Chapter 4
Walking down the road, whistling a little ditty, Lorcus couldn’t help but think about Tamryn.
Damn that girl is crazy, not bad crazy but there is no way I’m marrying one of the first girls I meet in a new world while a Count and his soldiers are out to get me. She is really hot though. I hope I don’t hurt her when it comes time for me to leave. This world is just too exciting for me to settle down so soon. After all there are Nymphs here! I wouldn’t mind trying the charms of a water Nymph or two. I wonder if the different kinds taste differently when you go down on them. Just like that my list of life goals grew by one.
After walking for another half an hour Lorcus noticed the forest thinning out. With that came more houses and people around. The houses were simple affairs, better than his hut but not that much better. He noticed that most had their own garden plot and a few animals around the yard. People waved when they saw him, other than that no one tried to talk to him. Surprisingly he saw no centaurs.
I wonder where the centaurs live. It seems like even this is too heavily forested for them. All those small garden plots are going to be a problem. Why would anyone buy vegetables from me if they can grow them themselves? I wonder if they have winters here. They must but who knows what a world with magic does and doesn’t have. If so, I could preserve the vegetables until winter then sell them at a premium.
Lost in thought Lorcus almost missed the sound of hooves coming closer. He looked around and realized he was in the town proper. Well, it wasn’t much of a town, it appeared to have the generic main street with various businesses surrounded by houses that wouldn’t look out of place in his hometown. Minus modern glass and asphalt roofs. He thought about hiding but felt ridiculous. My problems won’t go away by hiding from them.
That’s when a group of centaurs on a cross street passed by him. Just before going out of sight the centaur in the lead turned his head and spotted Lorcus. Signaling the rest of the group they all wheeled towards him and before long had him surrounded. Of course, the centaur was Cecrix.
“Hey donkey fucker, I didn’t think you would be here. Looking for travelers riding your next mate?” Lorcus asked with a friendly smile.
Cecrix’s eyes flew wide open, and a look of absolute hatred crossed his face. Without saying a word he grabbed his bow, knocked an arrow, and shot directly at Lorcus.
Seeing that his insult hit the mark and that he was about to be hit by an arrow, Lorcus dove to the side. Staff in hand Lorcus rolled over his shoulder coming back up to his feet before tripping himself with his own staff. The centaurs all laughed at his current situation.
“To bad you got rid of the dress, you would look really pretty right now, bare assed, laying in the middle of the road. Right where you belong!”
Looking around at all the centaurs Lorcus noticed Agarora was part of the circle. She was the only one not laughing. When they made eye contact, she mouthed the words Tipsy Centaur.
Cecrix continued his monolog by saying. “Listen, you saved us some time. The Count has an offer for you. If it was up to me, we would just kill you and move on, but the Count doesn’t want to upset the human population here. Resign your position as Console Commander, then leave the Counts territory and never return. In exchange we will give you one ruby experience coin.”
Lorcus slowly regained his feet while brushing dust off himself in order to give him a moment to think. What is a ruby experience coin? I really need to find a book about this world. I don’t even know this world’s name yet. Considering the only experience coins I have seen have been blue, this ruby one must be different in some way. I can only imagine that it is worth more since they are only offering me one. I should really take this deal but how can I when I don’t know how much that thing is worth?
Lorcus glanced over at Agarora again and she gave him a slight nod. I suppose that means I should take this deal. Too bad I know almost nothing about her either.
“Let me get this straight, first you threaten me and now you want to buy me off. Not five minutes ago you shot an arrow at me.” Was Lorcus’s response.
“If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead. Look I don’t like you and you don’t like me and that’s fine, however, there are good reasons we need that Console. First, we defend this land and that is the best place we can do that from. Have you ever been in the Berizma Forest? Let me assure you it is no ordinary forest. There are true monsters in there that would like nothing better than to kill everyone in this town simply for the joy of doing it. There are monsters that will use the bodies of the people in this town as breeding hosts. Tribes of blood thirsty orcs who would do almost anything to not have to live in there. Help us, help yourself, help this community, take the experience and leave.”
Lorcus was shocked by the sudden turn around to a heartfelt plea. Can I really trust anything this centaur tells me?
