A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 37: Battle With The Goblins - Part 3

Dominus carefully watched him, trying to find out the exact reason why progress was possible for him, despite his precarious position. Of course, he knew that Claudia's blessing was helping to balance things – but the strain on Beam's soul should have been immense. But no matter how hard Dominus looked, he could not decipher it yet.

…

…

That day, for running, Dominus took Beam back to the ravine from a few days prior, though a slightly different part of it, so that the boy would have to again puzzle his way through how to get down and how to get up again.

"Ready? Go on then. I expect you'll be able to do it twice without trouble now," Dominus had told him.

And sure enough, as soon as Beam scrambled down the first of the slopes, he felt a spring in his step that he had not felt a few days prior. Not only that, but he'd already figured out how to navigate steep slopes such as that, so when he returned to it, feeling as re-energized as he did, a new speed enveloped him and he scrambled down towards the river and over it like a mountain goat. He did it with such ease that it surprised even himself.

"I've definitely got faster," he'd told Dominus after they'd finished, and Dominus had begrudgingly agreed, though he reminded him that it was rather hard to measure conclusively, using just their eyes.

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"Mm, I had better come up with a way of measuring it soon," Dominus had said, "I still haven't given you your test of speed yet for the end of the month."

And whilst that was true, Beam didn't feel too worried about it as he walked into town once more. "This is the fastest I've been," he reminded himself. Although the difference was very slight, he was sure it was there.

Just when his strength had declined slightly, his speed had shot up. Beam didn't mind that so much now, as he reflected on it. If each day he could at least improve in one thing, then he'd be satisfied.

And now it was on to Greeves again though. On a day where the sky was cloudy and threatened to rain, it mirrored the apprehension Beam felt in meeting the merchant once more, especially given what Dominus had told him, that Greeves had lied to him once again about the compensation he was receiving from Ferdinand.

Once Beam reached the market square, it really did begin to rain. Fat droplets of water fell, coating the dusty earth that had grown dry from the summer heat. Beam wrinkled his nose and looked at the sky as he felt the first of the cool droplets land on his head.

"Mm… I guess winter is really on its way, huh?" He murmured to himself as he crossed the square with more than a bit of apprehension.

From the new coolness in the air, the biting breeze and the autumn showers, summer was well and truly over and autumn was underway. Beam supposed it would only be a few weeks longer that he'd be able to walk the streets in nothing but a shirt like this without getting cold. He frowned at that – he didn't have the money to buy any new clothes for the winter, and all his old ones had burned down in his house.

That was, unless Greeves played his part. Beam made it to outside the merchant's house, with its dark stone walls and dark varnished wood. The wooden shutters were all closed tightly that day, which made it even more uninviting than it previously was.

Beam didn't have to wait longer than a few moments for the door to be opened in an aggressive swing, and there was Judas, towering over him, looking down on him from an even higher height than usual as he stood on the doorstep.

"He's waiting in the back," Judas told him, motioning with his head for him to come inside.

Beam eyed him suspiciously. Inside was Greeves' territory. If given half the chance, he wouldn't put it past the merchant to spring a trap.

"I have things to do, make him come to the front," Beam said, looking rather unconvincing as he stood there in the rain, his clothes getting more and more soaked with each passing second.

Judas scrunched up his face at that. "Look kid… It's not my business what happens to you, but here's a little friendly bit of advice: don't piss the Boss off without reason. You're better off coming inside and doing as you're told. Why get him annoyed before this has even started?"

"Just bring him out to the front," Beam said sharply. "It was him that dragged me into this, did you forget? He burned down the house. I'm not going to be any more polite to him than I have to be. Bring him out."

"Tsch," Judas shook his bald head, tossing the long scraps of hair that still clung to its sides about. "I guess some people just get it, huh? It's all well and good having pride and that, not wanting to be pushed around. But pride doesn't do you a lot of good if you end up dead, you get me? And if the Boss gives the order, I won't think twice about doing it. He's lining my pockets nicely enough for me to do just about anything."

"I'll keep that in mind," Beam said, motioning with his hand for Judas to hurry up. He was getting cold standing in the rain.

"Right, right," the giant said, walking back into the house, the floorboards creaking under his massive weight.

From where Beam stood, waiting in the rain, he could just barely see past the crack in the slightly closed door. He noted how oddly dark the inside of that house was and shivered. There was a strange aura about it, one that he didn't want anything to do with. Despite the cold, he was glad of his decision to remain outside.

After a few moments, he heard shouts from inside the house and he guessed it was Greeves causing a ruckus at Beam refusing his request to come inside. But the shouting soon quietened down and was replaced by the stomping of footsteps as he heard the merchant coming to do the door.