Chapter 6: Curiosity kills the fox

Lu and Autumn took off to a farm at the corner of the walls where they met the one who posted the bounty. An old man with a straw hat dressed in the same medieval fashion as the other villagers.

"Good evening, sir. I have come to help in the name of credits" Autumn greeted with a smile.

The old man smiled, "Very straightforward, aren't you. Well I do like working with people like you" he opened the wooden gate and locked it after they stepped inside. He led them to a field with small lines arranged in rows and spoke.

"I've already grown old, you see. Plowing has always been the most difficult part for me, and from that you already know your task" the old man turned around. "Do it for me and I'll take care of the rest. The best I could do is set a layout for you to follow to make it easier, as you can see from the lines I've made. Just knock at my house over there when you're done, okay?" he cocked his head to the small building and headed towards it.

Both of them nodded to him as he left them. Autumn started to walk to the farthest line on the field. Meanwhile, Lu was dumbfounded staring at the ground.

The old man just let them in and let them loose without even a hint of worry that they might steal anything. Lu was again told of how blissful life seemed without any idea of what crime is, or at least acting that way. Only Autumn had thought ill of him thus far, and as he observed, she isn't born and raised in the city of Elle, so she doesn't count.

Autumn noticed his state and commented, "If you want to finish early you have to start early, you know?"

"Uh..." he looked around. "We...aren't going to use our bare hands, right? Where are the tools?" he asked.

"What tools?" Autumn asked, taking off a patch of dirt and grass at the end of the marking with a single swipe of her forearm, a motion that a wave of violet feathers followed immediately afterwards. She repeated it and another group of brown and green flicked away along with the purple.

"Oh..." Lu realized in awe. He was still a long way from adjusting to how this world acted as if those physical manifestations of energy had always existed. He was daunted at the idea that the everyday tools of mankind as he knew it were no longer hoes, shovels, and flints and steels anymore. Most of them were replaced by the ever-so-convenient and available feathers.

"Do you know what a plow is?" Lu asked.

Autumn raised an eyebrow "Do you think I'm an idiot?" then continued her plowing.

Lu grunted and mumbled, "What's with the people here and idiots?" then turned away . He could not use his feathers because of its golden nature, but at least he learned that tools were not extinct yet, and in fact are still common knowledge, so he opted to search for one.

Soon, Lu returned with a hoe and a shovel, then started to work on the ground manually.

Autumn giggled at his painstakingly slow progress. "Are you seriously going to use those?" she asked. At this point Autumn was already halfway done with her part.

"You have a problem with it?" Lu asked. It was the best excuse he could come up with at the moment.

Autumn continued to mind her business. "No, but I think you do because you're still going to plow half of the field no matter how long it will take you".

Lu sighed, and they worked without another word.

After a couple of hours, the moon, again surprising Lu with its brightness, already came to rise and the street lamps were lit again. Lu had finally finished his chore and went to the front door of the farmer's house.

He knocked and announced that he had completed his part, and Autumn walked out with the old man, thanking him.

"You were a great cook, Mr. Flaire" she said.

The old man laughed. "Almost like how my granddaughter used to it say before she left for the city of walls. You can come back for more any time you'd like" he told her. The old man's smile told him that he took so much a fancy to her gjay he'd adopt her as her own, given the chance.

Autumn went into the house an hour ago and Lu thought that she was merely caught up in a bit of chit chat, but apparently she came in a hungry girl and came out a freeloader. But he didn't think any less of her. In fact, he wished he went in as well. Then again, the only probably had that dinner because he was taking too long.

Flaire guided them to the gates and handed them a single pouch filled with silver tokens called credits.

"You two have a nice day" bid them before locking the wooden gates again.

The two had eyes sharp enough to tell that it had extra coins just from looking and immediately tried to return it, but the old man merely waved them off with a smile.

The two started heading back the way they came.

"He gave you a free meal?" Lu asked.

"Was it my fault you were too slow?Nobody told you to not use your quills" Autumn said.

Lu wanted to retailiate, but he did not want trouble, so he let it go.

