The golden sun was rising steadily into the sky, with very few clouds lazing in the colorful sky as the day was just starting to come alive. Despite the bright day the temperature of the area was very low as the last days of this world’s version of Autumn came to an end and Winter was soon to come. The chill drifted through the landscape as I walked along the dirt path that connected to one of the roads that led in and out of the town of Vanners.

  It wasn’t too bad as I had the same clothes that I had arrived in Septima in and my newly repaired trenchcoat did a good job protecting me from the chill. The new brown leather gloves I wore also helped and I found myself sending another silent thank you to Mrs. Wheatmen for gifting me the pair a few days ago. She had also gifted me some cotton long johns which I wore under my jeans and they were definitely doing a great job keeping my legs and nether regions warm despite the cold’s best efforts.

  I walked relatively silently but the air was still very much full of chatter.

  Just not my chatter.

  “Right, so the first thin' we got to do is some of the games that they got! Last year I waited too long and had to wait a good 10 minutes just to try the ‘Break a Shield’. Wasn’t even able to break the dang thin' but I think I can definitely do it this year with my new Empower Spell Skill I got earlier this year. Oh, and we gotta get ya a grilled Dalish on a stick! It was so spicy but so good when I tried it last year. But we also can’t miss out on the singin' contest! Anna said she was finally going to enter this year and I think she’s got a good chance.”

  Danny’s words seemed to never end as we turned from the dirt path to the main road that would lead to the town. I had taken it once when I went with Mr. Wheatmen to town to help him find some produce in the local market. The town was divided into two districts, the Old District which was where the original buildings had popped up which was placed around the southeastern base of the dual mound hill that the town was built on and around. The other part was the Upper District which was where the new buildings were being made.

  Apparently, the town was officially founded over a hundred years ago after some war that the nation we were currently in, the Kingdom of Valnus, had lost. There had been a big demand for food after the war which led the King at the time to send various minor lords to small unofficial villages to take control of them and push their growth. Vanner’s had been one of them with the current Lord’s, Robert Hous, father taking control and turning a small farming village into a well-maintained farming town. This had led to the construction of the keep on top of the hill and the development of the Upper District.

  Or at least that was what had happened according to Kalin Wheatmen. So far the older man had not given me a reason to doubt him so I assume he was telling the truth when he explained a little about the town’s history during our trip. Or at least he believed it was true. If there was one thing I had learned from my history classes it was that what is written down and what actually happened can be very different.

  “So what do you think Alex?”

  I blinked as I heard Danny’s question and realized that I had been lost in thought for the past few seconds or more. I slowed my pace a little and turned my head to see the mage farmer looking at me with his usual smile and glimmering eyes. I made a show of looking up as if I was thinking while trying to figure out what he had been talking about. After a few seconds, I gave my reply.

  “I’ll leave it up to your digression Danny. I’m sure you know what you're doing.” The vague reply left my mouth and for a second I feared that it wasn’t quite right for whatever he had asked. But then Danny’s smile got a little bit wider and I swore I saw some actual sparkles in his eyes.

  “Don’t worry Alex, I'm sure we can win the two-person pie-eating'contest together!” Danny all but shouted this before almost skipping ahead towards the very close town of Vanners.

  Oh…well hopefully it’s not apple pie. Never was a fan of it.

  Music filled the air as the festival appeared to be getting into the swing of things despite the relative earliness of the day. Already a decent crowd of people filled the streets as stalls were either already set up and yelling at any nearby people about their wares or were trying to quickly finish setting up to start selling. Besides that, there were also several different booths that had games and challenges for people to try out.

  It was a rather delightful sight as my eyes wandered over the area while I absentmindedly followed Danny through the crowds. The other members of the Wheatmen family had some stuff to do this morning but would be joining Danny and me at some point around noon. So until then, it was just me and the novice Mage.

