The Response

I let a few hours pass by. It was painful almost—the wait that is.

I was sure of my plan, certain that it was going to properly work as I intended it to, but even so, there was uncertainty burrowing deep into my gut. I didn't think I was all that nervous about this, but seems I was wrong.

I think it has something to do with this being my plan. Not Mayer's plan, mine and mine alone. Mayer had placed his trust in me, in form of his reputation itself. It was a pretty big deal, if you asked me. Mayer was clearly a powerful guy, at the very least physically. That commanded a certain respect all of its own. This was a first for me, utilising this sort of power and it was something that I desperately hoped went according to plan.

I stood up from the dark, wild grass that was growing just outside the window of my bedroom swaying gently in the breeze. Something that I would find calming in a lot of other situations, but right now, not much could calm me down. Mayer, on the other hand was reading a book in his chair. I don't think much could break that man from his calm, especially not something as minor as this.

I'm not entirely sure what time it is, but I would give it a guess and say about midday—maybe a touch earlier. I waded through the thick grass all the way up to the large window of my bedroom. I hadn't noticed this the first few days I was here, but the massive window actually was able to open on a large hinge. It totally didn't look right, not by the conventional rules of modern architecture from Earth, and I wasn't sure that it totally followed physics either, but it was just probably some crazy material used for the hinges, but the massive pane of glass was able to stay totally suspended at a ninety-degree angle without so much as a quiver under the frankly enormous weight of itself. Or maybe it was something possible on Earth and I'm just uneducated.

I walked into my room, swinging the massive pane of glass shut behind me. Not needing to do anything in my room, I walked out through the hallway to the living area.

"Morning, once again." said Mayer proactively. He was reading the same book as last night, markedly farther along this time though.

"Yeah, morning." I said somewhat distractedly. I was thinking about what to do next. Do I just walk into the centre of town? Do I bother to try and sneak around and see what the reactions are before I make any big movements for the day?

Mayer looked up at me, a grin on his face punctuated by a small chuckle. He nodded ever so slightly and returned to his book. I sighed and decided to not aimlessly stand around in the living room and go do something.

So, I moved out of the living room without saying goodbye and was out of the door, walking towards the centre of town in a heartbeat. I walked with a confidence that I didn't feel and a surety that I couldn't possibly have earned. But I tricked myself into portraying these attributes anyways. It was integral that I project that image. It was important that people believed that I was important, someone worthy enough to be related to the Master Mayer. I was most certainly not worthy of that, but I had to at least try to pretend I was.

My pace was fast, fast enough that I couldn't back away and hide, something that I wasn't truly considering, but what I wished I could do, nonetheless. But, step by step, as I drew closer to the source of my worries, I calmed down.

There was pressure that felt like a weight in my gut still, and I was sure that it would not go away, but all me extraneous nerves slowly floated away, leaving me with a clearer mind than I thought was really possible for me in this sort of situation.

It wasn't long before I started to see people on the streets. I looked at them, trying to ascertain what they thought about the note, or if they had seen it at all in the first place. Their reactions to me walking down the street, towards the middle of the town no less, made it readily obvious that the news had spread like wildfire. At least their initial reaction wasn't to be scared of me or anything, Mothers weren't pulling their children close to them as I walked by, but everyone I passed was definitely wary. It was an interesting experience actually. It was something that I hadn't ever even remotely experienced before, and initially the town had been quite welcoming of my existence—apparently, my position in their eyes have changed since the note.

I continued to walk, my strides unhindered, towards the centre of town.

There wasn't so much a crowd of people nearing the centre of town, but there were definitely more people than there would be normally. As soon as I was noticed, everyone's eyes snapped to me. It was actually quite intimidating, but I let their gazes flow over me like water. I wasn't concerned by their gazes, not really. They were mostly trying to size me up after reading the note.

I walked slower now, more deliberately. I walked over the dirt road, drawing closer to the patch of grass that had become the centrepiece of the town. As I drew closer, the density of people went up quite significantly. These people were most likely reading over the note, or gossiping amongst themselves, at least until I came along, and their attentions were drawn elsewhere. I looked at the people, who had clearly been arguing about the note since it was found. There were a few men in the centre of the group who seemed like they were the chief arguers.

I walked through the small group of people, walking directly towards the note itself. It was still immaculate, just like when I had pinned it to that log. I had almost assumed that someone would rip it or remove it, but it remained entirely untouched. I stared at it a moment, recalling how stupefied I had been when Mayer had written this and given it to me. I had been worried it wasn't going to be enough at the time, but in retrospect, I think he might've been right to write it like this.

I read it over again and then, without turning, spoke to those that stood behind me.

"Has everyone read this?" I said, making sure my tone was neutral and blunt. I felt the slight surprise in the air after I spoke. Were they not expecting to be addressed at all? I disregarded the surprise and waited quietly for a response.

"Yes sir. Though some of us aren't the best readers…" The voice of the man was gruff, but still timid. He was one of the chief arguers I'd singled out. I nodded without turning my head away from the note.

"Then I will read the note, for clarity." I said bluntly. I left a moment of silence before I spoke, raising anticipation. I turned and began to recite the note verbatim from heart.

