Chapter 26

After the first night in his new home, Lord Mitten decided that he would spend the next night in the building only after extensive renovation work. The sight of the peeling paint on the walls when he opened his eyes the next morning was just too miserable. Granted, the sun's rays hitting the wall through the window had been merciless, highlighting every crack in the wall.

But I don't have to put up with that at my age, he thought, wrinkling his nose. After all, what did he have his wealth and his underling for?

So he had decided to delegate the rest of the work.

“Hmmmmh.”

A warm feeling spread through Lord Mitten at the thought and he cleaned his white paw with satisfaction. Delegating was simply a wonderful thing. Like putting off pending tasks, except that they were actually done in the meantime! How fantastic that was!

From the branch he was sitting on, he looked down at the hustle and bustle of the creatures below him. The vast majority of them were human, easily recognizable by their small ears, stature and lack of claws. Every now and then a halfling would appear in the square, running from market stall to market stall in search of the best tea leaves and spices.

It seemed that the halflings had remained true to their profession over the centuries and continued to earn their living as cooks in the homes of the rich and noble. Highly paid of course, you had to be able to afford them. Only a few were prepared to leave their homeland to find their fortune in a foreign land. And only the most adventurous set out on the long and arduous journey across the 'Black Sea' to the Unknown Land. And 'adventurous' and 'halfling' were two words that did not normally appear in the same sentence.

Lord Mitten watched with interest as a halfling had a heated discussion with a stall owner.

Normally, halflings were pretty laid-back fellows who didn't let much upset them. But when it came to food and drink, they became surprisingly passionate, as the creature waving its short arms wildly made impressively clear.

A few minutes later, the halfling left the store satisfied with a basket of vegetables in his hand, leaving a puzzled-looking salesman behind.

“Huh,” Lord Mitten said in amusement.

A halfling would be a wonderful addition to my staff.

He generously overlooked the fact that this staff currently consisted only of a subordinate named Kryll. The fox cub could not be counted, child labor was strictly forbidden, after all.

Maybe I'll manage to poach one, he thought further. The culinary skills were definitely worth keeping an eye on. And the salary wouldn't be a problem. But perhaps the facilities.

Lord Mitten narrowed his eyes as he thought about the small kitchen corner in the hallway. That could be a problem.

“Hm.”

Inwardly, he went through the renovation plans again, which he had drawn up based on his ideas and given to Kryll. He frowned. There was definitely no room for a large kitchen, no matter how he looked at it.

What a pity.

Lord Mitten buried the idea of a halfling as a subordinate again. He would have to find another way to secure reliable access to good food.

Life really is complicated sometimes.

Sighing, he made himself comfortable on the branch and closed his eyes for a little nap.

*****

What is going on?

Loud calls resounded up to Lord Mitten and woke him from his nap. Irritated, he opened his eyes a little and looked in the direction of the noise.

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A crowd of people had formed in front of one of the stalls, curiously watching the spectacle that was unfolding before them. The vendor of the stall held an apple in one hand and pointed accusingly at a huddled creature on the ground with the other.

“Hm?“

Lord Mitten opened his eyes wider and let his senses take in the situation.

“That good-for-nothing tried to steal from me! Here, you see! There are still marks from her dirty fingers on the apple! Dirty like her ancestry, I say! Dirty dwarfen half-breed!”

Oh.

Lord Mitten looked at the supposed culprit with her stringy blonde hair, gaunt face and dirty rags that she would probably call clothes. Her stocky build betrayed her origins, even if it had probably been a few generations since dwarven and human blood had mixed.

Compassion for the bundle of misery stirred in him. From the look of her, hunger had obviously driven her to her deed.

Since the last catastrophe, dwarves seemed to have a hard time in Minthral. Understandable in a way - who was happy when forests and waters were contaminated? On the other hand, this young creature had as much to do with the last catastrophe as the humans who surrounded her had to do with the uprising of the Undead a few thousand years ago.

