“Do you think there’s a way home?” Tom asked.
“If there is, it would be on par with the spell to bring Kevin back,” Dick said. “Nothing that will be quick or easy to get to. Besides, do we really want to go home?”
“I don’t,” Tom said. “Kattie does, Carl might, and Kevin, when we bring him back, is likely to.”
“Secondary objective, then?” Harry asked.
“I can get behind that,” Dick nodded.
“Let’s keep that under wraps, just in case,” Tom said. “No reason to bring it up to the others until we’re certain.”
“Kattie?” Harry asked.
“That’s my concern, yeah,” Tom nodded. “Well, truthfully my concern is Carl. She’d push him to make it happen, and I’m not sure he’s cut out for adventuring as a lifestyle.”
“Truth,” Dick nodded. “Keep our lips shut.”
~*~*~
The sun had set when the friends returned to the village and headed straight for the inn. They were surprised to see it packed with villagers. Harry slipped inside without an issue. Dick went in right behind him, apologizing to the one person he bumped. Tom stopped at the door, not able to slip in like his thinner friends had.
“Excuse me,” Tom said, looking at the villager taking up most of the space just inside the door.
“Sorry, it’s full,” the villager laughed.
“Guess I need to make room, then,” Tom said, grabbing the villager, pulling him out of the doorway, and tossing him into the street. “Excuse me.”
The brief commotion made the people closest to the door turn and look. Some of the villagers stepped back, clearing a path for Tom, who gave them a smile. However, another villager stepped right into his way.
“You think you can just do what you want, dwarf?”
“Yes,” Tom said, evenly jamming his fist into the man’s gut, pulling it enough not to seriously injure the villager.
Gasping and coughing, the confrontational man collapsed onto the floor, and the music cut off. All eyes went to Tom, who stood over the villager. “Was that necessary?” Orbin asked as the crowd parted for him.
“He stepped directly in my way and asked if I thought I could do what I wanted. I gave him his answer.”
“He threw me out of the inn first!” the guy from outside argued, having come back to the door.
“I asked him to let me in and he objected,” Tom shrugged. “By the way, Charlie is fine. We helped him fight off the forty goblins that attacked his place. Gustav died.”
“Tom, you should really let someone else explain things,” Dick said, walking back to where Tom was.
“Next time, maybe don’t leave me behind, then,” Tom replied.
“Gustav died?” Orbin asked Dick, ignoring Tom.
“We have a letter for you,” Harry said, appearing next to the elder. “Here.”
Orbin took the letter and, after reading it, nodded. “Charlie believes there is a goblin encampment within a day’s march of our village. Hunters, have you seen anything to hint at that?”
“Elder,” the lead hunter said, standing up, “we haven’t been looking for goblin tracks before yesterday.”
“Then we have no idea where they are or how many there might be.”
This unwelcome news got the villagers all trying to talk at once while the fear in the room spiked sharply. A brief burst of music cut off the rising voices, and all eyes went to John.
“Calm down, folks,” John smiled. “Elder Orbin will figure out what to do, and my friends can handle it.”
“Thank you,” Orbin told John, then turned to address the crowd. “We can’t have our hunters going off to look for the goblins. If they happened upon a patrol, or worse the camp, and were seen… There is only one course of action we can take.”
Tom rolled his eyes, “Us, right?”
“This is what adventurers are for,” Orbin replied, and the crowd agreed with him. “Of course, we wouldn’t ask you to do this for nothing. Finding and removing the goblin threat is of dire importance to our village. We will make sure you are compensated accordingly.”
“Dick?” Tom said with a flat stare.
“Elder,” Dick said slowly, “let’s have a private chat about reimbursement, shall we? If the terms are approved, then we’ll hunt down and kill the goblins.”
“Three cheers for the adventurers,” someone in the crowd said.
The crowd exploded with cheers, and Orbin looked displeased for a moment before a fixed smile settled on his face. Once the cheers died down, he turned to Dick, “There’s a private dining room down the hall. Felix, bring me some of your finest drink and dinner for our friends. They could surely use a good meal after being on the road all day.”
The friends fell in behind Orbin. John started to sing again, drawing the crowd back to him. Giving them a subtle nod, he went back to distracting the crowd. Marie trailed after them, determined to help.
Chapter Nine
The friends took seats at the table opposite Orbin. No one spoke while they waited for drinks. Wilma, Felix’s wife, brought the amphora of wine and glasses.
Once she had left, Orbin spoke, “What is it you wish in recompense?”
“That’ll depend on the job,” Dick replied. “If it’s a small group, then we shouldn’t charge you much, but if it’s a village, then the cost should go up accordingly.”
“But if you’re the only ones to see them, how can I be sure you are being forthright with me?”
“Ears?” Tom asked.
