Chapter 232 Opportunity Cost

"Awww, you got me again," Marie said with a playful whine, puffing up her cheeks in an exaggerated show of frustration, which elicited a giggle from the girl seated opposite her. The girl was petite, much smaller than she should be for a six-year-old. To Marie, it reminded her of the state Kano and Dora were in before Mister Larks' arrival. She had greatly tanned skin, probably a result of excessive exposure to the sun, and a feeble frame. Though none of those hindered the gush of innocent and exciting light shining from the girl's eyes. There was preciousness in there, that Marie had the urgent need to protect.

"Again! Again!" The girl chanted excitedly, hopping up and down on the wooden bench of the precariously moving and aged bullock cart, causing it to rock and release a rickety groan.

"Yumi, sit still! And stop disturbing the nice elder sister," her mother, who looked barely over twenty-two, warned the child sternly while tightening her grasp on the stacks of woven baskets placed before her. "And how many times have I told you to sit still when on the cart? You'll cause it to tip, and then everyone will be in trouble."

"No trouble at all, Lea," a mature voice from up front assuaged the passengers. The driver, a middle-aged man, tapped the veteran oxen driving the cart and muttered a few baritone words between clicks of his tongue.

The woman revealed a wry smile, and alternated her gaze between Marie and Krish, before finally apologising to the older-looking man, "I'm truly sorry for my daughter's behaviour. It must hurt your back to sit all the way in the back, why don't you take the seat closer to the front?"

At Lea's offer, Marie couldn't help but let out an instinctive snort which inevitably bubbled into a hearty laugh.

"D-Did I say something wrong?" Lea voiced her confusion.

"No, not at all," Marie pondered whether she should out her Master's true age and power. But after a quick calculation, she felt it wasn't necessary. "I'm just surprised that you even offered. Not many people act so selflessly around these parts," Marie said as a quick evasive strategy.

Marie nudged for her Master to shift positions with Lea, but Krish grunted and returned to his meditation.

"He's just cranky from the lack of sleep," Marie said with a click of her tongue.

"If you don't mind me asking: what takes you two to Dawnbreak Town? Relatives? Business?" Lea asked while correcting Yumi's loosely worn cotton shirt. The attire's size was larger than the girl's body, probably a hand-me-down, and the collar often rolled off the girl's shoulders.

"A bit of both," Marie answered. "We're meeting a distant relative in hopes of support in a business venture." Not technically a lie, but not the whole truth.

"What about you two?" Marie redirected.

"Lea here makes the best rice dumpling in the region," the driver answered in Lea's stead. The woman, in turn, blushed with embarrassment and quickly denied those claims, "That's not true! Liam!"

The man, Liam, exhaled mirthfully and said, "She makes these dumplings overnight and sells them at the docks when the workers take their breaks."

"My customers appreciate and like the taste of my dumplings," Lea took over with a modest smile. "We make enough to support ourselves, don't we Yumi?"

The girl absent-mindedly nodded while biting down on a rice dumpling. The implication of the woman's final statement wasn't missed by Marie. They made enough to support themselves because that was all they had. There was no father in the picture as far as Marie could discern, and for that she respected Lea greatly. Instead of wallowing in pity and depression, the woman had taken the initiative and worked towards supporting her family and that was something Marie could relate with. To top it off, the woman probably had Yumi when she was 16 - just a year older than Marie was right now. What would Marie have done were she in a similar situation?

"Though Liam does help us a lot," Lea admitted. "He was the one who suggested that we sell in the town. He also offers us discounted rides to and fro - which I had to argue for by the way since his first offer was to do it for free!" Lea's reverence and praise caused the man to blush in return. In fact, Marie could feel the respect and gratitude Lea held for the man just by the way she looked at him.