  The first hour or two was spent with Danny dragging me from game to game. Most of them were the typical carnival-style games that involved trying to do some task in order to win a prize. The younger man was the one to play most of the game with me simply watching or giving advice when I felt it was needed. The ‘Break the Shield’ game he had been talking about had been the first and Danny had tried his best to break the thing using a spell called Impact which seemed to create a concussive blast of force from a point-blank range. But even with him using his Empower Spell Skill it simply didn’t break much to the tan man’s carnage.

  Some of the other games were things like trying to hit some moving targets with a shabby bow and some bendy arrows, one where you had to try and solve an image puzzle within a certain time frame, and another where you tried to climb a very greased up pole. Danny had tried all of them with the same results as the shield game. Which was to say failure on all fronts despite the tan man’s best attempts. I started to feel bad for him as I saw more frustration build up on his face with each loss.

  “Danny you are aware that most of these games are rigged correct? You're not meant to win and they're just trying to take your copper coins right?” At my words said man did a quick turn to lock and at me and even seemed like he was about to yell. But he paused as he got a look at my concerned face and that anger seemed to deflate out of him with a loud sigh.

  “I know Alex but that doesn’t mean that it should be impossible to win one of them! I know that you can win sometimes. I just want to win once!” His words left him with a sad deposition which I tried to help with an awkward pat on the back.

  “Why don’t you sit down for a moment Danny? Just rest while I look around a bit. I assure you that I'll be fine on my own for a minute or two.” He tilted his head back up to look at me and after a few seconds just gave me a head nod before walking over to one of the sitting areas that had been set up around the town and slumping into it.

  My frown stayed on my face as I looked at him before twisting around and looking at all the games in the area. There seemed to be a larger-than-average grouping of them around this area of town so there was plenty to choose from. My eyes wandered over all of them before they found something with promise.

  I quickly towards a small stand with an overweight man in colored clothing. He had a horizontal spinning wheel on a wooden table with the bottom part of the table covered with a cloth. The spinning wheel had sections of either black or white and was spinning around with a metal ball on it just like a roulette wheel.

  At the moment a mother and child were standing next to the game and it seemed like the kid was the one playing as he gave the large man 2 copper coins and said white. The man gave a slimy grin before taking the coins and with a meaty hand spun the wheel. As the child looked on in excitement and the mother looked on with a smile at her kid's happiness I watched the colorful man instead. I paid special attention to his legs as I saw him move one and place his foot under the cloth and table. Soon after the wheel came to a stop and the ball landed on a black space much to the mother and son’s dismay.

  While the two walked away sadly I noted the fat man’s foot come out from under the table as he added the coins to a large sack. I watched for a few more minutes and each time the man would put his foot under the table just a few seconds before the wheel stopped. Each time it was a loss even when one unlucky person tried four different times to win, only winning after a fifth time when the man didn’t put his foot under the table.

  It didn’t take much to figure out what was going on as I made my way over to the man and it didn't take long for him to notice me. “Why hello good stranger! Care for a fun game of chance? For 2 copper coins, you can guess if the silver ball will stop in a black or white space! There’s an equal amount of both so it's a 50/50 chance to win a prize! What do you say?”

  I listened halfheartedly to his words while nodding my head to show I was listening as I thought about what to say. After a few seconds, an outline of a plan was formed in my head. “50/50 chance of winning good sir?”

  The large man responded with a wide grin as he spread his hands out in what he probably thought was a grand gesture. “Of course! You might not win on the first try but play 2 or 3 times and I assure you that you’ll more than likely win!”

  I gave the man a thin smile and a shallow nod before I spoke my next words in a lower tone to make sure that only he heard me. “Truly? Completely and utterly random chance? And it has nothing to do with the little machine you have hidden under that table to stop it and place your little ball wherever you wish?”

  He paused and a bit of paleness entered his face as he opened and closed his mouth for a few seconds before trying to speak again. ‘Now good sir I have no-”

  “You do,” I said abruptly, cutting him off as I maintained prolonged eye contact with him, “I’ve seen this sort of trick many times before. It’s nothing new as far as I’m concerned. But I’m sure your potential players might find it an interesting tidbit if I informed them…”

  As I spoke I slowly and subtly got closer to him and loomed my full height over him. He was a few inches shorter than me and seemed to shrink down. His eyes darted back and forth around the festival but my own eyes refused to look anywhere else but his. Sweat started to build up on his brow and his tongue started to smack his suddenly dry lips.