The two stared at each other for a long moment before Lorcus responded. “If what you tell me is true then everyone in this town owes you a thank you. There’s just one problem, I don’t trust you. Not only that but from what I’ve heard people have lived here for generations before any of you showed up here. They seem to be just fine without your castle. I was hired to do a job and I will do that job. Now if you will excuse me, I have some supplies to buy.”
With that Lorcus pushed through the circle heading down the street.
/////
“Welcome to Kate’s Console’s Emporium where we sell everything you need and everything you want.” A chipper voice called out when Lorcus walked into a promising store where he hoped to buy supplies. “That might not seem like an important distinction, but I assure you it is. Looking at you I would say you are new to town and in need of some kind of supplies. Now, that is very important I’m sure, but what you want is this!” She then ripped a sheet off what Lorcus thought was a table. It turned out to be a bed.
“What you ask yourself, all of that and she shows me a mattress? Wrong! This is a feather mattress ordered by a wealthy customer who unfortunately passed away before he could take delivery. It was all very tragic; however, his tragedy is your gain, today only, I am willing to sell this mattress for only twenty yellow experience coins.”
Before Lorcus knew what was happening the girl had him by the arm and was pulling him over to the bed. When they got to it, she hip checked him sending Lorcus sprawling onto the mattress. It was… bliss. Oh God, after a few nights on that straw mattress this thing is heaven. Lorcus couldn’t help it, face down, sprawled over the mattress he let out a long groan.
Hearing that Kate smiled to herself. I got him! Now to seal the deal. Kate moved closer to him and started rubbing his back. “There now, just relax, this could be every night for you. What beautiful woman wouldn’t do anything to sleep in such luxury next to such a handsome man with such big muscles?”
“Would you happen to be one of those beautiful women? If so, here, take my money, I need this.” Lorcus said while holding his coin pouch out to her.
She ran a finger down his ear saying. “No love, I have one of these myself. You will have to work a lot harder to get me in your bed.” Then she scratched his neck with a sharp fingernail and licked his blood, purred, snatched his money pouch, and jumped off the bed. All this happened so fast that Lorcus had no time to react.
“What the hell is this? There are maybe one hundred blue experience coins in here. I said twenty yellow.” She then took him by the arm and dragged him off the bed. Lorcus stumbled but regained his balance before falling on the ground. She then threw the coins at him and told him to get out.
Lorcus was struck dumb. One hand held the coin pouch to his chest and the other went to his neck where some blood was still leaking out. He looked at the woman taking her in for the first time. She was short but beautiful. She had light black skin, curly black hair, and a slender frame. Suddenly he noticed some aspects that were a little on the weird side. Her eyes had a slight amber glow, and her pupils were slits. That was just the beginning, she had long pointy ears sticking above her head and a tail standing on point. To top it all off he could see some of his blood on her lips.
“Are you a cat girl?” Lorcus asked stupidly.
“Of course I’m a cat girl. I have pointy ears and a tail. Given the fact that I don’t smell like I’ve been rolling around in shit I’m obviously not a dog girl. What was that last give away? Oh yeah, I’m drop dead sexy! Everyone knows cat girls are the sexiest creatures walking on Iradas. Okay, you got your eye full, a massage and wasted enough of my time, now get out.”
“Whoa, hold on. I never asked you to give me that whole routine. I came here to buy supplies for my new farm. You see I just took over as Console Commander for Gerard’s farm. I don’t even know what a yellow experience coin is.”
“Console save me from idiots. How do you not know what a yellow experience coin is? Are you so poor that you’ve never even heard about large sums of experience? You see when you have a lot of coins it can become a hassle to count it all or transport it, so we have larger denominations. We call it yellow. You get it from Consoles like all other experience coins. Yellows are worth one hundred experience. So, twenty yellow coins are worth two thousand experience. Above that is red or ruby depending on who you talk to. They are worth one hundred yellows or ten thousand experience. As you can clearly see I am practically giving that bed away so either buy it or get out!”
“That actually does make sense. Guess I never thought anyone would need that many experience coins. The only thing I’m still having trouble with is why did you lick my blood?” Lorcus asked while pointing at her blood covered lips.