Marie returned to her previous game of 'React' with Yumi as she entered a fugue state, gazing out into the sprawling flatlands and sparse forestry all around them. The sun had only recently risen, its rays refracting and reflecting off the jewel-like morning dew coating the grass and leaves to create small, contained and dazzling rainbows. The heat was manageable, although it was peak summer, probably due to the pleasant winds blowing in from the ocean nearby. All in all, it was a tranquil cart ride... thanks to Marie, of course.

The Master-Disciple duo's journey from Twilight Village was basically a sequence of cashing in favours immediately to get to a new destination. On that note, it was only Marie who indulged in this activity since her Master was of the opinion that they could very easily make their way to the destination on foot using movement arts. Their current mode of transport wasn't technically a favour since the other passengers and driver were unaware of the fact that Marie had effectively saved their lives.

While Marie searched for their next transport at their previous stop, she happened to observe that Liam, Lea and Yumi would perish during their cart ride to Dawnbreak Town due to a stampede of wild boars endemic to the region. In Marie's opinion, it was an easily avoidable predicament that could potentially save three lives. So for her, it was basically a no-brainer to interfere. By hitching a ride with them, Marie managed to delay the trip a few kilometres before the predicted area of interception by requesting a stop to relieve herself. Her manoeuvre succeeded. Just a while back, Marie's senses had caught the tracks of a large group of boars crossing through the cart's trajectory.

'Your actions to save these people from their impending death weren't missed by me,' her Master's voice jolted her from her blank trance. 'I fear that you are interfering excessively. Was this even necessary?'

Marie narrowed her gaze as a frown warped her countenance. She extricated herself from the impromptu game she was in with Yumi and scooted over to her Master.

"Why shouldn't I have helped them?" Marie whispered.

"Because it isn't your responsibility to help everyone," Krish answered with an equally low whisper.

"I saw that they were going to die. It was within my power to assist. Hence, it becomes my responsibility to do so," Marie defended.

Krish shook his head and corrected, "The moment you shift their fate from what is laid in their trajectory, they become your responsibility, not before. These three were set to die here, gored and trampled by a horde of wild boars - that was their fate. Without you here, this is what would have happened to them, how does that become your responsibility?"

"I disagree. If we follow your logic, then our power is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. We can't even use it to help ourselves since we don't exist in fate's tapestry. Who are we supposed to use it for?" Marie argued.

With a bitter sigh, Krish presented his thoughts, "I just... Look, every being has the autonomy to make choices that will affect their lives in a particular way. You may argue that said beings don't have true agency since most of what they experience in life is predetermined, but that is only because we have the luxury of being able to observe how these beings will react and behave in the face of adversity. For all intents and purposes, we are anomalies. So, when a being acts, there is always an opportunity cost - there is something lost or gained from making that choice. We as outside observers remove the being's choice by forcing them down a path we deem superior. Who are we to judge which is better and which is worse? Maybe, the forgone outcome from choosing option A over option B might have been more alluring or more beneficial down the line for said being."

Krish let the point sink in before bringing it all together, "What I'm trying to say is that you are free to interfere in the lives of others as you deem fit. But know that you are doing it out of selfishness rather than selflessness. Know that what happens because of your interference is on you and you alone. It may seem warped in your head as I am saying this, but sometimes it is better to not interfere at all."

With that said, Krish returned to his meditative state. Although, he could see his Disciple's expression turning from disbelief to mild annoyance until it finally settled at disregard. It didn't irritate or agitate Krish, though. He knew his Disciple's character by now. His Disciple wasn't like Markus, who took his Master's words as gospel. He knew that she wasn't one to internalise anything unless it was backed up sufficiently with fact. He sighed internally at that thought.

'I just hope that when the time comes, she doesn't break down too much,' he prayed. Most times, experience is the greatest teacher. Sometimes, the trauma incurred through said experience trounces the teachings that can be absorbed from it. This case in particular was a tightrope walk that Krish was not looking forward to. Unfortunately, it would be something he'd have to walk and that too much sooner than preferred.