"Let me see." I pour the relatively hefty contents of the bag out onto the table. The coins clink together noisily. I quickly count up the money while trying not to draw any more attention. A low whistle escapes my lips.
"Pheeew."
The total comes out to one thousand five hundred and eighty Denarii. That's five hundred and twenty-six Denarii for each of us with two left over.
"Alright, we each get five hundred and twenty-six Denarii."
"What?"
"Wow!"
Josh and Sakura respond with confusion and surprise, respectively. I divvy up the coins properly and explain how the last two will be distributed.
"There are two extra coins left over, so I think you two should have them for working so hard today."
"Okay." Sakura reaches for her coin.
"Wait." Josh stops her and looks me straight in the eye. "You could have done this whole mission by yourself. You should have the two extra coins."
I sit back in surprise at Josh's response. He rarely disagrees with Sakura and me after we've made a decision. I look at Sakura to see her reaction, and she just shrugs.
"Oh, okay." I place the two coins sitting in my hand into my pile and pour the contents into a small leather bag. I look around the guild hall and notice several eyes on me. Some people are watching our transaction and muttering amongst themselves. "Um, let's get going. We're done here."
I quickly move outside with my party, and we head our separate ways.
"Be careful on your way home."
""Okay!"" The kids wave goodbye and turn down the street. A small grin appears on my face as I watch them giddily trot off out of sight. I start walking home when a small group of men surrounds me.
"Where do you think you're goin'?" A large man, a little over six feet tall, stands before me. Based on his behavior, he appears to be the group's leader. This small gang is fairly poor based on their apparel and the fact that they're preying on children. I figured something like this would happen eventually, but I had no idea it would happen this soon.
[I can't believe this is actually happening. What kind of shitty shonen did I walk into?]
"Home," I say with a sigh.
"Why don't you come hang out with us for a while."
"I can't describe to you in words exactly how much I hate that this is happening right now."
"It looks like you came into some money recently; why don't you share that with some of your friends here."
"Why don't you all go fuck yourselves?"
"Hahaha, that's not something you should say to your friends."
"It's something I'd say to a douche."
"So you're going to make this difficult for me, aren't you?"
"How do you think I feel?"
"Well, if you don't want to play nice, then we'll have to rough you up a bit."
"You're really going to try this in the middle of the day?"
"Yeah? Who's gonna stop us?"
"I don't know, literally anyone?"
"Hey, you! Stop right there!" I hear a voice call out from behind me.
"Oh, look, literally anyone." The girl we met in the woods earlier interrupts our conversation. She crosses her arms and spreads her feet in an authoritative stance. I appreciate that she's helping me, but the smug look pasted on her face is really pissing me off.
"And who do you think you are?"
"Why don't you come find out?"
"You little bitch, I'll show y…."
"Current Wave!" The leader of the small gang charges the small girl as she shouts the name of her attack. She raises her right hand, and blue lighting discharges into his chest.
"Guh…" The large man falls into a slump on the ground. Seeing this, his small posse quickly disperses, essentially leaving him for dead.
[I guess this is as far as loyalty goes.]
The girl walks up to me with her two bored-looking guards. "You're welcome, fair citizen."
"Um, yeah. Thanks."
"You're the boy I met in the forest today, right?"
"Maybe."
"You need to be more careful."
"Let me ask you a question."
"Um, okay."
"How far does loyalty go? Those gang members ran away as soon as their leader was defeated. Would your guards act any differently?"
"Well, I…"
I keep pressing.
"Are you all that much different than them? Are you much different than me?"
"Of course. I'm not getting robbed for one."
"True, but my concern is that, eventually, you will over-extend yourself and not have anyone to fall back on. Your intentions are admirable, but you should be more careful. At the end of the day, you're still just a child."
"I-I, who…"
"Thanks for the help." I walk away without waiting for her response. I can hear the sound of the guards arriving to pacify the situation. The girl shouts as she argues with the guards.
[What was her name? Did I forget to ask again?]
I walk home while running the situation through my mind several times. I realize that I may have been acting too abrasively. I don't know what came over me, but it seems I was just picking fights today. Maybe Jezabel was right, and I'm getting a big head. I'll need to thank that girl properly the next time we see each other.
I arrive home and pour out all of the coins onto the kitchen table. The multi-colored coins bounce around and settle onto the hardwood. I place two hundred and sixty-four coins back into my bag and leave the rest on the table.
"Sweety," Carroll's voice rolls lightly through the air. "We appreciate you helping out with the finances, but you should focus on taking care of yourself."
"After today, of course," Vincent says, quickly scooping up the pile of coins on the table. Carroll glares at him as he finishes. He notices her gaze and shrugs his shoulders. "What?"
Ignoring his question, Carroll turns to me.
"We don't want you getting injured, so I think you should spend all that money you're making on better armor and equipment."
"We already did." I pull out my spear and explain what kind of armor I'm wearing.
"Okay, but I still think you should start saving up. We can always ask if we need any assistance."
"Alright." She lays out dinner as we finish up our conversation. I eat the lavish meal that Carroll has prepared for us and head up to my room. I pass Marie on the way up, who shows me some mercy by completely ignoring my existence.
I lie down and close my eyes. Today was incredibly hectic, but that seems to be the new norm. I start making plans to account for all the new knowledge I've gained today. With an income this high, we can buy some stat-boosting potions and high-grade equipment. I'd hate to rely too heavily on my gear, but it's better than being killed. I fall asleep without even looking at my book as the cool darkness of the night fills my room.