I retired to my room and slept the night away. At 10 AM I awoke from my restful slumber and got ready for the day. I brushed my teeth, relieved myself, had a shower, and made myself some breakfast. One thing I did notice was that there seemed to be less people around. Either they were sleeping in, or they were out and about already.
Thankfully, I managed to go the entire morning without seeing Loftus. What a blessing.
At around 11 AM, Newmill and Penrin met me outside the building. Newmill was dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt with a light-green t-shirt over it. He wore white shorts that ended at his knees. His boots were black with white laces, and his long white hair flowed freely.
Penrin was in a red dress with black polkadots and frills. The pattern was reminiscent of a ladybird. Her black hair was tied into pigtails that fell to her shoulders.
“You two are very stylish,” I said. “And I see you got a haircut, Penrin. It looks lovely.”
Newmill thanked me for the compliment, but Penrin stayed quiet. “What do you have planned for today?” Penrin asked.
“It’s a surprise.” I lifted a finger and tapped my lips. “I’ll tell you what we’re doing once we get there. For now, let’s make the necessary preparations.”
Penrin didn’t seem too pleased with my answer but followed me anyway. The three of us travelled the stone streets, on route for the market. We hardly spoke during the walk. None of us knew each other that well. We could only make small talk.
“Nice weather today, isn’t it?” I said.
"Yeah,” replied Newmill.
That was the longest discussion we had for the duration of our journey. The market we arrived at was bustling. There were many vendors and large amounts of customers. “Do you kids want to try some of my homemade pastries?” a seller asked us.
“Young girl, can I interest you in some hair accessories?” a merchant said to Penrin, who quickly declined out of disinterest. I saw that Newmill was drawn in by the colourful accessories, but he resisted the urge to buy some.
“Psst, lad,” a peddler called out to me. “Can I interest you in some experimental potions?”
I saw that the man had a variety of bright yet murky vials of liquid. “What do they do?” I asked.
“I don’t know. That’s why they’re experimental.”
“Sorry, not interested,” I replied. I didn’t want anything to do with something so shady sounding. What if drinking one of the potions made me grow an arm out of my stomach?
I looked around for a shop that sold what I needed. After a short five-minute search, I found it. I approached the seller and looked at his wares. There was a plethora of different-sized wooden containers. I asked, “Do you have a cart that I can buy?”
“You bet I do.” The seller wheeled out a child-sized wooden cart for me. “What do you think of this baby?” He slapped the top of it. “It can fit so much stuff inside.” He lightly tapped the side of it with a mallet. “Plus the wood is lightweight, making it easy to move.”
“That looks perfect. How much is it?”
“It’s all yours for the low low price of 2000 GP.”
My eyes bulged out of my head. I didn’t realise that a cart cost that much. I was hoping to buy one for a few hundred GP at most. “Thank you, but that’s far too expensive. I’ll look around elsewhere.”
The seller scrambled to stop me. “Wait! Are you sure you want to pass up on this? It’s well-crafted so it’ll be sold pretty quickly. Buy it now while you still have the chance. You won’t find anything like it around. Plus, it’s already far cheaper than the carts that others sell.”
Newmill was hooked by the sales pitch. “If you need a cart, Yarm, we should buy this one. It would be terrible if it was sold while we wandered around.”
“I can’t afford it. Let’s go.” I motioned to leave again but the seller clawed me back.
“Alright, I’ll give you a discount. 1000 GP and it’s yours.”
“That’s still way too much. I don’t want to waste your time. We’re too far apart in price.”
“Tell me how much you have, and I’ll see if I can make it work.”
I squinted at the man. Telling him how much money I had was almost certainly a bad move. “There’s no need. Sell your cart for however much it’s worth. I don’t want to insult you with my offer.” I waved a hand at him and stepped away.
“500 GP then!” the seller offered.
“Sorry, 90 GP is my max. I can’t buy it for any more.”
The seller pulled out an abacus and started moving around some beads. “100 GP is my lowest.”
