“You pay me ten,” Dillard said.

We’d caught up with the man near the outskirts of Moonlight where we were interested in tracking the progress of the trench diggers.

Dillard happened to be out there too. He hadn’t seen fit to join the team of workers, but opted to stand nearby and criticize their efforts.

“Ten currency a week?” I said. “Are you serious?”

“You want me to play for your baseball, that’s my demand,” Dillard said.

“That might be outside our budget,” Proctor said.

“Ay, you saw it. I can’t hit the rock for spit,” Dillard said. “It’s bloody hard.”

“First of all,” I said, “we’re not going to be using a rough tree branch for a bat the way we did out in the field the other day. Second, we won’t be whacking it against a big, heavy rock. We’ll be using proper bats and balls. You might find it a bit easier.”

“Well, good,” Dillard said.

“Third, not being ‘good’ is not a selling point,” I said. “You understand?”

Dillard frowned at me. He didn’t understand.

“You’ve just gotten through saying you’re terrible at the version of baseball we’ve already tried,” I said. “The incentive to pay you what you’re asking would have to come from you actually being good at the sport. But, you’re not. Ten gold a week simply isn’t realistic.”

“But, it’s me price,” Dillard said.

“We’re not paying you ten gold a week,” I said. “Simple as that. How about two?”

Then I saw Proctor bow his head, and he shook it slightly as a signal to me I’m sure he’d hoped Dillard couldn’t see. I picked up on what he was getting at.

I coughed to clear my throat. “One gold,” I said, correcting myself. And, I saw Proctor nod. “One gold per week is our offer to you,” I said.

“One gold, when I’ve said ten?” Dillard said. “You morons.”

“That’s the offer,” I said. “Take it or leave it.”

I probably shouldn’t have said ‘take it or leave it’ given I basically was being forced by the System to sign this man as a player. But, I suppose it’s a phrase I’d been exposed to so many times in popular culture, it just slipped off the tongue with ease.

Luckily, Dillard didn’t push back.

Instead, he grumbled for a few seconds, watched the trench diggers struggle with their hard labor, and likely recognized a good thing when he saw it.

“Alright, ya fools,” he said. “One a week.”

We shook on it.

“What’s my position anyway?” Dillard said.

“You’re a player for the Moonlight Magic,” I said. “And, that’s all we know for now.”

As far as the trench/moat was concerned, both Proctor and I were fairly impressed with their progress. They’d dug down about two meters into the semi frozen clay. No easy feat. As well, they’d managed two hundred meters in length.

Additionally, Kestrel’s sons, and his various workers had laid a few inches of their concrete conglomerate inside the pine framing they’d built so that the stuff they’d poured would hold its shape. The frame they’d built would mean the concrete wall would be two feet thick. And, with the few inches in height they’d poured at that point, they’d managed to create a teeny bit of wall about twenty meters in length.

It was only upon observing this, that it hit me just how much concrete would be required to wall in the entire perimeter of the village. It would take years. It would take tons and tons and tons of concrete. I was imagining a wall several meters in height, like those walled cities you’d see depicted in history books. Or maybe akin to those sea walls I’d remembered seeing Japan had built after their last devastating tsunami.

Clearly, this meant I’d have to manipulate the process with Boop Soda. All I could hope is the soda machine would oblige, and spit out enough cans of the awful water chestnut flavor to get it all done before the next creature attack. Or dragons. We’d still managed to avoid any visits from the nine dragons. I wondered how much the System had to do with that.

“You just know the System’s going to wait until we have of this built up,” I said. “All kinds of intricate details, and modern infrastructure, you name it. Then bam! It’ll hit us with a dragon attack.”

“No one would mistake you for an optimist,” Proctor said.

We interrupted Gak, and Torag while they dug in the mud to extend the length of trench.

“May we speak with you both for a moment?” I said.

The two large men walked with Proctor and I, out of earshot of the other villagers. I wanted to avoid a situation where various locals start asking why they’re not being asked to play for the ball club.

“Aye,” Gak said. “What’s this about?”

The serious expression on both men’s faces told me, they actually were annoyed we were taking them away from digging. These were hard workers.

“It’s about the baseball team,” I said. “We would… Proctor and me… we would like for both of you to join us.”

The two looked at one another with furrowed brows. Gak shrugged.

“Join?” The barbarian said.

