HOMELESS AND PENILESS

Returning back home, Lynne figured he’d pick up a few gold coins and go out to experience some more night life. Pleasantries of life, after all, are almost always found in the alleyways without any light. Be it ladies or questionable wine, Lynne desired to experience it all to the fullest. However, by the time he came back home, he was informed that his father had already left for war and that he had left him a present in his room. Although his expression remained flat, his heart felt coil of sorrow press it tightly. Whatever man’s faults may be, Lynne regarded, he had always been an amazing father. Perhaps not strict enough, but that was one of the reasons Lynne loved him.

Entering his room, the aforementioned sadness waned in but a moment as he saw a stack of books lying on his bed. He realized he should have expected it, but held onto the remnant of faith that his father would spare him. He was but ready to plunge the doors back closed when he saw small parchments weighing out the thick and heavy books. Sighing inwardly he could do nothing but surrender and approach the bed, sitting next to the massive stack. The book at the very top was titled Basics of Magic, but the book held three scrolls that weren’t a part of it. As Lynne glanced through them, tears stacked at the corners of his eyes; he recognized his father’s handwriting, gentle and elegant strokes even best of calligraphers of the Kingdom admired. Three scrolls accounted the entire, almost one thousand pages long book in the shortest summary imaginable. He quickly washed away his tears, regaining composure.

Book by book, the number of summary scrolls quickly increased to around fifty. Lynne couldn’t even imagine just how much time his father spent on this – reading every book, from start to finish, and then battling demons of elaboration to summarized it in as short of a text as possible. Too bad it was all for naught, as these scrolls did nothing for Lynne outside piling on additional layers of guilt – but, to him, to a man who had reveled in guilt since the days of yore, this was but a droplet in an ocean. He could live with the guilt; more so, he was pretty certain that if a strong Magus were to examine his aura, it would be entirely made out of guilt. The last scroll he came across summarized the Basic Ranks of the Magus, and with it, Lynne closed another chapter in his life of laziness.

Ignoring the stacked pile he reached for his drawers, where he found roughly two thousand gold coins just sitting there, untouched. His eyes burst with joy, saliva dropping down the corners of his mouth. He immediately began fantasizing about what he’ll do with the sudden income of money, and each new idea vastly out-scaled the one prior, hailing forward all the way until he began dreaming about opening up his own brothel – as in, brothel where he can be the only guest. While his fantasies ran wild, he somehow fell asleep, right next to that stack of books and scrolls. His expression was that of a child’s – pure joy – and all the feelings of guilt have been washed away, as per usual, by gold.

With the appearance of morning, Lynne woke up in perfect tranquility. Just looking at that mass stack of gold coins he couldn’t help but cry, over and over again. He hugged the coins, kissed them, pressed them tightly against his cheeks and chest, going even as far as licking them to ‘mark them as his own’.

“Money is everything!!” he exclaimed as he threw a few dozen of coins into the air, showering as they fell back down. “Money is everything!” were someone to see him right now, there’s no doubt they’d think he had gone completely insane.

However Lynne didn’t mind. However others saw and perceived him carried very little impact to him. All he needed was the unparalleled sense of freedom and money. Those two ingredients were the secret formula for the simplest and the most enjoyable life he could think of. By now, all of his peers have long since gone to the Academy for classes, yet there he was, energetic after a good night’s sleep with a whole new frontier opened up before him. Because his father was around all the time, Lynne was quite reserved about following his most devious dreams; but, now that he was alone, he had no qualms about anything anymore.

Picking up five hundred coins or so, he bolted out of the mansion without even eating breakfast. Why eat same, boring food he’s eaten for years when he can eat in the best restaurant in the entire city? However, instead of going to eat the breakfast, he went into a famous brothel in the Lower Ring, one he was well-acquainted with and one where he has spent quite a lot of time over the past few years, Ina’s Inn.

“~girls, girls, wonderful pearls~” he hummed as his feet switched between the cobblestone streets of the Upper Ring and the dirt pavements of the Lower Ring. “~can’t wait to see your bodies curl~”

Ina’s Inn was built at a rather inconspicuous place, as it was rather easy to get lost in all the alleyways and narrow pathways one had to take in order to reach it. However, Lynne knew the path better than the palms of his own hands, and it took him but a few minutes to get there. Watching the sign hanging ‘bove the wooden doors his eyes flared as he licked his lips. Without hesitation he entered, brimming with confidence.

Interior of the inn was rather plain, but Lynne didn’t care – after all, it was not the scenery but the action that he came here for. As soon as the girls spotted him they swarmed him, bringing out not only alcohol but even some plain snacks. They led him to the corner, dimmed in rather seductive lightning. With six women fawning over him, each more beautiful (and naked) than the next, Lynne felt his soul elevate to the tenth degree.

As he drank, he began throwing gold coins, laughing maniacally, staring at the girls’ breasts, touching them, committing acts even most other men would be ashamed of… and by the time eight bottle of wine was opened, his vision had blurred beyond repair. He had already experienced heaven.

“Lord Lynne,” one of the girls spoke in a seductive voice. “You are very generous today!”

