I spend the night in a comped room, finally getting a decent nights sleep. As I open my eyes, the vestiges of last nights dream fade away, leaving me with the impression of someone eating their way out of a large bag of something.

You are well rested.Sleep deprived status cleared.

A conveniently provided wash bowl lets me freshen up before I head out into the hallway, once more nearly toppling the guard outside.

“Serf Tee, the baron is getting impatient and would very much like to…”

I wave him off.

“Of course. Please, lead the way. Let’s see our good baron immediately.”

I must have sounded a little more snarky than I meant as the guard gives me a nervous look, chuckling to himself. As we reach the bottom of the landing, I see Yadra isn’t at the bar this morning. A different face brightens in recognition however.

“Tee, you’re finally up,”

Krouven gets off the barstool, abandoning a tasty looking sandwich. I kick myself mentally for not insisting on eating first as I greet the ranger.

“Krouven, it’s good to see you. I suspect I owe you for keeping me out of respawn.”

He shakes my hand as he smiles.

“Just a little trick you pick up when you mostly eat what you kill. Parasites will ruin your day. Never seen any quite as aggressive as those though.”

I nod, thinking of the insects we fought in the forest, of Vlykkhysh.

“I have. And considering your skill at taking care of problems like that, maybe you’d like to help me out with an infestation at some time?”

He looks thoughtful at this when the guard clears his throat.

“I kinda have to go see the baron, so…”

He interrupts me with a grin.

“After you. I got the same invite. I guess there’s some rewards waiting for us.”

I roll my eyes as I let the guard escort us out.

Yeah, like a length of rope and just enough room to use it.

I have the guard stop by the cart to retrieve the keg of ale before we head to the entrance. The doors to the keep open quickly, revealing a scowling Humphrey. The prim and proper old man looks about ready to burst into an apoplectic fit as he stands aside, gesturing for us to come inside. I’m confused by the naked display of emotion by a man who normally wears such a neutral mask. I nod at him while Krouven, dropping all pretense of stealth, loudly greets him. Grunting back, he leads us to a set of stairs that we climb several levels. I’m carefully controlling my breathing to avoid sounding like I’m about to drop from exhaustion while the others practically run up like mountain goats.

At the top is a landing with two doors. Opening the largest one, the guard stands aside letting the three of us move up another set of stairs into the morning sunlight. We find ourselves at the top of the keep, on the highest tower. A large table in the centre of the roof has three settings, the baron occupying the largest chair. A small feast of breakfast foods and fruits cover every inch, with no indication that the man has even sampled any of it. Humphrey stops in front of us and clears his throat.

“Your illustrious lordship, may I present the adventurer Krouven and Tee the Serf.”

Turning on his heels, the servant storms off. I look to Krouven, but he’s already on his way to the table, hunger in his eyes. I try to observe etiquette, approaching in a more obsequious manner.

“My lord, I brought another portion of the items you requested.”

Handing over the ale, I see the baron has a pleased expression.

Quest updated: The barons order.Remaining goods: One kilo of butter, ten kilos of flour.Order 40% completed.

Looking at the ranger, who just skewered a large piece of pink gammon covered in maple syrup, he lets out a suffering sigh.

“Serf Tee, it’s good to see you again. Although you left quite the mess in our previous meeting, I’m glad to see you’ve made a full recovery.”

I bow deeply.

“In the service of my lord, I would die a thousand deaths to prove my loyalty.”

Krouven snorts, nearly choking on a piece of egg. We both ignore him.

“Quite. Well, I feel you’ve proven that you weren’t the person behind this vicious attack, although I do wish you had found out who was. You will no longer be considered a suspect.”

Quest updated: I didn’t do it!The baron is satisfied that you didn’t cause the incident.

Well that explains why Humphrey was in such a sour mood today. He does not like me much.

The baron gestures for me to sit, and I do so with exaggerated care and decorum. Krouven pointedly ignores me.

