Chapter 54: Hope’s Gambit

It had been a hard day at work for Reuben. With a noble from the Second Ring opening a shop near him, it has been hard to get customers.

And it wasn’t like the things he sold were bad, no, they were of a quite high quality.

He took one of the apples he was selling, digging in. It had been a while since he had last eaten one. He was lucky to sign a contract with someone from the outskirts to supply him with stuff like this.

If he remembered correctly, monsters started to roam around in the wastelands, leaving their homes empty, and since inside those zones, time still worked, the people from the outskirts moved quickly. That was how he had ended up with apples, cooked meat, and many others.

But that damn noble had a lot more stuff than him, so no one ever bothered to check his stand out. How much he dreamed of the days before it opened up, when he made enough money to live comfortably. Now he wasn’t even sure if he could pay his permit anymore, since he was originally from the outskirts.

He had been living in the Rings for a while, sometimes barely making enough, sometimes leaving his best life.

But it has never been as bad as this. And it wasn’t like things were going to get better. As time went on, his competition would grow, while he stood in place. Forced to work his ass off just to survive. He almost lost his hope of aging, finding someone,

…being a father

But as he was dreading his fate. He saw someone, and when he realized he was heading toward him, he got into his position, ready to do his magic.

He looked at the figure, identifying it as that of a young boy, probably eternally in his teenage years. He wore a ragged cloak, hanging down on his body, hiding each part of him like there was nothing under. But his hood was off.

The young boy had some eyes that shone like diamonds; he felt a faint feeling of jealousy seeing the hope in his eyes. His hair looked smooth and soft, like a big ray of sunshine.

He cleared his throat nervously. Trying his best to seem and sound professional.

“Hello there, my name is Reuben. What may you be interested in? I can assure you we have the best prices around this place.”

He glanced slightly at the noble’s store, knowing that, in reality, his prices were much higher than his competitor’s. But he couldn’t say that, so he lied.

The boy rubbed his chin, looking at some of the items he sold. Humming as he wondered what to get. In the end, stopping at an apple. Reuben nodded at his choice; his apples were the best. Who could pass by and not get any?

A lot, a lot of people have done it.

“How much is this apple?”

He said, raising the apple at Reuben, making him smile with pride, his eyes slowly drifting back at the other shop, as if mocking it, even if it was only one sale.

“Seven copper coins, no more, no less.”

The boy’s eyes widened. He looked back at the apple, checking if it was really worth that much.

“Seven? I saw one being sold at three.”

Reuben felt his heart drop, cursing internally, but keeping his smile.

“W-Well, our quality is quite high, so that’s why. But for you and only you, I’ll lower it to five.”

He laughed nervously, raising five fingers. But to his surprise, in response, the boy raised four, which made his stomach swirl inside. He couldn’t sell it for that much; he would lose money if he did so.

He laughed again, this one seeming even more false than the other.

“I’m sorry, but five is the lowest I can do.”

The boy sighed, looking to the apple and then back at Reuben. Making his heart rate rise to the roof. Was he going to take it? How much he wished he did. He didn’t make a profit; he sold it for how much he bought them for, but at least he could say he sold something.

The boy looked one last time at the apple, then put it back where he got it. Leaving, and to Reubens’ nightmare, heading towards his competitor.

He groaned in defeat, collapsing on his stand. Burning his face in the unever wood.

…

…

The week passed… and unfortunately, he had failed to get enough money to pay for his permit. He was done for, really; he still had enough to pay the daily fee for around… five days. But after that, he was done; he couldn’t sell anything without his permit. And his deal with the person who got him his items was forcefully closed; he couldn’t do anything but beg for money, just thinking of it hurt like a knife.

He rested on a bench, trying his best to keep himself together. He didn’t want to go back to the outskirts. It will be hard to start fresh there, almost impossible, so he was done for.

All he could do was curl up in a ball, watching as the others passed by. He envied them a lot. Seeing their bright faces as if some other people like him weren’t suffering. How could they be so selfish?

