My Favorite Game Followed Me!

Anton was impressed at the diverse types of entertainment in the square. He stopped at two couples who were singing a funny love song about being faithful and at the end, the couple switched partners unknowingly causing everyone to laugh. He saw that a few people threw some copper coins into the chest that the entertainers set up near them.

Unfortunately for Anton, he didn’t have any copper coins, so he took the purse with silver coins from his private stash inside the Diablo II game and threw a single silver coin into the two couple's chests. He didn’t notice that one of the women saw the silver coin that he threw and saw Anton’s clothes and probably thought of him as a noble roaming the city unguarded.

Anton kept wandering between the acts in the square since all of them were highly entertaining. Unknowingly, he became famous with the gypsies in the square due to him giving silver coins to those acts that he fancied.

Everyone thought of him as a foolish rich noble who didn’t know the value of coins, which was true except for him being a noble. Anton thought that Anders would probably not begrudge him for the coins that he spent but he did get a bit worried since the purse that contained fifty silver coins only had around eighteen silver coins left. He shrugged and put the purse inside his inventory since he knew that if he put it somewhere in his body it would be gone in an instant since kept feeling hands in his pockets.

“You’re being foolish you know. Displaying your wealth like that. You should go home before dark, or your noble father will receive a ransom note from someone who will kidnap you.”

Anton heard from behind him and when he turned around, he saw a gypsy boy around his body’s age, which was about seventeen or eighteen.

“I’m not a noble. I’m a merchant’s son and my family are staying near here.”

The boy looked like the stereotypical gypsy with his curly black hair, olive skin, and brown eyes. He was lean, a bit shorter than he was but very handsome. Anton thought that maybe he could hire the boy as his guide to the city since normally those who were part of the outcast group which included gypsy folks were very knowledgeable about the city. That was according to the novels that he read.

He shouldn’t even call him or the people here gypsy since more than likely they had their own terms or names for themselves.

the gypsy you’ll probably get a beating from your father with the amount of coins you spent,” The gypsy boy said.

“What’s your name? Mine’s Anton.”

“My name’s Fenix and I’m thinking that you need a guide, am I right?”

Anton laughed when he heard what the boy said. He was correct that boys like him were savvy when it came to city life.

“Are you not going to get in trouble with the others if they knew that you stopped me from spending all my coins on them?”

“Actually, someone would be assigned to you soon to inform you on how things should be done. We don’t want some noble barging in here claiming that we swindled his brat out of a lot of coins,” Fenix said to him.

Anton laughed again, “Okay, I’ll hire you as my guide. How much that would cost me?”

“How about a silver coin a day?” Fenix asked tentatively.

“Sure thing. We’ll only be here for a week, so I think you’re worth it if I learn a lot of things from you. Let’s go to that restaurant and talk about things that I’ll need to know while I’m here,” Anton said while pointing at a nearby restaurant.

Anton saw Fenix smile hugely at the fee that he was willing to pay the boy. The two boys went to the restaurant and sat on a nearby table.

“Go ahead and order what you like. Order for both of us and please order what you think is the best this restaurant can offer. Impress me with your knowledge.”

Anton saw the Fenix calling a waiter and the boy ordered a lot of food that he, of course, didn’t recognize.

The waiter then turned to him waiting for something. Anton looked at Fenix questioningly.

“He wanted assurance that you would be able to pay for everything that we ordered,” Felix said to him.

Anton snorted and threw the purse with the remaining eighteen silver coins to Fenix. The gypsy boy dumped the coins on his hands and when the waiter saw the pile of silver coins, he went away to get their order.

Fenix laughed, took one silver coin, put the rest back in the purse, and gave it back to Anton.

“This should cover the food that we ordered, and we would even receive some change.”

“I guess I did overspend a bit with me throwing the silver coins to the bards and dancers. I wish I didn’t bring them any trouble.”

“They were becoming worried that’s why they assigned me to you.”

“Well inform your friends that no trouble will come from me and my family regarding the coins I spent earlier. Can you lead me to someone who can change my coins to a lower denomination?”

When Fenix looked at him questioningly, Anton reiterated his request.

“Let’s change these silver coins later to copper coins. Do you know of anyone who can do that for us?”

“Sure, I’ll lead you to a money changer.”

“While we’re waiting for the food can you answer some of my questions?”

Fenix snickered at Anton’s questions.

“Are you really sure you’re not a noble? You speak like them, overly polite but with authority, but sure thing I’ll answer all of your questions. That’s what you hired me for.”

“is this the only square where you can find entertainers?”

“No, this square is assigned to our clan. There are others in the city, and I’ll guide you to them if you want to see them.”

“Does that mean that those who aren’t part of your family are not allowed to busk in this location?”

“Minstrels and the like can still busk here especially if they’re new to the city but soon someone will inform them of the correct place where they can busk. Of course, nothing bad will happen to them or anything like that it’s just that the audience in the city knew where to go if they wanted to see specific entertainment and it will disrupt the rhythm if they find something they didn’t expect in a specific location.”

Of course, Anton didn’t believe Fenix when he said that nothing would happen to those who didn't follow the rules. More than likely, those minstrels who performed their acts in those locations where they’re not allowed to would be targeted somehow, probably beaten.

“Is there a difference between a bard and a minstrel?”

Anton was curious enough to ask about that information since he read from fantasy novels that bards were respected artists and sometimes, they were treated as nobility, and depending on which fantasy franchise, they would be spellcasters as well while minstrels were treated as common entertainers.

“Well, bards are those folks who studied their craft in a university and are truly learned folks and minstrels were those who learned to sing and play instruments from other sources. Normally bards are the ones who played for kings and queens and other nobilities, and rarely will they perform in a regular tavern while minstrels perform for everyone. Of course, that meant that bards earn a ton more compared to common minstrels, and everybody knows this. Why don’t you?” Fenix looked at Anton questioningly, but he just smiled.

The food they ordered arrived and they got busy tasting the different morsels from the restaurant.