Twenty minutes later I was back at Tradesman Calford’s home, tapping on the screen to be let in. When Jamie appeared at the door a few minutes later while wearing a bathrobe, I gave her a wave through the glass.

“What are you doing back?” she asked after I requested her permission to enter.

“The task’s complete,” I informed her as I sat on the stool that I’d used the day before. “Thought I’d plate up before I went home if you don’t mind.”

Jamie flashed me another one of her dazzling smiles, but this one had noticeably less humor behind it. “Sweetie, there are seventy-five Koler crabs at that pond.”

“Seventy-six, actually” I said. “The job failed to mention the queen.”

“How do you know about the queen?” she asked with sudden suspicion. “Has someone been talking?”

“To me? No,” I replied. “I discovered her existence on my own.”

“Where is she right now?” Jamie asked.

“In paradise with her children,” I said somberly. “Where there is no conflict or sin, and everyone can cannibalize their siblings in heavenly peace.”

“Stregan-,” she said.

“Stragos,” I corrected her.

“Whatever!” said Jaime. “Stragos, what you’re telling me doesn’t make any sense. Seventy-five level ten monsters and one elite can’t be dealt with in only twelve hours by actual hunters of the same level. Much less…”

“Much less what?” I asked her.

“Sweetie, you’re only a porter,” she finally said. “Don’t bother hiding it, I could tell at a glance.”

“How?” I asked, genuinely surprised.

“That’s a trade secret, I’m afraid.”

A trade secret? What exactly was that supposed to mean?

“Oh,” I said a moment later, as I finally understood the situation. “You have an assessment skill, don’t you? I didn’t even realize it. What’s your class?”

“Stragos, I’m the one asking the questions,” she said quietly. “I wasn’t too bothered by you showing up to answer my father-in-law’s request, not when I saw what your class was. I just assumed you were a scavenger trying to scam a free meal. The Narrows is full of that sort.”

“Desperate people?” I asked.

“Everywhere you look,” she said with a nod. “Especially kids your age. Academy burnouts who couldn’t meet their damn requirements. They throw you poor things out with the trash every semester.”

“If you thought I was a fake, why’d you feed me?” I asked her.

“You’re a funny guy,” she said with a small smile. “I thought you might have been a little touched in the head, so I didn’t mind helping you. But now you’re taking things a little too far.”

“The pond is clear, Jamie,” I assured her.

“We’ll soon see,” she said after pressing a button on the counter.

The door opened and three large men stepped into the kitchen with us. I recognized one of them as the guard who’d challenged me at the entrance to the town. He stared at me, first in puzzlement, then with slowly increasing anger. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked.

“Just trying to get some breakfast,” I said sadly.

“Don’t get fresh with me,” he said as he came stomping towards me.

“Doug, stay calm please,” Jamie cut in. “I want Finch and Carver to check out his story. Our new friend here claims to have cleared out the pond singlehandedly.”

“This punk?” Doug snorted in derision. “My ass, he did. I told him to stay clear of the narrows and he ignored me. There’s consequences for making bad decisions, kid.”

“What kind?” I asked him.

In response, he grabbed me by the front of my shirt and easily hefted me into the air. “You’re about to find out,” he promised me.

“Does this mean I’m not getting fed?” I asked Jamie.

“Doug,” she said, placing deliberate emphasis on his name. “This isn’t why I called for you.”

“He’s getting on my nerves,” Doug said.

“And you are beginning to get on mine,” she warned him.

Sudden understanding flashed in Doug’s eyes. Instead of following through on his intended violence, he dropped me on the floor. I landed unpleasantly on my rear.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Yeah, I was probably going to kill Doug later for doing that. Or maybe I wouldn’t? Who really knew? I can be mercurial at times. But I have to say that in that particular moment, things weren’t looking too good for ‘ol Dougie living to see his next birthday.

After I resumed my seat, Jamie leaned forward on the counter to explain things more clearly to me.

“Sweetie, I’m going to send Carver and Finch over to the pond to check your story, okay?” she said as she pointed to the two men who’d accompanied Doug into the room. “And if they see so much as a pincer or an eyestalk, things aren’t going to go well for you. I’m sorry about that, but I can’t let anyone blatantly try to rip off my family like this.”

“I understand and I take no offense,” I replied. “It’s as I said to Doug earlier. It’s much better to be wary than foolish.”

“I’m glad you understand,” she said. “But I wish you wouldn’t take it so lightly. Doug is a level eight sentry. He’s not someone you should be so disrespectful towards.”

“Level eight?” I said in surprise.

“Yes,” she nodded.

“At his age?” I scoffed.

“You little shit,” Doug swore as he reached for me.

“Ah, didn’t she say you had to wait for confirmation?” I asked him.

Doug reluctantly paused as he saw the look Jamie was giving him. He swallowed his anger and turned away from me but not before muttering, “As soon as they call in, I’m going to break both of your legs, you little scavenger bastard.”

“Well, shoot,” I said. “If that’s what’s about to happen, then maybe Jamie should get my breakfast started. So, I can begin healing right away.”

Jamie laughed at that. I smiled at her, pleased to have finally gotten her to crack.

“I’m starting to believe I was right about you being touched in the head,” she said.

“Touched in the head and hungry,” I replied.

