Chapter Five

It was mid-day, and the sky had few clouds in it. Nicholas was walking along the sidewalk with his wagon in tow. The wagon had a black metal handle that was attached to a plain wooden body, with the wheels being made entirely out of tin. Inside it were a sack of flour and a few blocks of wrapped cheese.

"Now then, all I have to do is go to the market."

The boy walked straight down the street a couple of blocks until he took a left. It was then just a straight shot for him until he arrived literally in the middle of the market walkway. It was a massive stretch of booths that went as far as the eye could see. Most of them were well-dressed merchants selling watches or rare collectibles, the kind of things that nobles would buy in order to brag to their friends. But from time-to-time, you could find a grungy-clothed hunter or farmer from wall Rose selling fresh meat or produce. Nicholas made his way through the market, being sure to be wary of other people, and went from stall to stall.

"Hmm, it's a bit sad that this is the only market we have in wall Sina. Lorenz says there's even more places like this in wall Rose and Maria with much more interesting goods."

Looking up at the sky, Nicholas had a look of interest cross his face.

"I wonder if even some of their outer districts have these."

Focusing back on the ground, he still was on the lookout for what he needed, until he finally saw it. It was a stand that was full of fresh fruits and vegetables, all sprinkled with water. The person operating the stall was a man with brown shoes, dark blue pants, and a red and black checkered shirt. He had black hair with streaks of grey in it and green eyes. Nicholas approached the stall and walked straight up to him.

"Excuse me sir."

The man looked down him, "Yes?"

"I would like a head of lettuce and a couple of tomatoes please."

"Hmph, okay then."

The man grabbed the requested items and handed them over to Nicholas. He put them in his wagon, and in turn, gave the man the money that was due.

"Alright, I can start heading back."

The man and the boy bid each other good day, and Nicholas started the walk back home. He took a left, went for a couple of blocks, then took a right. The boy just kept on walking and walking, until he heard a sound. Cocking his head to and fro, he could hear raised voices. Following the noise, Nicholas soon came across a cobbled alleyway with rows of houses on either side. He was about to round the corner, but quickly stepped back so that he was hidden. In the alleyway were three boys, two of them were holding another one against a wall. The two standing side-by-side were both clothed in brown dress pants with black leather shoes. One had a dark green, button up shirt and blonde hair while the other had a light blue one with black hair. They were both looking at a boy dressed in brown pants, dark blue shoes, a white shirt, and a brown vest. He had glasses, freckles, and red hair. Nicholas stayed at his corner and listened in on the conversation.

"Hey there Wilfried, how's it going?"

"Uh-uh, good. Th-thanks for asking."

"You know, I really didn't like what your family said in the newspaper yesterday."

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that your dad wrote that my family are nothing but a bunch of stealers!"

"Yeah," his companion shouted.

"No! He wouldn't say anything like that!"

"Well he might as well have. So tell me, how should I respond to his little article?"

"I-I don't know."

"Hmm...I'm think I'll do it by making sure that he understands that when you stick your nose into others people's lives, the people you care about might turn black and blue."

The boy raised a fist that was aimed directly at the redhead's face.

"Wait! P-please stop!"

"Hmph, I might stop if you could offer a few coins."

"But...but I don't have anything on me."

"Tch, then black and blue it is."

Cocking back his fist, the blonde haired boy was about to strike, but not before Nicholas stepped out of his corner.

"Hey! Stop that!"

The entire group, startled by the sudden outburst, looked towards it source. Nicholas was standing there with both of his hands clenched into fists at his sides. The blonde boy lowered his fist, but still held onto his target.

"Who the hell are you?"

"My...my name...I'm Nicholas."

"Well Nicholas, why don't you mind your own business."

Nicholas didn't say anything in response, he still just stood there with an obstinate look on his face. The blonde boy just gave a sigh, and handed off his mark to the black-haired companion besides him.

"Hold him."

"Sure"

He then casually strolled up right to Nicholas, and they each gave the other a good long stare, until finally the blonde boy broke the ice.

"Hey, how's it going?"

Nicholas didn't know how to respond.

"Umm...good."

The blonde boy put an arm around his shoulder and led him further into the alley.

"Look, do you know who my father is?"

"N-no?"

"My father is Rein Frei, and I'm his son, Engel."

"Okay…"

"My family is responsible for the production of flour within the walls, basically, we're the reason why anyone can even eat bread. This guy's father," he gestured to the boy with freckles, "said that my family were a bunch of monsters because we take advantage of the fact that flour is such a needed commodity. So we're just teaching him that when you say hurtful things like that, some people might take offense."