Autumn flipped a silver coin and stopped to ask, "Heads or tails? We can split the coins but not the bag".

"Heads" he declared, and it turned out to be true.

Autumn sighed in defeat and handed him the bag, "It was such a cute bag too".

"I wouldn't complain if you've just claimed it though" Lu said.

"So you'll give it to me?" Autumn's eyes sparkled.

Lu didn't say anything, but he raised an eyebrow and it told Autumn all she needed to know.

"It's not very kind to get someone's hopes up, you know" she pouted.

"And you're not very kind either, you know?" Lu began counted the credits on Autumn's palm as they walked.

Soon they have arrived back at the town square where Esther had left Lu. This time it was dark and the bright moon, yellow lamps and the faint glow from the house windows were the source of light.

Their shadows followed them to the now cold and quiet streets as if it had not been full of life and trading just hours ago.

As Lu was counting the last coin into her palm, he was reminded of how limited his resources are.

"Do you know a cheap inn that I can afford with half this much?" he showed her his pouch of 125 credits.

"Is... that all you have? For real?" Autumn asked.

A trickle of sweat formed at the side of his face. "Yes" he reluctantly replied.

"Where are you from? How did you get here without money? Didn't you encounter titans on the way? Did you just walk all the way here not paying for a speedwagon or something?" Autumn sent a barrage of questions.

Lu could hardly speak at all before Autumn took over again.

She turned aside and crossed her arms. "Well, whatever. I don't wanna hear it. I do know one inn that sells a night for 30".

Autumn looked at him, perhaps thinking about charging him a few credits for the information. However, looking at the poor lost fellow she sighed and decided against it.

"Follow me" Autumn motioned a hand. She led him into an inn with a signboard that advertises a cheap bargain of a night for 30 credits.

"Thanks. You've saved a life" Lu said.

Autumn stopped him midway up the stairs. "Not meaning to be intrusive but, what are your plans for earning money? Im not going to stand by knowing some idiot might to starve to death".

Lu cringed. "Hey that hit hard! Anyway, rest assured that you can count on me to not starve to death. I'm not planning to have a luxurious life anyway. A simple life with shelter, clothing, and food is all I need".

Autumn looked aside and spoke like she was cursing. "Well, ain't that a nice way to get yourself to suffer"

Lu was taken back and his eyes widened at the remark. "Excuse me?".

"Oh, I'm sorry I was just muttering to myself. It was nice working with you. Promise me we'll never meet again, okay!" and just like that she ran off.

He ate dinner inside the inn for 35 credits and rented a room. Getting to sleep got difficult because of what the old lady had told him earlier.

The words of the fortune teller echoed as he stared at the faint glow of the zero on his wrist. He asked himself what sort of thing the number would be if he were still playing Monitum. There was also the paths the fortune teller was talking about. He does not know what he should do or what he shouldn't, and why.

He thought hard for a time before he gave up, and somehow managed to convince himself that he will figure it out in the morning just so he could get his mind at rest.

He got so tired from thinking that all it was already morning after what it seemed to him was just a blink.

"You sure had a comfy sleep, blackhead. It's only a couple hours before midday" a voice commented. He looked to his left and found a small ethereal fox girl smiling mischievously at him, wagging her tail cutely.

Lu looked to the mirror on his right and found that the white chalk on his head had fallen off over the night. He took the stone in his pocket, held it over him, materialized his golden feathers, and they converged on the tip, powdering a very small part of it, just enough to turn the strands gray again.

He then turned to Esther, who was curled up at the bed's edge. "You have quite the nerve to say that when you were the one who left me back at the fountain to sleep or whatever"

Esther yawned and stretched her hands up, "Hey! I need twenty hours of sleep a day"

"Twenty!?" Lu shouted. "Why do you even bother waking up? What's your life like? Something like being late for a nap because of oversleeping or something!?"

"Hey! Did you ever see me eat?" Esther defended herself.

Lu tilts his head. "Huh. Fair enough. But speaking of eat, I feel like I haven't eaten for a thousand years".

Three knocks on the wooden door stole their attention and a soft voice took over. "Dear guest, we request to keep it down as other guests may be disturbed. Our utmost gratitude be placed accordingly". Afterwards the wooden floor creaked softer with every step the maid took away from their door.