“To play for the team,” I said. “We’d like both of you to join as players for Moonlight. Represent the village.”

“Ah, I see,” Gak said.

“Why should we do such a thing,” Torag said. “Our work is here. And, it won’t be long before we’re gone on the hunts.”

“The hunts?” I said.

“We take stags,” Torag said. “You wouldn’t know what it is to feed a people, would you?”

I couldn’t stand the arrogant nature of this man. But, unfortunately, I needed him.

“Well, I don’t know about that,” I said. “But, I do know we’d like for both of you to play for the village.”

“Not much for games,” Gak said. “I must decline.”

Proctor and I shared a look of concern.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“We can pay you,” Proctor said. “In gold.”

“That so?” Torag said.

“How much?” Gak said.

“Two,” I said. And, I said it in such a way as it was almost a question, in hopes I could get some kind of signal from Proctor that I was naming a price he’d agree with.

“Two gold?” Gak said.

“Every week,” I said.

Proctor’s silence, and stillness told me that he agreed.

The body language of the two large men loosened. Their shoulders fell, and their chests became a little less puffed. Gold had a way of convincing the unconvinced.

“Two gold a week to play your silly game?” Gak said. “You must be mad.”

“Better than doing than digging, yes?” I said.

“I’ll grant you that,” Gak said.

“So, we agree?” I said. “You’ll come play for us? For the village?”

Gak glanced at Torag, and his friend merely offered a shrug.

“Two gold a week,” Gak said. “You’re certain?”

“Certain,” I said. “It’s yours for as long as you play for the team. Now, I want you to understand, this is a full time commitment. There’ll be nothing else. No digging trenches. No hunts.”

Gak bellowed quite a long, substantial breath. He stared at the mud for moment, but then he raised his head in a broad smile. He grabbed my forearm, and pulled me close.

“I will accept your offer,” he said. “Two gold a week, and I play on your team. Yeah?”

I nodded, and smiled nervously. “Deal,” I said.

He let go of me, and I turned to his friend.

“How about you?” I said. “Two gold to represent your people. But, like I said to Gak, nothing else. This would be your calling.”

“Why two?” Torag said. “Why not four?”

“Huh? What?” Gak said, surprised. “Four? You’re giving him four?”

I held out my hands. “Hold on,” I said. “No one’s offering four gold a week.”

“No,” Proctor said, and his tone was more firm than normal. “The offer is two.”

“But, why not four?” Torag said.

“Because we’re offering two,” I said. And, I recognized both of these men could flatten me into the ground, but I felt anger rising up within me anyway. The man irritated me enough just from his arrogant air, but the way he made such a demand when he didn’t really have a leg to stand on, it annoyed me to no end. “We can’t afford to pay you four gold a week. We have a team full of other players to consider.”

“Bollocks,” Torag said. “Bollocks to that.”

A small bit of panic gripped my throat. What would the System do if I couldn’t get someone I’d already named as one of my players?

Gak came to my rescue. He slapped a beefy hand on his friend’s shoulder, and yanked him in. I couldn’t hear what the barbarian was saying, but he was murmuring to Torag in a manner I would call ‘forceful’. When he let go of his friend, I could see Torag’s face blush red. Always good to see someone so arrogant had someone around that he feared, and would actually listen to.

“Aye, fine,” Torag said. “Two gold currency per week then.”

He shook my forearm with all the stiffness of a wet noodle.

“Excellent,” I said. “Thank you, gentlemen. We’ll be in touch shortly to let you know when we’ll be getting the whole team together. We’ve a lot to discuss.”

“Aye,” Gak said. “We’ll be here.” And, he pointed at the trench digging operation.

Then a thought struck me.

“Oh,” I said, turning back to the two men before they disappeared back into their work. “If you could keep your pay to your own counsel. Please.”

“‘Tis a secret?” Torag said.

“Not a secret,” I said. “Just… I’d rather other players not know what we’ve promised to pay you. Not everyone will be getting paid as much as you too.”

The comment brought a smile to both of their faces. Of course, I didn’t bother saying there’d likely be players being paid more than them as well. Really, I was just trying to avoid Dillard from rioting once he’d found out these two men were each being paid double his salary.

“Aye,” Gak said. “We’ll keep it to ourselves.”

