Chapter 9
Be Thou for the People
Winter gasped in delight and pressed his hands against the hardware store window, his eyes sparkling with delight. He had almost completely forgotten about what had happened a few days before, due to his love of machinery.
"Ed, Al, come on, hurry up!" the young mechanic called, before entering the shop.
"Can I have this chromium molybdenum steel spanner set? Oh, and that hydraulic torque spanner, and this micrometre please?" the boy asked in a flurry of excitement.
"Sure thing, lad," the shopkeeper said and went to collect the items.
"Oh and if you have any, can I get a metal-tipped drill and a set of bits too?"
"Of course."
The man collected and placed the requested items in bags.
"Thank you," Winter said, paying for the tools, though not with his own money (it was Edwina's).
"Oh, this is exactly what I'd expect from Central! It has way much more stuff than a countryside shop." He picked up a screwdriver from the bag, lovingly stroking it and turning it over in his hands. "The grip on this driver is just perfect!"
"Hey, are you going to buy anything else, Winter?"
The boy turned and saw Alphonsa, the one who had spoken, laden with a mountain of boxes and bags, Edwina silent beside her. She had not spoken very much during the shopping spree.
"Don't you think you are buying too many souvenirs for yourself and Aunty?" Alphonsa asked.
"What?" Winter said as he handed the new bags to the armour girl, an angry look on his face. "You two said I can buy anything I wanted today." He turned to the older alchemist. "Right, Ed?"
"Right," Edwina agreed.
For a few moments, Winter was surprised at Edwina's quick response and melancholy expression, then spotted another thing to add to his souvenirs. "Look!" he said, pointing. "These are high-carbon, chromium steel pliers! Due to what they're made of, they never rust and can gut though pretty much anything! Can I buy these too, please?"
"Sure," the blonde girl said.
Winter again noted the older Elric sister's sad expression, and again he became occupied with something else. Turning to the man at the shop counter again, he asked, "Hey, mister, can I have a discount on this machine oil?"
"Sorry, lad, but no can do."
"Oh, well, I'll just pay the normal price."
After paying, the three children left the tool shop and continued to walk until Winter spotted a jewellers.
"I'll be right back!" the boy said to the girls and went inside.
"He's really going overboard, just because I said he could buy whatever he wanted. Isn't that what girls are stereotypically supposed to do?" Edwina thought aloud.
"Well, at least he's not thinking about what happened a few days before today," Alphonsa replied.
fifteen minutes later, Winter re-emerged from the jeweller shop, his hands behind his back.
"Are you done yet?" the older Elric asked.
Winter took his hands out from behind his back. "Here, these are for you, Ed, and this one is for you, Al."
In one hand, the boy was holding two boxes each containing a gold necklace, one with an 'E' pendant, the other with an 'A' pendant. In his order hand the boy, the small pump of oil he had bought earlier.
Edwina was surprised, but took the gifts, remaining silent. Alphonsa thanked Winter and told Edwina to keep hers, obviously she could not wear it, though Winter did not care, as he was happy she liked it. Edwina placed the necklaces and oil carefully in her pocket.
"Make sure you take good care of your automail while I'm gone," Winter instructed Edwina.
Still silent, the girl nodded.
All of a sudden, a military car screeched to a halt where the girls and the boy stood. The vehicle's occupant gave the usual salute as he stepped out.
"Miss Elric, Lieutenant Colonel Mustang requires you go to her immediately," the brown-haired man said.
Winter and Alphonsa waited outside Central Command while Edwina proceeded to the now familiar Lieutenant Colonel's office, where Mustang explained to the girl why she had called her.
"A mission?" Edwina said, feeling both excited and worried.
"Now that you are completely a State Alchemist, you will have to carry out missions. You will need to prepare yourself," Roya made clear, then turning to Rizo, who stood next to her desk, said, "Second Lieutenant, please give her the papers."
Rizo walked over to Edwina and handed her a document.
"Here are your orders and the documents you require," Mustang's most trusted subordinate said. "Good luck."
Taking the papers, Edwina read, "Fullmetal Alchemist, Edwina Elric, I order thy to inspect the Youswell Coal Mine."
"This is a job only for a State Alchemist. It includes an inspection of mining material as well as the mine," Rizo told the girl. "You are familiar with ore deposits, right?"
