St. Ronika Sample #2

"Eh? A-Advertising...?" Sousha's response to my plea for help was an expected one. While we were waiting in the living room for Sonja to finish tea and lunch, I popped the question to him. I can't say it wasn't worth a shot though, being Sousha and all.

"Yeah, I'm falling further and further behind on my rent with every month and I would really like some help getting more sales through to pay it off. I couldn't possibly ask for money, so this is the only help I can ask for."

"The ores I get for you are not enough?" Sonja knows exactly when to interject and seems to time everything around her on that specific knowledge, as proven by the fact that she comes in with our lunch as she says this in response to my explanation.

"Well, they would, if I could sell them," I retort back, trying to defend myself. I look at the strange snacks Sonja has set down for us for a brief moment and choose to ignore them for the time being as I sit back and continue. "You don't have to remind me how indebted I am to you, by the way. If not for the ores you bring back from Alteria on a monthly basis, I would be sleeping on the street right now." Sonja calmly sits down in the recliner across from me and Sousha with her tea cup in hand, and carefully takes a sip before deciding to reply to me.

"And yet, you never bother yourself with coming with me and recieving said ores yourself." That one in particular, hurt. I couldn't help but shrink back a little as if a dagger was just shot at my heart. I may act cold and distant a lot, but I do care, you know.

"... jeez, I'm sorry. I do have a shop to tend to, you know?"

The trip to Alteria is pretty far, though not quite as far as going anywhere else in the country, apart from maybe Westh. Further up north from where we live, in the capital, is a mountainous region called the Anoud'i Range. It takes up a significant portion of the northeastern part of Eirea, and some of it's mountains spill into St. Ronika. Alteria is a snowy city based in this mountains. Why, you ask? According to ancient lore, a very strange and unique meteor fell down onto this planet many millions of years ago. The core of this meteor struck somewhere just north of where the country of St. Ronika lies right now. Although many bits and pieces of it can be found everywhere across Eirea and the oceans surrounding it, the area just north of Alteria is a prime spot for harvesting and mining ore that comes off the ancient meteor. What makes it special is the meteor's highly unique properties, which gives many humans the ability to call upon several elements in something that we call 'magic.' It sounds a little fantastical, but that just about sums up what an experienced person can do with these ores, once refined.

The seven elements that the meteor is imbued with, Fire, Water, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Light and Dark, are thought to have been absorbed by the meteor as it entered our planet's atmosphere. That's why the bits and pieces of the meteor have the energy of these elements swirling around them. Scholars and sages back in the days during St. Ronika's early decades, were able to harness this energy and perform inhuman tasks with them, such as instantly lighting the air in front of them on fire, or calling forth a powerful gust of wind. It took a lot of concentration for these people to do it though, so it wasn't very practical to start with. As time passed, however, they were able to learn more about the ore that they were using, and were able to alter it by changing it's composition. This gave way to a line of evolution to what we have today, what we call 'catalysts.' Ore refined to the point of becoming a catalyst can have it's power harnessed by just about anyone. They're extremely volatile, and are usually fashioned into some type of container to keep them from harming the user or holder. Rings, bracelets, necklaces, or even just wrapping the catalyst in glass and treating it like a marble will keep it's power from carelessly spilling out.

As catalysts became more user friendly, the amount of people learning 'magic' grew steadily. It still required a large amount of mental and some amount of spiritual strength though. Those with very weak emotional constitutions or just those that are too dumb to live won't make very good use of catalysts. The use of the catalysts also solidifies your position as a magic user, as they tend to leave their residue energy over your body that others who are attuned to it can sense. The longer you use a catalyst, the more residue it leaves on you, though it's not necessarily a sign of power. Those who are particularly attuned to this residue have begun being able to sense peoples' 'mana signature,' a sort of spiritual thumb print that just about everyone who's used magic has. From what I'm told, by Sousha, is that this mana signature is the magic residue taking a specific shape around a person, and is always different from person to person. I have never used magic at all in my entire life, so everything I know about it is second hand. I'd be interested in trying it out personally, but I feel I have talents elsewhere.

