Chapter 7 – Meryda's punishment – part 1

In the morning, Craydon and Meryda fed the chickens and pigs, and as soon as she finished, Meryda went to the place where the cows were to make sure the boars took care of their food. As she was going to the back of the house to check the fields, she noticed a few Bone Boars carefully walking along the watery canals, avoiding the green sprouts that were already growing on the squares of earth.

Puzzled, she called her father, and while pointing at the enormous green field, she asked, "Do you know if it is normal around here for plants to grow this fast? I thought it would take a few days for the first sprouts to appear!"

Craydon crouched and touched a few leaves while saying, "I have no idea. Maybe it has something to do with the water? Or the Bone Boars? I honestly don't know. I guess we will have to ask someone. Maybe your friends know. I got the impression your Demi-Centaur friends also have a farm."

"Yes, they told me their parents raise Fur Cows, but they also have some planted fields. They should know how fast plants grow in this World. I just need to ask without raising suspicions."

They went to the stable to prepare the horse, with Craydon looking back at the enormous green field. If all those plants kept growing at that speed, in one week or so, they would be ready to harvest.

…

Jack Crawler and Meryda finally arrived at Amberstar's Gates. The guards stationed there looked at the enormous pile of cow fur on their waggon, and one of them asked, "Craydon, what is all that? Are you going to sell that fur at the market? Since when do you have Fur Cows on that small farm of yours?"

"Since yesterday. They were wild cows that came from the forest at the back of our farm, and we managed to put them inside a wire fence. Their fur was all tangled, and Meryda, together with her friends, worked all afternoon to cut all this!"

"You are darn lucky! Wild Fur Cows are difficult to capture! How did you manage that?"

Trying to sound casual, Craydon answered, "We didn't do anything special, besides putting some hay on the floor. They followed the hay, and we closed the gate of that wire fence."

The guards laughed and waved them goodbye. As they were going along the main street, Meryda noticed a few puzzled looks on the citizens who kept staring at the contents of their waggon and were whispering, making her say in a low voice, "We seem to be attracting a lot of attention. We need to stick to that lie you told those gate guards. I am going to tell my friends to back us up and to keep a secret about the Bone Boars. I already told them, but it is never enough to remind them."

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the entrance of the market, and Meryda's friends were already near the enormous tree that was their usual meeting place.

Craydon jumped to the floor, waved them goodbye, and went on foot to the Guild of Explorers and Adventurers, carrying the Slime in his arms and the Salamander running next to him, with Meryda walking away with her friends while pulling the horse by its reins and telling them the backstory her father thought about as an excuse for all the fur they were going to sell.

They stopped in a space right next to an old lady who was selling fruit, and Pof Grinun began shouting what they were selling, calling the attention of everyone in the market at that hour.

In mere minutes, two merchants approached to check the quality of the fur, and while one was frowning, the other said, "This is all very tangled. No one ever groomed the Fur Cows?"

While shaking her head, Meryda said, "Those were wild cows, and we think yesterday was the first time someone cut their fur."

With a slight smile, the same merchant said, "Fur from cows that get their fur cut occasionally has a better quality because, like this, it takes more time to separate the fur strings to be used."

With a grin, Shilna Cemim spoke, "You are trying to fool us so that we sell all this fur at a cheap price. Our parents raise Fur Cows, so we know very well that it doesn't matter if the fur is tangled or not. After being boiled, it doesn't matter. If you want to buy, make an offer; if not, move along. But this is not all the fur we have for sale. We have three more piles like this."

The merchant gulped, and the other merchant, the one who was still touching and looking at the pile of fur, said, "I will buy this pile and all the rest that you have at market price. But I need all the fur today because my caravan is going to depart early tomorrow. If you can bring all the fur to the front of the stable next to the Inn, I will go tell my people to bring empty waggons, and they will help move the fur."

Shilna glanced at the others and gave a handshake to the now smiling merchant while saying, "We have a deal, Mister! We are going to get the rest, but you can pay for this pile right now so that we can empty the waggon."

The merchant took out his purse and counted the coins that he then handed over to the happy Demi-Centaur girl while saying, "It is a pleasure doing business with such hard-working youngsters! I hope I can do more business in a few months when I return, and your cows have more fur ready to be cut!"

"If you come back two months from now, our parents will have a lot of fur to sell from the cows they raise. In four months, we will have four piles of fur again, from Meryda's cows."

"Splendid! I will go call my people, and you kids go get the rest of the fur!"

Meryda was going to grab the horse's reins again to take him to the stable when someone grabbed her arm and a familiar male voice said, "Where do you think you are going, young lady? Backyard of the Guild, punishment time!"

Meryda looked back and saw Dralro Jic, the Guild Master of the Guild of Explorers and Adventurers, looking at her with a wicked smile. She gulped and asked, "Punishment… for what? I didn't-"

That simple question granted her a hard pull on her right ear that made her flinch. "You didn't? Really? Who was the one who almost died inside a cave? I told you we were going to punish you. It will be just a bit of hard training; nothing to worry about!"

