Chapter 300: Encounters and Effects
"How much longer are we going to remain in this backwater town, Master?"
"Oh? That eager to return home already, my young Disciple?"
"Not exactly... but... I just don’t see what there is we can even learn here from such a rural place."
"Ho ho ho, I see you are still too young to understand. A pity, a pity."
"Master... please don’t treat me like a child, after all I’m..."
"Still a child compared to this old man."
"Haa... yes, Master."
"Now now, don’t be so depressed; after all, our short stay here has not been completely without gains, especially today’s unexpected encounter."
"Hm? What do you mean, Master? Surely, you’re not talking about those weaklings from lunchtime. I admit there was something unusual about them, but they’re still just..."
"You still have that bad habit of judging others only by your first impression, my foolish Disciple. If you keep such a closed mind, you will miss the many opportunities which appear before you without ever realizing they were there."
"You keep telling me that, Master, but I’ve yet to see any of these ’opportunities’ for myself."
"And that is why I keep telling you to keep your eyes open and your thoughts, free of bias."
"... Your Disciple understands, Master."
"I doubt that very much, you stubborn brat. But perhaps this will change your mind."
"Isn’t this the paper that young boy handed to you as payment for their meal?"
"Indeed! I too didn’t think much of it either... until I read it, that is."
"What does it say, Master?"
"Here, see for yourself..."
"Let’s see... hmm... I don’t see anything speci... no wait, this... this!"
"Missed opportunities, my young Disciple. Missed opportunities."
"This isn’t just some minor opportunity, Master!"
"Ho ho ho, quite right, quite right... Lucas, was it... an interesting young lad. I do hope we meet again some day..."
.....
Sharon returned home that afternoon in a good mood, one that persisted the entire evening even with the meager meal she had for dinner.
Later that night, once she was sure the rest of her younger siblings were asleep, Sharon got up from their shared bedroom and crept out to see her parents, hurriedly making her way down the hallway and bursting into their room without so much as even knocking.
This inevitably led to some... awkwardness.
Sharon’s parents, despite getting on in years, had not lost that certain spark they had for each other. Fortunately, they had only begun a set of warm up exercises before actually engaging in an impromptu evening workout, which saved Sharon from catching her mother and father in the act.
Even so, Sharon’s mother was quite upset that her eldest daughter was so lacking in manners. She was about to scold her, when the young girl blurted out, "Mom! Dad! I... Today... They were... I... I..."
Seeing the excited look on their daughter’s face, Sharon’s parents decided to temporarily shelve the chiding they planned to deliver and quickly moved to settle the girl.
It took a minute or two before Sharon was finally able to get her point across, her mother scowling as she summarized, "So, you went down the docks to look for outsiders, hoping to work as a guide again, despite your father and I explicitly warning you to stay away from that place!?"
"Uh..." Sharon blushed with embarrassment. However, since the truth was already out, she quickly composed herself and boldly nodded, "I know you said not to, but I’m an adult now! I can take care of myself!"
*Whack!*
"Ow! Mom!!"
"Clearly you can’t take care of yourself, you silly girl! What if the people you ran into weren’t kind and generous, but instead the vile and cunning!? Would we even still have our eldest daughter at that point!?" Sharon’s mother raged.
Knowing she couldn’t avoid this lecture, Sharon lowered her head and accepted her fate silently.
A few minutes later, Sharon’s father decided to intervene, "Now, now, Honey, I’m sure Sharon is reflecting on her mistake."
"I doubt that!" Sharon’s mother snorted before pointing her finger at her husband, "This is all your fault for spoiling her!"
Under the despotic rule of his wife, Sharon’s father didn’t dare to lift his head either and joined his daughter in being lecture for the next 10 or 15 minutes.
Only after the matriarch of the household finally calmed down did Sharon hesitantly say, "I know I shouldn’t have done that, Mom... but... but I know we need more money if we want to keep the house! I heard you and Dad talking about it last night, how the rent, home tax, and poll tax have both been raised and that at this rate, we’ll be short this month!"
Silence suddenly fell over the room, with both of Sharon’s parents now looking quite awkward. They had thought all the children were asleep when they were having that particular discussion.