"Yes," the girl responded.
"As this is your first mission, I gave you an easy job. However, you must not underestimate it," the Flame Alchemist said firmly.
It was a cool evening, and after collecting Edwina's suitcase and saying goodbye to Winter (who was rather saddened to see them go away so soon) the Elric sisters had boarded a private locomotive reserved only for State Alchemists. As for Winter, he returned to Rizenbul after seeing his goodbyes, his heart a little heavy.
"It feels like we have reserved the entire train," Alphonsa laughed. "Going for a holiday on a train is nice, you just said back and–"
"Al, this isn't a holiday. It a job for me, a Dog of the Military," Edina told her younger sister. "You didn't have to come along."
"Will you stop saying that? I am always going to be with you, Nee-san. Always, ever since…"
An 11-year-old Winter Rockbell stood in Rizenbul Train Station, next to a train that his eleven and 10-year-old childhood friends were just about to board.
"You will be coming back to the village some day, right?" he asked the sisters.
"No, we won't," Edwina answered.
"But, Ed…" Winter began.
"Winter, we have no home to return to," Alphonsa said.
Winter said nothing, but his expression showed his grief.
"Well, I can see where you are coming from," Edwina said.
"Nee-san, look!" the younger Elric said suddenly and pointed out of the window at an approaching town.
"That must be Youswell," Edwina said. "And the coal mines…"
They were hard not to spot.
The steam engine whistled as it arrived at the mining town. The two sisters got off the train and were surprised to find the station quiet and deserted by all but a few people.
"I thought coal mines would a bit more…active," Edwina said.
They looked around at the people.
"They all look so tired," Alphonsa observed.
"And there is nothing interesting to look at," Edwina observed. "Let just get this investigation over with and get back to central quickly–"
A large plank of wood came out of nowhere and hit the 12-year-old on the head, and she fell into her bottom. She rubbed her head.
"Oh, so sorry about that, miss."
Edwina looked up to see a young boy with brown hair and brown eyes, who dressed in a white t-shirt, green trousers with braces and tough mining boots.
"Are you two tourists? Where did you come from? Where are you going to stay and eat?" the boy asked as Alphonsa pulled Edwina to her feet.
"Who are you?" The blonde snappily asked.
The boy did not hear her as he turned and called, "Dad! We have guests!"
A tall, muscular man with dark brown hair brown eyes, a moustache and beard, dressed in a similar fashion to his son, except with a hardhat on his head, walked over one the metal scaffolding surrounding the mine.
"What did you say?" he asked.
"We have guests! Money spenders!" the child called back.
"Money spenders?" the girls repeated.
"Welcome to Youswell," the man said to the Elrics and politely took his hat off. He jumped down from the scaffolding and went over to the girls.
"My name's Halling, I'm the innkeeper here." The man introduced himself, "And this is my son, Khayal." the man introduced the boy.
Halling took the two girls to his inn, a lively, bustling place full of muscular men drinking beer at tables and woman conversing.
"Sorry the place is so dirty," Halling said as he led the Elrics to the reception desk at the back of the room. "We miners don't make much you see, so I run this inn as well."
"So that's two guests for one night, then?" the landlady at the desk, who was also Halling's wife and Khayal's mother, asked.
"I will warn you, it's expensive," Halling, who was now severing drinks, said.
"That's ok. Even if we don't look like it, we do actually have a lot of money," Edwina replied.
"Well that, that will be two-hundred-thousand," the woman said.
"TWO-HUNDRED-THOUSAND? I'm not paying that just to stay at an inn!"
"I think it's a fair price. This is the best inn in Youswell," Halling said.
"And it's near enough the same price as in other places," Khayal appeared and added.
"You two are our first guest in a long time," the miner father said. "We need to squeeze as much money out of you as possible."
Moving to a more private location, Edwina checked her wallet.
"Damn, I don't have enough, Winter used up most of it on his souvenirs."
"Then what do we do," the younger Elric asked.
"Hmmm…wait, I know!"
Moving back to the more busy part of the in, Edwina walked up to Halling and said, "I can pay in a way other than money."
"In what way then?" the moustached man asked.