Noticing the wicked grin that he still had, Meryda knew for sure that it was really something she should worry about and a lot! The only thing she could do was delay it by saying, "I can't go now. We must go to my farm to get all the fur we have stashed in my stable because we are going to sell it all. My friends can't go to my farm without me, because…"

She then approached his ear and whispered, "That Bone Boar we met outside that cave followed me home, and he brought along a lot of friends yesterday morning. They are all guarding my farm, so…"

With a gulp, the Guild Master whispered back, "You mean you now have more Bone Boars? How is that even possible? How many have you tamed?"

"A bunch of them, together with a herd of Fur Cows they brought. Can I go to the Guild for lunch and take care of my training in the afternoon?"

"Well, considering all that, I suppose it will be better. Go take care of that. Is your father at the Guild yet?"

"He already went there to take care of lunch," Meryda answered while going to her horse again.

The Guild Master looked at the young group leaving with the waggon full of fur and mumbled as he went on foot to the Guild, "This is getting ridiculous. First, she tamed one Bone Boar. Now she has a bunch of them and Fur Cows as well? What the heck is happening here?"

At the Guild of Explorers and Adventurers, there was a commotion the moment Craydon Crawler stepped foot inside.

There were two Parties of Adventurers from another City, and they were all in front of him, with their weapons in hand, and surrounded by the Adventurers of the Guild, who did not like to see two outside Parties threatening their Cook.

The Guild Master barged through the open door the moment he heard an unfamiliar voice shouting, "We have to kill those Monsters! Why does no one seem to understand this?"

Without waiting for anyone else, the Guild Master punched the face of the person who shouted and warned the others, "The next one to raise his voice inside my Guild, I will split open his head! What is happening here?"

One outsider said while pointing at the puzzled young Salamander at Craydon's feet, "That guy entered here with two Monsters! And these people here don't seem to mind! Is everyone in this Guild stupid or what?"

Dralro Jic, the strong and extremely respected Guild Master, answered while grabbing the neck of the outsider that spoke, and while squeezing, he said, "Careful, young one! I am too old for this, and I might not fully control my grasp and inadvertently break your neck! This guy is our Guild's cook, and if you want to eat here and not get your food poisoned, you better not make him angry. The Salamander and the Slime are his daughter's pets, and if any of you try anything funny, you will leave this Guild in a coffin. Did I make myself clear?"

While the Adventurer was trying to breathe and starting to get purple, another from his group asked, "Pets? How in the world can two Monsters be pets? Who ever heard of such a thing?"

"But they are. They helped that young girl when she fell into a tunnel inside a cave not too far from this City, and they became friends. They are allowed here because they are friendly, and they are even helping in the kitchen. For the time being, because when they grow up, we will see what to do next, but right now, they are not for you to worry about or even think about doing any harm! I am not going to be the one to tell Meryda that Adventurers from another City attacked her pets. May the Goddess permit that none of her pets be killed by you or any of your friends because she won't rest until all of you are dead. And believe me, you don't want to have Meryda Crawler on your back!"

Craydon kept looking at the group of outsiders, and when the Guild Master dropped the one that he was still suffocating, they made room for Craydon to go to the kitchen.

In there, his two helpers were in front of the stove looking at the boiling sauce inside a pot, and when they saw him, Emid Basson went to the pantry, and Vasir Rez said, while still looking at the sauce, "Welcome, boss. We heard what happened out there, and we are already taking care of preparing lunch. Those guys will regret annoying you. We have another pot with the normal sauce to serve to our Adventurers and Explorers, but those guys will taste your special sauce."

With a puzzled look, Craydon asked, "What special sauce? What are you two plotting?"

"Nothing much, just a little food poisoning. Nothing very drastic, just making sure they will stay in the toilet for the entire day and night. Tomorrow, me or Emid will tell them that next time they might die, and this was just a fair warning."

"But… We can't poison food! If word spreads, no one will ever want to eat here!"

With a shrug, Vasir Rez said while putting in the pot the orange spice that Emid Basson gave him, "People are usually smart enough not to annoy or threaten Guild's employees or cooks. Those two are just plain stupid, but they will learn. We can't be blamed for other people's stupidity, can we? Besides, everyone in this City and the surrounding Cities knows you don't take threats lightly. If those guys in there don't know, it is not our fault. You can take care of the meat, boss, because the Sub-Demons are working on the potatoes.

Craydon looked to where Vasir was pointing, and seated in a corner of the kitchen, the two small Sub-Demons were peeling potatoes with their sharp fingernails with absurd speed and putting the prepared potatoes inside a bowl which was next to them on the floor.

While mumbling, Craydon went to the pantry to choose the meat. "This is absurd, but if this is normal, it would probably be weird if I went against it. Besides, they were the ones to try to attack me anyway, so I also want to make them pay."