Limits

I managed the finish the 9th ingot in the evening of that day. I had to take breaks every 3 ingots because working like this non stop tired me out and made me very hungry. As I mentioned, I could go around hungry but I couldn't cross the line where hunger would become starvation. This would degrade my body little by little.

Shelly was nice enough to go hunt fishes by itself, just before I would be done with my 3rd ingot. I would simply arrive at the river and have all that Shelly hunted ready for cooking. Shelly was also very keen on eating cooked fishes instead of the raw ones. It seemed that Shelly liked the taste of the cooked meat better.

The next day, I did the same thing and had now 18 purified steel ingots. In total I needed to make 27 purified steel ingots for the days I was absent as well as the days I was already in the village. I needed 9 more ingots which meant another day. Rand and others would probably return by the next day morning.

I assumed that based on their 3 days of travel and 1 day of staying and celebrating while I left. I had 2 days to catch up with my work but I already used about 1 and a half day. 'I will need to work till the late evening and then tomorrow morning, start very early'. I decided to make 5 more today and 4 more the next morning.

I managed to finish the 5 ingots that night and went to sleep. I was tired as hell due to over exerting myself with the work. In the morning, I still had to do 4 more, otherwise my plan would not be flawless. At 6 am the next morning I woke up and headed to the workshop. I started to produce the ingots as quickly as I could. At about 9.30 am, I had all 27 ingots required to cover up for my absence.

I needed to eat something and I knew I would be busy , I asked Shelly to hunt some fishes for me and bring them to the workshop. Shelly came over after I did my 2nd ingot and I cooked the fishes over the furnace.

When I was done with all those ingots, I still had to produce 3 more ingots that would count for the current day. I wasn't in a mood to create more but hell, I thought 'I am already here and I ate my meal, so I might as well get it over it'.

I worked at a slower pace this time, producing 1 ingot in about 1 and a half hour. My calculations concerning Rand's return were a bit off as they returned at about 2pm when I was finishing my last ingot. Grond came over to the workshop and saw me working. I stopped for a moment to complain to him "I didn't get paid for the week, I was supposed to be paid every week. Also I didn't receive the meals as promised! I want compensation for that!". Grond was a bit surprised and asked "Did you do the assigned ingots through the days we were absent?", I looked at him and sneered "You think I was sitting around and scratching my ass? Here! Look for yourself!". I showed him the table with all 27 ingots plus the two I already finished and the last one I was about to finish.

Grond was surprised and said "I will give you the money now. As for the compensation about meals, how about I throw in 5 coppers extra?". I thought '5 coppers HA! But hell, I will take it', I said to him "5 coppers is fine then. If I got it right, I will get 90 coppers for 9 days of work plus the meals which is 9 days that would be 45 coppers. All together 1 silver and 35 coppers". Grond's face went a bit grim from my calculations but he paid me the amount. I then finished the last ingot and left the workshop.

Back at my house, I saw that Shelly was asleep and Nick was waiting for me on a chair. He said "I saw you in the mansion" to which I replied "I hope only you saw me". Nick smilled and then said "Don't worry boy, I'm sure I was the only one who recognised you, your plan seems to have worked out". I replied "Yep, I wonder how will they consummate their marriage now! Hahaha!", Nick also laughed evilly and said "What about the guy who used to monitor you? He would notice that you were absent from the village for so long". I said "He is long taken care off" to which showed an even bigger grin and said "Good lad! How about the alibi then? You know, Rand is not that stupid".

I replied "All is in order. I managed to catch up with all the ingots in those couple of days since I came back. Even if Rand suspects me, I was here doing my work, the ingots prove that". Nick was even more happy now and said "You thought of everything. Good! Now boy, what do you plan to do next?".

I thought about it and answered "I will not let that grudge go. I was slave for a year and this village will pay for it. Rand's granddaughter Senty already paid for it with a price worse than death. She will never be able to have descendants while her new husband is crippled down there. This family is ruined now and having no hope for the future is worse than death I believe". Nick applauded that and said in excited tone "Good boy but what next. What is your next plan?".

I went serious and asked "How much time do you have left?". Nick's smile disappeared and said "About 2 or 3 months at most". I looked at Nick deeply and said "I told you I will not do your biddings but I changed my mind. I shall do this last favour for you". Nick was surprised by what I said and looked at me as if looking at his own son, he then said "I never had kids in my life and rarely interacted with women, my path was a lone path. Me against the whole world, that is the usual character of people such as me".

He then continued "It seems you accepted me, not as master but as a friend". It was true what he said, I didn't think of him as my master but as a friend, a friend he never had. Nick said "I shall try and impart the rest of my knowledge onto you in this couple of months. You will have to prepare yourself if you really want to raze this village to the ground". I looked at nick deeply and said "It shall be done".