Farmer

by Tom Larcombe

  There goes the gossip mill again, at least that's what I'm guessing, Eddie thought.

  “You want the whole list or the summary?” he asked. “Trust me, I'd much rather stay in bed with you, for as long as you wanted, but Paul's going to finish building the inn today, I've got to pick up mattresses for it as well as tableware, I have to haul all the alcohol from the cellar here down to the inn, I still need to run my food stand, we already did hunting, and Ingolf mentioned that I should visit someone named Old Liv. Evidently she knows everyone in the areas as well as Arvid does, but won't try to skin me alive financially when making recommendations as to who I should hire for what.”

  Tiana held up a hand.

  “Sorry, I didn't realize the inn was that close to opening. Buildings go up so fast here, I hadn't seen it until we built your bunkhouse down there.”

  “That's fine. I'm sure I'm missing things from that list also, but I hope I'll remember them before it's important.”

  “Well, do you need a hand?” Tiana asked.

  He nodded.

  “Yes please. We need to load the alcohol into the cart, along with produce and meat, once Allie and Karl are finished over there. Although it will probably be easier to do it like Paul and his family did and carry the big kegs in our inventories. Be easier on the cart and ox too, although with just the two of us, we won't be able to get it all in there.”

  “Hey, we can help,” Karl called out.

  Allie nodded from beside him.

  “Oh, and I'm going to need a portion of that fresh venison too,” Eddie added. “Ingolf mentioned Old Liv might appreciate a gift like that and if she's going to help without charging me, I thought it would be the right thing to do.”

  “Sure, no problem. Here's one of the ones we looted off of it, cleaner looking than the ones we butcher,” Karl said.

  He handed off the meat and while Karl and Allie continued to butcher, Tiana and Eddie started loading the wagon.

  ~ ~ ~

  The first stop at the inn involved them simply unloading things into the yard. After they did, Karl and Allie were going to stay there to guard them. No-one could steal the stuff, but someone had already made an attempt to burn down the inn. It might have worked if the goblin hadn't been stupid enough to try to light a wet surface on fire, so Eddie didn't want to risk it. Not with the amount of gold he'd outlaid for the supplies.

  The next stop was going to be Old Liv. On the way back from there, Eddie and Tiana would pick up the mattresses. Paul was claiming that he ought to be done by lunch time and Eddie wanted to have as much of the inn's furnishings there as possible when it was done. That way it would just be hauling everything in and putting it in place.

  The cart bumped roughly over the faint path Ingolf had mentioned. It was narrow and not well-kept, but the cart fit, if barely. When Eddie finally saw the small shack off to the side, he nearly laughed. He'd been expecting something run-down, the classic old hag dispensing wisdom from it. Instead what he saw was a small stone cottage, at least he'd call it a cottage and not a shack, with several small but well-cared for gardens surrounding it. There was also some sort of fenced in area out back that seemed like it would hold livestock.

  I'll have to see what she has, he thought. Maybe I can supplement the food for the inn by raising some of whatever livestock it is. I can probably make a pen for it. Is it too much to hope for that it's chickens back there? I'd kill for some scrambled eggs.

  Eddie walked to the front door with Tiana following along behind. He knocked crisply, then waited. Prepared to wait a long time he was surprised when the door opened less than ten seconds later.

  Staring out at him was a woman, she looked to be in her late thirties or early forties. Just old enough for her chestnut hair to show streaks of silver-white. She'd obviously been a knockout when younger, she was still attractive enough now for Tiana to grab his arm possessively.

  “Hi, I'm looking for Liv,” Eddie said, after a moment of surprise.

  “I'm Liv,” the woman in the door answered.

  “Um, I'm looking for Old Liv?” Eddie said hesitantly.

  Liv burst into gales of laughter. She controlled it quickly, after only a few seconds, then looked him in the face.

  “You been talking to Ingolf? I swear, just because I bounced that boy on my knee when he was a baby, he thinks I'm some ancient granny. I'm Liv, skip the Old part please or I might get offended.”

