14. Eating Bread and People

14. Eating Bread and People

Adam awoke in a sombre mood. He exhaled deeply within his small room, before hopping out of bed, dropping into a deep squat. He fell into deep thought, as though meditating.

“Ha!” He shot up into a stand, punching his fists up towards the ceiling, his fists cutting through the air with a mighty swoosh.

‘Let’s work hard today too! Money money money! Let’s go!’

He out hyped his sadness, quickly heading to the bath to start the day off right. The warmth of the bath always calmed his soul.

‘I wish I had some tea...’ He swallowed down the sadness of missing the taste of the tea his mother, the food that she made. Even the terrible meat and potatoes his father made, he missed that too. He didn’t miss his brother’s attempt at beans on rice though.

He donned his heavy chain, feeling how it pressed down against his body. He grabbed the sword belt, staring at it for a long moment. He unsheathed his sword, staring at the blade, seeing his amber eyes against the steel. The unfamiliar eyes stared back at him, filled with grim determination. He blinked, trying to force his eyes to lighten up, before sheathing the blade and strapping it to his side.

His noisy steps were drowned out by the noisiness of more adventurers gossiping and chin wagging between one another. He glanced over to see Jurot, who was eating some bread, deep in thought.

Adam brought a bowl of meat stew and bread, sitting down opposite Jurot. He ate the salty stew, dipping the soft bread inside, staring at the Iyrman. His arms were crossed, emphasising his powerful biceps, and his face was contorted in a mixture of annoyance and numbness.

Jurot suddenly opened his eyes to glare at Adam, with a wickedly vicious look in his eyes. Adam’s eyes widened slightly, his jaw frozen half way into biting the soggy bread. Their eyes continued to meet. A long moment of silence later and Jurot blinked several times.

“Adam son of Fate,” he said.

“Jurot son of Surot,” Adam replied.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. You?”

Jurot glanced upwards, thinking about his dream last night. “No.”

“What happened?”

“A nightmare.”

“What about?” Adam asked, chewing into the bread.

“...” Jurot tilted his head, squinting his eyes. He started to think again, which was difficult for him to do so in rapid succession. “Softness.”

“...”

“...”

‘Softness?’ Adam stared at Jurot, who did not elaborate on the word. The question mark in Adam’s eyes did not leave, but that did not stir Jurot one bit.

The glances of the other adventurers caused Adam to finish his meal earlier than he would have liked. He approached the board, checking the various quests. Appearing busy typically meant others wouldn’t try to bother someone.

“Have you picked a quest?” Jurot asked.

“Let’s just stick with boars until we get bored,” Adam said, smiling at Jurot.

Jurot nodded, applying their small wooden tag to the poster before they set out on foot.

“Jurot,” Adam said, whispering towards the Iyrman. “I’ve noticed you don’t seem to mind that I’m a half elf.”

“Yes.”

Adam waited for Jurot to elaborate, but he remained silent for a while longer. ‘Shouldn’t you at least tell me?’ Adam shook his head. “Why is that?”

“I’m an Iyrman,” Jurot replied back simply.

“...”

“Right, but what does that have to do with you treating me well?”

“We Iyrmen do not care for your race. What matters to our people is who you are as a person. We have no qualms with any race in particular. Beast, man, undead.”

“That’s manly as hell,” Adam said, tapping Jurot’s back. “You’re so cool.”

“I am the perfect temperature to fight,” Jurot said, flexing his muscles to Adam in an attempt to relax him. “We Iyrmen are always at the perfect temperature to fight.” He reassured the half elf again.

“Not quite what I meant, but that’s good to know.” Adam chuckled.

“We’re heading to the bakery?” Jurot asked.

“Once the-“ Adam noticed Remy and Jeremy approaching towards them. “Guess we’re going now.”

The pair’s muscles were rippling as they carried their palanquin. Their sweat glistened, but their faces were eager with large grins. They could taste it, the sweetness of a gold coin.

“You’re looking lively,” Adam said, smiling at the men.

“We’re ready to make gold!” Remy declared.

“Gold!” Jeremy laughed like a hyena.

“...” Adam blinked. ‘Just how poorly were you treated that you’re excited about one gold coin?’

Remy and Jeremy could alright taste the sweet ale they were going to buy with the extra silvers which would break from the gold.

“Ah!” Remy managed to pull himself out of his stupor. “We have someone who is willing to work as a porter.”

“Who?”

“My cousin’s nephew,” Remy said. “He’s a young lad, but build like an Iyrman.”

