Chapter 3: chapter 3: ugly duck
After sleeping his fatigue away and eating some propper breakfast wich Redrick according to himself really deserved,he took of into the city to gather groceries for the rest of the week and to find a new job.
Normally Redrick worked in construction, helped the farmers or did guarding jobs. But jobs weren't so easy to come by anymore.
This was because the increase of the cities population, that was no suprise cause the war left a lot of people without a house and job so all the cities had to take those in.
The increase of inhabitants was not the only reason that redrick had difficulties getting a job. There was a rumor going around town that the thin boy was on drugs or was researching the forbidden arts. This rumor didn't come out of nowhere ofcourse.
Redrick had tried to find out what his gift was and so he would visit any appraiser, magician or monk he could find. This cost him quite some money wich resulted in him eating less and less. It also didn't look very promising seeing the young man walk in alleyways, going in sketchy stores while his health deteriorated.
Mister Martel was the first person in three months who actually offered him a job. He had found the boy laying on the side of the main road. The old man clearly took pity and helped the boy Into better condition. And thats how his last job started.
"I really should thank Mister Martel again, with this money I can survive for 2 months."
Redrick now walked towards the butcher to get some meat for tonights soup. The store was quite big and clean with all kinds of meat. The owner of the store was completely different from what you would expect from such a clean amd neat store. He was a tall and very muscular man that could break skulls in his hands if he wanted to.
"Bill could you get me some of your leftover chicken" redrick asked in a well toned manner. The mountain of a man turned around and had a bit of joy and concern in his eyes. " ah small lad you are back in town, glad to see that you have some meat on your bones. My wife was getting scared that you were dead and decaying in some ditch"
Bill walked towards his cutting table and put some leftover meat in some paper. "No I got a job from Mister Martel wich took quite some time." Redrick looked around the store and asked "have you heard of any job I could do these days".
Bill slowely folded the paper and went back to his counter. " I hope that old fool wasn't to much of a problem. Now for that job, as you know we have some trouble with workspaces right now so I have nothing on your usual jobs. I did hear that there was an easy request you could take at the guild, aparantly some noble kid wants to train his skills and needs a partner to do do."
Redrick took the chicken that was wrapped in paper. " no Mister Martel was being kind of nice, he was ofcourse silent most of the trip. I shall take a look at the guild, thanks for the tip"
Redrick grabbed the money he owed and gave it to Bill. "Hey lad if you ever need somthing don't be afraid to drop by, the villagers might be a bit weirded out because of those rumors but me and my wife know that you are a hard working lad okay."
Redrick looked suprised and thanked the strongest butcher in this city, maybe even new bellum. "How can such a strong looking man be so kind" the young man thought before heading out of the store. " are all strong people kind or is Bill a special case".
Now with all his groceries ready and packed and the next destination in mind wich was the guild, the young man started walking.
The guild was close to the entrance of the city and thus somthing he would pas on his way back home.
The last time redrick entered the building was to apply to become a adventurer. Sadly enough he only got the lowest rank, wich was F. This allowed him to do gathering missions and act as a guard for less important carriages. The main reason he didn't get a higher ranking was because he had no information about his gift. So he earned F rank only with his sword manship and battle prowes.
"This takes me back" He sighed while opening the doors. Inside redrick saw a few groups of battle scarred adventurers sitting around round tables. Behind the counter stood a blond woman who looked close to thirthy years old. She had quite some muscles on her arm and a belly that poked a bit forward. The lady looked towards redrick and put a big smile on her face.
"Ladies and gentlemen our ugly duck has returned to the land of the living" the lady yelled, the echo of her voice could be heard from the outside.
All the adventures looked towards the door and put their cup in the air, after that they continued with what they were doing.
Redrick walked closer to the counter and looked the lady in the eyes " Bill never said you were having a child, congratulations belle you are going to be a great mom".
"Haha well we are not well known for our normal couple behaviour you know, most people were really shocked when they saw my belly. But more importantly kid, I am glad to see you again. I almost send some of those punks to search for you."
"Well I was working for Mister Martel, we went to Cellin to get some rich guys artifact checked."
"Oh that geezer gave you a job, I am glad he still has a human heart. So what brings you here, if you want a gathering job than you are a bit late you know"
Redrick saw the empty request board and sighed. "No I was more interested in that noble request you husband knows about."
"Ah that man has a soft spot for you, yeah it's still vacant. The payment isn't great and the conditions are a bit unusual so most people skip it. The request is that someone helps this noble train for a certain time period. All knowledge is welcome so even an F ranked is allowed".
Redrick thought for a bit but was quick to make a decision. " I'll take it, but I want to meet the employer before I sign anything"
"Ahhh ducky has learned from his past mistakes, you might actually earn some money now."
A red blush started to form on the face of the young man. "when can you get us a meeting?" his voice clearly sounded annoyed while saying it.
"Am i getting under your skin brat, i wil pray for the poor soul that has to live with your grumpy attitude." Belle said jokingly "Tomorrow should work, the employer comes here every day to check on any news around the request."
Redrick shook the grumpy joke of and made an agreement that he would be back in the guild tomorrow before noon. He made some small talks about his trip and than said his goodbye.
But he was stopped before he could leave.