บท 21: Working Boy

Chapter 21.

(Recap)

23. She took the letter from Reskeme before tearing the seal and reading the message, Her face quickly darkened, she turned running back into the maze that was the news office. The woman arrived at her desk with astonishing speed and began writing on paper. The woman who was dressed in warm cotton pants and a thick shirt yelled," kyle get your ass out here we have work to do!" A teenager entered the room and was immediately rounded on by the grumpy woman. She picked up a stack of paper as tall as kyle and put it in his hands. She handled the stack easily not a paper falling off. When the teenager saw the stack he went pale and slowly began walking through the maze of objects, each step making the massive stack sway. Reskeme leaned against the door, he was excited to watch what was clearly going to be a disaster as the stack of papers began to tip wildly.

Present (Reskeme Pov)

01.Reskeme watched Kyle as he tried to compensate for the tilting and shaking of the tall stack of paper. The massive stack of papers hit the top of the door as the young man tried to exit the room. Reskeme smiled as the stack flew everywhere falling over the teenager and landing on the floor. When the woman turned to see what all the commotion was, the boy was blushing furiously. Reskeme laughed as the woman began yelling at the boy to pick up all of the paper. When the woman turned to the laughing Reskeme he began to pale at her intense glare, he decided that he might be in trouble if he didn't leave. "Oh no you don't," she said to the retreating Reskeme.

02. Reskeme turned back with a sheepish grin at his antics. The woman yelled get over here and help him clean up the mess. Reskeme was about to refuse to help when the woman gave him a glare that caused him to sweat nervously. Reskeme sighed with dejection and began navigating the massive stacks of paper and shelves. He walked across the room and began picking up the parchment. All of the papers had nothing written on them, Curious at this, Reskeme asked Kyle, "Why are you carrying all of these papers to the back room." The blushing Kyle who was glaring at Reskeme for some reason answered after a moment. Kyle said," We have a magic stamping machine that helps us make a lot of copies of one paper at a time", He continued "it is truly a marvellous piece of technology and magic".

03.Reskeme was interested and said, "that sounds expensive" trying to hide his excitement. Kyle mistook Reskemes look for one of the excitement of technology and got excited himself. Kyles face lit up and he smiled ear to ear before saying," I haven't been allowed to use it yet, But after another 4 months of training I am going to get to run it " Kyle beamed with pride. Reskeme smiled at kyle as both picked up scattered stacks of paper. After a couple of minutes of crawling around and digging under shelves, the two young men had finally completed the task this time making two stacks of paper. When Reskeme got done and noticed the glare of the scary lady, who currently had her arms crossed and was impatiently knocking her foot on the floor, he decided it was his time to leave.

04. Reskeme left the frantic little shop with a smile on his face and some excitement for the rest of his day. He stepped into the street and took a breath of fresh air, Taking a look around he decided to head back to the blacksmith's shop before they closed. The afternoon traffic was busy as people were moving quickly to sell their wares before closing the shop. Reskeme walked down the streets admiring all the shops trying to find a shop that sold knives. He returned to the blacksmith shop he had passed earlier in the day. Reskeme almost passed the shop as its sign was small and didn't stick out compared to all the other signs. Luckily for Reskeme, the smith shop made a distinctive ringing that stood out.

05. Reskeme approached the shop and weaved through the crowd to look in the window. The clanking of the blacksmith shop began to drown out the sound of the street the closer he got to the building. Reskeme was a little tired as he arrived in front of the building and looked at a massive assortment of weapons, most of which he couldn't name. Reskeme entered the loud shop and immediately regretted his decision. He immediately covered his ears wincing at the loud sound of ringing. He looked around the shop and examined the large room, he couldn't see where the sound was coming from, although he could see all the weapons on display. Reskeme saw a rope that said"pull me" he moved forward to grab the rope.

06. He pulled hard on the rope making a loud clanging that with the last ring caused the loud banging to stop. Finally, Reskeme thought as he was able to relax from the loud noise. His ears seemed unusually sensitive and he wasn't sure why. He had been in a blacksmiths shop before and it hadn't been near that bad the last time. Reskeme took a step back when the woman and man from the back came to the front of the store. He looked at them in awe, both people had huge muscles and were both wearing aprons. The woman said in a kind tone, "what can we do for you son?" Reskeme smiled and said," I'm Reskeme Sell me a naginata?"

07. The woman said, "hold it there son! you cant come in here and just demand us to sell you a weapon. Reskeme was taken aback for a moment, He stumbled with his words unsure what to do from this point. Reskeme was nervous and looking from the woman who could lift a cart to the man who could break said cart. Alright, Telly at least let the Young messenger make his demands for a weapon. Reskeme let out a sigh of relief before asking, "Do you have any naginata for sale in the shop?" The Woman smiles a kind smile at the boy before she said," I'm sorry son all of the spears and throwing weapons like the naginata go to the city garrison." Telly continued "We don't keep and spears in stock you will need to custom order the naginata, Which is a better idea we can fit it to you soo its sized right for you."

