Unravel(2)

The next morning during their breakfast, Matthias decided to tell them about the Stalor family's recruitment.

"You don't think it's a good idea to try that out, do you?"

Matthias' father, Tobias Lumen, was stern when he asked him. His sharp gaze stared right through Matthias, searching for any kinds of dishonesty in them.

"Not really, I'm not cut out for those kinds of work," Matthias answered.

"Good, they're not worth it," Tobias sharply told him.

Matthias' mother, Rebek Lumen, gently holds Tobias' hands. "Darling, don't be so hard on him. He's a big boy now, he knows how to differentiate between right and wrong."

Tobias gruffed. On his side, Matthias was quietly eating his breakfast, his brows furrowed. He looked like he was having some deep thoughts, however he did not voice any of his seemingly thoughts out loud. Upon finishing his meals, he quickly and quietly stood from his seat and headed out.

Matthias lazily strolled around, going back and forth between the small mounted hill he went to the night before and his backyard. He was pacing around. If anyone had seen him, they would think he was having some deep issues that really boggles his mind, and they would have guessed right. His mind was seriously in jeopardy right now.

Why would my parents not allow me and Izana to ever venture near the port, not to mention leaving this island? Even just mentioning the recruitment made my father look at me like I was about to commit a heinous crime. Is there something really important they are hiding? I understand if they are just worried about me and Izana since there are some really bad guys down on the port side. However, it's starting to seem like there is more to this than them just being a worrywart.

He was brought out of his rumination when a fishy smell entered his nostrils. Ugh. Matthias looked around. It seemed like during his deep thinking and pacing around, he unknowingly arrived at Ime Island's marketplace.

The island was located on the northeastern side of Lunaros Kingdom, and since very rarely did they see the sun due to the island being so foggy, their main diet was primarily marine products. In addition to the almost non-existent sun, their soil was not really ideal for cultivation either, so they really did not have any choice in that matter. Sometimes when commercial ships came to their island to buy sea foods for the mainland, they would bring with them vegetables, fruits, wheat, rice, spices and so on. Those were the only times the people of Ime got to enjoy some delicacies besides seafood.

Matthias looked around the marketplace. It was noisy, with loud barkings of stall owners advertising their products. They were mostly fish stalls though, with some lobster, crab, abalone and very rarely vegetable stalls. He never really liked the marketplace, largely due to the fact that it was packed with people of all sizes and the noises they produced. Matthias could feel a headache forming on the back of his head. He sighed and decided to return home.

Today was his mother's day off, who works at the island's only hospital. Rebek was a gentle woman and a soft-spoken person, very much unlike her husband who often indulges in alcohol and tobacco. Not that his father was ever violent to any of his family, however, he tends to be very emotional and loud on his days of drowning in booze. Matthias did not look down on him for that per se, instead he could somehow understand given that his father works on the port he so detest himself.

Rebek, his mother, also has her days in his opinion. She was great with medicine, even with the negligible amount of herbs they have at Ime. It was one of the reasons she was greatly treasured at Ime's hospital. But on some days, Rebek has a tendency to just shut down from the rest of the world. She would wake up one day, and without any word, she would go to the forest and not come back for weeks on end. Matthias knew it was not normal, no matter how much his father tried to make it seem like it was anything but.

On his way back, he bumped into Frie who was on her way to the market.

"Matthy?" Frie smiled at him, however there was a sense of disbelief in her gaze. "Fancy seeing you here. Really, this is the last place I would have thought of you to grace us with your presence, not that I mind though. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing, I just strolled mindlessly and just happened to be here by mistake."

"Hmm.. that sounds on brand."

Matthias rolled his eyes. "What about you?"

"We ran out of spices, so I decided to look for them. By the way, do you mind shopping with me? I know you hate this place, but try shopping with me once yeah? It can be a nice experience sometimes."

Matthias contemplated hard, and after a while he nodded his head, agreeing to Frie. The two of them went back to the market.

The marketplace was not really that big of a place, with several small stalls, shops and some tavern here and there. Soon they arrived at a small shop that houses several spices. The inside was cosy, with candlelights hanging from the ceiling. The wall was decorated with paintings of flowers and fields of grass, in them the sun was shining brightly. Matthias thought it was overkill, as beautiful as it was, it was sure to cost some very huge price even for just a single painting alone. But spices were extremely expensive, so in that regard Matthais could somehow understand the splurge.

"Hello, Miss Porr. I'm here to get the usual." Frie called out to the old lady behind the counter.

"My, my, if it isn't Miss Frie. How are your family doing these days?" Miss Porr asked while getting some small bottles of spices from the back counter.

"We're doing great these days. My mom came back from the port this morning saying the imports are looking great this time," Frie answered.

"That is very good news. The last batches of spices those importers brought were not as great as usual. I even had many of my customers complaining to me about the quality."

"Really? I thought they tasted the same as usual."

"Not exactly the same but the quality was poor." Miss Porr said while gesturing towards Matthias. "And who's this young man? I don't think I've seen him before."

"Oh he's my friend," said Frie. Upon hearing those words, Matthias went near the counter where they were having their conversations.

"Hi I'm Matthais," he introduced himself to Miss Porr. "I'm the first son of Rebek and Tobias Lumen."

"Oh! I know them, yes. Your mother is a regular at this shop. How come I've never seen you before?" Miss Porr was growing curious, which was evident from her expression. Matthias, on the other hand, did not very much like that said look. He tends to have a love-hate relationship with curious people, probably because they are the ones with a huge amount of questions he would rather not be asked.

"Oh that must be because I'm a homebody," he answered. Frie on his side was looking closely at him, and Matthias gave her a signal with his eyes which he wished portrayed desperation. Frie started laughing wildly at him.

"Well Miss Porr here's the money. I think it's better we went on our way." Frie handed Miss Porr the money while winking at her.

Miss Porr waved the two off. On their way back, Matthias suddenly had a thought. Frie parents work at the portside. If I ask them to hide me if I run into my father there, maybe, just maybe, I can finally quench my curiosity, he mused.

"Frie?" Matthias starts. "Hmm? What is it?" Frie looked at him.

"What if I come to the portside with you and Nana on the day of recruitment? Not that I'm aiming for the job or anything, I think I want to see what it's like over there."

"Huh?!" Frie was shocked. It was the first time upon years of knowing Matthias that he willingly wanted to venture on the portside.

"I know it's not like me, but I just wanted to see that part of the island for myself," Matthias told her.

"W-well yeah, of course! If you want to, you can come with us." Frie was still dumbfounded.

"Good. When's the recruitment day again?"

"Oh the day after tomorrow."

"Great! I'll see you on that day," he told her and waved her goodbye.