“Of-hick-of course!!” Lynne exclaimed, straightening up like an arrow, rather comically at that. “S-hick-such beauuuutiful l-hick-adies deserve best!!” unbeknownst to him, Lynne was shouting, as he was completely unable to register what he was saying. The girls, however, put up with it, merely grimacing; it wasn’t often that stupid men with deep pockets visited them – well, it was as often as Lynne visited them, really – and they needed to completely wash him dry of coins.

“Thank you, My Lord!” one girl exclaimed, leaning in closer and kissing Lynne. His lips spread in a wide grin and he began giggling uncontrollably.

“N-hick-ooo problem beauuutiful~”

It went as so for the next eight hours; Lynne would drink so much he’d pass out, then wake up and start drinking again. He had spent all five hundred and sixty-eight coins he had brought with himself, and hadn’t regretted any of it. Leaving, he heaved left and right, falling over a few times, unable to keep balance. His clothes were completely tarnished, neck, face, chest and arms filled to brim with lipstick, and he still carried the incurable grin on his face as he walked.

“~lovely lady meets a lad~” he continued to hum as he walked; he paid very little heed to disgusted glances – well, rather, he was unable to even register where he was, let alone who looked at him. But, since path from Ina’s Inn to his home was practically ingrained into his veins, his body moved on its own. “~’tis a story sad, for lad coins hadn’t had, and lady kissed him goodbye~~noooo! Coins! I-hick-need coins! Lovely l-hick-lady, wait for me!!”

Lynne’s face wasn’t unfamiliar in the Lower Ring. Outside of the friends he had made, practically every remotely good-looking woman – by Lynne’s standards – had misfortune of being wooed by him. However, for them, drunk Lynne was far better than sober one, as he practically lived in his own world while walking back home. If he’d suddenly stumble onto someone accidentally, he’d completely ignore it and press forward, all the way until that person moved. It was a rather sorry sight, but very few understood the elation Lynne was currently at. That was reserved for the incorrigible drunkards.

Lynne continued with similar antics for the next week, completely ignoring the fact that he’s supposed to be attending classes at the Academy. From dawn ‘till dusk, and from dusk ‘till dawn, he drank, laughed, bothered others, gathered his friends from the Lower Ring and, together with them, threw eggs and horse and dog feces on the houses in the Upper Ring. Guards could do very little, as he was still the son of one of the most prominent figures in the Kingdom – one of the Seven Lords. With it, they could only sigh and pray he gets bored sooner rather than later. However, a week later, he had found himself out of the coins; he had burned through the entire mass of two thousand and something, and felt perplexed over how to get more. What he didn’t realize, though, is that that amount of gold could last a family in Lower Ring for almost ten generations. Were they to learn just how much gold he squandered in just a week, there’s no doubt they’d all start vomiting blood on spot.

While figuring out how to get more gold, Lynne roamed the streets of Edgemaw with his back hunched and head lowered, lost in thought. Little did he know that in the shadows of the Kingdom, an event that would change the entire structure of the Kingdom was happening. Higher Nobility, led by Count Linden, had attempted – and succeeded – at coup d’etat, overthrowing the current ruling lineage of Yalmens. The entire family was slaughter, to the last child, and by the next morning a new dynasty was established in its place. To further pour oil onto the flame, because Lynne’s father was a fervent follower of the late King, it meant that he had stepped on quite a few toes and hands and heads of other families, and with the new dynasty in place, new hierarchy was bound to happen.

As Lynne spent practically the entire night roaming the half-empty streets, he had no idea that his mansion was also invaded and that all his servants were captured and that the entirety of the mansion – down to the last sheaths of grass – now belonged to some random snob called Ivan. As dawn erupted, he calmly walked back towards the mansion, unaware. However, as he tried passing through the gates, two guards suddenly grabbed him and threw him backwards. He scratched his head lightly, confused, but tried once again. He was thrown out again. And again. And again. Eventually Lynne was trying to run past the guards, over and over, but the results were always the same.

“What’s the deal you brainless farts?!!” he screamed at the two well-armored guards. “If this is some kind of a joke, it’s not funny! I need to take a shit so let me pass through!”

“….” the guards remained silent.

“Fine, if that’s the game you wanna play!” Lynne suddenly stripped his pants and crouched over. Jaws of two guards nigh dropped to the floor as they saw he was preparing to take a shit in the middle of the street. They hurried over but were suddenly stopped by a pair of rather pale hands. A young man, in his early twenties perhaps, walked in-between them, sighing and shaking his head as he saw Lynne crouching still, groaning loudly, veins atop his forehead bulging, attempting to let go of something that wasn’t even there.

“… what are you doing?” the young lad asked; he wore rather adorned clothes, topped off with spectacularly adorned coat sewn of prismatic leather.

“What does it look like I’m doing?! I’m marking my territory!” Lynne replied in defiance, still trying to push it out.

“This mansion no longer belongs to you.” young lad said, smirking.

“Eh?”

“You are now homeless and penniless. Shoo. Shoo.” he added, signaling with his arms.

“Eh?” seeing Lynne’s dumbfound face, the young lad burst out into laughter, barely keeping himself standing.

“What’s with that dumb face? Ha ha! Ah, fine, you made me laugh. Here,” he reached into his pockets and took out two copper coins. “This should be enough to cover up food for a few days. Now shoo.” the young lad turned around gracefully and walked back into the mansion, leaving Lynne behind, still pain-struck.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh?!!”