“I thought you were worthy.” she said dryly.
“Worthy, that’s it?”
“Well yeah, you aren’t bad looking for a human and you smelled kind of nice and I thought you were going to buy the bed. I couldn’t resist. It’s a shame really, you didn’t taste entirely bad, for a human that is.”
So, she’s some kind of sexy vampire cat? This world gets weirder every day. “Hopefully I can taste you too someday, In my own way though.” Lorcus said with a wink. “Now can I buy the supplies I need.”
“Yeah, I told you when you walked in that I sell everything you need. It was literally the first thing I said.” She said it in such a deadpan way that Lorcus didn’t know what to do. They just stared at each other for a few minutes.
`Finally Lorcus explained what he was looking for. “Like I said I’m new to farming and this area. I need some kind of crop that will grow quickly and be profitable. Ideally something that will help me work wood, as well as an easy way to plow the field. It’s in poor shape at the moment and needs an almost complete reset.”
“Ha, this is great! I have an old plow Gerard sold to me a few months ago that I would be willing to sell to you. Let’s call it two hundred experience coins. I hope you have a strong back though, most people either use slave labor or have a beast pull it. As for crops, I don’t keep any seeds in stock. Most all the farmers around here save a portion of their harvest to replant. I can always order something through the Console but that comes with extra fees. You should be able to buy that yourself through the farmers market in the Console though.”
“How do I access the farmers market? Just think about it while accessing the Console?”
“Yup, it’s that easy. Oh wait, I don’t remember what level the Console has to be in order to unlock that feature. Maybe level five? That sounds about right. Well, you can use it but the fees at such a low level are brutal.” She looked at Lorcus questioningly with her index finger pulling down her lip showing off sharp fangs.
“The farm is only level one. On top of that I can’t even afford the plow. How about the woodworking?”
“That’s going to be a lot of the same. Basic hand tools will cost more than you can afford. You could get one or two tools but not much more than that. If you could find a mage with wood affinity, they might trade their services in exchange for you performing a task. Too bad we don’t have any here. Or you could buy a Dryad, again that would be too expensive for you.”
Dejected, Lorcus thought how stupid he was to turn down Cecrix’s offer. This is absolutely crazy. Gerard put me in an unwinnable situation. There must be some way to make that farm profitable again. I can’t give up. This is a new world of magic and I accept this as my first quest. I can’t fail the first quest without even trying.
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“You know, I think I have an opportunity you may like to hear about. How would you like to get a valuable crop for free?”
“What’s the catch? People don’t give things away for free.”
Kate walked around Lorcus to the door and locked it while putting a closed sign in the window. “Come into the back and I will tell you all about it.”
When Lorcus entered the back of the shop he saw a surprisingly well-furnished room with a figure dressed in all black bent over a safe. The man jumped to his feet producing a dagger in each of his hands. The two stared at each other for a few moments until Kate entered the room.
She threw an arm around Lorcus’s shoulders saying “I’m glad you two are already becoming friends. Purrnival this is Lorcus, Lorcus this is Purrnival.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Purrnival asked with a scowl. “I come here to train in privacy, where no one knows me or what we do.”
“Oh, relax we couldn’t ask for someone better than Lorcus here to help us with our little problem. The Count already wants him dead, so he has no reason not to work with us.”
“What are you two talking about? I came here to buy supplies, not be caught up in whatever this is.” Lorcus said while sweeping his hand around the room.
Kate replied “This has nothing to do with what I want from you. To be honest the less you know the better.”
Purrnival jumped in saying “I agree entirely, so why did you bring him here?”
Kate replied “You needed to meet him. If he is going to work with us there has to be some level of trust. At the very least he should know who he is dealing with.” Purrnival nodded his head giving a silent approval. She continued saying “We are thieves, Purrnival comes here sometimes when he needs to lay low or train. That’s not what we need you for though. You see we had a little growing operation that made us a lot of experience. The problem is that the crop is what you might call illegal.”
Lorcus asked “The Consoles make certain items illegal?”
Kate replied “Not the Consoles but the Governance Consoles over them can regulate what is and isn’t illegal. They hold a great deal of power over the Consoles under their influence. The Berizma Empire set the standard that this particular crop was illegal, and the centaurs are generally goody two shoes, so they made it illegal as well.”