  “I'm sorry. Yes, Ingolf sent me here. He told me that you know everyone around here at least as well as Arvid, possibly better. I'm opening—”

  Eddie stopped mid-sentence. Liv wasn't listening any more. Her face was a mask of fury, one that had appeared at the mention of Arvid's name. Unconsciously, he took a step back, Tiana moving with him. Liv noticed that and, with a noticeable effort, brought her fury under control.

  “Sorry, please forgive me, but don't mention that scoundrel's name around here if you please.”

  “Uh, alright. Anyhow, I'm opening an inn. Ingolf said you could recommend the best people for the positions I need to fill, and do it without bleeding me dry in the process,” Eddie said, hastening to put the problem before her and get her mind off of Arvid.

  “He would bleed ya dry,” she said. “He's a scoundrel, no doubt about that. Got one of my cousins to marry his nephew and when the nephew up and left her, the young cad spread a horde of rumors about her. The old cad didn't naysay him either. Now she lives alone, feeling like her life is all dried up and gone with her only nineteen years of age. But you don't want to hear about his ways, you want solid advice, yes?”

  Eddie nodded.

  Well, he mused. I thought the gossip among players was bad. If I ever want it about the game world or NPCs, I think I know where to come.

  “Ingolf said you might appreciate a gift?” Eddie asked, extending the portion of venison wrapped in cloth.

  “Well, he got that right at least. What do we have here?”

  She unwrapped the meat and a smile spread across her face.

  “A good bit of meat. I can use the variety and hardly anyone brings me venison. Thank you. Why don't you come in, I'll set some tea to brewing and we can discuss what positions you have that you need filled.”

  Eddie and Tiana slipped into the cottage. He knew he had a busy day, but it didn't look like this was going to be a short visit. He'd kind of prepared himself for that, but when he'd seen the cottage, and then seen the inhabitant, he hadn't been quite sure what to expect any more.

  ~ ~ ~

  It was almost two hours later when they left Liv's cottage. Eddie was satisfied that he'd have the crew he needed to run the inn. They'd be showing up the next morning and he'd get them moved into the quarters he'd had made for them in the inn. Then he'd be showing them the areas they'd be working in.

  He was also rather happy that it was chickens she was raising and had arranged to acquire several of them, including a rooster, from the next time she hatched eggs. She'd been amenable to bargaining for them, especially after losing her temper earlier on. She'd apologized repeatedly for that, but only when they finally cut the deal for the chickens, and she gave him a discount, did she seem to feel that she'd made amends.

  He'd ended up getting the cousin Liv had mentioned earlier, Helga, as one of the barmaids. Evidently, Liv and Helga weren't so much concerned with propriety or reputation. The rumors spread about her were that she was cold to men, so none of the men in the area had ever even taken the time to get to know her. Liv knew better though and thought that being a barmaid, and constantly being flirted with, or even a touch more, would be good for Helga. And, she said, if things went beyond flirting or a bit more, well that was Helga's business, now wasn't it. That was the final word said on the matter since Eddie wasn't about to gainsay Liv, not after experiencing her forceful personality for a while.

  He was feeling quite a bit better, now that he knew he'd have a full staff. So when they stopped for the mattresses and he found out that the woman he'd contracted for t
hem had also made him a much larger feather mattress, “One fit for a man that employs others” she'd said, he paid the extra silvers for that mattress and tipped the lady heavily. He'd been planning on using a straw tick for his own bed, just like the others. With the way things seemed to be looking with Tiana though, he was happy to have it.

  They got back to the inn an hour before noon. Karl and Allie were chatting with Paul's helpers. Evidently what he was doing now didn't need their help and they were just waiting for him to finish in case he did need any extra hands before then.

  Not wanting to unload the mattresses onto the dirt and grass in front of the inn, they simply waited. The only other load they needed to pick up from anywhere other than the farm was from Ingolf. Two chests worth, or close to it, of bowls, plates, mugs, and the like. After that there were a few things he wanted to bring down from the farm and he'd be set.

