Alden only drank what they offered. Thomas, meanwhile, was rather resistant to alcohol, but the beer that they offered barely made Thomas tipsy.
Still, that was a lot of offers from them so it somehow chipped Thomas into being slightly drunk. Reno offered them a drive back to the orphanage. While Chief Zackary had the rest of the gathered crowd go back home carefully.
Reno drove to the butcher’s shop first where he asked the butcher to store the game meat for distribution. He had a cold storage room so they bartered by making use of elk meat. Reno made quite a persuasion, telling the Butcher that it was from a white elk.
Alden hadn’t really asked but he knew that there was something special about the white elk, and how it brings about blessings when eaten. The butcher was sick of pork, chicken, and beef meat so he gracefully accepted the trade. Reno also handed the Chief's badge to make sure that it would be evenly distributed tomorrow when the Chief comes here.
After that, Reno decided to take them home to the orphanage. Alden bid him goodbye while he assisted Thomas back to the orphanage.
The orphanage was already quiet. Thomas and Alden sat in the backyard of the orphanage. He held his head and slung the rifle that he carried with his right hand.
“The people here are kind.”
“They are. Well, they might have some foul mouth once in a while, but they think of it as a joke. Trying to please people, telling them it's wrong to joke about the magiborne, well, it wouldn’t be easy,” Alden said.
Thomas nodded. His face was flushed red from the alcohol. He had drunk so much that even a magiborne like him was affected “Yeah, they think that you are easily pissed, and someone who can take a joke. If I was any magiborne, I might have punched the guy who said that.”
“Thank God you didn’t then,” Alden said. “We don’t need them hating you while you hunt a white elk that everyone can enjoy.”
“That went well. But I still need to deliver the package of white elk meat later to the block captains.”
“That’s right. Most of the block captains are here as the community leader of their respective block. Thing about respect is that they ain’t giving it without you showing them one. It’s double-edged, and if you want to make sure to earn their respect, then it would be best if you allow them to think that you are worthy of being respected. It's actually amiable of them to give people a chance.”
“Are all rural areas like this?”
“Not really. There are areas here that still think too little of non-locals. The next town is wary of us non-locals and is somewhat neutral when dealing with us. Lano Town is like this because they used to deal with all over the coastal towns and the wharf had been the center of the boat trade. So there are a lot of non-locals that visit here.”
“You know a lot.”
“I had time to study up ever since I came here. We do a lot of paperwork here from the municipal hall. Think that we are subcontracted to work. Melia might give you a place in the office. You can do paperwork?”
“I can.”
“Good. Just in time, we have Sister Katey coming tomorrow, and I think she’d want to meet you. I wonder if she’ll bring her kids.”
“Who’s she?”
“She’s a regional accountant. Her husband works in Mezi’s gated community just thirty minutes away from here.”
“Oh, I’ve to keep up and remember the people that I’m meeting.”
Alden studied him. “Don’t worry, I’d be more impressed if you get to know everyone. No one has the time to know all facets of a person. Trying to understand everyone is just stupid. And these people have busy lives so I doubt you can invite them to a daily tea without sounding and looking like a nuisance. They aren’t that bored.”
“True,” Thomas laughed, “I doubt I could remain someone seeking everyone's approval. Back in the army, we were treated as a kill squad, you know? We have to please our superiors, show them that we’re not a threat, just humans who are just genetically stronger.”
“Were you folks really made from a lab?”
“No, but they search for physically fit children or teenagers and give them the enhancement. Most of us were orphans, the difference was that when I woke up I was already like this.
“People call us subhuman all the time. Because we don’t have normal hair and there are times where our eyes go red because of madness.”
“Madness...I heard that is one of your afflictions? You don’t look like you have one.”
Thomas nodded. “There are actually only a few who have it. But with how we went to war with the demikind, some of us had been thrown into madness, and some were put down because our temper made us a liability. It actually makes me wonder how many of my kin are left..”
He stared up with a lonesome look. “Why did we become like this? Who thought of creating this line of strongmen? What was our purpose? Is it all to deal a blow to the demikin? Are we just created for war? Our oldest seniors were rather...perfect since they had been created first through a serum. No one knows how to recreate that serum, and we keep on wondering what it is that we’re lacking.”
“Lacking?”
“Our bodies are unstable, and we are strong. There are times where we suddenly feel weak and fragile because we are lacking a series of components. We somehow fixed some of the problems, but no one knows hot it could be completed, and it would take a series of know-how’s and a complete blend to give birth to a truly complete magiborne that has no flaws.”
Alden raised a brow. “Is it alright to say this?”
“Some parts of it were declassified after activists and journalists demanded it. Better that they tell the story themselves other than let people make their own.”
“I see. I don’t know what to say about that.”
“It’s fine. We were human weapons from the start, made to hunt down the enemy so that the rest of those who we protect live good lives. But with how the demikins have been thoroughly decimated, I don’t think that we would have use in this world.”
“Sounds tough. I can’t say that I truly empathize, cause that’s just pretentious, but I hope that you can live a good peaceful life here.”
“I hope so too. Thanks for accompanying me, Alden. It’s rare that people treat subhumans like me...normally.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. I honestly only care whether you’re an asshole or not. Who knows? I might treat you differently if you start acting like shit to us,” Alden thumped his shoulder.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Thomas nodded at the slight threat. “I would rather not waste this second chance in life after winning that battle.”
Alden wondered what he meant by that, but Thomas was already gone after he said that.
***
Thomas went to bed while Alden stayed outside of the orphanage’s backyard. There was a picket fence leading to a larger plot of land.
“You up?”
Alden looked at the figure that came out of the office door. “Hey, thought you slept by now.”
“I was. I was getting some water when I noticed you here,” Melia sat on the backyard chair, she checked the fire pit, and threw some sticks in it.
“We got to buy some kindling later.”
“The wet market on creekfall should have one,” Alden stirred his beer, and drank.
“That’s new, you usually don’t bother drinking.”
“I don’t. But I got started today. Want some?”
“Sure.”
Alden handed the bottle to Melia, and she drank directly from it. “This goldcrown? I prefer moonbear, it’s better than this piss.”
“I ain’t picky so I don’t care about the difference.”
“This is usually what they drink at Chief’s station. Must be because you got this for free from their crates?”
Alden made a smug look. “They said it was free. Reno and the guys have someone working on a brewery so they have a supply of the beer.”
“Huh, didn’t know that goldcrown employees have these benefits. But they do say that cheap beer does taste good if paired with game roast. Anyway, you're a person that usually doesn't mope around.”
“True, I have always been trying to live my life without speeding up or slowing down or trying to pretend what I am. Then again, this is coming from a fool who survived a shipwreck, and had stopped caring where he came from...it just goes on.”
“Is that so?”
“But there are days where I want to know. I want to know if those memories have some worth. And at the same time, I don’t want to know, afraid that I’ll be some jackass before I come to this town. Even if I was something before all this...I don’t want it.”
Alden looked at the orphanage. “Thomas got it hard, we’re kind of the same, he doesn’t remember everything before he became part of the military, and is just trying to find a place to settle down where he could live a peaceful life. But he has a harsher life, being a magiborne and that. Compared to my worries, it feels miniscule.”
“Don’t say that,” Melia said. “Everyone has their own hurt, it’s impossible for anyone to understand the hurt that you feel during that time. I’ll punch someone who thinks that their hurt is better than theirs.”
“True, it might be nothing to them, but it might be different. I’ve been drifting, but you and Nana gave me a place to live, and work so that I could earn my keep and eat. Melia, I think we should try and make Thomas live here.”
“Thought you were talking about yourself...but okay, I don’t mind him,” she took the drink from Alden, took a sip, and gave it back. “Nana already decided that he’s staying here. Nana’s the law of the orphanage, and that she probably thinks that having two boys guarding the orphanage would be better than having one. Not to mention, a magiborne can help us with security, and clearing the plot of land we have here.”
“True. So, should I bring it up to Sister Katey and Rein?”
“You should. Sister Katey will have to check up on him so better bring him forward, and save Katey trouble. Wonder if she brings her daughter?”
“Hope so. The orphanage was fun when Sister Katey celebrated the holidays with us.”
“She will probably sponsor us again,” she looked up. Melia was rather fond of the Big Sister who was the type who you couldn’t just get mad off.
She always has such a gentle soothing voice that even her admonition was soft, which makes it hard for you to even think that she’s criticizing your behavior.
“I wonder what she’s going to say about Nana taking in another person?”
“She’ll be mad for a second or two before she lets Nana do what she wants. She can’t help but tolerate Nana and what she does...and I would be far more surprised if she somehow doesn’t accept Thomas into this.”
“I’d be surprised if she doesn’t, too.”
Alden took a sip of the beer and rubbed his thigh. “That reminds me, you are heading to the capital a day after Sister Katey’s visit, right?”
“I am. Oh, right, your papers should be fully processed by then.”
“Uh, do you think I can borrow some florins? I don’t think that I have enough for the rest of the fees for my permits,” Alden asked.
Melia crossed her arms. “You sure that you aren’t saving for that fishing pole? I saw you looking at that shopping comercial about that telescopic pole.”
“Aye, I would love to have that, not going to lie. But I really do have no florins...eh...I need three hundred florins.”
Melia stood up, and wiped her mouth. “You’re going to drive me to the capital, and be my escort. So, you gotta earn that pay, first.”
“Understood.”
“Good. Glad that we could agree on that.”
She took the beer from Alden’s hand and took a long sip. “Try and sleep early, I don’t want to see you smelling like alcohol and game meat when Sister Katey visits.”
“Got it, I’ll just stay here for a minute or two. Goodnight.”
Melia went back to the building, leaving Alden alone with the fire pit. He then turned his eyes back to the skies, before making a finger gun and pointing it at the brightest star in the sky.
Alden only drank what they offered. Thomas, meanwhile, was rather resistant to alcohol, but the beer that they offered barely made Thomas tipsy.
Still, that was a lot of offers from them so it somehow chipped Thomas into being slightly drunk. Reno offered them a drive back to the orphanage. While Chief Zackary had the rest of the gathered crowd go back home carefully.
Reno drove to the butcher’s shop first where he asked the butcher to store the game meat for distribution. He had a cold storage room so they bartered by making use of elk meat. Reno made quite a persuasion, telling the Butcher that it was from a white elk.
Alden hadn’t really asked but he knew that there was something special about the white elk, and how it brings about blessings when eaten. The butcher was sick of pork, chicken, and beef meat so he gracefully accepted the trade. Reno also handed the Chief's badge to make sure that it would be evenly distributed tomorrow when the Chief comes here.
After that, Reno decided to take them home to the orphanage. Alden bid him goodbye while he assisted Thomas back to the orphanage.
The orphanage was already quiet. Thomas and Alden sat in the backyard of the orphanage. He held his head and slung the rifle that he carried with his right hand.
“The people here are kind.”
“They are. Well, they might have some foul mouth once in a while, but they think of it as a joke. Trying to please people, telling them it's wrong to joke about the magiborne, well, it wouldn’t be easy,” Alden said.
Thomas nodded. His face was flushed red from the alcohol. He had drunk so much that even a magiborne like him was affected “Yeah, they think that you are easily pissed, and someone who can take a joke. If I was any magiborne, I might have punched the guy who said that.”
“Thank God you didn’t then,” Alden said. “We don’t need them hating you while you hunt a white elk that everyone can enjoy.”
“That went well. But I still need to deliver the package of white elk meat later to the block captains.”
“That’s right. Most of the block captains are here as the community leader of their respective block. Thing about respect is that they ain’t giving it without you showing them one. It’s double-edged, and if you want to make sure to earn their respect, then it would be best if you allow them to think that you are worthy of being respected. It's actually amiable of them to give people a chance.”