“It was merely our duty as guests in your domain, my lord.”

Krouven grunts in agreement after I kick him in the shin under the table. The baron nods sagely.

“Please, eat. You need your strength to go back to work, to fulfil your obligations. Sadly, there’s no way for me to release you from them at this point.”

Carefully picking some nice looking fruits, I eat with great care. Krouven burps loudly, intimating that he’s done with his plate. He looks at the baron.

“So, my lordship,” he looks at me with a raised eyebrow as he says this, “Why have you summoned me today?”

I’m torn between facepalming and freezing in terror at how the man will react. I’m relieved to see him crack a smile.

“Just a reward for the heroic adventurer who helped save my life. You will be able to tell all your friends that you dined with the baron Brouswin.”

Krouven bursts out laughing, stunning both of us. I awkwardly join in, hoping to play it off as a laugh of happiness. After a few seconds, the baron joins as well, looking more confused than anything else. A minute later, the guffawing dies down as Krouven dries a tear.

“My lord, your rewards are beyond anything I’d ever dream up. Thank you for the honour.”

I blink a few times in shock. That was nearly diplomatic. Even the baron seems mollified, giving a toast to the both of us.

Skill increased: Etiquette.

The rest of the meal goes by with the baron bragging about his wealth and conquests, and Krouven trying to stash food in his travellers pack. I spend some time enjoying the view around us. I can see the forest near my farm, but the site itself is hidden from my eyes. I hope Tiene is alright with Rishi and Mika. And closer still is the bug farm.

When we’ve spent enough time here, I politely excuse myself. Krouven follows without much fanfare, and we make our way out of the keep under Humphreys watchful eye. The ranger gives him a hug when we leave, winking at me over the shorter mans shoulders. When he lets go there are large maple syrup stains on the servants back. As soon as the doors shut we both start laughing loudly.

“Hey, green man!”

A powerful voice calls me out of my reverie. Quarn is standing in the courtyard with an angry look on his face.

“You cheated me on our deal.”

Krouven takes a few steps back, clearly ready to scrap necessary. I move towards the reddening shopkeep.

“What? I’m pretty sure you got what you were entitled to. Much more than the goods I bought were worth in fact.”

He spits to one side, looking back at me.

“You sold the damn creature right from under me. One more hour and I’d have had the guards repossess the lot. I should have known better than to deal with a halfbreed.”

I blink a few times before I put on my most diplomatic smile.

“Quarn, my friend. I’m sure you didn’t mean to attack my heritage with your outburst. I’m sorry that you feel cheated, but in truth I followed the law, and the letter of our contract. Now I do have some goods I’d like to sell, but if you’re not interested in them I can sell them to someone else.”

He looks away for a moment. When he looks back, there’s a different gleam in his eyes. I triggered his greed.

“What kind of goods would that be?”

I bring him to my cart.

***

“Fifty silver for the lot.”

Incredulously, I shout back at him.

“Fifty silver wouldn’t pay for your mother. The core is worth fifty silver alone! Ten gold.”

He laughs, slapping his knee before he returns to his business stance.

“Fuck gold. You’re lucky I’ve got the room to take any of it. What can I do with straw and unprocessed grain?”

I stop for a moment. What can he do with it.

“Fine. Fifty silver for the core, and one gold for the crate of vegetables. Make it one gold twenty silver for the lot, and don’t make me listen to your voice any longer.”

He stares at me for a moment, then at the core. He shakes his head.

“Eighty silver for both. No more.”

Grunting, I hold out my hand. He grabs it and shakes, grinning like a cat who just ate a canary. Shit, he got me after all.

Skill increased: Trading.

With a light step and all accusations forgotten, Quarn pays a big man to take the crate away, pocketing the core happily. Krouven looks after him, clapping slowly.

“That was a masterclass in haggling.”

I smile weakly.

“He got the best of me in the end.”

Laughing, he slaps my back.

