novel-bin Chapter 34 Can't Afford to Raise Them
Chapter 34 Can't Afford to Raise Them
Since Herford ate almost all the food last night, everyone was hungry this morning, so lunch was eaten very early.
Helford ate a lot as always, devouring 10 pounds of potatoes by himself—he ate the whole bag of potatoes that Zag had just bought that morning!
He even drank a large bowl of cabbage soup and a pound of roasted lamb!
"Helford, uh, lump of coal," Zag said seriously, sitting down in front of Helford. "With your appetite, I really can't afford to feed you."
Herford's ears drooped, and he looked aggrieved.
"Look, you eat 10 pounds of potatoes in one meal, which costs 1 shilling and 8 pence. Even if you only eat two meals a day, it will still cost at least 11 shillings and 8 pence a week. This doesn't even include meat and other things. My salary is only 30 shillings a week, of which 12 shillings must be used to buy medicine for my mother. Add to that water bills, garbage disposal fees, property taxes... my weekly salary simply cannot support you."
It's not that Zag is stingy, it's just that Herford's appetite is terrifyingly large—
If he had known that werewolves could eat so much, he would never have dared to dream of having both a cat and a dog!
Helford almost cried as he listened to Zag's calculations: "I'm sorry, I just couldn't control myself. Actually, I only need to eat once a week... I can try to control it, but please don't send me away. I really miss human food so much, I'm sorry..."
"Does he only need to eat once a week?"
Snowball interjected, "That's how beasts are. They eat until they're stuffed, and then they can go a long time without eating... Hmph, werewolves really are beasts!"
Zag pondered for a moment, then suggested, "Hmm... then you could try dividing one meal into many smaller meals. You don't need to eat until you're stuffed; just eat until you're not hungry, and maintain our three meals a day routine. How much energy would you burn per meal then?"
"I could try...maybe...a pound of potatoes and some broth?" Helford said cautiously, glancing first at Zag's face, then quickly at Snowball's expression, before urgently adding, "No broth is fine too, just let me have broth at least once a week, once is enough!"
Zag felt guilty after Helford's words. He sighed and said, "There's no need to exaggerate like that. You yourself said that you were originally human, but you were cursed... Perhaps you can try to regain your human lifestyle. Maybe one day you can find a way to lift the curse."
Helford's eyes welled up with tears: "Thank you, Zag. I will try my best. You're right, I was originally human."
After his heart-to-heart talk with Helford, Zag returned to his work, and also asked Snowball to deliver the two bottles of "Meretra's Mercy" he had promised to the treants.
No citizens applied for commissions all day, but in the afternoon, Flint accepted a level 0 ghost commission.
"30 shillings is indeed a bit low. After deducting taxes and the association's cut, there's hardly anything left, but it's better than nothing. After all, a room in the tavern costs 1 shilling a night."
Flint's face remained deathly pale, like that of a legendary mage specializing in necromancy. Judging by his appearance alone, it was hard to believe that he was actually skilled in fire magic, a branch of the destructive magic family.
After carefully putting away the signed file, Zag politely said, "Good luck."
"Thanks."
Flint hesitated for a moment before awkwardly asking Zag, "I heard from Felix that something big happened in town, and it seems to be related to that alchemist who stayed at the tavern for a while?"
Zag remembered the investigator's instructions from last night, so he answered evasively, "Yes, but I'm not sure if I can say that the association's office is worried about causing panic among the townspeople... In fact, it is indeed related to that alchemist."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make things difficult for you. I just want to say that the alchemist is definitely not from the Dawn Mage Tower, because my mentor and I once visited the Dawn Mage Tower, and there is no major that specializes in alchemy there. They call alchemy 'Potion Studies'."
"But when I talked to that alchemist before, he seemed to have no idea what 'potions' was, so..."
Flint concluded, "He definitely didn't come from the Dawn Mage Tower. I hope this information is useful to you."
Zag nodded: "Thank you so much, it's really useful!"
He even felt a little guilty.
Not only did I get the spellbook from him for free before, but I also owe him a favor again. It seems that you can't judge a book by its cover. Who knew that this guy who didn't look like a righteous mage was actually a good person!
In the evening, after a day of relatively light work, Zhage, with a bag of money in his pocket, went to the market again to make purchases.
The potato farmer, probably genuinely curious, asked Zag while packing 10 pounds of potatoes, "Sir, why are you buying so many potatoes lately?"
Zag replied, "I adopted a stray dog. The little guy was starving and ate a lot, so I just bought some more."
Upon hearing that Zag owned a dog, the farmer immediately launched into a long-winded explanation: "You can't spoil these kinds of animals. For one thing, if they eat too much at once, they'll not only choke themselves, but they'll also develop a bad habit of guarding their food. Felix had one before, and because of this, it bit a wealthy lodger. Felix not only had to pay a lot of money, but he also had to watch as the old man beat the dog to death! What a tragedy!"
Zag couldn't very well say that he was raising a "werewolf" instead of a "dog," so he could only nod and agree with the farmer.
The fishmonger, who overheard their conversation, joined in enthusiastically, saying, "I have lots of leftover scraps here. Maybe you can take them to feed your dog. I've heard that adults love feeding their cats and dogs animal innards and fish scraps; apparently, it helps them develop smooth fur!"
Zag awkwardly declined, "Uh, thank you, but I bought a lot of potatoes recently, and I'm afraid I won't be able to finish them all, so I'll pass."
If he were raising real cats and dogs, he might be happy to fleece them to feed his pets. But the problem is that Snowball and Helford are both magical creatures with intelligence similar to humans, one is a cursed human, and the other is a cursed human. If he were to feed them these "garbage," not to mention whether Snowball would bite him twice with bloody holes, he himself would be embarrassed to treat them like that.
After a while, Zag finally carried 10 pounds of potatoes back to the sentry post after giving a perfunctory reply to the group of kind-hearted vendors.
Helford lay on the bed staring blankly out the window, while Snowball lay asleep in Helford's gray fur, seemingly carefree. Even the sound of Zag closing the door only made its ears twitch before it continued to snore.
The scene, illuminated by the firelight in the fireplace, made Zag feel warm all over.
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[Snowball's Mini-Drama]: Taverns in the Eternal High Kingdom typically offer several room options. The most common is "shared beds," usually shared by 2-3 people, with daily rates as low as 3 pence. Next are bunk beds or single beds within shared rooms, also relatively inexpensive, around 5 pence per day. However, more respectable travelers and well-paid migrant workers often opt for more private single rooms, which generally cost 1 shilling or more.
It's worth noting that all of these rooms are budget options, so the bathrooms are shared.
If you want a room with a private bathroom, you'll need to book a comfort room that costs at least 10 shillings per night. These rooms usually come with a free breakfast and are the best choice for middle-class travelers.
In addition, there are luxury rooms, where the tavern offers excellent service and absolute privacy, exclusively for the wealthy. The cheapest room costs 2-3 gold pounds per night, which is even more than two weeks' wages for a low-level laborer.
Of course, not all taverns offer deluxe rooms; for example, the tavern called "Boots" in Cabbage Town doesn't have such rooms.
Snowball thought this made perfect sense: "Think about it! Who would come to this remote, impoverished place and stay in a luxury room?! Are they crazy?!"