Chapter 33: Mr. Crow's Courtship Skills in the Tavern
"Melissa! How clumsy you are! You broke so many cups and plates! Go get a broom and sweep them all up! You have to deduct your wages for the next three days to compensate me!" The boss's wife said in a sharp voice and pulled Melissa away from the customer who was making trouble.
"Okay, okay." Melissa quickly ran out the door.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Melissa is always clumsy." The proprietress apologized to the customer with a smile on her face.
She had a sturdy build and wasn't very pretty, and her smile looked even uglier when it curved wide. The customer waved his hand and told her to get out of his sight.
Redmond paid the money, his eyes fixed on the customer who was touching her.
If you provoke such a villain, his mutilated body will most likely be fished out of the river the next day.
Melissa ran out and came back after a long time. She hurriedly swept away the broken pottery on the ground and then ran out again.
Darien looked at Melissa's back. It was hard for him not to notice this poor woman. Redmond didn't look at her, but asked the boss for some wine.
The hygiene of the tavern was really worrying. Darien refused Redmond's offer to invite him for a drink, and did not allow Sevier to drink or sit on the tables and chairs in the tavern. He took Sevier out the door.
Outside the tavern is a trough for horses to drink water and a small wooden shed for tying horses. Firewood is piled on the side of the tavern, and behind it is the place for boiling water and cooking.
"Melissa, you should think about yourself. Your husband is dead and your child is so young. You should find a new husband for yourself." The proprietress's voice came from the back of the house.
"I'm looking...but they're not doing well..." Melissa's voice was soft and intermittent, just as pale and weak as she was.
Darien had no intention of disturbing anyone and was not interested in other people's privacy. He stood at the door for a moment and then went into the house.
This village really had the ability to make him suffer. The smells inside and outside the houses were all terrible in their own ways. It felt like the palms and backs of his hands were covered in shit.
He guessed that the room upstairs was probably not habitable either.
It was a bit hasty.
Redmond accepted everything here well. He had a wealthy life, but he also lived on the edge of life and was able to adapt to the environment.
"I always feel like there are fleas on the bed here." Darien frowned and stood in the open space in the middle of the room.
The room smelled a bit stale and damp, which was much better than the complex smell of alcohol and vomit in the pub downstairs.
Seville put on gloves and took apart the quilt on the bed. Brown cotton mixed with some scraps of cloth were taken out from inside the quilt.
Darien frowned and looked at other things in the room.
The only set of tables and chairs had a black, oily sheen, and the oiliness also covered the broken holes, as if they had been rubbed repeatedly by human fat hundreds of times. The oil lamp placed on it was already rusted, with only a thin layer of oil inside, and the wick was pitifully short.
Darien's whole body was covered with goose bumps as if he was crawling with lice. It was not that this room was unsleepable, but if he had a choice, he would not want to spend the night in such a room at all.
"Dear master, I think the situation here is a bit complicated and I can't make it into a room suitable for staying overnight." Sewell put down the quilt and threw away his gloves.
"I think so too. So what should we do? Should we find somewhere else to stay for the night? But there may not be such a place nearby unless we attack the lord's castle." Darien said.
"I have a bold idea," said Sewell.
After a moment they went downstairs together and told Redmond they were going out for a while.
Redmond, who had a wine flask and a plate of frog leg sandwiches in front of him, simply nodded.
Darien followed Seville and did not take the main road that ran through the entire village. Instead, he stepped into the grass on the side of the road and climbed up the steep and undulating slope. If he walked a little further, he would reach the woods.
Sewell's suggestion was to build a bird's nest.
It sounds absurd at first, but if you think about it carefully, it is actually feasible.
They found a tree with a thick trunk, then found a sturdy branch from it, and then Sewell began to collect nesting materials.
A relatively strong branch, some clean, thick leaves, spider silk to use as adhesive, and some moist soil at the bottom to secure it...
Darien watched from the side and wondered if nest building was an essential courtship skill for male crows.
It seems that Seville should be a popular male crow, and his nest is quite beautiful.
Seville was very focused when building his nest. He first used thick branches to build a frame at the bottom and filled the gaps with soil. Each layer turned in arcs of similar lengths and slowly expanded outwards. The branches became thinner as he went up, and the material used for bonding and filling turned into a spider web.
After the shape of the bird's nest is determined, comfort must also be taken into consideration.
Sewell filled the bottom of the nest with soft dry grass picked nearby, covered the grass with a thick layer of fluffy calamus, and finally separated it with a few handkerchiefs. He then used branches and leaves to string together a roof for the nest.
The nest looks good, but it can't be lived in by people, only birds.
Darien brought a Transfiguration Potion.
Sewell set up the nest on the chosen branch, and Darien carved a small magic circle around the temporary residence to prevent other birds from occupying the comfortable nest while they were away.
"We'll come back tonight," Darien said.