Jurot raised his brow at the comparison. “Only Iyrmen are built like Iyrmen.”Visitt novelbin(.)co/m for the latest updates

“What about me?” Adam asked.

“Not built like an Iyrman, but very good.” Jurot nodded.

“I didn’t mean no disrespect.”

“How young is he?”

“Fifteen.”

“Jurot, don’t call any woman a cow.”

“Why not?”

“It’s bad.”

“Cows are great. Very meaty. Lots of milk. Delicious.” Jurot nodded his head.

“Yeah, but no woman wants to be called a cow. What if I called you a dog, would you like it?”

“Dogs are great beasts, very loyal companions.”

“...” Adam shook his head. “Just trust me on this?”

“I think Pam is very much a-“

“Jurot!” Adam cut him off quickly. “I’m saying this for your own good! There are some things you can’t say! Like calling an Iyrman a coward, or a woman half of that.”

“Half a coward?”

Adam sighed.

Luckily for him, Remy and Jeremy were approaching. Behind them was a man with a baby face and short dark hair. He was built as wide as a bull, and was thick with muscle all over. On his back were two wooden boxes, tied to one another in a way so that they were leveraging each other. He had three javelins at his side, as well as a hatchet and a buckler.

“Heave!”

“Ho!”

The cousins placed down the palanquin.

“That’s your nephew?” Adam asked, staring at the baby faced stranger who was as tall and as wide as he.

“He is, isn’t that right, Nobby?”

Nobby nodded.

“You’re fifteen?”

Nobby nodded.

“He doesn’t talk much,” Remy admitted.

“What have you been feeding this kid? Did you jack him up on some TRT?”

“I’m sure he’s ate a few tarts,” Jeremy said.

Jurot walked around Nobby, nodding his head. ‘He has more talent than me. Did he have any Iyrmen parents? Or maybe some giant blood?’ He looked into Nobby’s eyes. “Will you train to become a warrior?”

“Nobby isn’t the kind to fight,” Jeremy said. “He can toss a couple of javelins well enough, but that’s all.”

“If he learns to channel his rage, he will be stronger than me.” Jurot turned to the cousins with sparkles in his eyes.

“Ehehe,” Remy chuckled nervously. “Oh, I’m sure he’s thankful for the compliment, but Nobby’s just a boy.”

“A strapping boy, with powerful muscles.” Jurot nodded his head. “If he became a warrior, he would bring great honour to his family.”

“We’re worried about food on the table, not our honour,” Remy said, chuckling nervously still.

“Nobby’s a good kid, but he’s a little slow. He might be able to join the guard and assist in the future, but for now he’ll just be a porter.”

“We could train him,” Adam offered. “We could train him when we’re not questing. It’ll give us something else to do. We’ll train him in exchange for his labour.”

“No,” Nobby said, his voice low and childish. “I need money.”

Adam raised his brow. “What do you need money for?”

“Dad is sick.”

“Nobby’s father, my cousin’s husband, came down with something not long ago.” Remy sighed. “He’s been managing with a few herbal drinks, but it’s not going to get better like that. We’ve been dropping a few coins here and there, but it’ll take a while still.”

“I’m sorry to hear. What kind of sickness is it?” Adam’s eyes fell to Jeremy.

“It’s got some name which a scholar is able to say, not we working folk. They say it needs magic of the second gate. It’s about a hundred gold coins to fix him up, which is already quite a cheap price for that sort of magic. Nobby’s been working for a short while, but adventurer’s pay a little more for porters so we thought we could bring him along.”

Adam whistled. He was only a quarter of the way there himself, but that with with a high paying job. “That is a lot of money.” He turned to look at Jurot, who nodded his head. “Alright. We’ll pay in you cold hard silver, you don’t need to worry about that.” Adam wondered how long it would take him to get to Level 3, which was when he’d be able to learn the spell to help Nobby.

“We’ll pay you eight silver coins, but if you do especially well, we’ll increase that to a gold.” Adam held out his hand.

“Thank you,” Nobby said, taking Adam’s hand and shaking it. “Is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“That you’re an elf.”

Adam looked at Nobby and nodded his head. “I am.”

“Please don’t take my money.”

“I won’t, I won’t.” Adam chuckled.

“You won’t eat me neither?”

“I- excuse me?”

“They say elves eat people.”

Adam turned to Jurot. “They do?”

“I have heard that too.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a person. I won’t eat you, Nobby.” Adam chuckled.

Introducing Nobby, future god slayer!