Alex received his allowance as wished, a thick stack in his hand, but he was a bit disappointed.
The allowance that the Church of Light distributed was not the heavy, golden metal coins issued by the Church of Wealth that he expected, but banknotes officially printed by the Gale Empire.
Light as a feather, holding it gave no sense of monetary affluence; more importantly, no magical aura emitted from it, instead, it emitted a foul smell of ink and the pungent scent of new paper.
Alex really disliked this type of currency, feeling it was significantly less valuable, but they were indeed money, capable of buying bread and clothes, truly making him both love and hate it.
When irritable, looking at anything was annoying, except for those hateful banknotes lying in his pocket, the mighty army of six men clutching weapons behind his back was also very annoying!
"Can you guys stay a bit further away from me?" Alex stopped in the middle of the street, turned around, and frowned at the guard squad assigned to him by the Church.
Six serious men, wearing shiny armor, also wearing the prominent uniforms of the Church of Light, marching neatly, causing people on the street to sneakily evaluate him, pointing and discussing.
Too strange, Alex had never been noticed by so many people like this; this made him extremely unadapted, his face burning from embarrassment and discomfort.
The captain understood his meaning, waved his hand to signal, and the squad simultaneously took one step back, the sound of iron armor colliding clanging, and it was only one step, no more, no less.
Alex looked down; the distance between him and that captain had indeed become farther, stretching from one inch to one foot.
He really wanted to get angry, to scream in their faces, but he knew this person was just following orders and had no authority to change the commands of superiors, so he had to let out a long sigh, turned his head, and continued on his way, secretly calculating the plan for the evening in his heart.
It seemed that the identity of a God's Favored One, besides bringing convenience, also meant adding quite a few troubles.
In the crowd, where Alex did not detect, six shadowy figures appeared interwoven.
The people walking beside Alex were just a screen, just a guard squad directly under the Church; the real guard team sent by the Judge was hiding in the darkness, led by Wood and Hughes, all of whom were senior extraordinary people of the church.
Alex was not used to having too many people following him, but there was no other way; things that needed to be done still had to be completed. Because of Elias's matter, he hadn't gone to work or shopped for the past two days; if he didn't go to stock up on some food, he would really have to starve.
Leaving the church, Alex walked towards the bakery he usually visited; he tried to force himself to forget the guard squad behind his back, but he still couldn't ignore everyone's gazes. Those gazes were curious, fearful, yet mixed with a bit of strange awe, making his back stiffen.
Alex walked faster and faster, the guard squad also walked faster and faster, the sound of armor colliding clanging behind him like a ceaseless warning bell.
He led the church's guard squad weaving through the main streets and small alleys of the lower city.
Turning the street corner, a fragrant smell mixed with a foul stench rushed into the nose, beside the ears were the sounds of hawking rising one wave after another, the ground underfoot was muddy, sticking to shoes stickily, making people feel disgusted. Puddles of stagnant water reflected the gray sky and the haggard faces of passersby.
Peddlers pushed small carts, selling fruits and vegetables that were slightly wilted, there were also some strange toys made of scrap wood, and some snacks emitting a strong fragrance to cover up cheap ingredients.
Alex smelled the scent of fried fish in the air, his mood clearly becoming much happier. He turned his head back, looking at the guard squad behind; clearly, they were not used to this special liveliness of the lower city commercial area, in the chaotic mixture of gold and brass, all kinds of people crowding together, it was hard to avoid exchanging body odors, sweat, and dust. The guards furrowed their brows, hands unconsciously placed on sword hilts, alert to anyone coming too close.
Alex didn't care; his physique was small, weaving through the crowd extremely nimbly like a small fish swimming in turbid water; he liked this place, besides this taste rich in life, more importantly, the people here didn't despise him.
For the sake of living, they had enough countless kinds of troubles: rent bills, the hungry bellies of children; who had the leisure to pay attention to why an inconspicuous boy wore a scarf, and what strange curse was ultimately under his scarf? Here, indifference was sometimes the gentlest kind of tolerance.
Tilting his body to dodge an unskilled hand intending to reach into his pocket, Alex turned his head and smiled radiantly; that person turned his head away unnaturally, pulling the brim of the tattered straw hat down low, not daring to look into Alex's eyes.
He still had a bit of shame, hadn't become completely numb yet, Alex thought.
He was helpless about this matter; thieves mixed in the crowd were countless, not every thief still had shame; some, when discovered, even stared back threateningly at the victim.
A small interlude; finally, Alex arrived at the destination of this trip.
He ran up the steps taking three steps as two, glancing back to see six large men standing out in the crowd; their shiny uniforms were completely out of place in this location.
"Wait for me right here." He shouted, his voice drowned out by the shouting of the vendors, but the captain still understood him.
He didn't completely listen to Alex's order, nor did he let his members continue to crowd with these commoners, but ordered them to spread out, forming a loose alert circle surrounding the bakery that Alex entered.
Alex pushed open the wooden door of the bakery, the doorbell rang melodiously, the sweet smell of baked bread immediately filled his nasal cavity, dispelling the foul stench of the street outside, exuding the sweet taste of happiness.
Alex greedily took two more breaths, the heat from the oven making his face slightly pink. He looked up; an old lady walked out from the workroom in the back, her hands still stained with a bit of white flour.
She had white hair, but her body was extremely tough, her eyes squinting kindly; she ran this small bakery alone, and also raised a small grandchild who was babbling and learning to speak in the corner of the room.
"Mrs. Stella." Alex greeted her enthusiastically, his voice carrying a rare intimacy.
Mrs. Stella smiled, wiping her hands on her apron: "Long time no see, Alex."
Alex approached the counter, looking at the neatly stacked loaves of bread: "Some things happened."
"Even if something as big as the sky happens, you can't go without eating, am I right, little Alex?"
Mrs. Stella laughed, choosing bread for Alex as usual; she always knew how to choose the loaves baked just right for this regular customer.
Every time, Alex would buy eight pounds of black bread and four bean cakes, adding up to exactly 1 silver coin.