The Normal Farmer - Completed

Chapter 17 – The Kornarian Empire

Meanwhile, in a certain region up North, the Emperor of Kornarian was receiving the latest reports about a fugitive from his Minister of Internal Affairs. “I am afraid I have nothing new to report, my Emperor. None of our neighbouring Kingdoms saw anyone like her crossing their lands.”

The Emperor leaned forward on his throne. “You are saying we just wasted our opportunity to summon someone from another place to help us increase our borders, just to let her escape from us?”

The Minister tried to excuse himself while trembling in fear. “I warned the Minister of Magic that we should have more soldiers and mages in case of need in the labyrinth beneath this Castle. He refused, and he even had the horrible idea of ordering his men to try to e*****e the summoned girl with a collar and chains. He should have studied the old reports a little better, and instead of trying to e*****e her, he should have tried to gather her sympathy for helping us! He chose badly, and she knocked them all out during her escape because of his mistake.”

The Emperor snorted while leaning back on his throne. “But how was she able to defeat so many highly trained soldiers and Mages without any weapons? What happened in that cave? You saw everything, right?”

“I did, but I wish I hadn’t. She came out of the summoning circle with no weapons and in a long white dress. But she used the weapons of the Guards to defeat everyone in that cave. I fell into a deep hole when a Guard was sent flying in my direction, but I saw her taking from the hand of a Mage a Card Box and summoning every Magical Being that was on those Cards, one after the other. I never saw anything like that. The amount of Mana she could use was scary.”

“Yes, you told me that excuse some time ago. Nevertheless, she couldn’t escape from my Empire so easily without someone helping her.”

“My Emperor, one of my agents told me early this morning that there is a rumour in one of our southwest Cities about a young girl crossing the border inside a carriage driven by a young man and pulled by two dark horses. I thought it could be her, but when my agents crossed the border, trying to find any proof of her passage, they couldn’t find anything. It is as if the carriage and those two disappeared into thin air. They could only hear some old stories about a young man who sometimes travelled around every country in a carriage pulled by two dark horses. He is either an Adventurer or a Merchant. No one is sure about that part. Everyone who was asked about him could only say that he sometimes appears to help a peasant, to apply for a Quest in an Adventurer’s Guild, or to sell some products. His name is Taly, but that was the only thing that everyone agreed on; he always called himself Taly.”

“And did you look for that man? Maybe they are travelling together. You could order your agents to travel everywhere, trying to find that Taly guy and the girl, the… What was her name?”

“She said she was called Ari when she first appeared. Well, she said it differently, not as an introduction. When she saw the soldiers approaching her with the Slave chains, she laughed and asked if they really thought the amazing Ari would ever be a Slave to mere men! And then she attacked…”

The Emperor nodded while crossing his fingers over his chest. “And she even managed to take an immense sum of gold and silver coins from my Treasure Room, without anyone being able to stop her while she went out of this Castle carrying an enormous bag. I can only imagine what we could do if we had her on our side, with her fighting skills and amount of Mana. So, considering we spent all the Mana of that Magic Circle to summon her, we either wait another 200 years for a new opportunity or capture her. Or convince her to work for us… What are you still doing here? Go look for her, even if you have to spend the next 200 years looking under every rock in this World! If you dare to return without her, I will take your head!”

“But, my Emperor, my duties are here…”

The Emperor slapped his throne with his open left hand. “Your duty is to find my Summoned Being! I have wasted my patience with you, waiting for you to find her in due time while you were calmly walking around my Castle, eating my food, and drinking my wine, without finding her! Leave my sight, and don’t you dare return without finding her!”

The Minister of Affairs rushed to the exit, under the mocking smiles from the other Ministers in the Throne Room. The Emperor saw them and shouted, “What are you all smiling for, you bunch of ‘frilts’? Get out of here and go look for her! Immediately!”

The Ministers exited the Throne Room, looking at each other and trying to think about how they would fulfil the Emperor’s orders. He stayed on his throne, all alone, mumbling to himself: “If she were here, with her power, I could have already conquered so many countries… so much health, lands, people, different women… all in here, kneeling before me…”

…

When Ronald stopped for lunch and while the boiling water was cooking the potatoes, he was once again training his movements with the sword. Duza was seated on a rock next to Ari and Woof and looking at the huge pile of balls made of web on top of the carriage. And the ‘Giant Spider’ was making more without stopping.

Duza pointed to the Spider while talking to Ari: “I should tell Ronald to order the Spider to stop, no? So many balls of web will make people suspicious if he tries to sell them all. Or if the people in a City notice that huge pile.”

“Yeah… We can use some blankets to hide the pile, but you are right. It’s better if she stops. There’s plenty for him to sell, preferably in different Cities.”

“I will go tell him… And correct his stance; he is not flexing his legs.”

Duza quickly approached Ronald and, after giving some pointers about his movements and stance, warned him about the Spider. He went to the carriage to tell the Spider to stop and to cover the pile of balls made of web, took that opportunity to choose some smoked meat to accompany the potatoes, and went to the fire to take care of their meal.

…

While the others were finishing, Ronald was looking around, searching for some herbs. He found a big bush of bay leaves and took a branch from there. He placed the branch on top of the carriage and glued it to it with the Spider’s help.

