Chapter 2 - The town's drunkard

Radem was a small town on the outskirts of the great Kingdom of Ansem, to the southwest of it. Ansem was one of the 6 largest and most prosperous territories on the great continent, located in the southeast of the land mass. There would be barely 20,000 people in the town, and in general, there was nothing remarkable about the town, except maybe, for the fact that it was in close proximity to the Rando Forest, and had several fields of crops, where agriculture was practised.

The Rando Woods was very close to the border with the neighbouring territory of Rhodnius, another of the great territories of the continent, even larger than Ansem itself. However, both regions were constantly at war, and there was a lot of friction on the frontier. The reason was that Ansem occupied a very fertile territory, full of life, with many rivers, lakes, mountain ranges, cultivation areas and multiple ports, from where ships capable of reaching even the other side of the continent set sail. Rhodnius, on the other hand, occupied an arid area, full of cliffs and mountains where strong winds blew, and it was very difficult to get an adequate harvest. That and the fact that beastmen, which were more warlike and brutish than regular men, were the main race in the land.

In the village, Maya was with Sylvester, Nerun and Miriam, who were accompanying her to do the fortnightly food shopping. The orphanage where they lived was very poor, and several of the children did different kinds of work to earn enough copper to buy food. Some worked in the fields, others shined shoes, and others did house cleaning, but in general, all the children over the age of 6 made a living for themselves. They might be poor but they were very diligent. Maya and Elijah had always told them that no matter what circumstances they lived in, hard work and effort would get them through the problems they faced.

Nerun always got excited when he went shopping. He would run around the shelves of the market, looking at everything with his curious eyes. The truth is that most of the villagers knew the children of the orphanage, and how hard they worked to get ahead, and they felt pity for them. Maya was the eldest daughter of Maikal, the Father of the orphanage. No one knew Maikal's past. They only knew that he was a taciturn man, who had arrived 12 years ago in the village of Radem with two children, Maya and Elijah. He used to get exasperated easily and shouted at everyone. He was also a frequent visitor to the taverns, getting drunk on the cheapest liquor until he passed out. Then he would arrive at the orphanage in the early hours of the morning. Much of the money the boys collected was spent by Maikal on booze. Maikal was the town drunkard.

Maikal used to just spend the wee hours of the morning with the children before leaving once again for the taverns.

Many of the young men of the village made fun of Maikal behind his back and laughed at him, especially when one night he appeared asleep by the village stable. Many of the village elders, as well as the village priest, frequently visited the Village Headman to complain about him, especially because they felt he was exploiting the children. Curiously, the village headman allowed all this to happen and simply told them that Maikal had taken the children in, and given them a home, albeit a battered one, and none of them showed any signs of mistreatment. The truth is that the continent was quite a cruel land. The law of the strongest ruled the world, and traces of civilisation were scarce outside of the 6 major territories. In that sense, Ansem was better off than many other regions. There are rumours that in many far-off kingdoms and villages, barbarism is such that there are places without rules where crimes were committed with impunity in the streets without anyone even batting an eyelid.

In general, many of the people in the village, even though they were poor, helped the children in the orphanage, giving them work and even giving them tips so that they would not be in need.

Maya was one of the best-known girls in the village and she was very beautiful to boot. Although she was a simple woman, her natural beauty was superior to the women who wore make-up and ostentatious clothes. This had won her the sympathy of many in the village, and many young men courted her, although she tactfully turned them down time and time again. This also earned her the enmity of several young women, who were jealous of her and her gentleness, and looked down on her and treated her with contempt for working at the orphanage.

"Grandma Cynthia, do you have anything on discount today?" Asked Maya as she approached a shelf of fruits and vegetables.

"Hello, Maya. How nice to see you today. Well, look, the oranges are about to expire. I can give you a discount and give them to you at half price," replied the old woman.

Maya's eyes sparkled incredibly bright when she heard the answer.

"I don't want oranges, but an apricot instead"

Nerun suddenly shouted. Maya gave him a sidelong glance and Nerun fell silent at once.

"And who do you think will pay for it? It's not a seasonal fruit and you know very well that we have no money... with what's left we have to buy all the fortnight's food."

