Education… Social security… Disability…

'Noah?'

'Agriculture… Corporation… Franchise…'

'Noah!'

'Animals… Natural resources… Family… Intellectual prop…'

'Oh, Noah. You're still living into this book'.

Mom stood in front of me, in the living room. I was reading the first book I borrowed from Waldgott: General Law Categorization. Supreme Court of the Republic of Landis.

'Yes', I answered with a smile. 'I try to remember the main categories that matter in the law of Landis, of Archadia, or any other nation.'

'Why this sudden interest in law anyway?' said my mother with a sarcastic grin. 'I'd never thought you could be passionate about this kind of books.'

Mom was right. I neither ever thought this type of studies could ever catch my attention. But reality was, as soon as Cirla and Margit went to another law class, the time we spent together, analyzing the documents and fighting to select the most relevant books at the library, were the most relieving I had ever had at this step of my life. I felt I had friends; friends that could help me carry on, and bring out the best of me on a topic, which was hardly the case the few weeks before. The change was immense, because it was broad and sudden at the same time. I went from something close to desperate, to something close to self-confidence. I said close.

'Now, why haven't you tidied up your room?'

What was this again?

'Mom…? I'm sorry to say so, but I think I just made my bed and folded my clothes.'

Mom let herself fall into the armchair. Her voice was suddenly calm.

'I know. I just miss having to make my son's bed myself.'

'M… mine?'

I used my brain a couple of seconds, and then rebuilt my mother's reasoning.

'You mean Basch…'

She had always seemed cheerful since his departure. I had not thought she was careless, but rather she had all faith in my father and therefore was happy to know Basch in a safe situation, doing what he wanted to.

'I miss him too, Mom'.

She turned to me and smiled.

'I'm not much worried about him. It's just a matter of time before he gets back anyway. They say the troop's training near the village is almost over.'

'That's good news'.

I tried to turn my book's page after that, but she stopped me at once:

'I didn't allow you to keep on reading!'

'But, Mom…'

'You have to go to the Olszewski farm.'

'Now?'

'Yes. I have entrusted the leader of the workers with a mission for Naria and yourself. The harvest season has been positive, don't you think?'

'Err… If you say so…'

I knew how to work in the farm but didn't have enough experience to tell if this season had been better than any other.

'There', she continued, 'you will find the last of the boxes you will have to carry. It's the fruit of a collective work, so handle them carefully! Because this time, it is not I who will be selling in Waldgott.'

'Mom!'

This surprised me a lot. Linda Gabranth had always been famous for parading in the streets of Waldgott and Kalthof, asking for curiosity to taste her products. This is how she made her first contacts in Landis. To imagine this year without this scene seemed absolutely devoid of sense!

'I insist, my son. It's time to learn how to make a living. And how to talk to people. The latter will be the most difficult, but I'm relying on the courageous Nareszcie for that matter.'

'I don't know if Naria will do that in a serious manner', I tried to escape.

'What is perfect in this job', Mom replied, 'is that you don't have to be serious to succeed. On the contrary, being astray might lead you to an expected result.'

Oh, why did it have to be me…

'When you're done – don't stay late at night, even if you couldn't sell everything – you can stay at Waldgott and go to your friends' house. I doubt their parents will have any objection against you spending the night in their dwelling until tomorrow morning. Didn't you say yourself that could be a plan?'

Now that was worth it!

'Thanks Mom', I said before rushing outside.

I ran the portion of the forest separating me from the farm in one go. As soon as I arrived, I saw Naria waiting with strange patience at the doors of the property.

`Welcome!' she greeted, waving her arms as I got close to her. 'Are you ready?'

'Yes I am!'

'Then let's go see my father'.

I was always afraid to know I would meet the surly Olszewski, but this time I had no choice. Mom chose us to sell the farm products and I guess talking to the farmer was part of the process. Naria began to scamper before sitting on the small fence and greeted the man who was coming our way.

'Hi Sydor! Where is Father?'

I believe that was the workers' leader. I had already seen him before; you couldn't miss him with his large straw hat, his brown overalls and his friendly smile.

'Good morning, miss Nareszcie. I am afraid your father is not in the property anymore.'

Naria's eyes turned into white balls.

`What? What do you mean?'

'Do not panick, Miss. He just went to town to meet a doctor in the hospital. He woke up with a malaise.'

A brief silence took place. Naria's feet were swinging left and right.

