Ball of Nothing

"What are they doing?" he whispered to Mitchnew who explained that these children were playing a strategy game.

"The sticks represented troops and the stones represented money. Every child starts with the same number of sticks and stones. Then they will take turns challenging their opponent with a simple wager by putting either sticks or stones in the centre pool. Depending on the outcome of the wager they will gain the resources in the pool, lose the resources to the pool or have their resources frozen in the pool. The wager is usually a stance of attack, defend or retreat. The one with a greater number is usually at an attacking advantage. The one with a defending wager usually has greater finance and the one who retreats usually forfeits what he added to the pool."

Zero nodded and continued to watch the children play after Mitchnew\'s explanation. Now he understood those strange gestures they were doing. The attack gesture was made by putting both arms outwards, the defend gesture was made by crossing both arms in a cross over the chest and the retreat gesture was to put their hands up in a surrender pose.

The more Zero observed, the lesser he understood. "Why is he retreating and discarding all his troops to the pile? He doesn\'t have any sticks left, only stones!"

Mitchnew laughed. "He intends to use his remaining troops to weaken both parties in the pool by retreating. The rules say that if you retreat, the other players who have existing troops in the pool must also match the number of troops that are \'retreating\'. In other words, it\'s a one for one exchange. He might not have troops now but by retreating, neither of his friends can attack him successfully. All he has to do is defend and they will continuously lose to him because he holds the highest finance here. This is his win."

Zero wasn\'t too sure about it so he continued to observe. True enough, the boy who threw in all his sticks won that game eventually after eight turns and Zero clapped loudly. His cheering made the children turn their heads in his direction with startled expressions. The doctor didn\'t miss this chance to bounce over and introduce himself, asking if he could join their game.

Mitchnew didn\'t stop him. In fact, she too asked if she could join and the children were more than happy to have extra players as they scavenged around for more sticks and stones. Truen and Bob watched Zero and Mitchnew immerse themselves in a game and strike up a conversation with the waitress who happened to be the mother of one of the children there.

"What are they playing?" Bob asked and the waitress grinned.

"Bet you\'ve never seen it before. No offence but this is a game taught by the retired general. It\'s a war game often played by those who served the military or were out in battles. The kids learnt it from him because they couldn\'t go to school. All their knowledge to read, write and count came from the old man too."

Curious about such a benevolent person, Truen couldn\'t help but ask if they could meet this old general.

"Oh, he\'s the innkeeper of Black Boar. The one that the beggar children often visit and seek shelter in on cold nights. He\'s a real teddy bear that everyone around here loves. The guards and some of the southerners occasionally try to stir problems around here but with good old Gary around, nobody tries anything much."

Bob uncrossed his legs. "Where is Black Boar inn? We were actually headed there on official business but our friend there got sidetracked."

The waitress put her hands on her hip and eyed them. "Official business?"

Truen gave her a business-like smile. "An undisclosed contact told us we could find a person we are looking for there. We\'re not here to cause trouble."

Before the waitress could say anything else, there was a loud hoot of laughter from outside. Zero was laughing so hard and Mitchnew threw her sticks down as she groaned. The boy who won earlier was dancing for joy on the spot as the other children clapped gleefully.

"Pay up!" the winner demanded and Mitchnew scowled.

Mitchnew reached for her money pouch and was about to hand it over when the waitress rushed out of the tavern and smacked her son on the head, apologising to Mitchnew and refusing the assassin\'s money pouch.

"But mom!" the boy protested. "I won it fair and square!"

Zero was surprised when the waitress had a dark look on her face as she pinched her child\'s ear and gave him an earful in front of everyone, not caring if it attracted stares.

"How many times have I told you to leave money-making to the adults? What would people think if you cheated others of their money in games? Money has to be earned through hard work!"

The boy rebelled and Zero had to stop her from hitting her son while Mitchnew looked on with concern, horrified by the lady\'s reactions. Bob and Truen came rushing out of the tavern too and tried to stop the lady from overreacting but her son was stubborn, refusing to apologise.

"What\'s wrong with earning money using my strengths? Old Gary and Dina do it too! Why can\'t I? There are no laws saying that children cannot work! Besides, I didn\'t steal anything."

Zero froze when he heard about Dina and Gary. He exchanged a look with Mitchnew who shook her head. However, they knew what they had to do at this point.

"Miss," Zero stopped the lady and cast a calming spell so that they could have a conversation. He did the same for the boy discreetly and asked if they could continue the conversation indoors because there were simply too many eyes and they were making a scene.

To apologise for ruining the fun of the other children present, Zero took out cakes from his sling bag and offered them to the children who were astonished by so many things that came out from the bag.

