Chapter 25: A New Beginning
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The morning sun streamed through the window of Shadowstring Archery.
Ren stood behind the counter, sorting arrows into wooden bins. Ironwood shafts. Steel tips. Goose feather fletchings. The shop was clean, organized, ready for customers.
But no customers had come.
Three days since he had opened the doors. Three days of silence. Three days of watching the street from the window, waiting for someone to walk in.
Maybe I need a sign that says "OPEN."
He walked to the door. Pushed it open. The morning air was cool, fresh, carrying the scent of flowers from the square down the street.
A figure was standing on the sidewalk.
A girl. Young—fifteen, maybe sixteen. Pale skin. Dark circles under her eyes. Her clothes were clean but worn, patched in several places. Her hair was pulled back in a simple braid.
Lena.
Ren recognized her immediately. The girl he had saved from the five adventurers. The girl he had carried out of the jungle, wrapped in his cloak.
She was staring at the sign above the door. Shadowstring Archery.
"Lena?"
She flinched. Turned toward him. Her eyes were wide, frightened.
"I—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—I was just walking by and I saw the sign and I thought—" She stopped. Took a breath. "You saved my life."
Ren nodded. "How are you feeling?"
"Better. The priest healed my wounds. My mother is... she's still sick. But she's alive." Lena looked at the shop. "This is yours?"
"Yes."
"You bought it with the bounty money?"
"With the money from the Crown Beasts."
Lena was silent for a moment. Then she said, "I need a job."
Ren leaned against the doorframe. "A job?"
"I can't go back to the jungle. I can't—" Her voice cracked. "I can't be alone out there. But I need money. My mother needs medicine. The priest said the Heartleaf potion costs fifty JC a week."
Fifty JC a week. Ren had spent more than that on arrows.
"I can clean," Lena said. "I can organize. I can talk to customers. I'm good with numbers. My mother taught me."
Ren looked at her. At her trembling hands. At the fear in her eyes. At the determination beneath it.
She's fifteen. She was almost raped. She's trying to save her mother.
"I'll pay you fifty JC a week," Ren said. "Plus room and board if you need it."
Lena's eyes widened. "Fifty JC?"
"You'll work six days a week. Open the shop at sunrise. Close at sunset. Clean the floors, dust the shelves, organize the inventory. Talk to customers. Be friendly."
"I can do that."
"You'll start today."
Lena stepped into the shop. Looked around. At the shelves of arrows, the glass case of monster parts, the counter with the register.
"It's beautiful," she whispered.
"It's a shop."
"It's more than that." She turned to face him. "It's safe."
Ren nodded. "The back room has a cot. You can sleep there if you need to. Or you can go home at night. Your choice."
"I'll go home. My mother needs me."
"Then let's get you trained."
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The morning passed quickly.
Ren showed Lena how to price arrows—ironwood shafts at fifty JC each, bundles of twenty at nine hundred JC. How to string a bow, how to wax a bowstring, how to repair cracked wood.
"Most customers will be hunters," Ren said. "They'll want quality. They'll want speed. Don't let them haggle."
"What if they try?"
"Smile and say the price is firm."
Lena practiced smiling. It was shaky, uncertain, but real.
"Good," Ren said. "Now let's talk about the monster parts."
The glass case held four items. The Vine King's heart-wood, dark and pulsing with faint amber light. The Sun Serpent's scale, gold and warm to the touch. The Bloom Mother's petal, pale white and soft as silk. The Thorn Walker's spine, black and sharp.
"These are from Crown Beasts," Ren said. "I killed them. They're rare. Expensive."
"How much?"
"The heart-wood is five hundred JC. The scale is eight hundred. The petal is a thousand. The spine is twelve hundred."
Lena stared at the case. "That's more than my mother's medicine for a year."
"Yes."
"Why are you selling them?"
"Because I need coins. And because someone else might need them more than I do."
---
At noon, Lena went home to check on her mother.
Ren walked with her. He wanted to see where she lived. Wanted to understand.