'Oh… Really?' she asked. 'I didn't know about it. Do you know what kind of sickness he has?'

'No I don't, I'm sorry, Miss. But I do believe he is not so bad; he promised to return during the day.'

She immediately regained her smile.

'Thanks, Sydor. So I'll just go to Waldgott with Noah. What should we do?'

And then he brought us to the hangar, where an incredible amount of fruits, vegetables, cloth, wool, and cheese was stored. Next to the piles of goods, the rest of the team was enthusiastically forming a chain to pass the products on until they were put in boxes. Most of the wooden boxes were already filled.

'We will take care of the animals…' concluded Sydor. 'They may cause you unwanted trouble if you're only two'.

'Wow!' Naria was jumping all over the driveway. 'So this is all for us? I mean, only Noah and I will be in charge of this all? I'll really be selling all of this?'

'Yes', Sydor smiled. 'Mrs Fon Ronsenburg and the boss decided so. Well, I suppose the boss is aware.'

Naria burst into laughter and took my hand. In a short time, we memorized all types of products we had and drawn a map of the strategic streets where we would be selling.'

'You will set up your stall here, here, and there. One will be haranguing the crowd while the other watches over the boxes. Don't forget it's a fair quantity of goods you have here! Unfortunately, Landis is not free from thieves. And finally, here are the scales and the bags where you will be able to serve your customers what they choose.'

We listened to Sydor carefully. Everything was clear now. We were ready to go. But when I dared to look at the girl, the gaze we exchanged showed me I was the only one to think it was clear.

'Well, we can sell the scales too? That's a good proposal. If a scornful woman refuses to take Gysahl greens, we're just gonna give this to her and she'll accept.'

'Careful, Miss Nareszcie! That's not exactly what…'

But Sydor was talking in vain; Naria had already run to the other side of the driveway and was making big gestures to make me join her.

'Hum, don't worry, Sydor. I think I can show her the right way.'

Sydor, for a moment, looked like he showed no care of what I had just said at all, then suddenly smiled at me and walked behind Naria.

'Before you go, you should ask me how to carry all these boxes'.

'How to carry?' Naria asked with surprise. 'That's easy! Noah is the man, so all you have to do is attach the things to his waist and here we go. Noah is so strong he can also carry me, sitting above the boxes!'

Sydor laughed joyfully before bringing her back to reason.

'Noah is a good boy. It's been a while since I saw a child putting so much effort at farm work', he declared while tousling my hair. 'But he is no beast! Unfortunately, we cannot rely on his back to bear all this weight – unless we want it to break. Look, instead!'

His finger was pointing to the outside. We heard a continuous noise coming from there, like something slowly rolling on the rubble, before I recognized… the cart I already went with to Waldgott.

'Ho! Ho! If it isn't our hasty little boy! This time you won't be able to avoid your debt.'

'What do you mean, 'your debt'? Noah is not guilty! He has done nothing wrong, and he always pays; he's not a burglar like you. If you don't believe us, just wait until we reach town and you'll see how much money we'll bring!'

'Well, well', Sydor said with an uneasy face. 'These two are indeed the guarantors of the majority of this year's turnover here in the farms. I'm counting on you to drive them safely to the Waldgott market, and bring them back here before sunset.'

'Heh!' winced the man. 'We'll see this. Come on, kids! Help me lift those boxes.'

All our team joined hands to prepare the wares for the ride. After a short time, we were done.

'I… I'm counting on you, guys!' Sydor said, all sweating with exhaustion.

We waved him goodbye and sat above the boxes. Sydor walked behind, but as we expected the cart to move forward, nothing happened.

'Eh! Seems this weight is too much for my old chocobo!' the driver said with embarrassment.

How were we going to do this? Pushing a poor animal beyond its limits was out of the question. Naria didn't seem to worry as she jumped out.

'Book! Book, where are you?'

'Book?'

I think there's definitely something I don't understand. But as soon as I began thinking, a lightning fast chocobo appeared.

'Book! You heard me!'

All smiling, she tied it to the cart and climbed back up. The two chocobos looked at each other and seemed like… they weren't exactly ready for a friendly relationship.

'Book is the name of my chocobo.' Naria explained as we began moving. 'I didn't study much more than write-and-read. And I don't actually know how to write and read properly. So I never had books. One day I dreamt of my mother telling me I would have some. So I decided that this chocobo would be my book! This way, I have books.'

She left me somehow… speechless.

'What do you think?' she asked cheerfully.