When he was going to clean the dishes, Duza asked him, “Why do you want that branch? Are you going to try to sell a simple branch from a bush that anyone can pick up?”

“Not really. I just want to dry the bay leaves and use them for seasoning the meat.”

“You want what? I never heard about someone using those leaves for seasoning!”

“Really? The meat tastes very good if you let it rest overnight with some of those leaves, garlic, and white wine. You can then make a stew or roast the meat.”

Duza looked at the bush from where Ronald took the branch. “You have some strange ways of cooking… But up until now, everything you cooked, even when it was only dried meat or smoked, tasted very good, just because of the weird seasoning you used. You could try to sell some of those mixtures or even open a restaurant to sell your cooking.”

“Yeah, I once dreamed of opening my very own restaurant…”

Ronald went to do the dishes again, leaving Duza wondering why he looked so sad.

When Ronald was gathering the dishes for cleaning up, he noticed a movement in the bush from where he took the branch.

Slowly, the head of a wild boar was looking at them. Maybe it was attracted by the smell of their meal or because of the noise, but before he could run again into the small forest that stood behind him or even before Ini could have an arrow ready, he died, with his head pierced from side to side by a small stone that Ronald threw with his sling.

He calmly went to get his hunt before the dumbfounded eyes of the others. Taly was the first to break the frozen moment with his laughter: “Ahahaha! No way, he killed it with a stone! I thought he was just playing around by hitting every tree he saw while we travelled, but he was, in fact, training his aim!”

While Taly was still laughing and the others were too surprised to talk, Ronald calmly placed the dead boar head down and hung it in a nearby tree to bleed it out. He then washed the dishes and the pot that he used for the potatoes.

At least, until Duza came to him and shook his shoulders. “Hey, don’t you think we need an explanation for what you just did?”

“What explanation? I saw a boar, and I killed it. We can have his meat for today’s dinner or tomorrow’s lunch. What more do you need to know?”

“Aargh! This guy makes me go crazy! How were you able to pierce his head like that with one simple stone and at your first throw?”

“I don’t understand why you are so surprised. I told you that I was very good with this, didn’t I? You thought what, that I was lying? You also know I am strong; it wasn’t hard to put a lot of strength on my sling.”

Duza snorted. “Yeah, but nevertheless… Aargh! You are impossible!”

She went to prepare her horse, a little angry. Ronald dried the dishes, pot, and tableware with a cloth and placed them inside one saddlebag.

When there was no more blood dripping from the boar, he placed it on top of the carriage, covering it with a branch he took from a nearby tree. He told the Spider to go to the top of the branch to catch any fly or insect the dead boar could attract.

They continued the voyage, with Duza looking back at Ronald with an angry face and Taly teasing Ronald every time she did that. “Miss Duza is still angry at you, Mister Ronald. Maybe she was surprised by what you did, or she is jealous. I bet she thought the first time she saw you that you were a simple Farmer when, in fact, you are so interesting.”

“Yeah, I think she is jealous. If she gets like this only because I killed a boar with a sling, I can’t imagine how she will react when she finds out everything I can do…”

“Ahahaha! I can’t wait to see her face, then! Ari was right. This voyage is going to be so much fun!”

…

While Ronald and his group were having lunch, in the Adventurer’s Guild of Durant, Ma Yangfa was looking at the Quest Billboard with a frown on his forehead.

Mira was at the front desk, and she smiled when she noticed him. She went near him to see what he was reading. When she saw it, she frowned as well. She saw her father post new Quests early in the morning, but she hadn’t read them yet. There it was: Ronald’s Quest.

She spoke, a little hesitantly: “This Quest from Ronald, it’s a little…”

“Amazing… I once thought about something like this, but I never actually did anything to change things in this City. I am tempted to apply for this.”

“Did you read everything, including the part at the end where it says that if a Party fails to fulfil this Quest, it will work for free for him upon his return?”

“Yes, nevertheless, I want to do it. It would be easier if you could come with us as well. A powerful Mage such as you would make our work a lot easier. It would be a good excuse to have you with me every day, patrolling the City.”

“Ma, if you want me to accompany you every day, you just need to invite me and wait to see if I accept or not.”

“Yes but having you in my Party will give me plenty of opportunities to order you around! Hehehe!”

Mira approached him and whispered in his left ear: “I wouldn’t mind being ordered by you during the day, as long as those duties would be reversed at night. When we were all alone in a bed, I would love to order you. Hihihi!”

Ma swallowed; his throat dried up upon hearing that. “I… would love to be ordered by you, as much as you want, sweet Mira…”

“Well, we could do a small experiment late this evening to see how things turn out. You could climb to my window at midnight and knock. Later than that, you will lose your opportunity. If you go there sooner, my father will take your head. But considering he goes to sleep very early, and my room has thick walls and a thick door, even if you scream from the pleasure I will give you, no one will hear you. Back of the building, left window of the top floor. Duza’s room is on the other side, and my father is at the front of the building. Don’t be late!”

“I… will be there…”

Mira approached and sniffed him. “You need to have a bath; I don’t lick a man smelling like you… and I want to lick you everywhere… Hihihi!”

She left with a wink, and Ma Yangfa rushed to the Inn to get the first bath of the day. After some time, he returned to take his Party and Mira with him, and they went on their first patrol to warn the people that things were about to change and to look for criminals.