Stunned by Zero\'s commanding presence, mother and son followed him in. They were unable to resist his charismatic charms and drank some tea to calm their nerves when Zero offered. Truen, Bob and Mitchnew dismissed the crowd and followed Zero into the tavern, apologising to the puzzled owner as they occupied a corner. Thankfully, there weren\'t many patrons during the afternoon and Zero could hold a conversation in private.

"Here," Zero said and offered the child one cinnite. "From the bet earlier. I think he earned it fair and square, we learned a lot from him."

The waitress was speechless for them, one cinnite was the wage for two months, if not more. She was stunned and about to refuse when Zero gave her a levelled look.

"I know it is none of my concern to interfere with your parenting methods but I would like to inform you in advance that I\'m an investor and also a merchant when I\'m not busy saving lives as a doctor. You might have heard from my friends here that we\'re looking for Black Boar Inn but took a detour. Think of this as a positive investment for the business we are looking to do with the western district of Smargdas. I have huge projects that will require the help of many smart boys and girls like your son. This one cinnite is only a fraction of what we can do if we have consent from parents like you, I hope you won\'t hold it against him."

On the outside, Zero was calm and confident but on the inside, he was sweating bullets. It was only an idea Truen said to put on hold but rather than discussing it over with Truen, he quickly took matters in his own hands to tell this lady and her child a lie. Will he be forgiven later?

The lady looked at her child with a conflicted look and the money on the table. Zero was very calm and the people around him were clearly not simple merchants or adventurers.

"I\'m sorry but I won\'t accept this money. Compared to living luxuriously for a while as I put my son in possible danger, I would prefer to continue striving hard at what I do now knowing that he is safe."

Zero looked at Truen to judge if his friend would stop him from doing anything more and Truen didn\'t look happy so Zero decided to retreat for now. The business plan hadn\'t been finalised so instead of giving them false hope, Zero decided to wrap the mess up. He took the one cinnite coin back and instead, gave the boy a cake.

"I\'m sorry about the bet," he told the child honestly. "Your mother won\'t allow you to accept money from bets but it should be alright if it was food, right?"

The boy looked at his mother hesitantly and the waitress sighed before nodding. With a wide grin, the boy accepted the cake with both hands and thanked Zero who smiled and waved his hand. "You earned it, I learned a lot. I bet Mitchnew did too."

The assassin scoffed behind him good-naturedly and the tavern lady told her son to wash his hands before he ate the cake. Bob decided to help the lady watch her child and Truen apologised to her for the trouble caused.

Shaking her head sadly, the mother waited for Bob and her son to be out of earshot to bow to them.

"Sorry about that. I know that my child is right but as a mother, I fear for his safety more than anything else. Ever since his father left us, he is all I have. I won\'t allow him to do such a risky job. If only I had more money, I might be able to send him to school. Everything he learned from Old Gary, he learned it quickly. His only sin was to be born to a poor and worthless mother like me who only hindered his future."

Zero shook his head. "It\'s not easy being a parent and it isn\'t a crime to be born poor. Your determination is admirable and his filial piety is applaudable. That child is sensible, he understands the hardships you suffer for him and wants to help. If you ever change your mind, you can tell him to look for Mitchkin Apparel near the eastern side of Smargdas for an apprenticeship. Half Moon Village requires the help of many people in the near future and we\'re not an exceedingly wealthy group of people. As awful as it sounds, it\'s cheaper to pay children who work harder and faster than adults. They also learn quickly and won\'t play mind games which is what we need right now."

Truen and Mitchnew said nothing and they waited for Bob before making haste of their departure now that they overstayed their welcome. Once they walked far enough, Truen looked at Zero and the doctor looked guilty at once.

"Zero, we need to talk."

"I know," he hung his head low. "I should have consulted with you and Mitchnew first. I\'m sorry. I couldn\'t help everyone here without a solid plan but for that one child, it should be an arrangement we can afford, right?"

Mitchnew nodded. "That child is bright, I wouldn\'t mind having an additional errand boy at the shop for official business. What did you actually have in mind? Why children and not adults? Or was that merely something to convince the mother?"

Zero shook his head. "It\'s true. Children are better at the task I have in mind. I haven\'t figured out how to get it done but Cleo and the team spend way too much time cleaning and packaging herbs. I want to outsource this job to those who don\'t have an education but are hardworking and smart. Medicine shouldn\'t be handled carelessly and children who learn new things like sponges are the best."

The only problem was with Mitchnew\'s guild and the proper channels they needed to set this up. Bob, who had been silent for a while, spoke up at last. "Why not get someone in this district to manage it on our behalf? Old Gary of Black Boar Inn sounds perfect and it would be even better if we can come in contact with Dina the Beggar King. He should know many capable children."

Mitchnew sighed. "If only it were that simple," she groaned. "You\'ll understand what I mean once we get there."

They rounded a few bends and Zero\'s heart skipped a beat when he saw a double-storey building with a huge sign that read \'Black Boar Inn\'. They were finally at their destination after a long detour.