I wandered around for an hour or so, searching the village high and low. I asked the guardsmen, the vendors, anyone who looked important. They all said the same thing. Try the job board. Of course, none of them told me where that was, so I wandered around like a dope for half the day.

Eventually, I ended up finding it outside a tavern on the far side of the town. Scraps of paper littered the board, but most of the jobs that were posted on it were way beyond their skill level, or they'd force us to leave town, and we weren't ready for that.

"Damnit."

I searched the postings for anything that felt doable. Finally, a job caught my eye. Buried beneath two other high-ranking jobs, there was a scrap covered in neat letters. I pulled it free and read.

A shopkeeper named Farvad was looking for guards for his general goods store. No experience was needed, and the pay seemed reasonable: fifteen crystals per night. It wasn't clear what we were guarding the shop from, but I figured that it was the best opportunity we had, memorized the directions, and tore the posting down from the corkboard. A moment later, I was walking to the north side of town.

Galden was a winding network of streets with little discernible pattern or flow. Shops, houses, and warehouses sprang up alongside one another, seemingly at random. An abandoned house overlooked the city well, while a pair of workshops pressed together over an outdoor kitchen. Children chased each other in the narrow alleyways, and more than once, I ran into groups of laughing dwarfs, pickaxes slung over their shoulders, as they made their way to the mine. Life bustled and thrived in every corner of the small town as the glowing orb cast light upon it.

It took me a while to figure out what the note meant, but eventually, the directions brought me to an empty market square. Stalls and shops lined the streets, but most were old and in disrepair. Several were little more than rotting lumber.

The last building on the main road was a general store called Farvad's. Its windows were shattered, its sign was faded and cracked, and its doors hung loosely on rusty hinges. I really didn't want to go into the store, but money was money. I sucked it up and headed inside.

The inside of the store was much, much nicer. Three lanterns hung overhead, illuminating the room in pale yellow light. Rows upon rows of goods lay across dusty shelves. Food, weapons, clothing, armor, rope, and even monster parts. There was something for everyone here, and judging by how organized everything was, this shopkeeper took great pride in his business.

I scanned the room, but there wasn't a clerk or anyone manning the desk, so I rang the bell. A light, airy man's voice sounded from the back, something crashed to the ground, the man cursed, and a moment later the curtain separating the back from the front fluttered, and a tiny man about half my size walked out. He clomped up some steps behind the counter, looked me in the eyes, adjusted his thick spectacles, and coughed. I guess he was waiting for me to speak first.

"I'm here about the job posting."

"What job posting?" The man's eyes were magnified by his glasses. He looked kind of like a fish. He had a thick beard that flowed down to his belt, and his hair was a deep red color. His bushy brows furrowed as he looked at me. "I didn't post any jobs."

"I found this at the job board." I handed the fish-eyed man the piece of paper.

He opened the paper and laughed. "Oh, that job! That's right, yes yes." He crumpled the paper and threw it into a bin. "That's not available anymore. Sorry. Have a great day." He clomped down the step ladder and walked to the curtain.

Before he disappeared, I got his attention. "What was the job for?"

The little bearded man turned and scratched his head. "What job?"

He couldn't be serious. "The one I just showed you. On the paper?"

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The man continued scratching his head for a moment, then a look of realization crossed his face. "Oh right! Well, I'm going out of town this week and need to keep the nargles out. Nasty little creatures, them. Really nasty. I can't let them ruin my stuff!"

"Nargles?"

"Yup."

"Uh... what's a nargle?" I'd never heard of them.

"You don't know about nargles?" The man stepped down his stepladder, disappeared into the back, reemerged with a large book in his hands, climbed the ladder again, and threw the book down. He licked his fingers before opening the book and flicking through the pages. After going through about half of the large book page by page, he gave a humph of success. "This is a nargle!"

