Chapter 20 Day Two, Part 8. Chamomile Village.

After removing my hand, I thought about it but decided to discard this discovery for the time being. I'll waste a lot of time, and the result will be unclear. I'd better wait and see; maybe someone on the forum will get back to me. The decision was made, so I grabbed Tim by the collar because he tried to pull out at least a handful of coins, and we moved on. After another half hour of walking and a mark on the map indicating a bear cave, we finally reached the first destination of our trip. The village of Chamomile. The settlement was located in a picturesque valley surrounded by wheat and buckwheat fields. The village itself was unfenced, but each yard was surrounded by a high and solid fence with open gates through which one could see children crawling in the grass, women washing clothes in large wooden tubs, and old men sitting on the doorstep squinting in the sun. The village had two streets, twenty farms, a blacksmith's shop, a mill, and a tavern. I was even confused as to where to go first. Nevertheless, I decided to start with the village elder. After surveying the group of children looking at me from a distance, I called out:

Who will show me the headman's house? - I waited for almost all of them to turn their gazes to one of them and addressed him. - You're his son, aren't you? Will you lead me to him?

- Will you let me shoot with the bow? - The boy didn't hesitate.

- Go ahead, shoot in the direction we need to go. Thus, we can pick up the arrow on the way.

- Really? - The boy was amazed that I agreed so quickly.

- Have I ever fooled you? - I used a convincing argument.

After three shots (that's how many he needed to reach the house) and one killed chicken that jumped out at the last moment before the shot, fortunately from the elder's yard. The happiest boy, who now thought I was his best friend, rushed over to get the bird while I knocked on the carved door of the rather large house.

- If we tarry, we can eat chicken for dinner. We have already missed our midday meal. - Tim shared his thoughts in a half-whisper.

At that moment, the door opened, and there stood, uh... a witch? In any case, she was a scary woman of indeterminate age.

- Get out of here, you scroungers! - She growled in a rather unpleasant voice. - Everybody goes here! Get lost, I tell you!

- Mind what you say! Don't let your tongue run away with you!!! - I replied firmly and took a step forward. - First, look at whom you want to offend.

With these words, I showed her the Lord's signet ring, but this didn't impress the old witch.

That's what I'm saying: you're scroungers! - the elder woman hissed, pointing her finger accusingly at me. - You came here asking for money and demanding people for armies! You can't do anything yourselves, just rob simple peasants!

Tim saved me from being flustered by such audacity. How could one not be upset when the grandam answers like that? If it had been anyone else, he would have already been taken to task for his words. But as far as the woman was concerned, I didn't know what to do. Such instincts were not part of the training for an officer in the army.

You are the old bag, the rotten root, a piece of junk! How dare you speak to a lord? Have you completely lost your fear? Do you want a whipping, perhaps? Or shall I unleash a dragon on you to burn you alive? And now call the village elder at once before the master gets angry!

She had taken a deep breath to answer, but at that point, a man in his thirties stormed out of the house, pushed her back, quickly closed the door behind him, and propped it up with his back.

Greetings, people... um, kind of people! I'm the village chief. You can call me Nikeron. And this is my mother-in-law, whom I'd like to leave to the forest spirits!

The man didn't look like a typical villager at all: a short, neat beard, a short haircut, a silk shirt with wide sleeves, and fancy boots – the only thing that marred his appearance were his ordinary peasant trousers.

- I'm Timuel, the humble thousander of the slingers, and this is my lord, the great and mighty wizard, the vanquisher of ogres and orcs, the heartbreaker of fair maidens, Gorhestiel Goldbearer!

Involuntarily, I squared my shoulders at this introduction. A humble thousander, he actually mentioned it. Nevertheless, he played his role well.

- A slinger commander with a thousand slingers? Impressive, very impressive. It seems the old crow was wrong. Aren't you going to ask people to join the army?

-We're not going to do this for military purposes. It's unnecessary, but for...

- ... for other works, I'll offer you people myself! - the village elder continued enthusiastically. - You only have to save us from this misfortune

- What kind of misfortune has happened to you here? - I quickly clarified and considered whether I should lose the experience or wait until tomorrow.

- It's a dragon, Your Excellency!

- A dragon?! - I exclaimed involuntarily because I encountered a high-level creature for the first time on the second day.

- In the most fearsome and winged form you can imagine. Incredibly terrifying! It arrived five days ago, settled by the pond, and started tearing our cows and pigs. And just yesterday, it almost dragged Stela, my mother-in-law, but I foolishly rushed out and scared it away...

Stela, this is my mother-in-law, - The indignant man finally explained, adding in a low tone with a pleading look in his eyes,

- I would be so grateful if someone would send her to the other side already.

~ You have been offered a task:

Kill or isolate Stela, a resident of Chamomile village.

Reward: The attitude of the headman of Chamomile Village towards you increases by 5, 200 gold, 200 experience.

Penalty for refusal/failure: none.

Accept: yes/no? ~

- No, it's not for me! - I immediately distanced myself, - I'm not in the habit of killing old ladies, no matter how harmful or unpleasant they may be."

-You weren't married yet, were you?" the village elder said understandingly. - Of course, by your standards, you're probably still young and wouldn't understand me. So, are you going to destroy the dragon?

~ You have been offered a task:

Kill the wyvern terrorizing the village of Chamomile.

Reward: The Chamomile village and its lands will come under your control. The attitude of the village's inhabitants towards you will increase by 10 points.

Penalty for refusal/failure: none.

Accept: yes/no? ~

So, it's not a dragon, but just a wyvern?

-Well, friends, shall we slay the dragon? - I turned to my companions.

The small dragon was the first to respond, putting on a thoughtful look and nervously pawing at the sidewalk, peeling off shards of stone.

'Is the dragon gigantic? We should scout out the situation first. Maybe we don't have to kill him! Perhaps he'll eat his fill and fly away on his own!'

Tim almost agreed with the little dragon.

- Why should we just go and kill the creature? Maybe it's a relative of our lizard here? Perhaps he'll hang around for a bit and then fly off somewhere else. Why should we kill it right away? After all, we serve the elf and have to take care of the various creatures.

- But what if this dragon is actually a wyvern?

'Let's tear this creature apart!'

- That's another story. It would be a sin to spare such a beast. We'll definitely take care of him! - At that moment, a young girl came out from behind the house, holding a plucked chicken. When the halfling saw her, his attitude and voice changed significantly. - Who cares if it's a wyvern? We've killed so many of them already. One more or one less won't make a difference anymore! I'd even be ready to tear him apart on the spot and then bring his head to the most beautiful girl in the village!

The girl blushed and stopped shyly near us, eyeing the gallant hero who shamelessly took advantage of his height to peek wherever his stature allowed.

- Adjust your dress! And hurry up to home! You are hanging around here... and eavesdropping! - the village elder scolded the girl. - All right, then, I won't stop you. Since you've already decided to help us with this threat and the dragon... I mean, the wyvern. I'll mark his hiding place on the map right away. And we'll be waiting for you at dinner.