The Normal Farmer - Completed

Chapter 13.1 – Ronald’s Patrol Quest – part 1.1

Mira looked at Woof, who had his head tilted sideways. “Yeah, I thought it was weird… Come with me Woof; let’s put this money in the safe, okay?”

Mira took the money with her to the back office, with Woof following her. During all the previous talk, Ini was silent. He then asked Ronald, in the ancient Elfian Language: “It seems I was right, you are indeed full of surprises. Can I trust you to cover our backs during our journey?”

“Of course, Tracker Ini. But I must warn you: if I have to choose between saving you or Duza, I will go to her without even thinking.”

Ini nodded. “I understand. I will do the same thing. She is my dearest friend. I hope you can take good care of her, from now on, and be happy together.”

“Yes, I really hope to.”

Duza was looking at them both, puzzled by that conversation in a strange language, with them looking at her while grinning. “You two are scheming something…”

Ini shrugged his shoulders. “Not really. I don’t think I was the only one that noticed him calling you ‘dear Duza’ and saying he wants to make you proud and live in this City with his children. But judging by your surprised face, you seem to either have doubts about his intentions towards you, you are not sure about your feelings, or you are more stupid than I thought. Such a fine young man says he wants to have children with you, and you don’t say a thing. Shame on you, stupid Duza, shame on you…”

Duza was speechless. Hearing that from Ini, right when her father was next to her and looking at Ronald with a frown, was too much.

Ovaidel was the only one to interrupt the silence that followed Ini’s words: “Good, it was about time for our leader to find a partner! I was getting worried about her! I was starting to think I had to do the extreme nuisance of being with her! Before Ronald appeared, she was always in a bad mood and complaining about everything. Nowadays, she smiles a lot, is very polite and friendly, and she almost glows. If I knew she could turn out like that, I would have looked for a partner for her, ages ago! Duza, ‘The Frightening’, as turned into Duza, The Happy Maiden!”

They all burst into laughter. All except Duza. She just turned bright red and tried to hide her face behind her hands.

…

Later that evening at the Inn, Ronald was seated on a chair and looking at all the Cards that he had displayed on top of the bed. “You know, Riattus, I may need help with this. I want to get stronger as fast as I can, so I suppose when I have more Mana, I will be able to use any of these or all of them at once, right?”

“Yes, but the ones I have in my Card Box are the most powerful in this World. In my time, I was the only one with enough Mana to use all of them at once, and only a handful of people were able to use three without exhausting all their Mana. Nowadays, I don’t know. There could be someone somewhere in the World who is even more powerful than I was. I don’t think so, but it’s a possibility.”

Ronald picked up Riattus’ Card Box and looked at the Cards inside. “That means I need to become even more powerful than you. I guess I am already physically stronger than you ever were, so I just need to level up to have more Mana. I hope that incursion into Zakrosia helps.”

“It will help a bit, but for you to become more powerful than I was, you would need to wipe out completely every monster in that country.”

“Really? You were that powerful? Okay…”

“I never thought you would choose to become stronger just to fix this City. I was betting you would find a quiet place to settle and live the rest of your life, keeping a low profile. I still advise you to lie low; you can’t attract too much attention to yourself. If the Breidan Royal Family or the Universal Church of Truth in Thetria get word of a powerful Mage in Loriath, they will stop at nothing until they find you. A lot of people could die if that happens. Do you understand?”

“Yes... One more good thing about this voyage. Since I will keep on moving, even if word gets out that a powerful Mage is travelling, until an army is sent to take me in, I will be long gone to another place when they arrive.”

Riattus nodded while looking out the window. “I suppose you are right. So, if you indeed get more powerful and take care of this City, what will you do next? Another City? Or the entire country? Because I already tried that, and look at me now…”

“Last time I heard, you were a tyrant. Maybe you failed because of that, don’t you think? It’s difficult to listen to or obey someone whom we hate, right?”

“Yeah, but I also had a lot of fun doing it… And a lot of sadness, too. I lost too many friends…”

Riattus went silent, lost in his memories while looking through the window. Ronald took the Cards and placed them in his several Card Boxes and threw them into the one-shoulder bag. He looked one last time at Riattus and blew on the candle.

Woof made a low snort on the carpet and closed his eyes. He was so tired! All day walking around, making sure no stranger got near that smiling Human who gave him those soft clothes around his neck or near that kind woman who rubbed his ears nonstop.

Woof still remembered his past life, but at that time, he used to sleep inside a closed dog house on a wooden, cold floor. In that strange new house, he can sleep on a soft, warm carpet near that Human. The smells all around were still weird, but he was getting used to them. He couldn’t completely understand why, but the words Humans use are easier to understand. He can even feel that his strength, his speed, and the amount of pressure he can now apply with his mouth have improved. That big Human that scared the ‘rubbing-ear’ woman can vouch for that, for sure.

Seems that tomorrow, Woof will go with that Human that is already snoring, on a big voyage. At least that was what he could understand from that talk in that big room with so many unfamiliar smells. They talked about danger along the way, but Woof will protect them. And that snoring Human on the bed will help, for sure. Woof made another low snort and fell asleep.