"But they'll go bad quickly"

Nerun muttered with his head down... Maya couldn't help but sigh quietly. The boys' life, while not as terrible as it might have been for usual orphans, was not in the best of conditions either. She used to stretch what little money they had as far as possible. She spent money on almost nothing and when she got a bargain in the market her eyes always sparkled. How hard it is to get money, and even harder to keep it, she often thought.

"Of course, we don't have any money if Father spends it on liquor every day." Nerun spewed.

"Well, I spend my money on whatever I want, and you, you ungrateful little brat, live rent-free in my house".

A grunting voice suddenly growled from behind them. A taciturn man with many wrinkles on his face and a scar running across his face was walking towards them. His clothes were ragged and dirty, and he smelled of alcohol. His mouth was missing a few teeth, and others were dark. He spat rudely on the ground and approached Nerun and slapped him on the head.

"FATHER!" cried Miriam and Sylvester at the same time in fright. Nerun grabbed his head and looked up at Maikal in fright as well.

"I see you guys are going around badmouthing me behind my back. Perhaps the morning exercises at home are not enough and require double effort for the next week," Maikal said as he looked at the boys out of the corner of his eye.

The four of them began to shudder at the thought, and Miriam and Sylvester looked at Nerun angrily, shouting at the same time: "BLABBERMOUTH!"

"Hahahahahahaha," Maikal began to laugh.

"You know very well that if one of you is guilty, all the others have to pay as well".

"NO Father, please, just punish me," Replied Nerun agitatedly. The thought of Maikal's morning exercises was the worst for the boys in the orphanage. The thought that they would have to go from two to four hours for a week was terrifying for him, especially the thought that all his brothers would have to go through it because of him.

"Now you remember that I am your father... Maya, give me some money, and I'll go get some booze for the rest of the day".

"You should stop drinking and rather earn yourself a living. Your boys are the ones who work while you do nothing but run to the nearest tavern every day" Said one of the owners of the nearby shelves. They all pitied the boys and looked down on Maikal.

"What I do with them is my business. What do you care what happens or doesn't happen to them?" Maikal snapped at him.

"If you want, you can give me money so that they will have more to eat and I will drink better schnapps, hahahahahaha".

"Well, well, well, what have we here? Look at a drunk in the street spoiling the scenery."

A snide remark was suddenly heard. The person who spoke was a young man with a haughty voice, as well as an arrogant and somewhat handsome face. He was accompanied by three other young men with the same disdainful look towards Maikal and the children of the orphanage.

"We came from the city of Korra to visit the border, and we stopped here in Radem to rest, but the truth is that this is a boring town. There's nothing fun to do, and now we see children in rags bothering the good people"

The orphanage boys looked at the arrogant young men but said nothing. In fact, Nerun approached them obsequiously and began to say with a chuckle:

"Boys, you have only just arrived in the village... Consider hiring me as a guide, I know everything there is to know about the town. For only 5 copper coins, I will give you the tour, with everything you want to know about the attractions and the history of the place."

The young men felt even prouder that even though they had humiliated the boys, the boys seemed to want to lick their boots.

"I can help you carry your shopping to the market gentlemen", said Sylvester immediately

"And I can make you a beautiful wreath to take home", said Miriam with a sweet look on her face.

"Oh... What a great service you offer. I'll consider giving you a copper coin each if you dance like monkeys for me" Said one of the boys mockingly.

The boys looked at each other and without so much as a word began to dance like monkeys to the sardonic laughter of the young men. Then one of them threw a copper coin on the floor while saying: "Beggars".

"Hey, you promised one copper coin per person," said Nerun angrily.

"So what?" Said another of the boys. "Is it that you are going to force me to give you money"

He said maliciously as he rushed up to Nerun by surprise and kicked him in the chest. Nerun was shocked by what was happening and shot up the street and fell to the floor with a trickle of blood in his mouth. His eyes were closed and he looked as if he was dead.

