143 A Reliable Man is Needed in the Monster World
Arad and Gerald approached Mira with the wheel, “Mira, do you have a moment?” Arad asked.
Mira turned around, putting her hammer on the bench, “Who’s your guest,” She asked, staring at them with a passive face.
“Gerald, a merchant that needs his wheel fixed,” Arad replied, pointing at the wheel in Gerald’s hand.
Mira sighed, “Look, I have fifty fences that need making.” She pointed back at the pile of wood.
“You can’t do it, young lady?” Gerald looked at Mira.
“I can, but that would delay Arad and the workers’ job,” Mira replied, “You have to get their permission first. Or compensate them. Get back to me then,”
“They have contracts to fulfill, and any wasted time is an extra cost to Arad and a wasted time they could be working in, I see,” Gerald replied, “Should I just go talk to them,”
Mira shook her head, “Arad is already here. We only need that blockhead. Hey! Bob, come here for a moment,”
Bob started from the other side of the garden, “Did you call me?”
Bob laid the hammer down and approached them, “Talk with sir Gerald here,” Mira pointed at Gerald and started to work.
Arad turned around, “You have my agreement as long as Bob doesn’t mind. I’m not that expert in building,”
****
Bob went to Mira a few seconds later, “You can fix his wheel. We can get it done,”
“You sure?” Mira replied.
“Yeah,” Bob smiled. And then whispered to her, “The man has dwarven spirit wine. I managed to secure five bottles for me, you, Arad, and the workers,”
Mira took a step back, “Dwarven spirit? It only sold in the dwarven mountains to the north,”
“Our man here has some. To him, it’s a small cost, but I won’t let such a rare drink slip out of our hands,” Bob replied with a smile.
Mira gave him a thumb up, “Nice deal,”
Bob went back to his job while Mira stared at the sky with a smile, “Dwarven spirit wine. It’s not an expensive drink by any means since dwarves make it by barrels. But it’s rare to have those alcoholics sell it to outsiders,” Mira smiled, giggling.
She started fixing Gerald’s wheel.
****
Gerald approached Arad, informing him that his wheel was getting fixed, “What are you doing?” He asked.
Arad sat on a cut tree, staring at the forest, “Nothing,” He looked around, “I was moving trees for the workers to let them put the fences, but now I’m sitting,”
“You can’t do work?” Gerald stared at Arad.
“I don’t know how. I never hammed a nail.” Arad replied, “No, sorry. I hammered some yesterday with Mira, but you get my points,”
“I get it,” Gerald replied, “Last time I tried to fix something I ended up making it worse. It’s better to let serious work to experts and practice on small things,”
“Yeah, I should learn some from Mira so I can work on the house alone later on,” Arad replied, looking at Gerald.
“You said you were moving trees. Where are the barrels you used?” Gerald asked.
“Barrels?” Arad looked at Gerald, confused.
“The hook? Ropes? How did you even lift them?” Gerald asked, looking at the massive tree trunk Arad sat on.
Arad stood with a smile, “Of course, I just lifted them,” He smiled, grabbing the trunk with one hand.
The veins on Arad’s arm bulged, and his joints cracked as the muscles contracted. CRACK! The ground sunk beneath his feet as he applied force, lifting the trunk.
Gerald took a few steps back, shocked. Arad lifted that massive tree trunk with one hand, “See, it’s simple, isn’t it?” Arad said, smiling.
“It isn’t!” Gerald gasped, “What does that elf woman feed you?”
Arad stared at Gerald, “Nothing special, I’m just a bit stronger than normal,”
“This isn’t normal. Such a tree trunk would take three men to drag, let alone lift,” Gerald gasped.
Arad looked at the trunk. And then back at Gerald, “What is considered normal?”
“First, don’t go around lifting anything larger than your body,” Gerald replied with a sigh, “If I had people like you in the army, how many battles could we have won?”
“I can hold myself in a fight,” Arad replied.
“It’s not just about fighting,” Gerald replied, “I can imagine you shoving carriages and boulders to build walls in the battlefield,”
Arad laid the tree trunk down, “I won’t do that,”
Gerald stared at Arad, “You know, you should join the army,” He smiled, “I’m sure someone with your strength will get promoted in no time,”
Arad shook his head, “No, thanks,” He smiled, “I don’t have any intention of doing that. All I want is going around and killing monsters,”
Gerald smiled, approaching Arad, “Let me teach you something you might not know,”
SWOSH! Gerald suddenly swung a fist at Arad’s head.
