Nikolai sighed as he pushed the hut door open. It wasn't as though they had a choice. Marriage was the last thing on their mind, what with death hanging low waiting to claim more of them at any time.

News of an antidote was fantastic news indeed; even better that it was being distributed at the city marketplace. That was everything that was good about it. The more accurate description of being "distributed" was that it was being sold at a price.

"Are you kidding me?!" Nikolai said in a stunned voice when he heard what the merchant told him. "Who the hell would pay that much?"

The merchant tending to them nodded at the loud and demanding crowd around them. "Look, kid. Simple economics. The more people want something, the higher the prices. That's the usual for normal goods anyway. Oswald fixed the price on these; they're as low as they can get."

"Does it actually work?" Nikolai asked skeptically. His expectations dramatically dropped when he heard the name.

"Sure does," the merchant said, nodding confidently. "I gave my daughter the tonic. Came back right as Light. Took it for myself too. Thing is a real miracle. HEY, NO GRABBING."

The market had been quiet for some time since the plague hit the city, but now that word of a cure reached the ears of the mass population, it was back to its busy state once more; maybe even busier. The many merchants manning the merchandise struggled with the traffic while men in leather armour formed a barricade with their spears, preventing sneaky hands from touching the crates of vials.

The particular stall they were at was swarmed with citizens pushing and yelling at the top of their voice all the while holding up their moneybags. It annoyed him how the coins jingled all around him. He could tell that one bag of Silph was a lot more than what he and the other villagers could make in a whole month. And that was assuming they had something to sell everyday.

"Why are you selling something so expensively when the people need this?" Lana asked. She had to raise her voice to be heard.

"If you don't like it, go somewhere else," the merchant snapped, snatching an outstretched bag and replacing it with a bottle of clear green liquid. It was quite the low comeback since it was clear no other stall in the city had the cure available.

"Drop it to two-fifty," Nikolai said grimly. Lana turned and gave him an exasperated look. It was a meaningless haggle on his part because they didn't have that kind of money to begin with.

The merchant shook his head anyway. "Fixed price, man," he said. "Take it up with the mayor. He was the one who manufactured this thing. I just man this place for him," he added. Nikolai detected the sound of detest and disgust in his tone. "If I gave you a bargain, it'll be me forking out the balance. If you're not buying, don't hold up the line."

Nikolai and Lana parted from the chaotic queue to find somewhere quiet. Neither of them spoke as they knew what was on the other's mind. Choosing a bench directly opposite the largest building in the city, they sat down and stared at it.

As Nikolai eyed it with much dislike, he couldn't help wonder why no-one protested against the hefty sum that was asked of them. Surely the mayor could subsidize the antidote through previous years of compiled taxes and donations. Unless they all went into that needlessly impressive architecture of an office that he sat in. Then again, anything related to the name "Oswald" was bound to be something sketchy.

Nikolai squeezed a hand around his pocket watch.

The building in front of them was rectangular in shape; its frontal protruding roof supported by four pillars made of steel with gold-infused patterns. When Nikolai was younger, his father, Kane Freydon would point at the building and call it a temple of worship for the god of greed who dwelled within. The man often joked that its floors were decorated with the Silph coins Oswald had amassed through the taxes. The temple floor was more expensive than the whole village.

Whether the story was true or not, Nikolai didn't know. He didn't recall any of the villagers having had set foot in the mayor's office before. He doubted his father had ever been inside as well, but it made the mythical gold floor all the while more believable.

Dark stories surrounded the politics of Brymlight City's mayorship. They spoke of a man whose name was Oswald. Rumors spread that during the elections, his competitors had been eliminated through means of blackmail, back-stab, and even assassinations. Most of the candidates pulled out or simply vanished. Evidence of his misdeeds were never discovered though.

Despite the people's initial bad perception of him, Oswald was cunning enough to sway opinions his way. He gained supporters through deliberate acts of visiting the poor, and building orphanages. The village of course, saw none of the handouts since they weren't included for the voting.

When the plague came, he visited families in the city to give his condolences and swore he would find a solution to the disease. Those who suspected him of evil conduct eventually fell under his spell. And now, only a small portion of the city stood against him. In hushed whispers.

"Five hundred Silph! Has Oswald gone mad?"

Three women walked past Nikolai and Lana, speaking loudly without a care in the world for who might hear them.

"I heard he's giving a speech about that at noon tomorrow," one of them said. "Nobody's happy about the price."

"No one's happy but they're flocking around the medicine?"

"Oh, shut up, you hypocrite. You bought some yourself. Not one. SOME."

"Hey, we have the man of the house. Me. And the three children. Can't just let them rot, can I?"

"What about you, Ellie? I didn't see you buy anything."

The woman named Ellie seemed uncomfortable but the group disappeared around a corner and Nikolai could no longer hear them. He then turned to Lana who looked at him.

"I bet Oswald's gonna pull a fast one," she said.

"No doubt," Nikolai seethed. "I'll attend just to see if there's anything worth noting about the cure. We might be able to make it ourselves."

"I'll come with you."

Nikolai nodded. He returned his gaze to the building before him, and wondered what evil scheme was going through the mayor's mind this time. Even a village bumpkin such as himself knew that selling something everyone so desperately needed at that high of a price was suicidal to his votes. Not that it mattered since the villagers weren't part of the election.