  After a few seconds, he seemed to build up enough courage to speak in a low tone, trying and failing to keep some fear out of it as I’m sure he was imagining how a town full of rough and brash farmers would react to being cheated. “Now sir let's not be too hasty…I’m sure I can convince you that I’m running a perfectly good business.”

  I made a show of tilting my head while still staring at him. My eyes were starting to get rather dry but I had long since practiced keeping them open for decently long periods of time for tactics like this. Eye contact is essential when it comes to a conversation and its usage could make someone trust you more or distrust you more depending on its application. In this case, it was making for a decent intimidation tactic along with leveraging my taller height.

  “Yes… I’m sure we can come to an agreement. You see there's this fine young man that I was spending a lovely time with at this little fair. Sadly he seems to be rather sad that he hasn’t won a prize from any of these legitimate games in this wonderful festival. But I imagine that in a fair game like this one, he would most likely win…correct.”

  By the time I had finished my statement, the overweight man was rapidly nodding his head. With a swift step back I stopped towering over the man but still held eye contact as I gave him a wide smile that showed all the teeth in my mouth before. “Good. Now please give me a second. And do be smart. You have the rest of the day to win more coins. One little loss isn't going to break you.”

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  I didn’t even give the man time to reply as I swiftly turned and walked back to Danny’s location. I found the novice Mage still with a somber expression as he looked at the smiling faces around him. He didn’t even notice me until I put a hand on his shoulder and nearly caused him to jump out of the bench.

  “Ah! Oh, Alex ya scared me. Come on now you shouldn’t do that sort of thin' with a friend.” I paused at his words before shaking it off and smiling at him.

  “My apology about that my tanned companion. Didn’t mean to cause you to lose some of your nerve. But I think I’ve found a game that you can win.” At my words, he gave me a bit of a confused look before shrugging and getting up.

  “Well, I ain't got much to lose. Lead the way Alex. I think I can play one more game before I call it quits.” With his confirmation, I quickly led him back to the large and colorful man who paused as we got closer. He gave his usual spiel to Danny who despite himself did look interested in the game as he handed the man two copper coins and declared it would land on white.

  As soon as the wheel and ball were spinning I stared at the large man who tried his best to ignore me even as he sweated a little. All the while Danny looked down at the spinning wheel with his fist clenched in excitement as he quickly chanted the color white over and over again. After a short amount of time that more than likely felt like much longer to the big man the wheel slowed to a stop and the ball landed in one of the sections.

  White.

  Danny let out a loud cheer and even jumped a little as he won. The colorful man congratulated him before pulling out a wooden box and opening it to show a small collection of trinkets for the tanned man to choose from. After looking over them all for a few seconds he decided on a bronze-looking armband that had an emblem of a hand holding a burning torch on it. Giving thanks to the large man, the novice Mage turned around and both of us started to walk off.

  I spent a few more seconds staring at the man who seemed to be trying his best to pretend I didn’t exist. I debated whether I should just go ahead and tell some people about his little scheme but at the end of the day it didn’t really matter to me. He was just one cheating man in a festival full of them. I simply didn’t see a point in outing him. Besides he did keep his end of the bargain and I tended to keep my own end when it came to this sort of thing.

  Usually.

  I couldn’t stop the groan from leaving my lips as the sound of my stomach losing the war it was currently fighting against the many pies that were now in my stomach seemed to almost overshadow the general noise of the festival around me. Despite my best efforts, I had been unable to convince Danny that the pie-eating contest was a bad idea and found myself at least giving the whole thing a token effort. Sadly the novice Mage had not taken a hint of my notice and ‘helped’ shove some pies down my throat after he got done with his.