"So," Sonja starts, sometime after she finishes eating her light lunch. "Was that all you came here for, or did you intend on leeching off of my good will and food?" I ended up cringing, because I hadn't eaten a single thing since I got there. Surely, she must be joking, I thought, but I sensed a tinge of hostility in her voice, especially since she was unusually vocal about her discontent with me being there. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but she was probably upset that I interrupted her private time with Sousha, though as for what that private time could have been for is still lost on me.

"Come on, I don't just barge in on other peoples' appointments out of sheer selfishness you know... usually." I had to add that last bit in, because I had this sneaking feeling Sonja would have retorted with an example of me doing just that, as if what I was doing at that moment wasn't already a good enough one. "I can contribute to a meaningful discussion too, like, uh, let's see... what about Nivein? You hear anything good about that place?"

"No." A quick and curt reply by her cold excellency. I didn't give up, though.

"Well, why not? Is it too irrelevant for you?"

"Yes." I still didn't feel like giving up.

"Well, it's relevant to me. There's quite a few ore being mined south of there too. What about you, Sousha?" As expected, upon being brought attention to, the young priest nearly jumps in surprise and nervously shakes his head, among other things.

"N-N-No! I-I-I don't hear much about w-what goes on over the other side o-of the desert..."

The desert. The Ante Meridiem. The encompassing desert devoid of all life. When Ronika sealed the great demon king Samtos away, it's said that his power still lingers due to a curse that he put on the land shortly before being sealed away. This curse drains the life out of the very earth itself and prevents any foliage or natural water from occuring within the desert's borders. There's still occasional encampments strewn here and there in the desert, such as Meridian, a desert town staked north of the center, but any food and water has to be brought in from outside the desert, and of course, buying such luxuries at one of these encampments costs you a pretty penny... so traveling through it is usually an unwise decision. To make matters worse, the desert has been slowly expanding since it's creation. According to texts from the time just after Ronika sealed Samtos away, the desert that was created barely even reached half way between the center and the northern mountains, where Meridian stands, which is why it was built there. Now, the desert has expanded so far that it's beginning to swallow the northern mountains, and it's impossible to get from the west or east side of the desert to the other without either going all the way south, or directly crossing it. I've heard that the desert right now has reached Grieveside, an extremely rocky, mountainous area just south of Nivein, so it's become truly impossible to get around without crossing either mountains, or the desert itself.

"I guess that's understandable," I relent, realizing the poor choice of conversation I picked. "We haven't even had many people coming or going from Nivein lately, have we?" It's because of what I just mentioned, obviously, but that isn't to say it wasn't strange.

"Is there any reason for them to?" Sonja asks this as if it exactly weren't, quite matter of factly, as she tends to do. "Relations between Nivein and Westh are still very poor, and they have their own access to ore and resources." Nivein, being an industrial city, of course doesn't have any good reputation with a city of scholars, which is Westh. But that's obvious. I wasn't quite satisfied with that.

"Is that reason enough? We used to have enough travelers coming and going from there regardless. Is it because of the desert?" The topic of the sandy hell that I brought up casually seems to weigh in on Sousha, who was sitting beside me on the couch. He seemed to be worried about it.

"P-Probably... travel between Farth and Nivein has b-become difficult from what I hear..."

The desert is expanding. All of the country's bigger cities, Nivein, Farth, Westh, and the capital, are all on the edges of the land, but there's no telling when the desert will creep up to one of us. Farth, being a port town, is closest to the edge, but on the other hand, it's the closest to the desert as of right now, so it's likely that city will be the first to fall if the desert swallows it up. I mean, have you ever heard of a desert port town? It would damage our country's commerce as well, losing the country's only harbors, and from there it'd just be downhill. I can understand Sousha's worry, feeling as if the country that he not only lives in, but grew up and preaches in, just crumbling, falling apart right under his feet. But what can you do about it? If Samtos is the one causing this, then there'd be little we could do, as not even the entire country combined makes up a fraction of Ronika's power. If not, we've still yet to find out what is causing it, or if we can even stop it.

