Soon may the wellerman come

The damn kid was fast, but Evan was faster. He worked out a lot because of his job, but he also made it a point to run a certain amount of miles a week around the Middle Ring from time to time to keep himself in shape. He dealt with illegal business from time to time and if he needed to make a run for it, he would have to be in shape. But apparently someone was faster. A man on a horse came by fast and cut off the kid from his path. Evan didn’t know why the man would help him, but some part of him wondered if it really was for Evan or for the kid. The kid was in rough shape now that Evan paid more attention to it, but it didn’t do him anything. He didn’t feel pity. It was to kill or be killed in this world and everyone had to survive on their on accord. Nobody had helped him when his father had beaten the shit out of him for that thousandth time, so why would Evan bother with other people’s faiths?

His money laid splayed around the ground and Evan gave a huff in annoyance as he crouched down to pick the money up. ”Don’t feel like some kind of hero right now,” he warned to man. ”I could’ve easily gotten that money back myself.” He shot an angry look at the man, showing him that he knew why he had done it. The kid was far better off now than if Evan had got his hands on him. He felt like that unlike him the man actually had some pity for the kid and that that was the real reason why he had intervened.

”Do you act out of pity a lot?” he snarled at the man. ”It won’t get you anywhere, you know.” He had picked up the last of his coins and put it back in his pocket. He probably would’ve made an attempt to thank the man if he hadn’t suspect his true intentions behind his actions. And that on itself wasn’t worth a thank you, he concluded.

The reaction of the man confirmed what Evan already knew. It wasn’t to do a good deed for Evan that he had ran after the boy. He had tried to protect the boy from Evan’s wrath. It was a wise choice, but it would be dangerous if he would do that to the wrong person. He could get himself killed just because a stupid kid wanted to act like a thief instead of letting his parents do their jobs and taking care of them. Evan would never understood why some people would want to start a family if they couldn’t even afford to raise one. Or if they didn’t have the right mindset to raise one. To be honest, he had often wished a lot that he hadn’t been born after feeling the belt of his father strike his back for what felt like the hundredth time. Maybe that was why he didn’t feel any pity for the young kid. And probably the fact that, while his life had far been from perfect, he was always surrounded with money. Maybe it was just a clove someone in the Middle and Upper Ring wouldn’t understand.

”Then his parents should take care of him the way they fucking should,” he answered without a hint of pity in his voice. ”They should take the blunt for being poor, not that kid.” Was that his way of showing that he had pity for the young kid after all, even though he didn’t want to admit it? He didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t want to delve into the reasons behind his comment too much either. He frowned when the man spoke his words and laughed softly, gazing at the man with amusement in his eyes. ”I can handle myself perfectly well, but thank you for your concern,” he spoke sarcastically. He gathering his trusty dagger out of his pocket and wiggled it from the left to the right for a few seconds. ”I’m a weaponsmith and I’m specialized in wielding weapons myself, so they won’t stand a chance.”

It was pure arrogance speaking, of course. If six men would gang up on him all at once he doubted he would stand he chance, but he would never admit that someone would get the advantage of him, in any way possible. He had accepted too much pain and sorrow from his father to just willingly accept that.

He nodded at the man. ”How about you look after yourself as well? If I would have been a criminal from the Lower Ring, then you would have put your own life in jeopardy as well.” Evan cocked an eyebrow. Surely pity wouldn’t be enough of a reason to put your life on the line for someone you barely knew?

Evan narrowed his eyes when the man spoke his words. ”You would have to be able to hit my head first, then,” he threatened. No, he wasn’t going to let this man impress him with empty words. It was true that a hard hit to anyone’s head would even make the strongest man fall to the ground in an instant, but to be able to do that you would have to get close and Evan was quite skilled with fighting. He would break someone’s arm before they would be able to do such a thing, especially if they were alone. And he was fairly sure he could count the ribs of this man under his shirt anyway. Evan’s physique would outdo that of the man by far, so he would not stand a chance.

Evan’s eyes became even more narrowed when the man presumed he was from the Upper Ring. Because he had a coin pouch? Because he didn’t wore beaten clothes? Please. Evan would trade all the money in the world if that would mean that he could erase his past. Money wasn’t everything, but try explaining that to suckers living in the Lower and Agrarian Rings. ”I’m from the Middle Ring,” he spoke with his eyes narrowed. ”And you might not expect this, but I hate the guts of the Upper Ring brats just as much as you guys do. It’s not because I have money that I don’t have to work for it. Life in the Middle Ring isn’t as easy as one thinks it is.” But compared to the Agrarian Ring it might be. Evan didn’t know and he didn’t have enough compassion for his surroundings to delve deeper into the subject.

”Just keep you assumptions to yourself. Just because one has money doesn’t mean that life is easier for them. There are other hardships to deal with than shortage of money, you know.” And he wasn’t going to delve deeper into this subject either. There were probably more kids out there that were either beaten up or worse by their parents. You wouldn’t have to convince them that shortage of money was more of a problem than what they had to go through.

But farmer boy over here wouldn’t understand that, probably. And Evan wasn’t going to explain it to him either. No way.

Luckily the man didn’t delve further into the subject as well. Not that Evan would have answered his questions if he did. It seemed to be that the man found him an arrogant ass and Evan was perfectly happy with that assumption, because yes, he was in fact an arrogant ass. The more people he could keep on a distant level from him, the happier he would be. People were good for nothing except causing despair and pain. Evan wouldn’t let himself allow to be friends with anyone. If it meant a life of loneliness and being hated, then that would be a life he would fully accept. He’d rather have that than people who would take any chance to stab him in the back after a certain amount of time.

”Seems like a wise decision,” he spoke arrogantly, smirking at the man. He passed the man, but turned around when he spoke his words, a scowl appearing on his face. ”I can do whatever the fuck I like,” he snarled back, clenching his coin pouch a bit harder in his hand. This fool wasn’t going to tell him what to do and what not. Farmer boy could just hop on his horse and go fuck himself for all Evan cared. He scoffed and turned around again, turning his back on the man and walking with quick strides in the direction of the harbor.

He had business to attend to and this stupid encounter with both the little boy and farmer boy had cost him precious minutes he couldn’t allow himself to lose.