Edwina turned to the other people in the inn. "Does anyone have any broken tools?"
Everyone muttered among themselves for a few confused minutes before a bearded, dark-skinned man walked up to the girl holding a rusty, rotting pickaxe.
The blonde took the pickaxe and placed it on a table. Clapping her hands together, she preformed a transmutation on the object.
Everyone in the inn gasped. The pickaxe looked good as new.
"Anyone else need something fixed?" the young alchemist asked.
"Well, could you fix this?" asked the landlady, walking forward Edwina with a broken vase. "I treasure it dearly, but one day I accidentally dropped it and it broke."
"You didn't just get rid of it?" Haling asked.
"Well, it's rare you buy me things like this."
"Just leave it to me," Edwina said.
And with another quick transmutation, the vase was whole again.
"Thank you so much!" the grateful woman said.
"How interesting, it seems that one of our first guests in a long time is an alchemist," Halling said. "You know I used to study alchemy myself, but I don't have much talent for it, so I switched to mining.
The older Elric sister swelled with pride at the praise she was receiving.
"Hey, you didn't answer me before, so, why did you two come to Youswell? It's not he most interesting of places," Khayal stated.
"A job," Edwina answered. "I came to inspect the mine."
Silence fell.
"Inspect? Are you from the military?" Halling asked, his voice suddenly stern.
"I am a State Alchemist," the young girl replied.
The next thing the blonde girl knew, she was flying though the air. She landed on the hard ground outside the inn with a hard thud, her suitcase following and hitting her on the head.
"Hey, what was that for? How could you do that to a girl?" the young alchemist demanded.
"We have no place or food here for a Dog of the Military, girl or not," Halling walked out and said. The other men in the inn were behind him, suspiciously and angrily eyeing at the blonde.
"Hey, you are be–" Alphonsa walked over and began.
"Are you a soldier too, armour-girl?" the miner demanded to know.
"N–" Alphonsa started but was interrupted again, this time by Edwina. "That girl has nothing to do to me. I met her on the train and she decided to accompany me here."
Why are you saying that, Nee-san? Alphonsa thought with a gasp.
"Ok then. You can get eaten by the other dogs out here," Halling said, and slammed the door shut on the blonde girl. She would never admit it to anyone, but she was upset that her pride had lead her to be cast out
Realising there was nothing she could do, Alphonsa sat down at a table with Khayal.
"You all sure have a big hatred of the military, huh?" the armour girl said to the child miner.
"And why not? Everyone hates those stupid soldiers!" Khayal snapped in response. "There is this guy called Yoki, who is in charge of this place, and he is worst if all of them!"
"Yoki?" Alphonsa echoed.
At that moment. Halling appeared, with a meal on a tray. He placed it before the younger Elric, saying, "Now Yoki's been joined by that State Alchemist. And they say 'Alchemist, be thou for the people'. Hah! They only thing that matters to them is their pride."
"Mister–" Alphonsa yet again tried to speak and yet again was cut off by Halling, "I hate those who would sell their souls just to get some special privileges."
Outside the inn, the older Elric's stomach was growling.
"So hungry…" Edwina said. "Why did I have to go and tell them I was a State Alchemist…"
Reaching into her pocket, hoping to find a morsel to eat, she instead found the small pump of oil she had been given.
"Winter…why don't you worry about my human parts instead of my mechanical parts…?" she said to herself.
Going into her pocket to put the oil back, she found the necklace her friend her bought her. Maybe he did worry about her human parts after all.
"Oh course he worries about you, Nee-san."
Edwina looked up. Alphonsa was sanding next to her - and she had food.
"I snuck out this for you," Alphonsa said, placing the food down next the older girl. "They gave it to me, but they don't know about…you know."
"Oh, thank you, Al!" Edwina said and attacked the meal hungrily. Alphonsa sighed once again at her sister's forever bad eating habits.
"The people in this town really hate soldiers," the younger alchemist told Edwina as she sat down next her.
"Well, I was prepared for that," Edwina said, taking another bite from the roll in her hands.
"Perhaps, I should get certified as a State Alchemist," Alphonsa suggested.
"Don't dare! It's bad enough that I have to go through this, and I don't want to suffer that hate as well! Besides, I am really am a Dog of the Military now."
