by Paul Kite
“Why not?” Cleto spoke thoughtfully. “I think this is the smartest idea you’ve had for the last month.”
“Not the only one,” Garlo retorted with a full mouth. “One more thing, put a collar on one of your dogs and on …”
“I know!” The old man interrupted the headman. “We’ll take Cher and Mika with us, Liv and Nata will remain on guard. They aren’t dogs, I have already told you a hundred times, they are called Huo-kaur. It’s an orcish hybrid of half-orc half-dog.”
Now I knew what those creatures were, though it was quite useless information. I still couldn’t figure out what they were capable of.
“Even if they’re goblins’,” the headman murmured. “Dogs are dogs.”
“Have it your way,” Cleto said. “I’ll take the food to our employee, and then I’m going to Nyarken for the cart. Get a change of clothes after you finish breakfast.”
“OK, OK. Come on.”
Cleto came out of the kitchen, and I began to rub the floor with even greater diligence, pretending to work and not eavesdropping.
“So, Kraven, you can rest for a couple of minutes,” he put a large plate of fresh hot soup and a big piece of bread on the nearest table. “I decided you’re coming with us. After breakfast, choose an ax of a suitable size. By the way, do you know how to use a bow or a crossbow?”
“Nope,” I shook my head.
“Oh, I was hoping you did,” the old man sighed in disappointment. “Then I’ll take an extra crossbow and try to teach you how to shoot. It’s not too complicated. After all, sometimes a sharp bolt is more important in a battle than a good blade and skill.”
I wasn’t really against it. Honestly, I didn’t care much about crossbows or bows at all, but the skill could turn out to be useful. Every now and again, I was surprised by how strange and interesting the old man was, first his strange dogs, now crossbows.
“When you hear noise in the yard, you’ll know to get ready for the journey,” the manager warned me. “I’m going for the cart.”
The old man returned pretty quickly. I only managed to eat the soup and find a small but strong and sharp ax from the back room when the neighing of horses and the creak of wooden wheels sounded from the yard.
“What are you waiting for?” The headman complained from behind me when I stopped at the doorstep before leaving the house, wondering if I had taken everything I needed.
Garlon lightly pushed me on the shoulder and I, cursing him mentally, walked over to the covered cart or wagon, to be precise. The headman himself sat on the bench next to the old man who held the reins. I moved the coarse cloth to the side and climbed onto the wagon. I almost tripped over one of the crossbows lying on the floor when I saw two cages with the Huo-kaur inside. That name was difficult to pronounce. They didn’t even bother to notice me. Their sad and disgruntled faces rested on their paws; their eyes were covered. I wasn’t eager to travel near them.
“Be careful there!” Cleto shouted. “Don’t break anything!”
The cart started moving slowly and I, trying to stay away from the cages, sat down on the side through which I climbed inside. I pulled the corner of the fabric open and looked at the street. It was more interesting than staring at those creatures or studying the wagon from the inside.
“Don’t disturb the dogs,” the old man spoke again after a while.
That was doubtful.
“As we drive out on the road, I’ll let them go for a walk.” The headman informed me.
Delightful. I was overjoyed with the prospect. Absolutely wonderful.
As soon as our wagon left the village and was about half a mile away, Cleto stopped and asked me to come outside, what I was happy to do.
The old man climbed inside the wagon, fiddled there for a while, talked to the dogs, and then, pleased, leaned out of the wagon and handed me one of the crossbows.
“Cher, Mika, forward!” Both dogs flew over the board and spun around us, as if they had been locked in the cages for all their lives.
A wide leather collar with short spikes was put on the neck of each of the dogs. When the old man, rather quickly for his age and limpness, jumped off the wagon, he was holding short leashes made of a thick chain. By the way, that very awkward cane he used had disappeared. I never saw it again.
“Let’s get out of the road, I’ll show you how to use a crossbow,” the old man nodded towards the wood nearby.
Cleto offered to use a tall stump of a broken tree as a target that reached to my chest.
“Look,” the manager began to explain, taking the crossbow from my hands. “Pull the string with this mechanism, then put a bolt here, aim and press the trigger.”
I heard a twang and the bolt thrust into the stump.
“I’ll show it to you one more time,” Cleto repeated the steps again. “Got it? Try to hit the target.”
It looked like it was nothing difficult. I aimed, pulled the trigger and... the bolt flew higher than the stump somewhere into the woods.
I hoped I didn’t hurt anything. Neither a bear nor a wolf or any another animal would be very happy about it.
Cleto shook his head in amazement, marveling at my inability to handle what he believed to be a simple weapon.
He handed me a new bolt, “Load it. Just don’t point it in my direction. I might be old, but I still want to live.”
that the whole time I was learning to shoot and load a crossbow, the headman was sitting on the bench in the front part of the cart.
I noticed a couple of times after a bolt flew away in an unknown direction, that he was murmuring something to himself. Apparently, Garlon had deducted the loss of ammunition from my salary.
“In general, it’s not bad,” the old man smiled satisfied when I lost five out of ten bolts. Two didn’t reach the target, plunging into the ground somewhere halfway through, and three hit the target. “We’ll make one more stop and practice again.”
