Chương 12: Chapter 11 - Shoulder The Cost

"What gives you the right?!"

"Good morning?"

"I asked you a question, Corbin," Daniel growled.

"You killed the Mana Nymphs. What gives you the right?!"

"Well, I did buy the land and their presence was ruining my soil…" I said, suddenly feeling slightly unsure.

"The forest isn't your land!" In case it wasn't obvious, Daniel was furious. Which was a bit surprising since I'd thought he was still in Gold's Lodge; not to mention the situation was technically better than it had been the last time I'd woken up. I'd gotten back just past sunset after failing to track the Stoneboar down.

Without the massive Great Oak network that made up the forest and increased their reach, the Mana Nymphs could only feed on life essence in the area around a meter and a half or so from their host. Sure that meant that the infected monster would basically need to be inside of Danwood to drain it now, but it also meant that I couldn't just trace where the large bundle of leeches were by following their trail through the Great Oak root system. Dawn had barely broken when pounding rattled my door.

I'd only cracked it an inch when Daniel shoved it open and barged his way in.

"Look, it's early, can we back up for a minute?" I asked, trying to get my bearings. I needed to clarify one thing before I put my foot in my mouth.

"How do you know what I did?"

"My Interface lit up yesterday, told me the rooted Mana Nymph infestation had been removed from my Forest Claim and completely changed its hazard status," he said, his tone barely changing despite the fact that he answered me.

"Without them here, monsters are going to spawn so I rushed back… I had to make sure Willow was okay. So imagine my surprise when I find out from her that you decided to 'handle' it like it was no big deal!"

"Wait… you knew the forest had Mana Nymphs in it and were just… leaving them?!"" Obviously! Didn't your Interface list them as the reason for your bad soil when Dartigan showed you the property listing?" he asked and I felt my jaw set slightly.

"No, it didn't!" I said, trying not to let my anger bubble up.

"Why would I buy land near something that would make it impossible for me to grow things?"

"I don't know, you've just been giving away a salve that's worth a fortune. I told you, I assumed you were terrible with money," he shot back, his arms crossing.

"You show up out of nowhere, don't even get an opinion from any of us on if it was good farmland, and then just buy up an entire chunk of the place."

"Okay, fine, who cares how it affects my soil. What about you? Don't you know that Mana Nymphs drain everything? Does the rest of the crew know you've been feeding a parasite with their life essence? How about Willow? She didn't even know what Mana Nymphs are until she made me realize what was going on." Daniel's eyes hardened and his muscles tensed as I thought I'd found a crack in his outrage. My assumption was incorrect.

"Of course they do. Every decision we make, we make together. We picked the spot with the weakest drain for a reason," he argued.

"As for my sister… our home is far enough away that the drain doesn't quite reach and their presence made sure she was safe from monsters. She didn't need to know more than that."

"Well guess what, Daniel, that's what wards are for," I said, staring back at him. It was probably less intimidating because I lacked my usual vestments or his size.

"They keep the monsters away and don't have the nasty side effect of making everything else useless. And correct me if I'm wrong, but you should be able to afford one of those now, right?"

"First off, wards aren't perfect. Second, we might be doing better, but Danwood is behind on a dozen expenses and that's before we have to worry about the taxes and upkeep on the new road. Something that expensive is the last thing we needed to worry about," Daniel snapped back, still not backing down.

"And none of that's remotely the point I'm trying to make! It doesn't matter if you had the answer, you don't get to decide what's right for everyone without asking. That's not how things work here!"

"Fine," I said, deciding the fight wasn't worth it since technically he was right. I hadn't asked and denying that was stupid. Besides, if he was going to be angry anyway, I should at least get it all out of the way at once.

"You're right. I should have asked." You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Daniel's anger finally relented a bit and his eyes widened.

"That said… I didn't exactly kill the Mana Nymphs…" I said slowly. He hadn't mentioned the Dryad at all and I was hesitant to bring it up. Most proper bestiaries were clear about dryads' disposition toward humans, but proper bestiaries tended to live in specialized libraries. Everyone else got fairy tales about friendly woodland sprites. Daniel didn't need another reason to yell, so I figured it'd be best to keep to the tangible problem.

"Stars… what did you do?"

