Rain covered the stone streets, leaving mud and puddles everywhere. It was like any other rainy day in a big city. People went around with umbrellas and cloaks and hid below the roofs of buildings.

  Yet a young boy ran through these streets filled with mud and rain, his legs racing in front of him, trying to catch up, and his arms holding what seemed to be bread and fruit.

  "HEY STOP!" yelled a stall owner

  "NO WAY IN HELL!" panted the boy frantically, his legs tossing in front of him

  "SOMEONE STOP HIM!" the stall owner begged, but sadly, it was far too late

  "I need to get back home, before someone catches me" he said under his breath

  He knew the backstreets like the palm of his hand. "It should be here" the boy said to himself.

  He did not expect an answer; it was more of a comfort for him to hear someone talk. Perhaps it was his fear of being alone.

  "Found it" it was a small crevice in a wall, just enough for him to squeeze through.

  "Hopefully the father is not home" the boy once more spoke to himself. "It would be embarrassing for him to go back there and plead forgiveness."

  Before the boy knew it, the well-paved roads turned into mud and the people that were outside were those who had nowhere to go or those who simply have lost the will to continue.

  "I hope he is okay" the boy's thoughts were let out of his mouth

  As he went through the muddy streets filled with beggars and other undersibales, he finally arrived to a small church located on the southern outskirts of the city.

  He sneaked inside and got to the kitchen where he put all the stuff he "lawfuly" acquired and quickly but quietly ran to his bed to make it seem like he was lazily resting in his bed.

  But it seems that fate had other plans.

  "Where do you think you are going?" A tall man stood behind the boy, his robes were black with accents of white color, a standard clothing of a pious Priest.

  "You see father, I-I got hungry and I decided to get myself an apple" the boy was nervous, hoping that he actions won't be found.

  "Is that why you are covered in mud, dirt and panting as if you ran across the entire town" the Priest looked at him "It's as if you stole, again"

  "I WOULD NEVER" the boy yelled

  "quiet down, before you wake your brother up." the Priest looked at him with the same eyes when he first met him.

  "..." the boy swallowed his tongue not knowing what to say

  "Let's sit down and also change your clothes, you have a horrid smell on you."

  With that the boy went upstairs to his room where his brother still slept covered by a somewhat comfortable bedding and a warm winter blanket.

  The boy had everything he wanted and yet he felt lost, as if not only guilt but even greed was eating up at him.

  As the boy changed his clothes, he looked at his younger brother with hopes of giving him a peacful life.

  The Priest saw the boy go down by the stairs. "Do you know what I am eating right now" he asked while chewing what seemed to be a piece of bread

  "A piece of bread?"

  "A piece of stolen bread." he looked the boy "I must agree with the fact that stolen food tastes the best." the Priest commented "but still I cannot overlook your actions."

  "B-but we were running low" the boy tried to reason

  "And you didn't think to inform me" the Priest sighed "Listen I know that you want to help but this is far from the way to do it."

  "Then what should I do." the boy looked at the priest "This place is almost falling apart, we have no money for food and the donations we get are minimal!" he started to tear up. "I just, I don't even know, I feel lost."

  Priest pulled out something from his robes "You know what this is?"

  "It's pouch"

  "a pouch filled with money" the Priest handed it to the boy "the two of us will go there and pay the merchant you stole from"

  "huh, but why should I-"

  "cause you got to learn not to be an idiot" the Priest stood "let's go troublemaker, before you give me a headache"

  And so the boy silently followed the Priest to the back of the church where a barn with horse resided.

  "Stop sulking and help me out will you, Jean."

  the boy went to a carriage, wet from the rain and dirty from the mud and dirt outside. "I am sorry"

  "you will be sorry to the merchant, not to me" the Priest and Jean tied the horse to the carriage and put a cloth roof over it to shield it from the rain

  "Am I a good person Father?" Jean asked with a sulking voice, still weak from the crying he went through.

  "Yeah"

  "you could've at least lied"

  "and stoop to your level?" Priest scolded him but it was not aggressive it was more of a disappointment rather than scolding.

  "..."

  and so the carriage left to the market and before they knew it the streets filled with mud changed into stone paved ones and were filled with people from all kinds of backgrounds.

  It was as if the Priest knew the exact person Jean stole from and went straight to him "morning sir, I am here to pay for the stuff that this rascall stole"

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  The merchant looked at the sad and defeated Jean. "Haa... thank you father" the merchant looked at Jean "Listen kid, crime will get you the stuff you want but how are you gonna feed those you want to protect if you aren't there." the merchants scolding continued "find a better way of life, go work on the docks or help out the Father, who knows maybe you will be able to live for once."

