Way of the Knights

Chapter 897: Sickly Finn

“…empty. Of course, what am I expecting?”

A forlorn and depressed voiced echoed amongst the confines of a desolate space. A man could be seen standing in front of a wreckage, looking around while carrying a brown sack over his shoulders.

The man was really skinny, his bones could almost be seen poking through what little amount of flesh he has. He cheeks were sunken and there’s this dull and lifeless look in his eyes.

His face was dirty, filled with grime and dirt. He has a single horn that’s broken poking out of his forehead. His lips were thin and blue, his clothes were more like rags and he doesn’t even have a footwear.

Despite already expecting nothing out of this dumpster site, he still looked around, garnering the tiniest hope that maybe – just maybe, he happened to have missed something of value.

His eyesight was turning bad after all, it wouldn’t be surprising if he actually missed something.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he looked and inspected every square inch of this place. He’s unable to see anything that he can bring back with him.

That metal thing-, whatever that is, in the wreckage was too large for him to carry. He could try prying off some parts of it and place it on to the sack he’s carrying but looking at his flimsy arms? Yeah, forget about it.

Even a casual gust of wind might be able to knock him off his feet. How can he even think about pulling something this hard? Wouldn’t his arms fall off if that’s the case.

Unable to see anything of value that he can bring back with him, the man sighed dejectedly once again.

He really wanted to cry and despair about his fate but he had ran out of tears a long time ago. He doesn’t even know if this body of his is still able to produce tears in the first place…

If it could, he’d probably just drink it. It’s a waste of water if he didn’t do so.

The man turned around and decided to leave this dumpsite. There’s nothing for him here. He walked with shaky steps towards where he came from, trying his best to move his body faster just so that he can return back in time.

The sack on his shoulders wasn’t heavy…to someone who has a relatively healthy body, it truly isn’t. But for this man, he might as well be carrying something that’s double his weight.

Sure, if he ditched this sack he might be able to drag his body faster back to the ship but he can’t do that…

Nobody can just expect him to drop this sack, after all this sack contained what little valuables he have on his person. He needs to sell them just so that he can buy something to eat and drink, that way he can live a little longer.

“Oh, I see him.”

“Oh, yeah that’s him alright.”

“What’s taking him so long? Oh wait-“

“Hurry up, you useless sack of flesh!”

“Sack of flesh? Look at him! Does he look like he has a flesh much less a sack of it?”

“Oh, shit you’re right! Hey, skin and bones! Hurry the fuck up! The ship’s about to leave!”

“Come on guys, pity the fool for a bit. No need to kick him when he’s already down.”

“Down? More like half dead. It’s already a miracle that he’s able to last this long with that body of his.”

“Alright you guys, stop bullying Old Finn. Go back to the ship and prepare to set off. Let’s get off of this place as soon as possible. I wanna take a bath.”

“Yes, Captain!”

Their words hurt, but Finn had grown numb from it. The jeers, the disdain, the mocking…none of those could even provoke a reaction from him anymore. He already accepted his miserable fate.

Besides, Finn doesn’t care if they hate him for what he is. Their hate is nothing to him. After all, nobody can him the way he hates himself already.

“Finn, get in here.” The captain ordered. Finn gave him a weak nod and walked closer to him.

“A’right, let me see what you got in here.” The captain of the ship snatched the sack from Finn’s hands, almost pushing him down in the process.

Finn would’ve told him to be gentler but honestly? He’s just too damn tired of this.

The captain inspected the items he had on the sack with a pensive look on his face. Finn was fidgeting, hoping and wishing deep down…

“This won’t do Finn…” the captain sighed. “This is not enough.”

Finn bit his lips in frustration. He wanted to rage and erupt but he doesn’t have the energy to that anymore. Unable to do anything, Finn can only sigh.

It seems that he won’t be eating this week again.

“Ah! Fuck this! Whatever!” The captain scratched his head threw the sack on the back of the ship. “Here!”

Finn nearly stumbled over in surprise when something heavy hits him, fortunately he managed to get a hold of it. Upon inspecting what the captain threw to him, Finn looked up in shock.

It was rations. A whole hard bread and jug of murky water.

“A’right, don’t look at me. Just work hard next time. Now get in there! We’re leaving!”

Finn hurriedly knelt down and knocked his head on the ground before hurriedly dragging his body to the back of the ship. He clutched his rations like they were his most precious treasure and secured himself with a few straps he attached on his limbs.

Before the cargo doors of the ship closed off, Finn gave one last grateful look to the captain. When the doors closed, Finn sighed in relief. He truly wasn’t expecting the captain to do this.

Finn knows that the captain might get in trouble for doing this. After all, the materials he brought back were not enough to fill in the quota meant for an exchange of resource.

This…is the Outer World.

Resources like these are way to precious. So precious that one has to risk their lives just to secure them.

An act of kindness is stupid here as well, a lesson that Finn learnt the hard way. Therefore, he wasn’t expecting anyone to give him even the tiniest bit of kindness.

Thus, he was surprised with what the captain did.

The rule was iron clad, if you want resources; such as rations, materials or etc., then you must give out an equivalent exchange. There is a benchmark for an exchange, something that Finn knew too well.

Exchanging for the basic ration package needs at least two kilograms worth of knick-knacks or rare stones found in dumpsites or wreckage sites. Basically, anything that shines, heavy, looks weird, mysterious or even those that looks remotely dangerous, can be used for the exchange.

Finn, being the weak man that he is, barely had the strength, speed, or ferocity to search for this things in fervor. He could only try his luck from the unwanted or forgotten things that were left behind by those stronger than him.

As a result of this, his harvest depends on their whims and the sites they visit. If there little resources found, it’s very likely that there will nothing for him. But if there’s an abundance well, he can maybe try his luck.

It sucks to live like this. It’s actually, truly, a miracle that Finn’s still alive and kicking. Others would’ve long since given up and probably killed themselves at this point but he’s still holding on.

Finn was touched by the captain’s kindness. It was truly unexpected. He already had an idea that what he brought back wasn’t enough yet the captain still rounded it off and give him rations.

Hell, Finn was so touched that he wouldn’t even mind if the captain wants to use him after this. Not like the captain would find his flimsy body likeable but still…

Finn shook his head when his thoughts reached this point. What was he even thinking about?

He felt the familiar rumbling of the ship so he steadied himself. He hugged the resources close to his body and used his other hand to hold on to the straps he attached to himself.

The ship’s take-off are usually rough. Had he not strapped himself, he’d probably bounce off the corners of the cargo room.

After a minute or two of that rough start-up, he heard a screech and cough of the engines, he also heard a keening sound which meant that they already took off.

The rumbling already stopped and Finn was safe and mostly unharmed. His limbs ached due to the rumbling but it’s nothing that he wasn’t used to.

While their flight goes on peacefully, Finn took advantage of this time to fill stomach even just for a bit.

He first quenched his thirst by pouring himself a bottle cap of murky water. That alone already made him feel better. Next, he tore a small chunk of hard bread and placed it in his mouth. He didn’t chew nor swallowed it, he just placed it in his mouth.

He planned on letting this dissolve on his tongue, that way it can last for the rest of that.

But ae he was enjoying the fruits of his labor, an unexpected crash occurred which sent the whole ship tumbling…