"Hey, you two, get out of the way!" a rough voice near the two demanded.
The sisters looked up at to see a assembly of four people. Three of them were men in military uniform, and one, appearing to be in his forties, had pale skin, small, thin eyes, black hair was receding from his forehead and had a black tuft in the middle of his head and a thin, black, pointed moustache. The last member was a young woman with eyes piercing grey and, black, straight, chin-length hair. The woman, appearing to be in her mid-twenties, was dressed casually in a long-sleeved back top, a red mini-skirt, two thin, brown leather belts, and loose-fitting, over-the-knee, high-heeled black boots. She was also rather shorter than the other three in the group.
The group entered the inn without even a momentary glance at the two girls outside of it. The man with the thin moustache, holding a handkerchief over his nose, said, "Your inn as dirty and dusty as usual, Halling."
"Well, well, well, if it isn't First Lieutenant Yoki. I welcome you to my filthy abode," the miner, now sitting at a table, grumpily replied.
"Let's stop with the pleasantries now and get down to business," Yoki said in response. "The taxes for this place are overdue."
"Really," Halling said in a bored voice.
"You are not the only though. I could say the same for the whole town," the Lieutenant went on to say.
"Well then, I apologise. As you know, my wage isn't exactly big," the innkeeper said.
"That is because you don't work hard enough," the black-haired woman, named Lyra, stated.
"You are the ones who lowered our wages!" one of the miners next to Halling cried, pointing a finger in the group's direction angrily. "And on top of that, you raised our taxes!"
"Lieutenant Yoki has been placed in charge of the coal mines by Central Command."
"Shut up, you stupid woman! Yoki only got where he is by using the money we work our butts off to get, to bride the higher-ups for a promotion!"
"Hmph. Well then, why don't you try bribing me, hm?" Yoki suggested. "After all, this world is not a place where you can be comfortable for free."
"I can't deal with this any more today, you bastard!" growled a blonde miner, who then charged at Yoki, his fist outstretching. Yoki covered his face as the man got closer. He was about to land a blow - when Lyra moved in from of the man, activating the necklace she wore. A golden light emitted from the pendant on the piece of jewellery, and a strong wind whipped up inside the inn.
Outside, Edwina and Alphonsa noticed the light and looked into the building from the window.
The golden light turned red, and surged forward like a jet of water, knocking the advancing miner right off his feet and onto the floor with a dull thud. The woman sighed.
"Thank you, Lyra. Nicely done as usual," Yoki said, placing his hands on the woman's shoulders, who slimed in response. Turned back to Halling, he said, "It seems that the stories that this place is a hang-out for thugs is true. Due to this, I might just suspend your business licence, Halling."
"What?" shouted Khayal. "Don't you dare!" He threw a beer towel at the Lieutenant's face.
"You little brat!" One of Yoki subordinate's yelled and punched the boy to the floor.
"Leave him alone!" Khayal's mother cried, but Yoki ignored her.
"Don't kill him, just make an example of him.," Yoki heartlessly ordered and the man's other subordinate walked toward the child, pulling out his sword.
"STOP!" Halling shouted and run to protect his son.
The landlady coved her eyes as the sword swung downward.
Clang!
A blur of red had moved in front of Khayal, blocking the blow just in .
"W-who are you?" Yoki stammered.
"I heard the Lieutenant was coming here, so I thought I would say hello," Edwina replied, and pulled out her sliver watch.
"T-that's a…" Yoki trailed off, surprised.
"Who is this girl, sir?" asked one of Yoki's men.
"You don't know about State Alchemists? Idiot! They are a group of alchemist soldiers under the direct control of the Führer!" Yoki angrily explained.
The Lieutenant walked up the blonde girl with a smile on his face.
"I apologise for the rudeness of my subordinate. I am Lieutenant Yoki, and I run this town." Yoki held out his hand for the girl to shake. "Who might you be, miss?"
"I am Edwina Elric and I came here to conduct an investigation," Edwina said, ignoring the man's outstretched hand. Yoki withdrew his ignored greeting. Everyone else just watched.
"An inspection? Well, why didn't you contact me? I would have sent someone to meet you. You must be so exhausted, come to my mansion."
The young alchemist nodded.