08.Reskeme beamed with excitement at their proclamation, He said, "how much for a naginata in my size." Telly eyed the boys uniform and smiled as she had just received a gift, while the man who hadn't shared his name leaned against the wall like he was about to experience a show. Reskeme began to sweat nervously as Telly started naming off the different costs of weapons. Telly said "We have many grades of weapons our top-grade which is journeymen weapons are in the35- 50gold category," she saw the look of horror at the price and decided he couldn't afford that one. Telly said, "I suppose we can sell you a well-crafted quality weapon, it will come out to 30 silver which is the lowest I can go". Reskeme looked like he was going to demand a cheaper weapon when Telly said, "If you want something cheaper go to a trash bin and get a stick as we don't sale low-quality trash here".Telly glared at the boy before she continued, "there is much variety when it comes to the naginata or any other weapon for that matter. She continued," A naginata is for both throwings and for close combat. She said "Unlike the spear, The naginata can be used for slashing a target and is generally used as a secondary weapon to throw or in case there is cavalry.

09. Reskeme stared with wide eyes and mouth agape when the huge man pulled out a finished naginata from the back room. Reskeme looked over the weapon and thought, "This thing is scary its nothing like the training stick." The man pointed at the pole which was slightly taller than him and said," This weapon is excellent for slashing and fighting the standard sword wielder in combat." Unlike the spear, you can slash at your opponents and if they try to run throw it at them." The blade was long in comparison to the pole with the blade making up 25% of the weapon The blade was one edged and had a slight curve to the weapon. There was a small round guard that was at the base of the blade, Reskeme guessing this was to protect his hand.

10. Telly eyed up the boy who appeared to be drooling over the unadorned weapon. She said to Reskeme," Thirty silver is what we are gonna be charging you for a weapon of this quality. The man gave her a look that Reskeme didn't understand but nodded anyway. Telly said," I'm guessing you can't afford it Yet? she questioned. Reskeme nodded prompting her to say, "we can make a payment contract for you to help you out." Reskeme was about to leave until he heard that last comment, He had no idea where he would get 30 silver.She smiled kindly and said, "Of course we can let you pay into a fund and give you the weapon on completion of payment." Reskeme was hopeful as he thought of this new idea, he could slowly pay for his weapon over time and not all at once.

11. Reskeme reached into his coat and pulled out his silver coin presenting it to Telly. She eyed up the coin and smiled, she seemed much more excited to have him in her store now. The large man grunted with indifference and went to the back of the shop. Telly said, "Hold on don't be too hasty, We need to set you up a contract to pay off the weapon." Telly moved to a desk and pulled out a parchment before she began writing. She completed the parchment before she walked over to Reskeme and presented the official contract. A the top of the parchment it stated," for purchasing 1 naginata custom made for Reskeme.

12. Telly questioned Reskeme, If you can sign here on the line this legally binding contract will make our shop follow the contract once payment is met. Reskeme read the contract, It stated upon payment of 15 silver the shop would be obligated to start making the weapon to adequately prepare the weapon for transfer on completion of purchase. The boy was a little confused by all of the legal jargon as Telly had put it. The contract stated when he signed he would then owe the shop 29 silver. Reskeme was confused until Telly said, "the contract will update the number as you pay and will give us legal punishment if we don't fulfil the contract."

13. Reskeme Smiled and signed the contract before handing over the coin, He felt a little heartache at the loss of the silver coin. The woman pulled out a long piece of leather and began measuring Reskemes height and width. Telly began writing in a book for some reason, Who knew getting a weapon demanded he is measured everywhere. Reskeme was sure she was doing some of the measurements simply for his embarrassment. He had been extremely uncomfortable much to The woman's amusement. When the woman was finished with his torture he refused to think of that as simple measurements.

14. Reskeme left the building shivering as the woman gave him a wink, He was extremely uncomfortable and blushed his cheeks turning red. Reskeme was leaving the shop and headed for an alley trying to hide his embarrassment, he was sure that his spells were about to wear off. The sun had set and it was getting dark, It seemed setting up a contract and getting measured was extremely time-consuming. The alley was getting dark which was perfect for Reskeme as it was extremely difficult to see someone who was in darkness. Most of the traffic was off the streets and the evening was getting silent as people went to sleep. Reskeme travelled down the alley and turned into another, as he made his way towards his hideout.

15. He broke his spells once he was sure that no one was around, and began channelling as much mana as he could. When he was finished his first spell he heard footsteps coming from in front of him around the corner. He quickly focused on his skin changing it to dark brown. Reskeme was channelling his mana for the second part of his spell when 3 strangers rounded the corner talking with each other and chuckling about things they could do tonight for entertainment. Reskeme finished his first spell letting his skin change colour but not working on his hair. Three teenage strangers spotted him and one recognized his outfit, One Teenager clearly the leader was wearing a dark cloak without a hood and a goofy Feather hat. The Young man said, "Look here boys we have ourselves a messenger with white hair, he appears to be that phony mage that everyone was talking about". Reskeme scowled he didn't feel like dealing with these idiots. Reskeme said, "I'm sorry Mr peacock I didn't mean to bother you tonight". Mr. Peacocks' face turned bright Red as He pulled out a Hidden club from his cloak and said "Get him, boys" Reskeme paled as all three of the older boys began running after him with murderous intent.