"Did you do this?" A curious villager asked, and Ren nodded in affirmation. They were all stunned, and shocked in disbelief, the boar had almost seemed invincible, and the huge beast had shown its daring nature in their faces by claiming such a precious piece of land all to itself.
For months, this beast had been let to rule freely, for months they had to call a truce, and only for a stranger to be the one that ended its tyranny. But more interesting than that was the nature of damage inflicted on the beast, a gaping hole went through its head, a clean attack. Certainly a sword—the most used weapon in combat could not have inflicted such a blow. A sharp spear perhaps? They could not picture it, and an arrow could not be strong enough to make such a deep and clean indentation.
Erigald imstone also was called forth by the sound of the rifle, and he came to meet his most recent arch-nemesis dead and unmoving in a pool of blood. Erigald certainly had not expected Ren to end the beast's tyranny. As a business man, he was very calculative. Had he sent a known, cherished member of the villager, and they died, he would not hear the last of it, the people would boycott his wine, and although he would still generate revenue from selling beyond Tunish, losing the village's revenue was just not worth it. Eldrad had briefed him on Ren, he was new, disliked, and most importantly, he would not be missed. The business man had most certainly expected him to die, but it came as a massive surprise to see that not only did he survive, he killed the boar seemingly unscathed.
"Impressive!" He cried, patting Ren excitedly on his shoulders, "I was wrong about you. Come to my place for dinner, I insist!" He said with laughter.
The villagers too were clearly impressed, and many of them understood at that moment that Ren was no one to be messed with, and also since he killed the boar, the forest was much safer for them too. Suddenly, the populace's perception of Ren shifted.
"Since you killed it, the beast is yours Mr Ren." Erigald stated. Ren had no use for meat, not to mention the trouble of cutting it and the absence of preservation, he simply could not have it. Then, an idea popped up in his mind.
"I want the village to have it, let a feast be had." Ren declared, and the villagers roared in joy, everyone loved free food, even the dwellers of Tunish. With that much meat, they could throw a small feast.
Ren soon left the crowd to meet his e. The two walked back to the wine house, and on the way, the wine house owner informed him on the history of the wine house. Apparently it was a family business, with Erigald being the third imstone descendant to handle the business.
"Tunish is a great place, but Combec has been punching holes in her. The soldiers would come here quite soon, and it will become unbearable."
"Soldiers?" Ren asked, eyebrows raised.
"Our village is just by the border, and our neighbor Combec is not exactly the best neighbor. It used to be much worse." Erigald chuckled.
The two went into the winehouse, and again Ren spotted the hot freckled receptionist, and again, he was mesmerized.
Erigald had him into his office, and there. he handed him a pouch of coins.
"Ten gold coins as promised, and come over for dinner. I must know more about you."
Ren felt the pouch. He had not grasped the numbers of the currency just yet; how much a coin was, how much it could procure, but from what he had observed from the market stalls, seeing copper and silver coins passed about, he knew that gold coins were a lot, and Erigald seemed like a generous man—the man could have gone fine with paying him less, but he didn't.
Ren nodded.
"Meet me here after sunset, and also, tell the woman to give you two wine sacs."
'The woman? Does he mean…'
"I will," He said before clearing his throat, his voice cracking.
[Quest: Food Merchant/The trade farmer]
[Duration: 13 days, 8 hours, 32 minutes]
He had just thought of the quest, and the blue information tab appeared before him reminding him of just how much time he had left.
'Still enough time.'
"Thank you Mr Erigald," Ren bowed slightly and turned away. He still had not gotten much of the greetings of the world besides daysdawn which he now knew as synonymous with good morning/good afternoon, but he figured that bowing one's head would be taken as a sign of respect anywhere, and he hoped that it would suffice.
He spotted the red-haired receptionist immediately as he left Erigald's office. It was like the sun shone right behind her with how she glowed. She also dressed better than most of Tunish.
"Daysdawn," he greeted.
"Daysdawn."
"Erigald asked that I collect two wine sacs."
"Yes, he had mentioned." She rummaged through a large wooden box just by her table, and handed Ren the two wine sacs, exactly like the ones he had seen in the stalls, containers made from animal skin.
