Chapter 71: Stench and Problem-solving.

As the four were mucking the stables, amidst the small flies which were trying to get under their masks and into their noses, mouths and ears, they were planning.

"Ok, what could be a good enough pastime for a goblin? What can they do best?" Dimitri asked, as he tried to ignore the stench.

He really wanted to see with what the horses were being fed to produce a manure that would be toxic to the soil around the village.

"Well, they are excellent butchers," Jean said, who had seen more than one animal being butchered in minutes by a goblin team.

"They can make good straw dolls," Nikola added, for he had liked the toys Galen and Lena had brought for Vera and Timmy.

"Not to mention that they can sing and dance," Jack added, who still remembered who had been the heart and soul of their little homecoming party.

"Yes! And they can also mine… but I think that we shouldn't get the local's attention that way."

His three companions nodded.

"Yes, not all mines are being secured with proper timber," Nikola added as an afterthought. "Besides, the goblins don't want to be miners anymore."

He dug his shovel under a patty as big as his head.

There were maggots underneath.

"Ok, now this is too much!" Nikola yelled, showing off the maggots. "Doesn't anyone clean these stables? Just why is it so disgusting in here?"

"Who will want to muck the stables?" Jack asked him, as he dug his shovel under something that was both smelly, runny and maggot infested.

"This is animal cruelty!" Nikola continued to protest. "The horses in here deserve a better life!"

"But that is the problem with what we are doing, don't you see?" Dimitri asked, as he prayed to god to not sink in what looked like a paddy puddle. "We are giving the locals jobs. They are getting better pay. They are no longer starving, and I am grateful for that, but the problem is, that they no longer want to do work such as this!"

Nikola blinked.

He had not thought of that.

"I don't want to make them muck the stables all day!" The brunette protested. "But I don't want for the horses to have to live like this! They have souls and hearts! Even if they are not human! They deserve better than this!"

"Yes, they do," Jack told him, ready to cut off his wings. "But unless you want to make it your mission to muck the stables, I don't see how we are going to help the horses. There is not enough labor force to go around! We are getting paid next to nothing for this job! And if we weren't forced by the guild master to do it, we wouldn't have even seen just how bad it is in here."

Nikola shut his mouth. Jack had a point.

"You know," Jean began, who was trying to shovel under something which had turned to stone and probably merged with the stone floor below. "I have an idea. But I have no idea if you will like it."

All three looked at him as if he had told them that he had figured out how to get them away from the stinking stables.

"I was thinking," Jean continued, as he gave up on that petrified digested thing that refused to budge. "And reading in the library. There are things called golems. We make some, rent them out to Oak's Rest for the manual tasks no one wants, and then not only get money for that, but also free ourselves from having to muck and sweep and light streetlamps."

He took a deep breath, regretted it soon after, and then began to cough.

"But what if they don't want to do this?" Nikola asked, as he took a step back from the maggot infested horse dung pile.

"We just don't give them free will, and everything will be fine," Jean managed between coughing fits. "We need druidic mana, healer mana, and undead mana. Plus, some stone and mud. I say we finish in here, get the hay over the floor, and then go and find our salvation."

Nikola bit his bottom lip.

"But that would be slave labor!" He protested.

"Niki," Jean said, as he pointed at the brunette's foot. "Look at where you are standing. Then tell me you want to come to this stable every day until the end of the week."

Nikola looked down, only to let out a shrill yell.

"The hell!" He yelled, as he began to try to shake off the dung from his shoe.

"The horses will be happier!" Dimitri pipped in, as he took up his shoveling once more.

"And we will stink less!" Jack added, as he began to battle with the dung as well.

"And we might even avoid a plague!" Jean added, who knew that he was just one step away from sharing Nikola's fate.

"Fine! And I need new shoes!" Nikola yelled before taking in a deep breath, regretting it soon after, and then continuing to get rid of the dung.

By the time the stables were in a good enough condition for the horses, the four were bathed in sweat and ready to eat the horses, just to prevent them from pooping.

They marched out of the door.

Only to hear a chilling sound of falling dung from one of the stables.

"See you tomorrow!" The farmhand who had been letting the horses graze in the cool shade of the trees yelled at them.

Nikola wanted to cry.

Dimitri wanted to curse.

Jack wanted horse sausages.

Jean wanted to go home.

"We will be making the golems as soon as we have washed this stench off ourselves," Nikola said, guiding them not towards the inn, where he was certain that the innkeeper won't let them anyway, but towards the forest.

"And if they have free will?" Dimitri asked, wanting to tease his husband a little.

"I will guilt-trip them like a true parent." Nikola said, trying to ignore the warm feeling in his boots.

Already imagining his dung-covered feet.