Chương 6: Union - part3

A sudden shout disrupted the boys' chat, startling Arthur, who leapt back, rose, and dashed downstairs. - Darn it! - exclaimed Arthur as he descended the final steps of the staircase. 'Darn it, nearly all my break time is gone... At least I caught the most crucial part; now I need to prepare for tomorrow.' Arthur pondered as he hurried down the steps to hasten his descent. Upon reaching his destination, he encountered the source of the shout, Albert.

- Yes, Mr. Albert. - responded Arthur, feeling guilty. He knew it was quite remarkable that the "cleaning" Albert assigned him every day simply involved swapping out and repairing the cleaning products on the old drones that maintained the entire second floor.

- Finish the shelves later, clean the bathroom soon! - After a brief sigh from Albert, it seemed that all his earlier irritation had dissipated, and then he added. - Arthur, have you managed to have lunch yet?

- No, I... I took a bit longer with the first shelf. There was a lot of dust, so I hadn't had time to eat yet... - Arthur replied, forcing a smile that betrayed his nervousness. Albert noticed Arthur's peculiar expression, but he didn't dwell on it too much. 'Arthur, you're a bit slow with the work today, but well... A child is a child. And since it's Arthur, he probably hasn't done anything wrong,' thought Albert.

- Arthur, please go and eat soon. Then clean up those drones, understand?

-Yes, Mr. Albert. I'll have lunch as soon as possible. - Arthur replied. Arthur was about to head to the kitchen, but as he took a few steps, he heard the girl's voice. - Uncle, I still need to go to the bathroom. - Said the young girl, feeling a little irritated and embarrassed by the situation, especially since Albert had simply shouted it out for anyone to hear.

- Well, since the other toilets are dirty and out of paper... Arthur, take Sophia to the staff bathroom. - Albert said.

- Yes sir; Sophia, the restroom is just past the kitchen, so just follow me. - Arthur said with a smile. With a nod, Sophia started walking right behind Arthur. As the two made their way to the third floor, Albert suddenly seemed to remember something and sighed. - I guess I should have asked Arthur to put up the cleaning sign in the bathrooms before I went upstairs. I think it's left for me. – Albert said with a sarcastic smile, as he started the engine of his wheelchair and headed to the bathroom with two signs that were behind the counter.

- We've arrived at the kitchen. If you continue down the corridor to the right and then turn left, you'll find the bathroom.

- Thank you. -Sophia replied.

- You're welcome! - Arthur nodded at Sophia and started to ponder as he recalled the "accidentally" overheard conversation. Arthur opened the fridge to locate his lunch. A plate with roast potatoes, rice, and a chicken leg in the fridge, as usual. After heating up his meal and pouring a glass of juice, he sat down at a nearby table and began to eat, reflecting on everything he had heard.

-Phew! - Sophia exclaimed after leaving the bathroom.

Arthur, who had already finished his work in the kitchen, was waiting for Sophia nearby. Seeing that she had already returned, he joined her so that they could both go back to Albert.

-Hello Sophia.

- Hello. - replied to Sophia, realizing Arthur's presence. -Excuse my rudeness, but what's your name again? - Sophia asked with a frown, as if she were thinking.

- Ooh... I haven't introduced myself yet... My name is Arthur and I'm 8 years old, it's nice to meet you. - He spoke while using his index finger to scratch his cheek, remembering that Albert always told him to be polite and courteous to everyone, well he also always told Arthur to at least introduce himself properly to people, but for Arthur these seemed to be very difficult tasks to remember considering that he always had his mind elsewhere while working just to buy a few things for his sister.

- It's okay, you don't have to worry too much about that since I haven't introduced myself either, by the way, my name as you already know is Sophia and I'm 15, it's nice to meet you Arthur.

After introducing the two of them, as they walked side by side, an uncomfortable silence settled in. Arthur, who was lost in thought, didn't seem to mind, but Sophia did, as she was the first to break the silence:

- So, Arthur, why do you work here? I'm not asking about your competence or anything, it's just... I mean, aren't you very young? Don't your parents mind? - Arthur was surprised by this sudden question.

- Um... "Well, I live in the orphanage, and you know, I work here to get my "allowance"... to... - Arthur interrupted his sentence in mid-sentence as he looked crestfallen.

Sophia seemed to have sympathized with the fact that Arthur lived in an orphanage, she moved a little closer to him and gave him a comforting hug.

From then on, only Sophia kept talking, while Arthur replied and smiled occasionally. He remained lost in thought about knowledge he had acquired at the library, his mind entirely focused on the pact with the gods and obtaining a "mentor," as he mechanically responded to Sophia's questions, which she oddly didn't seem to notice.

-So long Sophia. - Arthur said goodbye when they got to where Albert was.

- See you, Arthur; I hope you manage to get your money together for whatever you need. - said Sophia while keeping a small smile on her face.

Arthur nodded in response, and nodded to Albert who was standing behind his usual counter. When Arthur got going, Albert said, with a slightly cheerful tone - Arthur, I hope you're not forgetting your things to set up those old cans to clean the toilets.

- Yeah, there's still that. - Arthur muttered as he rubbed the back of his head and hurried away. He picked up his utensils and headed for the ladies' room.

After a while, Arthur was still finishing cleaning the last box of dirt from the drone.

- I thought I'd never finish, whew! - He said as he wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead - well anyway, I think it's almost time to close the library - he looked at his watch and realized that it was still half past six in the afternoon - THERE'S ALMOST 3 HOURS TO GO?! Damn it, I'm still going to have to clean the shelves.

He returned to Albert's regular workbench and left the tools he had used in the bathrooms. Now Arthur was on his way to complete cleaning the remaining shelves.