“What crop are we talking about?” Lorcus asked.
“Nepeta Cataria, Known by the humans as catnip. It’s,” Kate took in a deep breath before letting it out with a shudder “indescribable.”
Lorcus smiled and said “really, catnip?”
Purrnival lunged at him knocking Lorcus down to the ground and shoving a dagger under his throat. “You think this is a joke? Let’s just kill him and move on.”
“Relax Purrny, you know humans can’t appreciate the finer things in life. And this just means we don’t have to worry about him sampling the product.”
Purrnival nodded and stood up from Lorcus keeping his knife pointed at his throat.
“Yeah Purrny…” Lorcus started before a knife thumped into the floor besides his head.
“You don’t call me that!” Purrnival said angrily.
“Got it.” Lorcus said meekly. “Let’s say I’m interested in this proposal, tell me what you expect from me and how I’ll benefit from doing this.”
“You will grow the catnip, dry it, and bring it to me. From there I will get it to Purrnival who will then distribute it throughout Berizma. You won’t make a lot of experience through the console growing it but you will from your share of the profits.”
“Wait I thought the Console made it illegal and yet it will give me experience?”
Kate replied “Like I said the Console doesn’t care either way. Experience is experience, you can’t sell it through any of the marketplaces though. That is why we have to transport it by hand and sell it to our contacts. So, what do you say, you in?”
“What would my share be and what are the consequences of being caught?” Lorcus asked.
Kate explained “Well, if you get caught it’s up to the Commander of the Governance console. They can enslave you, kill you or give you a fine. As for your share we would be selling it for a yellow an ounce, that means sixteen yellows a pound. We would be selling it in bulk so one pound minimum. Which puts us at sixteen yellows divided by three, totaling five yellows and thirty-three blues each. If you tend and harvest the catnip properly, we can expect roughly three pounds an acre every month. I had five acres growing in the forest before the centaurs found it. Granted I’m no farmer and could only get to it every now and then so the yield was low. All that to say make us as much as you can.”
Lorcus said “Well, wow. That would work with my current needs.” I’ll need some way to hide it from the centaurs. That will be tough considering they are already up my ass. No matter what I do it will be a risk so this will fall under the go big or go home category. “Alright I’m in. I’ll plant one acre as a test, and we’ll go from there. One condition though, I want my third on delivery. I can’t wait for you to sell it then come back with the coins.”
Purrsival’s face darkened and it looked like he was going to lunge at Lorcus again. Kate put her hand on his shoulder and said “Very well I’ll pay you on delivery, but your cut will be five yellows a pound. We will keep the thirty-three blues as a, lets call it a convenience fee.”
“Deal.” Lorcus said while shaking Kate’s hand and then Purrsival’s.
Kate left the room and returned with several items. “These” she said while handing Lorcus a bag “are the catnip seeds. There should be enough there for five acres.” She then handed him a book “that is a book explaining how to farm the catnip.” She then handed him a box filled with glass bottles. “Each bottle will hold one pound of the catnip. Grow it, dry it, bottle it, then bring it to me. If you get caught, you will say nothing about either myself or Purrsival. If you do the Count will be the least of your problems. On the other side if I or Purrsival get caught you have nothing to do with it. Do we have an understanding?”
“We do. I’m going to need you to provide some more things for me though. First is going to be that plow we talked about earlier. I need it to restore the field then you can have it back. The second item I need is that bed, call it a show of good faith.”
Kate laughed “Ha! I’m too good a saleswoman and it bites me in the ass. Very well, it was part of a heist anyway.”
Lorcus looked at her confused and asked, “you stole a bed?”
“No, remember how I told you about that wealthy client? Well, He wasn’t a client. He was a wealthy individual who died. I couldn’t resist the temptation, so I broke into his house, stole some experience coins, and used it to buy some luxury items to sell in the store. It’s a win, win. I get the money without having to explain why I’m suddenly wealthier. I get luxury items to sell in the store and I get even more once the items are sold. And with a simple bill of sale to the deceased client there is a paper trail for it all.”
“What if his family show up for the stuff though?”