"Mmm, nothing can be done, can there?" I went ahead and voiced what I had thought on the matter, and this only served to worry Sousha more. Things like that are among one of my many flaws.

"N-... N-Not that we know of, n-no..." As if she enjoyed picking on the poor boy, Sonja goes ahead and rubs it in after he says that, though she was probably just trying to be informative as she usually is.

"There is little that can be done about a curse that is rotting the land. Because we are ants to the great demon, fighting against it would be a waste of energy." Sonja then set her cup down, saying something to finish of her point. "The only bit of power we have of the Saint is the crystal kept under the church's jurisdiction but that is merely a fragment of the Saint's power."

"M-Miss Sonja," Sousha started off rather anxiously all of a sudden, after Sonja had said something I hadn't known about, "that's not something you j-just go out and say..." Looking to my side at Sousha, I decide to get some confirmation.

"No, tell me more. I'm interested." This obviously puts Sousha in quite the position, I had hoped my close, friendly position with him would carry me into knowledge, and I was right.

"W-Well, back when S-Saint Ronika sealed the great demon king Samtos, she left behind a large crystal that contained a small, tiny fragment of her power... w-we, the church, have been keeping it in safe hiding since then, j-just in case..." This was news to me at the time. I didn't know the church kept something so powerful and important a secret. I wondered what other things the royal family are keeping in hiding...

"Wow... so is it like a catalyst then? Did you guys have to refine it?" Sousha shook his head to my incessant questions and continued.

"N-No, we've just let it be for the m-most part I think... besides, i-it's much too big to be used as a catalyst, s-since it's the size of a... small house..." If I had been drinking any tea at that exact moment, I likely would have spit it all out at that concept. A catalyst the size of a small house? Which is only a tiny, tiny fragment of Ronika's power? This woman must have been a god.

"You're kidding me... are you sure that couldn't be used against the desert's curse in some way?" Sousha just sighs at my suggestion, which confirmed that there's really nothing that can be done.

"N-No... i-it's barely enough to even be called a fragment of S-Saint Ronika's power... we'd need probably a hundred of them to stand up to the great demon king. E-Even then... no one in St. Ronika has the capability to wield even half of a fragment..." I could certainly understand why that would be a problem. I've never seen any magicians using a catalyst bigger than their fist. I know little specifics on how difficult a catalyst is to handle based on it's power but even I could figure out that a giant one like that might at least be a tad unwieldy.

"That curse is pretty strong then, huh? Even if the guy is sleeping, that doesn't necessarily give us any advantage, does it?" Sonja, who had been sitting quietly up until that point, decided to interject after I ask that.

"It is not only the great demon that must be considered, but his various subordinates whose existence was also sealed, but far less effectively. Provoking the great demon may break the seal on his subordinates." I wasn't quite sure I understood at the time, but it sounded like a complete mess. A mess we had no method of cleaning up.

I left sometime after the discussion about the desert's effect on the country. It was too depressing for me to really take much part in after that. I never assumed Sonja would like some private time with Sousha, but she might have appreciated me leaving. Although I didn't think Sousha would be in too much of a mood to talk about anything else either. The state of the country worries him greatly, and bringing that up was, I'll admit, in rather bad taste. I had thought I ruined lunch for myself, but as I was walking through the market place I realized that wasn't the case at all, and my rumbling stomach was a constant reminder that despite heading to Sonja's place for lunch, I never actually had any. It was my fault, I passed up free food, even if Sonja would have held it against me, so now I had to get food with my own complete lack of money. Digging into my pockets, I found I had at least enough to get a cheap pasta dish at an inexpensive restaurant I liked, so I decided to make that my next destination.

"Hey Rhys, small spaghetti please."

