The Little Man is Still a Man

## Full-text

Three days before Lord Torrin’s birthday and the celebration event. Elio just got back to the City of Lua from delivering today’s mail. He made a stop at the market square to buy some meat and headed straight to Jake’s place. Elio knocked on the door twice and called his name, "Jake! I got lamb pieces and some veggies from a village I went to today. We can make some lamb chop salad for dinner!" Elio waited for a bit and then invited himself in. He was a bit surprised to see that the place was not a mess anymore. He put down all the ingredients he had on his tiny arms on a dining table. Elio then went out to the tavern to find Jake.

Arriving at the tavern, Elio found Jake, Bertell, and Gustaf drinking together. Bertell noticed Elio coming inside the inn and immediately greeted him, "There’s our loverboy!" he yelled and raised his mug. The people in the pub joined in to greet him as well.

"Hey, Hey, what are you guys talking about? Who is the loverboy?" Elio was lost.

"Raelynn told me, you want to go to the upcoming Torrin’s birthday party in Bravos, and I remember last week you were talking to that Bravosian girl in front of the company. It’s obvious, isn’t it?" Bertell said, while calling Morton to him with his hand. "Get us 2 more rounds, Mort." He told him.

"Isn’t that right, Elio?" Bertell teased him.

"I don’t know what you are talking about." Elio refused to answer.

"Well… so I guess you won’t be needing this then." Bertell pulled out a letter from his vest. "To Elio Pierre, From Elani We–"

"Hey! Give me that." Elio yanked the letter off his hand right away.

"Wow, is this how you thanked my generous gesture, I literally gave up the opportunity to visit the \*glorious\* city of bravos for you to meet his girl of yours." Bertell continued to tease him.

"I thought you dislike going to Bravos." Gustaf jumped in the conversation while nursing his beer.

"Yeah, I thought you said the city is nasty and that their streets are filled with dirt and mud." Jake added.

"That’s beside the point, I just need Elio to know that he wouldn’t be able to meet his girlfriend if it wasn’t for me." Bertell said.

"Thank you, Bertell." Elio replied.

"No worries, my little friend." Bertell smiled.

Morton walked back to the table with 8 pints of beer, "Here you go, guys. Enjoy!" He said.

"What are you waiting for? Open the letter and read it already." Bertell spoke up.

"Alright, Alright." Elio replied, and opened the letter."

Elio looked quite distressed after finishing reading the note, "You guys, know anything about this birthday event in Bravos, I think Raelynn mentioned that there will be some sort of tournament as well, right?"

"Yeah. Like a duel or some barbaric, brutal stupidity that they could come up with to entertain their mindless crowds, why?" Bertell replied.

"Did you know that there would be prizes?" Elio asked.

"I would assume so, yeah." Bertell responded.

"You aren’t seriously considering joining the tournament, are you?" Gustaf asked.

"You couldn’t beat me in a fight, you're just going to get yourself hurt." Bertell added.

Three days later, Elio the EFJP mailman won the one on one tournament in Bravos during the celebration of Lord Torrin’s 33rd birthday. He was also awarded a really good horse and golds.

“I assumed you would want to stay here a bit longer?” Raelynn walked up to Elio.

“Is that okay?” Elio asked her.

“Well…… If I was Marianne, I would say no. But She’s here, isn’t she?” Raelynn replied.

“So, is that a yes?”

“Let's just say you need a couple days to recover all the wounds you got from those fights of yours.” Raelynn said, “But I’m taking the horse back though, I’m not really keen on traveling over a large body of water.”

“It’s a deal, then.”

“I’ll let Bertell cover for you, see you then.”

“Safe travel, Raelynn.” Elio then walked her off the city.

## Synopsis

Three days before Lord Torrin's birthday celebration, Elio, a mailman, returns to the City of Lua and invites his friend Jake to dinner. At a tavern, Elio's friends tease him about his interest in a Bravosian girl named Elani. Bertell reveals a letter from Elani, and Elio becomes distressed after reading it, mentioning a tournament at the birthday event in Bravos. Despite warnings, Elio decides to participate and wins the one-on-one tournament, receiving a horse and gold as prizes. Raelynn, a senior writer from EFJP, offers him a few more days in Bravos, and Elio accepts, planning to recover before returning.