“Deal!” I took the offer quickly before the seller had a chance to change his mind. I tested out the cart and decided I was happy with my purchase.
“You’re quite the haggler,” the seller told me. “Looking at the fine clothes your friends wear, I’d assumed you were all too rich for your own goods, so I tried to get a little extra out of you.”
“You’re fine with openly admitting you tried to scam us?” I asked.
“Should I not be?” The seller had an expression of bold innocence. It was as if he didn’t realise that hiking prices like that was wrong. Compared to the other unethical things that I had seen in this world, I wasn’t too pressed about this one.
After leaving the seller, I bought enough food to fill up the cart completely. That set me back 50 GP.
“What is all this for?” Penrin asked. “I’m already starting to regret agreeing to join you. This better not be a waste of time or I’m leaving the party tomorrow.”
“Patience, Penrin. Patience.” With the cart filled, I pushed it towards the slums of the city.
Penrin and Newmill told me that they had never visited the area we were travelling towards. I expected as much. They were rich, so they likely never interacted with the poor.
When we arrived at our destination, I saw disturbed looks on the faces of Penrin and Newmill. They looked around and saw what real poverty looked like. People wearing rags and torn shoes while begging for scraps. The folks in these slums were all terribly thin and malnourished due to lack of food.
“What is this place?” Penrin asked.
“A place that nobles don’t want to see. Voltaire said that the comfort of the rich depends on an abundant supply of the poor. For people like you and Newmill to live as you do, this place exists.” I had brought my two party members here to understand the suffering that others went through. I wanted them to see people in pain and then realise a desire to help them. “We’re going to be giving these people food.”
“I’m not!” said Penrin. “I didn’t sign up for this.”
“Fine. The two of you can just watch.” I took some food out of the cart and handed it to a nearby person who graciously accepted it. I slowly moved the cart through the street while handing out parcels of food.
I received many words of gratitude and showers of praise. It warmed my heart to provide for those who were unable to provide for themselves. I wanted my two comrades to understand how joyful it was to help others.
Newmill was fascinated by my actions. He was a prince. He had never seen people going hungry in the streets. This was all new to him, so he watched with wide-eyed fascination.
“Thank you, children.” An elderly woman bowed to the three of us as I gave her a meal. I could see that Newmill was moved by what was happening. He wasn’t immune to the appreciation. He wanted a taste of it for himself.
“May I try as well, Yarm?” Newmill asked.
“Of course.” I gave him some food to hand out and he happily distributed it. When receiving gratitude, I could see his cheeks reddening a little and a smile forming on his face. He was a natural. I knew there was a great kindness within him from our interactions. He was one of the few to have sympathy for monsters, after all.
“This is so stupid,” Penrin said. She was not so eager to participate. “Why are we doing this? These people should feed themselves. I don’t see why we have to do it for them.” She folded her arms and sulked.
“As you grow, you’ll find that there are many who aren’t as blessed as you. This world is in desperate need of more charitable acts towards the less fortunate.”
Newmill and I continued to hand out food until the cart was almost empty. I was pleasantly glad of the prince’s generosity. It was not a mistake to ally with him. I was sure that eventually I could convince him that slavery, child marriage, and genocide were all evil. Maybe he already believed as much.
Of Penrin, I was not so sure. She was glaring at me. If I had to assume, she probably felt tricked by me. She was right to feel that. I knew that she would not have come along if I told her the truth, so I hid it until it was too late for her to refuse.
I handed the last package of food to Penrin. “Won’t you give it a try? Just once?”
Penrin clearly did not want to. However, she was presented with only one portion of food and therefore knew this charade would be over once she gave it away. “Fine.” Penrin gripped the food and went over to a man sitting by a crumbling wall. His head was pointed downward so he did not see her approach. “Hey, old man.”
The man lifted his head and looked at Penrin. “Yes? What is it?”
Penrin hesitated before answering. “I’ve brought you some food. You can have it, if you want.” She was painted in apathy. She did not care for the man, nor about feeding the hungry. I began to wonder if Penrin was a person that I could never reach, a lost cause. Was it even possible to teach someone how to be kind?
