Simon, The Man-Made Leviathan
Simon sighed as the small girl kicked at the rocks in front of him. Her head was bowed, and she refused to look him in the eye, even as they talked. “It isn’t your fault.” He repeated to himself that he was a military man, a leader, a thrice damned Admiral for Gods sake, and he shouldn’t be looking after a kid. Let alone one who had saved his life.
“How’s the spear treating you?” Simon asked, ignoring the whispers in his mind.
She half mumbled an answer, and he snapped for her to speak up. “Good. I’ve been good.” Lilian fell back into herself, and he couldn’t help but sigh and look away. Why did he always seem to meet the unusual ones? Why were the kids always so traumatized? Even back home.
“Hungry kid?” He tried to change the subject.
“I’m fine…” There the girl went, looking away from him again. What was she even looking at? Simon tried to follow her eyes, and of course, they were glued to the ice cream stand down the road. By the Gods, that girl and her sweets. If she ate any more, she’d be larger than a Stagbeor. He blinked suddenly, as an aching realization dawned on him. He glanced back down at the tall girl, looking hard at her bony body and skinny frame. She always talked about how broke she was. Had she even been eating in general? He let the silence play out, and soon enough, a deep rumble clawed its way from her stomach, as her skin turned bright pink.
With a sigh, he made a decision. “Go sit down, brat.”
“I’m sorry. I—”
“Sit. Down.” He ordered, wincing at his own acidic tone. But it was no matter, it would toughen up the poor girl. Lilian certainly needed it.
He watched her stumble her way over to a bench a little way away, wringing her hands together. That would be something they’d work on next. Her footwork was terrible. He ignored the little voice scratching at the back of his mind, whispering. “If she’s not eating, she’s weak.” Simon turned away with a frown, ignoring the eyes that burned into his back. As casually as he could, he walked down the street, thankful once her eyes were off of him. For now, he stepped up to the ice cream stand, being sure to keep his eyes half closed.
“Two ice creams.”
“Which flavor would you like, sir?” The woman asked.
“Uh… A plain and whatever the sweetest is.” Could she even eat ice cream on an empty stomach?
“Plain? You mean vanilla, sir?”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Alright, sir, give me just a moment.” He turned away from her, trying not to show off his stained eyes. By the time the woman came back, Simon was tapping his finger on the counter. “Here you go, sir, one vanilla cup and one strawberry with a caramel drizzle. The caramel is free, a gift for your daughter.”
“Free?” He really wanted to ask about the daughter’s comment, but bit his tongue.
“She’s a cute kid, always swings by. It’s nice to see someone with her.”
“Oh? Does she buy something each time?”
“No, never. She’s always so skinny, too. I’ve tried to give her something before, but she always runs away. Shy kid. Anyway, that’ll be one silver and three copper.”
Highway robbery. Damn kid, better be happy. He turned, fishing through his pocket.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such red…”
He looked up, trying to see why she had trailed off, only to grimace as their eyes met. Ah, his right eye.
“Gold eyes…”
“Eye.” He corrected. “The other was cursed by a different God.”
It was meant to be a joke, but still, the woman stepped back as he reached out. With a sigh, he dropped the coins on the counter, took the two small bowls of ice cream, and turned to walk away. Simon tried not to wince as the sound of coins clinking on the stone behind him echoed through the area. He held his head high, brandishing his left teal eye to the world, as well as the feared gold that burned in his right. Let them judge. It mattered not.
Finally, he arrived back at the brat, who sat, clutching her arms as a sharp breeze went by. Why’d she have to pick a cold autumn day to want ice cream? “Oi!”
Silence greeted him.
“Brat. If you don’t want the ice cream. I’ll just throw it away.” He’d make her go pick up the coins—no. He cursed himself at the thought. Picking up a few coins was something he could do.
“Okay…” she whispered, but made no move. He grunted and fell beside her on the brick wall and practically shoved the strawberry treat into her hands. Lilian’s eyes stared at him, wide with confusion. And no slight bit of worry.
“Just eat it, kid. Never let free food go to waste…” He spooned some of his own ice cream, grimacing at the sweet, cold treat.
They sat in silence, scratching at their paper bowls, and Simon had to bite his tongue when the girl licked hers clean. But with how thin she was… “Listen, Willow. You’ve gone on several jobs since joining the Guild, even already up to D-rank. Where are you spending all your pay?”
Lilian glanced down, crumpling her bowl in her shaking hands. “I—The healer’s bills are expensive. I have to make the payments or…”
“Or what?”
Silence greeted him, and her vibrating body was all the answer he needed.
“Alright. I’ll talk to them for you.”
“What?”
He stood from his seat and looked down at her. “I’ll talk to them.”
“But—What are you going to talk to them about?”
“Just about lowering your payment, kid. Don’t worry about it.”
“You don’t have to do that. The training has been enough. I—” She was cut off as his hand fell on her head, patting her gently. Lilian sat, frozen in shock at the touch.
“Don’t worry about it, kid. Consider it a going-away present.”
She snapped out of her frozen state and immediately grabbed his hand as he made to pull away. “Going away? You’re leaving?” Her breath was labored, and Simon grimaced inwardly at her desperation. He felt bad, but after what he was about to do, he’d have to run.
“Just for a short while. You can keep in contact with a Messenger Retrin.”
“But those are expensive.” Her grip on his arm only strengthened.
“Well, it’s a good thing you’ll be an A-Rank soon, right?”
Her hands finally loosened, and he finally pulled away. “I will?”
