Board Thread:What Would You Do?/@comment-187.151.87.138-20190525055350/@comment-36855838-20190529074646

It all started with that stupid sword.

Sure, mother and father had been neglectful before, but this was the turning point.

They had gone to scour some ancient ruin in a different far-off place, and when they had returned a sword had grown into mother's arm.

The shaking of the mattress echoed through our house, and almost woke the neighbors.

An astonishing feat, considering our closest neighbors live half a mile away.

---

I had been working for hours on end today, sanding the tough coatings off of seeds before gently bleaching the exteriors to prevent molding.

I had produced about thirty buckets of prepared seeds, and as the sun set for the evening and crickets began to chirp, we began the hard work of razing the old plants.

Thistles and nettles alike crackled and snapped as the overgrown and rotted field burned under our torches.

Though many of us had simple magical power, it was far too weak to burn the field, and so we merely used it to light our dryer tinder.

---

As the last vestiges of the flaming fields burnt and crumbled into the night wind, we lined up to collect our pay, I had made 80 crescents, enough to cover the cost of food and drink for the night.

---

A slow, pathetic walk to the one store still open at this time of night began.

Though town was in the opposite direction of home, I had no real desire to return now anyway.

---

I entered the shop, and the chirping of crickets echoed faintly as the door creaked and moaned slowly closed.

As the door finished closing, about forty candles sprung to life with an eerie white light, illuminating my filthy body for all to see, as well as the beautiful duo who stood in the center of the convenience store.

The Danuki "sisters," a mother and daughter, were nocturnal, and so their store was open from sundown to sunup, and sold almost every variety of goods.

A pair of signs which blocked the only windows proclaimed as much:

---

From blanket to Bosom, if you want it, we've got it, for a price~♡

---

Since these new signs had gone up, their sales of fresh Holstaur milk had skyrocketed, and they'd begun putting it in a seperate section of duplicate food items such as baked goods, making the switch optional.

And the soundproofed storeroom had remained closed during all business hours.

---

"Are you well, Bartholomew? You haven't looked this downtrodden since that out of town harlot decided you wanted to be stepped on!"

I grimace at the memory.

"Yes, well, I wouldn't really have minded if dragons didn't have claws."

She nodded solemnly.

Next to speak was the mother, distinguishable only by her slightly fuller figure.

"What would you like to purchase this evening, our prices are much lower now!"

I looked around the impossibly large interior until I found the camping section, tents and tinderboxes were replaced with self-building houses and hearths, all held in little boxes you could carry in your pocket.

Some packages included pantries stocked with food, but all included an instruction manual, which taught how to operate the device and how to survive without it in case it was lost.

With their newly lowered prices, I could buy five, whereas before I would have been unable to buy one with a year worth of money.

"If I didn't know you better, I'd call this discount suspicious!"

My shout echoed down the seemingly endless hallway that was the convenience store.