  Ingolf's cousins were all set to take over the farm the following day and Eddie had told them they could stay there tonight. He'd set aside rooms in the inn for Karl, Allie, and Tiana after asking them if they wanted to base from the inn or from the farm. They'd unanimously chosen the inn, although Jern would be staying in the rabbit warren on the farm. When he heard that there would be proper alcohol at the inn, he'd wavered, but upon finding out it was a fairly short walk, he stuck with his underground rooms.

  Paul came striding out of the inn.

  “All set, should be good as gold. Are you ready to take possession of your inn, Eddie?” Paul said.

  Eddie nodded and walked up to the front door, Tiana following along. He'd noticed that she'd been staying very close to him all day. He wasn't going to complain, although he did wonder exactly why that was.

  Paul led him into the inn. On the ground floor, behind the bar, was a door in the wall. When Paul led him through that he found himself in a control room. It was much fancier than the one on the farm and he just stood there and stared as Paul walked him through the controls.

  “Food, drink, and lodgings are the settings. That will determine what the workers focus on the most without you having to track them all down and give them instructions. There are some additional settings that can be added later on, how to do that is in the manual on the shelf there,” Paul pointed to a bookcase with a single book on it.

  “You can add in things like gardens, livestock, barn, and the like. All the things a normal inn might have on its own. This second dial lets you split the workers up and focus on different areas...”

  Eddie kind of spaced out as Paul kept talking. Evidently the inn was a much more complex system than the farm had been.

  Which makes sense, I suppose, Eddie thought. There's a lot more going on here, and a lot more things that need specific attention, than at the farm. Hopefully I can just set and forget.

  Once he was done, Eddie went outside.

  “Hey Paul, do you have ladder?” he asked.

  Paul reached into his inventory and drew out a twenty foot ladder. Eddie goggled and chuckled. He still wasn't quite used to watching oversized items go in and out of inventories.

  “Which window is mine?” Eddie asked, once they were around back.

  Paul pointed, and Eddie leaned the ladder next to it.

  “What are you doing?” Paul asked.

  Eddie grinned.

  “Gotta have a way for my little buddy to get in without going through a room full of loud, possibly obnoxious, adventurers.”

  Eddie spent the next five minutes attaching a series of little ledges to the back of the building. Just large enough for a bobcat to use to rapidly scale the back of the building, right up to Eddie's window.

  “Lucky!” Eddie called.

  The bobcat appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, but her fishy breath told Eddie exactly where she'd been.

  “Lucky, that's going to be my new room up there. I gave you your own stairs to go right up to it, okay?” Eddie said.

  He still wasn't sure if she actually understood him or not, but was starting to lean towards her being able to do so.

  “Stay here for a minute Lucky,” he said.

  He trotted into the inn, then ran up the stairs to his own room. He threw the shutters open, looked down at the bobcat and called her again.

  Lucky agilely went straight up the makeshift stairs. Hitting his chest as she leapt into the room. She then bounced around the spacious area. As of yet, there was only the furniture, minus the mattress, so there wasn't much for her to explore, but at least she should associate the room with him now.

  “Good girl, Lucky,” Eddie said. “This is where I'll be sleeping most of the time from here on out. I wanted to make sure you could get up here.”

  “Hey Eddie, we have a bunch of players down here that say they volunteered to help you this afternoon?” Tiana called from the backyard.

  “Alright Lucky. You might want to stay up here for a few minutes until I get them working, at least if you don't want them to see you. I know you have a problem with some of them,” Eddie said.

  “I'll meet you out front,” he called from the window.

  A minute later, he had adventurers lined up to help with the fetch and carry. Mattresses to the rooms, food to the pantry, liquor to the cellars. Once the cart was empty, he sent Allie and Karl to go pick up the table settings from Ingolf. Things were taking shape quickly with all the help he was getting.

  When everything was settled away into its place, and Karl and Allie had returned with the table settings, Eddie called out.

  “One on the house everyone?”