Lord Mitten shook his head. The collective memory of the short-lived was sometimes just too short. But - he thought back to his disastrous entry into the Guardian business - that had also been an advantage for him. Three or four hundred years of living in seclusion and, there you go, you'd become a legend.

He looked at the young girl again.

Tsk.

Lord Mitten wrinkled his nose and decided to get her out of her predicament. Poverty was not a crime, after all. The real crime was committed by those who allowed citizens to starve in their city.

Starving citizens and kidnapped monsters. It is about time I took a serious look at the situation in this city, Lord Mitten decided.

Kryll would manage well without him for the next few days. For the renovation, he had the extensive plans he himself had drawn up. And for his safety, Lord Mitten had materialized a bird made of energy and connected it to a tiny part of his consciousness. Should any trouble arise, he would know about it.

At the thought of how Kryll had first stared at the little bird, then sighed in resignation and finally resigned himself to his fate, Lord Mitten had to smile with amusement.

Then he glanced at his pocket dimension.

Little Myrim was sleeping soundly on her pillow, the excitement of yesterday had left the little cub quite exhausted. With all the craftsmen in the house, he had decided it was safer to have her with him.

A very good decision, Lord Mitten decided in light of the latest events.

He was still too unfamiliar with the town and its inhabitants to assess them properly. But he didn't like what he saw here, and he liked the fact that the unknown adventurer knew about Myrim even less. Who knew what he would do with this information?

Tsk. Why did everything always have to be so complicated?

The vendor's shouting grew even louder, something Lord Mitten would not have thought biologically possible.

Now then, on to my most pressing problem.

Lord Mitten refocused on the young girl, who was crouched on the floor, wordlessly enduring the abuse.

He went through the various possibilities to free her from her predicament. Telekinesis? He quickly dismissed the idea. With so many people as witnesses, a person floating away would probably cause a bit of a stir.

He thought about it for a moment.

Quite a stir, in fact.

Flying was out of the question for the same reason. A giant bird inside the city walls would draw the mages out of their holes faster than you could count to three.

A little diversionary maneuver and a ground operation, then.

Lord Mitten stood up, stretched extensively and yawned heartily. With a thought, he let a mighty gust of wind sweep through the tree and across the square.

The canopies of the market stalls fluttered in the wind and some of the sales signs flew to the ground. Women clutched their head coverings with silent cries and men grabbed at their hats. The swirling dust flew through the air and made people squint their eyes.

With a second thought, Lord Mitten released some of his golden energy and formed it into a large dog under the tree, which he turned into matter with a third thought. It was meant to be seen, after all.

With a giant leap, the dog was at the young girl, snatched a piece of her clothing with its mouth, flung her on its back and with another leap, jumped into the next narrow alley.

“Huh?!" The vendor, who had just held his hand over his eyes to protect them from the dust, looked down at the cobblestones.

“She's gone! Get her, get her!” he shouted after a brief moment of confusion.

But the crowd of people had dispersed and the former onlookers were now preoccupied with themselves. Disheveled hair was straightened and headgear retied. Cloths that had been blown away were searched for by their owners and dust was knocked off their clothes.

The vendor let his gaze wander angrily over the square before returning to his business and rearranging his goods while muttering angrily to himself.

“Filthy dwarf brat.... my beautiful wares...”

Lord Mitten loosened the fastening on one of the baskets and the apples inside tumbled to the ground and rolled across the square.

“Ah!” The vendor hurriedly ran after his apples.

Lord Mitten took a coin from his pocket dimension and let it float into the market stall's till. After all, unpaid bills had to be settled. Whether it was for an apple or for insults that needed to be punished.

He looked in the direction of his store. Good thing Kryll was there. He would certainly know what to do with the girl.

Delegating really was a wonderful thing! Lord Mitten nodded in satisfaction and lay down for a second nap. After all, his first had been prematurely interrupted.