Chapter 22: To get through the misfortune

There was a crowd gathered before a raised platform. A fair-haired merchant with pale green eyes was collecting condensed mana, giving a silver coin to each person who would volunteer and give some of their mana.

Some people went back in line after they had donated. Wanting more money. Others, after finding out that there would be a healing well in Mante, wanted to give their mana for free.

Fen was working the magic on the well in the middle of the marketplace. The condensed mana crystals being dropped one by one. Sebastian becoming poorer with each one.

Karakon had offered to pay from his own hoard, but Sebastian had not agreed. This was his challenge. His way of helping the people of Mante in a more permanent fashion. The merchant felt that, even if he was not given a spot in the temple, this would all still have been worth it.

When the sun set, Sebastian ran out of coins. All of his fortune, that was not tied up in ships, had been given away. Fen tasted the water of the well, and blinked.

"Well, it is done," the incubus spoke, as he watched Sebastian smile brightly. "Are you confident that you are ok with this?"

"Mante has given me much. I was born and raised here," Sebastian spoke. The crowd gathered around the well. Each wanting to take a gulp from the healing waters.

"This well is his property. Won't you ask him for permission?" Fen asked, a smirk playing on his lips.

"His property? This is a public well," an old crone spoke.

"No, it is not. Hadn't been since this morning," a voice spoke. They all turned and saw an old man in finery come forward. It was the lord of Mante. "He bought it from me. I dare say that, if he sells it to me, I will pay all that he invested for it. No, double that."

"The well is not for the people?"

"We should have demanded more money for our mana!"

"Who does this merchant think he is, exploiting us like this?"

Sebastian blinked. Did the people really think such things about his efforts?

"This well is indeed for everyone," Sebastian spoke. "A great fortune will befall us all now, that we gave our mana for it."

"Wait, is this well devoted to the One-armed Smith?" The same crone from before asked, backing away from the well. "Fortune? We didn't pay enough for healing waters. Heck, we didn't pay a thing. This is a cursed well, I tell you!"

"Don't mind her," the lord spoke, as he counted everyone in the crowd. "Sell this well to me, and I will make sure you get all your money back. Plus, extra. Equal exchange of fortune and misfortune, right?"

"The well is not for sale," Sebastian snapped. "It is for everyone, and it is not cursed!"

A stone flew at the well, and it chipped at some of the stone. The crone had thrown it, her eyes wide.

"Let us destroy it, before..." she began, and then, as if Sebastian was not controlling himself, he rose the coin of the One-armed Smith high.

"I was given an omen! My ships sank at the bottom of a sea. The only one that came back, had the One-armed Smith's coin and a single survivor. The survivor cashed in the life insurances of the crews of all other ships, as they had no families. Fortune and misfortune, misfortune and fortune. All the same coin, when the One-armed Smith is concerned!" Sebastian then threw the coin down the well.

"What have you done?" The lord now didn't want to do anything with the well, for it was now a holy sight. One that would enact a price from all those who drank.

"Everything has a price. The One-armed Smith is the most honest God of all," Fen spoke, staring down at the waters. He took out a bucket with the water, and drank a couple of sips. "My misfortune has already come to pass, so I can drink. Here is to my health and fortune."

Fen chuckled at the shell-shocked expressions on the faces of the crowd. It was the truth, what he spoke. He had been locked up and gathered enough misfortune and starvation to last him a lifetime.

The water, despite it being now a holy relic, didn't burn him.

"The most accepting God of all as well. Why do you fear, and why do you feel greed, you silly ants? Come and drink. You will be healed, and you will face something that will make you stronger," Fen urged.

He offered the bucket to everyone who was near, and the crowd turned around from him like waves of a stormy sea. The incubus shook his head in disappointment.

"That is the problem with you, humans. You fear too easily. Take the leap, come now. The water doesn't hurt. Not even I, a demon, was pained by it," a woman made her way through the crowd. She carried a basket with fresh fruit and wore rags.

"Can I have some of the water? I can leave these behind," now that Fen was looking, the fruits looked like they had come from the forest. Probably the only thing that the woman had managed to gather for her meal, on this day.

"I dare say that your misfortune is behind you," Fen offered her the ladle with the water, and she drank deeply. Light enveloped her, and she touched her leg.

"The pain is gone," the girl left the fruits next to the well, and giggled as she skipped away from it.

"See? If you believe, and are ready to pay, or have already paid, the One-armed Smith will make sure your fortune comes to you," Sebastian said. The people of the crowd got back in line. Wanting some of the water, no matter the price.

At some point, the priest from the temple came and saw the gathered crowd. He could sense the coin in the well. The priest approached Sebastian, who was handing out the healing water.

"Do you see now, that the One-armed Smith doesn't belong in temples?" The priest asked with a smile.

"No, he belongs with the people. Ready to forge their fates," Sebastian agreed. He felt that, he could have some peace of mind. For the first time since his ships sunk and the crews lost their lives.