Chapter Ten

  Just my luck, the next day, when I woke up, I knew it was going to rain that afternoon. Because, of course, it would. Then again, it was supposed to be drizzly the day before, and there had only ended up being some clouds, so maybe I’d get lucky.

  I really hoped so, because if it did rain on my way to the tavern, I would not only be in my same old gross clothes, but I would end up soaked as well.

  Still, one silver lining for the day was that I finally had enough wood and gold to repair the roof. I really hoped that Louis would pay for everything at dinner that night because I once again couldn’t even afford coffee.

  I also needed to harvest the potatoes before I even started thinking about any of that.

  I spent the morning getting them clean and kept three-fourths for myself. Later, I’d cut the eyes out those potatoes so I could grow them all over again, and I put the rest in the box to be sent away for some gold.

  I wondered how much I’d get for them.

  Since I now had to work toward the most important immediate fix I needed, I also chopped down three more trees and sent one to Cora. This fix was 100000 Gold even with the price adjustment, and I didn’t even want to think about how many trees that would end up being. I wasn’t even sure if I could make it in a month.

  Why couldn’t they have at least fixed up the cabin so I could live in Sunshine comfortably?

  Well, at least when Cora showed up, I wouldn’t have to worry about my pad getting fried by the rain.

  I changed clothes and headed into town, only to realize that I was a bit too early. I ended up sitting on a bench, taking out my pad, and starting to go through the blog that Melissa had given me the address of. The information was added with a caveat that not every creature followed certain stereotypical rituals or customs of their fellow race. And well, that was obvious. I myself tended to reject a lot of what I’d been taught growing up, but it would be simpler if everyone just had the same cultures, or if everyone kept to their own and didn’t change from time to time.

  The tavern was just opening when I entered. I looked around carefully, trying to find a good place to sit and wait for Louise when something hit me. There was yelling, and in the midst of pain and screaming, I understood I needed to get the hell out.

  Apologies spilling from my mouth, I fled the place. Mind moving so fast and frantic that I couldn’t concentrate on a moment of it. All that registered was that I needed to find somewhere safe. So, of course, I ended up hiding in a bush. Only once I was out the door did I start to wonder why I was such an idiot, and what I did to have someone shouting at me to get out of the tavern already.

  If someone had problems they could talk to me, right? Or at least have Louise talk to me instead to me instead of immediately attacking me on sight.

  “Hey, why are you hiding in the bushes, little nymph?” asked a feminine voice behind me.

  I jumped, turning to see a bright blue pixie. Her gossamer wings caught the dying light, reflecting rainbows around her as she smirked at me. That meant she was either interested in me or really angry with me. I had no idea why they would be annoyed with me, but that didn’t really answer anything.

  “I’m sorry,” I said slowly, backing away. I knew she was judging me, and I wondered if I could fake some illness for why I hadn’t been able to meet up with Louis that he would accept. I doubted he’d accept that the villagers bullied me. He’d just want to go with to clear it up, and I already felt like a thousand ants were crawling under my skin.

  She then looked me over.

  “You think that these clothes were any less conspicuous than your Charge uniform?” asked the pixie. I looked at her in surprise. She smirked. “Besides being an unknown nymph, you also have the track marks of someone who was forced to get a little more serious about keeping your magic up. Work in a recovery lab? Never been myself, but I’ve met a few of you when I worked as a clerk.”

  “Really?” I asked and then realized what the trouble was. “But I’m not working for Charge. I mean, at the moment I’m not. I’m the new farmer at the Sunshine. Ni.”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Oh, really?” asked the Pixie, looking me over with a raised eyebrow.

  “Oh, well, I mean these are the clothes that I got during rehab, and I don’t have enough money yet to buy new clothes. Most of my money went toward rehab, and now I have to fix up the cabin,” I explained, then winced. I had been trying to explain, but I feel like I’d been complaining instead.

  “Rehab, huh? Yeah, I could see that. The Charge store I worked at wasn’t great, but if living here has proved anything, the manager has a lot of control over how happy the workers are. Any complaints sent to corporate changes nothing. The most that might happen is the workers change faster and you never see them anywhere,” said the pixie.

  “Ah, yeah, I guess. I mean it’s more complicated than that,” I said, looking down at my arm. I wanted to explain that while they had pushed more my way, it hadn’t been them that pushed me to shoot up. They’d given me the normal drinks and vitamins. The problem was that I already had been smoking and using them. “Anyway, why would I get thrown out of the tavern? Is it because of all the hatred for Charge?”