…

Early in the morning, Ronald woke up with Woof licking his face. He opened his eyes, and the light from the open window was giving him headaches.

For a moment, he thought he used a Willpower Spell Card again, but then he realized it was probably because of all the wine he had drank at dinner.

Slowly, the memories of last night’s events came to his mind, along with the realization that he had made up his mind about his future. Ronald slowly seated on the edge of the bed, with Woof resting his head on his lap.

He made a quick rub on Woof’s head, and he then saw Riattus near the window, looking at him. “Good morning, sleepyhead! I was wondering when you would finally wake up. It seems Feebles’ wine is very good for insomnia.”

“Lower your voice, please… annoying old ghost…”

“So, get dressed, wash up your face, get down for breakfast, and start working! You have a lot to do, Carrier! There’s a carriage to fill with the supplies that you bought yesterday, remember? Keep in mind that it’s better if you summon your Big Rat outside the City. You already took a tremendous risk yesterday with that trick with the dagger. I told you to keep a low profile!”

Ronald made a frown because the voice was still too loud. “Yeah… I talked too much indeed. That wine was superb, but it made me babble nonstop. So, let’s do this, then.”

…

In the Dining Room, Feebles was at a table with Taly and Ari. They called for Ronald as soon as he entered. Feebles pointed to a chair in front of him. “Good morning, Mister Ronald! Had a good night’s rest?”

Ronald grimaced. The light and Feebles’ loud voice were making his head hurt again. “Yes, but waking up was not so good. My head feels heavy; the light and the voices give me headaches.”

Feebles offered him a cup of tea. “Here, drink this. It’s my secret recipe. You will feel better in no time!”

Ronald took the cup and blew a little; it was very hot. After a few more blows, he took a careful sip. Some more blows and after the second sip, his head cleared.

He was so surprised that he drank a few more before asking Feebles. “This… Mister Feebles, my headaches stopped miraculously! This tea is amazing! What is it made of?”

“I knew you would like it. That’s why I have a small bag of this mixture already prepared for you, together with the wine you asked for in that bag on the floor next to you. I thought you would need this if you or your friends drank too much. And if you have some light pain, it will also work.”

Ronald was looking at the tea and wondering. “Is this… some sort of Healing Potion?”

“Oh, no! Nothing that good, but it does the trick. It’s just a mix of some herbs and plants, a recipe from my family, passed down from generations ago to the members of my family.”

“You could sell this; it would be a success!”

“I am already doing it. In fact, one of the reasons I came to this City was to sell an enormous pack of this mixture to the Guild Master. The Adventurers in there appreciate this tea quite a lot because they can drink more than they should, giving a lot of money to the Guild, and the next morning, instead of suffering from colossal headaches, they drink this tea at the Guild. Giving more money to the Guild in the process. I know it’s a vicious circle, but no one forces them to drink so much wine!”

Ronald nodded, still looking at that strange tea. Taly smelled the teapot and smiled. “You may call it just a mix of herbs, but I know the smell of a Healing Potion. This one is a light Healing Potion, made with the leaves of the ‘Red Dork’ and ‘White Gift’ plants. It may have some more things in there, for this colour and perhaps a unique taste, but it is.”

Feebles opened his eyes in surprise. “Yes, it has leaves from those plants, together with some more. But how do you know it?”

Taly smiled while mixing the teapot with the long spoon. “Perhaps because I know this recipe. I… I mean, one of my ancestors made it for the first time more than 500 years ago. We are either distant cousins, Mister Feebles, or one of your ancestors who learned it from one of mine. It is normally used for minor pains or headaches, but I guess it can also be used for hangovers.”

Feebles frowned. “I… never found someone who could identify so easily the key ingredients of this mixture… But my family has been selling this for quite some time, and…”

Taly interrupted him by raising his right hand. “Don’t worry, Mister Feebles, your business is safe. And also, the secret of this tea. I can even tell you that if you put in the mix one gram of powder from one leaf of the ‘Blue Brittlebush’, this tea will get to the level of a medium Healing Potion, and you can sell it to heal injuries and not only headaches.”

“Really? Amazing… I need to find some of those, then.”

Ronald opened his bag and, from a piece of wrapped white cloth, took three leaves that weren’t as good as the ones he had sold previously. “Can I use these to pay for the wine and that mixture of yours?”

Feebles shook his head strongly. “Mister Ronald, I can’t accept this; it’s too much!”

“Of course you can. Consider it also as p*****t for getting this job for me. And an extra for one bottle of your wine, in eight months from now, a bottle that we will drink completely over our dinner in here when I return.”

Feebles stopped to think for a while. He smiled and nodded. “We have a deal, Mister Ronald. And that means you can’t die before our dinner, okay?”

“I don’t intend to, Mister Feebles; don’t worry.”

Ari frowned. “Another one raising flags… This voyage will be a lot of fun, for sure, always trying to get to the end of it without dying because of so many that are attracting bad luck… Yay, so much fun indeed…”