Rose Tea

Chapter Five [Techno]

Techno could see what poor spirits the ghost, Wilbur, was in. But it wasn't his place to go around forcing strangers to cooperate with him, "Come on Ghostbur, let's go find a nice bookstore I can sell you too. You might meet your fated hero there or whatever. Maybe you can become a librarian or something"

Techno closed the large black, iron gate shut behind them.

"You're not serious are you?" Wilbur floated through the bars and in front of Techno, he stopped him in his tracks. Techno shrugged in response and walked straight through Wilbur, "Come on, please tell me you aren't actually going to do that." Techno could hear the visible panic in the ghost's voice.

Techno noticed the mansion sat atop a hill, and down below was a bustling town, far bigger than the meager village his cabin was once by. Techno thought about the old man again and frowned. He didn't really believe in life after death, but he hoped the kind-hearted old man found some peace.

"Oh look Wilbur, a town, maybe you'll find your hero down there," Techno pointed.

"Ha, ha," Wilbur flew down the path ahead of Techno without glancing back at him.

Perhaps it wouldn't be all too bad traveling with the ghost, at least he provided decent entertainment. But he wasn't looking to make the journey a very long one if he could help it.

~~~~~

It took them about 10 minutes to reach the town at the base of the hill. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to go around town with the way he was. But they didn't have much of a choice, and in the end, he could deal with the stares. It's not like he posed a serious threat since he lacked all armor and weapons. But he doubted that would ease the human's hearts.

The town was bustling and full of life. It seemed the mansion's path led straight into a large shopping district. The street was wide and was lined with colorful shops. Techno could read signs for armor, weapons, flowers, and even a cafe. He remembered the pouch of money he had in his overall pockets from yesterday evening's excursion. There was no use moping over the past, but if he had known his life would get turned upside down like this, then he wouldn't have spent all that money on farming supplies. Especially since that sack of supplies was lying somewhere near a probably still smoldering village. Which did remind him...he should figure out exactly where they ended up.

"Excuse me," Techno stopped in front of a small human man who flinched at Techno's voice and size. The man shivered before slowly craning his neck up at the massively tall pig.

"Y-yes?" The man hiccuped. Techno noticed the way the man's eyes shifted left and right and avoided direct eye contact with him. He couldn't help that the sun was behind him and his towering body casted a large shadow over the tiny human.

"What town is this?"

"U-uhm, this is Crowle. Just northwest of Yuden Port."

"Thanks," Techno nodded and the man scampered away with haste. He turned to Wilbur, "Let's look for some supplies, I have about 60 coppers, but we should be able to manage."

Of course listeners, our simple farmer was not familiar with the abhorrent prices of rich and affluent towns in the slightest, and would very soon be shocked. A little village like the one he had come from was dirt cheap in comparison to this town.

The two began to wander through the town, but it would be of no interest to you listeners to hear me remark on their abysmal shopping endeavors today. Instead, it would be of more value to fast forward half a day. When the sun hung low but did not quite touch the horizon yet. And after coming to the realization that 60 coppers was indeed not enough to buy even basic supplies, Techno found himself sitting on the side of the road, thoroughly annoyed.

"You know, we could always try knocking on the bird man's door again. He's definitely related to our quest in some capacity, so we should at least get some information from him."

"Mmm...no, I don't think so. It's your quest and the guy is clearly off his rocker and probably still very drunk. Plus, anyone willing to help a pair like us is probably stupid or insane."

Wilbur frowned and sank low to the ground. He stared Techno in the eyes, Techno stared back. They existed in silence for a moment until Techno broke the quiet.

"If you're trying to pressure me with your staring, it's not going to work. I'm used to judgmental staring."

Wilbur sighed and slouched. He floated down beside Techno who leaned against the side of a building where he sat on the side of the road. Wilbur imitated the posture despite not actually being able to lean against the wall or feel the wall for that matter.

"Why are you just so grumpy?"

"Well, my home is ruined," he replied bluntly, "And the village near it burned to a crisp...plus the one nice guy I knew also died. But if you're wondering why I'm grumpy then that's probably just me."

Techno could feel Wilbur staring at him intently, "I don't buy it."

Techno didn't really have a response to that, so he let the ghost be and sighed. Techno watched quietly as people passed them by on the streets. Occasionally some would stop, almost eyeing them with pity before looking at Techno's face and scurrying off in a frightened manner.

"So how long are you planning to just sit here?" Wilbur asked.

"Well, to be honest, we don't exactly have the funds for an inn today. Not even sure how much they would charge for a ghost," Techno pointed out.

"I thought you said we would be fine with 60 coppers?"

"That was before I found out everything here is disgustingly over-priced," Techno buried his face in his hands and uncomfortably pulled and stretched at his skin with the pads of his fingers. He took back what he thought earlier about the ghost being decent company for entertainment value. He was not used to having to explain every little bit of his intentions to another person. He truly preferred the solitary lifestyle he used to have.

