Five months had passed since Wolf first settled in Silver City. The boy had gotten more or less used to living like an urchin. His days passed peacefully, with short outbursts of violence that happened from time to time. Mainly when someone cursed Wolf’s dead parents for no good reason. Those scumbags ended up with broken limbs, knocked out teeth, or severed digits, but Wolf didn’t take things too far, nor did he take their lives.

As people say, time heals all wounds. The boy came to terms with his father’s death, as much as a child can get over the death of the parent that raised them.

The one that contributed the most to soothing Wolf’s wounded heart was Silver. The boy spent time with Silver every day, petting her-him, and as days went by their bond grew stronger. Silver could now communicate mentally with Wolf. Well, communication might be an exaggerated way to call it, but Silver was able to deliver her-his emotions to Wolf clearly. She-he also mentally chirped and cooed happily whenever Wolf touched the eggshell.

Other than Silver, there was one other person that found his place in Wolf’s heart. It was the boy’s perpetually drunk Big Brother.

At first Wolf only visited the drunkard on Sundays. South insisted that it was the proper day to have fancy dinners and Wolf didn’t really care. Lately however, the boy started coming over whenever he felt like it. South was either sleeping or drinking, or drinking in his sleep.

He never seemed to leave his junk-filled alley, nor refill his wineskin.

Wolf decided not to pry into the origins of the magical wineskin, but he once asked his Big Brother about why he never left this alley. South gave a surprising answer. “This place is comfy,” the drunkard said.

Comfy? You’re sitting and rolling around in trash all day every day! How are you still alive? While that was what he thought, Wolf didn’t want to push the matter.

He couldn’t come up with a reason why South would be bound to this alley. So, he just dropped the matter and accepted that to South this dump was comfy. Taking a step back Wolf now lived under a bridge reading books and pawn shop owner’s reports, writing and drawing as well as muttering strange words all day long. He believed that, to a regular human, he was probably way weirder than South…

***

Today was the first of the month. The day when Wolf made arrangements for the care packages sent to the residents of Oakwood Freeland. It was the fifth one he’d sent since settling down in Silver City. As he navigated the back alleys three beggars jumped in front of Wolf.

“Hey kid, are you looking for work?” A filthy man who seemed far removed from word work asked. Wolf could tell at a glance that he had somehow smuggled his way in from the slums quite recently.

“No,” Wolf said and sidestepped the bum, not wanting to waste time on such an obvious scam.

“Hear me out. It’s a job in the Nobles’ district.” the man said, waving his arms in an attempt to stop Wolf.

Potatoes. That was the word that went through Wolf’s mind as soon as he’d heard what the beggar said. However, being able to enter the Nobles’ district was something Wolf definitely wanted. He could visit higher quality shops and buy things that could help him develop further as a Sword-Sage.

Wolf stopped and looked at the trio. Yup, they are bad news. Even an idiot that climbed into a sack of potatoes can tell that.

“What's the job?” Wolf asked curtly, poorly pretending that he had taken their bait. If he could get into the Nobles’ district he was willing to risk another sacking.

“It’s a servant position in a noble’s mansion. It comes with clean clothes, warm food every day and fifteen silver coins a week as pay.” Those conditions kind of sounded realistic, but Wolf knew it was a scam. For starters, these guys weren’t wearing clean clothes…

“And how do I enter the Nobles’ district?” Wolf did his best to sound hopeful and cautious at the same time, but there wasn’t any need for fancy acting. These three only saw him as money to be earned.

“We will smuggle you there ourselves. Follow us to the alley over there and we will explain everything in detail.” The man started walking towards an alley, while his two companions followed behind Wolf.

If there is a sack involved I swear on Earthmother I’m killing you and stuffing that sack down your throat not necessarily in that order. Wolf clenched his teeth as he entered the alley. Once inside he could see the leading man taking out a sack from the small bag he had around his waist.

Two men following behind Wolf tried to grab him. Before they could realize what was going on, their heads fell to the ground. Their headless corpses thudded on the pavement a moment later, painting it red.