"Now, this could be considered a social work. We are cleaning the street of the filth." Said the leader of the boys as he laughed sardonically. The market vendors watched the scene in horror. The boy who kicked Nerun was in fact a level 15 Qi Master. No one said anything though. Any one of the young men could possibly kill them all on the spot, after all, they were just normal people, not trained in warrior arts.

"Look what we have here. This girl looks fine, such a rare encounter for such a crappy village. You're part of the orphanage too, aren't you? If you agree to have fun with us and show us a good time we might give you some copper coins. If not, the rest of the children next to you will suffer the same punishment as the brat lying dead on the floor."

Said one of the boys threateningly to Maya. One of the market waiters, seeing Maya being threatened, came over and tried to get between them. "You guys get away from her".

It was one of the young woman's suitors, however, as soon as he approached, another of the young men came up and slapped him and threw him several metres away.

"You scum, how dare you mess with us Korra nobility. You should know your place."

All the vendors in the marketplace were red-eyed with rage, yet they said nothing. Power is reason on the continent and they were weaker than the young. Unless one of the village guards approached them, they had no way to defend themselves and risk offending the arrogant nobles.

"Do you guys have any booze?" Maikal suddenly asked, approaching them as he staggered over.

"You filthy drunkard, don't touch us. I suppose we could kill you to really get rid of the town's trash," said one of the boys.

"I'm just asking for a drink, what's the need to get aggressive?" Said Maikal between smiles and drunken hiccups.

"Don't you dare touch my father!" Maya suddenly shouted.

"Oh, so this mangy guy is your father. Look drunkard, maybe if you let us have fun with your daughter we can buy you a barrel of liquor to keep you entertained hehehehehehe."

"An interesting drinking proposition," Said Maikal between smiles, yet there was a dangerous gleam in the depths of his eyes.

"How could you sell your daughter out like that? I thought many things about you, but never that you would be able to grovel like that" Shouted the young man on the ground.

"DO NOT interfere" vociferated one of the young men.

"Well, well, there's no need to get angry," said Maikal approaching the youths and putting his arms around two of them.

"Why don't you tell me what drink you're going to invite me to, and I'll consider if you're good enough for my Maya. After all, you have also beaten up one of my sons and he can no longer make money for me." He continued as he dragged the young men into a nearby alley.

"Don't worry drunkard, we'll make sure to give you a good price for that beauty," one of them said as he shot a lustful glance at Maya, before disappearing from their view into the alley.

At that moment all the supposed concern of Maya and the boys disappeared, and they seemed supremely relaxed.

"How much will it be this time?" said Sylvester as he glared into the alley.

Before long there was a rumbling sound that shook the alley all the way to the street, and before long Maikal came staggering out alone, without the young men.

"Maya, what fine young men Korra's are, noble as any. A few words and look how they've decided to donate all their money to the orphanage before leaving town. There are two gold coins, hehehehehe. I'll have some good whisky today" Maikal said as he tossed one of the coins to Maya who looked at it with great joy. Then he looked at Nerun who was lying on the ground and suddenly said: "How long are you planning to play dead?"

Right then and there, Nerun stood up as if nothing had happened under the astonished gaze of the vendors. He wiped his clothes and the supposed blood in his mouth was fake.

"How did I do, father? It was quite realistic, wasn't it? Getting money from unwary youngsters counts as a good thing right? Maybe you shouldn't punish such a good son, I say," Nerun said as he smirked.

"In the end, you seem to be learning how to take beatings. Maybe I'll consider not punishing them" Maikal said as he tossed a copper coin to Grandma Cynthia. "An Appricot for Nerun."

Cynthia was surprised to receive the coin and Nerun ran to the shelf grabbing the juicy fruit and biting into it with gusto.

"Whisky, here I come!" Maikal said as he walked, laughing and almost falling over, towards the nearest tavern.

One of the vendors approached the alley where Maikal and the young men had entered to pick up some crates. When he entered, the first thing he saw was four silhouettes embedded in the wall of the alleyway that left him gaping and trembling. They were Korra's young men, but they were unrecognisable at the moment. All of them, level 15-17 Qi Masters, had every bone in their limbs broken, some of them at angles not normal for a human body, and their faces were bruised, teeth on the ground, and completely unconscious.