“Of course!” He shouted while walking away, “At the rate you’re going, I expect to hear about your exploits within the year! Just watch that ferocity of yours!”
The kid was like a raging beast at the best of times… when she wasn’t stuck in her own head. The spear would do well to temper that temper of hers. He just wished she had an affinity for that rapier or larger sword of hers. What was its name… Cicily? But who was he kidding? She’d never be able to wield that thing properly.
“Thank you!” He turned slightly, glancing into the windows of the passing shops. Watching as the girl stood from her seat, he could see the tears falling just as well as if he had turned. But he couldn’t turn, otherwise she’d see his own.
“Damned kid. Don’t you get hurt.” He whispered to himself. Lilian would be a star eventually, especially if she stuck with that spear. She’d soon even surpass him.
Simon tugged on his eyepatch, making sure that his blue eye was covered, as he flipped through the medical records in his hands. “Damned scammers.” The procedure for Lilian was costly, exceptionally so, but it couldn’t possibly have been this much. They were charging her for breathing in the room at this point. But he’d fix that. It was the least he could do for the child who saved his life.
He found the right house easily enough and soon made a small, one-word chant, gathering water from the air at his fingertips. He pressed the chant into the lock of the front door, and with a gentle wave of magic, he grinned as a click echoed out.
“Bingo.” He twisted the knob and stepping into the house, being sure to push it shut as quietly as possible. He closed his golden eye and pushed his magic out, feeling for any inhabitants. Two on the second floor in the same room, and two more on the first floor, each in their own room. Simon first stopped at the single rooms and balanced a rune stone on each of the door handles, making sure that no sound entered the room for the next two or so hours. Then he took the stairs. It was little wonder as to why the Healer was overcharging so many people, as all around the home were gaudy paintings and sculptures as ugly as his old God. It made him sick to his stomach. But eventually he entered his target’s room, and lying in bed was a man and a woman.
“Bind,” he whispered, and water filled the air. A tendril wrapped around the man, quickly binding his hands and feet before finally covering his mouth. It dragged him into a sitting position as his eyes flicked away, rapidly glancing around the room.
“Honey?” The woman made to sit up, but Simon was faster. Three tendrils wrapped around her, binding her body and covering her head completely. No sound escaped her as she thrashed violently.
The man panicked, trying to speak through his watery gag, and Simon sighingly moved the gag.
“Help! He—” It was replaced in an instant, and Simon shook his head.
“We could have gone about this much easier without the call for help, you know. Sadly, now I’m going to have to do something all of us will regret.” With a flick of his finger, the woman flew from the bed, slamming into the ceiling with a dull thud. A wave of his hand dismissed the water, and limply, the woman fell to the floor. “I’m sure I’ll forget it by breakfast tomorrow.”
The Healer stared at him in fear.
“Now then, are you going to scream for help again, or do I need to start breaking bones?” He didn’t say whose bones he was going to snap, but it certainly wouldn’t be the woman’s. With a flick, the gag moved, and the Healer asked.
“What do you want?” His eyes stayed glued to the woman’s body.
“Don’t look at her right now. Look at me. With your skill, I’m sure she’ll be right as rain tomorrow with little more than a headache.” Simon stepped forward, waving his stack of papers around. “As to what I want. Well, it’s simple. I want you to stop overcharging your customers so much.”
“What?” The man’s disbelief was etched into his face.
“Gwendolyn Jacobs. Arthur West. Lilian Willow. Marcus Straton.” He threw a stack of papers onto the bed, one at a time. Now to seal the lie. “It’s funny, when I was hired to investigate you a couple of months ago, I didn’t think much of it. But after watching several of your clients for this time, and finally checking out their files, I have to say, I’m impressed.”
“Impressed?”
“You’re pinching every copper you can from these people. Hell, that kid, the fourteen-year-old or whatever her file said, Willow. She’s as thin as my pinky. You’re certainly getting your money out of these people.”
“If it weren’t for me, they’d never be adventurers again.”
“Ah, and here I thought it was a grudge. Instead, you’re simply holding their lives over their head.”
“Their injuries are costly.”
“You don’t have a smidge of regret, do you?”
The man had the audacity to look at Simon as if he were an idiot. “Why should I regret anything?”
“Because if you don’t show any regret, I’ll kill you.” The man froze at the words. “So listen well. You’re a great healer, one that’s hard to come by. However, you can certainly lower your prices slightly. You certainly don’t charge a normal person this much with an injury.”
“Don’t hurt me.”
Simon glanced at the unconscious woman on the ground, then back at the Healer. “I won’t as long as we can come to an agreement. If not, you’ll end up worse than her. I’d be happy to show you what I can do thanks to this eye.” The man gulped as he finally seemed to notice the Golden Eye of War.
It took time, some minor threats, and a bit of haggling, but Simon was able to convince the good Healer to lower his prices. And if anyone asked, he would simply tell them he found the Light or some other bull. Simon, however, was sure his poster would be hanging up by mid-morning at the latest.
“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” He glanced at the woman on the floor. “Now, I think it’s time to get working on your assistant. No? I mean, isn’t your wife supposed to be home in the morning?”
The man scrambled to work after Simon finally let go of his spell. Normally, he wouldn’t have hurt the woman, but he knew what she had done to Willow, even if the poor girl refused to say anything about it.
Still, as Simon looked up at the mountainside city, he couldn’t help but wish that he could have done more for the poor girl. But she’d be fine. She had that strength burning inside. All she needed to do was stick with the spear.