Die with a Full Belly

Heka spread a towel over the stone platform behind him. Though the steps here had rounded edges, stone was still stone; leaning directly against it would not be pleasant.

When an attendant passed by, Heka reached out to stop him, then pointed at the pastries laid out on the rack in the attendant's hands.

"Six copper coins."

The attendant was a half-grown boy, wearing a robe that left one arm bare and a pair of leather sandals meant to prevent slipping.

The moment Tuft of Hair heard the price, he tugged at Heka beside him.

This thing was far too expensive. It looked so tiny—how could it cost six copper coins? That was terrifying.

"Nothing is more tragic than dying with money left unspent. We might die any moment now, so don't mistreat yourself.

"Come on, eat something good."

Heka picked up a small cake and tossed it straight into his mouth.

It was a little cake with a fluffy sponge base, topped with a raspberry and cream.

The long-missed sweetness made Heka close his eyes in satisfaction.

Sure enough, the world was tattered and broken, patched together entirely by desserts.

Tuft of Hair looked at the little cake Heka held out slightly toward him. After hesitating for a moment, he finally accepted it.

Once Heka saw Tuft of Hair swallow the cake, he pulled open the towel wrapped around him, hummed a little tune, and began scrubbing him with a bathing cloth from nearby.

Heka had already washed himself briefly at the villa in the wealthy district. Though he had some grime on him now, it was not much—he was merely a little dirty.

But Tuft of Hair was different. Layer upon layer of filth had built up on him. Every time Heka scrubbed, mud sloughed off in sheets. Before long, the part of the pool near them had turned murky.

Heka looked at the father and son across from them. The man was hurriedly rinsing the foam from his son's hair.

"My brother used to run with the street crowd. He struck it rich a while ago. Please bear with him."

The man gave an awkward smile, then quickly dragged the boy away from the area.

Tuft of Hair shrank his neck, seemingly unaccustomed to all the gazes focused on them.

"Let's go. This bathhouse has three stages. You wash clean in the cold pool, then transition through the warm pool before entering the hot pool."

Heka pulled Tuft of Hair up, swaggered over to a smaller pool, then dragged in Tuft of Hair, who was still hesitating before the warm water.

Tuft of Hair saw that, beside the pool they were in, two guests had already stopped one of the attendants moving through the bathhouse.

That attendant then looked their way. Feeling as though he had been discovered, Tuft of Hair wanted to pull Heka away, but Heka pressed him straight back down.

As the worker was about to reach them, Heka tapped a copper coin against the floor tiles, tilted his head back slightly, and eyed the attendant from the corner of his eye as though he expected him to question them.

"The two of us came here without eating breakfast. Bring me a menu."

The attendant watched a stack of copper coins being pushed onto the damp stone tiles. Though he had no idea where Heka had taken the money from, his attitude visibly softened.

Heka tapped the coins in his hand again. Several coins dropped into the attendant's palm, and an even more sincere smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Order whatever you want. This might be our last meal, after all. If you're following me, I can't let you die a starving ghost."

Heka settled into the warm water, his gaze passing through the mist swirling between the pillars and fixing on the door that was their destination. Two guards were already standing there.

Weapons were not permitted in the bathhouse, but that rule clearly only applied to ordinary patrons. Beside the two guards lay sheathed blades.

Heka did not doubt that, if it were not so hot here, the guards would even be wearing simple armor.

Before they noticed him, Heka withdrew his gaze. By then, the attendant had finally returned.

Heka took the menu carved into a ceramic slab from the attendant's hand and could only marvel that clever people always had their own ingenious ways.

The place was thick with steam, and paper would soon become unreadable here. He had not expected them to have such a solution.

Heka scanned the menu. With his meager two hundred-odd proficiency in Valin, he could barely make out some dish names. After ordering a sandwich, a steak, and a thick soup, he handed the menu to Tuft of Hair beside him.

"I'll just eat whatever you order."

Tuft of Hair could not understand everything on the menu either, but he did recognize the prices at the end, each starting at five copper coins.

"This one. Two portions, one each."

Heka rolled his eyes at the stingy fellow, then pointed to the Emperor Lobster at the very top of the menu, fifty copper coins per serving.

A color called joy instantly burst across the attendant's face. He quickly collected the deposit Heka had set on the ground, then disappeared into the white mist at a brisk pace.

Not long afterward, the attendant returned with two others, pushing a small cart over to them.

The attendant led the way while ringing a small bronze bell, while the others followed behind with the cart.

Though he had said he would just eat a little, once the feast was laid before him, Tuft of Hair did not hesitate in the slightest when it was time to dig in.

After stuffing the shrimp meat before him into his mouth, Tuft of Hair's hands covered in sauce, he felt the fullness in his stomach that he had not felt in a long time. The shrimp was gone now, but three or four whole pieces of bread still remained beside him.

Just as Tuft of Hair stared at the bread, preparing to force more into his mouth, Heka wrapped the boy's hand in a towel and wiped it clean.

"Why eat bread? Haven't you had enough of it after more than a month?"

Heka dried Tuft of Hair's hand, then pulled the obviously overstuffed boy out of the pool.

"Sir, there are still seventy copper coins due."

The attendant standing nearby reminded him cautiously, and Heka gestured for him to follow.

The attendant immediately breathed a sigh of relief. One look at this man's unscarred skin and well-proportioned build told him that Heka's family background was certainly anything but ordinary.

As for the one beside him, he was probably some little beggar who had stepped in dog shit and somehow latched onto the young master of a wealthy household.

But if the customer did not care, neither did he. As long as he could make money, that was enough.

"Full?"

Heka took Tuft of Hair's hand, skirted the stone platform ahead, and headed toward that door.

"I'm full. It's been a long time since I was full."

Tuft of Hair lowered his head and answered softly.

"If we don't die this time, you'll be able to eat your fill every day from now on. You won't have to live in the sewers either. I'll take you somewhere where you can see the sun in the morning."