On the page was a picture of something like a rodent, only it was the size of a cat, green and black, and had wicked tusks sticking out of its mouth. A caption under the picture explained it ate enchantments of all kinds. They were endemic to this region, having originally come from the Depths by way of the mine. "Nasty buggers. Eat everything up." Farvad pushed his glasses closer to his eyes and peered through them at me. "How do you not know about them? Everyone knows about them!"

"Sorry, I'm not from here. My friend and I just got to Galden yesterday."

"No excuse!" The man snapped the book shut. "Do you want the job or not?"

"Um... didn't you say the job wasn't available anymore?" You old coot.

"Of course it's available. Why wouldn't it be? I put the job posting up on the job board after all. Damn humans, no sense." The man pulled the book off the desk and marched it into the back. A minute later, he returned with a toolbox. Climbing back up, he opened the toolbox to reveal a wide assortment of scrolls. One by one, he examined them before setting them down next to the box. "Which one, which one? Ah! Here it is." He pulled a crumbling parchment out of the box. "It's an old contract. I wrote it a while back for a different job, but I figured, why waste it?" He extended a tiny arm across the countertop and handed me the scroll. I unfurled it and read.

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Farvad Binderkettle IV hereby extends to _______________ an offer to be hired for security purposes, including protection of the selfsame Farvad's shop and merchandise therein for a period of _______________.

Payment will be delivered upon completion of the job term, totaling ____ crystals per day. Additionally, Farvad will provide lodging, food, drink, and access to his personal bathroom during the employee's period of employment. This is rather generous, don't you think?

Furthermore, _______________ agrees not to engage in acts of theft against their employer during the aforementioned contracted period. Such actions, including, but not limited to, blackmail, threats, intimidation, robbery, and general mischief shall be considered a violation of this agreement.

Failure to comply may result in imprisonment or fines at the discretion of local authorities, or if not possible, the ire of the Goddess.

_______________ agrees to the terms listed above and accepts responsibility for any consequences resulting therefrom.

Signed: ______________________

Farvad Binderkettle IV

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What did I just read? I looked up at the gnome, but he snatched the paper out of my hand and began scribbling in the date and number of days. "Okay, sign here."

"I haven't—"

"Sign here." The old man stared up at me, his enormous eyes threatening behind his gigantic glasses.

Reluctantly, I signed.

"Good!" He took the contract back, rolled it up, and handed it to me. "I'm off." The man picked up a bag from behind his front desk, pulled a hat off a nearby hook, and walked out of the front door. Just as the door almost shut, he popped his head back in and said, "Oh, yeah, the bathroom is out back. Have a great week!" He disappeared again.

The entire conversation took no more than five minutes. What had I gotten myself into?

I threw the shield off of my back and set it against the counter, then stepped into the back. The place was a mess. The benches were littered with various powdered stones, chisels, knives, brushes, and tools. Parchments full of cramped notes written in languages I didn't recognize were scattered everywhere, and vials upon vials of weird liquids, powders, and other substances occupied every spare centimeter of the place. In the back of the shop was another door. I walked that way and found a small bedroom. The bed was about four feet long, even more parchments covered every surface, and a pot was bubbling over in the fireplace. A small cloud of smoke filled the air as the liquid within boiled over and burned as it touched the flames.

I quickly moved to the fireplace, pulled the pot off, and hooked it on a nearby hook. The liquid within looked like a stew. I could even make out hefty hunks of some meat and that same potato thing I'd eaten last night. There were thick green leaves cooked into the sauce. They looked a lot like collard greens. My mouth watered at the sight. I hadn't eaten since breakfast.

I shouldn't eat someone else's lunch. Should I? I considered it for a while. On the one hand, it was someone else's food. On the other hand, the guy was obviously nuts, and I was pretty sure he'd really left town. What was the harm?

I looked around, and soon enough, I found a bowl, spoon, and ladle. I fished some of the liquid out of the pot, waited for it to cool, and took a large bite.

It was the most bitter thing I'd ever tasted.