A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 601 A Stronger Foundation - Part 3

"I agree, it doesn't make sense, and we've already had a payment for it before... But it's just, forty golds? It seems an awful lot for something as simple as slaying some Hobgoblins," Oliver said.

"The rarity of the ingredients and also the difficulty of their acquisition, combined with their usefulness – I think they go a long way to explaining the price. It is simply because few can do as you do, my Lord and slay a Hobgoblin so casually," Verdant said.

"You did kill one yourself, now that I remember," Oliver said.

"I would not call what I did casual," Verdant said. "I was a hairbreadth away from disaster, if anything."

"So, this clears the matter of the horse up, doesn't it?" Oliver asked. "With forty golds, I should be able to buy one of my own, or so you say."

"Might I offer a possibly redundant bit of advice on that front, my Lord?" Verdant asked.

"By all means."

"I would advise you not to spend the last of your coin on a horse straight away. Not when our future already seems so uncertain. I do not wish to drop bad omens – for you've accused me of doing that before – but there might come a time soon when you are in desperate need of those forty golds, no?

As for a horse, you can survive a month without one, if you are content with lending one from I," Verdant. "With the matter of the saddle and harnesses, the feed and stabling, it would likely chew up every penny that you had."

"You make a good point..." Oliver conceded. "Fine. I shall save this coin, just in case, and I'll have to renegotiate with Nebular, to see if we can find some better arrangement... We're limited in the number of Hobgoblins that we can hunt each week, after all, as per Gavlin's warning."

"There is much to be done," Verdant agreed. "Do you wish for me to arrange anything for you?"

Even as they walked along the thin path around the equestrian court, they were subject to a whirlwind of activity. There was clearly a class going on, with a dozen students all mounted on the court, gathering around as a teacher gently explained something or other to them. Oliver noted that most of the students were girls.

That class was the quiet part, though. It was the rushing of servants and stable boys that really set Oliver on edge. In thirty seconds he'd already been passed by four boys and four horses, each being led somewhere different.

"Busy..." Nebular noted, his face rather pale. He didn't seem to be that fond of animals.

"Not your kind of place?" Oliver asked.

Nebular shook his head with a muted smile. "It could not be further from 'my kind of place', Ser Patrick. I like the warmth of the cauldron. I have no stomach for riding even in the warmer months. To be here despite the cold is a contradiction that even my feet agree on."

"Ah, apologies then," Oliver said, "for scheduling our meeting here."

"You need not apologise for that, my Lord. It was my whim. I assumed that it would be easier for you to handle two acts of business at once. Your time is growing increasingly befuddled lately," Verdant said.

Nebular grimaced, as Verdant made it evidently clear that he'd merely arranged things this way for his Lord's convenience. The priest didn't even try to make an apology.

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"It's fine..." Nebular murmured to himself. "I too have a great respect for Ser Patrick's time, given the assistance that he has lent to our store in recent times."

"Business is good then?" Oliver asked.

"Business hardly seemed to exist before," Nebular said dryly. "I have always been an alchemist, but it is only now that I feel myself to be a man of business as well. On that note, I wished to renegotiate. Though I am grateful to you for the position you've given me, with the investment of those Hobgoblin organs, I feel that I may have repaid that favour by now, no?"