We went back to the wagon and continued on our journey.
The dogs were left to run alongside, moving away and approaching the cart periodically. The old man whistled some merry tune as I watched our surroundings and the clouds of dust that rose after us.
Then another stop followed, and Cleto’s lesson on handling a crossbow continued. I had improved my new skill. I actually managed to hit the target five times.
The system had offered me to learn the skill ‘Crossbow’. Of course, I agreed without hesitating.
We encountered only a few other travelers on our way to the city. We saw some horse guards and a caravan of three carts and numerous guards. As far as I could gather, they were heading to the monastery.
Tall wooden gates and part of a stone wall appeared in the distance, beyond the forest. It was a city; the only city on the whole island.
Of course, it wasn’t as big as the cities on the mainland, but that was understandable because far fewer people lived on Harith-Hodor. In addition, they were mostly human, mainly from the kingdom of Nazhar. I didn’t know the situation with the players, but according to Master Zorkhan, there were few immortals. Although, considering how I looked at that moment, hardly any of them would have paid attention to me.
Hefty strong guards were standing at the gate. They examined our appearance carefully once our wagon approached.
“We cannot let you go inside with these…” one of the guards thought for a moment, “...dogs without a leash. Either put a leash on them or drive them in your wagon.”
I was glad to see I was not the only one who was unsettled by their creepy appearance.
“Very well,” Cleto nodded in agreement and, coming down from the cart, called Cher and Mika to fasten the leashes to their collars. “Kraven, come here!” The old man called me over. “Take the leashes!”
I could only imagine the expression on my face. “Don’t worry, I told you that they won't touch you now,” the manager said, noting my displeasure. “Hold tight, they're certainly obedient, but you never know…” The last phrase made me cringe.<
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Garlon paid the fee for entering the city on a wagon and parked it in a special shed, then he gave a few coins to the groom. He had to unhitch the horses, feed and water them in our absence.
As we walked on, the headman and the manager went ahead, and I followed behind them, holding two wild dogs with red eyes on a leash.
Fadlas was different from all the cities I had been to. It was majestic and beautiful. It charmed with its elegance and style. The elongated arches, favored by dark elves, were in perfect harmony with the statues of mythical creatures, which were undoubtedly crafted by gnomes. Buildings with reliefs of people and orcs perfectly complemented the general view, fitting into the overall architecture of the city surprisingly well.
I had a feeling that all the races inhabiting the world of Noria contributed to building Fadlas in the olden days!
“Keep up, Kraven,” Cleto called out to me as I stopped to stare at another marvelous structure.
First, the old man led us to a large three-story house, a flag with crossed swords hoisted on its roof. Cleto went inside without knocking, leaving me and the headman waiting on the street. Dissatisfied with such a manifestation of disrespect for his person, Garlon left after a couple of minutes, informing me that he would be in the ‘Three Boars’ tavern. He asked me to tell Cleto that he would wait for him there.
I was left alone, with two beasts on a leash. They behaved surprisingly well, sitting quietly on their hindquarters and watching passers-by. They, in turn, looked at me and the dogs with caution and tried to vacate the dangerous place quickly.
Then the door opened, and the old man appeared on the threshold.
“Everything’s fine, I’ve made…” he stopped abruptly when he noticed that the headman wasn’t on the street. “Where’s Garlon?”
“He went to the ‘Three Boars’ tavern,” I said.
“Clear. Let’s go there too.”
Chapter 4
The tavern was quiet and peaceful. The owner of the institution and the headman were sitting at a secluded table nearest to the entrance. There were no other people in the room.
I had to leave the dogs on the street, after attaching their leashes to some hooks on the wall.
Garlon waved his hand eagerly, inviting Cleto to the table with food and some sort of drinks. I remained standing next to the table. It was clear that there was no place for an employee at the same table with the owners. Cleto could eat with me from the same cauldron, but Garlon ... he was the headman! That meant he was above all farm laborers and other hired hands there.
“Cleto,” I turned to the manager, “Can I run to the nearest shop to buy new clothes? My own are already…” I pointed to my clothes. “Well, you can see for yourself in what condition they are.”
“Do you have money? Or do I need to give you some coins in advance?” The old man asked.
“No, I have some coins in my pocket. My parents gave me a little. I paid for my seat on the ship, and still have some of it left.”
“OK, but be quick!” Cleto said. “We’ll stay here for half an hour more.”
I quickly left the tavern and ran to the center of the city, since it wasn’t far away.
“Excuse me, can you please tell me,” I turned to the first guard I came across, “where I can find a good,” I emphasized the word, “seller of light armor?”
The guard looked at me very suspiciously, although it was understandable; I looked far from well off. Therefore, I took out a dozen coins and handed them to him with a smile: “My master sent me to buy the armor, but I don't know the city very well.”