Techno really wasn't sure what to do at this point. He used to live far out in the middle of nowhere for many years now, he never needed to think about living expenses in this regard. He could set traps on his own, farm on his own, he could even crudely mend his beaten-up overalls on his own. But having to be so reliant on these gold-robbing towns has put Techno at a loss of what to do next.

"Oi! Try me asshole!" Techno glanced over into the alley where he sat. Some people that weren't there before were standing in the alley. He noticed two smaller humans in ragged clothes being backed into a corner by 3 bigger humans.

One of the smaller humans looked like some kid with messy blonde hair. He stood defensively in front of the other small, brown haired guy. His scrawny, twig-like arms spread wide like a shield and his face contorted into a mean glare as he looked up at the other humans. He snarled like a beast and glared. Techno had never seen a human snarl before like that and he almost laughed out loud given the funny appearance.

Instead, Techno decided to ignore them. He stood up and grabbed his sack of supplies.

"Wait, we should help them," Wilbur floated to block him as he pointed back into the alley.

"Nah, sounds like trouble," Techno waved and turned away, "We should just leave and maybe find a quiet place to sleep outside." But Techno didn't get much of a chance to walk away before he heard Wilbur shout.

"Hey, bozos! Why don't you pick on someone your own size," Techno's face swiveled around to face Wilbur. His hands went up to Wilbur, and boy did he wish he could grab that ghost's scrawny little neck. But he was a pacifist. He promised to never shed blood. But maybe that wouldn't apply to a bloodless ghost. Techno turned to see the group in the alley looking at him.

"I didn't say th-"

"You picking a fight tough guy?" One human, a burly man with a scar just barely peeking out from underneath what Techno could only assume was meant to be a shirt. More like a sack with holes. Even the two short humans looked slightly better in their rags than this guy.

The man shoved the two teens aside as he marched over to Techno with his chest puffed out. He stopped just in front of Techno and glared up at him, "Think yer all that just cuz yer're a little tall, buttercup?"

"Well, I am pretty tall," Techno said. He was pretty tall, what could he say?

The man didn't really like that, Techno could see that in the way the man's face scrunched up before he launched a fist straight for Techno. Now a reasonable person would simply dodge the punch, but for Techno...it was not that he wasn't reasonable, but just that the human was awfully weak. Though, listeners, I would argue that our farmer was just much too strong for most humans, even the muscular ones.

Techno didn't flinch as the punch landed softly against his face, like being tapped by a kitten, "I'm really not interested in fighting you, if you want to go back and bully those orph-"

"Whooo! Yeah!" One of the orphans shouted as they jumped up and down, fists pumping into the air. The shorter one, he believed, as he glanced over in their direction for a moment, "Go get 'em!" the child added.

"Yeah Techno! Show them what you're made of! Show these guys how strong you are!" Wilbur added to the cheering. Techno blinked; he looked behind him to where Wilbur used to be and then back to where he was currently. To see Wilbur floating beside the two brats and the other two thugs made him groan. That was it, he was getting rid of the ghost the first chance he got. A troublemaker he was, for sure.

"Oh wow, this guy's trans...transporant," said the short one as he looked over to Wilbur.

"Tubbo, I think the word is trans-patient," The taller one corrected.

"Oh."

If only Techno had never fallen in that cave or found that book. He wouldn't be in this predicament.

"Got yerself a little cheer squad, don't ya."

Techno didn't dodge the punch again, "I'm genuinely not with them-" he stopped talking as the guy continuously threw punches into Techno's stomach and face. The man growled in frustration before pushing against Techno only to stumble backward himself as Techno didn't budge an inch.

"The fuck are your two doing!" The man spun around and yelled at the other two thugs, "Get yer asses over here and kick this fucker's ass!"

"But Boss, what about-" one of the other idiot thugs started to speak.

"Fuck 'em, they can't run far even if they tried!"

The thugs shoved past the brats who stumbled into each other. The blonde one glared, but he was held back by the brown haired one. To Techno's surprise, instead of fleeing, the two brats remained beside Wilbur.

"Oi, pigman! Don't let these losers kick your ass, kay!" Techno rolled his eyes as the taller blonde child shouted at him.

Techno was somewhat surrounded. He wasn't sure how to get out of this predicament without throwing a punch. He watched the thugs carefully as they sneered and taunted him. Slowly they closed in until the one on his left threw a punch and Techno backed away. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as another punch flew in from behind. He easily deflected. He leaped to avoid a low kick. The three thugs were timing their hits and driving Techno further out onto the street. Which seemed more beneficial to him than to them, but they were very likely to be idiots anyways.

Techno tossed up his sack, which caused two of the idiots to pause and look upwards. The third, the boss, wasn't fooled as he rushed for Techno, "Whoa!" Techno stumbled out of the way as he kicked out his foot and caused the man to trip and skid across the dirt ground. He caught his bag and leapt over the other two idiots who attempted to catch the sack but instead knocked into each other.

Techno took this chance to run back towards the alley.

"Come on Wilbur, we're leaving and you have no choice because I have your book," Techno pushed past the two brats as he ran out the other side of the alley. He heard shouting and footsteps following behind.

"Hey wait for us!" Techno looked back to see the kids following.

"Not a chance, they really want you, not me!"