  There was a roar of approval from the crowd.

  Eddie turned to the row of casks on the wall behind the bar. He stared at the one he wanted to tap, one of the lower grade of ales he had.

  “Um, Paul? Do you know how to tap these?”

  A laugh swept through the crowd, but Paul came walking up. He grabbed a tap from the bowl of them on a shelf near ground level, then he produced a wooden mallet from his inventory.

  “You 'tap' the keg tap, or firkin tap more appropriately, into the barrel,” Paul said in a lecturing voice.

  He set the pointed portion of the tap low on the ale barrel, then gently swung the mallet. Once, twice, thrice, and the tap was set. There was a tiny spray of foam in the process, but Eddie was sure he'd make a lot more mess the first time he tried it.

  He grabbed a mug and started filling, setting the filled mugs on the bar for people to grab. Once everyone had a drink, Paul raised his mug.

  “To Eddie, for starting an inn here where it looks like there's at least a desire for one, if not a need.”

  “Here, here,” everyone called.

  Mugs tilted back and sighs of satisfaction spread through the room.

  Once everyone had finished their drinks, and Eddie had convinced them he wasn't giving out any more freebies, but would be open for business the following night, the crowd dispersed. Eddie and his friends hooked up the cart again and headed back to the farmhouse to get the belongings they wanted to have at the inn with them. None of them had a lot of stuff, but they each had a few things they wanted to bring down, as well as their clothing.

  When they finally got back to the inn to settle themselves into their rooms, Eddie showed them around to the rooms he'd set aside for them. Karl and Allie took to their rooms immediately, but Tiana followed him up to his own room.

  Lucky was waiting on the bed for him. Now that the mattress was in, she was happy to just sprawl there. He'd left the window open enough for her to get in and out on her own.

  “So Eddie, how would you like to be able to make a little more money each day, right from the start?” Tiana asked.

  “Sure, that's why I'm doing this.”

  “Well, it isn't why I'm suggesting this, just so you know. Where should I put my things?” she asked.

  “Huh? I thought I showed you your room.”

  “You did, but you can rent it since I'll be staying in here with you. That way you get to rent the other one and make more money, an
d we get to do what you delayed this morning, any time we want.”

  She tossed her bag onto a chair, then took his from his hand. She set his beside her own, then pushed him back on the bed, careful to avoid Lucky. When she laid down beside him, they got to make up for the time they'd missed when he'd had to get out of bed so abruptly in the morning.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Aaron viewed the sheet he'd planned his character on. As he'd remembered, the crafting classes were pretty bare bones. He'd already made a list of suggestions that he'd thought of while planning the character and sent it to Cynthia, with a note saying it was something for her to start on before he made more complete suggestions later on.

  He opened Eddie's log to see how progress on the inn was going, glanced at the logs, blushed, then closed them immediately.

  “Oops, I guess he's taking me at my word and trying for everything people like to do in the game,” Aaron said. “I think I won't mention what I just saw when I see him in character. Hmm, should I tell him who I am or not? I wonder if he'll figure it out on his own? He seems pretty clever, but he doesn't know me that well. I think I'll play that by ear.”

  Aaron went back to reading the help on the hammer dwarf race when used as PCs. He'd already edited it a little bit more, both to make it less dry, and to make it sound more appealing. He didn't want to be the only player picking a brand new race, that might raise some suspicions. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to recognize him as a developer when he was playing a more normal character. If Eddie figured it out, that was fine, the man's income depended on maintaining secrecy so he wouldn't say a word, but anyone other than Eddie or his friends could prove to be a problem.

  Aaron relaxed at his desk, relaxation being something he'd had far too little of these past couple of years since Light Online first came online. He found that he liked the idea of experiencing what he'd worked on for so long from the other side for a change.

  I guess Cynthia was probably right. Honestly, it ought to be mandatory for all the programmers and debuggers to have to spend time as a character in the game every month. I bet that would make things more clear to them, plus motivate them to do a better job since they'd have to deal with their own efforts.