“Well,” the guard checked around before accepting the coins, “There's Elkhran’s shop nearby. Go straight, then turn left at the small yellow house, and then go straight again. You’ll see a large sign with a bright gold inscription ‘Elkhran’s Armor and Weapons’... Although…” he hesitated for a moment, “you probably don't know how to read. Well, there’s still a shield and a sword painted above the inscription, they're just like real ones. You can’t miss it.”
“Thank you,” I said to the guard and ran in the indicated direction.
When I located the sign, I went to the door and knocked.
“Come in,” someone’s voice invited me in.
A short, heavyset man was standing next to the entrance and trying to fix a large, shining sword to the wall. The place could easily be called a shop, as it was big enough.
“Can I help…” and then he, having noticed how I was dressed, immediately changed his tone. “What do you want? I don’t sell knives and shovels. You’ve come to the wrong place.”
“No, I wasn’t mistaken,” I grinned, pulling out a bag of local currency from my inventory.
“Oh!” A greedy little light flashed in the man's eyes. “How may I help you... sir?”
“I need light leather armor, preferably by dark elven production,” I said.
“Hmm, give me some more details. You know, the drow make a lot of things, it will be difficult to know from what you’ve indicated.”
I decided to pull out my damaged jacket from the set in the inventory. “Is there something similar?”
“Wow!” the seller’s eyes widened in surprise, and he took it from my hands and examined it carefully. “If I'm not mistaken ... it ... was created in the Guild ‘Elghinn Dal Veldrin.’”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “It’s just that I was lucky to get it on the mainland from one of the second-hand dealers, but, alas, in one of the clashes with the beasts in the forest, it was severely damaged.” That was as close to the truth as possible, and the meeting with the beasts was true!
“I sympathize with you, young man.” The seller sighed. “If you decide to sell it, I'll give you a very good price for it. Do you have any other parts of the kit?”
“No!” Having taken the jacket, I replied.
I had no intention of letting him know that I had a complete set, and, of course, I wasn’t planning on selling it.
“A pity. Such armor, alas, is unlikely to be found, especially of such a quality …” the trader wondered, “I can offer you the armor of light elven work. Its protective properties, of course, aren’t so good, and it’s less convenient. However, you’re unlikely to find anything better in Fadlas. Would you like to take a look?”
“Sure,” I agreed with the proposal.
The man left the front store, opening the door to some additional room and soon returned with a small chest.
“Here it is,” he opened the lid. “Would you like to try it on?”
Of course, the parameters were lower than those of the Shadows’ student armor, but it wasn’t too bad either. Though I didn’t really like the dark brown color, I decided to buy the armor.
“I’ll take it! How much is it?”
“Six hundred irens.” The merchant named the price, and, judging by the cunning spark in his eyes, he overestimated it by an order of magnitude when compared with the market.
However, I didn’t know the real prices on the market, and even if he had said a thousand, I would have paid a thousand. I didn’t have time to haggle.
While the owner silently counted the amount, I took the armor with the strange name ‘Foggy Leaf’ and hid it in an inventory bag.
“By the way, do you sell regular clothes, something like this?” I pointed to what I was wearing at that moment. “With a high collar, made of strong fabric, but one that is not a pity to get dirty and discard.”
“I do.”
“I need two sets,” I said to the back of the retreating seller.
Having handed me two bundles, the man told me the price was eighty irens, and it seemed that he had raised the price once more, without batting an eye.
Without saying goodbye, I left the shop and ran back to the tavern.
“Have you bought everything you need?” Cleto asked me right away, standing at the entrance to the tavern and feeding his dogs with large chunks of fresh raw meat.
“Yes,” I replied.
&
nbsp; “There’s still a little food left,” he nodded at the tavern door, “Have a quick bite and go and hire some workers.”
The old man, despite all the persuasion and controversy he employed when speaking with Garlon, didn’t waste time on trifles. Almost without bargaining, he rented (if one could call it that way) six burly men in a certain office for cargo transfers (yes, that was exactly what their line of work was called!) for a period of four days. He promised complete safety for the workers or full reparation in the event of their death.
Hmm, I would never agree to such a job.
Cleto gave clear instructions to the six cargo carriers to wait near the wagon, which we’d left at the city gates.
“Well, where’s that monk staying?” The old man turned to Garlon.
“In the ‘Entiar’ hotel.”
“Then you will show the way, because I don’t remember such an institution in this city.”
“It’s been recently opened,” the headman began to explain on our way to the hotel. “Mostly young people from the mainland stay there.”
“Everything’s clear,” Cleto dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “Please, do not continue. But do you know what we’ve forgotten?”
“No.”
“We only have about fifty bolts for the crossbows, it seems. Maybe even less. We need to buy more on the way back.”
Garlon grimaced as if he was spat in the face and hissed something through clenched teeth.
“So what? Those workers that I’ve hired for protection have swords, we ourselves will use ranged weapons. Therefore, we need to buy a pair of crossbows and more bolts. We just have to wait until we start making a profit!”
The headman didn’t answer, he turned right and went between two houses into the courtyard; he decided, apparently, to take a shortcut.
“We’ve arrived,” Garlon pointed to a completely new four-story building in the shape of the letter ‘n’, it was built in the style of the buildings of the Nazhar Kingdom.