  The end result was still a loss but 3rd place wasn’t too bad, all things considered. I just wish it hadn’t come with the current consequences. Danny at least saw some of my distress and helped me to a nice wooden bench. Said man was off to the side talking to his family who had shown up to the festival not too long ago. Just in time for them to watch their son all but shove a pie down a man's throat.

  They must be so proud.

  I tried to listen to the Wheatmen family talk a little but the general loudness of the festival all but drowned them out. Other than a few words here or there I had no idea what they were saying. Part of it seemed to be about me as I heard my name twice and the looks of concern that Mrs. Wheatmen were giving me all indicated this. In truth, I might have tried harder to listen in but the losing battle going on in my stomach was limiting my options.

  At least the pies had been rather good. They had been filled with some kind of sweet fruit called a jallet which I suspected was some kind of grape-like fruit that could be smashed into a jammy filling. Whatever a jallet it was I quite liked them and was hoping that this experience didn’t ruin my taste for them.

  Once my stomach finally seemed to start winning the war, Danny departed from his family who gave me a wave, or a wink in Anna’s case, before heading their own way through the festival. The magical farmer was now wearing his new bronze armband around his right arm which glinted a little in the sunlight as he closed the gap between the two of us.

  “Right, Ma said that the singin' contest ain’t till this evening when it's going to start getting' dark. Until then they’re going to do some stuff with Anna and I think Jackal is gonna hang out with some of his friends. We can relax a little and look around the town and festival a bit then meet up with them later. You good to go Alex?”

  I took a moment to feel out my stomach and after a few seconds felt I could probably do some light walking and be fine. I went to stand up while speaking in a measured tone, “I'm feeling quite better now Danny. Just try not to drag me around and I'm sure I'll be fine.”

  My words caused an embarrassed blush to appear on Danny’s face. No doubt he was remembering all the times he would drag me around the farm without realizing it. He had already done so a few times at the festival much to the tanned man’s further embarrassment. In truth I didn't mind it too much but at this point I was feeling concerned for my arm socket.

  For the next few hours Danny started a little impromptu tour of the town. The festival made it look bigger than it usually was but even without all the decoration it was still a rather large place. Mr. Wheatmen didn’t really show me around when I had brought me to the town but my tanned companion seemed to be making up for that as he showed me all the little shops and stores in the Old District. It felt weird to not see some kind of general store but rather smaller specialized stores like a shoemaker or a tanner but I suppose even the all-powerful corporate companies of America couldn’t open up stores in another world.

  It wasn’t long into the tour that Danny had shown me most of the Old District so I decided to make an offhand comment about the Upper District. The shorter man seemed to pause at my words and even seemed nervous before shaking himself out of whatever thoughts he was thinking and agreed to show me a little of the other district in the town. Then after a short walk along a well-maintained stone path I was shown the Upper District for the first time.

  It was definitely more well-made than the Old District. You could tell just by looking that the houses had been planned out rather than just built all over the place. The quality of the houses was also higher than average when compared with the buildings in the Old District. All in all, it looked like the rich part of the town but still had a country charm to it. Like the people who lived here were well off but still no strangers to hard work.

  As we walked around I noted how very little of the festival was placed here with only a few stands here or there. They seemed to be selling more expensive trinkets than compared to what was being sold below. One stand seemed to have fine jewelry while another was selling supposedly enchanted items, stuff that would cool you off on a hot day or keep you mostly dry in the rain. It was far less crowded than the Old District but still had a decent number of people.

  I also couldn't help but eye the large stone walls that tower above even the Upper District. The manor of the town’s lord, a man by the family name of Hous, was placed right at the top of the high of the two-mounded hill that Vanners was built around and on. The stone walls that encircled the manor pretty much blocked all view of the building within but even just the stone walls were a sight.

  As the little tour started to whine down my focus was still on the walls in absent thought. I didn’t even notice when Danny came to an abrupt stop. I did however notice the rough and taunting voice that called out to the magical farmer. “Well if it isn’t little Danny! Still haven’t gone off to become a big-time adventurer I see.”

