June 28th, 1800
...
It's been months since the war brought us here.
That's how we call it, "the war", like no other will ever compare.
Not the greatest of all wars, because wars aren't great. I heard that technological advances only happen at the end of a conflict, but I may be mistaken. I only saw death and ruins on our side. I mean, there were losses on both sides, but I just happened to be on the side where millions of people were killed and no such thing as fancy flying technologies were made. It's why many of us live here, the Regent assured us that if we helped rebuild his kingdom, we would have a place to live and that's how Little Burmecia saw its rise.
We call it little, but this neighborhood is as big as some of Lindblum's main districts. How many people live here? I don't know, half a million is my guess. I'm not good at math, you see, and a lot of people move in and out everyday, so it's hard to keep the count of those who stay, but there's no doubt that you can find a lot of people in here, most of them refugees from the war. It's heavily guarded, and yet it's one of the most dangerous places where one could live. Not so different from the original Burmecia, I'd say.
I wonder how the guards didn't notice an apple this big in my pockets. Maybe they think I bought it legitimately instead of opting for unorthodox ways of acquiring food, which just means I stole it at the market when no one was looking. I'm doing them a favor, with so many apples lying around and no one buying them because the price is going up like crazy everyday, they would rot and people would still be hungry, and out of all places in Lindblum, it's here at Little Burmecia where hunger prevails. It's like a punishment for all of us, even for those who work and do everything right in order to get a few bucks from the factory owners who swim in a pool of gil at the expense of our plight.
Out of nowhere, moved by my heavy consciousness, I decide I am a good person who, despite leading a rough life, I get to aid the local economy with the few earnings I got honestly at the cost of my sleep. There's a pharmacy on my way home, funny how I never noticed it before squeezed between two residential buildings. I see what I can afford to buy and, to my surprise, I got two potions, four ethers and... The hell was that? I asked the lady at the balcony.
"Echo screen", she said, looking at the bottle, and then proceeded to explain for what felt like an hour that it was a tonic extracted from some native herbs found within the Evil Forest that are used to treat illnesses associated with silence.
"Interesting", I said, despite not being interested in any conversations at the moment. I asked if it would work for a sore throat, since my daughter got a cold and hasn't spoken for three days because it hurts a lot everytime she does. The lady, who's a survivor of Cleyra, she briefly commented on it even if I did not ask, said that many people buy Echo Screens during winter, when the air is dry and respiratory diseases are more frequent.
I mean, it smells awful, probably whoever has to drink it might scream and if that's not a cure for silence, I don't know. Well, as my mother used to say, "the more awful the medicine tastes, the better it'll do for you". I bought the Echo Screen anyway, and spent 3000 gil on a single day. Dear Lord... But whatever, the lady in the pharmacy, whose name is Nina, wished my daughter well. How sweet.
I find my daughter to be annoying at times, but to not hear her speak is so wrong. It's a pain I can't explain, like we feel the same thing but we don't, it's weird but whatever, I got her an apple and a bottle of Echo Screen. Apples are her favorite.