I reincarnated in game

6 Time to Payback

With his newfound wealth, Hugh walked down the street toward the nearest clothing store.  As he entered, the shopkeeper walked towards him, quietly judging him for the state of his ratty clothing.

“Yes, may I help you?” the shopkeeper said.

“Yes, I would like to buy some clothing, please?  Hugh responded.

“Oh, I don’t think we have anything that you could afford, young man,” the owner said.

“Oh, so you don’t take gold, then?” Hugh replied as he opened his bag just a little to show the shining gold pieces.

“Yes!  We do, sir!” the shopkeeper stammered as he stared at Hugh’s bag in disbelief.

Hugh smiled to himself, as he watched the now humble shopkeeper, running to and fro with different outfits, anxious to please.  He selected some of the more modest, casual wear; feeling much better now that he had gotten rid of his old rags.  His next mission was to get something to eat, and maybe something for the road.

Two doors down, there was a small sandwich shop with some options that he felt could satisfy his overwhelming hunger.  He picked up a couple of hearty selections, along with something to drink.  Now that he was fed, and better dressed, Hugh walked with a much lighter step.  From his knowledge of Ether Sword, he knew that the flying stones did not operate overnight; he would have to wait until morning to be on his way.  He walked to a residential area of the city and found a place that offered rooms for rent for the night.  At first light, Hugh was up and heading towards the flying stone stations; he needed to get home.

Hugh’s first stop was at the crematorium where they had taken his mother’s body.  He sought out the funeral director and came to an arrangement on the cost for his services and for a small, pendant urn which he would be able to wear around his neck.  He was told the ashes would be ready in two days.

When Hugh got back to his mother’s house, the events of the last three days finally caught up with him.  He went into his bedroom; found some rolled up newspapers which he used for a pillow, and fell into a deep, exhausted sleep, lying on the bare floor. 

Day turned into night; night turned into day.  It was past noon when Hugh opened his eyes.  He was much better rested, but his body reminded him that the floor did not have any padding!

His mother’s ashes wouldn’t be ready until the next day, so, having nothing else to do, Hugh decided to take a tour of the neighborhood… maybe he could even get himself something to sleep on. 

Hugh found a loose floorboard near the wall and got a stick from outside to pry it up, just enough to hide his bag of gold coins.  Before stamping the board back in place, he took out enough coins to do a little shopping.

Meandering down the street in the shopping district, Hugh took time to check out the different stores along the street.  He found one that sold bedding and purchased a couple of blankets and a pillow.

That evening, Hugh propped the pillow against the wall and used the blankets as a cushion.  His mind went back to the bullies who had beat him up, and who would be back in two days to collect the payment, and interest, for the stolen medicine.  He could understand that he owed for the medication; he could even accept that there would be some kind of interest, but what he couldn’t abide was the fact that those goons wanted to extort him for their “collection fee”! 

The more he thought about it, the more indignant he became … it just wasn’t right that he should have to pay them a single coin!  A plan started to form.

The next day, Hugh went back into the city, picked up his mother’s ashes, and looped the chain, attached to the urn, around his neck.  This was his only connection to his mother now; he vowed it would never leave his neck.

On his return trip, Hugh detoured back to the shopping district.  When he had been looking for a place to get the blankets, he had noticed a small shop with a rustic sign which said, “Odds and Ends - Bring your Junk in for Cash!”  Hugh had always been the kind of guy who enjoyed using old junk and mismatched pieces to create functional tools and gadgets.  He remembered seeing boxes, bottles, gears, trinkets, and baubles of all kinds; this was exactly what he needed for his plan.