With that, Yoki, Lyra, Edwina and the two other soldiers left.
As soon as the group could not hear them, Halling shouted, "Those damned Dogs of the Military!"
Alphonsa simply stared at the door, thinking.
"Congratulations, Mustang, I hear you are going to be promoted to a full Colonel. And the same to you, Hawkeye. You are you going to promoted to a First Lieutenant." The sun reflected off Major General Hakuro's grey hair as he praised the two soldiers.
"Thank you, General Hakuro sir," Rizo said, while Roya nodded.
"After you are promoted I would like you to go to the Eastern Headquarters and take charge there for a while," Hakuro said.
"You're demoting me?" Roya said. Well, I guess that having someone like me around Central would be bad for–"
"No, no, it is not a demotion. It is transport to a higher-up post, Colonel Mustang."
Roya smiled at little at being called 'Colonel' instead of 'Lieutenant Colonel'.
"However, I have heard there are a good number of untrustworthy people in the Eastern Division. Be sure to watch out," the General warned.
Back in Youswell, Yoki had given Edwina a personal tour of his mansion, before getting her seated at the long dinning room table with himself at the opposite end.
"It is such a great honour to have a State Alchemist in my home," Yoki told the blonde.
Lyra, who was Yoki's maid, was serving the food, having changed into her maid uniform. Due to her small stature, Edwina's feet just barely touched the carpeted floor.
"Oh yes, since we have such an exceptional scientist among us, Lyra, have her take a look at your alchemy," the almost-bald man said.
"Yes, sir," said Lyra, placing a plate of food on the table in front of Edwina.
"You don't have to do that, I said it earlier in the inn," Edwina said.
"Well then, explain to me what you believe I did."
"You liquefied the air around you, reduced its volume, then immediately vaporized it again, creating a shockwave. The red light that was seen came from the extremely high temperature created by the forced compression needed to maintain entropy."
"You figured all that out just by looking at it?" Yoki gaped.
"I, too, wish to become a State Alchemist, like you, Miss Elric," the black-haired maid said.
"Like me?"
"Yes. It is my dream to became an one of best alchemists and do all I can for this country."
"Now, now let's eat before our food gets cold," Yoki said. "I hope our rural cooking with please you, it's really quite good."
Lyra moved away from the table and Yoki tucked in.
Edwina looked down at the food before her. The meal consisted of the finest steak, with delicately mashed potatoes and green beans, with a side and a starter of soup and a choice of wine or pure water to drink. Edwina picked up her spoon and tasted the soup. It was warn and delicious. She tried the steak with some potatoes. It was juicy and full of flavour. She tried the salad. It was sweet and crispy.
"You sure eat well despite the state of this town," the blonde remarked.
"Oh. you embarrass me! The tax collection hasn't been going too well lately, and I don't what I am going to do." The man's moustache twitched as he spoke. "On top of that, as you saw earlier that is a lot of violent residents here."
"You mean to tell me that all they do is assert themselves and neglect their duty to pay their taxes?" the young alchemist said.
"Oh, indeed, Miss Elric, you are a understanding young woman."
"You can express all reasoning of the world in the terns of Equivalent Exchange, both the founding law and the very basis of alchemy. With rights come responsibilities."
"Certainly," Yoki said, nodding. "As such, I wonder if you would this responsibly, by the way of the reasoning of the world." the man turned his head. "Lyra?"
The woman walked to Edwina and placed a bag of coins next to her on the table.
"It's only a small amount, but please accept it," Yoki said.
"Is this a bride?" the girl asked.
"That's a bit of a bad way to put it. Think of it as Equivalent Exchange. If you would consider the matter of the inspection…you can see how it would work."
The girl stayed silent for a good long moment before replying "I'll think about it."
"Ah, yes, Miss Elric, you are most definitely a woman of understanding. The people of this town should start behaving better, just wait and see. Now lets get back our food shall we?"
The alchemist and the Lieutenant began to eat again.
A few hours later, in Halling's inn, Alphonsa had being shown to a simple but comfortable room with a bed, a writing desk and a candle for light. The armour girl was sitting on the bed. Everyone else who stayed at the inn were in their own rooms. Halling and his family also lived in the establishment
"I wonder if Nee-san is ok on her own…" she thought aloud.
