Luca finally saved enough money, which meant he could eat meat again. That was…If he didn't get stabbed first.
The boy had black hair and bright blue eyes that made him resemble a cat in some ways. He had a lithe figure that allowed him to move smoothly.
He slinked through the city's alleyways and inside the shadows. Carinthia was a large city, so there were plenty of blind spots where one could overlook someone as small as Luka, and he specifically used that to his advantage. The coin purse sat in the improvised inner pocket of his tattered coat, weighing heavily on his heart.
It didn't slow his movement one bit, but one silver Sterling in the form of 100 bronze was a lot to the average person. It was more than enough to buy a few small pieces of meat, which would last him a few days. And more importantly… some books.
Luca's eyes shone at the mere possibility. But alas…
"What have you got there, Lu-Lu?" a voice called out as two large shadows blocked his path forward.
'Fuck.' he cursed, then took a deep breath before looking up.
The problem with moving in the shadows was that scavengers lurked within.
Vito and Jonny. They were lowlifes with nothing to offer to society by themselves, so they resorted to robbing and extorting people out of their hard-earned money, like he did.
Luca, admittedly, stole some money here and there, but these guys were the absolute worst, collecting 'taxes' for absolutely nothing.
They smirked, arms crossed as if they knew what was coming. This stupid kid just brought them their dinner!
Luca stepped back, eyes darting around for any possible escape routes. Unfortunately, there weren't any. The area he had come from was blocked by the two, and the area he was heading was barricaded by a wall that would be near impossible to climb with two people ready to catch him.
He'd intentionally gone through a different route than usual in an attempt to escape these two, but it was almost like they could smell the coins!
Back against the wall… literally, he had no choice but to face ahead.
"Heh, how are you fellas doing?" he said with a fake smile.
Vito stepped forward. He was a relatively large man with dark brown hair peeking from under a raggedy hat. A worn toothpick was lodged between his teeth, brushing up against the shaggy beard that looked like some animal had died on his face.
"Doing just fine. Praise the Sun Father and all that," he grinned crazily, yellow teeth glinting in the sunlight, "You're in quite a hurry today, aren't ya?"
Vito stepped forward, placing a hand on Luca. Jonny just lurked behind, probably to stop any escape attempts. Jonny didn't talk much, but he was larger than Vito. So that was a no-go.
Luca squirmed under the uncomfortable grip of the older man and knew that it would be near impossible to escape from him in this state.
"Yeah, you know the usual… the blacksmith, Old Humphrey, told me to go pick up a few more useful pieces of scrap metal from the yard,"
"Hmmm? You're empty-handed, though."
Luca realized his mistake, swearing to himself that he should have used someone else's name, but he quickly saved it.
"Ah, that's you know… I found nothing good today. I had to hurry back to help."
Vito had already stopped listening, though. They had performed this routine over a dozen times at this point. The older man expertly moved his hand to the inner pocket of Luca's coat and pulled out the faded red purse.
"Heh, there it is. I knew my nose wouldn't twitch for nothing~," he said smugly, looking inside the purse and placing it in his coat pocket with a satisfied expression.
Luca stared at the shameless scene. This fat bastard really could smell the gold!
"Well, what are you waiting for? Go help Old Humphrey," Vito sneered.
Luca had no choice but to ignore the mockery laced in his words and pushed past Vito and Jonny with no expression on his face. Since there was no more money on him, there was no point in trying to hide in the shadows with it.
Or at least… that was what he wanted them to think.
After walking a considerable distance, he finally released the smile that had been eating him from the inside.
"Bahahaha, those idiots!"
Luca skittered through the streets with the expression of a man whose enemy had died whilst riding a horse. Then his eyes glinted with a cold, calculating glint.
"Luckily, I'd planted the decoy where I knew they'd look. That asshole is so predictable,"
Luca wasn't some pushover. He didn't intend to just let them collect all of his earnings for the week. In fact, what was in that purse wasn't even the full amount he'd saved. The purse only contained twenty silver sterlings.
The real money was in a tiny compartment in the soles of his shoes. Sure, it made it a little uncomfortable to walk, but it all paid off in the end.
In reality, there were only about six or seven actual coins in the purse to throw off anyone who only gave it a quick glance. The rest? Decoys made by him with some of the useless scraps of metal melted by Old Humphrey.
And as for the rest of the money he'd saved over the last two months? Carefully stashed in his room, hidden in a collection of several spots that no one would think to look.
If there was anything Luca was, it was calculating and resourceful.
A stupid grin appeared on his face as he imagined them trying to buy some food with fifteen counterfeit coins! They'd get arrested by the guards for violating the laws of the kingdom, and if they accused him of making the coins, he would just lie and say he was duped too by one of the wandering traders.
It wasn't rare at all, and they would probably pity a child for such a minor offence. Luca could also care less who lived or died if they weren't particularly close or useful to him.
"I'm seven pence down, though, leaving me with only 93 out of my savings. Unfortunately, I had to compromise to appease those idiots. It's still not bad, though. Should be enough for what I need to do," he muttered, finally reaching the dilapidated street that he'd called home since when his parents were still alive.
He passed in front of the only decent-looking building on the street, which was one of more than ten parishes in Carinthia. It was a modest brick building painted white and adorned with golden lines along the peaked dome of the roof. Three golden stars revolving around an eye with the sun as its iris was the emblem at the front of the building.
Luca instinctively looked down as he passed by it. There was a kind-looking old man sitting in front. He wore white priest robes adorned with the same golden lines and the emblem of the stars around the eye.
"Praise the Sun Father," he said, earning a small smile from the bishop.
After that, Luca walked away quickly. The building made him uncomfortable for some reason.
Soon he reached his single room, put the key into the door hole, and opened it.
However, Luca stopped at the doorway.
A woman in damaged purple robes lay at the center of the room, huffing and puffing as she held onto a staff.
"Who the fuck is that?"