In truth, the husband-and-wife pair had stayed up most of the previous night, trying to come up with some way to earn the difference so they could pay for everything and not be evicted from their home by their landlord.
Naturally, they hadn’t been able to come up with any good ideas at the time and had planned to continue discussing the matter tonight, only to wind up becoming frustrated and looking for a way to release some of their pent-up stress...
Regardless, now that she was aware that her eldest daughter knew about their current plight, Sharon’s mother suddenly felt guilty about reacting so harshly.
Understanding his wife’s dilemma, Sharon’s father gently tried to move the conversation along, "Silly girl, you only turned 16 a few days ago. You may be an adult according to the law, but you’re still just a baby to your old man and mother."
"That’s right," Sharon’s mother regained her composure and jumped in, "You already work hard enough to help support our little family. There’s no need for you to take on any more responsibilities. Leave these difficult matters to your father and I."
"But..." Sharon tried to protest, but was quickly cut off.
"No buts!" Sharon’s mother, declared with finality, "The docks aren’t safe, especially right now with all the newcomers from the south! Really... just what happened for so many people to suddenly be flooding into Southbridge?"
As members of the poorest strata in the city, Sharon and her family were completely unaware of what had been transpiring in the South-West Province this past month-and-a-half.
They had heard some rumours about a great disaster occurring, but that was about it.
Such ignorance wasn’t really their fault, however, as it was just the norm for events taking place hundreds of kilometres away to not matter to the common folk, especially when their days were spent labouring away just to afford enough food to eat and to put a roof over their heads.
Grabbing her eldest daughter by her shoulders, Sharon’s mother looked her in the eyes and said firmly, "Don’t go down to the docks again. If you insist on working more, let me or your father find you a safer job, alright?"
Pursing her lips, Sharon reluctantly agreed, "Alright, Mom, Dad."
"Good girl," Sharon’s mother nodded in approval.
With the mood in the room lifting slightly, Sharon’s father, who had always doted on her, couldn’t help asking, "You said that the people you met today were very kind and generous, yes? What exactly did you mean by that?"
Instantly, Sharon’s eyes lit up again as she began describing Lady Sasha, Lady Allina, Sisters Eris and Tina, and Little Brother Lucas.
Hearing their daughter’s recounting of her clients from earlier in the day, both Sharon’s mother and father were increasingly shocked.
From the sounds of it, these people weren’t just well-off travelers or small merchants, but genuine big-shots, maybe even nobles!
But... how did that make any sense?
The words ’kind’, ’generous’, and ’nobles’ didn’t belong in the same sentence, unless preceded by the description ’not’.
Only after Sharon was done with her story did her mother hesitantly ask, "So, not only did they treat you to food at Grandpa Linus’ and Cloud Bakery, they even paid you afterwards as well?"
"En! They were all really nice to me!" Sharon beamed, "But... that’s what I wanted to talk to you about in the first place... how they paid me was ... weird."
"Weird?" Sharon’s father tilted his head, "Weird how?"
"Once I showed them back to the docks, Lady Allina handed me a small bag and told me to only open it when I got back home," Sharon replied, pulling out the small cloth bag she had received earlier today, "She also handed me this token and said to hold onto it, as it might come in handy one day."
Sharon’s parents were even more convinced that their outgoing daughter had encountered some kind of noble now, as only someone of real status and power would be able to make such a promise.
Unless, of course, their daughter had just run into some crazy person.
Opening the cloth bag and seeing 5 large golden coins inside, however, caused all other thoughts to disappear from the trio’s minds.
With gaping jaws, Sharon and her parents just stared, dumbfounded, at this enormous sum of money, none of them able to speak for quite some time.
In the end, it was Sharon’s mother who managed to recover first, stuff the coins back into the bag, hide them under the nearby pillow, then grabbed the token her daughter had pulled out, examining it closely.
Although Sharon’s mother was somewhat literate, thanks to a brief stint she did working as a record keeper for a small-time merchant, she still had some trouble reading the fancy lettering on this token, "Pa... Pal... no, Bal... Bal... far? Balfar... no no no, Bal-four! Yes, Balfour... Balfour... wait, BALFOUR!?"