~~~~~

Techno breathed heavily as he leaned against a wall. He managed to lose the 3 thugs, but couldn't quite shake the two kids, and after a while, he gave up.

"Aha ha ha ha!" the blonde kid lay on the dirt rolling around as he laughed wildly clutching his sides, "Whoooo! Hell yeah!"

The other kid was right there with him laughing or perhaps wheezing, or probably both.

"We sure showed them Tubbo!"

"We sure did Tommy!"

"No!" Techno coughed, "You literally did not," Techno pounded against the wall in frustration. It was just one annoyance after the other.

"See Techno, I knew you had it in you," Wilbur clapped his hands together and smiled, which earned him a glare from Techno.

"This is literally your fault."

Wilbur smiled and floated down to the giggling annoyances, "So what were you two doing to wind up in that mess anyways?"

Tubbo, Techno believed he was called. The shorter one with moppy brown hair that crowded over his eyes, sat up. "Oh you see, Tommy and I snuck into their hideout," Tubbo reached into his pockets and pulled out a small pouch, "and we stole some of their money," he grinned.

"Oh...wow..." Techno saw the ghost's smile quiver and almost fall, "I'm pretty sure that's bad," Wilbur slowly floated backward.

"Ha! Not if they stole it from someone else first and we stole it back from them!" Tommy, the other annoyance shouted. He was incredibly loud.

"So you're planning to return the money to the victims then?" Wilbur tilted his head.

"What? No of course not," he responded.

Techno spoke, "See look at that Wilbur, these little 'angels' of yours are nothing but common thieves. We should have minded our own business and avoided the whole trouble in the first place."

"But being the good guy and helping others out is what a hero should do," Wilbur said.

Techno picked up his sack, "Then it's a good thing I'm not the hero. Maybe you can ask one of the thieves if they are your hero." Techno turned to leave now that he had caught his breath. It would be good to find a safe place to camp out and stay hidden from those thugs. Knowing that the two brats had stolen money from them would surely make him a target if they believed they were working together...wait.

Techno looked back at the kids and then patted his own chest where his pouch of meager coins was stored.

"Just how much did you steal...by the way?"

Tubbo and Tommy looked up from their shared pouch of coins, "No clue, neither of us can count."

Techno marched over to the two of them and snatched the money from them.

"Hey!" Tommy shouted and jumped up but Techno kept him at bay with just one hand.

He held the pouch by the opening and peered inside. His eyes widened and he let go of Tommy before pulling the pouch shut, "You know what Wilbur, I'm suddenly feeling very nice." He turned to the kids, "Just this once you can follow me and I'll show you how to really use this money well."

"What?" Wilbur's eyes widened in concern, "I don't think that is a good idea. We shouldn't be using someone else's hard earned money."

Tommy and Tubbo looked at each other before smiling and marching behind Techno in an almost triumphant manner. His big shadow practically buried the two brats, but neither seemed to mind. Wilbur, however, looked at Techno skeptically. His concerns went ignored and he had no choice but to reluctantly float behind the three of them.

~~~~~

Word Count: 2797

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