Chapter 31: Horse before a cart
Harrison could hardly see anyone when he came into the town of Torm. The ones he could see were half asleep and some were yawning as they came out of their houses going to work. The kids were still sleeping and only adults were starting to run about to do their daily chores.
He was facing a dilemma. Wanting to present the ormash to the cooks he needed a way to justify how he brought such a big animal to town by himself. Looking around he soon found an inn with a stable besides it.
There was already a man tending to something equivalent to horses diligently feeding them. It was the same kind of animal Sheina was riding only smaller and scruffier.
The man was fully engrossed in his work and didn't notice Harrison. From what Harrison could see from the back of his messy hair and shabby clothes he was not well off.
As he came near, he greeted the man.
"Aka sha!" Harrison said and the man turned around and greeted him in return which soon followed by a small bow as he noticed Harrison's clothes.
He figured that their social standing was not on par by the way Harrison was dressed.
"Do you have a horse and cart I could borrow until midday?" Harrison asked.
The man frowned a bit thinking and then replied, "We don't usually borrow out our carts, but I am sure we can come to an arrangement."
"How much is it?" Harrison asked.
"For people we are familiar with it's 1 silver gorn per day. The thing is, you are unfamiliar, so I would need you to leave something as collateral." The man replied.
Harrison thought it was reasonable, "How much will the collateral be?"
Thinking about it for a minute the man replied, "If it's a simple cart 20 silver gorn or something of equivalent value."
Harrison didn't want to lose any more time, so he agreed and said he will be right back.
He checked his inventory at the side of the inn and noticed he had 14 silver gorn, a lot of bronze gorn and two gold ones. He got the money from the corpses he looted when he woke up in this world. Harrison learned about the local currency from Sheina but this was the first time he actually needed to use one. The exchange rate between them was 100 units. The bronze ones were obviously the lowest and the gold ones of the highest value.
He took out a one handed sword which was valued at 30 silver gorn at the shop he visited before and went back to the front of the stable.
The man saw him coming back and smiled before he noticed the sword in his hand. His expression changed immediately from a smile to fright.
"I wonder if I can use this as collateral?" Harrison said at once from afar when he saw his intentions were misunderstood.
"Ah, yes Sir this will be more than enough. You can just give me the silver coin when you come back to collect it." The man replied after he let out an obvious sigh of relief as he heard him say that.
The man was fast in selecting a docile horse and put on a harness and attached it to a simple cart. It was not anything fancy but it would do the job.
"Thank you. See you later." Harrison said before he took the reins and walked off with the cart.
"No, no, I should be thanking you. Come back anytime." The man yelled after him.
After he came to a secluded spot and was sure no one was watching him he transferred the ormash carcass on the cart and walked it to the Donaron manor.
The horse didn't make much of a fuss and was happily trotting along pulling the screeching cart.
The cart was almost entirely made from wood excluding the two wooden wheels which were encased in an iron sheet. There was no suspension so it made a lot of noise when one bumped on a stone in the sandy road and once one got to a stone paved one it made a lot of noise bouncing on the uneven surface.
He soon reached the Donaron manor and was greeted by the guard. It was the same guard on duty as when he first came here with Sheina so there was no fuss involved except that he had to open up the whole gate so the cart could pass.
Harrison directly went around the manor and parked the cart by the entrance to the kitchen where usually deliveries were made. He went into the kitchen and greeted the two cooks that were already in the middle of preparing breakfast.
It was porridge again.
'Don't they eat anything else for breakfast other than porridge?' Harrison thought as he looked at Gordo tasting it from a big wooden spatula.
The two cooks greeted him with fervor as they were impressed with his generosity from last time.
"Aka sha master Roberts!" They both said and made a bow.
Harrison waved his hand and said, "There is no need for this."
The cooks looked at each other, probably surprised at him speaking their language so fluently now before Gordo asked if there was anything he needed.
"Yes. I got something from my hunter friend and I need your help with moving it into the kitchen. You can make lunch or dinner from it or whatever you want." Harrison replied before gesturing to the outside with his hand.
As they came out Gordo and Fergun were amazed at the huge carcass on the cart.
"It's an ormash. We can have a feast." Gordo exclaimed with twinkling eyes and Fergun just nodded smiling from ear to ear.
"You have a nice friend Sir Roberts," Gordo said with a pause before he continued, "but his hunting methods are a bit weird."
"What do you mean?" Harrison asked.
"The marakash and this ormash were both hit on the head with an axe obviously. What kind of hunter hunts this way? It's too dangerous. They usually use bows and arrows and shoot their prey from afar. Your friend must be really brave." Gordo said out loud, but he added or stupid in his mind.
"Ohh that. He said both of these animals ambushed him, so he had no choice to hit them over their heads with an axe. That is also why I got them cheap." Harrison lied.
"Ahh. I see." Gordo was still talking as Fergun already came back with the knives.
"We will butcher it on the cart since it���s too heavy for us to carry it inside." Gordo said.
Harrison nodded before saying, "Ok but please clean the cart since I have to return it in the afternoon. By the way, how much time do I have until breakfast?"
Gordo explained it's about half an hour until breakfast and joined Fergun after agreeing that they will clean off the cart after butchering the ormash.
Harrison was eager to once again try the spear since he leveled up so much, so he rushed to the practice arena. He took the same practice spear from the shack and went to execute the moves in the middle of the fenced off circle.
Meanwhile, the guard on duty has informed Englin of Harrison's arrival who immediately reported it to Shalmoon and Rogun. They frantically made their way to the backyard only to see Fergun butchering an ormash.
Fergun informed them that Harrison left towards the practice arena, and so they walked towards there slowly. Halfway to there from the kitchen's back entrance they could already hear the whooshing sounds of the spear.
As they saw Harrison, they stopped. Shalmoon looked at Rogun after a while as Harrison started to repeat his movements, and he was amazed his teacher had his mouth open and was still fully concentrated on the arena.
"What's wrong?" Shalmoon asked.
"He is a bigger monster than I thought..." Rogun replied without even looking at Shalmoon.
Shalmoon looked at Harrison but didn't find anything odd and frowned before asking, "What do you mean?"
"He learned the whole book. And he learned to perfection. And he has gotten faster in his footwork. And faster with his hands since yesterday. We should leave..." Rogun said.
"Why should we leave?" Shalmoon asked.
"We should not be seen spying on him. Let me apologize first. I should apologize first. The kid has every right to be cocky." Rogun replied before turning around.
Shalmoon just raised his hands in resignation at his old teacher and followed him.
"So, what's the plan?�� He asked as he caught up.
"I will apologize at breakfast in front of you and Sheina. We need Sheina for this. You should have seen his face as your daughter berated him for not being more respectful towards me. I think he likes your daughter." Rogun said.
"What is there not to like?" Shalmoon said with joy before reality hit him, and he frowned.
'It's too soon. Too soon.' He suddenly thought as he imagined his daughter with a man.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone