Intermission 6: Christina

On the way back home, Tina was looking at the basket in which she carried the food. More specifically, for the gold coin that she had received from Sian.

According to what her mother had taught her, 100 copper coins were worth 1 silver and 100 silver coins were worth 1 gold coin. Despite not knowing exactly how valuable it was, she knew you could buy a lot of food.

Judging that with a copper coin she could buy 4 black breads, with that coin, she and her mother did not have to worry about food for a long time. With that said, she did not know how many copper coins that gold coin was worth, but she was sure she got happy.

In the same basket as the coin, it was also the blond hair doll wearing a blue dress she had received from Sian. Even if it did not bring as much happiness as the money, she was still excited, because that was the first time she had received a toy as a gift.

"Something good seems to have happened today, just look at you, you are almost jumping with happiness." An elderly woman who was passing said.

"I got a lot of food as a gift." Tina answered happily.

"This is good to hear. Your mother will surely be happy with this news."

Continuing happily until she got home, when she was approaching the door, she listened to a male voice coming from within. That made her worried, since her mother did not get visits besides Rondo, and he himself said he would not come anymore. Thinking about it, she thought about the possibility of her mother to have looked for someone else to do the same thing she was doing with Rondo.

His visit was always something that made Tina distressed and sad, as she knew her mother was not happy doing those things, but she endured it for Tina's sake. Before, she never said anything or tried to interrupt that situation because she knew that even if she protested, her mother wouldn't listen.

But it was different now, she had Sian's support, and she had the confidence that she could be useful, so she didn't want to let her mother continue to suffer anymore. With that said, she knew that everything had time and place. Then, not wanting to leave her mother in a difficult situation, she held anguish and sadness in her chest and decided to look at the window's gap as she always did.

However, completely beyond her expectations, what she saw made her scared. There were 3 men surrounding her mother against the wall. What made her even more anxious was the fact that she recognized that these men wearing leather breastplates were the ones who had been causing trouble recently.

To further increase her worry, she saw the fear spread across her mother's face, which affirmed that the 3 had not come with a good intention.

'What are these bad people doing here?!'

"Come on, you can do it, right?" The guy in the middle stretched out his hand.

Taking a step back and putting her back against the clay wall, Tina's mother said. "No, I can't, please don't involve my daughter in this and go away."

"Don't be like that, the boss is politely asking you for a favor." The guy on the right said.

"No!" She resolutely denied it.

"Why not do what the boss is asking? I'm sure it's not something difficult for you." Said the guy on the left.

"No!" She repeated.

Giving the other two a serious look, the man in the middle nodded slightly. "Okay, looks like we don't have another choice."

Putting his hand on the buckle of the armor that covered his chest, the man quickly removed it. The other two followed his actions, but in a more time-consuming manner, as the binding of their armor wore leather straps.

Tina felt a strong tightness in her chest as she saw her mother being surrounded and pressed by these 3 men. Knowing there was nothing she could do to help, and if she showed up, it would only make the situation worse, she held the baskets tightly and immediately turned and ran.

Shortly after she started running, she found Rondo and hoping he could help, she approached him.

"Please help me, those 3 bad men are bullying my mother!"

Looking surprised, he asked. "Those supported by the nobleman?!"

"It's them!" She replied hurriedly.

Rondo's surprise quickly turned to dissatisfaction. "That has nothing to do with me, so don't get me involved in it."

Although he refused to help and went on his way, Tina kept insisting, but the result remained the same.

With no other choice, she continued to approach the people she met on the street, but the situation remained the same no matter how hard she tried. In a way, this was somewhat expected, since those 3 people had a pretty terrible reputation in the town, and by being backed by a noble, things only got worse.

Doing her best to hold back her tears, she kept persisting and went to the next person she saw. "Please hel-"

Before she could even finish speaking, in a sudden movement, the man's elbow slammed into her shoulder, causing her to lose her balance and fall into what appeared to be a mud puddle.

As she fell, Tina's mind seemed to go blank for a moment before she realized the situation she was in. She had fallen, and along with her were also both the baskets she was carrying. All the food was dirty, including even the delicious toast she was eager for her mother to taste.

"Don't look at me like that, it's your fault for scaring me out of nowhere." The man said as he turned a bucket containing human waste into the puddle she was in.

Trying to drag herself out of the puddle, the tears she was holding spilled out in piles. "Why? Why doesn't anyone want to help my mother?"

"How am I supposed to know?" The man said in an indifferent tone as he turned his back and walked away.

Dragging herself out of the puddle and not knowing what to do, Tina cried loudly as she remained seated, her heart slowly sinking in despair. All she wanted was to help her mother, however, she was powerless to do so, and it seemed that her efforts to find help were doomed to be in vain.

But it was at that moment that she noticed the doll she had won from Sian a few minutes ago. As if it were a light guiding her out of the darkness, she reached out and picked up the doll, pulling it out of the puddle.

Still crying, she stood, and clinging to what little hope she had left, she immediately began to run. While she wasn't sure if he would help her, she knew he seemed to be a powerful mage, so she had to try.

Knowing that if she delayed, the worst could happen, Tina turned all her despair into strength and ran as fast as she could while her cries echoed through the streets.