“How many did he kill?”
“Fourteen including the bigger one.”
“Gods! In a single day? I heard he got chewed up a bit.”
“Yeah, but Choral says he didn’t make a sound when she patched him up. His face didn’t even move. I think it scared her.”
“Where is he now?”
“Took the skins out to the tanner.”
“Think he’s going to stay?”
“Him? Naw, he’ll be moving on as soon as he gets his bearings. Doesn’t look like the type to hang around one place much.”
“Maybe he could take word to the town that the stone’s been stolen.”
“We say nothing about the stone! It is bad enough the gods have turned their eyes from us without having the governor’s men and the other towns shunning us as well!”
“Aye. You’re right. But if we don’t get the stone and its blessing back, soon someone is bound to notice that we have no new travelers coming through.”
“Well at least if he moves on we will buy a bit more time. He’s a strange one, that’s for sure, but there’s no doubt he’s a traveler.”
On this they all could agree.
“Of course the real question is whether he will even make it to the village. I’ve heard some of the monsters have returned now that the stone’s blessing is gone. The carter from the village almost turned back. Said he saw something large in the trees and his horse went through something like webbing.”
* * *
The slow walk to the tanner’s shop gave him time to think. The large sack over his shoulder held the bodies of over a dozen dead rats . When he was finished cleaning out the silo, Choral assisted him in cleaning the rats to take to the tanner . The miller paid the bounty for the dead rats with a bit of complaint at how quickly the job had gotten done. He started to argue that it couldn’t have been that difficult.
I agreed with him. I had fought and died too much worse. But Choral stepped up and said that I had done the job and I should get the pay. The miller relented and grudgingly gave me the coin.
But then she wouldn’t take it for a loaf of bread. I was getting frustrating.
The tanner's shop was located about a quarter mile outside of town on the banks of the river. Initially, I wondered why it had been placed here, but as I drew closer, the smell made it clear why it had been separated from all the other shops and businesses that were located in the hamlet. I noticed another building was next to the tanner shop and made a note to ask the owner what it was .
“Good morning,” I said as I entered.
A tall man with a lanky frame and dark black hair looked up from the table he was working on .
“Good morning,” he said. “You must be the new adventurer. “
“I am,” I said.
“I was in town yesterday when you went up to the silo. I understand you have some skins for me.” He gestured at a nearby table. “Let's take a look. “
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
I walked over and dropped the sack where he indicated.
He rubbed some salt on the skin he was working on, set it aside and walked over to the table next to me.
“Let’s see what you have.”
I emptied the sack out.
He looked at the skins, then at me.
“These were all killed recently. You did this?”
I nodded.
“You killed all of them?”
“Yes.”
He smiled. “I’ll bet the miller is happy you were around.”
“He wasn’t too happy to pay me the bounty he offered.”
The tanner laughed.
“He is a bit tight with his coin. But, what did his daughter say?”
“His daughter? Who is that?”
“Choral. She bakes most of the bread for the whole town.”
He grinned at me and winked.
“She’s the fairest lass in town. That golden hair has caught many a young man’s fancy. Surely you met her?”
I nodded. “She doesn’t like me. Although she did patch my hand so I could continue shooting the rats. I guess she appreciated that.”
The tanner looked at him and his eyebrows lifted slightly.
“She didn’t like you? She pretty much likes everybody. What happened?”
“I wanted to buy some of her bread but she thought I was making fun of her when I tried to pay for it with a gold piece.”
“A gold piece?” The tanner coughed.
I shrugged.
“It was the smallest coin I had.”
The tanner coughed again. Then his eyes narrowed.
“Well I hope you aren’t hoping to make a bunch of gold from these skins. They are full of holes and slashes.”
I looked at him. Was he serious?
“I wasn’t expecting to make any money from them. I brought them down because the miller said you could use them. Choral helped me clean them.“ She said I was too clumsy to know how. I certainly don’t want them.”
Tanner's eyebrows rose even higher.
“You don't want anything for them?”
“No, I'm just dropping them off. You can use them for whatever you like.”
The tanner shook his head and stood up straighter.
“Now I understand why Choral got angry. People around here don't accept charity.”
He spread some of the skins out on the table.
“While these are not great they are probably still worth a bit of coin.”
“I don’t understand. I don’t need the skins, and my guide says I don’t need any money, so why can’t I give them to somebody who will use them?”
The tanner’s jaw dropped. “Guide?” Then, “You don’t need money?”
I thought for a moment.
“Well, I guess I could use a copper piece so I could try the bread since Choral won’t take a silver or a gold for it. The miller paid a silver for killing the rats.”
The tanner shook his head.
“She doesn’t have enough coppers to give you change for a gold piece. I doubt anyone in this hamlet does.”
“But I didn’t want change. I wanted a loaf of bread. It smelled delicious.”
“That gold piece would buy a hundred loaves of bread.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t think I could eat that many before they went bad.”
I looked around. “It’s too damp for them to keep.”
The tanner gave an exasperated sigh.
“Don’t you understand the value of money? If you don’t people will cheat you blind. What will you do then?”
I thought for a moment.
“Oh, that’s easy. I’ll kill them and then go to the grove where they reappear and keep killing them until they don’t come back anymore.”
“Come back?” The tanner looked a bit wary. His voice went a bit lower.
“If you kill someone, they are gone, they don’t come back.”
“I do,” I said.
Now the tanner was backing away from me a bit.
“You have come back from being dead?”
“Yes, about,” I counted in my head. “Six, no seven, times now.”
A soft feminine voice spoke in my head. I tilted my head slightly, but the sound remained even in both ears.
“Remember I said you are special? Most people don’t come back when they are killed. They are simply gone. You are frightening him.”
“Touched by the gods,” the tanner whispered.
“It’s alright,” I said trying to be helpful. “They are generally friendly.”
I could see a bead of sweat appearing on the man’s forehead. He babbled.
“I swear by Janus, the merchant god, I will not cheat this man.”
I heard a low rumble and then a crack of lightning. The tanner looked even more nervous.
I thought for a moment.
“I don’t think I’ve met him, yet. Does he kill people often?”
The tanner stopped speaking and then spoke slowly.
“You said you kill men who cheat you and you keep killing them until they don’t come back.”
“Yes.” I said.
“Have you killed many?”
“Does killing an undead count? There were a lot of them.”
The tanner’s face was white. You were killing undead before you came here?”
“Yes, One of them killed a man I was talking to. Bit out his throat. So, I killed him. Then the barrier went down and there were many more. So, I killed them too. Then I fought the big one. He took a while. I died a couple of times fighting him, but eventually I got stronger and I won. But he used poison on his blade so I died after that too. Then when I got back here, I found the men who killed me the first time I died. I killed them and they came back. So I kept killing them when they returned until they stopped coming back.”
I sighed. “I guess that’s confusing. I could start over…”
The tanner made a sign with his hands and looked at me.
“Let me explain the concept of money to you. And about dying,” He paused. “And maybe a bit about women.”
“This should be rich,” said the voice in my head.