…it was all that noble’s fault; if he hadn’t opened right next to him, he would still have a life. But at the moment, he might as well throw it away; it wasn’t worth anything, he was a nobody.

But as people passed him without batting an eye, he heard some coins fall on the ground from someone. He rose up, surprised that their original owner didn’t hear anything. He jumped to get them, smiling with excitement as he saw that there were exactly twenty copper coins. It was amazing, really.

…

He bit his lip, looking at the coins.

They could help him quite a lot, but at the same time, they weren’t his… was he really going to resort to stealing?

He had worked hard this far to stay clean; was he really going to do this?

He cursed himself, finding himself rushing to the figure that had dropped the coins.

Raising his arm, he patted its shoulder.

“Excuse me, you dropped these.”

He said, holding the coins in his hands.

The figure turned its head, revealing a terrifying mask over its face. He staggered slightly, his heart racing as he looked at its eyes. It clung to his face like a parasite clinging to its host. It was painted to look like a clown, a Fool if he had to say exactly.

He swallowed, trying his best to smile.

“Ah, you’re so kind.”

It raised its hand ready to grab the coins, but stopped.

“You know, because of your kindness, I’ll let you keep them… I’ll even offer a way to double, maybe even triple them.”

Reuben froze, staring at it in disbelief. Had his kindness really been rewarded? Was… was he finally going to find a way to get back his life?

He smiled, nodding his head, ready to get his life back.

…

…

“Shit!”

Reuben cursed as he collapsed to the ground. He had lost, yet again; he only had one coin left. He wasn’t sure if he was going to use it to play the Fool’s game again, or if he was going to keep it.

It would be better if he left and kept just the one coin at least.

But at the same time, what was it going to help him with? Nothing. But if he won, and kept winning, maybe even getting to a silver coin, that would save him. So he risked it.

The game was simple; he got two cards, which he could see, and the dealer, who was the figure, got two, but Reuben could only see one of their cards, the other being turned face down. In the end, he had to get as close to twenty-one as possible; if he got closer than the figure, he doubled his money.

He looked a his cards, which were a queen and a five. He could hit and get another card, but if he got a seven, he instantly lost.

He looked to see the figure’s card, seeing he also had a ten. Which could be good.

With a ten, the dealer had a high chance of being over sixteen, meaning he had to stand. It makes it a little less reliant on luck, in his eyes. There is the chance, of course, that their other card doesn’t make the number get over sixteen, meaning the dealer has to hit. And even at the lowest, if they get something valued at ten, they lose.

But that was also the case for him; he could hit and try to get close. But if he got a number higher than he needed, it was over…

He bit his lips, taking another card. He stared as he saw it was another five, getting his total to twenty. His victory was almost guaranteed.

He laughed.

“I stand.”

The figure nooded.

“Very well.”

Its hand hovered over the other card; it smiled, a wicked smile as it flipped the card over.

It was an Ace.

He felt his heart break in pieces. And anger covered his whole body.

He frowned.

“How is that possible?”

His fists hit the ground in anger. He dreaded losing his money and his last hope. His life, everything he had worked for. He had lost everything. He had even put all his other money on the line and still lost.

What were the chances that the other card was an Ace, which in that scenario was valued at eleven, bringing the total to twenty-one?

He had to have been cheated; there was no way the figure was that good not to lose a match. But what could he do? He was the one who had accepted it in the first place.

…

“I-I want to die.”

Reuben buried his face in his hands.

“I hate this world, I can’t take it anymore!”

The figure rose to his feet. The same wicked smile that had killed him was still on his face.

“Don’t say stuff like that. Your life is worth somethi-”

“Shut up!”

Reuben burst up, grabbing the figure by its collar.

“My life isn’t worth anything! This worth is in scrambles, and we are like a curse, killing it even more. There is no hope, we will be stuck like this to eternity! I don’t want to live in this world anymore.”

The figure didn’t respond; it waited patiently for Reuben to calm down, and when the time came, it smiled gently.

“…What if I told you there is a way to get back time?”

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