She said a noise outside her room. Opening the door and going downstairs, she found what look like a miniature gale blowing though the bar of the inn.
"Hey, what's going on?" said a tired voice.
Alphonsa turned to see Khayal walking downstairs, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
In her room in Yoki's mansion, Edwina also noticed the small storm raging around the building and rather than going out the conventional way, leapt out of her window to investigate.
She arrived to find that all the inn's residents had been evacuated. Well, almost everyone.
"Let me go!" Halling cried, struggling against the two men restraining him. "Khayal is still in there!"
"Sorry, boss, but you can't go back in, its too dangerous! It could collapse!" one of the restrainers said.
"Just, let me go! I have to help my son! Khayal! Khayal, can you hear me?" Halling struggled harder.
The ground suddenly shook, and the inn did indeed collapse into pieces of wood and dust.
"Khayal!" The miner managed to break free and ran towards the ruining inn. Crouching amongst the rubble, he began searching though the pieces of wood, calling his son's name. "Khayal!" He threw planks of wood to the side. "Khayal, where are you?"
"Dad!" a muffed voice cried from somewhere in the rubble.
Halling watched as, only a few metres away, his beloved son, covered in bruises and cuts, was pulled free form the rubble by Alphonsa, who had also been searching, despite other residents' warnings.
"Dad…" the boy sounded like he was fighting back tears.
A few hours later, dawn began to break.
Halling, his wife and some other residents of the inn. were still amongst the ruins of the building. The landlady silently crying as she clutched the vase Edwina had fixed, which was now broken again. Halling just looking around in silence. A crowd more of Youswell's people were standing near the wreckage.
"Do you think they did it?" Edwina walked up to and asked her little sister.
"Yes," Alphonsa replied, knowing full well who 'they' were.
A saddened Khayal, a plaster covering a particularly nasty cut on his face, trudged up to the sisters.
"Hey, Miss, you're a some super-alchemist, right?" the child miner said, addressing the older Elric. "Can't you just create some gold? Then you could help Dad an–"
"I can't do that."
"Why not? I've lost my home! And it's not like you're going to lose something!"
"The basis of alchemy is Equivalent Exchange. I have neither duty nor obligation to help this town, so I do not have to help it."
"What, so we need to bride you too?"
Khayal grabbed onto the girl's coat collar. "And you call yourself an alchemist? What about the saying 'Alchemist, be thou for the people'?"
"'Alchemist, be though for the people', huh?" Edwina said, praising the child off of her. "Transmuting gold is a serious offence. If I'm caught, not only will I be stripped of my State Alchemist Licence, but I will all be locked up in prison."
"Well, do I am that no-one will find out!"
"Even if I did, it would just be taken away in taxes, then you will be back right where you started."
Khayal gave up.
"If it's that bad, why you and your family pack leave this town ands find a place with better work?" Edwina asked.
"Hey, kid, you may not understand this, but…" Halling, who had been listening to the conversion, spoke in a subdued voice. "This place is our home…and our coffin."
Edwina looked around at all the citizens. "Your home and coffin, huh?"
Edwina matched off. After conversing with Khayal for a little longer, the younger Elric sister set off after the older. By now, the sun had risen half way up in the sky, casting long shadows over the ground.
"Nee-san!" Alphonsa called, catching up with her sister.
"Al, we burnt our home to the ground and have nowhere to return to, which is fine, as it was our choice. However, for people that do have a home to return to, they have to look after it," Edwina said in a serious tone.
"Huh?" said the armour girl.
Edwina hopped up onto a coal cart. "Al, what you are about to see stays between you and me, ok?"
Pulling out her bag of coins, the blonde emptied them onto the coal underneath her feet, clapped her hands together and performed a transmutation. She then collected the results of the transmutation, and along with Alphonsa, headed to Yoki's mansion.
"You want to buy the coal mine?" Yoki almost squeaked after hearing what the girl had to say.
"Yes," Edwina answered. "And I want you to include everything from the mine to the trade routes. Is that ok?"