"Sure thing, Sam! I'll be right there!"

I'd been at this place enough times to know some of the people by name, and they know me back. As decent as I was at cooking, I was always too lazy to do it by myself, so I'm typically seen here at this restaurant more often then not. It's also rather quick and easy, with the eating space designed like a bar, or a cafe, you just sit on a stool at the counter, order up, and eat right there. It's a convenient design choice I always liked, and the food isn't very expensive, though sometimes I feel the taste leaves a bit to be desired. It's edible, so I don't complain too much. Whatever stops my stomach from complaining. As I was waiting for my meal though, I noticed the place was unusually crowded, some people having to sit right next to total strangers at the counter. I was one of those lucky few that didn't have to, until a peculiar woman dressed in a maid uniform sat down next to me, sighing...

"..." I was kind of speechless, I've heard of maids, but to see one just sit next to me at a restaurant like this... it was certainly one of the last things I expected to see that today. She was every bit as beautiful as what I heard most fantasy maids being too. She certainly wasn't one of those old hags that most real maids turn out to be. Long, flowing brunette hair that fans out like a pretty curtain, and a physique that made even me jealous. In a way, it reminded me a lot of my late mother... I guess that was why I decided to strike up a conversation, almost subconsciously. "Hey, uh... you okay?" After an embarrassingly awkward question like that, the maid understandably looks at me a little puzzled, but surprisingly, went ahead and answered.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking... I know, it must look weird to come in with these clothes, huh...?" Almost immediately I ended up shaking my head, trying my best to make her feel better, for some reason.

"No! Well, ah, maybe, that's not the point though. You look a little... down. Do you feel like talking about it?" Inside, I was beating myself up. Why was I so interested in this woman? Why was I trying so hard for someone I didn't know at all? I didn't even know her name at the time. If it was simply because she looked like one of my dead parents, then I must have had some real mommy issues.

"Well, it's just... I got fired, earlier today." I couldn't help but cringe, having spent most of my life working at the shop, I can't imagine how I would feel if my father just randomly told me, you're not allowed to work here anymore, even though he would never be that heartless. "I really wish I didn't," the maid continued, "since it's the only job I've been able to find as of late. No one wants to take someone with no education or experience." I can understand why, but life must be really hard for someone as new to the world as that. It took me a few seconds though to realize the importance of her words.

"... huh, no education? You never went to school?" With another sigh, the woman beside me explains.

"I've lived in the slums my whole life, I've never had a chance to..."

The slums. The lower quarter of the capital that's currently suffering from poverty and negligence. The royal family has been a little poor as of late, so the government hasn't been able to pull together the manpower or resources to fix it up. As a result, many of the buildings in that section are dilipidated, worn down, and a ton of homeless people have started seeking shelter in the abandoned buildings because rent and house taxes have been on the rise lately. The princess, having some marginal power over what happens due to influence, has been hard at work trying to bring relief to the lower quarter, but the strict budget of the royal family has made it difficult, to say the least. Thus, most of the slums have been rotting away, making it a dangerous and cruel place to even go to. There's no telling what the homeless people there will do for a quick bite to eat, and my father always told me I should never step foot near that place if I want to keep all the money I have on me. Knowing all this, it boggled my mind that someone this beautiful, this strong looking, could be homeless. I needed to find out why, as prying as that may be.

"The slums, huh? Judging from your looks, I can't imagine anyone would even be able to guess that you were stuck there. How come?" The maid must have realized I was prying too much, as she gave me a somewhat apprehensive look, but, for some strange reason, she continued anyways.

"... well, my mother is sick, and with the money it costs to keep her alive, we aren't able to afford any real place to live." Those rising prices on living homes had bitten these two in the back, and I realized that. I wasn't really thinking about myself at the time, all I wanted was to make her, this woman, feel better... I really was someone with mommy issues.

