Cecilia visits Vlad's meat factory

Cecilia sometimes got really upset by prejudices.

What, just because of her clothes, the way she talks, the way she walks, and the looks of wonder she's spreading all over, the stranger looks at her like she's poor and just assumes she can't afford to pay for a lollipop?

Although buying a lollipop can be a bit difficult right now for her,.

"You know, nobody told me I had to pay." Cecilia used her full zero-bargaining experience.

The student's answer surprised her: "That's not a problem, ma'am."

"Really?" It couldn't be this easy, right?

"You're more than ready to get off the ship and come back in a few more years, when you've made some money for your stay."

Of course it doesn't.

Cecilia seriously considered going to collect alms from Devin, but so far, at least in her humble opinion, they were on equal ground. Cecilia did not want to upset this fragile balance.

"Is there a way, any way, to make money without getting off the ship? I'll do anything!"

The stuward's smile widened. "Anything?"

.       . .

Cecilia was never afraid of hard work, with the main reason being that she had never experienced it. But now, three hours in, a new fear seemed to have awakened in her heart.

"How long do I have to keep doing this?" She looked at the stuward with a defeated look, on the verge of tears.

The most useful thing she has learned in the last few hours is that the stuward's name is Gerald and that he has a deep sadistic nature embedded within him that awakens as long as money is not involved in the talk.

"All night if you have to." He didn't even bother to smile at this point. "I just want to remind you that until you produce a product, there is no payment for you; until now, you worked for free."

Cecilia looked down at the pile of dying-looking towel swans she had made, crying in her heart a little. She missed Sirius; although he wasn't the perfect father, he never forced her to turn towel sheets into a 3D shape.

"Please" If she had begged before, now she has abandoned all her pride as a human being. "Let me do something that will make money now; I'll do anything, really. Just please don't let me see any more towels. I beg you as a colleague."

"Colleague is a stretch considering you didn't really work," Gerald opened. "Yet there is a place on the ship for incompetent people like you."

"I'll take it!"

Gerald looked at her with pity in his eyes. "It's your choice, ma'am; remember that."

.      . .

Cecilia could have bet that this hall was the most like Devin's room of anything she had ever seen.

Although she had never been in his room, the extravagant decorations of gold roses gave away that they were different rooms of the same set. Only instead of what she assumed would be the bed in Devin's room (maybe wizards find beds inferior? She hadn't seen one yet.) There were dozens of tables scattered around the huge room, which echoed voices of speech and pleas.

Cecilia began to realize that only the rich got to laugh in this place.

"Welcome to Vlad's Gambling Hall," Gerald introduced. "It's not an official place, so I can't recommend you come here officially—or unofficially, if you ask for my opinion—but this is the only place where you can make a lot of money fast."

"Who is Vlad?"

She may have imagined it, but it seems to you that Gerald showed a sliver of a genuine smile for the first time. "Is that what you take from everything I said?" He sighed. "Vlad is one of the senior students of the academia; every year he runs a variety of... facilities for extra cash; he's not the kind of guy you want to mess with, believe me."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, ma'am, I believe I, unlike you, have work to do. If you want to reserve a room, you need to get 20 copper coins by midnight, or you will have to return, unfortunately. Well then-" His fluency was interrupted when Cecilia hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Gerald; really thank you."

Gerald tried to struggle feebly before letting her hold him for long moments.

"Here." He threw a coin at her before leaving. "Something to start with."

Before Cecilia could thank him again, he interrupted her.

"By the way, try not to lose. Vlad likes to sell organs."