'That's certainly a way to have books. At least, this one seems to have enough energy to bring us to town.'

Naria turned back and waved at the trees we were passing.

'Yeeha! Goodbye Uwiel! Goodbye Book! Goodbye Father!'

'Your chocobo is behind you and your father is certainly somewhere in the city we're going to', I reminded her.

'Oh, you're right'.

She looked sad. Was she worrying about her father? He sure was a scornful man, but he was her father nonetheless, with the concern of protecting her and showing her how to make a living.

'Here you are, kids.'

The man helped us putting the boxes down, and at the moment we were going to leave him, he grabbed my collar.

'Don't ever think you can escape me once again, kid.'

'I… I won't escape this time. We are going to earn enough money to pay you.'

He shrugged his shoulders and turned back.

'And take care of my chocobo!' Naria shouted until my ears seemed torn apart.

'Not this loud, Naria!' I scolded her. 'You're not supposed to scream apart from advertising the products.'

'Nice, shall we begin? WELCOME TO…'

I tightly put my hand on her mouth. With my other hand, I showed her the boxes, then the waste ground reserved for market stalls. She tried to flee, waving her arms in all directions, before understanding what I was saying and nodding in a – what I thought was a – calm way.

'Okay', she said, 'so we carry this to that nearby place. But what about the other places we're supposed to go to? Are we going to carry what two chocobos carried all around the city?'

'According to what I understood, this location is the most central and frequented of Waldgott. Here is where we're expected to sell the majority of our goods. When we're finished with this area, we should have less than half of what we see now.'

'Oh, you're so clever, Noah. Let's go!'

We carried the boxes to our selling ground, and arranged it with a few branches and a tarpaulin to cover us from the sun.

'Now we're ready, right?'

'Yes, we are', I answered as I was checking the map.

'Aaaaaalright. WELCOME TO THE RONSENBURG-OLSZEWSKI MARKET! Here you can find all sorts of wool to knit shirts to your children – or give to your grandmothers! You can find fruits! You can find vegetables! Of course, these two are made to eat! Oh, and the eggs! Come taste our delicious dried fruits! They make excellent snacks! And don't forget the milk and the herbs, to make awesome drinks!'

It was perfect. Yes, my cotton earplugs were working perfectly.

'Noah. NOAH! You're not listening to me, are you?'

I removed one of the plugs.

'Yes?'

'Look at this man, standing there! Don't you think he's hesitating to buy something from us? Go convince him! And don't deceive me.'

'But…'

'I'll stay here! This stall needs a strong woman to take care of it!'

I sighed and went to see the man. He was a tall thin man who could be the age of my father. He didn't seem scary but I had no words. He looked at me and, ill-at-ease, began to move away. I looked back and saw Naria's face boiling with anger; her eyes moved very quickly towards and away from the man. I swallowed and ran to him.

'Err… We're selling… all sorts of goods… Sir.'

'Oh, you're selling things with the girl?' he said, with surprise in his voice. 'I was just looking for cheese. But since you're not selling diary, I'll have to go elsewhere'.

'No, Sir…'

I didn't know what to say next, but my hands were holding the man's arm without me commanding them. Suddenly annoyed, he removed my hands by force, hitting my cheek in the process. I bowed… and saw the other earplug jump to the ground.

'Look!' Naria was screaming, waving her arms to us.

'We… We have cheese, Sir.'

Astonished, he blinked, before finally accepting to follow me. Naria welcomed him with the biggest smile I've ever seen – I could barely distinguish her eyes.

'Look!' she repeated. 'We have cheese from various livestock. Which one is to your liking, Sir?'

The customer hesitated, then asked: 'Can I taste?'

'Of course!'

Nareszcie cut a cheese part with her bare hands. I don't know if that was a good idea…

'Hmm…'

I began to shiver as the man's face became contorted.

'This…'

'Yes?' Naria gently asked.

I preferred to close my eyes. What'd follow could be scary…

'This is the best cheese I've tasted in years!'

After several seconds, I opened my eyes. It was not a dream: the customer looked delighted.

'Hi Plommon! How are you? Come here; these children don't know nothin' about business, but they sure have fine cheese!'

Another man came to greet the first one and began to smell our cheese.

'This one has been made in my mom's farm, hasn't it?' I whispered in Naria's ears.

'Shhht', she said. 'Well, what do you think? Buy it?' she said in a higher tone.

'No… Not like this, Naria!'