He walked through the woods and got to his home shortly. A few hours had passed, but it felt like days had gone by. His bountiful crops still stood beautifully, and ready for harvest. His animals were all complete, nobody had wreaked havoc while he was gone.
"I suppose this is my life now."
He brought out a wooden chair, and sat just by his, taking a good look at the inclined view.
"Beautiful," He muttered, the view was incredible. Trees, rocks in perfect symmetry, simple homes standing further below, it was nothing short of stunning, much better than the fields of corn he always saw upon coming out of his home in Renegade.
A glint of hope surfaced in him, Enoa had made it clear that he was under the whims of the gods, they practically watched him, but what if he could make the best of his time in this world Enesh? What if instead of wallowing in the thoughts of being nothing but a mere pawn, he lived his life to the fullest? Surely, he had the resources.
'Fuck the gods.'
"I am a free man!" He screamed, and uncocked a wine sac, drinking an ample amount.
'Sweet!' It tasted incredible, a perfect harmony of sourness and sweet. He downed the entire sac before he knew it.
He felt greatly at ease, his shoulders slumped, and after a few minutes, his eyelids began to feel heavy. He had not anticipated that the wine would be as strong, and Ren prided himself on being able to handle alcohol.
A few hours had passed by when he woke up. It had been bright noon, and now it was sunset. His mind was still muddled up, and he felt like he could still use some sleep but he remembered, he had a dinner to attend to, and it would be nothing short of brazen disrespect to not attend a dinner he had agreed to come to.
He looked at what he had on, he had chosen his most unflattering clothes to blend in, but they just simply would not do it for dinner with the village's wealthiest man.
He got in, and changed, donning an elegant black shirt, and brown trousers made from wool, he would come out of place with his fairly modern clothes but it would do for now.
He stepped out, and locked his home. He checked, and counted his livestock, they were complete and comfortable. Everything seemed well enough, and then, he began the journey to the wine house.
Ren spotted Erigald seated outside the winehouse, the place was already closed for the day, Erigald waving soon upon spotting Ren approaching.
"I was beginning to think that you would not show." The man teased. When Ren got close, he immediately understood what had happened, Ren's groggy face told him all he needed to know.
"Don't tell me drinking caused this?!" He said with laughter.
"Is it really obvious?"
"I was afraid you were going to fall and hurt yourself as you walked over. It was really that obvious. Are you not a big drinker?"
Ren smiled, wearing the countenance of a mischievous child, and soon enough, Erigald led the way to his abode.
Erigald's home was large, and instead of sticks and wood like what homes in the village were made of, his was made of bricks. The ground about his home was paved with cobblestones. Only his home sat around cobblestones.
Erigald knocked, and the door opened to a short girl, short but stout. She almost seemed like a doll, so small that even Ren's knees were taller than she was.
"My little girl, Erigald exclaimed as he lifted her up." He introduced Ren to her, "Ren, meet my youngest child Abba."
Erigald's house was incredibly beautiful, the exterior was nothing spectacular, simply walls of bricks standing, with a few ornamental flowers to beautify things, the interior however spoke of wealth. Inside was mostly white, like it was carved out of a rock of alabaster. Beautiful artifacts varying from statues of eccentric looking creatures to beautiful large vases.
It was night and dark but everywhere was lit with glow stones; rocks that emitted light in the dark, expensive little rocks, especially those that shone a bright light.
"I got this from a governor." Erigald said to Ren holding up a little statue of bronze, "It depicts a man in immense sorrow."
"Erigald, you are back." His voice called out to his other guests, and Ren saw Eldrad and Erigald's receptionist come out of the large dinning they were headed.
"Ren!" Eldrad cried out. Sometimes Ren forgets how old a man he is, with how energetic he was.
"Ren, I take it that you have met my receptionist."
"Yes, yes I have." His voice suddenly taking a softer tone to it.
She donned a beautiful red dress of silk that hugged her body highlighting its contours. She smiled upon hearing Ren's response.
"Elizabeth, Elizabeth Rinegold, it is nice to see you."
"Likewise."