Fortune favours the bold

Another ordinary day welcomed me with its warm gazes shining upon my face. As much as the light was giving me energy to wake up and enjoy the rest of the day, I decided to not give a single damn and didn’t smile back to the Sun. Not that it cared anyway.

Today I was going back to my hometown. I sold everything I had yesterday and got a contract from some local business to sell some of their stuff. It was not common to do that, but I was able to guarantee the goods to arrive in one piece. All thanks to Horse, who was actually a carriage guardian. Thieves from around the world were feared of encountering that beast! His kick was no joke.

I had also other allies watching over me. Being tolerant and keeping your thoughts to yourself helped me a lot to establish some connections which proved to be valuable at times of need. Mostly when I had to travel a long distance.

Meeting supernatural creatures in this world was rare. Unless you were me, then you would meet them quite often; the possibility of that increased by a hundred percent compared to the previous world I was in. They were the allies I mentioned. They weren’t showing themselves too much to people, but it varied from region to region.

The place where I come from wasn’t really inhabited by them, but going down the south, right past Pyli River, the first thing you’d see in the woods were small creatures not tall enough to reach your knee. At first glance, you could say that someone’s kids were going back to humanity’s roots, pretending to be primitives. They were doing so well you couldn’t tell the difference between them and some hairy punks who joined them. Then you realised all of them were hairy punks from the beginning.

It was common knowledge that anything visibly small was annoying and those little punks were getting on everyone's nerves. Unless you knew how to deal with them.

While on my way back home, I had to go through that infamous forest. I was wondering if this time something would appear on a road, and I was not mistaken.

A whole line of fetishes, the little hairy punks, were standing and blocking the road. I could easily just go through these furry balls, but it was better for me to act civil. No one knew what was going on in their tiny minds. Having that in mind, plus their unbridled insanity and ADHD – it was better to have them on my side.

I stopped the chariot and was looking for their chief. He was a fetish like them, but much calmer; I couldn’t stop thinking if he wasn’t swapped at birth. Somehow, he knew common language, and with that he was their representative while talking with people, or at least with me.

“Oh, Chief. I was wondering where you were.”

“Mr. Merchant!” he greeted me gladly. “Good to see you. I assume you’re going back already?”

“Yes, yes, it took much less time than I’d anticipated.”

“Good for you.”

“I see that in these few days this road stopped being toll-free.”

He looked at the proud fluffy barricade and sighed. “I have no strength to deal with them, I’m way too old. They came up with this idea so it could help them fund something.”

“Oho, what is it this time?”

“To be fair, I’m not sure. They can change their mind so fast, a step ahead is enough.”

Knowing how lively they were, at least twenty ideas per second went to hell.

I wouldn’t mind giving them a coin or two, but I knew they wouldn’t use them as they should. I didn’t believe Chief taught them economy basics. Instead, I’d rather give them food or anything else they knew how to use. I recalled buying some extra fruits, had a hunch I would need them.

I reached the bag with them and gave to Chief.

“Will this be enough?”

He called one of the fetishes and showed them the content. The ball took out an apple and tottered to its mates. They had to decide whether my sacrifice of a bag full of fruits was enough to let me go through. It came back shortly, talking gibberish to Chief. Its liveliness was impressive and terrifying at the same time.

“It will be enough.” he answered, while the fetish waved its tiny hand to others so they could move out of the way. “Thank you for your kindness.”

“Don’t mention it. See you later.”

“Have a safe journey, sir!”

They might be weird, but they’ve never been hostile towards me. Most likely because I’ve also never shown hostility. We had a disagreement at the beginning of our relationship, but it was a pure misunderstanding. As usual.

Next afternoon I reached the gate to my hometown. I hoped I wouldn’t have to stay here longer than it was necessary. It was a pretty mediocre town, known for nothing and heading towards nothing. While other towns were growing, this one wasn’t going anywhere. Guess our mayor liked immutability. Hence, I moved out of this shithole.

If they could only invest some money in this place, it would have been a great opportunity for it to grow, mostly because of its location near three countries’ borders. Unfortunately, the government had no brain from the beginning.

In the following morning, I was waiting for some goods to be loaded to my coach. I was able to sell everything to one particular shop with handmade towels, cloths and crochet stuff.

Knowledge is power. Knowledge of where to dump stuff for a profitable amount of money is power. Years of making connections in this town didn’t go to waste either.

“Excuse me, good sir! Are you going to Calena by any chance?” a man asked me, interrupting my monologue.

“I’m not transporting people. You need to find a coa-"

“I need to get there as soon as possible. I’ve been told the earliest they can go is in three days. I can’t wait that long!”

“Dude, I don’t give a fuck.” I wished I could say that. “I understand, but I-"

“I have money. I can pay you a good sum for just taking me there.”

That stupid cunt was pissing me off, he was persistent, and he didn’t even let me speak. I already didn’t want to help him but wondered how much he was able to pay.

“How much?”

“600 coins.”

Only a braindead wouldn’t take this chance for easy money. “Fine, but we won’t stay this night in the tavern.”

“Really? Thank you so much, sir!” He was happy like a puppy.

“We’re almost finished with loading, shouldn’t take too long.”

My mother would say that I've lost my mind by taking a complete stranger with me, but I wasn’t afraid of him. I’ve dealt with so many scammers and thieves that I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be one. Horse would have another punching bag to practice on.

I shrugged it off and when the carriage was ready, we headed to Calena, The Green City.