  I paused as I heard the voice and turned my head away from the stone walls towering above the Upper District and towards a group of 4 men who were swaggering their way toward Danny and me. Each of them wore simple cotton clothes that were lacking in color, simply shades of brown. Each of them was decently tall with three of them around my height with the exception of the man in front who had a good 2 or 3 inches on me.

  Said man had a decently large body that seemed equal parts muscle and fat. The bulky man wore a simple brown tunic with some pants that were a light shade of brown. He had a mop of dark brown hair that looked like it desperately needed a comb and an unkempt beard that tried and failed to come across as rugged and manly. He had a mocking smile that was shared with his company as they stopped next to Danny and me but seemed to pay little attention to me as they focused on a rather nervous-looking Danny.

  “Oh-h ah… hey Bakton. No, I'm still here. But not for too much longer! I’m leaving tomorrow for Dreshabor with-” Danny's words were stopped as the now-named Bakton took a step forward and got uncomfortably close to the tanned man.

  “Oh? You finally leaving that little farm of yours? About time you grew some hair and left. Though I can’t help but wonder how long it will take before you come back crying to your Mom and Dad like you did a few years ago.” At the rather unsightly man’s words his companions started to laugh.

  Danny instantly started to shrink down as the laughter filled the area and I noted a few looks directed at the 6 of us. The gazes of 2 decently armored men in uniform were something I took particular note of as I started to move. Bakton was just opening his mouth to say something else when I abruptly inserted myself between him and my tanned companion which caused the bigger man to stumble back a little in surprise.

  “Well that's rather rude of you to say lad. It seems rather unkempt to be talking about your fellow townsmen like that.” I put extra focus on how I pronounced my words as I talked to the bulky man. I also emphasized the ‘lad’ part of my words to throw him off as his cocksure smile was replaced with an uncertain frown and the taunting faces of his fellow bullies were now looking unsure.

  “What are you talking about mister? I’m just ribbing an old friend of mine. Nothing-”

  “No you're not.” I interrupted Bakton before he could gain any more momentum. The suddenly and certainty of my words once more caught him off guard. And as he was processing what I had just said he opened his mouth to speak once more before I cut him off.

  “Don’t bother trying to hide it lad. I’ve seen your type before. A simple bully trying to make themselves feel like they matter by ruining the day of someone else.” My words had the intended effect as his mouth twisted in anger and the bulky man started to ball up his hands into fists.

  “Now listen here-” I didn’t even let Bakton finish as I cut eye contact with a dismissive turn of my head. As I did so my gaze wandered over the people still around us to make sure everything was in place.

  “No I will not listen to a boy playing being a man. Danny and his family have been nothing but wonderful to me since I’ve arrived in this lovely town. Why would I listen to a brute who so far has done nothing but insult my friend?” From the corner of my eye I could see the red anger was entering Bakton’s face more and more as I spoke.

  “I-” Just as Bakton started to speak again I saw my goal start to move closer to the two of us. So without any hesitation I decided to place the last domino.

  “Still trying to make up some bothersome excuse for your actions? Now now don’t overwork your little head trying to justify anything. I’m sure your wits, or rather lack of wits, would be better spent not burning away at the last of your brain cells. Now why don't”-

  “SHUT UP!”

  The punch that Bakton threw at my head was very much expected.

  The strength behind said punch wasn’t.

  A sharp pain spiked itself into my head as I fell to the ground. I barely made out what was going on around me as I saw Danny rush to help me. I also saw Bakton being manhandled by the two guards who had approached us from behind the man and his friends. Said friends I noted were also fleeing as they left their leader to face the consequences of his actions as one of the guards carried him away while the other turned to speak to Danny and me.

  I couldn't make out what was being said due to the ringing on the side of my head where Bakton had punched me. I could barely pay attention as my vision started to fade in and out a little. Just as it seemed like I was about to lose the battle and fall into unconsciousness I felt something pushed to my lips and a mildly sweet-tasting liquid entered my mouth. Without thinking I gulped down whatever had been put in my mouth and in seconds I went from being in pain and fading to fine and awake.