“Ears?” Orbin questioned, not understanding.
“We’ll bring you their ears,” Tom replied.
Orbin spat his mouthful of wine out onto the table, leaving purple stains on the tablecloth and the front of his robe.
“It’s disgusting, but it does mean an accurate count,” Harry added, lips twisted in distaste.
“What would I do with them?” Orbin asked incredulously.
“Bury ‘em, burn ‘em, we don’t care,” Dick shrugged. “You wanted us to prove we would be honest. He’s given you a fair option for that.”
“Or you can take them at their word,” Marie cut in gently. “Orbin, we have no desire to take advantage of Greenways or its people in this dire time. Tom did offer a solution. It’s a grisly one, but viable.”
Orbin grimaced, a shudder running through him, “Fine… but left ears only. I don’t want any more of them than necessary.”
“We’ll want a copper an ear. Plus, we’ll take equipment up front, the cost of which can be deducted from our total when we’re done. If we don’t kill enough gobs to pay for the equipment, we’ll return it,” Dick said.
“We don’t have much,” Orbin said slowly.
“We don’t need much,” Dick replied. “We have weapons, not the best, but functional. We could use two crossbows if the village has any, plus bolts. A tent, a few blankets and bedrolls, a pot, a few sets of cutlery. Standard items.”
Orbin sighed, “You’re asking for quite the investment on our end. If we give you what you ask and you fail, we’ve lost all of that and still have the goblin problem.”
“We don’t fail,” Dick said evenly, using occultism to clean the tablecloth.
Marie spoke up, “Orbin, these three can do this. What they will probably do is scout the location, return for the supplies needed to handle it, then head out and exterminate the goblins. It is their standard way of dealing with these problems. I’ve seen them do it countless times.”
“How did they come to be without equipment if they’ve done it so often?” Orbin asked, tugging on what he saw as a major flaw in her words.
“Magic,” Tom snapped. “Damned unstable magic. Not only did it take us from where we were, it reduced us to this current state.”
“Easy,” Dick said. “He’s right, though. We were in our friend’s home, having gathered for a night of relaxation between adventures when a magic storm hit and deposited us here.”
“Hmm,” Orbin sipped at his glass
for a long moment. “You’re telling the truth... interesting. Maybe it is the will of the light that you are here to aid us, then.”
“I hope that means the payment will be good,” Tom muttered.
Harry kicked his leg, “Ixnay.”
“I’ll see about having the items ready for you before noon tomorrow,” Orbin said, getting to his feet just a knock came on the door. “Enjoy your meal.”
Wilma brought the food in as Orbin left. Once she left, Marie broke the ice. “Do you think that was a good thing to do?”
“What, demand proper payment?” Tom asked as he dug into the stew.
“It felt more mercenary than we should have been,” Marie said.
“Marie,” Harry said slowly, “Orbin’s house is as big as this inn. He hasn’t paid for anything, just told others to make things happen. I doubt we’ve come close to taxing him. We’ll need what we asked for to even have a chance, anyways.”
“I know, you’re probably right,” she said, “but I look at the villagers and think about the good we can do.”
“Good won’t bring Kevin back,” Harry said softly, but with conviction. “I’m not going to gouge this village, but I have a goal. Doing good won’t make that happen any sooner. Getting paid and equipped so we can make more money will.”
Marie bowed her head, “If only this world had healing and resurrection magic like so many of the other games did.”
“Then you would have been able to save him or help bring him back sooner,” Dick said. “We know, Marie. His death wasn’t your fault. John needs you, you’ve been his rock. Help him achieve his dream and in turn, help us bring Kevin back sooner.”
“You’re right,” Marie said, wiping away the few tears that had escaped when she thought about Kevin. “I’ll put aside my reservations. You do what you have to for him. I’ll make sure John does the same.”
“Thank you,” Harry said softly. “Honestly, Marie, thank you.”
“You’ll make an old lady cry again,” Marie said, standing up from the table. “You’re all good boys. If you need us, we’ll be ready to help you. Keep that in mind, please.”
“We will,” Dick said.
When Marie left the room, Tom chuckled softly. “Good boys, and at the moment, she looks younger than we do.”
“I didn’t want to correct her,” Dick said. “Besides, she’ll always be our gaming mom.”
“Truth,” Harry mumbled with a full mouth.
“Dude, have some courtesy,” Tom laughed as he grabbed a chunk of bread. “This stew is good. What do you think the meat is?”
“Wolf,” Harry replied. “The one I helped the hunters with. I also think we might not want to ask that question much. We very well might end up eating some really odd shit in this world.”
“Fair,” Dick nodded. “On that note, Tom, I dub you kitchen bitch when we’re out in the wilds.”
