Chapter 24: A bread for a day, and then what?

 Orion had gone through the entire of Brukleon, looking for work. People had taken one look at him, and slammed their doors in his face.

He didn't know what he would do. He had already drunk half of his water bottle, and eaten one third of the bread. Sitting by the church, he just wanted to rest up a little bit. 

"Hey, I am begging here," an elf said, and Orion turned to him. 

"I am not begging, just resting. I will find a job soon, and get a room in the tavern," Orion told the man, then looked him up and down. He was skinny, dangerously so. Orion reached in his bag, and took out the bread. "Do you want to share, good man?"

"You will give me some of that?" The man's eyes widened, and he scooted closer. "Oh, you are very kind." 

Orion broke off about as much as he had eaten until now, and handed it over. 

"Are you thirsty?" The Fey asked, and showed the man his water bottle. 

"Oh, you have a bottle. It looks clean too," there was a longing in the man's voice then. Orion felt pity for the creature. 

"Have some water, to wash down the bread," Orion suggested, and then handed the bottle as well. As the elf ate, Orion looked around himself. No one was paying them any attention. Until he saw two familiar faces, who were heading his way. Orion waved at Andiel and Darius, and they made a beeline for him. 

"Hey, nice to see you again," the lord said, when they reached him. 

"Orion, you found a friend?" Darius asked, and the Fey nodded. 

"This good man was begging here. I didn't have money, but we shared a meal," Orion said, and then was given a package. 

"For you. We made you a box," Darius said, and Orion opened the paper. There was a glass box inside, with scrambled eggs and meat. 

"Oh, that looks tasty," the beggar next to him said, and Orion felt a surge of guilt then. Here he was, getting regular handouts, not in danger of going hungry, and pretending to be a beggar.

The elf next to him didn't have to pretend that he was hungry. Orion could hear his stomach growling from here. 

"You can have half," Orion said, and handed the box to the man, with the fork that came with it. 

"Oh, really? I haven't eaten anything cooked in months," the man attacked the food with a new vigor, and Orion turned to the father and son duo. 

"Well, I have to say that the lord will force people to give minimum daily wage to the homeless," Orion said, still smarting that he hadn't found any work the entire day. Even when he had agreed to work for a copper. 

"Good luck with that," the beggar next to him said with a full mouth. "That spoiled lordling won't know that we are out in the streets if our corpses littered them." 

"Now, good sir, that is not exactly fair," Orion defended himself. "The lord knows about the situation of his people. He is just..." 

"Uncaring?" The beggar suggested. "Why are you defending the lord? Do you think that, just because you share his name, he will take you off the streets? He doesn't care about the homeless Fey, just like he doesn't care about the homeless elves." 

Orion kept his silence, then. If this was how people thought about him, then he must have earned their scorn. His life was sheltered, he knew. He bowed his head, but then heard the young demon boy speak. 

"I think the lord is a good man, but he is just blind to our plight because he inherited his fortune," the boy said, and then smiled to Orion. 

"Yes, the lord always has time for the healers. Most are ignored, elsewhere," Andiel said, and offered Orion a smile as well. 

"Well, if you ask me, he needs to become homeless for just a week. See what it is like," the elven beggar said, as he handed back the half-eaten box to Orion. "That was the best meal I have ever had. Thank you." 

"You are welcome," Orion said, and then looked to Darius. 

"How do your studies go, child? Have you been making new runes?" Orion asked, and Darius puffed up his chest. 

"I have. I can now make C ranked runes. The latest I made was the plant growth rune. The people in Orc's eye buy it for two silver coins," Darius boosted, and the elven beggar's eyes went wide. 

"You can make runes? Hey, I can bleed for them, little boy. Hire me, and," the raw desperation chocked the beggar's throat. Darius shifted uncomfortably in place. 

"How about I teach you how to make them instead?" Darius asked, and patted his bag. "I can give you the paper, and the pencils for the F ranked runes. A single rune sells for one silver coin in Orc's eye tavern." 

"My name is Baliel," the beggar offered his hand, and Darius shook it. "You will teach me runes?"

 "Sure, I will, sir. Orion, do you want to learn as well?" Darius offered, as Orion began shaking his head. Baliel nudged him hard in the ribs. 

"This is our chance, man. To get off the streets, to be people again. Don't throw this child's kindness in his face!" Baliel snarled, and Orion blushed. He had thought like how a lord would, and not like a homeless beggar. He shouldn't have done so. 

"Ok, if you don't mind two students, Darius, I would be happy to join you," Orion spoke, and Darius pulled out his writing supplies, and began making the water rune. He could feel that Baliel didn't have all that much mana. Probably due to his years of starvation. Orion, on the other hand, was a Fey. He had less blood in his veins than the other races. 

Still, even a water rune was going to get them rooms at Orc's eye. Darius was sure of that.