But the men didn't say anything against it. They looked at each other, nodded, and then:

'Buy it!'

Naria made that smile that always made me laugh.

'A hundred gil the kilogram; not cancellable, not negotiable.'

'That's much!'

'That's not what the peasants usually offer.'

'I'm sorry', she said, and then put her hands on her face, shaking her hand in – apparent – extreme despair. 'I have to gather money for my father! He's in the Waldgott hospital right now. He has a serious disease that will affect him for the rest of his life!'

The two men looked at each other once again.

'Fine. We'll take one kilogram each', said the first one. 'Here is two hundred gil. Take care of it, kids! Come on, Plommon, this is a favor I'm doing you. I can pay for us both, it's alright. Goodbye!'

As soon as these customers went off, others arrived, intrigued by our conversation.

'To hell the old man and his disease. Noah, we're going to be rich. I'm counting on you!'

Out of shock, I distanced myself from her and put some cheese in the presentation box to replace the ones sold.

'Naria, you wicked little d…'

'Hello. I'm also looking for cheese'.

I lowered my head and saw a little brown-haired boy, all smiling.

'Y… yes, sure. What do you need?'

'I think it's half a kilogram. Do you have meat? My mom asked me to bring this.'

Naria took the initiative to answer, with a tough voice:

'We were supposed to bring it as well but the suppliers stripped it from us! What else do you need?'

I decided to suggest.

'Do you need fruits? Look at these.'

The boy looked at the fruit boxes and his eyes began to glow.

'Woow… But, do I have enough money to buy this?'

I looked at the palm of his hand, then at the price note Sydor gave us.

'Yes', I said. 'You have sixty gil. You can take the cheese and two of these.'

'Great!' the boy laughed, jumping all around the ground. 'With these, we can make a fine delicious dessert! Thank you!'

'All the customers aren't as polite as him', Naria warned. 'Be careful.'

I nodded while observing the state of all our boxes. They were still at their place. Immediately after, other people began to ask about our products. Naria ran to help them, but I was not left aside: they were too many for one person.

At each sale, Naria was shouting: 'WHAT IS THE PRICE?' while holding the corresponding product above the customers' heads. I tried to tell her to ask more discreetly, but she did not obey. I also had to work out the total, for she was often wrong in mental arithmetic.

'Well', I heard her talking to a fat woman, 'if you have so much money, you can take the scales'.

'No! No, Naria! We need the scales to weigh the vegetables!'

And I had to take them out of her hands, leaving her in utter surprise.

'But… This woman is rich…'

I was about to tear out my own hair.

'You have to suggest other products! You can't just act like that!' I tried to whisper and make her hear my sentence at the same time – which was not compatible.

After some time, we realized our cash was growing as hours were passing by. Mom was going to be so happy! There were also whole sellers who took entire boxes from us. They picked up wool, cotton, and most of the vegetables. So, at the end of the period, we were indeed free of more than half of our initial cargo. As customers outnumbered our eyes' ability, I managed to sense something strange in the egg corner.

'Hey! You!'

Naria, at my greatest surprise, also caught the teenager who was standing there, trying to steal a handful of eggs. She slapped him and pushed him away from the stall. Many customers had their smiles turned into expressions of terror.

'Why this behavior, Naria?'

Suddenly, her face was not greedy anymore. Nor was it fake. It was… different.

'My mother always told me to never trust people who commit acts like these.'

'It doesn't mean you have to hit them!'

'She didn't tell me to hit people, but rather that she'll hit me if she ever catches me doing this.'

I lowered my look and preferred to return to stall updating.

'It… I… This isn't what you're thinking it is! I was just weighing them!' the kid said before running for his life, away from the market.

As I was helping a woman asking for herbs, my eyes rose up to the Waldgott tower, which was hosting a big sundial that just rang.

'It's time…'

The customer also turned her head towards the clock and smiled. The day was passing by quickly but nature seemed to take time to make things change. It was like a deep breath, hearing the mild winds tickling my cheeks and playing with Naria's hair. All around the selling ground, groups of families, colleagues, friends, and persons alone were crossing the paths between the different stalls with reassured faces and responsive gestures. Nothing could disrupt the smooth running of this peaceful afternoon.

'Thank you!'

I closed the little bag where I had put the desired amount of herbs, counted the money and gave the customer her product with my thanks back. Then I began to remove the boxes from their selling place and put them aside.

'Let's move, Naria! The next spot is a few streets away'.