“Assholes,” Tom muttered. “Two years of being a cook doesn’t make me your goddamned chef.”
“Hey, hey,” Dick said, “I already have cleaning detail.”
Tom’s mouth snapped shut, “Fine, but what about shorty?”
“I’ll likely be the one bringing the food in,” Harry said. “I should probably try to find out about plants here, too. I don’t know if you guys looked at those apples closely, but they weren’t quite our apples. They were close and tasted fine, but they’re not the same. The pears at Wilmirth’s farm looked off, too.”
“Try not to kill us while you learn,” Tom said.
“If I can get a spell that lets me conjure water, that might be a damned good idea, too. Otherwise, we’re going to have a bitch of a time out in the wilds.”
“Truth,” Harry nodded, “or we’ll have to carry an excessive amount of waterskins.”
“Fun times,” Tom grumbled. “I can already guess who’s going to be the pack mule.”
“Weren’t those half-breed dwarves in one of the game systems? Sterile half-breeds?”
“Yeah, but I’m not the half-breed. You are,” Tom bantered back at Dick.
“Half-elves aren’t known for being sterile,” Dick replied.
“New world, new rules maybe,” Tom chuckled.
“Knock it off, guys,” Harry muttered.
“I think he feels bad that he went… small,” Dick snickered.
Harry just flipped him off as he continued to eat.
“And he got uglier… okay seriously, Harry. You don’t mind?”
“Wish I wasn’t quite as fugly, but the rest, no,” Harry shrugged. “This body is perfectly healthy. I just wish Kevin was here.”
“He’d be bitching about not being home. Not as bad at Kattie, but still bad,” Tom said.
“Maybe, but he’d be right beside us when it came time for fighting,” Dick added.
“Point,” Tom agreed.
“Do you think Carl, John, and Marie will help us assault the goblins after we find them?” Harry asked.
“Kattie won’t, but Carl… maybe. John will if we ask, but as an entertainer, he won’t be much use in the fight. He’ll want us to keep Marie out of it, too.” Dick paused for a long moment before continuing, “We could really use her, her and Carl. The more casters we have, the better off we’ll be.”
“Agreed,” Harry and Tom said together.
“Jinx, you owe me a Coke,” Tom said.
“You just go ahead and wait on that,” Harry laughed.
“Damn, now I miss pop,” Tom sighed.
“Drink the wine,” Dick said. “I find it funny. I never drank before, but here it just feels natural. At least for wine. Not so much for beer, and I’m not at all tempted to drink the hard stuff.”
“Elves,” Tom snickered.
“Hmm,” Harry muttered, his eyes focused on the distance. “What if our new bodies are shifting the way we think?”
“Not sure how I’d feel about that,” Dick murmured.
“I don’t feel any different. If anything, I feel empowered to go ahead and be who I am. Here, there’s a certain freedom we didn’t have on Earth. If I went down and got into a bar fight on Earth, the cops would show up and arrest me. Here, I might be asked to leave the town, but they aren’t going to try hauling me in. Besides, they’re going to pay me to go kill things. I kind of like that idea,” Tom said.
“The military would have paid you, too,” Harry pointed out.
“Not as I was. No four-hundred pounder is passing basic,” Tom replied.
“No PMC would have employed him, either,” Dick nodded. “It is a bit freeing, and the sense of power at my fingertips is kind of nice. I don’t know how well jinx ray would stack up to a .45 or 9mm, but I never have to reload and don’t run out of ammo for it.”
“I got it,” Harry said, “but we should just keep it in mind. If our way of thinking is being shifted by the world, maybe— and it’s a big maybe— maybe Kattie will come to accept things.”
“Stranger things could happen,” Dick shrugged.
“I’m not holding my breath,” Tom added.
~*~*~
Waking the next morning, the friends made their way down to the taproom. Felix motioned them to a table before stepping into the kitchen. Taking seats, the three were joined by Marie and Carl.
“Morning,” Marie smiled. “Orbin started arranging things last night. I’m sure everything will be ready soon.”
“Hopefully,” Tom mumbled, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“You take so long to wake up,” Dick chuckled.
“Shut it,” Harry grumbled. “We know you could operate on less sleep than a normal person before, but now you feel refreshed when doing it.”
“Another plus,” Dick grinned.
“Do you think wanting to punch him in the face is me being influenced by the world?” Tom asked Harry.
“No, because I’m thinking about it, too,” Harry muttered.
Marie giggled, “You three are always so much fun to be around.”
“You think our thoughts are
being influenced?” Carl asked quickly.
“It’s a hypothesis for now,” Dick said. “I never drank before coming here, but since water might not be safe, I have been. I find that wine isn’t so bad, beer is not good, and the rest is awful.”
Greenways Goblins (Resurrection Quest Book 1) Page 9