"Overstaying and then causing a ruckus. If it were my inn you'd be exiled already" Esther teased.

Lu looked remorseful of his deeds. "Is it really 10 am already? How can you tell the time?" He asked.

She pointed out the window, and Lu saw a tall clock tower with four sycnhronized clocks on each side of its head.

Lu then hurriedly walked down to the front counter and apologized to the innkeeper, who was fortunately a kind and understanding person. He even invited him to come again probably out of business reasons, but nonetheless it was clear that he had no ill will against Lu for overstaying a little.

Going back outside, he started his day with a brunch to save both time and money while Esther circled around him. To Lu's surprise, aside from lizard tails and a few other rather questionable things, half the cuisine was actually normal and recognizable.

After the meal he planned to look for an employment. A deed that proved quite difficult to realize.

Every job including manual labor required an amount of control precision over his feathers.

The precision part easy. He has more than enough confidence in his ability to manipulate feathers. The feeling was very similiar if not identical to controlling feathers in Monitum where he was one of the better players.

The hard part was that he can't use his plumes at all. Showing its color doesn't only compromise his chances at an employment, but also his chances at being able to stay in a functioning society altogether.

Hours flew by as Lu searched for a job that would accept someone who could not use feathers. As he'd expected, he got none out of 14. After that Lu was already feeling down. It was a good thing Esther cared enough to try to pull him together through the hardship. When she noticed his pitiful state she started cheering him up.

"Let's look over there!" She would say, and the tired boy would lazily follow to the blacksmith. Again he would be rejected, and instead ask about his sister, but still find nothing.

"How about there? That looks easy even without feathers!" Esther sped to the bakery where Lu would come after. Then once more he gets rejected and asks about Leila, who of course nobody knows anything about.

The fox aided more than most would, exerting effort as if she was the one in trouble if she didn't find money before dinnertime.

"Hang in there!" she'd say, "Courage isn't the roaring success but the tiny voice that says 'I'll try again'!", then floats over to a bookshop. The cycle repeats.

Lu grew more fatigued with each one they approach. And when Lu had enough, he asked her to stop.

"I think I've had enough for the day. Thanks, Esther" he said, sitting down on a public bench in the town square with most of his strength drained already.

Meanwhile Esther was still faced somewhere else flying on the lookout for any place where they might find an employment.

She hopped in place, a notion she does whenever she spots a potential working spot.

Lu sighed, knowing what was coming. "I'm telling you I'm well-prepared to sleep on the streets on an empty stomach if I have to, which probably means tonight".

The small red fox glided back to him. "Come on! I have a really good feeling about this one!".

"You said that about 4 tries ago" Lu crossed his arms.

"Alright! This is the last one, you weak whiny kid, I promise. I'm just worried some idiot might starve himself to death when he's the only one I can talk to" Esther told him.

"Really" Lu said. It was the second time someone had vocalized their lacked faith that he could survive on his own. As a matter of fact, he too was leaning toward that thought, seeing how physically tiring it was to get a job. He fears that his physique might affect him too much one day.

"Alright, alright. Just follow me" she led the way.

They turned around a few corners until Esther stopped before a narrow hallway in complete darkness amidst afternoon daylight.

"Oh sure, let's blindly venture into a mysteriously spooky place" Lu mocked.

Esther's ears flopped down. "Look, do you need money or not?".

Lu crossed his arms. "How do you seem so sure that I'd find an employment in there? Just look at it. It looks like it'll give me death instead of a way to make a living".

Esther closed her eyes, daydreaming. "I see a dark place, and only in the darkest places can the most beautiful mushrooms grow!"

"Okay! I get it. But we run at the first sign of threat" Lu said.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Esther grinned.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean, 'what do you mean we'?"

Esther stretched like a cat. "I mean goodnight".

"Hey don't just leave me like...that" Lu tried to say, but couldn't finish before his companion had vanished.

Lu sighs in front of the hallway. Mustering his courage, he resolves to walk forth and brave his final search for the day.