Arad tilted his head, barely dodging the attack, and glared at Gerald, “What was that for?”
“Don’t let me hit you!” Gerald growled, sending another punch.
Arad saw the punch coming to his head. He tilted his head to dodge.
CRACK! A fist landed on Arad’s stomach, surprising him. He looked down and then got smacked in the face. He jumped back, seeing Gerald rush at him with a clenched fist.
Arad focused on Gerald’s fists. A punch is coming toward his chest. But as soon as it got close, it shifted to an uppercut. Arad tried to didge by stepping back, but he got smacked in the stomach instead of his chin.
“GAH!” Gerald growled, shaking his hand, “You’re damn hard,”
“What were those hits?” Arad asked.
Gerald opened and closed his fists, “Nothing special, just feints and trick shots,”
Gerald then explained to Arad how to use feints and trick shots in a fight.
Feints are misleading your opponent with an attack and hitting him with another.
Trick shot us disguising and attacking with another like shifting a nose punch into a throat hit.
Arad and Gerald spent the remainder of the day training as Roberta and Aella watched them from the side.
“Arad is strong,” Roberta said, “I never seen someone stand up to father like this,” She said, watching the fight with her head resting on her fist. “Even the strong adventurer father hired died easily,”
Aella smiled, “Gerald is taking it easy on Arad,”
“He isn’t,” Roberta said, “Father is only holding up because of his skill and experience. Arad far surpasses him in both speed and strength,”
“Strength and speed aren’t everything,” Aella replied, giggling. She wishes Arad would restrain himself a bit better in front of people. He might get himself discovered.
“Strength isn’t everything?” Roberta stared at Aella with a surprised face, “How do you intend to survive then?”
“What do you mean?” Aella asked.
“The world is filled with monsters, and those with strength can move. They don’t have to fear for their lives,” Roberta stared at Arad, “You won’t be living in the middle of the forest if not for him providing protection,”
Aella looked around, “That’s right,”
They are in the heart of the dangerous section of the forest. Monsters rarely attack due to Arad’s presence. But Aella is sure Roberta is talking about actual protection.
Roberta kept staring at Arad, “If you decided to live in the forest, someone needs to kill monsters around the house regularly to keep them scared. There is nothing better than a strong man to provide that,”
“I don’t disagree, but we have cities. Monsters aren’t that big of a problem,” Aella replied, and she was right. Monsters avoid cities, so as long as you’re close enough. You’re safe.
Roberta stared at Aella, and then at Arad and Gerald, “That isn’t my case,” She sighed, “As a traveling merchant, we do need to face monsters often,” She started talking, “Father usually deal with them, and we can hire adventurers when need to, but that doesn’t always work,”
“What do you mean?”𝐞𝐨𝘃𝐞𝐥.
“Since the last attack, I realized. I need someone strong around,” Roberta sighed, “Father is getting old. I can see him pushing himself over the limit to protect the caravan. I can’t protect myself let alone the business. I need to find a strong man, someone at least at my father’s level,” She sighed.
“Your father? The butcher of Sylvehime?” Aella laughed, “That’s a war general. Where will you find someone like that.” She then stopped laughing, “Arad is mine, hands off,”
Roberta looked away, “I wish I could take him,” She sighed, “But he’s already settling down, and I need to keep moving forward,” She looked at Aella with a smile, “It’s not like he could carry the fly from one city to the other, can he,” She looked away.
Aella realized Arad could fly across cities now, and her first instinct was to hush Roberta away. “Hey,” She whispered to Roberta, “Arad is actually pretty violent. You don’t want to be near him,”
Roberta giggled, “That’s a lie, and if it was the truth, then it’s your fault.” She looked at Aella, “You keep feeding him grass like a sheep, don’t you, elf,”
“Hey! I can cook!” Aella growled.
“I bet your meat sucks,” Roberta smiled, “I can’t expect to learn how took cook meat when you spent your whole life with salads,”
The conversation between the two girls quickly shifted into a heated cooking argument.