Proctor and I left the northeast area of the village where we found Kestrel, and his son Denton working on a set of holes around a cluster of huts they’d hoped to eventually turn into aqueducts. We’d talked about introducing some more modern ideas to the village. Things that would improve the hygiene of the place. Whether it was a constant water flow from the spring north of Moonlight, or a proper sewage system.

I was clearly no expert, and hardly one you’d ask about how to engineer such things, but having lived in a more advanced society, I did recognize the importance of not simply throwing your waste out your window into the street. Kestrel and all his builders were taking to these new ideas like ducks to water.

“What’s the latest?” Kestrel asked, as we walked up to him and his son.

“We’re here to speak with Denton, if you don’t mind,” I said.

Kestrel waved his son over.

“What is it?” Denton said. “I don’t have time for another baseball lesson if-”

“No, no,” I said. “That’s not what this is.”

“We have a contract offer for you,” Proctor said, getting right to the point.

“A contract?” Kestrel said. “We can’t take on much more, I’m afraid. We’ve got the platforms up the way, and the wall’s coming along-”

“It’s not another building project,” I said, cutting the old man off. “It’s about asking your son to play for the ball team.”

Denton shook his head. “I’ve already said, there’s no time,” he said. “We’ve too much to do already.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I’m not being clear. We’re not talking about what we did the other day, where I’m teaching you about what baseball is, and all of that. We’re talking about the actual team, the franchise itself. The Moonlight Magic.”

“I still don’t understand that name,” Kestrel said.

“We wish for you to join us,” Proctor said. “Join the team representing your village, as a player. A full time player.”

“Of baseball?” Denton said.

“Correct.”

“But, I’m a builder. Like my father,” Denton said. “I know not of baseball.”

“You know more than you did before,” I said. “And this time we won’t be using a stone, and a branch ripped down from a tree.”

Denton frowned, and he folded his arms. He looked to his father, and his father frowned even more deeply than his son.

“I need him for our works,” Kestrel said. “He and his brothers are some of the best builders in the whole village. You want him to play your sport? He’s not an athlete.”

“When he starts playing for Moonlight, he will be,” I said. “This is what we’re offering.”

“Why me?” Denton said. “Surely, you’ve a village full of folks to choose.”

“We’d like to choose you,” Proctor said. “We will pay you three gold a week.”

Kestrel’s mouth fell open, and he gasped. “Oh my,” he said.

“Three gold?” Denton said, incredulous. “You’re mad men.”

“It’s what we want,” I said. “Will you do it?”

“Understand you would no longer be a builder,” Proctor said. “You would be a baseball player. All the time. It would be your only labor.”

Denton’s eyes rolled around. They were wide, full of surprise.

“Three currency a week,” he mumbled. “I cannot imagine.”

“Imagine it,” I said. “Play for your people. Kestrel, would you not be proud to have your son represent Moonlight on a field of battle, so to speak?”

The comment caused the older man to laugh. “I bloody well would,” he said. “I especially bloody well would for three gold coins a week.”

“What do you say, Denton?” I said. “How’d you like to be a ball player?”

I stuck my forearm out to him. Took him about five seconds contemplation to reach out, and give me a shake. He smiled, and shook his head.

“Never thought I’d be doing something like this,” Denton said.

“Glad to have you on board,” I said. “Oh, and if you don’t mind. Let’s keep your contract between us, yes?”

“No one’s to know what we’ll be paying you,” Proctor added. “For the good of team unity.”

“Understood,” Denton said.

“We’ll let you get back to it,” I said. “But, only for now men. Kestrel, eventually we’re going to require Denton full time. Unfortunately, you will have to find a replacement for him for your various work projects.”

“I suppose I will manage,” Kestrel said.

“We’ll let you know when we’re taking the next step,” I said. “We have more players to find, and to give contracts to. We will find you once it’s time to get serious.”

It was heartwarming how taken aback Denton seemed. It was also a relief how quickly he came around, and that it wasn’t like pulling teeth to get him to agree. Crisis averted for now, I’d supposed.

“Three gold a week, huh?” I said to Proctor after we left the two builders to go back to their work. “What made you offer that?”

“I could tell how annoyed you were at Torag,” Proctor said. “I find him off putting as well, truth be told. Sometimes part of a salary’s covered in one’s assessing how easy it is to work with certain people, their personalities, et cetera.”

“I see,” I said. “Well, let’s just hope these guys don’t talk about their salaries when they eventually are brought together. I feel like that’d be a disaster in the making.”