The old man humbly accepted. “Oh, joyous day. Thank you, sweet girl. Would you be so kind as to place it in my lap, please?”
Penrin tossed the packaged food carelessly onto the old man’s legs. “There.”
“Thank you very much.” The old man started opening the food while still staring at Penrin with a smile on his face.
She seemed creeped out. “Can I ask you a question, old man? Why don’t you earn money and feed yourself rather than relying on others?”
The old man chuckled. “I’m no longer capable of providing for myself. It’s shameful, I know, but that is my reality. I can only thank you for your generosity, beautiful girl.”
Penrin’s hands immediately clenched into fists. “What was that?” she shouted. “What did you just call me?” Her foot stomped into the ground with a great deal of force. “Are you trying to be sarcastic by calling me beautiful?” She was still very conscious of her scar.
“Not at all,” replied the man.
“Then why did you just call me that? Are you trying to be nice? I don’t need your sympathy. I don’t need your pity. Stop looking down on me. I’m tired of being treated like I’m pathetic for being scarred. Save your lies. I know I’m not beautiful anymore!”
The man stammered, “You misunderstand me.”
“I didn’t misunderstand anything! You think I’m a depressed and miserable person for having an ugly face. You want to try and cheer me up by faking a compliment. Well, I don’t need that. Keep your concern to yourself.”
The man stared at Penrin with glazed eyes. “Young miss, I am blind.”
“What?”
“I cannot see at all. I have no idea what you look like.” The old man laughed softly to himself. “I referred to you as beautiful because you showed me kindness. You are a child who is willing to spend their free time to feed someone like me. I cannot see you. Perhaps others see you as ugly, but to me that is not the case. When I picture you, my mind envisions beauty. That is what I see.”
Penrin stood still and looked at the old man for several moments.
“Are you still there, young miss?”
The girl had a complex expression. I saw that the old man had affected her. Penrin raised her hand and tenderly touched her scar. What she was thinking, I did not know. “Goodbye,” Penrin said to the man and then returned to the cart.
“How was it?” Newmill asked. “Did you enjoy giving?”
Penrin grabbed the handlebars of the empty cart and started moving back to where we came from. “It was ok.”
That wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for. She was probably going to leave the party tonight. Newmill was now my only ally. And the mimic too, I supposed.
“I’d like to do this again, someday,” Penrin said quietly.
I lit up. My plan had worked! Penrin had changed. “There’s no need for someday. We’ll do this every day,” I said.
Newmill and Penrin were both surprised by my response. “Do you have enough money to buy so much food?” asked Newmill.
“Well…” I scratched the back of my head. “You’re a noble, right Penrin? And you’re royalty, Newmill. Together you could easily pay for it, couldn’t you?”
The two looked conflicted. Newmill said, “I think you have the wrong idea about us, Yarm. We don’t have a lot of money. It’s our parents who are rich.”
“Yeah, I know that. Can’t you just ask them for a bunch of GP?” I felt a little dirty asking children for money.
“I am the lowest of all my siblings in my father’s eyes. He would not spare a single gold piece on me,” said Newmill.
“I can’t offer anything either,” said Penrin. “Our wealth belongs to my father. All purchases we make need to be approved by him.”
“So out of all of us here, I’m the richest?” This was throwing a big wrench into my plans. I was going to use the combined wealth of a noble and royalty to fund the creation of a soup kitchen. That was now out of the window. I also remembered that I was going to be executed by Hyde if I didn’t have enough money by next week. “Change of plans. We need to make some money. Any ideas?”
“We could take requests at the guild,” Penrin suggested.
“We could sell crafted goods at the market,” said Newmill.
“We could salvage items from ruins or dungeons.”
“We could mine ore at nearby mineshafts.”
“We could join the arena as combatants.”
“We could—"
“Alright! Since no one has any good ideas, let’s go play the lottery!” I shouted and raised my fist into the air.
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