Nicholas had a look of dissent flash across his face, and slapped away the hand that was over his shoulder.

"Even if that's true, just because someone says something you might not agree with, doesn't give you the right to hit them."

Then Engel's look of concession turned to ire.

"Alright then, so what? What are you going to do?"

He said this as the fellow pushed Nicholas further into the alley.

"Are you going to be the hero and come to the damsel's rescue?"

Nicholas just look down in frustration. The boy, seeing his chance, continued with his verbal barrage, "here, I'll be the gentleman and let you have the first punch."

He offered his cheek to him, tapping it with a finger, "come on, do it."

Nicholas, with a look of building anger on his face, formed his shaking right hand into a fist. He pulled it back, ready to follow through, put just stopped altogether. The boy slowly lowered his fist down, and let it unfold into an open hand. Engel just looked on with amusement.

"Hmph, well if you aren't going to throw it," he said as he grabbed Nicholas's shirt harshly, "then I will!"

As he said the words, he prepared to hit his opponent square in the face. But before his fist could make contact, it was stopped by a black leather hand.

"Whoa, whoa, what's going on here?"

Nicholas recognized the voice, and looked up. It was none other than Lorenz. Engel snatched his hand away from the man's grasp.

"The better question is, who are you?"

"Oh, just an adult who is wondering why kids are making each other more bruised than usual," he said in a jocund nature.

"Well, why should you care?"

"Because that boy you were about to discolor," pointing to Nicholas as he spoke, "is my assistant, and I would like it if you didn't tack on healing a battered face on top of his tasks that he's supposed to do."

Engel just looked up to Lorenz with a face of irritation, "assistant, eh? What does he help you with? Making frocks?"

The boy's partner chortled. Lorenz just said with an air of tranquility, "no, we only do that when your father wants to act like more of a girl than he already is."

It was Nicholas this time who gave a bit of a chuckle. The blonde boy, however, was not amused. Letting go of his adversary's shirt and turning to face Lorenz, he shouted, "when I tell my father of this…"

The man just interrupted with a wave of a hand, "yeah, yeah, yeah, he'll stuff me in a barrel by tomorrow morning."

He then picked up Engel and quickly turned him upside down, holding him by his ankle with a single hand.

"Doesn't change the fact that he's not here to see this right now."

Dropping the boy on his back with a resounding thud, Lorenz made gesture with his head while giving a very flinty, "beat it."

Engel called for his companion as he got up, "come on!"

The black-haired boy responded with haste and both of them made their way out of the alley. As both of the assailants left, Engel called out, "my father will hear about this!"

In response, Lorenz just called back, "yeah sure, and make sure to tell him I have his frock ready and waiting."

He then focused his attention back onto Nicholas.

"So kid, you alright?"

The boy just looked down and dusted himself off.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Lorenz had a flash of realization across his face and looked around.

"Oh, that's right. There was another boy here, one with glasses..."

It wasn't long until he found that boy heading out of the alleyway as well, opposite of where the bullies made their exit.

"...and there he goes. Didn't even say a 'thank you,'" he said under his breath. He looked back down at Nicholas, who was just staring at the ground with a despondent look.

"Hey kid," Lorenz asked as the boy looked up in response, "you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," he responded while still looking at the ground.

The man had no choice but to shrug it off.

"Alright then…"

Both of them headed back to the main street where Nicholas's wagon was stationed.

"Hey kid, I still got a few things to do, so I'll meet you back at the house. Okay?"

"Okay…"

Lorenz, giving one last look of concern to the boy, said, "okay then."

With that, he was off on his way while Nicholas headed back to home. He had a look of defeat plastered across his face the entire way. Finally arriving at the door, he produced the key and went inside with wagon in tow. Making his way towards the kitchen after locking the door, he put all the items in his cart onto the kitchen table. Nicholas then took his wagon outside through the back door and parked it in the backyard. He went back inside and put all the items on the table into the pantry. But then, the boy just sat at the table and simply laid his head in his arms. Nicholas started to stare off into nothing, contemplating. After some time, the lock on the door made a clicking sound and the entryway opened with Lorenz standing in it.

"Hey kid! I'm home!"

He heard no response, and saw the boy sulking at the table. Heading directly over with a face full of inquiry, he asked, "hey what's wrong? You'd usually be cooking something at a time like this?"

