"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?"

  My face tightens into a grimace, head turned towards the back wall next to my bed and away from my mother. Her yells are making me curl up into a ball gradually. Each crack in her voice makes my chest ache. She is understandably upset to learn this, and she fully deserves to be. I was trying to prepare myself for when she would inevitably find out. I even had excuses thought up. But now that it's happened...I can't bear to face her or even dare to speak.

  "I ASKED YOU TO CHECK SO MANY TIMES! HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN THERE?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU NOT TOLD ME?!"

  "YARA!" Thorpe suddenly barked out, moving to stand in front of her. "I know that you are angry...but this is not the time...you can yell at her all you want later." He says, attempting to calm her down. Despite learning of what state I was really in, he looks strangely calm. But he has always been a tempered person.

  Yara looks like she is about to yell again, but eventually her shoulders slump, tears falling freely from her face. She roughly rubs at her eyes with her hands as her legs collapse beneath her and she falls to her knees. "...I just don't know what to do...everything is falling apart..." She sobs. "...my son will be taken away, and now my daughter will die? Wh...what did we do to..." But her words are cut off when Thorpe kneels down in front of her and grabs her shoulders.

  "She is not going to die. I will take care of it." The old man assures, his expression determined.

  Mama slowly moves her hands away from her face, eyes bloodshot and looking as if she has aged years in only a few minutes. "Auguste, you know we fully well we won't be able to afford it. Even if the whole village chipped in...we'd be nowhere close."

  Thorpe continues to stare with a quiet calm at Mother before he turns his attention to the Paladin, who is still kneeling next to my bed. He and his [Scout], who checked my window, have kept silent. But Syren was keeping her head down, eyes watery, and looking a bit helpless. The Paladin understood what Thorpe was looking to him for as he let out a long sigh. "I have been with the order for 30 years. I have never once seen a farmer be successfully cleansed. Few ever are even given a chance to have their value accessed"

  Ah. Right. Another one of the many unfortunate aspects of being a [Farmer] rearing its ugly head. Clerics can use faith spells to heal or cleanse a person. But it comes at a monetary cost. This cost is determined by the severity of the ailment and is added to the overall value of their soul. [Farmers] in the eyes of god are seen as the most insignificant, as we are the most common. And one would think that would make it cost almost nothing to heal us. But unfortunately, it is drastically the opposite.

  The rarer your class, the cheaper you are to save. And with us being the most numerous class, it is incredibly expensive to heal us by magical means. To the extent that no one would be willing or even able to pay for it. As if to say that we are not worth the expense and will be better left to be replaced naturally.

  He shakes his head, running a gloved hand over his beard. "Of what I have heard, the average cost for cleansing the [Dying] status from a [Farmer] was about 50 Gold 10ths...enough money to build a fortress and maintain it for 10 years."

  Syren covered her mouth as her eyes widened in shock. Mother's body sank even further into the floor. And my heart certainly sank with her.

  But Mr. Thorpe looks as calm as ever as he reaches up to unbutton the top of his shirt and hooks a thumb on a chain around his neck that he pulls out and unlatches. Pulling out the rest to reveal a metal bar on the end. About the length of his palm and no wider than the grip on a dagger. It certainly appears to be a piece of currency, judging by the shape and decorative etchings on it. But where the usual bars come in as copper, silver, gold, and platinum being the rarest, this one is black and crystalline looking. "This should do it..." He says while holding it up.

  Everyone in the room was looking at it with furrowed brows and confusion. Everyone except for the Paladin, whose eyes widened, and he comes to a stand swiftly, his armor clanking with the sudden movement. His pensive and reserved aura crumbled instantly under the weight of his own shock as he continued to stare at the black piece of currency without blinking. As if waiting for it to vanish before his very eyes.

  The Paladin's attention finally shifted to Thorpe himself as both of them locked eyes. "Who are you?"

  Thorpe stared hard at the other man for a moment before finally answering simply. "A tired old man...will this be enough or not?"