Compared to the village with a not-so-pleasant smell, staying here will help Mr. Mage fall asleep more easily.
Once the accommodation problem is solved, the only problem left is food.
Darien was equally hesitant to try the food at the tavern, fearing they hadn't washed their hands before cooking.
When I returned to the tavern, Redmond was not there. The only person in the store was the proprietress behind the counter.
"Where did the man with the scar on his face go? He is our friend. Did he leave any message for us?" Darien asked.
"He left a while ago and didn't leave any message, but he paid very quickly. He said he was in a good mood today and compensated Melissa for the broken dishes. I have a question, does that man have a wife? Does he mind a widow taking care of children?" The proprietress was still answering the first half of the question seriously, and then she leaned close to them and asked in a low voice.
"They're not a good match. He's old enough to make a widow again at any moment," said Darien.
"Is that really the case? I think he's actually okay. Although the clothes he wears are a bit old, they are all good things." said the proprietress.
"It's not just his age, he has a wife and children, it's really not suitable." Sewell added the key points.
"That's a pity, alas, poor Melissa." The proprietress sighed.
"Who is Melissa?" Darry pretended to be interested.
"She's my maid. Her husband just died last month, all because of that damn wild boar. In today's world, it's not easy for a young woman to lose her husband." The proprietress sighed.
"Boss, you must have helped her a lot. I just saw it all." Darien said.
"Oh, there's nothing we can do. We are all women. Melissa started working here as a maid when she was 16. There were other girls here before, but they stopped coming after they got married. Although the salary I pay here is a little lower, she can take away food from here at a much lower price." said the proprietress.
"You're such a good person," Darien complimented casually, then asked, "How old is her child? Can she support her child alone?"
"That's exactly what I'm worried about," the landlady sighed. "We have to pay taxes or harvest wheat, and the small plot of land Melissa rented won't grow much. She only has a five-year-old boy, and while that can feed him now, he'll grow up. Once he's older, it won't just be a matter of having enough food."
"I understand. So how is her child? Does she need to worry about him?" Darien asked leisurely.
"Boys are all like that. That child looks especially like his father... But why are you asking this? Could it be... Oh, I see! Sir, you are interested in Melissa, right? It's really an honor for Melissa!" She suddenly shouted, staring at Darien with shining eyes.
"Well...it's a misunderstanding." Darien unintentionally dug a deep hole for himself and covered it with soil himself.
"This is indeed a misunderstanding. He just cares about everyone. Mrs. Melissa's situation is indeed not very good, and as bystanders, we all feel worried about her," said Sewell.
"Really?" The proprietress' voice was full of doubt.
"It's true. Leave a little tip for Madam Melissa. I really hope this helps her." Darien asked Seville to pay some money.
Sewell squeezed two silver coins from his purse.
Darien vowed never to speak too much out of curiosity again.
His intuition told him that Redmond was not telling the whole truth and that he was hiding something from them, but he could not get any additional information from the proprietress.
Let's go see where Redmond is.
Darien and Sevier wandered around the village and described the scars on Redmond's face. A peasant woman pointed them to the riverside.
When they found Redmond, he was untying the wallet of a drunk.
"You're here." Without even raising his head, he emptied his purse and tied up the drunk man and hung him upside down on a tree.
"He looks familiar." Darien looked at the drunk's swollen face for a few seconds.
"Inside the tavern." Sewell gave a hint.
Darien remembered that it was the man who had touched Melissa in the store.
"An insignificant guy, he's lucky to survive in my hands." Redmond tied the rope around the tree casually a few times, not knowing whether it was tied tightly.
"We won't follow you all day. It's okay to beat people up, but please follow our agreement and only take your own life." Darien said.
"What happens if I don't comply?" Redmond asked.
"That's not a good thing. We've already signed a contract with the terms written in it. Your punishment will be more painful than death," said Darien.
"It doesn't matter. I'm just curious. Do you want me to take you for a walk around the village? There are pig pens and sheep pens, chickens, ducks and geese all over the ground, as well as dilapidated houses and not-so-dilapidated houses." Redmond shrugged.
"Thank you, no thanks." Darien got goose bumps at the thought of those animals.
"There's nothing we can do. There's nothing here. Do you want to go fishing? Or go to the mountains and set traps. Maybe you can catch pheasants and rabbits. Then I can go home and steal all my father's hunting tools." Redmond said.
"Thanks, and no thanks. I don't want you to get caught," Darien said.
"Okay, but I still have to go. I haven't been to this crappy place for many years, and I'm almost forgetting what this home looks like," said Redmond.
Sewell looked at Darien, who thought for a moment and said, "Let's go, then. We'll stay away from you so we don't get mistaken for your accomplices."
"It's okay, I'll admit it." Redmond laughed.
They walked along a path along the river bank and returned to the village.
Melissa was working as a maid in the tavern at the time and was not at home, so the only person she had to deal with was five-year-old Redmond.
