The seeds of fairy’s foot, it was said, originated from one of the older gods. During a journey that lasted an eternity and then some, the goddess shed silvery tears while mourning the death of her lover which, descending to the earth, took mortal form and grew as yellow stalks with white follicles and purple-blue flowers. Notwithstanding she accepted many more lovers after, the sap from these tokens of her fidelity, when drunk, slowly closed the mind off access to every limb, then shut off the mind itself, and rendered its victim in a state of paralysis such that they would die to the elements or a predator or to eventual deprivation. Diluted, it was a favorite drug for nobles with much time on their hands and a good sedation for uppity servants.
And so our hero and the boy entered a partnership and became quite wealthy. The acned boy woke in the afternoon, gave orders until three, ate large meals, satisfied himself with girls, partook in his own wares, stalked town, ordered the death of at least one unfortunate man, and fell back to sleep long after midnight. For this, he became very well-respected.
Our hero had a much different routine. He woke up early in the morning, as he often did when working on a light novel, exercised certain essential muscles in the lower body, and allowed himself to be yelled at several times in the day, sometimes the same hour. He never stepped foot into the mansion again, was given a flat on loan, and submitted his diet and lifestyle to the boy, who recommended much beans and lentils.
Our hero had not so much given up the desire to be an adventurer or to have a noble profession, so much as he, at the moment, desired money more.
The irony was lost on him that, in a city that sold nothing, the most desired commodity was a sedative.
Our hero endeavored to give a gift to his benefactor, who already possessed everything in the world, whose world happened to be the size of the city.
As most of the boy’s day was occupied with work, or so he argued was the case, our hero set off to buy perfume or a nice work shirt to complement his schedule. He went to several shops, and came out with one very expensive hat. For this, he was arrested.
The crime was that he perused very expensive stores. These stores were usually attended by nobles, who were the only class of citizen who could afford the wares. Because our hero was not usual, he was immediately suspect. It was an offense itself for a commoner to make more money than the aristocracy. The store proprietors tried to warn him through insults, heckling and spitting, so it was very much in our hero’s blame.
He was subjected to various tortures in prison, as beatings, ripping his nails out, tapping his sack, noogying, and other miseries guards enjoyed. Because no one told him what the crime was, he did not think there was anything to admit, and so endured it, as he did when his editor resorted to these tactics. When he felt the hour was late, he related to his captors he had to return home to resume his job, that of being a drug mule. They then took him to a different room, without torture implements, and sat him at table.
Across the table was a beautiful woman with an elegant air about her. She covered the details of the case and detailed certain punishments. Our hero heard very little of this, and fancied she was the sort who would tell him not to get the wrong idea and that he was stupid.
She concluded that our hero must assassinate his benefactor, the acned boy, or lose his new life. In the same cool air she gave our hero a dagger, ordered him to conceal it in the way he knew how, and cut his benefactor’s throat. Our hero left the jail in tears, sad to see the boy go.
© 2025 François-Marie Lee