  Paladin Roy's jaw clenched, but he nodded. "It should suffice..."

  Old Guard gave a grunt in response, lowering the necklace down and clenching it into his fist. "Then I ask that you bring your [Cleric] in here so we can get this over with."

  The Paladin gave a glance to his [Scout]. "Go and grab Damian. Tell him to bring the Life Scale and supplies for a cleansing ritual."

  Nora gives a simple, slight bow before she heads out of the room. The Paladin returns his gaze to Mr. Thorpe, staring at him quite critically. The old man meets his stare but awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. "If you really want to know...we will talk after this is done, and things settle a bit." He caves a little at Roy's obvious need to pry. At least he doesn't seem hostile towards the old man. But now I am quite curious myself what he knows about Mr. Thorpe. And also...just how much that black bar was worth. Only getting a slight idea that it was somehow worth more than 50 Gold 10ths, which is already boggling my mind, given what sort of value the Paladin said that it had.

  Mother is still kneeling on the floor, stunned at what is going on and just staring at Thorpe. Her hand raises a bit, hesitating, before she reaches out and grabs the old man's wrist. "Why..." She asked quietly. "...why would you go this far?"

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Thorpe kneels back down in front of her, his face softening more than I've ever seen it. Taking her hand in between his, as he tries to speak, but actually stops briefly as he chokes up a bit. "Because...almost 20 years ago, I was just some stray [Guard] drinking myself to death...and you gave me a home and a purpose." He states, giving her hand a squeeze. "You have treated me like family ever since. Entrusted me with the safety of this village and the command of its defenses." The old man's face scrunches up tight as he shakes his head. The Paladin and Syren quietly watching the exchange.

  What is he leading to? I am wondering just why he would willingly give away something worth that much just for me. And this is certainly a lot more new information to me about him than I have ever heard before. I knew Mama and him were close friends, but never really knew much else.

  Thorpe clears his throat. "You trusted me to train your son. To protect him. And I...I failed you." He admits, causing Mother's brows to furrow. Thorpe's hands pull back to settle in his lap, clenching his fists. "I knew...that Leo had been going out into the forest alone for months." The old man continued, trying his best to keep from looking away from Mother's eyes. "I caught him the first time...and instead of turning him back home...I...encouraged him." Gritting his teeth hard enough that I can hear them creak. "Told him to just stay near the shallows and to run if he got in trouble...thought he could handle most things out there already. So I let him do it..."

  My mother looks speechless, her mouth slightly open as she sits there watching him as he confesses. Well, I am just as surprised, having turned my head away from the wall fully to stare at him.

  Old Guard swallows hard. "When the Horned Wolves started moving into the area, I told him to stop going for a while...But I should have known that he would do it anyway." Thorpe has truly slumped to the ground in front of my mother. "And to make it even worse...I stood there and watched him take all the blame and shoulder all the guilt for what happened to Liore. While I am the one who allowed it to happen at all." Finally bowing his head to her. " Liore's life is worth the expense...I am the one at fault for..." But he is suddenly cut off as a sharp SLAP echoes around the room.

  Mothers' hand had extended in a flash to open palm Thorpe right against his cheek. The old man is stunned for a moment before he turns back to face her just as she leans forward with her brows slanted inward. "I have had more than enough of my own kids trying to blame themselves constantly for this blunder. I do NOT need you doing it too..."

  Thorpe clears his throat and nods, his cheek already turning red. "Yes ma'am..."

  Mother comes to a stand to look down at him. "After my daughter is well...THEN...we will talk about this..." And as if emphasizing a moment of pause on the family strife, the [Scout] Nora is back with a young, short man in white practical robes. His head is sporting a buzz cut and a clean-shaven face. A set of round-rimmed glasses on his nose. Carrying a wooden chest with a handle. "Uh...Hope I am not interrupting."

  Paladin Roy took this moment to speak up. "Uh... no, Damian...thank you for coming. These fine folk seek your aid with a cleansing ritual. This young lady behind me suffers from the mark of death."

