Strongest Nova: Path of Vengeance

Chapter 60: Promise

"Hello, do you have clothes for a 9-year-old boy?"

Stanley was with his mother, and they were out to get him some new clothes. His old ones that were passed down by his brother had holes in them, so he needed some new ones.

However, the last 3 shops they had gone to didn’t have anything at all.

"For a 9-year-old boy?" the woman from the shop asked. Her eyes fell on Stanley and his baggy clothes, which belonged to his brother. Then, she looked at his mother’s clothes which were dirty and full of mud at the bottom.

"Can you even pay?" the woman asked.

"If there are cheap ones then I’m sure I can pay," Stanley’s mother, Yelena, answered with a sweet smile on her face.

She looked more tired than ever currently. Since her husband’s death so many years ago, she had to focus on the farm to raise her two young boys as well as she could, so she had been working hard every day.

"I don’t sell any cheap clothes. I don’t have what you want," the store owner said.

"I see, thank you for your time," Yelena said and turned around to leave. This was the 4th shop that didn’t have anything for them.

Stanley looked at the clothes hanging from the rack, all of which he would be more than happy to wear if given the chance. Not to mention, they looked cheap as well.

He was quickly pulled outside by his mother who had to look for another shop close by.

"Mom! Mom! That woman has clothes there," Stanley said. "She just didn’t see them. Come, we can tell her."

Yelena turned toward her son and shook her head. "She does have the clothes to sell. She just doesn’t want to sell it to us," she said.

"Why?" Stanley asked with a slightly sad and angry face. "Is it because you’re a Dull?"

Yelena’s eyes narrowed. "Where did you hear that?" she asked with an anxious look on her face.

Stanley got a little scared. "B-brother told me," he said. "He said that people hate us because we’re Dull. Is that true?"

Yelena’s eyes couldn’t help but tear up. She took her son into an embrace. "You don’t have to worry about what the others say. As long as you don’t hate yourself, that’s alright," she said. "Now come, we need to go get your clothes, don’t we?"

Stanley nodded.

The two mother and son walked through the entire 4th quadrant looking for a pair of clothes for Stanley. However, even after walking for nearly an hour, neither of them found any shops that would sell for them.

They made common excuses. We don’t have clothes for children, or we only have expensive clothes, or even just say that the shop was closed.

Only a few outright said that they didn’t sell to Dulls.

There was a lot of discrimination against the Dulls in this area of town.

They didn’t attack the Dulls physically or even harassed them verbally. However, their actions spoke far more acutely than their hands or words could.

You are a Dull and I want nothing to do with you.

"Why do they hate Dulls, Mom?" Stanley asked. "Is it just because we don’t have any powers?"

"I’m afraid so," Yelena said. Even she was tired of everything and didn’t have the mental focus to lie to her child.

"But why?" Stanley asked. "Even if we don’t have powers, we grow the food for them. Shouldn’t they be thanking us instead? If they are so—"

Yelena quickly placed her hands over her son’s mouth to stop him from speaking any further in the middle of the street.

"We don’t run the farm for them. We do it for us," Yelena said. "Many people die every day with many more being born in the town. If we decide to act up, they will just replace us. Then we’ll have nowhere to go."

"People have done it before. They’ve tried to fight back by not doing farm work. That had only made them criminals who are then taken to prison, with others quickly replacing them," Yelena said. "We can’t do anything."

Stanley watched his mother’s gloomy face with terror in his eyes. Was that what they were to the town?

He was just old enough to understand how bad it could be to not have money. To not have a roof over their head. To be considered a criminal.

He didn’t want that.

"Oh, Bradley’s mother?" a voice spoke from the side.

Yelena turned around. "Ah, sister Meena," she spoke with a wide smile on her face. "I haven’t seen you in a while. Where have you been?"

"Haha! You know. My son is now a Defender, so we no longer have to live on the farm," the woman said. "What are you doing here? Is this Bradley?"

"No, this is Stanley, my other son," Yelena quickly introduced him. "I came to buy some clothes for him, but... you know."

"Oh," the woman said. "I have some spare clothes that are too small for my younger son. Would you like them instead?"

"Oh, can we? We would love to."

The woman took Yelena and Stanley to her house which was just 10 minute’s walk away and handed over nearly 5 pairs of clothes that were not that bad.

Stanley looked at the clothes, and then at the house the woman lived in with wide eyes.

As they returned back to the farm, he couldn’t help but ask. "Mom, isn’t that woman a Dull too? How is she living in such a good house?" he asked.

"Oh, that’s because her son became a Defender recently. A Defender can leave the farm and have his own place in the town easily because of how respected they are," Yelena answered.

"Is that so?" Stanley was excited. "Then if I become a Defender, then you won’t have to live on the farm anymore?"

Yelena smiled. "That’s right," she said. "Are you going to be a Defender and take your mother away from the farm?"

"Yes," Stanley said excitedly. "I promise you Mom, I will take you away from the farm."

Yelena smiled. "I look forward to it."

* * * *

Stanley woke up with the memory fresh in his mind like a dream just dreamt. His promise to his mother that he had forgotten at some point, he hadn’t been able to keep it.