Dusk soon approached. The rotting wolves that slept an entire night in hunger woke up and released long howls. They began to wander about like ghosts in search of things to fill their stomachs.
Old Hans pushed open the small house’s metal gates and walked out. His eyes squinted as he looked at the sun that was about to set. He felt much better after taking a nap. The mines were already completely deserted, for the workers had long left. They had finished their portions, so they returned to where they lived. Once the sun dropped below the horizon, the messy mines would be covered in vicious meter-long rats. These creatures were ridiculously ferocious, with sharp incisors that could easily bite through steel rods over two centimeters thick. Even the toughest rocks were useless before the rats. Once the sun rose, the vicious rats would dig underground and go into slumber, leaving the miners with most of the day to excavate ore.
As soon as the sun was about to completely disappear, the small figure appeared from the mine entrance. Behind the boy was a basket of ore that was almost as tall as himself. He was currently walking over unsteadily.
Old Hans’ eyelids jumped a few times. There wasn’t a single word or movement from him as he watched the small child make his way to the small mountain of ore and pour the contents from the basket on his back. He then slowly walked over while holding the slip of paper he received from the foreman. The strips of fabric wrapped around his body were splattered with large patches of red, yellow, and various dark colors from the mines.
Seeing the boy walk over, Old Hans moved towards the back of the house. There was a large shed next to the metal house. Crippled Peter, who was missing half a leg, moved his body that exceeded a hundred kilograms in weight with difficulty and shouted, “Boy, come here!”
The boy arrived before the shed and handed over the paper slip. When Crippled Peter swept his eyes over it, he couldn’t help but release a whistle. “Youngster, not bad! You’ve done more than a lot of the others.”
Peter used his thick finger to point towards a long list of items, and the boy began to look at the list as well. His gaze stopped momentarily at the words ‘drinking water’, and then continued to look down until it was blocked by Peter’s thick finger.
“Just this one.” The boy pointed at the list with a cloth wrapped finger.
Peter immediately cried out, “Ah ha! Grade three drinking water! Youngster, you are definitely from nobility, right? I’ve heard that the nobility’s bodies are so weak that they can only drink pure water. It has to be water without any impurities or the slightest bit of radiation!”
“Just this one.” The boy pointed at the list. His voice did not fluctuate in the slightest, making others doubt if this really was the voice of a manual laborer.
Peter shrugged. From the wooden chest behind him, he brought out a beverage with a similarly unrecognizable production date and threw it towards the boy. “Here! Grade three drinking water, extravagant brat.”
The boy carefully placed the small can carefully into the blanket and turned around to leave. Crippled Peter shook his head and brought out a fist-sized piece of bread that was as large as a fist. He threw it towards the boy and said, “Youngster, mining is a strenuous task. You won’t last long if you don’t eat. Take this and remember that you owe Crippled Peter five cents. I’ll take it out from your payment tomorrow!”
The boy caught the bread and carefully put it away in a similar fashion. He then bowed deeply towards Crippled Peter before leaving into the darkness.
Within the dark wilderness, ten pairs of wolf-like eyes focused in on the boy. Whispers continuously rose and fell.
“That brat seems to have done quite a bit of work. Why don’t we take a look to see how much he exchanged for? There might even be half a loaf of bread.”
“I bet he has a large piece of roasted rat meat!”
From the side, a lazy yet fierce voice interrupted their conversation. “Hey, stupid newcomers. Don’t you know Old Hans’ rules? Within his territory, no one is allowed to rob exchanged items.”
The voices from before didn’t seem to be convinced. “Old Hans? What is he going to do about it? I can beat up ten old farts like him!”
The seemingly lazy person laughed. “Just you? You aren’t even qualified to lick his ass!”