"Well Even though you are a State Alchemist, you are so young and well….a girl…"
"Well, that's a real shame." Alphonsa opened the door to another room, in which where the objects she had delivered to the mansion. "And I had all this ready…"
The room was filled to the ceiling with shiny, beautiful bars of pure gold. The Lieutenant's jaw dropped and his eyes became as wide as saucers. He slowly walked toward the gold. "I-is that really…all gold?"
"From my investigation, I found that mine is full of elements unexploited by alchemic research," Edwina explained. "They would come in handy. Please may I have it? I am sure this is enough for you."
"Don't be so absurd!" Yoki cried. "My selling of the mine that I was entrusted by the state for my own profit, would be a little…"
"Don't worry! This gold won't appear on any records as long as you don't tell anyone," Edwina replied with a reassuring smile on her face.
"But still…"
"I have an idea. Could you write a title deed handing over all authority over the coal to me, free of charge? Then all this gold will be yours, Lieutenant."
Yoki looked form the girl to the gold and back again, still undecided.
Khayal slammed his fist onto the barrel in front of him.
"Why? Why can't I? Why are you stopping me?" he furiously demanded.
"Because I am your father and I am not letting you fight, that's why!" Halling replied.
"But it was Yoki's maid who destroyed the inn!"
"It was just an inn. There is no need to resort to fighting."
Everyone turned as a lantern lit up the night. Standing there was the State Alchemist they hated and the armour girl they liked.
"What are you doing here, Dog of the Military?" Khayal demanded.
"I'm here to cheer up those gloomy faces," Edwina said.
"Yes, you will be happy again soon," Alphonsa, holding the lantern, added.
"Oh, go away, State Alchemist!" the miner boy snapped.
"Now, now, it that any way to speak to the new manager of this place?" the girl blonde asked.
"New manager? What did you d–"
The blonde held a up a set of papers to the protesting man. "See? This is the title deed for the mine, trading routes, management and all other rights to this coal mine."
"What?" said Halling.
"What I am trying to say is, this mine belongs to me now."
Some of the citizens mutter amongst themselves while others simply looked shocked.
I have a problem though," the girl went on to say. "I have to return to Central, and well, It would be rather troublesome to take a document confirming authorisation over a rural coal mine with me. Oh, what to do?"
"Don't tell me your are telling to sell it back to us for profit," Halling said.
"I will warn it you, it's expensive. If you ever wished to gain something…you will have to pay for with something of equal value."
Halling had nothing to say.
"You see, not only is this deed written on high-grade parchment, It has a gold leaf trim and the box is encrusted in finely crusted jade, in a nonchalant, yet luxurious design. Also, the key is made of sterling silver. Yup, this is real craftsmanship I would say its worth…Two-hundred-thousand."
"TWO-HUDRED-THOUSAND? For a title deed?" the miner cried.
"Come to think of it, didn't one night at the inn cost two-hundred-thousand?" Edwina said sarcastically. "How about I spend the night here and make it even?"
"Equivalent Exchange, eh?"
"But our inn has destroyed, remember?" Khayal said.
"If that is so," Edwina walked and pointed, "what is that?"
The people gathered around where the girl now stood, letting out gasps of surprise. There was the inn, it's lanterns lit, looking good as new.
"Our inn, our home!" Khayal's mother delightedly gasped.
"How can this be?" Halling asked.
"This should be enough to an overnight stay, right?" Edwina asked, holding out the title deed.
"Of course," the muscular man replied.
"Then its an Equivalent Exchange." The girl grinned.
A car came out of nowhere and stopped at he inn with a screeching of tyres.
Out of the car stepped Yoki, Lyra, and Yoki's men.
"Miss Elric!" Yoki shouted. "What is going on? The gold bars you gave have turned to stone!"
"Gold bars? What are you talking about?" Edwina asked with her hands on her hips.
"Don't play stupid! I traded you the title deed for the mine for that mountain of gold bars."
"But you handed it over free of charge. I even have the memo that confirms it." The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out the piece of paper.
"Y-you swindled me!"
"'Swindled' makes it sound so lucrative. Let's call it a legitimate transition."
"That transition is invalid!" The man turned to the to his maid. "Lyra!"
The woman immediately activated the pendant on her necklace, and performed the transmutation Edwina had accurately explained, sending the shock wave straight for Edwina, who jumped out of the way.