“Are all rural areas like this?”
“Not really. There are areas here that still think too little of non-locals. The next town is wary of us non-locals and is somewhat neutral when dealing with us. Lano Town is like this because they used to deal with all over the coastal towns and the wharf had been the center of the boat trade. So there are a lot of non-locals that visit here.”
“You know a lot.”
“I had time to study up ever since I came here. We do a lot of paperwork here from the municipal hall. Think that we are subcontracted to work. Melia might give you a place in the office. You can do paperwork?”
“I can.”
“Good. Just in time, we have Sister Katey coming tomorrow, and I think she’d want to meet you. I wonder if she’ll bring her kids.”
“Who’s she?”
“She’s a regional accountant. Her husband works in Mezi’s gated community just thirty minutes away from here.”
“Oh, I’ve to keep up and remember the people that I’m meeting.”
Alden studied him. “Don’t worry, I’d be more impressed if you get to know everyone. No one has the time to know all facets of a person. Trying to understand everyone is just stupid. And these people have busy lives so I doubt you can invite them to a daily tea without sounding and looking like a nuisance. They aren’t that bored.”
“True,” Thomas laughed, “I doubt I could remain someone seeking everyone's approval. Back in the army, we were treated as a kill squad, you know? We have to please our superiors, show them that we’re not a threat, just humans who are just genetically stronger.”
“Were you folks really made from a lab?”
“No, but they search for physically fit children or teenagers and give them the enhancement. Most of us were orphans, the difference was that when I woke up I was already like this.
“People call us subhuman all the time. Because we don’t have normal hair and there are times where our eyes go red because of madness.”
“Madness...I heard that is one of your afflictions? You don’t look like you have one.”
Thomas nodded. “There are actually only a few who have it. But with how we went to war with the demikind, some of us had been thrown into madness, and some were put down because our temper made us a liability. It actually makes me wonder how many of my kin are left..”
He stared up with a lonesome look. “Why did we become like this? Who thought of creating this line of strongmen? What was our purpose? Is it all to deal a blow to the demikin? Are we just created for war? Our oldest seniors were rather...perfect since they had been created first through a serum. No one knows how to recreate that serum, and we keep on wondering what it is that we’re lacking.”
“Lacking?”
“Our bodies are unstable, and we are strong. There are times where we suddenly feel weak and fragile because we are lacking a series of components. We somehow fixed some of the problems, but no one knows hot it could be completed, and it would take a series of know-how’s and a complete blend to give birth to a truly complete magiborne that has no flaws.”
Alden raised a brow. “Is it alright to say this?”
“Some parts of it were declassified after activists and journalists demanded it. Better that they tell the story themselves other than let people make their own.”
“I see. I don’t know what to say about that.”
“It’s fine. We were human weapons from the start, made to hunt down the enemy so that the rest of those who we protect live good lives. But with how the demikins have been thoroughly decimated, I don’t think that we would have use in this world.”
“Sounds tough. I can’t say that I truly empathize, cause that’s just pretentious, but I hope that you can live a good peaceful life here.”
“I hope so too. Thanks for accompanying me, Alden. It’s rare that people treat subhumans like me...normally.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. I honestly only care whether you’re an asshole or not. Who knows? I might treat you differently if you start acting like shit to us,” Alden thumped his shoulder.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Thomas nodded at the slight threat. “I would rather not waste this second chance in life after winning that battle.”
Alden wondered what he meant by that, but Thomas was already gone after he said that.
***
Thomas went to bed while Alden stayed outside of the orphanage’s backyard. There was a picket fence leading to a larger plot of land.
“You up?”
Alden looked at the figure that came out of the office door. “Hey, thought you slept by now.”
“I was. I was getting some water when I noticed you here,” Melia sat on the backyard chair, she checked the fire pit, and threw some sticks in it.
“We got to buy some kindling later.”
“The wet market on creekfall should have one,” Alden stirred his beer, and drank.
“That’s new, you usually don’t bother drinking.”
