The King of The Slums
- Lilios
From afar, it almost looked like a man was assaulting the art store owner with a piece of tacky carved porcelain. He continually shoved it into his face of the unmoving, stern proprietor. They argued in the desolated shore marketplace, flanked on both sides by abandoned and dilapidated stalls. One had a sign hanging up saying “Gone up The Pass. Be back when I have money.” At least he was upfront about it.
The art store had wood engravings and statuettes strewn about it in equal measure. They rested on the carpet that draped from the back of the tent and rolled out under the keeper, sitting on a log.
“I said I’m sorry…you said your name was Ebb, right? No postwar art is accepted here. I mean, where’s the pain? Where’s the deep horror that comes with the great war? You see these?” He said, motioning to the wall of engravings, “These were made by people who saw the war, took a little bit of that constant pain that wells in their stomach, and transferred it to the wood. This is…what is this?”
“This is exactly what you were talking about! The pain is the effort my wife went to carve this piece. And the horror will be what happens to you if you don’t buy it.”
The shopkeeper paused for a moment. “It’s completely your right to threaten me, but you should know that I still have my army assigned poison dagger and I can kill a man in three seconds.”
“So can I, we all got that training; I’m just trying to show you why you shouldn’t.”
“I’m just not interested, good day. I have other business to attend to,” the merchant said, waving his hand.
Ebb looked at the other stalls, and the dirt-coated street that looked like it hadn’t been swept in years “What other business?”
“None, but I like to spend time away from the husband. Now don’t distract me from my business,”
“How do you stay in business when every other stall is closed?”
“Easy, be rich.” The merchant laughed and continued laughing as Ebb backed out and walked down the road.
- The poisoned dagger is illegal to possess now, and the shopkeeper outed himself as a Lord’s Forces member which is bad thing to do.