A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 53: The Village Elder - Part 3

Even as he walked under the autumn sun, he was still beginning to feel somewhat chilly in his thin and thread-bear woollen shirt.

He paused in front of Greeves' house, his bag of Goblin skulls in hand, making his shoulder ache from the sheer weight of them. He drew in a deep breath to calm himself before knocking loudly and firmly.

Judas answered nearly immediately. He was so quick that Beam guessed it was the big man's job to keep an eye on the door.

For some reason, Judas looked surprised to see him. As the door swung open and he stood there, his eyes widened slightly. He glanced at the grain sack that Beam was holding. "…I heard you took a Goblin quest yesterday. That true?" He asked.

Beam had to fight back the urge to ignore him and simply tell him to get his boss. "…I did," he said in response, after a significant effort.

"Heh, and you're here 'cos you managed it? Or because you're reconsidering?" Judas asked.

"Just get your boss," Beam said, his impatience taking over this time, not liking the mocking look in Judas' eye.

The big man shrugged. "On you, I guess. I'll fetch him, but lemme warn ya, if you haven't got anything good to show him, you're gonna piss him off."

He disappeared into the house and appeared with Greeves a moment later. Beam could almost smell the merchant before he could see him. There was a strong reek of alcohol in the air as the merchant stood there, again in a dressing robe with his chest bare, only instead of gold, this robe was red.

"Oh, there he is," Greeves said irritably. Beam could tell from the squint of his eyes that the man was quite hungover.

"I guess you hadn't planned to do any business today?" Beam asked, wrinkling his nose.

Greeves tutted in annoyance. "Careful, you little shit. We're not friends. Disrespect me too often and this transaction will fall through." He noticed the grain sack that Beam was holding and nodded at it. "So, what you got in there for me?" He reached to take it off him.

Beam pulled the sack away, not allowing the merchant to take it just yet. "Five Goblins' skulls," he said, reaching into the bag to pull one out to prove his point.

He heard a sharp intake of breath from Judas as he looked over his boss' shoulder. The merchant and his minion shared a glance. One that contained all of their surprise.

Greeves broke out into the widest smile Beam had ever seen from a creature. Frankly, he found it horrifying. It was so wide it looked like it was wrestling to take over his face as he flashed those large white teeth of his. He clapped his hairy hands together as he laughed. "My oh my, have we ever discovered a little treasure here, eh, Judas?" He held his hand out for the Goblin's head. "I sense your distrust, boy, but allow me to examine the product before we proceed any further."

Beam frowned irritatedly, but he didn't see any way past it and he tossed the skull through the air towards the merchants. Greeves caught it, not seeming to mind the impolite gesture. "Oh yes, that is flesh for sure. And these here are quality materials. A fresh corpse. Slain only yesterday." Greeves handed it off to Judas to see if he had anything to add. Beam assumed from that gesture that it was likely Judas had some Goblin-hunting experience himself.

"Yeah, that's the real deal alright," Judas said, before glancing at Beam, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "Just how did you manage to get five of them, anyway? Even I'd struggle to fight five Goblins at once, if I was alone."

Beam merely shrugged. "Then don't fight them all at once."

Greeves raised his eyebrow at that and looked to Judas, before laughing. "Hahah! He's got you there, you oaf. Mm. I don't particularly care what strategy you used to get your success boy, what I care about is the results and you have indeed delivered. I like that. I like people like you, people who get things done. I think we're going to get on very well, that I do."

Despite his hangover and the grumpiness with which he'd come to the door, the merchant's mood had improved considerably and so Beam dared to push towards business.

"Like I said, I have five Goblin skulls and they're yours. I'm happy for my payment to be 5 copper coins, as agreed. However, I would like to make a trade in return for the monster materials."

Greeves' smile faded at that and his eyes flashed warily. "A trade is it?" he murmured. "Well, what do you want?"

"My knife broke fighting the Goblins," Beam told him, "I want to trade for a new one."

Greeves paused at that, before he guffawed and broke back into a smile. "Ah, is that all? Well, we can't have our little monster hunter be without equipment. Agreed. I have a few old knives that I do not mind trading you – but just this one time, mind you. For this exchange puts me somewhat out of pocket. Judas, bring him some of the older daggers to look at."

Beam smiled internally. It seemed his master had the right of it, for Greeves had shown no resistance at all in trading for the knife. It must have been true that monster materials sold for far more than he was letting on. But also, he supposed it was likely true that Greeves got his knives for far cheaper, being a merchant as he was. He likely bought them from elsewhere, for in Solgrim they were far too expensive.

As they waited for Greeves, Judas reached into his robe and withdrew a small coin pouch. From within, he counted five coppers and held them out to Beam. "For a job well done," he said. Beam received them in his palm and clenched them into his fist, enjoying the feel of the cool metal.