4. Of Reputations And Accidents

After the whole situation with Arthur and talking with Ventuswill, Frey decided to show Arganan around the town, since he didn't have the opportunity to do so until now. He made his way to the General Store, where the pink-haired guy (his name was Doug), as well as a much older woman (Blossom, or Granny Blossom as Doug called her) were in charge of operations, but Arganan and Frey only stopped by long enough to say hi and give formal introductions before Doug got occupied with another customer and Blossom had to help someone else at the register. They then made their way to the florist shop, which was across from the general store.

"Illuminata?" Frey called, looking around. "I brought a friend with me!"

"Hold it right there!"

A thin woman rushed over from the shop counter and up to Frey and Arganan. He noticed the incredibly long, red braid she had, and it reminded him somewhat of Sir Therius, given that his white hair was styled similarly. She gazed at the two through her one monocle, beady eyes more on Arganan than on Frey.

"So," Illuminata started, "You're the new guy in town? Arganan?"

He almost flinched at how quickly she pointed him out. How fast did word spread about his arrival? "I am, yes. And you're…Miss Illuminata?"

"Not just 'Miss' Illuminata." The other woman declared. "But you can call me Great Detective Illuminata, too!" She leaned forwards just as a tad, beaming at him. "If you've got a case, I'm sure to solve it!"

Arganan wanted to ask Frey if Illuminata actually solved a case, but decided not to ask right then and there. After all, both of them had only been here in Selphia for a few days (or in Arganan's case, literally just over a day).

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind." Arganan finally managed, just as Frey chuckled sheepishly.

"How about we continue on with our journey?"

"Yes." He was grateful for the opportunity to run off. "It was good to meet you, Illuminata…"

"Wait!" Illuminata paused, before looking Arganan in the eye again. "You're from Lazulis, right? The former Count?"

Arganan swallowed. Had word of him being the former Count of Lazulis spread through the whole town? "How did you know?"

"I mean, your niece is Calista Arganan." Illuminata pointed out, "And I heard she's the new Countess, so I just guessed based off seeing your last names when we all heard of you."

A sigh escaped him at that. So much for people not knowing too much about his past. "Does everyone know about me being here?"

She shrugged. "Probably."

Great. Just great. It made him wonder why he should bother with the introductions. Then again, he had to at least be polite, so it was probably worth it despite everyone knowing he was here. "Well, I'm sure I'll be seeing all of you more. It's nice to meet you."

Illuminata grinned. "Nice to meet you, too!"

Frey also bid goodbye to Illuminata before she and Arganan stepped out. The former Count's gaze snapped towards her. "Does she always do this?"

Frey looked up at him with those innocent eyes of hers. "Do what?"

"Look into people's pasts? She knew I was previously a Count even before I walked in the door."

"Word travels pretty fast. Everyone was aware of my arrival less than an hour after it happened." Frey chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "It's something you have to get used to, I guess."

"I'll keep that in mind." He hoped Ventuswill and the others were good at keeping secrets about his past. "Speaking of people…you've been living at the castle this whole time, I presume? How is it?"

Frey blinked, but she smiled. "It's nice. Clorica or Vishnal wake me up every morning." Frey managed, before a hum escaped her. "There were a few times I woke up to see Clorica asleep, though."

"Clorica?" Arganan recalled him and Frey greeting the lavender-haired butler before they left the castle to explore the town. "Does she not sleep much?"

A sigh escaped Frey as she shook her head. "No…the opposite, actually. It's on and off. She's fallen asleep while standing, sitting, lying down…once on a bench, too."

A narcoleptic butler? Interesting. "Have you learned much about your duties as Princess?"

"I just got here the other day, so I'm still learning everything." Frey explained. "I do a lot of farming, actually."

"Farming?" That made him pause for a moment. "I've never met a noble that had to do their own farming."

"It is a bit odd." She agreed. "I have to plant all these vegetables and such so I can get money to further develop the town. Also helps with my reputation, somehow, but I guess that makes sense if I'm helping grow things to sell and grow the economy." Frey pointed out. "And a lot of farming also gets me runes, too."

"Runes?" He definitely didn't know what that was.

"Vishnal told me they're the life energy of anything and everything organic in this world. They appear when I harvest crops, but they can also be crystallized, apparently. I haven't seen those yet, though."

"Life energy…" Arganan thought back to the Outsider, and shuddered. He noticed Frey's eyebrows furrow a little, before raising.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." The words came out a little too fast for his liking. "I just remembered something else that…sounded similar. Life energy and all."