Nicholas still didn't respond. Lorenz started to scratch the back of his head.

"Hmph...I'm just no good at these kinds of things."

Sitting across from him, he got straight to the point.

"Kid, why do you look like your dog just died?"

It was this statement that snapped the boy out of his daze.

"W-well, I'm just thinking about what happened in the alleyway."

"Oh, that? Those were just bullies, nothing special."

"I know, but...I've never been in that kind of situation before."

"Huh? Why not? Didn't you have any kids around you that liked to throw their weight around?"

"No, not really. There weren't any kids around me that were my age. I mean, sometimes some of the families from other noble houses would come visit with their kids, but I was never allowed to talk with them and always had to stay in the kitchen."

"Hmm, isn't that lovely. But still, what's with the morose face?"

"It's just... I wanted to help that person, but I couldn't do anything without you stepping in. If it wasn't for you, he would've beat me up pretty good."

"But isn't that a good thing? The whole me stepping in to help you?"

"Yeah, and thank you for that. But still...what if you hadn't been there in order to help me? What would have happened then?"

"Umm...err...I don't know."

After a moment of silence between the two, it was Nicholas who broke it.

"Lorenz, should I not have interfered back there and just minded my own business?"

The man just layed back into his chair, and after taking a deep breath then letting it out, he gave his response.

"Well, I honestly can't say. From the way you describe it, there seemed to be two choices available. You could either have interfered and gotten a good beating. Or, you could have just went on your way, and let that kid with glasses get that beating instead. At the end of the day, someone's going to get hurt."

"But wasn't helping him the right choice to make."

"Hmm-depends on what your definition of right is."

"Errr...what do you mean by that?"

"Well...ummm...here, let me put it like this."

Lorenz sat upright again, and continued to talk.

"Example kid, you see a guy drop a coin purse. Now you could give it back, but the guy who dropped is wearing clothes so fancy that they might as well be made of gold."

"Well, why does what he wears matter?"

"Because if he is wearing clothes like that, one lousy coin purse isn't going to cause a lot of pain for him. If it were me, I would keep it. After all, I could find more uses for the money than he could. Returning the coin purse would be the right thing to do, but keeping it would be the more justifiable thing to do."

"But...what does that have to do with whether I should've fought or not."

"Uhhh, what I'm trying to say is, are you more worthy of a beating then someone else?"

Again, there was a moment of silence between them. It was Lorenz who broke it this time.

"Look kid, there are a lot of people out there who find themselves in trouble, and no matter how hard you try, you can't save them all. Heck even if you do try you might not be able to do anything."

Nicholas just continued to listen with a depressed look.

"Some people say that the right decision is never the easy one. But for my money, I say that the right decision is the one that you can live with. After all, from the situation you described, neither choice sounded easy."

The boy looked down, thinking. Lorenz just started to stare out the window with his chin resting on his hand. A loud knock on the door drew both their attention, and a voice boomed through the door.

"Hey Lorenz, you there?!"

"Yeah Kuno, I'm here."

The man got up from his chair and headed for the door, while Nicholas was still sitting with a baffled expression.

"Who the heck is Kuno?"

Lorenz unlocked and opened the door.

"Hey, what's happening?"

"Look, we gotta go."

"Huh, go where?"

While the two of them talked, Nicholas could only catch snippets of their conversation.

"She wants you-"

"-little busy-"

"-killed her-before he disappears-"

Lorenz gave a sigh and turned back to Nicholas.

"Errr...look kid, something just came up. So, uh...I need to go."

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead."

"Thanks. Oh, by the way Kuno, this is Nicholas. Can't believe it took this long to introduce you."

Nicholas looked at the man in the doorway and gave a sheepish, "um, hello"

Kuno just gave him a cold, "hey there."

He then turned his attention back to Lorenz.

"Come on, we got to go."

"Alright, alright."

Lorenz then went through the door, closed, and locked it. The boy just sat at the table and rested his head in his arm.

"Wasn't helping him the right choice to make...the right thing to do...useful thing to do...the one that you can live with."