“Fine,” Jamie said as she reached into a cabinet and produced a heavy iron skillet. “In honor of your persistence, if nothing else.”

“Hurray!” I cheered.

Soon the kitchen was filled with the comforting scent of bubbling grease and frying meat as Jamie’s deft hands prepared a bountiful breakfast of eggs, a fat slice of ham, and three large sausages. There wasn’t a vegetable to be seen on the glorious tray she set before me, which she topped off with a thick slice of buttered bread and a glass of sweetened milk.

Eating this feast was an act of supreme bliss. I lost all sense of my surroundings as I surrendered myself to the primal joy of consumption and tucked into my meal. Breaking the yolk of the egg with the sausage and smearing it over my bread before topping it off with the whites and ham brought me to a sense of equivalence with universe.

Chewing and swallowing the combo was nirvana itself.

At some point, I discarded my fork and just attacked the plate with my teeth. That was a happy moment. When I came to my senses, Jamie and Doug were staring at me in bewilderment, as if they’d just been forced to watch a wolf devour a baby rabbit. It was a little embarrassing.

“May I please have a napkin?” I asked.

“That was…an impressive visual,” Jamie said tactfully as she handed me a slightly dampened towel to clean my face with.

“Kid, you’re disgusting,” Doug said bluntly.

“Heh, sorry, just enjoying myself,” I said sheepishly. “Say, I don’t suppose I could have another of those sausages? You don’t need to cook it. Just a treat for my friend over there.”

I pointed to the glass door, where Schulz lay on his side, staring at us hopefully.

“Oh, he’s gorgeous,” Jaime said as she walked to the door and opened it to let the dog inside. “You’re such a handsome thing, aren’t you?”

She began patting Schulz on the head, then expertly scratching his belly and scalp at the same time while he rolled over to luxuriate in her fine treatment of him. Hmm. Apparently, a sufficiently cute dog could be used to attract the attention of a beautiful woman. Who knew?

You think I would have figured that out after centuries of chasing people through the woods with wolves. It just goes to show there’s always more to learn.

“Why haven’t they gotten back to us yet?” Doug grumbled a few minutes later as Schulz happily chewed from a plate of meat provided to him by our hostess.

“They’re just being thorough,” Jamie said as she watched the dog eat. “It’s important to be completely certain before you commit to certain actions.”

“You’re not wrong about that,” I agreed.

“Shut up,” Doug said irritably as he began to walk around the kitchen. “The longer this gets drawn out, the worst it’s going to be for you.”

“You never did tell me what your class was,” I said to Jamie, as I turned away from the boring thug and his boring threats. “How did you assess me?”

“Don’t ask so many questions,” Doug snapped.

Now I was beginning to grow annoyed.

“Would you please stop telling me what to do?” I said to him. “I’m showing a lot of good humor here, but mealtime’s over, and I think I’m going to leave. As charming as Jamie’s company is, I’m beginning to find your presence unbearable.”

“Stragos, please, don’t do anything reckless,” Jamie urged.

“Kid, you’re not going anywhere,” Doug rumbled as he approached me.

“Don’t do it, Doug,” I warned him. “Touch me in anger and you won’t enjoy what follows.”

“Okay, I’ve fucking had it with you—” Doug began to say when Schulz suddenly shot across the room like a canine cruise missile and slammed directly into his chest, smashing him violently into a wall.

“What the hell,” Doug moaned as Schulz clamped his jaws around his ankle and pivoted violently to the left before releasing his grip, sending Doug crashing through the patio windows to slide through the grass in a broken heap.

“You saw me try to warn him, right?” I asked the stunned Jamie. “That makes you my witness.”

“What the hell just happened?” she gasped.

“Schulz is a very good boy,” I told her as my familiar trotted happily to my side to receive his pats. “Anyway, thank you for breakfast. I’m feeling sleepy, so I think I’ll be skipping lunch today. Back for dinner, though. What’s the menu for tonight? You know what, don’t tell me. I enjoy being surprised.”

With Schulz at my side, I stepped over the broken glass and made my way toward the town exit while Jamie stared at us. As I left, I heard the kitchen phone begin to ring.

"Yes?" I heard Jamie say after answering it.

A few minutes later, just as we reached the road, I heard the sound of frantic footsteps as someone came running towards me from behind.

“WHERE,” Jamie gasped after catching up to me. Which I took to mean where are all the Koler crabs?

“Dealt with, as I explained,” I said to her patiently.

“HOW,” she asked next.

“Decisively,” I said.

She held up a finger, signaling me to let her catch her breath. After a few deep gasps, she managed to calm herself enough to ask questions using complete sentences.

“What is he?” she asked as she pointed at Schulz.

“My dog,” I replied.

“What sort of dog is he?”

“One of a kind. Jamie, I’m sorry but is this going anywhere? I really am tired.”

Suddenly, she grabbed my arm and pulled me toward her. Looking at me intensely with those seemingly guileless blue eyes, she came closer until our faces were only inches apart and said, “What do I have to do to convince you to stay?”

A smile slowly crept over my face as I considered the tempting implications of her words.

“Nothing much,” I said. “Just a little something I’d really enjoy.”

“And what’s that?” she asked.

I think she was almost disappointed when I requested a room at her tavern to rest in.

What? When I’m sleepy, I’m sleepy.