Cycling quickly to school, Arthur took a few moments to eat the chocolate in his hand. It was a semi-sweet and milk chocolate bar. A perfect combination for those who don't like too sweet, but don't want it to be bitter either.
His nerves relaxed a little as he ate the chocolate, and the breeze that ruffled his hair helped too.
When there were 5 minutes left for the gates to close, Arthur got in and left his bike in the usual place.
He went to his classroom, and didn't speak to anyone on the way. There was still time for the students to gather for the Anthem, so he took the opportunity to leave his things in the room.
As soon as he arrived, the students who were there looked at whoever entered, some turning around for not caring, while others fixed their gaze for a while longer. But they all noticed the bandages and thought he had an accident.
As he passed Aline, she turned to him and was worried, but didn't ask what happened. Arthur also just smiled at her and went to his desk behind the class.
But unlike Aline, Beatrice was curious and asked what happened. Since the last moment they had together, she had felt more comfortable talking to Arthur.
"What was that?" She asked as she turned to Arthur, who had already sat down.
"Accident..." Arthur replied without saying anything else.
At that moment, Aline arrived and joined in.
"What accident? Did you get hurt a lot?" Aline asked.
"I hit a pole. It's okay..." Arthur came up with a random excuse.
"Pole? And made you like this?" The two asked, intrigued.
"Yea! The pole fell on me!" Arthur replied as he rested his head on his right hand. He also yawned, to make clear his lack of interest in answering.
Riing!
The bell rang, and everyone gathered to pay tribute to the flag and the Anthem.
At breakfast, the trio of girls were shocked by the bandages on Arthur's arm, and Madison even asked to see underneath. Arthur refused and said he would take it off later. He also asked for Emily's number so he could call her on Saturday, as that would be the day to go out together. With brown cheeks a little pink, she put it on his cell phone.
At lunchtime, he managed to get Gabriel to talk about Amanda's situation.
"What the fuck? Are there slaves there, properties?" Arthur asked when he was left alone with Gabriel. They were in an area visible to everyone, but there was no one around now, and people could only see them from afar.
"It's not that hard to understand. When a debt is so high that even offering your body won't solve it, you become their property, very simple." Gabriel replied. But Arthur could tell he was a little strange, so he's certainly had a past with it.
"And can that happen? I know it's a private place, but doesn't anyone revolt? You must know that test guy. He's at least A-level, but is he still a slave?" Arthur asked, a little outraged at the situation. It seemed that in addition to loan sharks and banks, mercenaries had their concerns for the Guild as well.
"This applies to everyone. In fact, they have to be thankful that they didn't die already, and offered to work there. Chances are few. Usually, when you have a problem like that, they kill you and then take everything you have of value..." As he spoke, Gabriel's voice grew lower, even as if they were being watched.
"Do they take everything?" Arthur asked, impressed.
"Yes." Gabriel gave a mocking smile, "Why do you think you managed to turn 600,000 into 320 million after three fights? One slip on your part and they take it all back... after all, once you become a mercenary, your life is not so simple anymore."
"Holy crap..."
"Well, when you have the hidden support of the whole world, it's hard to resist..." Gabriel also sighed.
"Whole world?" Arthur asked. He remembered the history of global involvement, but he didn't take it seriously and thought it was an exaggeration.
"Yea! The UN would rather have partial control, even if little, than none at all. It doesn't really own the Guild, and you don't even want to know who owns it. It turns out that with that, the Guild is free to do these things in the shadows and not be hunted or damned." Gabriel spoke, kicking a rock on the ground away.
Arthur was silent for a few seconds, processing the information. It was kind of shocking that there was a power that was greater or on the same level as the UN. But if you thought a coin had two sides, our complex world would have a lot more.
"How much was it?" Arthur asked as he looked at Gabriel.
"2 million... and before you ask, it was the amount of her debt. Apparently she would have to stay there for another 50 years before paying off the debt, but she would probably be killed sooner when she got old and lost her value." Gabriel replied back.
"Okay, you should already have my bank details, so I'll leave you in charge of that." Arthur replied without hesitation, as if spending it was no big deal.
Gabriel looked at him for a few more seconds before smiling strangely, as he didn't usually do that, and asking:
"Do you like her?"
"Kinda. You have the file?" Arthur only gave a vague answer and asked for David's files, to which he had previously spoken with Gabriel.