"Recently a nephew of mine, Maximilian Avenforth, has been sent to train with me. In the process of that training, it has been brought to my attention that the partner of my nephew, Rethi Orsen, has been mistreated by the Jothian family whilst working on their fence. This is disappointing behaviour, and I will not be complicit in supporting this attitude towards him or others with silence. Signed—Mayer Renue." I spoke clearly and concisely, as closely to how I think Mayer himself would have spoken it.

The note itself was short and sweet. There was no punishment stated, there were no threats given, implied or otherwise. It was quite simple really, getting all the information across easily and succinctly. However, this note only poses the question, and the townsfolk are left to answer it themselves. Mayer, the de-facto 'head' of the town has expressed his distaste of an action that was taken against a 'partner' of his 'nephew' by a person of the town. It was their decision on how they rectify the situation.

As far as I understood, this was the first time that Mayer had made an announcement in this way. He had always simply acted silently, telling no-one of his motives or plans. Not that he specifically had any plans that involved the town itself. However, now they were posed with a question that they had thought would never come, and now they were at risk of losing favour of someone they looked towards in crises.

This was something quite defining to this town, and I was almost entirely certain that this would be carefully considered by the townsfolk. There were so many different ways that they had to look at this. They weren't entirely sure what Mayer wanted, so they had to carefully consider how to handle the Jothians. My hope is that they will quickly realise that the answer isn't to kill them, or anything as extreme as that. If that is what Mayer wanted, I'm pretty sure it would take him negative effort to do so. Even I could probably pull it off.

So, then the next best step is a punishment of other avenues. Hopefully this will be realised, and action will be taken along that vein. It is a gamble though, there could be a more extreme reaction than I thought, and people could end up very dead. Not really something I want to think about at night to be honest.

The people surrounding me had long started whispering, discussing the note, and I decided to leave them to it. I walked smoothly out the way that I came in and started walking back home. I walked home fairly fast, I had something else I wanted to accomplish today as well. The dirt road started to fly under my feet as I let my muscle memory I had built up over the past few days carry me back home to Mayer's house, and soon enough I was at the door.

I walked in, and all in one moment I was standing before Mayer.

"Hey, can I get paid for the work at the Jothians farm?" His eyes raised from his old book, looking at me quizzically.

"Asking for that money pretty quickly." He said nonchalantly. He quickly folded the page he was on and placed the book in his lap.

"I know, but hey I don't have any money at all, and I need to pay out some Workers Comp." I chucked at myself, but Mayer looked at me eyebrow raised. I sensed genuine inquisitiveness.

"Uh… Workers compensation, like when an employee gets hurt at work and stuff…" I trailed off, looking at Mayer's face. He was totally dumbfounded.

"Really? You guys don't have Workers Compensation? Like you don't pay out soldiers if they get injured or anything?"

"If they die, we pay the family an amount." He said. I shook my head, feeling myself get derailed.

"Anyways, on Earth we have Worker's Compensation, and I work by Earth rules. So, I pay people Worker's Compensation." I said, more indignantly than I really intended. Honestly I started to feel a little bit of a flush on my face, but Mayer looked at me dead in the eyes very seriously. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his purse it drooped heavily, packed with coin. He started to dig around in the purse while looking me dead in the eye.

"I see. It seems there are things that you hold dear to you from your homeland. It is important to take some things with you as you journey through the lands like you will one day. Honest values are some of the most important things in this world. Keep them safe." He was so incredibly serious the sound of his voice was almost deafening. The words beat against my mind like a hammer on a gong. It resounded against what felt like my very soul. It was a glorious and terrifying experience. Like I have seen something I shouldn't have. Not yet.

Mayer looked deep into my eyes and grinned, his smile hiding something that I couldn't quite grasp. He pulled four coins out of his wallet.

"Two for you, two for the boy. You will both get paid for the Jothian job at the end of the week, in a few days. These two are for the note that you helped with, and these are for the boy's 'Worker's Compensation' as you put it." I looked at the four coins in Mayer's hands. They were all iron smah. From as far as I've gathered, two of these coins are a decent wage per week for an adult man doing a hard labour job.

For Mayer this was obviously chump change. I would imagine he could throw around a few thousand of these coins with absolutely no qualms. There was no way that this was a large investment from his end at all.

But the reality was, that the sentiment was exactly the same. He didn't have to give me this money, he didn't even have to humour my Worker's Compensation. He could just as easily have laughed in my face and told me to get real, to adapt to the cutthroat world that I am sure that this place is.

I looked at him, and I couldn't help it. I grabbed the man in the biggest hug I could give. Emotions raced through my veins, I felt them burn through my throat as I sobbed into the older man. The hurt came to the surface all at once, something that I would have sworn I wasn't harbouring. I mourned the death of my old world, the world that I knew, and I loved. I mourned the death of the family and friends that I have been trying so hard to repress into oblivion. I cried for the kindness of an old man who had no reason to help me but did anyways. I cried for the crimes that I know this world will harbour, and that I will have to eventually face with no choice, no alternative.

Then I just cried. I cried for me.