gently touched Kagayama on his face, and pinched his cheeks, like the way she adored her grandson.
He made a gasp, surprised because of the granny's sudden touch. Kagayama does not resist it, chooses to melt under her gentle hands like a kid, because he has never gotten that kind of skinship before.
As the time passed, the old grandma released him, quickly walked to the table to take a piece of bread, before gave it to Kagayama.
"Here…Take this freshly baked bread as my thanks…"
Kagayama takes it from her still–trembled hands before saying.
"Thanks, grandma, but I also wanted to buy some freshly-baked bread from you."
"Ahhh…Here, come inside, I will get you some of my delicious Asdorf traditional breads."
She walked inside her tent, sweeping the hanging fabrics along her way while Kagayama followed her from behind.
"How much bread would you like to buy?" She asked, her eyes sparkled for a second in a hopeful face.
"I will take... maybe thirty breads."
Her wrinkly eyes opened widely as she thought there were no one would buy thirty bread at once. Her hands trembled quickly as she tried to compose herself after hearing it.
"Thirty…" She stopped a while in disbelief. "Breads…Are you sure?... It was the staple food here, my dear, your hunger will disappear even if you just take two of them." She touched his clothes with her finger, trying to convince him.
But Kagayama takes her hands with a slight smile on his face. He made a deep breath before saying.
"I want to share it with all of my friends, so I need many."
"That was a good reason, honey…Wait a second, let me take all of these breads for you."
She hurried up to take the order, her hands moved fastly, reaching for the bread from the storage, and put it inside a simple cloth bag.
The bag becomes full of bread, and Kagayama seems worried if the granny will struggle again to carry them as the bag becomes heavier and heavier.
He reached the coins inside the fold of his clothes carefully, took 3 Fevein from it, while trying to help her by supporting the bag. As she stopped taking the bread and began to count them one by one. She finally nodded slowly and said.
"Alright, there are thirty breads inside."
Kagayama is proud of seeing her never-fading spirit behind her old skin. The way she is still working even in her weakest time inspired him to work harder for his goals.
He gave the money, her hands received it, and her eyes watched the coins carefully before counting them. The white colored eyes she had became glassy, like something had happened to her before.
Her breath became unstable as she tried to hold back her tears, it seems she memorizing something important in her life. One tear had fallen from her face, followed by a second one, until many of them fell, countless. Her unstable, whispered–like voice slipped out of her mouth while seeing Kagayama.
"You remind me of my grandson…The way you act is like him, full of warmth and affection."
She wiped her tears slowly, composed herself, and held Kagayama's hands.
"I hope you never end up like him, don't get involved in any political issue in this town, and live happily with your family."
The curiosity sparked inside him as she mentioned her grandson, but Kagayama chose not to ask her about it because she seemed very sad.
His hands were holding grandma's shoulder, gently as he tried to calm her.
"Thanks for your advice, grandma."
The tears stopped, and her face looked more relieved than before. The way her mouth smiles at Kagayama brings a sense of happiness all over the place. She nodded at him, her eyes looking alive on a face eaten away by age.
Now Kagayama must make his way to the slave market by the usual route he went yesterday. The distance is not much, he just needs to pass two crossroads and two turns to reach it. Yet his tired leg makes it even harder for him.
He kept walking until Kagayama was around a hundred meters away from the slave market.
Kagayama increased the speed, swinging his hands faster, and his gaze pointed at the last crosswalk in front of him, when suddenly a group of thugs consisting of 5 members appeared. They look scary because of their fierce face and their scars all around their body.
Their clothes were normal, like the other people's, white toga firilis, but their body tells a different story.
Their eyes like an eagle searching for a prey, moving slowly around the pedestrian who seems to avoid them. As their gaze wandered around, they saw Kagayama from a distance with a bag full of bread. His clean and maintained skin attracts them, since he looks like an easy prey for them, without guards, weapons, or any defences.
The spotter nudged his friend with his elbow while nodding his head to Kagayama, making them form a formation, and walking towards him, full of intimidation.
The pedestrian move away from their pats, leaving a huge straigh—gap with the target in the middle of it.
Kagayama didn't notice any danger before the thugs arrived in front of him, watching him closely as they showed their scars like medals.
Without a single word, the first punch was landed on Kagayama's stomach, very hard, until his body was about to collapse on the ground. But the thug seems unsatisfied with his punch, he then pulls the collar of his target, bringing the body up before striking his still—unprepared face.
The other group member kicked his leg forcefully until his body began to collapse to the ground, yet he trying his best to stand, to get his balance before the thug struck his chest with a fast, destructive, and precise kick.
Now Kagayama has fallen to the ground, helpless. He can't even move a single muscle in his hands, or even talk to them, making it easier for the thug to take the money inside his clothes.
Though the body he had looked like a corpse, his eyes could see the thug. His vision was darkened, but he could memorize his face properly and try to remember each detail on it.
"Hey, it was 17 Fevein…We get a good target…Let's buy some delicious food for us."
As they get the money from him, the thug leaves him behind with a laugh and joy.
Kagayama feels something ignite inside him, it was hot, more than a fire, things that make his body feel like boiling up. His weak hands began to clench, shake violently while trying to reach the ground under him. The teeth inside his mouth gritted as hard as their hands landed on his face. And his gloomy eyes began to squint, full of anger and the desire for revenge, a bigger revenge than the thug did to him.
With a force, he managed to sit on the streets, watching as the other people saw him without doing anything, just passing him with a scared yet full of concern face.
From a distance, he could see the other group of thugs take the money from a lady. They slapped her, humiliated her, tried to strip her clothes, and embarrassed her in front of people. Finally, they get the money from her, then abandon her like the other group does to Kagayama.
It made him even angrier. He tried to chase them and get revenge, but his leg felt so hurt that he couldn't even stand up properly, and fell again to the ground.
The fire of anger burned even more as he realized how helpless he was, but it not stopping him. Kagayama tries to search for a solution to walk away with his injured leg by seeing the surrounding area carefully. He finally spotted a stick ten feet away from him, and there was no other choice for him except to reach for the stick and stand up with it.
The rough surface of the stone left so many scars as he tried to reach the stick, crawling like a snake on a grater, newly—sharp grater. His body stopped for a second as the pain became worse.
The road kissed his cheek, and the stick became his only priority; he couldn't afford for now, since his body refused to get the other pain. He was about to surrender on it before a mysterious young lady, with a robe covering her body, took the stick and put it near him. She is the only person who helped him, make Kagayama wanted to say thanks for her action, but she went first, leaving him in a hurry, like avoiding something.
He took the stick, pulled his body with it, and began to stand up. The energy he had lost before was gathered again, making him able to walk slowly like an old man.
His grip on the stick tightened as he reached the folds of his clothes, making sure that his money had already been taken by them, just to realise there was nothing left.
This was his unlucky day, and he lost the money he had gathered before. It made him want to curse a word until his gaze found his bag full of bread, still untouched. The anger on his face was reduced by relief as he saw it, but it wasn't enough to extinguish the fire inside him.
Kagayama took the bag and walked slowly to his next destination, the slave market.