Nicholas just continued to sit there for a little while, until finally, he got up from his chair, retrieved the rings from the coat rack, and went out the door. Making sure it was locked behind him, the boy just started to walk and walk. He went from street to street, around corners, and across blocks. He just let his legs take him where they wanted to go. Nicholas went on his stroll until he came across a playground. As he approached closer, he saw that it had a sand pit, a seesaw, a swing set, and plenty of children playing. Some played leapfrog, others climbed the local trees, a few rolled hoops, while the rest swang, seesawed, and played in the sand. But what Nicholas really looked at were the parents with their children. He saw some help their children swing, some simply played ball, while others calmed others that cried. But in the end, the crying children were always stopped, and gave their parents a smile, while their parents gave them a hug. Nicholas looked at all of this with a mixture of jealousy and sadness. The boy continued on his way and simply moved along with his head down. He took a left, went up two blocks, then took another left, and continued on a bit further up the street until he came across the library. The building itself was made out of stone, with clear glass windows covering the walls. Limestone steps led their way up to pillars that supported the roof over the entrance. The structure was not perfectly rectangular as it had extended additions on both side that gave way to sharp corners. These corners usually had fountains, benches and trees filling them. Just simple, quiet spots. It was then that he heard something. Nicholas followed the sound he heard to the corner on his right, and there he found some familiar faces. They were the same two boys clothed in brown dress pants with black leather shoes, with one having a dark green, button up, short-sleeved shirt and blonde hair while the other had a light blue one with black hair. Once again, they were both looking at a boy dressed in brown pants, dark blue shoes, a white shirt, and a brown vest. He had glasses, freckles, and red hair. The only difference this time is that he had a bloody nose, and the two boys were pressing him up against the corner while partially being hidden by a tree.

"Well, well Wilfried. I got a feeling that I would find you here."

"Come on guys, you already gave me a bloody nose, isn't that enough."

"No, not yet. But after more punches, dirt, and a broken pair of glasses, maybe it will be enough."

Nicholas, once again, spoke.

"Hey! Don't you two have anything better to do?"

All three boy turned to the speaker, and the blonde one named Engel gave a smirk.

"Hmph, today must be my lucky day."

He let go of his victim, who tried to creep away, but the black-haired boy made sure he stayed put. Engel made his way confidently to his opponent, while Nicholas walked up to him with a feeling of dispute in his step. They met together in the middle.

"Hey there...wait, what was your name again? Nicho...Nick...Nikki…?"

"Nicholas."

"Oh yeah, that's it. So, what do you want?"

"I want you to leave him alone."

"Hmph, really? Well you know the only way to do that."

Once again, Engel presented his cheek to the boy and tapped it.

"Come on, do it. Be the hero."

With the continued taunts, a look of enmity started to build on Nicholas's face, but he stayed his hand. His aspirant noticed this.

"Come on, bring it," he said as he pushed him again and again, harder and harder. With each subsequent push, the boy grew more and more irate.

"Come on...come on...come on and just hit me you daddy's boy!"

It was then that a sharp crack shot threw the air. Each person there stood there in shock with open eyes, except for the Nicholas, who had his eyes closed. He slowly opened them, and gazed at his open right hand. He then looked at his opposition's face, which had a red mark on his left cheek and watery eyes.

"Di-did you just slap me?"

"Umm...yes?"

Engel's face of shock turned to offense, and after a solid moment of silence between the two, he raised his fist and punched Nicholas.

Lorenz was walking down the street and took a right onto the stone road.

"Damn it, that was a tough one. Thank god the bastard was wounded. Poor girl..."

He went through the fence and made his way through the door, where the man found Nicholas sitting in the kitchen, holding a wet cloth to his left eye.

"Holy crap kid! What the heck happened?" he said, heading towards the boy. Nicholas looked up to him, with his face that was bruised and had dried blood on the upper lip.

"Oh, hey Lorenz. How are you doing?"

"Ermmm...I'm good. I should be asking you that question."

"This? Don't worry about it, just ran into those guys you met today."

"Hmph, seems like you made your choice."

"Yeah, guess I did."

Despite the melancholy that was in the boy's voice, a smile started to creep across his face, and he started to lightly chuckle. Lorenz could do nothing but look surprised.

"Heh heh heh, ow...hurts to laugh."

"And what's there to laugh about?"

"Well, after that Engel kid was done beating me up, he called to his friend and they both left. Then that red-haired pearson, Wilfried I think was his name, then scampered off without saying anything."

"Annnd...why is that funny?"

"Because how pathetic is it that those two bullies completely forgot about the person they wanted to beat up in the first place. Heh, calling them scatterbrained would be an understatement."

Lorenz just looked at Nicholas with a slightly bemused face.

"Hmph, guess that is kinda funny. Now let me take a look at that eye, it might need ointment."