"Well... I run a store near the front gate, and I could really use someone else to help keep it maintained..." The maid looked at me with a vaguely surprised look, prompting me to continue. "If it's that hard to find a job around here, I have no qualms with giving employing you a try, at least." It took a few seconds for it to kick in, but the lady's face soon lights up with hope.

"Really?! How much could you pay me?" Her painful reminder that I couldn't possibly afford employing someone at this point in time nearly threw me off, but I wasn't about to let her know that.

"Ah, e-enough to keep your mother healthy I would assume," or so I hope, is what I kept myself from saying. Seeing the woman's face glow with hope though was worth it, or so I thought at the time anyways. She really did remind me of my mother, and I guess that little taste of home was what I needed to motivate me.

"That would be really great. When can I start then?" I knew she was actually asking, 'when can I get paid,' but knowing her situation, I decided to look past it, even though I normally would hate that kind of attitude.

"Well, if you're free now, I can show you the shop and some basics as soon as I finish eating my lunch." With a smile brimming with confidence, the woman gratuitously thanked me before telling me her name.

"Thank you, thank you so much... ah, that's right. I don't even know the name of my savior yet. My name's Miyra Faysouth." I couldn't help but crack a nervous smile. It was a little too soon to call me her savior.

"Ah, w-well... mine's Samantha, but you can just call me Sam..." I was kind of ashamed of myself that I wasn't able to match her joy at the time, but thankfully she provided a useful distraction.

"Ah, before we go though, I need to drop by the general store for something, is that okay?" I didn't know why at the time, but I felt compelled to go with her. This time, it wasn't because she resembled my late mother, I think. It was more intuition.

"Sure, but is it alright I come with? I need to check the place out myself." I'm not sure if Miyra really caught on to what I said, but she agreed nonetheless.

Later on, I would be very thankful for that intuition.

"Hello," I called out as I entered the general store together with Miyra that she pointed out. Nobody was at the counter for some reason, and there weren't any customers. It reminded me of my own shop, but this one was much more well stocked, and clearly more popular... just not at that moment. "Anybody home?" I was about to consider that the store may have actually been closed and we walked in uninvited if no one had answered, though the answer I got wasn't the one I was expecting.

"Ah, hold-- GAH! Owowowowow!!" In middle of the crazed shouting, there was a loud thump sound that caught me and Miyra off guard. Evidently, it came from the counter, so I carefully headed over there and leaned over it, seeing a poor girl with bright, violet hair tied in a large braid, wearing a clerk dress and apron sitting on the floor haphazardly, holding her pained head. "Oooh... that smarts."

"Uhh... you okay?" I went ahead and asked, despite finding the situation rather odd. The young woman looked up at me a little surprised, as if she was a little flabbergasted that I got to the counter so quickly, before hastily trying to get up and make herself presentable, though it hardly worked with how clumsy she looked doing it.

"G-G-Good afternoon...!" She then proceeded to bow down so quickly that she can't stop herself and ended up smashing her face into the counter that she must have hit her head on from the bottom side as well earlier, rising soon after, now holding her poor, red face. "Owww..." It was at that time that me and Miyra had our turn to be flabbergasted while the poor clerk recovered, before finally smiling gently, trying ever do hard to pretend nothing ever happened. "H-... How may I help you?" Miyra must have been much more used to this than I was, as she was able to very quickly look over what just happened and continue as if it didn't matter.

"Well, in short, I'm here for the medicine I ordered last week." The clerk, for some reason, looked a little puzzled at first, but must have remembered soon enough and immediately disappeared under the counter again.

"Oh! Right! It should be right down... ahh, I was just fiddling around down here! Where is it...?" I took a look at Miyra and find that she was waiting patiently for the clerk to get over her extreme ditziness, something I found myself lacking in tolerance to do.

"Hey, do you need any help," I ended up asking, leaning over the counter to see what was going on. This turned out to be a mistake as the poor girl banged her head on the underside of it yet again trying to look me in the face.