It's a good opportunity to kill myself.
But Darien felt that Redmond would not act so quickly. He seemed very interested in everything around him.
The children in the village are playing by the well.
There is nothing much for children in the countryside to play with. They either pile up stones, play with sand, or play war games.
The roads in the village were not clean to begin with, and the children running around were even dirtier. Darien would take a detour whenever he saw them, to avoid bumping into one of them and getting his clothes dirty.
"You, yes, I'm talking about you, the kid with the patch on his knee. Come here, I want to ask you a few questions. If you answer correctly, you will get candy." Redmond shouted to the group of children.
The group of dirty kids immediately surrounded him. Many of them had patches on their knees, and their little black claws left several dirty handprints on his leather armor.
Darien immediately pulled Seville back more than ten steps, fearing that he would be affected.
Does anyone know if those kids ever caught shit while playing in the mud?
"Hey, help me, do you have any candy?" Redmond shouted to them.
The group of children looked over in unison.
It was the first time that Darien's hair stood on end when someone stared at him. Not to mention asking him for candy, he might even pay a few silver coins if someone asked him.
"Just stand there, Sewell, and throw it to him," he shouted back.
Sewell grabbed most of the candy out of the bag before throwing it over.
Redmond caught it steadily.
He was tall and strong, so it was hard to snatch the candy from his hand. After each of the children got one, they were still not satisfied and looked towards Darien eagerly.
Like a pack of baby hyenas.
Haha. Darian couldn't laugh.
Can I use the Storm Scroll to lift them all up into the sky? Will they die if they fall from the sky?
"Ahem, I'm looking for Redmond, the Redmond whose father is a hunter. Do you know where he is? If you know, tell me and I can give you an extra candy." Redmond's voice drew their attention back.
"I know, I know!"
"I know that too! Give it to me! Give it to me!"
"He's Redmond!"
"Oh, is that you? Come on, I have something to ask you. I'm so sorry, kids, there are not many candies left, so we can't give everyone one. Go and grab them, whoever grabs it gets it." Redmond grabbed a dirty boy and casually threw the bag of candy into the mud.
The candies wrapped in beautiful candy wrappers rolled into the mud, and the children all got mixed up in a ball and lay on the ground scrambling for them.
"What a bad taste." Darien frowned.
Redmond treated these children like kittens and puppies, not as real people.
"Put me down! Put me down!" Little Redmond struggled to get down. He also wanted candy, but Redmond took him aside by the back of his collar.
"Hush, don't make any noise. I know your father is a hunter. How about I give you a silver coin? Take me to your house. I want to borrow your father's tools to trap rabbits in the mountains." Redmond flashed a silver coin in front of little Redmond's eyes.
Candies are no longer available, but silver coins will do.
"Okay, put me down and I'll take you there." Little Redmond snatched the silver coin from his hand.
Darien carefully stayed as far away from the group of children as possible and followed.
They arrived at Melissa's house easily.
The houses here all have walls made of large pebbles, with wooden beams on top and roofs made of straw and mud. The better families will use stone slabs to pave the floor. Little Redmond's house has a flat mud floor, and the house is filled with only a few pieces of wooden furniture and a few pottery jars.
The place is quite clean and tidy. It is a little more shabby than the pub, but it is clean. If little Redmond's hunter father had not died unexpectedly, the family should have lived a decent life.
"It's in that small room. You can take it. My mother and I don't know how to hunt." Little Redmond pushed open a small compartment where tools were stored.
Inside were bows and arrows, lassoes, leather coats and boots, as well as traps of various sizes.
These things can be considered important assets.
If Melissa came back and found out that these things had been borrowed so easily, she would definitely scold little Redmond hysterically.
"All I need is a trap and a noose. See you later, and I'll give you a leg when you catch the rabbit." Redmond said to Little Redmond.
"Then go quickly, I'll wait for you here." said little Redmond.
Darien had nothing to do, so he followed Redmond up the mountain after borrowing some tools.
He really hoped the traps would catch something so he could have dinner.
However, dreams are always beautiful. Traps and lassos cannot catch prey so quickly, and it is common to have to wait for several days.
After setting his trap, Redmond returned to the tavern, where he could stay for several days.
In the end, the first meal here was taken care of by Seville. The edible wild fruits in the bushes and grilled fish sprinkled with a little salt made it a dinner that was neither good nor bad.
Darien's teeth cracked the small wild fruits, and the sour and sweet taste burst out from the bitten skin. If you eat too much, your tongue will become bitter.
The skin of the grilled fish was roasted dry and crispy, but the fish meat was very delicious. However, there were a lot of bones, so many that I had to spit them out after eating a few bites.
When it gets dark, it's time to go to bed.
Darien pulled the Transfiguration potion from his pocket and took two sips.
With a thud, he felt himself go fuzzy.
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