The market was nice. Lots of things to look at. The people were nice too. They kept bowing and calling me ‘champion’. It was a good day. Mena and Leslie were gone, but that was okay. I would meet them soon in front of the adventurers’ guild.

Lots of people at the market, too. I hadn’t seen this many folks in a long time. It was easy to get lost. I was walking around when I heard the lady yell, “Cabbage rolls! Wizard approved!”

Cabbage rolls sounded good and I was hungry. I started going that way, but stopped to look at some toy horses. Wood horses that looked fun to play with. I bet Rolf would like one. It was too bad Mena only gave me five coppers. The man said they were one silver a piece. Even when I looked sad.

“The Grand Wizard loves these cabbage rolls, ask him yourself!” the woman shouted again.

I kept walking. If boss said they were good, I wanted to try one. When I got there, there was a long line of people waiting. The woman selling cabbage rolls took up three whole booths. Almost the whole side. On the other side there was a man selling chairs. A woman selling flowers. Another man who stood behind a fire with meat sticks.

He seemed sad, so I went over to ask what was wrong.

“What’s wrong?! I can’t sell any of my—hey, [Champion]! My apologies, I didn’t know who it was I talking too,” The man started to sound scared and say he was sorry a bunch of time.

“It’s okay,” I told him. I don’t like people being scared of me. Unless they’re bad people. Bi says I should scare bad people.

“Say, [Champion], do you wanna try a racoon stick?” he said and gave me a meat stick. I bit it because I was hungry and he was nice. It was juicy but it tasted okay.

“Really good, right?” He asked.

I could tell he wanted me to say yes, so I nodded, “Could I have some more?” One stick wouldn’t make me less hungry. Two would, though.

“Certainly, certainly! How many?”

I had to think about it. Two would fill me up, but then there wouldn’t be any left for Leslie and Mena. I needed three more to share. I held up three fingers and he gave me more food. What a nice man! He even shouted about me like the lady.

“Get your meat sticks here! Champion approved! Eat like a real [Champion]!”

I needed to get these meat sticks to Leslie and Mena while they were hot, so I left to go to the Adventurers’ guild. It wasn’t that long of a walk to get there. Lark was pretty small. I looked around out front of the building but didn’t see them.

Waiting was easy. I was good at waiting. I did it all the time at Boss’ gate. I even had a meat stick to eat while I waited. After my second meat stick, I decided to walk around. Maybe they meant inside the guild? They weren’t in there. Maybe they got lost? I should walk around back to see.

I found them! It was dark and dirty behind the guild. Mena and Leslie were hiding and talking to another wizard when I walked up. Was this a game I missed?

“Thirteen gold?! I don’t have that much. I have eight,” the wizard lied.

“You don’t have thirteen gold for a spellbook written by Nemon Fargus?” Leslie asked, tapping her foot. That was good she knew he was lying.

Mena talked too, “You don’t wanna know what happened to the last fella who tried to cheat us.”

She sounded mad. I bet she was hungry. So, I walked closer.

“Hello, you want your meat stick?” I held out the meat stick to Leslie and Mena. I would have brought one for their friend if I knew he was here. Oh well, if they’re mad at him maybe he shouldn’t have one.

Mena seemed to really like her meat stick! She bit into it right away. A big bite.

Leslie looked at her meat stick first, but took a bite as well.

The man looked scared of them. Was it supposed to be scary when women ate food? I wasn’t ever scared. What would boss do? I thought about it. Boss would place his hand on my shoulder and tell me something nice like ‘you can do this’. Maybe that’s what the guy needed to hear.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. He had tiny shoulders. Then I told him what boss would say, “You can do this.”

He nodded his head fast and lied, “Okay, okay! But thirteen gold is the highest I can go!”

I shook my head. Lying was bad, but Rolf gets embarrassed when I tell him he’s lying. I leaned forward to whisper so he wouldn’t get embarrassed if Mena and Leslie heard. I told him, “Lying is bad.”

He started shaking, like he was scared again. I had to hold his shoulder harder so he didn’t fall over.

“Okay, okay, thirty gold is as high as I can go,” he lied again, with a squeaky voice.

I shook my head at him.

“Forty gold,” he said lied through clenched teeth.

I only looked at him confused, “Does lying that much hurt?”

He was shaking and sweating all over like he got the pox. I didn’t understand. If lying hurts so bad, then why do it?

“Fine! Fifty-two gold! That’s the best I can do!” he said very loudly and knocked my hand away.

That was rude. I was just trying to help.

“Deal,” Leslie said and held out a book. The mage gave her a purse of coins and then ran away with the book. What a weird guy. No wonder they didn’t want to share their meat sticks.