A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

60  The Colour Red - Part 1

Chapter 7 – The Colour Red

A week passed as Beam continued to do his quests and train with his new master. The progress was gradual, but it was certainly there, and with each day Beam grew more confident that he would pass the tests his master had set – and maybe even pass them much earlier than predicted.

He had yet to do another monster-hunting quest and was itching to test his newfound skills and strengths out on a target as soon as possible. Dominus had told him that within the next couple of days, it would be sensible to undertake one, as soon as he finished up with his firewood quests.

And on this day, that was exactly what he was doing. Rather than training in the morning – as he normally might – his master had sent him into town early, saying that there was something he wanted to investigate in the forest before the midday sun sent all the creatures of the night scurrying. He wasn't sure quite what it was that his master was investigating, but he also got the feeling that he shouldn't ask, so he'd merely nodded obediently and went into town as he was told.

So, far earlier than he normally might, he stood outside a roundhouse a little ways away from the village, preparing to knock again. Each time that he did it, it didn't exactly grow easier, but at the very least he grew more used to it.

He'd even decided to spend a little money on clothes – getting them cheaper after purchasing them through Greeves – so he looked better than he had in a long time, and was warmer too. People didn't give him quite the same disgusted looks that they used to, but the villagers were still quite wary of him.

Beam knocked, tapping against the old wood of the door. He noted that it was long overdue for repairs. There was a sizable gap at the bottom of the door where it refused to close properly, and he could only imagine just how much heat they'd be losing through that in winter.

His knock went unanswered, and after a few moments, he knocked again. The type of people who needed help with their firewood and their winter food preparation were the types that tended to work lesser-paid jobs, with worse hours. So if he did not come early, there would often be no one inside the house, with them having gone to work or something of the like.

He heard a child crying inside the house, and he assumed someone was home from it. It was very rare that children were left alone by themselves. It was for that reason that nearly all the families who had requested winter aid had small children, for they didn't have the time to go into the forest and gather what materials they needed to get through. Also, the burden of food was more considerable with more mouths to feed.

Finally, the door opened and a woman came to the door, holding a crying boy who looked to be about two, trying to calm him down.

She blanched when she saw Beam. He couldn't mistake the hint of fear in her eyes. But surely she had heard by now that Beam had been assisting other families with their winter preparation? He frowned at her reaction.

She seemed to be thinking along the same line of thought, for her fear soon cleared and she seemed to realize why he was there. "…You're here to help us with winter preparation, right?" She asked. The boy had quietened his crying somewhat, as he looked to Beam with the curious eyes of youth.

"I am. What do you need me to do?" Beam asked. Each family's circumstances were different. Some families worked jobs, like butchering, that allowed them access to good meat to get them through winter, but they lacked the time to collect the firewood they needed themselves, and they lacked the coin to buy it.

Generally, that's where the village Elder's Favour system came in. Beam had learned over the past week that the charity system that the Elder had set up – supported by the Ten Major Families – was such that goods could be exchanged for a token of 'Favour'.

This Favour token was recorded by the village Elder, and he would facilitate a transaction in which what one family needed was exchanged for a token of Favour if they did not have other means to pay.

This Favour token was something like insurance for whoever received it. It entitled them to one favour, at any time of their choosing, such that the person who owed the Favour would give them their time for a day at maximum, assisting in whatever activity they wished. That was, any task within reason. But it was the village Elder who decided how reasonable that task was.

One man, a well-off butcher – not one of the Ten Major Families, but then, one didn't have to be to take part in the charity system – had collected ten Favour tokens throughout the years as he gave away any excess meat he had before the winter. Then, when his house burned down in the night after his roof had caught fire, he cashed in those ten Favour tokens. Within days, he had a brand new house even better than his last, without spending a single penny. Such was their value.

Now, of course, a Favour token was typically worth less than whatever goods or services it was exchanged for, that was why it was a charitable system. But there seemed to be some sort of agreement in place, one where any individual that received charity would also vote for the charity giver at the next Selection. Thus, it was a means for the Ten Major Families – an elected position based on contribution to the village – to retain their role. And for the village Elder to do the same.

But it was the people who had collected too many Favour points – without having the means to pay the Favour givers back – that the village Elder had decided to abandon, and whom Beam had been tasked with helping. So it happened that the people Beam had to help were those in particularly dire circumstances.

MY LEGENDARY GENERAL SYSTEM