  “It wasn’t always like this,” said the pixie with a sigh. “I’m Tia by the way, and when I got in trouble, Charge actually gave me a job here, and by then the employed nymphs were starting to be a nuisance. The problem is the way Charge treats its employees here. They get pushed as hard as you were, but they only have vitamins and supplement drinks. So, they started to take things from the local stores ‘cause they spent all their money on vitamins and shit to do their job. And while you can live on sunlight and dirt for a while as a nymph, it’s not something that can go on forever and they’re expected to push themselves to the limit at every farm they work at. So, they’re miserable, and when they went to the Tavern, they drank themselves stupid, and their misery was spread around. They got in fights in the bar and broke tables, chairs, you name it. It wasn’t all of them, but it was enough for Charge employees to get banned as a whole from the Tavern.”

  “Which is why I was thrown out,” I said looking over the Tavern.

  “It’s not fair, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t watch a Charge employee in my store more carefully than anyone else,” said Tia with a shrug.

  “And act aggressively toward them?” I asked, trying to joke, but knowing I took it too far when she frowned. “Sorry.”

  “No, you’re right. But it’s hard not to act that way when I know…” Tia sighed and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. How about I lead you in and introduce you? He likes me since, in the end, I turned on Charge by yelling at Gavin when I quit and always one-upping whatever little thing they try to do to show how “community guided” they are. He’s a hobgoblin, and the embodiment of everything you’ve heard about them, so don’t take what he says too personally.”

  “Um, right, thanks,” I said. But I still wasn’t sure if I was safe, so I stayed behind her like a shadow as we started to head back toward the Tavern. Still, she was a pixie, so even in my state, I wasn’t that going to actually be able to hide from the hobgoblin. This was proved when I had to duck again when another thing was thrown at my head as we entered the Tavern.

  “Get out, you useless piece of corporate filth. Your money ain’t worth shit here no matter whose heart you make bleed,” the hobgoblin seemed larger than life the way he held himself and the way his wide body stood on the table and screamed at the top of his lungs. Though his skin was grey, he still looked flushed, and he appeared to be dressed as if he were in the middle of war. “And you! How dare you allow some sob story to let you abandon your own morals and put your lot in with this traitor.”

  “People who work for Charge aren’t…”

  “You bitch! We…” the hobgoblin was cut off as knives seemed to appear around him on the counter. A satyr jumped a little and squeaked as she tried to balance the tray she was holding filled with food and drink from the kitchen. She watched the hobgoblin, probably her boss, as she skirted around them, eyes dancing from the hobgoblin and pixie.

  “Do we need to remind everyone who is the better fighter here?” asked the pixie, her skin darkening and the air around her filling with possibilities to the point that their hair and clothes started floating, even some chairs started lifting off the floor a few centimeters.

  The hobgoblin glared harder.

  “You only win ‘cause you cheat,” sneered the hobgoblin.

  “Such a sore loser. You can’t stack the deck to make sure you win,” said the pixie, and I leaned to the side. I had to duck again, but the pixie was really holding a knife to the hobgoblin’s throat. “Shall I take you down again? You almost hurt my new friend.”

  There was a moment of silence before the hobgoblin grumbled. “I can toss out whoever I want from my establishment, and you cut me.”

  “Oh, you poor baby,” said the pixie, fluttering away from the counter and flickering her hand so the knives disappeared to wherever she kept them. “Get some magic before my sisters come in or you’ll never score. Plus, you don’t want to ban our new farmer.”

  “Why not?” growled the hobgoblin.

  “Because he’s working at the Sunshine Farm,” said Louis, and I jumped and turned on the town gatherer. I hadn’t heard the door opening, had he been here the whole time?

  “So, he’s a government stooge,” growled the hobgoblin, but I thought I saw him calming down even more.

  “A long-term one. Just like me,” said the brownie with that politician smile as he rocked on his heels. The hobgoblin stared at him until he finally let out a long sigh.

  “Fine, I’ll get him a drink,” said the hobgoblin, and I knew that look. If I didn’t drink, then I’d never really be allowed back in the establishment. I either drank it now, or I’d find myself drinking something nasty on future visits.

  Time to play nice with the local that tried to kill me.