“That’s what I mean. He was playing you like a fiddle. He got the good stuff, you’re stuck with the rest. A true master.”

I kick at his legs, but he’s too quick.

“I’m going to the tavern to talk with Yadra. When I’m done, I’ll head back to my farm. If you’d like to come with me, I think you’d like the area. Plus, there’s an insect issue you might help me with.”

He nods slowly.

“I just might do that.”

Heading inside, I look for Yadra.

I find her in the kitchen, doing some chores. I pick up an apron and start helping her out, earning me a sidelong glance.

“Miss the job this much?”

Chuckling, I splash some suds at her.

“You know how it is. Sometimes it’s nice to go back to what you’re good at.”

Turning her head towards me she raises an eyebrow.

“Good at? I think you need to reassess your qualifications, stringbean. Without me to check your work, we might as well let the dogs lick the plates clean.”

We banter a little while until a cough from the owner quiets us down.

“So I’ve got some emgrass for you, if you’re still interested.”

She looks at me appraisingly.

“How much?”

I bring her out back and show her what I brought.

“That’s not a lot. I’ll take it off your hands, and you can come back in a few days for the finished goods. Or I can sell it all, sharing the profits with you.”

I nod at her.

“That’s probably the best. I won’t be able to get back here for a few days. Five days I guess, before I have to start preparing the flour for the barons order.”

She shakes my hand, and I hand her all the grain I’ve brought. She also gets the straw, talking about bribing the stablehand for some reason. I know I owe her that much at least. It’s good to get that particular load off my mind. I fetch Krouven and make him help me fill up some containers with water before we head out of town with Reynard in the lead. We get to talking, and I find out that Krouven has been in the game for longer than my group, but he logs out periodically. He generally treks around looking for adventure. My vid stream inspired him to find this area. We shoot the breeze for the hours it takes for Reynard to bring us back to the farm. By now he’s learnt the way.

As we roll towards the shed, Tiene comes walking towards us. I’m worried at first, until I see the loon on her face. She’s actually smiling. I let out a breath of relief until I notice Krouven watching her appraisingly.

“Tee, you’re back. We were worried about you!”

I jump down from the cart and she hugs me tight. I hug her back. In the distance I see Mika and Rishi doing weapons training, with Mika scoring a rare hit on the lithe rogue. I focus back on Tiene.

“So how was your first dungeon crawl?”

Disentangling her arms from me, she smiles.

“It was fine. I didn’t go very far, just to the slag room. The others will fill you in with what they found. I went back outside to work on my pump system. Come on, you need to see it!”

Before I’m dragged away, Krouven clears his throat. I sheepishly introduce them, then bring him to the others. He seems very interested in sparring with Rishi, but Mika stops him. It’s hard to be sure without system assisted social perception, but it seems like he’s being more protective of her than normal. I ignore it for now as Tiene drags me along to the mine.

The little pump and basin she had before has expanded into a keg twice my height, sitting on a large rock. Underneath the rock is a fire. A pipe is leading from the keg, splitting into a few smaller barrels, all made from solid wood. I look at her sparkling eyes.

“Had another chat with Leona, did you?”

She nods happily.

“Yep. Bad water goes into the big keg. Fire heats up the rock, causing the water to evaporate. Steam goes through the different stages, condensating into the different barrels. This first one is pretty toxic. Rain wanted it for some reason.”

She makes a face.

“The second barrel has acceptable water. It’s fine for the plants and for washing. The steam passes through a section of activated charcoal before ending up in the last barrel, giving us clean drinking water.”

My mind boggles at the construction, my arm resting around her shoulder. She beams at me.

“The materials are really not suited for this kind of thing, but if you can get me some metal and a stronger source of heat, I’ll be able to make some really cool stuff. Maybe even a steam engine.”

Nodding, I turn towards her. I look into her eyes as I hold her close.

“You are truly amazing.”

She nods in agreement.