The man with the sack turned pale. He didn’t even manage to scream before Wolf’s fist brutally rammed into his solar plexus. The kidnapper was sent flying and slammed into the wall. The man opened his mouth wide, gasping for air.

Wolf didn’t bat an eye. He hit the vagrant in the face a couple of times, knocking out all of his teeth.

After a couple of blows the man went limp. Wolf didn’t know whether he died or fainted. He didn’t care. He stuffed the dirty sack down the man’s throat and then continued to pummel him.

“It really is a sack! Are you trying to mock me!” Wolf hissed, raining blows to vent his anger. He only stopped when he was certain the scumbag was dead.

Less than a minute after entering the alley with three vagrants Wolf walked out alone. The last of the bloodstains were disappearing from his everyday beggar clothes.

The boy was still muttering curses. He didn’t even stop to think about how he had brutally murdered three men just now. After sacking gods know how many children, these men deserved to be sent to reincarnation. As far as Wolf was concerned they had gotten off lightly.

This wasn’t the first time beggars tried to kidnap Wolf. Each time Wolf practiced what his father had told him. To save the future victims you had to be ruthless with the villains…

By the time he’d reached the Cornucopia merchant group’s headquarters Wolf had already forgotten about this incident. It was just one of many unpleasant encounters he had these last couple of months.

Wolf walked into the Cornucopia’s proper wearing the face of his alter ego, Sean the Mage.

The moment the clerk behind the counter spotted him, the man turned around and ran up the flight of stairs. Meanwhile a shop-hand approached Wolf and clumsily bobbed a curtsy.

“Lord Archmage, do you wish to have some tea in the side room? Owner will be here soon,” the girl stammered.

Wolf blinked in confusion. Lord Archmage? Owner? What? Why would the owner see me? Why am I an Archmage all of a sudden?

“Please lead the way.” Even though his thoughts were a mess, Wolf acted calmly. That’s how Archibald handled the situation when Red confused him for a Sword-Sage. Besides, there was nobody here that could threaten Wolf and if another sack appeared there was only one outcome.

A short while later a fat man in his forties entered the side room.

“Greetings Lord Archmage. My name is Roger Jims, I’m the founder of Cornucopia merchant group.” Roger bowed surprisingly well, considering the size of his belly.

Roger then proceeded to make small talk with Wolf. The boy soon found out what was going on. The first caravan had reached Oakwood Freeland a while ago.

The residents of the settlement immediately realized who it was that had sent them food. After chatting for a bit the caravan master found out that Wolf was a noble and a Mage of high standing that had taken pity on people living there.

The man believed this information to be important and sent one of the carrier pigeons he had. In a short message he explained to Roger that their patron was a Mage powerful enough to earn a noble standing.

Roger realized that an important person was patronizing his business incognito. And since they returned time and time again it meant they intended to do so for a long time to come.

Cornucopia was in dire straits at the moment. The cost of guarding a caravan was so high that they were barely making money. Roger tried to solve this by increasing the number of caravans. But the market for common goods was finite.

There were near infinite hungry mouths to feed, but there weren’t enough suppliers. The same went for building materials. Everyone wanted to build, but nobody wanted to risk opening new, or even expanding the existing timber or stone industries. Without sufficient guards it was no different from feeding bandits.

So, Roger wanted to make a bet. If Wolf was really such a powerful noble, maybe he could introduce him to new clients or partners? Maybe he could open up a new market for him? Naturally Roger didn’t say any of these things. For now all he wanted was to establish a friendly relationship with Wolf. To get his foot through the door, so to speak.

The first step he took was to reduce the price of the food Wolf bought from Cornucopia. The price was brought down to match the base market value, meaning Roger was barely earning any money even before paying for the guards.

He also promised that whenever his people came near Oakwood Freeland they would check how the villagers were doing free of charge. Wolf could also make purchases in advance or on credit as long as he agreed to deal exclusively with Cornucopia.