"Ow...! I... I'm fine, really..." I'll admit, I'm not a very good clerk myself, though I attribute that mainly to the fact that I dislike dealing with random people. This girl was astonishingly bad at everything she did. I couldn't help but point this out.

"You don't seem fine... you don't do this very often, do you?" Sitting on the floor still, the clumsy clerk looked up at me with this desperate, begging expression, as if pleading that I dare not humor that thought any further.

"I-I do! I just... uuu..." It was at that point I thought, 'oh jeez,' as I saw tears welling up in the poor girl's eyes. I didn't want to be the bad guy, especially in front of my new employee. It was just like me to always mess up at important times like that.

"Ah, don't cry, Jennifer," Miyra seems to chip in, at the very least revealing the ditz's name to me. "You're doing fine. Is your dad here?" The young woman, whose name is evidently Jennifer, wipes the tears from her eyes in an effort to resist crying any further and stands up, answering Miyra.

"Daddy is out on a business trip for the next two weeks so I was put in charge of the store..." 'Daddy?' I thought, she couldn't possibly be any older then twelve, although if she weren't even a teenager yet, she'd be pretty tall for one. She was certainly not nearly as tall as me or Miyra, who I hadn't realized was five foot ten until she stood up, but she at least looked old enough to be an adult, which made her choice of words questionable at best. "The worst part is that we recently got an order from Farthe that I won't be able to fulfill because I have to watch the shop..." Miyra grimaces a little, she seems to be the type that really likes helping, kind of like me, except I happen to do it against my own will.

"I'm really sorry to hear that... there's no one that can just deliver the package for you?" Jennifer shook her head sadly.

"No... I don't really know anyone myself, personally. Unless you're offering..." Miyra immediately dismissed the notion after Jennifer bashfully asked if that were the case.

"Ah, no, no, I'm really sorry but I kind of just got hired again so soon after losing my last job. I'd like to make a good impression and actually get down to work, you know?"

I had been thinking about it for a few moments after I heard about the order, the store looked well kept, so the owner must have some money to throw away, especially if it's to ensure a safe delivery and a safe reputation. This girl... she also seemed pretty dense. So, when the opportunity presented itself, I couldn't help but snatch it up, starting with a hearty hand placed onto Miyra's shoulder.

"Nonsense! This sounds like good work to me!"

"E-... Eh?" Miyra's reaction was an all too expected one, and Jennifer's face was clouded with puzzlement as well, which was the perfect chance for me to continue interjecting and take the bull by the horns, so to speak.

"Say, Jennifer, was it? If Miyra here were to deliver that package for you, you'd of course reward her handsomely, right?" After blinking a few times, Jennifer gets it through her head what I was asking.

"H-Huh? B-But of course! Daddy left me with enough money to spend but if it means getting something as important as this done..." I then turned my head to Miyra, who was still quite confused, and gave her a comforting, if somewhat plastic smile.

"So? If I get half of that reward, I think I can look past you being absent the first few days. What do you say?"

"Are you taking advantage of me...?"

Crap, I thought. I must have been more see through than glass, but I didn't realize it. I probably had a really goofy look on my face as Miyra's expression turned into a suspecting one. Truth be told, I really needed that money, and I couldn't afford to pay Miyra so soon after hiring her. It really was a mistake, but I'm well known for being able to cheat my way out of situations like those.

"N-... No, not at all! Hahaha, whatever makes you say that? Would this face try and cheat you?" A skill I unfortunately did not put to any use in that particular one.

"Uh huh... how about this, I'll give you half the money if you come with me then. That would make it fair." I really wanted to say something along the lines of 'hey, your job is at stake here, maybe you should listen to me.' I really did, but I was far too afraid of the kind of repercussions that would come of acting so bossy. Even though I probably did have the right to, I didn't feel like I had any, so in order to save face, I ultimately resigned myself to that fate.

"Guh... alright, yeah, I guess that would be fair." I took that time then to look over at Jennifer... who had bright, noticeable stars in her eyes, full of hope and vigor. The kind I never had, personally.

