Chapter 51: Reggie’s dilemma

"Wow, you moved to the main city yesterday!?" Frost asked, staring at Reggie in surprise. Reggie let out a wry chuckle and nodded.

"Yeah... The boss was very happy with my salesmanship skills, but he also said they were going to waste in this place, so he recommended me to a friend of his in the main city who sells equipment to evolvers."

Frost was at a loss for words for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Moving up the corporate ladder already, leaving us peasants to scrub the dirt. How kind of you..."

Reggie laughed, and Frost smiled, shaking his head. "Just kidding. I’m happy for you, man. It just sucks that I’ll be all by myself in this dirty place, though."

Reggie dipped a piece of dry bread into his bowl of soup before taking a bite. "And that’s why you should have gotten to know the others instead of, you know, acting like they don’t exist."

"Perhaps," Frost said, looking down at his food. "But you know that wouldn’t be easy for someone like me..."

By the others, Reggie meant the four former classmates who were still living in the slums. Frost rarely spoke to them, and with Reggie moving into the city, he would no longer have someone nearby whom he regularly spent time with.

Another month had passed, and Frost was no longer the lanky young man he used to be.

Between the many trips to the low-ranking hunting grounds and the three meals a day he had been spoiling himself with, he had built a decent physique.

Carrying those monstrous packs was still unpleasant, but at least it no longer left him feeling like he was about to die.

Nick and the rest of Krazz’s party had been kind enough to introduce him to some of their evolver buddies the previous week, which had opened up more opportunities for work.

He could now take three or four porter jobs a day with different parties, averaging ten tabs, perhaps eleven on a good day. It was a considerable improvement over what he had earned when he first started, though he certainly had to work for it.

"Anyway, don’t get too lonely," Reggie said with a smile, drawing Frost’s attention back to him. "I’ll come visit when I’m not too busy."

Frost continued eating without answering, though he supposed he couldn’t complain too much.

With his current earnings and the small amount he had managed to save, he could afford to live on the lower fringes of the main city as well.

But moving meant spending more money, and he still clung to the fleeting dream of becoming an evolver.

For now, he would rather put up with the slums and keep saving towards a rune tome, no matter how impossible it seemed.

Reggie remained silent, though his expression had grown grim. "Actually, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about..." he said, looking across the table.

"Well, go on, then," Frost replied, putting another morsel of soaked bread into his mouth. "Don’t be shy," he added, his mouth still stuffed.

"Remember Amanda?" Reggie asked, his tone unusually dark. Frost glanced up at him and chuckled.

"Of course I remember Amy. How could I forget your little crush?"

Reggie blushed, but the colour quickly faded as the serious look returned to his face. "She hasn’t been doing too well, as you know," he said, and Frost nodded, dropping the teasing now that he realised this wasn’t something Reggie wanted to joke about.

Amy was probably the one who had been traumatised the most on that fateful day; both of her close friends had died, after all.

Reggie had a crush on her since they were in college, so it was hardly surprising that he was worried about her.

"As you know, I speak to her often, at least when I can, since she’s so reclusive," Reggie continued. "I offered to help her out a while ago, and although I could see she was tempted, she said no in the end."

He clenched his jaw, his next words coming through gritted teeth. "That was fine, of course. I wasn’t going to force her into anything. I was going to take things slowly before making my feelings clear, but then some bastard somehow talked her into working at a brothel!"

His voice rose towards the end, startling the people at the table behind them. Frost lowered the bread in his hand, a deep frown settling on his face.

"Wait, what? Are you sure?"

"Of course!" Reggie replied in a harsh whisper, leaning closer to the table. "I even confronted her about it, but we ended up getting into a big argument! She said it was her choice and that she needed to earn a living somehow!"

He looked up at Frost, his expression devastated. "She’s a good girl...I’m sure she thinks she’s being a burden. Perhaps she didn’t want to keep relying on others anymore, but how do I tell her it’s fine to rely on me? That I don’t mind helping her, even if she thinks she’s a burden? I know I’m not the best with words, especially when it comes to women, but how can I make her understand!?"

Frost sighed, finding it rather uncomfortable to see his friend looking so close to tears.

People were starting to give them odd looks, but he paid them no mind, setting his bread down as he considered what to say.

He had no clear answer for Reggie. He had never dated anyone himself. ’Well, except for that one time,’ he thought...

So, he wasn’t exactly an expert at this kind of thing, but there was at least one piece of advice he could give.

"I won’t pretend I’m an expert at this stuff," Frost said, looking at him seriously. "But if you want to come to an understanding, you need to speak plainly. Make sure you get your point across, and give her the chance to do the same. Maybe then you can understand what each of you wants and work out some kind of compromise."

Reggie nodded, seeming to calm down somewhat, though it was clear the matter still troubled him deeply.

Honestly, Frost didn’t know how he would react if a girl he liked started doing that kind of work.

From what Reggie had said, it sounded like Amanda had already been doing it for a while, and he had only recently found out. Yet he was still trying to find a way to help her, which went to show how strongly he felt about her.

It wasn’t just the thought of people in the pleasure district servicing hundreds of different customers each week, but also the way those customers might treat them.

Frost was no expert, but even he could imagine the sort of requests a depraved man might make, things that would never have occurred to him.

Then there was the physical abuse they could be subjected to, especially in a place like the slums, where he doubted anyone cared much about what happened behind closed doors.

In all honesty, if Frost had been in Reggie’s shoes, he would have forgotten about her. To him, a guy like Reggie deserved someone better than a woman who worked as a whore, no matter how briefly she had done it.

He didn’t dare say that aloud, though; these were his own thoughts, and voicing them would only crush Reggie’s spirit. It was clear his friend cared deeply about Amanda.

’How troublesome,’ he thought with another sigh.

"Cheer up," he said. "Let me know how it goes. If she still doesn’t get it after you explain yourself, take me along next time. Maybe I can beat some sense into her."

He got up and gave Reggie a small pat on the shoulder. Reggie managed a faint smile as he looked up at him.

"Thanks."