The Insider System

Chapter 4: The Mayor of Corn City

Lake was getting close now; The path was getting wider and he could see a fence that represented the edge of the corn field. " The only way this could have taken longer was if it was a maze." Lake thanked the gods it wasn\'t Halloween. " Wait this isn\'t earth, Halloween might not exist, But with how much these people love corn I bet there\'s a corn festival."[New quest Find something you want]

Lake could kind of see where this was going and to be honest he was looking forward to it. As a child he had stolen some candy, and been caught by his mother and after a long conversation he had done what was right, and from then on stole much less. For example he would only take half the candy, or take his least favorite, and leave all the good candy.

Looking into the town, Lake estimated there were 30 buildings of varying size. But before even entering the town Lake had already seen his target. On the fence was a child and on this child were some shoes. [New quest Acquire item] " Why does it have to sound so sinister?"

Walking over to the kid, Lake got right down to business and said " Hey does this town have a corn festival?" The kid turned around and said " Yeah but you\'re a few weeks early." See people thought Lake was dumb in his past life because he would do and say crazy things but he always had the last laugh, and because of the way he was most of the time he would have the first laugh as well.

After his feeling of vindication passed, Lake asked the kid. "Do you guys cut the corn into any shapes or mazes?" The kid turned and Lake could see this question had fully engaged him. Lake couldn\'t help but laugh at how much corn probably mattered to this kid for him to get this excited over a new way for it to be used. " What do you mean by this corn maze?"

Crouching down Lake used his finger to draw an example in the dirt. " Like this, it\'s like a game for your festival." Looking at the kid\'s face, Lake could tell he had blown his mind. Maybe he was the first person to come up with corn games. Suddenly the kid grabbed Lakes\' hand and said "Come with me, my father will love this!"

Following behind the kid, Lake realized if he ever handed off the insider, and sent his pupil here they might have to deal with a maze. He silently chuckled to himself at pranking the next in line. Taking a few turns the two arrived in front of the only building with anything resembling a second story, on the roof was a man sitting on a chair.

The kid didn\'t stop and tried to push the door open but it wouldn\'t budge. "Hey sam who\'s that bum you got with you?" After hearing this both of them looked up to see the man had stood up and was pointing towards them. " Open the door Wallace. This guy had an idea for the corn festival."

After the man on the roof realized this was related to the corn festival he instantly lifted the lock and said "Sorry for calling you a bum, Sir." Relieved, Lake said, " It\'s no thang." Since this man had apologized, Lake would let this matter end here, there would be no retribution. He would count it as his good deed of the day.

Stepping inside Lake felt underdressed but that had been true outside as well so he disregarded this matter. " My dad\'s office is this way, come on." Following the kid into an office, Lake saw everyone inside looking at him so Lake raised his hand and said "Hey y\'all." This was farmland, so Lake felt it was an appropriate time to use y\'all. Maybe ingratiate himself with the locals. It worked like a charm after he said it everyone went back to work. The kid started walking up to the desk in the center of the room and said, " Dad, I found someone with ideas for the corn festival."

After Sam said this all the people around stopped working again. Standing up, Sam\'s father said "What are all you doing standing around? Bring our guest some food and clothes, He\'s clearly traveled a hard path to bring us this idea."

As the man watched his men run to fetch the things he turned to Lake and said, " My name\'s Wallace, I\'m Sam\'s father and the town mayor." Thinking back, Lake was sure the man at the gate/door had been named Wallace as well but before he could ask. Wallace said " Please, if you would, I\'m dying to hear your idea." Lake realized he had the upper hand in this transaction so he would wait until he had his new clothes before he spoiled his beans.