“I don’t. But I got started today. Want some?”
“Sure.”
Alden handed the bottle to Melia, and she drank directly from it. “This goldcrown? I prefer moonbear, it’s better than this piss.”
“I ain’t picky so I don’t care about the difference.”
“This is usually what they drink at Chief’s station. Must be because you got this for free from their crates?”
Alden made a smug look. “They said it was free. Reno and the guys have someone working on a brewery so they have a supply of the beer.”
“Huh, didn’t know that goldcrown employees have these benefits. But they do say that cheap beer does taste good if paired with game roast. Anyway, you're a person that usually doesn't mope around.”
“True, I have always been trying to live my life without speeding up or slowing down or trying to pretend what I am. Then again, this is coming from a fool who survived a shipwreck, and had stopped caring where he came from...it just goes on.”
“Is that so?”
“But there are days where I want to know. I want to know if those memories have some worth. And at the same time, I don’t want to know, afraid that I’ll be some jackass before I come to this town. Even if I was something before all this...I don’t want it.”
Alden looked at the orphanage. “Thomas got it hard, we’re kind of the same, he doesn’t remember everything before he became part of the military, and is just trying to find a place to settle down where he could live a peaceful life. But he has a harsher life, being a magiborne and that. Compared to my worries, it feels miniscule.”
“Don’t say that,” Melia said. “Everyone has their own hurt, it’s impossible for anyone to understand the hurt that you feel during that time. I’ll punch someone who thinks that their hurt is better than theirs.”
“True, it might be nothing to them, but it might be different. I’ve been drifting, but you and Nana gave me a place to live, and work so that I could earn my keep and eat. Melia, I think we should try and make Thomas live here.”
“Thought you were talking about yourself...but okay, I don’t mind him,” she took the drink from Alden, took a sip, and gave it back. “Nana already decided that he’s staying here. Nana’s the law of the orphanage, and that she probably thinks that having two boys guarding the orphanage would be better than having one. Not to mention, a magiborne can help us with security, and clearing the plot of land we have here.”
“True. So, should I bring it up to Sister Katey and Rein?”
“You should. Sister Katey will have to check up on him so better bring him forward, and save Katey trouble. Wonder if she brings her daughter?”
“Hope so. The orphanage was fun when Sister Katey celebrated the holidays with us.”
“She will probably sponsor us again,” she looked up. Melia was rather fond of the Big Sister who was the type who you couldn’t just get mad off.
She always has such a gentle soothing voice that even her admonition was soft, which makes it hard for you to even think that she’s criticizing your behavior.
“I wonder what she’s going to say about Nana taking in another person?”
“She’ll be mad for a second or two before she lets Nana do what she wants. She can’t help but tolerate Nana and what she does...and I would be far more surprised if she somehow doesn’t accept Thomas into this.”
“I’d be surprised if she doesn’t, too.”
Alden took a sip of the beer and rubbed his thigh. “That reminds me, you are heading to the capital a day after Sister Katey’s visit, right?”
“I am. Oh, right, your papers should be fully processed by then.”
“Uh, do you think I can borrow some florins? I don’t think that I have enough for the rest of the fees for my permits,” Alden asked.
Melia crossed her arms. “You sure that you aren’t saving for that fishing pole? I saw you looking at that shopping comercial about that telescopic pole.”
“Aye, I would love to have that, not going to lie. But I really do have no florins...eh...I need three hundred florins.”
Melia stood up, and wiped her mouth. “You’re going to drive me to the capital, and be my escort. So, you gotta earn that pay, first.”
“Understood.”
“Good. Glad that we could agree on that.”
She took the beer from Alden’s hand and took a long sip. “Try and sleep early, I don’t want to see you smelling like alcohol and game meat when Sister Katey visits.”
“Got it, I’ll just stay here for a minute or two. Goodnight.”
Melia went back to the building, leaving Alden alone with the fire pit. He then turned his eyes back to the skies, before making a finger gun and pointing it at the brightest star in the sky.
