The Progenitors

Chapter 2

Hallen awoke with the momentary sensation of safety that comes with dreaming. You always wake up with a happy feeling inside, like nothing in the world is out to get you.

And then reality sets in.

He shook his head to shake off all the remnants of sleep. Being groggy was dangerous, especially on market day. Evening was the preferred time for being robbed, so if he could get in and out as quick as possible, he could mitigate most of the risks he was taking by even being present.

The mushrooms were all mostly ready for the day - it only took about 5 minutes to bag the mushrooms and hide them among useless clutter in his bag. Some of the more valuable varieties he hid in multiple hidden pockets he had sewn onto his clothes. Even if he was robbed, only the most careful bandits would find all of his goods - as it should be. Even among thieves, truly clever hiding places were respected when discovered for the first time. A sign of respect for those with the practical thinking to plan for robbery and the ability to carry out their ideas well.

The sun was barely cresting the horizon when Hallen stumbled out of the cave. Whatever fire had been started the day before was put out by now, and the sky had reverted to its normal, dull, monotone grey. A good type of sky that allowed you to see strangers from a distance. All of the cloud cover meant you were never blinded by looking into the sun, something that bandits often waited for before they attacked.

The day worked out well for many of the other merchants as well; looking along the road Hallen could only find two merchants that had been mugged, and both of them had survived with bruising. The bandits were long gone, meaning that the crime had happened the night before most likely.

Then Hallen wistfully corrected himself - mugging wasn't a crime. For crime you needed rules, and that obviously wasn't happening any time soon.

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The town was just as full as usual, with crowds numbering in the thousands. Always a good market for your wares in Willhelm, whether you sold them legally or illegally. Of course, by legally, it was meant you had gotten permission from the lord of the town - Lord Dule, the Racketeer. His prices were incredibly high, but that was because he knew the merchants could afford it. When compared to surrounding towns, Willhelm had less danger for the customers and more danger for the merchants - which tended to make the smart and resourceful merchants rich as they gained more customers and had less competitors.

Today was no different. It only took 4 hours for Hallen to sell all of the wares that he had brought along and obtain a small fortune. He could trade most of the copper and silver coins he had obtained for food, the gold ones he would save for big-ticket items like medicine and tools. He made sure to hide the gold coins separately from the silver and copper ones left over - thieves wouldn't stop searching until they found some sort of currency, but if they were satisfied with the silver and copper they would quit the search. Yet another way to prepare for the inevitable.

But Hallen was lucky that day. Fewer bandits than average rode that afternoon, and Hallen wasn't accosted by any of them. He noticed a few more merchants had been robbed along the roadside, but the only victim that stood out was a soldier of some variety. Armored in darkened metal, the man was covered in his own blood and had no weaponry with him. From the multitude of wounds on all sides that he had received, it was obvious he had been attacked on all sides at once. If he was lucky, death would come quickly and he would be gone before the night was done.

He halted next to the man. The man was worth nothing. He was just a victim of the easily dodged, an idiot, someone who deserved to die.

But he couldn't leave him.

Grumbling curses to himself, Hallen dragged the man out of the ditch and carried him along the road. His cave was only about 150 feet distant, and he figured he could drag the soldier that far. This stupidity was what came of having ideals. Tricky things - you could only claim them if you lived them out. If he advocated a world without lawbreakers, he had to do something against those who violated his worldview - even if it was only saving someone from death at the hands of the highwaymen.

Ideals were such useless, idiotic, frustrating things...