'What is he doing following me around? Did he stay here all this time?' Lock thought.
He sized the boy again, and sighed in his heart.
The boy had a small frame. He had the kind of little and skinny frame that would definitely be bullied in movies. On top of all of that, if someone was watching over them now, considering the bruises on the younger boy, it would not be a far-fetched conclusion to think he was bullying him.
Anyways, he was hurt from falling down from a pile of stairs!
"Are you okay?" Lock asked, crouching.
The boy started to lift his little frame and sat on the ground showing that his knees and shoulders were a little bruised.
"I think so." The boy said quite nervously.
Lock stared at the boy's scrapes and sighed. Luckily, it was not too serious.
"Were you there the whole time?" He asked, as the boy trying to ease the pain a little by massaging his arms and legs.
After he was done, the boy looked away for a few seconds, making Lock's eyes roll inside his head. But then, he mustered his courage and looked at him.
The boy was not of short stature. He was still young and quite younger than Lock. But the thing that stood out was he wasn't very healthy looking. It looked like he hadn't eaten a good meal for years.
The boy scratched his head, and started to chuckle nervously.
"Hahaha…" he laughed nervously as if he did something wrong.
"Huh?"
"I'm Chap. A 14 year old. Nice to meet you?" he suddenly said.
Seeing the sudden introduction, Lock was startled at first, but gave back an answer.
"Name's Lock. 16 years old. Why are you following me?" he then asked.
"Hmmm. I saw what you did earlier in the barbecue stand. You're a wizard, right?" Chap said with sparkles in his blue eyes.
In general, wizards weren't very rare. It was common to see them once in a while, but you cannot encounter them like every day. Thus, it was normal to get curious when you see one.
Lock thought that, and nodded.
"Well, yeah." He said.
"I knew it! Can you help me then?" Chap suddenly asked.
"…Uhh. On what?"
As soon as Lock asked that, Chap's face revealed a frown a little, as he touched his belly.
"Can you help me eat too? Do the same thing you did earlier with the barbecue. I'm sure if it's you, you can do it. Please? Pretty pleases?" Chap started begging in the ground like he was talking to a king. It subconsciously made Lock remember the nobles and knights meeting the king in the throne room, and begging for their lives to be spared.
Lock gulped, removing the memories in his thoughts.
It seemed like Chap was really hungry.
Lock stared at the younger boy and contemplated for a while, but then nodded.
"Okay. After you eat though, you need to go with me to the guild. If you have no money, becoming an adventurer is the easiest way to earn money." Lock said.
That's right. Adventurer and joining a guild. If one cannot earn money by doing normal jobs or had not been able to have the luxury of graduating from a school, becoming an adventurer and joining a guild was one of the greater option to choose for one's career. That was what Lock thought.
"Adventurer? Guild?" Chap's face turned cold for a moment, as if a winter breeze just brushed over him.
This was so sudden!
Becoming an adventurer was the most straightforward way to earn money. A lot of wizards were adventurers. By completing q quest posted by the citizens, one could earn money to support himself. It was common knowledge that someone with no battle experience or skills could choose the better option by joining a guild and becoming an adventurer.
However, it was still dangerous. On top of that, Chap was still 14 years old. He still had no idea if he even would awaken magic after he turns 16. Furthermore, he had no battling skills or experience.
Why would he even do something that dangerous? It was not like he could join a guild and not try to complete quests. From what he heard from the streets, there was a minimum quota for every adventurers!
Chap was a little startled to hear the words adventurer and guild come out from Lock's mouth. But if he could eat by going with Lock to the guild, he would gladly do so!
'I could run after I get my food!' Chap thought, grinning nervously in his head.
"Yes, adventurer and guild, haha," Lock said.
Chap stood up and started to slowly smile at Lock.
"Deal!" Chap pretended to be happy and agreed.
Chap wasn't interested in becoming an adventurer nor does he think he could become one. But he was too hungry.
'What is wrong with this guy called Lock, though? Is he around here? It doesn't seem like it. Could he be from the countryside?' Chap thought.
After some time, Chap and Lock returned to the barbeque stall owner.
The bruises of Chap were left untreated. He told Lock that he was still young and it was not uncommon to have these kind of injuries. Falling down a trail of stairs was not enough to kill a wild grass. It was even a trivial talk to begin with.
Lock agreed. Bruises like that were nothing. It was not like Chap could not walk.
There were two things though. Chap could not walk very well and he could not run.
Anent to this, Chap was hiding in an alleyway with some crates on it as Lock began to walk away, heading to the barbeque stall.
"Where did that stall owner go though?" Chap asked, while he was looking around the street from the alley.
Chap was like a regular walker in these streets, always watching everything and dreaming of getting free food. Ever since he could remember, he was sleeping in these narrow alleyways like a rat.
Thus, he was find of confident who was the kind, or the angry. He especially focused on seeing the behavior of business owners.
The barbeque stall owner was a hotheaded person. He would cut someone's hand without any hesitation, and had a friendly relationship with the guards who were very hostile to thieves and burglars.
"Where could that stall owner be? I'm getting nervous. Gulp." He said.
While he was thinking about that though, Lock arrived at the barbeque stall owner.
The other stall owner who was instructed by the barbeque stall owner saw Lock again, and shrieked.
"Hik?!" He couldn't speak.
He started looking for the barbeque stall owner, but he had left again. He had called the guards earlier, and came back. But where did he go this time?!
His head nervously turned from right to left.
Wizards were not creatures normal humans could mess with. They could put a curse on you. They could sever your head in an instant. Thus, he was very anxious.
Right in front of him, his face was scorned as Lock arrived at the barbeque stall.
Lock was unsure what was he scared of. After all, he was from another stall.
"Hehe." Lock grinned, and grabbed at least ten barbeques on one hand. The barbeques earlier really filled some of his hunger.
Watching from the distance, Chap started grinning happily.
"Lock is such a good person." He cried.
He did not know why Lock agreed to steal for him, but he just won his heart!
Little did Chap known though, at a window of a building overlooking the alley and the streets, a shadow of knights with swords and armors were watching Chap and Lock.
"I knew they would come again!" The barbeque stall owner said to the knights.
Even before Lock and Chap had arrived, the barbeque stall owner had called for the knights and had a few of them waiting to capture the two thieves.
"Who is the wizard among the two kids, you say?" asked the knight.
"It's that boy with the gold hair. I felt my whole body paralyzed the moment he looked at me!"