  Jean felt regretful for his actions that came from desperation.

  The priest picked out some bread and fruits from the merchants stall and simply "how much for all this"

  the merchant looked at the priest "50 shillings"

  The priest looked shocked "Jean how MUCH did you steal"

  before Jean could answer the merchant interjected "If I may, it's mostly because a heavy blight hit Villest, so most of the cheap wheat got destroyed and prices for food skyrocketed because of that"

  the priest looked bought the food the bread and asked if there were any other merchants or stores that sold wheat.

  And so the day was filled with shopping and going from merchant to merchant to buy as much food as possible, for it seems that there will be long days incoming and that it will take far more time than expected.

  Before they knew it, the starless veil has covered the night sky, both Jean and the Priest have long since reconciled and were mostly talking about their plans for the next week.

  The Priest was worried about the blight that hit the crop fields of Villest while Jean was wondering whether he should clean up the old dusty study room in a basement of the church.

  Mostly because Tesla spends a lot of time reading and studying there so Jean wanted to clean up a bit, if at all possible.

  As the Priest and Jean unloaded all the stuff they bought from the marketplace, the brother of Jean, Tesla, ran outside to help.

  "FATHER LUKA CAN I HELP" yelled out Tesla

  "Yeah could you help Jean move the crates, before he falls over."

  Tesla ran to help with enthusiasm that a small child would have, moving one crate after another and before they all knew it the carriage was empty.

  All of them proceeded to eat together in a small dining room and like always the church sat quietly, with almost no visitors throughout the day.

  And although priests that follow the doctorine of the Sun and Moon have strict dietary rules, Father Luka cared little about them, in fact he often not got drunk and ate meat of all kinds during ceremonies and other other mealtimes.

  He was far from an honorable and pious man that many think of him he is, yet he still gave away food to those in need, and helped those that needed his said help.

  To him the rules and doctorines matter little, he believes that every man, woman and child deserves to live the best life and enjoy it and not limit themselves to pointless beliefs that only exist to limit peoples potential.

  Perhaps that was the reason as to why he now works in a rundown church on the outskirts of the city.

  And is he sat in his office he didn't drink, in fact he was worried, very worried.

  "Crap our funds are running low." Luka told himself "At this rate I fear that we won't be able to live through the winter"

  "Good evening most pious Father Luka" a man cloaked in dark brown attire with vest embroidered with silver lining and a cane made from smooth ebony wood, while his tophat had a black feather, most probably from a raven bird, but most shockingly was the mask he wore, a dramatic plague doctor mask, usually used in plays and other fancy occasions.

  "Evening to you, Librarian" Luka's face narrowed his mood already sour became so bad that if it was a fruit then the closest one would most probably be an unripe citrus. For this wasn't the first time this figure was here and it will be far from last.

  "I heard from a little friend that you have been having some, struggles if I may say so." he was taunting Luka, knowing that any action against him would be meaningless.

  "What is it you want, if you want the lives of the kids I shelter then you can leave."

  "No, they do not interest me yet but I do wonder why you didn't put them in a child shelter, surely that would be far more manageable, unless of course" it was another taunt made by the librarian as he looked around the office and swung his cane like a child playing with a stick they found in the garden. "You are shielding them from someone like me but no matter, I am here for a different reason."

  "..." Luka was worried, all of his senses were screaming at him like it was the end of the world, yet he listened.

  "You see after your repeated refusal to accept my demands, I decided to lessen them." he stopped in front of the table that Luka sat and moved his head right in front of him, with his face turning to the side so that the lens is directly in front of Luka and yet no face was seen behind it. "open up a cafe here, that is all I ask."

  "huh, a cafe?"

  "yes a cafe"

  "are you sure?"

  "I will bring some people to sat it all up and bring you the necessary ingredients as well" A smile was felt behind the mask

  "H-hold on, that is all nice and all but this location is far from ideal and not to mention-"

  "you don't have to worry about things like that, just make this place accessible to the public, that's all"

  Luka felt worried, it was clear this was a scheme to get something out of him, question is what. "fine" there was no need to hasitate, he needed the money from the Librarian and a roof that did not leak during even the lightest of rains, he wished for comfortable life.

  "I am glad to hear that I will make sure to bring all the necessities tomorrow." and just like that the librarian left through the door

  a sigh of relief washed over him and a feeling as if he had signed a pact with a devil, but it did not matter anymore.

  Night fell in Cerillia and a new day of the new week rose once more.