“He had no family. He moved here to live his last days in solitude. I know, you can praise me now.” Kate said while doing a little twirl.
Lorcus started a slow clap which was picked up by Purrsival. “Screw you guys, you know that was a flawless heist.”
“I really am impressed. Now to other matters. What can you tell me about Agarora?” Lorcus asked.
“There’s not much to tell, she works for the Count in his Calvery Console. She started there a few months ago and stays to herself. The only time I see her around town is when she visits the Tipsy Centaur. Was there something specific you had in mind?” Kate asked.
“Nothing specifically, we met at the farm and she invited me to meet her tonight at the Tipsy Centaur. I’m new around here and it would be good to have someone who knows what the Count is up to. An inside centaur if you will.”
Purrsival jumped into the conversation saying “Don’t trust her, it is very unlikely she will betray her boss for someone she doesn’t even know.”
“He’s right but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t meet with her. Go see what she has to say, just remember who puts food in her mouth. If you tell her anything about us or our product…” Kate trailed off at the end leaving the threat unsaid.
“I get it. I won’t intentionally do anything to betray you and if they find out for some reason, you have nothing to do with me.”
“Very well, I will have the plow and bed delivered to the farm. Keep me informed on your progress and I will keep an eye on Agarora.”
Lorcus nodded before leaving the shop for the Tipsy Centaur.
//////
Walking through a set of saloon doors Lorcus was surprised by the amount of colors around him. It seemed like every surface was a different color. There were no chairs in the entire bar, instead there were pillows strewn everywhere and low tables roughly a foot off the ground. Centaurs were laying on the pillows everywhere he looked, some smoking hookahs and some had exotic-looking drinks.
“Lorcus over here.” It was Agarora shouting to get his attention from the corner of the room. Lorcus started walking over to her when the centaur behind the bar shouted at him “Clean your filthy human feet!” Looking around in confusion he saw a bucket of water and a stiff bristle brush next to the door. This must be for cleaning their hooves. That won’t work for me with this cut on my foot. He sat down and put his feet in the water and picked up a colorful cloth sitting off to the side. The bartender shouted again “That’s not…” His shout trailed off as he started grumbling under his breath about filthy humans.
Feet clean Lorcus made his way over to Agarora. Suddenly she jumped to her hooves and pointed behind him shouting “rabbit!”. Lorcus flinched and looked over his shoulder. Realizing he had been played he turned back to Agarora saying “ha-ha very funny, you know joking about demonic rabbits could get someone killed.”
“Relax, you are safe here. Come on sit down, I ordered you a drink when you walked in.”
“I hope you didn’t order me one of those crazy rainbow drinks.”
“No rainbows, it’s green, you’ll love it.” Just then the bartender walked over with two drinks saying “Two planes walkers, are you sure about this Agarora? There’s no way a human will appreciate this.”
“Come on Rhalk I invited him here for fun not to be insulted.”
Rhalk gave Lorcus that look he was starting to associate with centaurs. He grunted and said “fine, you will clean up after him when he makes a mess though. Let me know if you would like another drink or to use the hookah.”
“Sorry about him, he can be a little overbearing at times. Especially with humans. Go ahead try your drink it’s a specialty from the Planes.”
Lorcus looked dubiously at the drink. “There’s no grass or anything in it is there?”
She threw a pillow at his head. “Of course not, just try it.”
Lorcus took a sniff of the drink which smelled like pure alcohol. Well here goes nothing. Taking a sip, he was pleasantly surprised. “You know, that’s not half bad. Although it does taste a little like grass.”
“That’s because there is a little grass in there. That’s what gives it the green color.”
Lorcus grabbed a pillow and threw it back at Agarora. “You’re terrible.” They both began laughing.
Getting control of herself Agarora asked “Tell me Lorcus did they have centaurs where you came from?”
“No, only humans. What about you, are there humans who live on the Berizma Planes?”
“There are a few who live there but most of the humans that we see are from caravans. Other than that, we get the occasional slavers. That’s why Rhalk has such a dislike for humans. I don’t want to tell his story so it will have to be enough to say that someone in his family was enslaved. Rhalk did everything he could to save them but was too late. His family member died in a bad way.”