  The young [Cleric] slowly nods as he nervously looks back and forth between the Paladin and me. "Uh...right...yes. Uh...I was told that she is a [Farmer], correct?"

  Roy gives a curt nod. "Yes, she is. And I know what you are thinking, but I can assure you there should be no issues. So please proceed."

  Damian widened his eyes with surprise at that, his face showing a bit of skepticism that he doesn't voice aloud. "Yes, Lord Paladin. Right away. Uh...excuse me, Sir and Madam..." He says awkwardly as he steps past Mother and Mr. Thorpe to kneel next to my bed.

  Honestly, at this point, I am even more overwhelmed than I was before. There has been so much going on in the last week that my poor mind is cracking under the pressure. I roll myself over onto my back again, wincing in pain before I start coughing hoarsely for a few agonizing seconds. I think I can taste blood this time. So that definitely isn't good.

  The Cleric adjusts his glasses and sets his case down on the foot of my bed, flicking open the latches as he speaks to me kindly. "Hello, dear. My apologies for the intrusion. You'll be right as rain in no time, I assure you. Just need to do a quick check...a weighing of your soul's value." He explains as he lifts a gold-plated set of scales out of the case and holds it by the neck in his left hand. The scales have the usual plates on either side, but with a bell affixed to the top between them. "We could just give a go with the cleanse right off the bat, but when it comes to money...people tend to like...exact change..."

  I understand what he is saying, but in my current state, I just furrow my brows in confusion at him, which makes him flinch a bit. "Oh...sorry...let's just...yes..." Before he holds the scales aloft above my body and speaks with a much more confident tone, suddenly. "I beseech thee, divine. May the scales be balanced."

  The scales begin to lightly hum as a little sphere of violet flame appears above one of the scale plates, causing the plates to begin oscillating back and forth. Damian's brows immediately furrow at the sight of the little ball. As do Paladin Roy, Syren, and Nora. The [Cleric] gives a light humph at it. "Uh...never seen that color on the scale before..." He said before awkwardly smiling at everyone else in the room as they looked at him with a bit of concern. But before anyone could ask, a bell chime rings out from the scales, causing him to turn and sigh in relief. "As expected, it would be app...ap... ap... uuuuuuuuuhhhhhh..." Trailing off his sentence as he stares in utter confusion at the scale. Causing everyone else in the room to do the same.

  The scales...are balanced?

  Damian looks down at me, and I look up at him as if to answer, what the heck do you think I can say? What does that mean anyway? Leading him to laugh nervously. "Probably just a fluke...let me restart...haven't done this awhile just a bit rusty, right? Haha..." Breathing through his teeth before he says, a bit less confidently this time. "I beseech thee, divine. May the scales be balanced."

  The little ball of purple flame appears again, the scales oscillate, and this time we all keep our eyes on it as it shifts back and forth before immediately stopping at perfect symmetry, and the bell rings. The little violet flame vanishes.

  Now this is starting to make ME nervous. What the hell does that mean, DAMIAN!

  The [Cleric] does it 3 more times in quick succession in a dead silent room before Paladin Roy reaches over and grabs the scales before he can do it a fourth time. Roy looks at me with a very puzzled look that makes me pull the blankets up over my face. He then looks over his shoulder at his [Scout]. "Nora...are you sure she's a [Farmer]?"

  Nora nods slowly, muttering something to herself again. "Yes...I've checked 8 times now."

  Mother, finally having enough of this, finally inhales sharply and stomps over to my bed to glare down at both Damian and Roy. "WHAT does that MEAN?"

  Roy actually seems to jolt at her sudden interruption and looks over to the [Cleric] for the answer. Damian fiddling with his hands as he turns his head to face her. "Well...if this test is correct...it would appear...that your daughter's soul is..." His expression shifts through a few emotions as he tries to find the right word. "Well...weightless?"

  Roy adds in. "...priceless..."