Hugh grabbed an empty box by the door and started down the first aisle to see what he could see.  He picked up some small sprockets and gears that looked like they had come from a bicycle; some small pipes and connectors also found their way into his box.  Further along, he noticed a mirror and thought that might come in handy.  A bright crystal caught his eye; he could use that for a light source.  He continued down the aisle and up the next one, adding small items that piqued his interest along the way.  At the end of the second aisle, he came upon a bin of glass baubles.  Sifting through the bits of coloured glass, he spied a small prism and picked it up.  He turned it over and over in his hand; something seemed very familiar about this piece; then it hit him!  This was just like the prisms he would find in Ether Sword; the ones which had magic properties.  He added that to his box of loot.  On the way to the front counter, he picked up a small tool kit.  Hugh was surprised at how little the shopkeeper charged him, but figured that it had been other people’s junk, and that the owner probably didn’t realize the value of the prism.

Back home, Hugh refined his plan. 

When the bullies showed up the next day, they barged in, without knocking, to confront Hugh; they looked like they were ready to lay another beating on him. 

Hugh had been in the bedroom when they made their entrance.  He picked up the bag of coins he had counted out earlier and approached Kevin, the leader of the trio.  “OK.  Take this.  There are six thousand gold coins in that bag to cover the cost of the medicine, including the interest.  You can take that to Mr. Townsend.”

Kevin seemed a little surprised that Hugh had come up with any money, but the six thousand wouldn’t cover the collection fee.  “Well, that’s all well and good, but where is our seven hundred and fifty gold coins for the collection fee?”

“I don’t have it right now … I will need some more time to get that for you,” Hugh replied. 

“All right.  We will be back in three days.  You had better have it then or you’ll get it worse than the last time we were here,” Kevin said, as he stuffed Hugh’s bag into his belt and left with the other two.

“Three days ... that will have to be enough time,” thought Hugh, to himself, as he watched the trio go down the street.  “I will build a machine to make fake coins and use magic to make them appear real.”  Hugh chuckled to himself, “I would love to be able to see their faces when the magic wears off!”

Over the next two days, Hugh worked diligently with the items he had picked up in town … he needed to build something to hold the prism so that its energy could be contained and focused.

He constructed a box using pipes and connectors for the frame with wooden slats on the sides and bottom.  He placed the small mirror on an angle at one end.  At the other end, he cut an opening through which he could slide a small tray of paper.  The prism was mounted on a sprocket a few inches away from the mirror; a small handle attached to one end would allow for it to be rotated to an optimum angle.  The bright crystal was mounted in the lid of the box in such a way so that it would catch the sunlight, and focus it on a shiny gold coin mounted within the box.  The coin was set on an angle to reflect the sun’s rays onto the mirror; the angle of the mirror was set to direct the reflected image to the prism.

By the middle of the second day, he was ready to test his invention.  “This has to work,” Hugh thought, as he expelled his held breath.

He moved his contraption close to a window where the sun streamed in.  Bits of the coloured newspaper was put in the tray.  The tray was inserted into the box.  The sprocket handle was turned, just a tad, to catch the reflected image of the coin.  He waited.

The prism started to glow.  A beam of light emanated from the prism onto the colored paper.  The paper transformed into a handful of gold coins.

Hugh pulled out the tray which now held a dozen gold coins.  He inspected them to see if they looked like the real thing, and was impressed with the quality.  He knew that the change was not permanent; it only needed to last about a week, to work.

Hugh repeated the process several times until he had enough to cover the collection fee.  He found a little bag for the coins and had them ready for Kevin.  Now he just had to wait.

Early the next morning, he was waiting at the door when Kevin and his friends showed up.  “Here you go,” said Hugh, begrudgingly, hoping that his feigned reluctance would be convincing.

Kevin took the bag; opened it and quickly looked it over to make sure that the full amount was there.  Satisfied that it looked right, Kevin and his friends turned to leave.

Hugh said, “Wait a minute … what about all my stuff?”

Kevin didn’t break his stride; he said over his shoulder, “OK … we’ll bring it by in a couple of days … maybe!”  Kevin grinned and his buddies laughed.

Hugh leaned back against the door jamb and smiled.  

In a few moments, he turned back into the house to disassemble his contrivance; he didn’t want to leave any evidence behind if they came back to question his last offering.  When the breakdown was complete, he picked up the prism … “Now this, I got to keep,” he said to himself, as he pocketed the precious object.