Lorcus raised his glass in a toast “To love lost, may we never forget, may we remember the good.” With that they drained their glasses. “How am I supposed to ask him for another round after hearing that story?”
“He’s okay, it was a long time ago. Perhaps understanding why he acts the way he does will be enough. Hey Ralk, can we get another round?”
“Thank you Ralk.” Lorcus said after the man delivered their drinks. Ralk looked at him and grunted before walking back to the bar. “Now don’t get me wrong I enjoy your company and spending time with you, but I doubt you invited me here to try new drinks.”
Agarora studied him for a long moment while sipping her drink, “I don’t know what to make of you. Most centaurs have limited access to Consoles, yet they all know more than you. From what I can tell you have no levels in any class and yet here you are, Console Commander of a dying farm. Not only that but you willingly put yourself in the middle of a feud with a Count. Cecrix offered you a ruby experience coin today and it didn’t even phase you. You’re like a baby in a new world and I’m afraid for you. I want to help you.”
Lorcus tapped his fingers on the side of his glass thinking. I should’ve expected this. She’s a little closer to the truth than she can know. How should I play this? “You’re right and you’re wrong, I’ve never worked for a console before. The first time I used one was to accept the position at the farm. I don’t know what I’m doing but I made a commitment and I intend to see that through.”
Agarora cut in saying “you’re going to get yourself killed! What can you even do there in six months? Basic vegetables will only give you so much experience, then what? Maybe you will be able to afford the skills and abilities at level one and maybe if you work really hard you can upgrade to level two but that’s it. You could do so much more with a single ruby and do it safely.”
“That’s why, the last thing you said was “do it safely”. I won’t be threatened or run off by a noble who didn’t get what he wants. I won’t abandon a man who hired me to save him and his families legacy.”
“You’re willing to die for your pride and an old mans vanity? He doesn’t have any children so his legacy will die with him no matter what happens to the farm.”
“I’ve given you my answer. If you want to help me than you can keep Cecrix off my back and let me know what the Count is planning.”
“I can’t do that. If the Count found out…” She trailed off at the end looking into her glass and stirring it with her straw. “Tell you what, I’d still like to help you if I can. If you would like I can stop by the farm in my free time and help with knowledge and a willing set of hands.”
Lorcus smiled and replied “I would like that very much. Listen, it’s getting late, and I need to get back to the farm.”
“Nonsense, you can stay here tonight. It would be dangerous to walk back in the dark. Ralk has rooms upstairs and we have an agreement that I can stay here when I get a little too drunk. I insist you stay here tonight.”
“I can’t keep taking advantage of your generosity. First you give me experience coins and now a room.”
“Don’t worry about it, the room is free, come on, I’ll show you up.”
Getting up to his feet he was surprised by how tipsy he was when he staggered back a step before regaining his balance. “Wow, they should rename that the planes crawler since you won’t be able to stand after drinking a few of them.”
She laughed, “I know right, I’ve been unable to find my bed a time or two while drinking these. You can hold onto me if you need the support.”
“Thanks.” Lorcus said while draping an arm around her. When they reached the stairs Lorcus said “I didn’t know horses could walk up stairs, how do you do it?”
Agarora let out a huff, “centaurs are not horses. We are people, we have brains and can do anything you humans can. When it comes to stairs, we just have to be a little more careful of our steps.”
The two helped each other up the stairs without falling down and opened a door to a modest room. There was no bed, but the same pillows from downstairs.
Agarora said “goodnight before collapsing on the pillows.”
“Wait, we are sharing the room?” Lorcus asked.
“Yes, unless you are afraid. Don’t worry, come here, I will hold you tight and keep you safe from all the evil demonic rabbits in the world.” Agarora said while spreading her arms wide.
“Ha, ha, very funny. Be warned I don’t have any underwear and I like to sleep naked.” Lorcus replied while getting undressed.
“You humans are weird. The only thing I wear is a chest wrap which is coming off too. Just don’t try anything.”
“Well, you did invite me to sleep naked with you in your room. It would be rude not to assume you wanted a little action.” Lorcus replied with a smile.
She let out another huff before saying “Good night Lorcus.”
“Good night Agarora.” Lorcus said while crawling into the nest of pillows.