"Alchemist, be thou for the people! You must take that saying to heart if you are a true!" The blonde cried. You should not use alchemy for your own interests!"
"You're a State Alchemist, are you not?" Lyra asked. "Why would you go against the Military's doing?"
Lyra attempted to strike the other female down again. This time Edwina could not dodge and instead thrust out her right hand blocking the blow, in the process ripping open her glove and exposing her automail which steamed from the heat caused by the attack. Lyra gasped.
"Because I never sold my soul to them," Edwina replied sternly.
Lyra geared up for another attack. Edwina charged toward her, transmuting the usual blade onto her automail as she did. The dark-haired woman fell backward as the blade slashed at her. As she fell, she saw her pendant, her weapon, falling to the ground. She also hit the ground with a heavy thud. She looked up at the young girl, who was now standing over her. She closed her eyes, expecting a finishing blow.
"Why you…men get the deed back from– huh?" Yoki was cut short.
His men could not do very much at that moment. They were surrounded by the male residents of the town, looking nervous. "Sir…"
"You shouldn't take someone's personal property from them by force, Lieutenant," said a man, moving behind the soldier.
"And you should never underestimate the strength of a mine worker," said the man Lyra had previously defeated. The men cracked their knuckles. Yoki and his men yowled in pain the men began to beat them senseless.
Later on, in the inn, a party was in full swing, now that Yoki had been taken care of.
"Bring more saké! Being more beer!" One man ordered, while everyone else talked or laughed or sung, the Elrics right in the centre. A glass of saké was in Edwina's hand, even though she was underage. She was thoroughly drunk.
"Say, honey, don't you think this place is perhaps a little better than before?" the landlady asked as she and her husband as she watched as everyone celebrated.
"Yes, she really did well here," Halling answered and poured a glass of saké for the woman and a of bear from himself. "To Edwina Elric…the Fullmetal Alchemist." They chinked their glasses together.
"This is the report from Edwina Elric," Rizo informed the Lieutenant Colonel, placing the paper before her.
"Thank you," the woman replied.
"I heard this will provide the chance to revaluate the Youswell Coal Mine and the personal from Eastern Command who oversee it," Rizo said.
"Really? I guess that will made it easier to live in the east," Roya replied. "I'm so happy! That will make our jobs easier when we are relocated."
"Oh, Second Lieutenant, Am I really that crafty? More importantly, I hope the men in the east are handsome." Roya checked her nails and hair were neat.
Rizo sighed. "Also, Miss Elric's reputation are spreading throughout the east."
"Hm?"
"There is talk of a 'Hero of the People' amongst the Dogs of the Military."
"Edwina Elric? Yeah, I've heard of her," the car driver said.
Three years since Edwina's triumph at Youswell. Her hair had grown in the years, now reaching her hips, it was tied back in a plait as usual.
She was now travelling across the desert towards the town where her latest mission was to take place. As usual, Alphonsa was right by her sister's side.
"So want kind of person is she?" Edwina asked, having not informed man of her identity, much to Alphonsa's disapproval.
"Well, from what I have heard, she is a friend of the common man, despite being a State Alchemist."
"She much be quite an outstanding young woman, then?"
"Yes. But I also heard she is short, like a bean-sprout."
"Short?"
"And flat-cheated"
"Flat-chested?"
Edwina exploded as usual. "WHO DID YOU CALL SO MINICURE AND SMALL-BRESTED THAT SHE COULD BE MISTAKENED FOR A CHILD?"
"Stop it, Nee-san, your making the car swerve!"
The car tipped over, and the man, and the two girls tumbled out. Edwina began chasing the poor man, screaming and shouting. "Hold it, you! Come back here."
"Nee-san!" Alphonsa cried, joining in with the chase to catch her sister and save the innocent man. "If you keep scaring people away, we'll never get to Liore!"
Author's Notes: Hope you enjoyed this chapter readers! "Shoujo Fullmetal Alchemist" has a new name "Shoujo Fullmetal Alchemist: Alternate Version" as I have decided to name the manga-based version of this as "Shoujo Fullmetal Alchemist". If you think of a better name for this version of the fanfiction, do tell. Also this fanfiction may go on hiatus, as I am have been tempted with continuing "The Princess of the Key" and the manga storyline.
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Thank you ^_^