Wolf had no reason to refuse. He had learned that getting more for less money was always a good thing. Seeing how accommodating Roger was, Wolf's opinion of the man and his company greatly increased.

“If you really mean what you said, I promise that as long as I’m in Silver City I’ll do my trading solely through Cornucopia, at least as far as common goods are concerned… As long as it’s not groceries for my personal use. I’m picky about those.” As Wolf spoke he realized he had almost made a mistake, so he hurriedly added the last bit.

“Why not trust us with magical items as well? You don’t risk anything by trying. Just give us a list of what you want and how much you’re willing to pay for the items and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.” Roger decided to take a risk, hoping he wasn’t wrong.

The man saw a huge opportunity. Magical gear had a large profit margin, but it was difficult to find buyers. If all he had to do was make use of his network to purchase items Wolf needed he stood to earn quite a bit.

Wolf thought about it for a moment before agreeing. The most notable items on the list were Greater and Superior Energy Expanding potions, three of each. Based on that potion of Clarity, Wolf was willing to pay a thousand and four thousand gold pieces per bottle.

After Wolf finished the list Roger took a glance at the numbers only and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The goods on the list totaled twenty thousand gold coins.

Roger personally took care of Wolf’s monthly purchase, before seeing him out. Before leaving Wolf sincerely thanked the man for everything he did for him and told him they would meet again in a month.

The Cornucopia’s owner on the other hand was pleasantly surprised. This noble was extremely easygoing, open to suggestions and acted with a childlike sincerity.

Considering that his company was doomed to go bankrupt in half a year or so, Roger thought that this was the best call he had made this year. The future on the other hand would prove that this was the biggest understatement the crafty merchant had ever made.

***

On his way back Wolf kept thinking about how happy Roger’s gesture made him feel. Thinking about how much little things mattered, the boy came to a decision. In his opinion people here acted desperately out of hunger.

Oddly enough, the beggars living inside city walls were probably hungrier than people in the slums. Priests brought large amounts of food to their faithful in the slums, but didn’t bother with the beggars scattered throughout the city. They were too scattered and there weren’t enough of them in one place to be a visible problem, unlike the living sea of people outside the walls.

Wolf believed that desperate hunger was the reason why things were bad in Silver City. Even though law was enforced by the guards, those guards avoided the back alleys, in which crimes took place. So what would happen if someone took the time to feed these starving people? Would that solve the problem of senseless violence?

Wolf didn’t know, but he was willing to give it a shot. Conjure Food and Drink was a Fourth Order spell and with each casting Wolf could create enough food to feed fifty-odd people.

The only problem was that the conjured bread would rot on the evening of the next day. But that shouldn’t be an issue, if he made sure to explain everything clearly. He might attract a bit of unwanted attention, but if he used magic to cover up his identity there shouldn’t be any issues. Considering all of these, Wolf was willing to give this plan a shot.

After conjuring a large bag’s worth of bread loaves Wolf masked his appearance and headed into a back alley.

Away from the prying eyes of people with money and security a dozen or so homeless people were talking, throwing dice and bartering.

As soon as a stranger appeared in their midst they acted like startled animals. They stopped whatever they were doing and stared warily at Wolf.

“I have food I want to trade,” Wolf said bluntly and shook a bag full of bread. He placed two dozen loaves inside, while the rest were in his Ring of Holding.

The beggars were suspicious of this midget, but eventually a gray-haired granny agreed to trade a broken bracelet she had for a loaf of bread.

“Just remember what I said. You have to eat it before sundown tomorrow. Otherwise it will spoil,” Wolf warned, but apparently there was no need.

The woman started eating her bread right then and there.

“Blah! Couldn’t they have put some salt in,” the woman complained, but still ate the whole loaf.

Everyone stared at her, probably waiting for the old bird to drop dead from poison. However, even after half an hour nothing happened.

Not wanting to wait any longer a skinny man traded next, followed by another and then another person. Just like that Wolf’s plan to feed the homeless of Silver City was set in motion.