"Do you have something similar to runes where you come from?"

Arganan nodded. "Yes…but I think that's a story for another time. It's the reason I ended up getting here, anyway."

"You said you were here for treatment…and if you were dealing with something similar to runes, does that mean…"

"I'm not dying. At least, I don't think so." Arganan was pretty sure he'd actually be dead if he wasn't pulled away from the Outsider by Calista in time. "Just physically weaker than I used to be. I meddled with things I shouldn't have, and I paid the price. I'm not sure of the exact details, but it's not looking great."

"I'm sorry."

"When I find out more later, maybe I'll tell you then." He felt that he could trust her. Given that she was the ruler of this town now, officially, and given how much trust she seemed to have in him, maybe he could tell her the whole story at some point. Just…not yet.

Lunchtime soon came around, and so they entered a restaurant that had lobster statues at the entrance.

"Welcome~!" A large man, with hair that was probably longer than Arganan's own, waved from the counter at the back of the restaurant. "Good to see you, Frey!"

"Ah! Porcoline, good afternoon!" Frey walked over to the counter, smiling, and Arganan quickly followed. "This is Arganan. He just came here yesterday, so I thought I'd show him around town and introduce him to everyone."

"Oh? Another newcomer, so soon? Welcome!"

Arganan checked the menu of items available to eat right away, and then checked his own purse.

He..did not have sufficient gold on him to pay for any of the items. Did Calista deliberately send him with not enough money to starve to death, or…?

"Arganan?" He looked up to see Frey, looking at him. "If you want, I can probably pay for both of us…"

Arganan shook his head. "No, it's fine, I'm not that hungry…"

"Well," Porcoline paused, before looking towards him, "Since you're new, how about a meal on the house to celebrate your arrival? Just this once? I can whip up some Fruit Sandwiches on the spot!"

"You'd do that?" He recalled Ventuswill telling him that the others in town were generally benevolent. Still, he felt a little guilty not being able to pay for food himself.

"Of course! Coming right up!" And with that, Porcoline got to work before anyone else could stop him.

"Arganan?" Frey whispered to him as Porcoline turned his back to get them sandwiches. "How much gold do you have?"

"I only have two-hundred." Arganan whispered back. "Compared to the cheapest item on this menu, I'm broke."

He never thought he'd have to admit that, as embarrassing as it was. But there was a first time for everything, right? This was far different than being in the castle and having people cook for you. That lack of luxury was something he'd have to get used to, as well as the lack of many other luxuries he was sure he'd realize in time.

Frey looked mildly concerned at the mention of him being broke. "I know that medical treatments might be costly. Are you going to be okay, trying to cover all of that?"

"My medical treatments and rooming are paid for by my niece back in Lazulis, according to Dr. Jones," Arganan explained, "Thankfully, I don't have to worry about that, but for everything else I might need, I don't have much to afford them."

Clearly he didn't, especially if he couldn't even buy food.

"Hmm." Frey paused, gaze averting his temporarily before looking towards him. "You used to be a Count…maybe you could help me out while I'm getting adjusted to being Princess? Have you done any farming?"

Arganan winced. "I don't think I'm physically suited for farming. My conditions wouldn't help that."

"Right. I don't want your health to get worse. Speaking of which," Frey scratched the back of your head. "If you don't mind me asking, is this because of you dealing with those things similar to runes, like you mentioned earlier?"

"Yes." It was technically the truth, and if she trusted him enough to show him around town and such, it might as well be worth telling her about the gist of it. "I got physically weakened due to those magical influences, and I…came here, to have somewhere peaceful to recover."

He'd tell her more details later on. He just met her today, after all. They had time on their hands. He didn't know how long he'd be in this town, but it would probably be for a very long time. She seemed like a trusting sort, too, and he was sure that would aid him greatly in the long run.

"I see. I'm sorry to hear that." Her gaze looked towards his metal limbs. "Are those from that particular war, too, or..?"

"Those happened a long time before what recently happened with me, trust me." A faint chuckle escaped him, just before Porcoline came over with their sandwiches.

"Here you go! Fruit Sandwiches for the each of you!"

"Thank you very much!" Frey beamed at Porcoline. Arganan offered the man his thanks, before the two went to sit down at a nearby table to eat. The Fruit Sandwiches were quite delicious, despite how strange they seemed to him at first. They weren't anything like he'd eaten before, but it was close enough to a fruit shortcake, if he wanted to draw a comparison. It was also surprisingly quite filling, probably due to the cream combined with the fruit within said sandwich, but it was good. Probably more of a dessert food than 'meal' food, but still good. Good enough for now, at least.