"I got the Mana Nymphs out of the Great Oak trees… err… tree? It's technically one big one but I guess that's not exactly the point… though I really do think it'll be something interesting to investigate eventually…" I said, thinking about it for just a moment.

"Corbin, don't make me shake it out of you," Daniel grumbled and I laughed awkwardly. It didn't seem like it was an empty threat.

"So yeah, I lured them out and uh, do you know what a Stoneboar is?"

"A… what?" Daniel asked, now visibly confused before a thought occurred to him.

"Wait… There was a bard at the tavern in Gold's Lodge singing about one of those that Prince Frederick was hunting. Something about a boar with rocks sticking out of it? Wait, are you saying? There's one out there in it? How!? The forest's been empty since we got here!"

"Umm… did Willow happen to tell you about the bag I have?" He stared at me, jaw going slack in a way that… well, looked just like one his sister had given me.

"You had a Stoneboar… in your bag?! Why!? I swear… the next thing you're going to tell me is it's the exact same one that Prince Frederick was after."

"I don't think it matters if it's the same one or not," I said, shaking my head.

"Look, the point is, I took it out, figuring the Mana Nymphs would drain its life essence long enough that I could just… kill two problems with one stone. I uh… just didn't expect the Nymphs to turn it into their new host." Daniel's eyes widened even further. He turned away, taking several slow steps before letting out one long, heavy breath.

"Umm… you okay?" I asked when he didn't immediately turn back around.

"I'm deciding if I should strangle you or not," he growled.

"Please don't, it would be inconvenient for everyone…" The interruption to my morning not counting, Daniel really did annoy me less than most people and I already didn't like how this was going. It was obvious I'd miscalculated, I just had to figure out how to avoid it becoming a bigger problem than it needed to be.

"The only reason I'm not is because this is partially on me," he said, finally turning back.

"Things have finally started to turn around and look up for us and I'd be lying if I said you weren't the main reason. I should have sat down and gone over the rules. Even if they should have been clear by now."

"Rules? For what exactly?" I asked, deciding it was better to not assume.

"For living in Danwood," he said simply, crossing his arms.

"I mean… technically I live next to—" I stopped when Daniel's eyes hardened again.

"You don't make a decision that can affect us without us. If it's on your land and only affects that, then do what you wish cause that's not my business. But the moment something extends out to the rest of us, that's when you sure as stars better bring it to me first in case I need to get a vote from the rest of the crew. They speak for their houses like I speak for mine," Daniel said, his voice rather impressively commanding.

"And I don't mean some boarshit about what crop you plant and how it might smell. I mean actual danger. My guys knew what they were risking with the Nymphs. A little extra exhaustion at the end of the day was a trade off they were willing to make."

"Okay, I can–" I was cut off by a sudden notification. [New Property Tax!] Daniel, The Steward of Danwood, has placed a tax on your claim. Tax: Manaspawn Ward Activation Cost and Annual Fees Penalty: Unpaid local taxes may incur additional oversight from crown authority.

"If this changes things, then it is what it is. I don't care if you stop hiring us, or want to charge us actual cost for the Honing Salve, I'm not leaving Danwood unprotected. Since you made the choice for us, then you should shoulder the cost," he said, clearly not exactly happy to do this.

"Umm okay sure. I kind of already told Willow that I'd do that anyway," I said and his eyes widened just a bit.

"I promise, I'm not looking for trouble. This was just a miscommunication. Next time I think I've discovered something dangerous, I'll make sure you guys know about it before I handle it."

"No, you're not hearing me," Daniel said, taking a step closer, making me tilt my head back just a bit further.

"If the aftermath in any way affects the rest of Danwood, the crew and I all get to vote. Not just on handling it… but how."

"Debating tactics wastes time…" I argued. He took another step closer, now properly towering. He would make a rather good General.

"Different methods yield different results. And results are what affect everyone in the long run," he snapped back, staring at me until I finally nodded.

"Okay… As long as it's not time sensitive. No offense, but if firegnat eggs get brought in on a shipment once trade starts coming this way, don't yell at me if I set fire to the wagon. Those things are worse than termites for wood."

"I really doubt that's a common occurrence… But I take your meaning," Daniel said, deflating as he looked toward one of the rear open windows. I was really going to have to get some glass before the winter months started.

"Now, what in the crown's name are we gonna do about this rootrotted Stoneboar you unleashed on us? The guys are going to hate this…"