"I'll give it to you at the end of the day, I left it in my backpack..." Gabriel replied calmly.
"So I'm going!" Arthur just said goodbye and left.
Gabriel stood back, looking at Arthur's back. After a while, he muttered:
"Spending that much for someone you don't even know... he doesn't seem like that kind of person..."
With the wrong thoughts, Gabriel didn't question any more and let things go as normal.
***
At the end of classes, the school bell signaled the end of the first week of many to come. The people were happy that it was finally Friday and many of them were already planning to go out together with their new friends.
Arthur packed his things and was eager to get home, quickly getting to his feet. As he passed Beatrice's desk, he unconsciously smoothed her hair.
Beatrice was startled by the touch and turned to him. Arthur realized what he had done and turned to look into her eyes.
"I swear it was on purpose... I mean, it was definitely unintentional! They are so silky and beautiful, it seems that they cry out for affection..." Arthur pretended to be wrong and smiled slightly.
"Idiot!" Beatrice blushed and patted his hand.
It turns out that the hand she hit was the one with the cut, and a red stain began to appear on the bandages.
Realizing this, Arthur withdrew his hand.
"Bye, see you next week!" He waved the other one and walked away.
Beatrice actually saw the bloodstain and focused worriedly, but Arthur didn't give her the chance to ask. As soon as she realized she was worried, her heart pounded.
'Why am I worried about him? If he didn't show it to me, then it has nothing to do with me!' She thought and then started putting her things on the backpack.
***
A few hours ago at 12 am.
"Uh...where am I?" Amanda woke up in a dark room, but sunlight was streaming through the open window. She was covered with a comfortable sheet and everything about the bed was comfortable. Even the air conditioner was turned on at a pleasant temperature for sleeping.
She got up slowly, wanting to understand what could be happening. When she took off the blanket and saw her clothes, she was reminded of the morning's events.
'Did he bring me here?' With that question in mind, she got up from the bed and soon saw the basket on top of the desk in the bedroom.
As soon as she read the note, she let out a slight smile and tucked her hair behind her ear, revealing her dimples that made her look cute. Remembering Arthur's figure, she felt something inexplicable, a feeling of happiness.
Grabbing some bananas and apples, she ate as if she hadn't done this in a long time. She finished all the basket in 30 minutes.
After that, she walked around the room, seeing every little thing, just out of curiosity. She went to the bathroom door and saw some strips of bandages strewn about, along with some blood. She was a little worried now.
Opening the bedroom door, she walked around a bit and scanned the rooms. As she was about to go downstairs, the door to one of the bedrooms opened.. A small boy came out of there, still rubbing his eyes.
As soon as he opened them and looked at the scantily clad woman in front of him, he jumped back and pointed his finger at her, looking panicked.
"Who are you!?"
"Amanda!" She replied with a smile. Her great mood was revealed now that she was far from that hellish place.
"Who the hell is Amanda?? How did you get in here?" Thomas yelled at her again. He's already about to reach for something to defend himself, and if he didn't find it, he would attack first with his fists.
"Someone brought me here... I don't know his name..." Amanda just realized that she never asked his name, even though Arthur did ask her name.
She described him a bit to help calm Thomas down. She was actually finding this panicked little boy a little cute, but he must mean something to the man who brought her here.
"Are you talking about my brother? Arthur brought you here for what reason? Wait, don't tell me you're a wh- my god!" Thomas' eyes widened and he was almost in an intense desire to kill Arthur for his wicked actions.
Knowing that she had been judged wrong, Amanda didn't try to explain and let things sort themselves out when Arthur returned.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"12:10. Why?" Thomas replied, vigilantly.
"Do you want me to make lunch?" Amanda offered with a smile.
"We usually ask someone we trust, so I don't think we need-" Thomas tried to explain the situation, but Amanda brushed it off.
"No need, you can let me cook for you. I have to thank Arthur somehow, so be it." Amanda answered sincerely. She was truly grateful for everything Arthur had done for her, even though she didn't know what her life would be like now. She was among a big doubt that would only be revealed later.
A few moments later, when they went downstairs to the kitchen, Amanda and Thomas looked at each other and waved.
"Better ask anyway..." They spoke in unison.
That's because the kitchen was partially destroyed, making it impossible to do anything without cleaning everything first.