"You'll really do all that for me?!" I wasn't sure if my visage had changed suddenly or what, as I was rather confused as to why the girl decided I was pretty enough to look up to in such a way.

"Uhh, y-yeah, why not? Is there a problem...?" Jennifer shook her head at my question, reaffirming that indeed, she was striken with me simply because I would go out of my way to earn a little extra cash.

"Mmnmm! No! It's just, you're going to go and deliver a package for someone you don't even know, without any sort of condition...!" I thought the condition was that I get paid? More over, who's to say I wouldn't just take the package and money and leave? Well, Miyra, probably. I was going to travel for her, not Jennifer, after all. Speaking of Miyra, she was trying to console my weirded out state.

"Relax, Sam, not a lot of people come in to be nice to a random clerk like that, you know. Consider yourself her hero." As if on cue, Jennifer continues Miyra's charade.

"Yes, truly! I've always wanted a hero to come save me on his glowing white stallion." Well, I wasn't riding a white stallion at the time, to be sure. I don't think they even glow, except maybe in fantasy books. "Although, I guess it would be 'her' since you're a girl, huh..." I was at least happy enough to know that she could recognize the giant lumps on my chest as breasts, but this was starting to derail a little. "Oh my, I don't know what to do, I never thought of what I would do if it was a girl under that shining armor..." A bit. "Although, don't they make armor different for different genders now? I forget." A lot. "I mean, it's not like actual form fitting clothes, so would have they to do that? Would you even wear anything under it, for that matter?" Too much. "Like, what if you have to go really badly and you can't make it time? Do you stain your panties or does it just leak out of the armor from the foot?" The absolutely wayward girl then shivered from fear, or disgust, or something. I really wasn't sure at the time. "That would be gross."

"Uhh... what?" The flat tone of my voice perfectly captured how I felt about the situation that was just unfolding before me. She just abruptly started talking on her own as her mind took on the form of a bullet train and sped from topic to topic without missing a beat, or without remorse for that matter. She didn't even wait for anyone to say anything back, and as she continued despite my astonishment, it became clear that even if something else was said, there was no stopping this out of control train without rails.

"Ooh, you know what else is cross though? Centipedes. Jeez, I hate them so much. The they crawl around on so many legs, and then they can hang on ceilings too! I get so afraid of looking up sometimes because I think a huge centipede is going to fall from the ceiling and crawl into my ears, and I really hate having things in my ears too, but Daddy always tells me to clean them out regularly so that the earwax doesn't build up, but you know it isn't all that bad, even if it isn't very pleasant to look at, and..."

"Let's go," Miyra quietly and quickly whispers to me, as she proceeded to drag me out of the general store with the utmost haste. I don't remember if she said anything else as my mind was still trying to catch up with what just happened. My eyes probably glazed over for a while there.

A little later on in that day, me and Miyra were resting at the central fountain, lamenting our poor luck.

"Jeez," I sighed out, as I sat on a bench beside the fountain, "what am I gonna do? I can't just leave the shop closed while I'm out..." Miyra sighed next to me on the bench, mourning over something completely different.

"I didn't even get the medicine I was supposed to get... I'm going to have to swing by there later. Hopefully she doesn't go on her spiel again." I was beginning to wonder how strange it must have looked, being seen with a maid all the time at this point. I didn't look the part to be her master, so I must have looked like some odd ball accomplice in whatever zaniness she was currently getting herself into. The way she talks though, you wouldn't guess that she would do anything crazy.

"Do you know her? I have a hard time believing anyone could tolerate that for so long." Shaking her hand dismissively, Miyra put my fears at ease.

"No, no, it's not that bad normally. She must just be really lonely since her father hasn't been home for a while, it seems. She's actually really sweet and nice to talk to. I'm surprised she isn't too spoiled, since her father's apparently really rich." Apparently? I guess you wouldn't think that they're nobles considering the fact that they actually seem to work hard at what they do, but I thought, judging from the looks of their store and clothes, they were still living in quite the luxury.

