Sacrifice: Time of Mine
Chapter 42: Middle Finger

"Why do you have four pieces of bread?" Naron looked at the bread he was holding. It was thick and a bit hollow on the inside. It was a bit tough to eat and crunchy on the outside. But it was to be compared to a normal bread outside, it could be said that it was fairly good.

The economy at that time isn't as great and their standards were very low if compared to the modern world.

As they look at the low-quality bread, in their head, this is one of the best they could get with their penniless pockets.

"I got it from Miss Tamya." Avion casually said as he took a bite out of the bread. He nodded in satisfaction. For him, it was already satisfactory.

Although it cannot be compared to the buffet he had last night, since it was new to his tongue, it was enough. He was getting tired of always eating the fruits in his garden back when he was still in his old world. So, anything new is good to him as long as it is not bitter or distasteful.

"But how did you meet Miss Tamya?" Fobo said after he already ate his last bite of the bread.

"I went inside there." Avion pointed, amazed by Fobo's eating speed while he was still on his second bite.

"No, seriously, how?" Temon raised an eyebrow as he leaned forward and took a bite.

They were hungry so they didn't deny Avion's offer.

"You mean, you went in there to gave this to us?... Avion," with one bite, the bread in Naron's hand vanished, "Wu huden haud." he was trying to say, 'You shouldn't have.' but his cheeks puffed as he tried to chew the tough bread.

"But where's the soup?" Fobo asked but his skinny head was slapped by Naron.

"Wu non haud ni shem!?" I think you already know what he meant to say.

"No, I was just asking where's his soup is. I don't mean where MY soup is." Fobo rebuked before asking the two, "Do you see me as an ungrateful pig?"

Naron and Temon slowly nodded.

"But how did you understand his words?" Temon commented on the side.

"Well, I saw that a person can only get one bread and one soup so I exchanged the soup for three pieces of bread," Avion answered.

"Huh?!" the three's eyes widened, "You did that for us? We can go even without breakfast, there's always tomorrow." Naron said.

"Don't do that ever again, the meat in the soup is the one that is giving us the energy so it is better to have one bowl of soup, okay?" he continued.

But Avion shook his head and leaned forward as he whispered, "I don't like the soup. If I were you, I wouldn't try to drink that ever again."

Hearing this made the three frowned.

"Why?" Fobo asked.

"You... don't want to know." Avion sadly smiled and when he looked at his bread, he lost a bit of an appetite, but after a while, he took another bite.

"Hmm... I think we can trust you on that." Temon said.

Without any questions, Naron and Fobo nodded.

"Yep, you trusted us even though we are strangers and now that we are not strangers to each other, it's our turn to trust you." Temon continued.

After another nod, Naron had one big gulped and said, "Now that we are finished eating breakfast, let's go on job hunting!" he raised his hand.

"Job hunting," Temon and Fobo raised their hands too as they shouted, "Again!"

As they shouted, some men laughed while some replied to their shouts, "Good luck on the streets!" it was filled with sarcasm.

"They haven't given up yet?"

"They should be satisfied with eating once a day." many said without intending to hide it from the three.

They all knew each other from they were young so the three didn't take it too seriously as they left with middle fingers raised on their hands instead. Especially towards their neighbor who always left in the night and rob and pickpocket people.

While they do this, they shout with an amenable tone, "Thank you for the meal, Miss Tamya." as if it was tradition to say that.

Avion didn't know what the middle finger means so he also raised his hand.

"What does this mean? Does this mean goodbye?"

Seeing that even the kind boy showed it, the people in the slums didn't care about it.

The three lowered their hands as they looked at Avion. This boy is always stunning them every chance he has.

"The meaning of this?" Temon showed his middle finger but it was directed to Fobo, not to Avion.

"Hey!"

Avion nodded, but judging from Fobo's reaction, it must be rude.

"This means..." Temon thought for a bit. How does he explain it?

However, Naron stopped him by tapping Temon's chest while still having the middle finger.

"This... this has a long, long history," he explained while Temon and Fobo fought with their middle fingers as if it were swords in the background.

"But what does it mean?" Avion pressured as they walked along the soil road.

The slums were hidden in the trees. It was not a thick forest but through these trees, there was a paved road along the way inside. Judging from its curvy nature, it could be realized that this soil road was not made for vehicles such as a wagon.

A horse can go through this, however, this road was mainly used by the locals. Not that any of the people there can afford a horse. they just walk and see different kinds of small animals living there.

Last night, Avion didn't look at his surroundings and just went on his way. With no destination, he went where there are the least people and found himself on the soil road.

With trees surrounding him, he felt at home so maybe that was why he was attracted to go there.

While walking down this road, Naron explained the complicated history of the middle finger and as minutes passed by, Avion's face became troubled and reddish.

"In the end, this is is equivalent to saying, 'You're a pussy!'" Naron said as he raised his middle finger as if it was his glorious sword shining upon his enemies.