Dark Market III
Rob Boblend, though not a licensed master of kungfu, trained for a few years as a child directly under the grandmaster Hoblin.
"Tell me Robbie," the queen inquires, "why didn't you ever open your own kungfu studio like Bob's Zen Chen and Hob's Shen Do did."
"I'm far too old for teaching children now," he answers solemnly.
"I know," her kindness disarms him, "I meant when you were younger."
"Well," he begins, leaning back in his chair at the royal tea house, "I always wanted..."
"Then why not?" she interjects her astonishment.
"My brothers wanted me to fight," he states honestly, knowing the laws forbid fighting.
"Oh," she again interrupts, this time her suprise leaning her into her chair as well.
"Well, I didn't, but there were other more serious issues. My brothers wanted me to fight in the royal army, but the younger kids in the hood lacked a proper education. Without me to help them earn money, they would have starved."
"I had no idea," she injects into the conversation with a newly found sadness.
"I know," his words now revealing more than she previously understood, "I always wondered why the education system in West Eastville was inferior to East Westville, but we all figured it was just the way thing were. You know? The rich get smarter, and the poor stay poor." He lowers his head, ashamed to be the messenger of her majesty's reputation in some of the towns across the Brave River.
"Well I hope they know that's not true," her lack of confidence in her own words clearly obvious to him.
"I knew." He nods as he speaks, confirming to her that his words are true.
"Thank you for your faith me dear friend," she replies with a certain level of confusion, "but how did you know if the other children didn't?"
"Grandmaster Hoblin would teach me more than just kungfu during our early Saturday morning training sessions." His words now peaking her curiosity.
"What else did he teach you? You must tell me," her regal air now apparent.
"Well, you see I have my own business both in the royal marketplace and the dark market, right?"
"So he taught you how to run a business?" she asks with confusion at the idea of a kungfu master teaching his student business savvy skills.
"Not exactly," he corrects her, "but what he did teach me, led me to gain business savvy in a world not fit for perfection.
"Oh Robbie, whatever will I do with you," her flirting obvious to him now as she leans forward and rests her hand on his knee, though he has normally been naive to her passes in the past.
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