The Slum Ring was the same as always. Mud paths. Leaking roofs. Children with empty bellies.
Lena led him through alleys he had never seen, past shacks stacked on shacks, until they reached a small building at the end of a dead end.
"This is home," she said.
The building was old—wooden walls, patched roof, a door that didn't close all the way. Ren could hear coughing from inside.
Lena pushed open the door.
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The room was small. One bed, a table, a stove. A woman lay on the bed—thin, pale, her eyes sunken. Her hair was gray, though she looked no older than forty.
"Mother," Lena said. "This is Ren. He's the one who saved me."
The woman tried to sit up. Ren stepped forward, gently pressed her back down.
"Don't," he said. "Rest."
"You're the hunter," she whispered. "The one who killed those men."
"Yes."
"Thank you." Tears ran down her cheeks. "Thank you for saving my daughter."
Ren looked at Lena. At her mother. At the bare walls, the empty shelves, the cold stove.
They have nothing. And yet they have each other.
"What's your name?" Ren asked the woman.
"Elara."
"Elara, I've hired Lena to work in my shop. Fifty JC a week. She'll be safe."
Elara's eyes widened. "Fifty JC?"
"Plus room and board if she needs it."
"She has a home here. But the medicine—"
"I'll cover the first month. Fifty JC a week for the Heartleaf potion."
Elara began to cry. "Why are you doing this?"
Ren touched the arrowhead on his belt. "Because someone once helped me. Because it's the right thing to do."
---
The afternoon was spent moving Lena's belongings to the shop.
Not much—a change of clothes, a blanket, a small wooden box with her mother's jewelry. Ren gave her a key to the back room.
"You can stay here when you need to," he said. "But go home to your mother at night. She needs you."
Lena nodded. "Thank you, Ren. I won't let you down."
"I know."
---
The shop opened for real the next day.
Lena stood behind the counter, smiling at customers. Ren watched from the balcony above.
The first customer was an old hunter with a broken bowstring. Lena sold him a new one for fifteen JC. He left happy.
The second customer was a young woman looking for arrows. Lena showed her the ironwood shafts. The woman bought twenty.
The third customer was a man in expensive armor—a B-rank hunter, by his guild tag. He looked at the glass case.
"Are these real?" he asked.
"Yes," Lena said. "Ren killed them himself."
The man stared at the Thorn Walker's spine. "Twelve hundred JC. That's a lot."
"They're rare."
"I'll take it."
Lena's hands shook as she opened the case. She wrapped the spine in cloth, placed it in a box, handed it to the man.
Twelve hundred JC. Lena had never held that much money.
She placed the coins in the register.
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At sunset, Ren came downstairs.
"How was your first day?"
Lena was counting the register. "Three hundred and forty-seven JC."
"That's good."
"A man bought the Thorn Walker's spine. Twelve hundred."
"I saw."
Lena looked up at him. "Why do you trust me with this? With the money?"
Ren leaned against the counter. "Because you're honest. Because you're desperate. Because desperate people work harder than anyone."
"I won't steal from you."
"I know."
Lena closed the register. "My mother's medicine costs fifty JC a week. I can afford it now."
"Yes, you can."
"Thank you, Ren."
Ren nodded. "Go home. Your mother is waiting."
---
Lena walked out of the shop, into the twilight.
Ren stood in the doorway, watching her go. She walked quickly, her braid swinging, her shoulders straight.
She's going to be okay.
He closed the door. Locked it. Climbed the stairs to his room.
The bed was soft. The roof didn't leak. The walls were warm.
Ren opened his system screen.
Level: 40. XP: 95/700.
Jungle Coins: 7,056 + 347 (today's sales) = 7,403.
Lifespan remaining: 269 years.
Employee: Lena. Age 15. Paid 50 JC/week. Living in back room as needed.
Next target: Fog Drinker (level 350).
He closed the screen.
Tomorrow, I train. The Fog Drinker won't wait.
He lay down. The jungle breathed outside his window.
Ren closed his eyes.
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End of Chapter 25
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