"You know," Frey finally managed, finishing her sandwich, "Maybe we can ask everyone else we visit today if they're looking for any hired help, and I can probably go follow-up on everyone we already visited earlier. I'm sure there's someone that can appreciate what you can do."

The question was: What could he do here? Clearly he was in no position to just insert himself into politics here. Sure, Frey was a new Princess and might ask him a few questions about how to behave around other nobles, or that kind of thing, but he didn't know the whole of how Selphia operated. Arthur and Ventuswill would be much more suited for that duty.

He wasn't a farmer type of person, either. His physical conditions wouldn't allow for that. He couldn't be some waiter and run around the whole day, because he was physically too weak to do so. He was much more suited to things like negotiation, trade, commanding armies (from a distance) and so on. And Arthur had his own things going on that Arganan wasn't sure what they were fully about, now that he handed the duties of ruling Selphia to Frey, and Arganan wasn't sure if he'd want to put himself into whatever Arthur was working on. Doug and Blossom seem to do well on their own, unless they need a second person at the cash register. And I'm sure Dr. Jones and Nancy would be fine…I mean, they are treating me, after all.

But then he remembered; what about Illuminata? Sure, it was a florist's shop, she ran but she seemed eager to take on cases and solve mysteries. Maybe he could watch the shop, water some plants for her if she really wanted to go do more of her detective work. Surely it couldn't be as intensive as farming, so it might be fine. Hopefully Jones would be fine with it.

"Maybe," Arganan finally managed, looking towards Frey, "Maybe we could ask Illuminata when we see her again, first? I could watch the shop for her, if she has any urgent cases of hers."

"Oh, yes! That could work." Frey grinned at him. "We can just go see her again and ask once we've introduced you to everyone else, then."

He agreed with that plan. It would work.

Just as the two stepped outside the restaurant, Arganan took a deep breath, taking in the fresh air. It was a warm spring day, but it cooled slightly due to the light breeze blowing through his hair. Birds were chirping, the sky was a nice blue, and…

He hit the floor with a crunch. It happened all so fast that he didn't have time to process it until a moment after he hit the cobblestone path. It all ached, and a groan escaped him as he did his best to at least sit up.

"Oh my GOD!" Arganan looked up to see the blue-haired butler (Vishnal, if Arganan remembered his name correctly) come running up to him. "I am so sorry! I should've been looking where I was going; are you okay!?"

He put a hand to his left shoulder, wincing. "It's a bit sore, but…I'm fine. I didn't hit my head, I think…" He inspected his left arm…

And immediately realized the elbow of his left arm wasn't moving. Upon further attempts to move his lower left arm, the whole arm up to the hand didn't move. The fingers didn't even twitch.

"Damn." He pushed his forearm up with his right hand, and it dropped down immediately as he let go. "I think it's broken." It broke on the inside. So much for a good start.

Vishnal stammered out apologies as Arganan looked towards Frey. "Do you know anyone that's good at fixing prosthetics?" The words came out of his mouth too fast, but he knew that without his prosthetics, he couldn't do much. And the thought of that sickened him. He'd already lost too much; his title, being able to live in Lazulis at all, let alone the castle, his power. He couldn't lose more.

"Uh, Vishnal? Any idea?" Frey looked towards Vishnal, who quickly cleared his throat, trying not to wring his hands.

"I think it would be best if we went to Dr. Jones and Nancy about this." Vishnal finally managed. "I don't know if they know a lot about fixing prosthetics, though. Maybe Bado might know something?"

"Bado?" Arganan repeated. Who was Bado? Definitely not someone he met in town yet, as far as he knew.

"The blacksmith. He might've worked with this before. If the damage is minor enough, maybe he can fix it."

Arganan could only hope that it was easily fixed, and not completely wrecked inside.

The three made their way to the clinic, explaining the situation to Jones and Nancy. They got to work quickly enough, with Vishnal going to fetch Bado himself, still profusely apologizing to Arganan for breaking his metal arm. Frey stayed back, watching Jones and Nancy check over Arganan's metal arm.

Frey blinked a bit as she watched the metal arm get removed. "So…they're detachable?"

Arganan looked towards Frey. "Haven't seen a prosthetic limb before?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Not that I remember, no."

Oh. Right. Frey had amnesia. No wonder she didn't remember.