  I blinked as I was able to once more take in my surroundings as I saw a smiling Danny looking down at me and one of the guards taking a bottle of red liquid and putting it back in his satchel. Afterward the guard turned back to me and spoke, “Are you alright sir? Me and my partner were making our way to the argument between you and Bakton but he got that hit in before we could stop him. I hope the sip of healing potion was enough for you.”

  I responded with another dumbfounded blink as I processed what had happened. The plan had worked a little too well it seemed. I was just glad that the guard had something to help with the fallout. I was also glad that apparently healing potions were a thing here. Wasn’t too sure about that until now.

  After gathering some of my wits I stood up with Danny’s help before speaking to the guard. “I’m fine for now sir and I do appreciate the help. I’d be a liar if I said that punch didn’t almost put me to bed early.”

  The guard nodded at my words before rushing off to help his partner with Bakton who was now trying to escape his punishment. Danny and I stared at them as the two guards both got a good grip on the bulky man and left towards what I assumed was some kind of barracks or maybe a jail. Once they were out of sight I turned to my tanned companion and spoke.

  “Well…I believe it’s time for the singing contest.”

  (POV-Anna Wheatmen)

  I scowled as the man who had been one of the judges for the singing contest announced the winner. A girl around my age walked up to the stage with a smile and tears in her eyes. She was a pretty thing with long blond hair and a rather nice silk dress. The crowd around me cheered as she was given a small bag of silver coins as the prize for winning.

  That should have been my silver!

  I’m not saying the girl wasn’t good at singing. She had a great voice and she clearly put in the work to get that good. But so did I!

  A small part of me whispered in the back of my mind that I would have won if I hadn’t been a farmer. It was a small thing but there was a rift between people who lived in the town and the people who lived in the farmlands that surrounded it. Nothing major or anything but small things like a guard not quite listening to ya when you report something or a seller’s smile dropping a little when ya were trying to buy something.

  It wasn’t really something ya noticed unless ya lived in or around Vanners.

  I tried to stop scowling as the girl walked off the stage but some of the things I was hopin' to buy with the silver passed through my head. There was so much I wanted! Like buying something nice for Danny before he left tomorrow.

  The thought got me to look around before my eyes finally found my family. Ma and Pa were talking to each other, waiting for me to stop skulking and return to them. I saw Jackal off to the side talkin to a few other guys I recognized as friends he hung out with from time to time. Heck I had crushes on two of them a few years ago.

  It took a bit more searchin' but finally I saw Danny and Alexander off to the side. Instantly my eyes were drawn to the light bruise I saw on the side of Alex’s face. It wasn’t something you would normally notice but the man was so dang pale that it just barely stood out. I also noticed that Danny was being a bit more clingy than usual with the nice-looking man.

  It was a shame I wasn’t able to catch his interest. Between how he looked and how he talked it was causing all kinds of flutters in my stomach but Alex just didn’t take any bait. The thought got me scowling a little again before I saw Danny smile at something the pale man said. I found I just couldn’t be mad at the two.

  I love my brother but I knew that he was a bit wonky. Always talkin about learning magic and being an adventurer. It's been like that ever since I could remember. Apparently, some adventurin' team had come into town when I was a wee baby and Danny was like 5 or something. Left an impression on my brother that just refused to go away. It wasn’t at all surprising when he came back with the Mage class after visiting Dreshabor. Heck Ma and Pa were tempted to break tradition and go with him because of it.

  I guess as long as he was happy then I was ok with it. Even if I couldn't help this weird feeling of jealousy whenever I looked at Danny and Alex. At least my brother found a friend to help him a little with the journey to Dreshabor. And with that thought in the back of my noggin I started to head towards Ma and Pa. The sky was already getting dark and the rush and bustle of the festival was finally gettin' to me. I couldn’t wait to get back to bed and sleep in a little tomorrow. Still had to be up in time to see Danny and Alex off though.

  Now I just hoped someone didn’t take advantage of my big brother like some of those Furnest Balls that lived in the town.