A humbling experience (part 4)

"Young Miss... By any chance... is the price you paid for all of this man's merchandise over one big silver coin...?"

"...?"

The neighboring stall owner asked tensely, causing Ava to become much more cautious.

She couldn't deny clearing out the hooded man's entire stock, but how should she answer...?

"I happened to like the designs... besides, that person is a member of our community, and he tries his best to better his life, so... I did pay him more than that – as an encouragement!"

The hooded man could instantly prove whether she was lying or not, so Ava decided to answer truthfully, which at least gave her a chance to put herself in a more amicable light.

"...aaghhhh...!"

"Nooo...!"

"...eh...?"

But then, to her even bigger surprise, all stall owners who heard the confirmation let out anguished groans.

"Hmhm~"

"...?!"

Not bothered by her or her companion, the hooded vendor who closed his business passed by and walked up to the closest stall with an elegant black pouch open.

"Tsk...!"

As he did that, the stall owner clicked his tongue and gritted his teeth in a fury but ended up – taking out a stack of small silver coins and dropping them in the pouch.

Then the hooded man moved on to the next stall, and its owner did the same thing, except he took out several stacks of big copper coins and pushed them up to the other man.

"Better luck next time~"

"..."

The hooded man nodded at him with a happy smile, but the bitter-faced stall owner didn't respond at all.

"My lady! Stand back! This man must be collecting the protection money for the crime ring!"

Theo gasped and reached out towards the sword at his waist, about to pull it out and most likely rush to apprehend the villain.

But this... didn't make any sense...

|What? No way...! He was so bright. Why is he doing something like that openly...?! Are the guards going on patrol today all corrupt and in his pocket or something?!|

Ava gulped down her saliva and thought as, in her utter confusion, she could not accept the sudden drop in the criminal's intelligence.

"...ugh... this is a misunderstanding, mister Theodore..."

As Theo was about to shake off Ava's hand and charge at the careless criminal, the first stall owner who paid up raised his hand and stopped him.

"What do you mean?! He is clearly extorting you for money!"

The dark-brown-haired boy certainly didn't like the answer, and his sword was halfway out of its sheath.

"No. He is collecting the winning of his bet."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"...b-bet...?

The stall owner shook his head and groaned, shocking both Theo and Ava, although he had an expression as if he had eaten something extremely sour.

"This morning, that guy made rounds around the town square boasting how proficient he is in selling stuff. He was being obnoxious, so most of us challenged him to prove it... So he bought all of our cheapest accessories, paying three small coppers upfront, and said he would sell it for over one big silver before the end of the day."

"...!"

"!!!"

The man explained, causing Theo and Ava to flinch in bewilderment, although for two different reasons.

Theo was baffled and petrified with his half-exposed sword...

...and Ava was pulling all of her willpower into holding back an excited smile...

"He was so confident that he promised to pay one big silver to everyone who bets with him if he loses – with one big silver being given to him from every better in case he won."

The stall owner shook his head, deeply dissapontd with himself, while watching more and more people parting with their hard-earned money.

"We all know how much our merchandise is worth – not to mention it was the cheapest stuff that all of the folks around here don't pay any attention to anymore. The bet was so enticing and seemingly surefire way to earn some nice silver that, as you can see, even the people selling other stuff joined in."

"...ah... oh, no...!"

The man covered his face, mourning the colossal loss while Ava trembled – but for a completely different reason than the people around her would expect.

Maybe she was duped – but when compared to how much wealth she gained since the epidemy and how much an average stall owner earns – even in the wealthy city that Startinton has become – she was finessed out of far less than they did.

|That guy...! Even if he isn't a part of the main cast – he is someone I must get on my side!|

Ava thought to herself, already thinking of a reason for contacting the errand boy that the hooded man told her about...

"What's going on here?"

Suddenly, two soldiers on patrol made their way to the town square and stopped the hooded man, obviously suspicious about the shady person collecting large amounts of money in broad daylight.

...and then the hooded man looked back, right at the pixie-cut girl...

|That's my chance to get in his good books!|

"Y-young Miss?!"

Ava's eyes shone excitedly as she spotted a chance and charged towards the man about to be apprehended, pulling Theo – taken by surprise – with her.

"Mister John, Mister James...! I believe that I can provide context to this situation...!"

"Young Miss!"

The girl called out to the soldiers, getting their attention.

"You see..."

With Theo staring at her in utter disbelief, the girl woven in the information that she just learned into the story stealthily put her in the position of kindhearted, although slightly ditzy and clueless girl.

"In the end, everyone... please remember that gambling was what pushed Mister Gregory into doing horrible things to our community over a year ago. All of us have a lot to learn from that. Easy money is a myth, and those who give their word too easily are bound to face a bitter reality... Let's all work hard to make up for the losses!"

"Yeah!"

At the end of her speech, Ava even got cheered on by the stall owners while the soldiers on patrol were nodding their heads. Only Theo and the hooded man did not react amicably.

Theo's glare towards the shady man was too severe, and similarly, the man's mocking grin wasn't helping at all.

Nonetheless, the commotion was over before it started, and everyone continued on with their day - with Ava already planning to visit the town the next day to find the crime ring's newest errand boy.