"We rarely have patients with prosthetic limbs," Nancy admitted, "let alone ones whose limbs actually do get broken while here in town. Jones just went over to see Bado if he's worked with prosthetics before. If he has, we might be able to fix it here in town."

"Or else we'll have to ship it back to Lazulis to get it fixed?" Arganan asked. Given how long the trip was to Selphia from Lazulis by airship, he had a feeling that it would take at least a week to get the arm shipped there and back.

"There are other places in Norad that do specialize in fixing prosthetics, but we'd still have to ship it there and back, and that could take almost a week." Nancy managed. "If we can get it fixed here in town, the wait time will be a lot shorter."

That was when Vishnal rushed in, huffing. "Sorry for the wait! I have good news!"

"You do?" Arganan looked towards the butler, who almost stumbled over his feet. "Has he worked with them before."

"Good news: He has." Vishnal informed Arganan. "He's on the way right now, I think he's just finishing up with a customer first…"

That was when a large man walked in. He was taller than Jones, with blue hair and a matching beard. Two pointed ears caught Arganan's attention first; they were similar to Illuminata's own, now that he thought about it. Perhaps there were more than just humans living in this town. Elves, too? Maybe dwarfs. He was pretty sure he saw those same sort of pointed ears on Doug, too.

"Bado!" Nancy turned to face the newcomer, beaming at him. "Right on time. Thanks for coming in on short notice."

"It's no problem." Bado chuckled, before looking towards Arganan. "So you're the new guy in town? Arganan, right? It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you." Arganan watched Bado survey the metal arm after Jones handed it over to him. "I wish we could've met in better circumstances."

"Could be worse," Bado managed, offering him a grin. He then looked at the arm, checking it over. After a few moments, he put it down, looking towards Arganan again. "Good news: This is a pretty minor break. An internal gear or two probably need replacements, and they broke on impact with Vishnal running into you. I have these spare parts on me at the back of my shop, so I can work on this right away when I bring it back with me."

"Really?" Thank goodness for that. "How soon can it be fixed?"

"Probably by the end of tomorrow. Is this the first time it broke like this?"

"The first in over five years." His metal limbs, given how they were built for long-term purposes, had been built with the best materials he could get back in Lazulis at the time. No wonder they hadn't broken until now.

"Maybe it's good that it broke." Frey was heard commenting. "It'll actually force Bado to work on something for once."

"Hey!"

"Hopefully I don't have to go too often." Arganan managed. At least the costs of this weren't covered by his niece, given that the prosthetics he had technically counted as part of his 'medical treatment.' Actually, since his niece was covering this, maybe he should get into more situations where his metal arm broke. Sure, it would put him out of commission for a day or so (or maybe a week or so depending on which limb broke), but that would be a sort-of payback for her sending him here for an indefinite amount of time in the first place.

"Well," Bado carefully picked up the metal arm after closing up its internal part, "I can get started on this today. I'll send it back to the Clinic once I have this repaired."

"Thank you, Bado." Arganan doubted he'd want to leave the Clinic without it. He knew there were some people in Selphia that stared at him with his prosthetic limbs already, and lacking one all of a sudden might raise questions he didn't feel in the mood to answer.

Bado soon left with said metal arm, and Vishnal had to get back to butler-related duties, so those two couldn't stick around for long. Frey decided to stay back, and she paused before looking o Arganan.

"Do you want to keep walking through town with me? I think it's still bright out enough…"

He hesitated. He didn't exactly want to walk around lacking one whole arm, but he did want to introduce himself to the remaining townspeople. And as much as he hated being stared at as is, he knew that it would be good to make his presence known regardless, if he was being here for a while, especially if he was staying at the clinic of all places.

"We can continue." He reassured her, and she helped him get out of his chair. Because he now lacked one whole arm, and couldn't fully walk well enough without a cane in one hand, Frey stood at his armless side in case he happened to topple the other direction. Jones offered to get a proper crutch, but Arganan didn't want to. Not now, anyway. He knew he was weakened from the Outsider already as is, but he wanted to challenge himself.

…He did not get out of the clinic without that crutch instead of his cane, in the end. Jones really insisted on it. He felt weak, having to use it, but he felt Frey gently squeeze his side, as if trying to reassure him.

"It'll be a short walk." Frey managed, and Arganan recalled what Ventuswill told him; that these people in the town were kind, and goodhearted, and meant well.

Maybe he should put a little more trust in them. He knew he had to work on that.