"Really?" I couldn't help but ask the all important questions. "Do you do favors for her like this often? How much pay do you usually get?" Miyra seemed a little taken back by how specific I was getting, but answered me diligently enough.

"Well... I don't do errands for them a whole lot, but usually they me a hundred or so trennies for something they otherwise don't have the manpower to do."

Trennies. A hundred or so trennies. Here's a little backstory on the currency St. Ronika uses as of right now. For most things, we use a sort of universal type of money spread out through Eirea. It's actually one of two universal currencies on the continent, and since it's closer, we use Raena's currency, which is oh so cleverly named 'coin.' This currency works well enough for us, and is required in trading from out of country, but back when this country was first getting off the ground, and royalty was first being introduced, the first king, King Trenny, deemed it necessary to have our own currency, to deviate ourselves from the warring states elsewhere in the country. Ultimately, the plan of having 'trennies,' the type of currency created by the first king, be St. Ronika's only form of currency fell flat as we realized that we couldn't live without trading with countries outside of our own, and no other country would accept our currency. But rather then disappearing into obscuring, the following kings kept trennies in circulation and they gained popularity as a sort of 'high number' currency, as one trenny frequently hovered around the value of about a few hundred coin. Which is a lot. That hasn't changed in this day and age, so when Miyra told me that the amount of trennies she earned from this much from a simple errand, I was absolutely flabbergasted. Half of that amount would easily pay for a full month's worth of rent.

"Y-You're kidding... and you're still homeless?" That was probably not a subject I should have touched upon, as Miyra just sighed again, expressing a little depression.

"It's not easy getting out of the slums... I typically spend most of that money on the medicine I need to keep my mother alive. When I had the maid job, I thought that with the meager amount I was earning there, I would finally be free in the next coming month... but..." I knew how that ended. Hearing that only made me want to help her more though. Truth be told, I can't stand it when someone is the victim of an unfair life. Considering how easy and laid back mine was, it bothers me anytime I see someone who deserves just as much get less.

"... well, don't worry. I can't give you the entire reward for doing this errand, but what I'll get will get my shop off it's feet enough to help pay you back, for sure." It was at that point that Miyra looked over at me, a little puzzled.

"Off it's feet?" Oops, I said something I probably shouldn't have said without a little context. I didn't want to make her skeptical after all that encouraging, so I quickly took back what I had said.

"Ah, th-that is to say that I was just running out of traded material to sell. With that kind of money, I'll be able to get a lot more stuff that I can sell back for a profit. That's how merchanting works, you know?" Part of that was a little twisted to make it sound more enticing then it actually is, that, and I was sort of lying about how I was going to use the money too, as I needed most of that for the rent. So it relieved me when I saw Miyra actually buying my explanation.

"Huh, I see... you seem pretty knowledgeable in that field." It was a compliment I felt was correctly aimed at me, but not one I felt I really deserved.

"Yeah, well... my father worked as a traveling merchant most of his life, and set up shop here when he had me with my mother. I don't know where he is now, but I've been keeping his shop running since, I just hope I'm doing a good enough job."

"So, it's not even your shop?" It was a little embarrassing to admit, but I knew exactly how to word it.

"Ahaha, well, it may as well be mine now I guess, he's been gone for a few years now..." I tried to make it sound as casual as possible, saying it in a way that wouldn't incite too much surprise, but I didn't succeed all that well.

"Eh?! And you just keep it afloat without question?" Miyra's surprise wasn't unfounded, but as it was about me, I shook my head and tried to downplay the issue.

"It's not like I never questioned why he left or where he went, but as I looked up to him for what he did anyways, I feel like I would be doing this even if it wasn't what he wanted. Don't worry about it too much, nothing bad is going to pop up because of that fact." As I looked over at Miyra, noticing her somewhat worried face, I knew she wasn't going to let it go entirely, but after a brief confirmation, I at least knew she wasn't going to bring it up in the future.