Taupin continued his explanation, "I've contacted other villages in the north, and they agreed with me. It's spring now, so we'll all set off immediately and then make a defense in the northernmost village. Hopefully, we will be ready if Hualeg's people really come to attack."
"How long will you be in the north?" asked Rogas.
"Until the end of autumn. If you count from now on, it will be about seven months."
"If you all leave, then who will work fishing in every village?" William asked. "Or hunting?"
"We divide the tasks," replied Taupin. "Some of the men will stay in the village. This is indeed a difficult choice. Our income will decrease, but what can we do? We have to do this, to keep everyone safe."
"How many soldiers will be gathered?" asked Rogas.
"From here to the north, plus a few villages in the interior of the forest, there are eleven villages. Orulion is the biggest, so from other villages we might only get ten soldiers each. If all of them were added up, there would be about a hundred people. I guess that's enough. The number of Hualeg people who came to the south was usually below that. What do you think?"
Rogas shrugged. "If you think that's enough, that's enough. But it's a dangerous job, sir. Especially if your people are not trained. Mostly just fishing, right? They're going to be bullied."
"You can help us. Besides fighting, you can train them."
"Sure, I can make your life easier." Rogas let out a wide smile. The good thing is, the position of the nose is better. "But you must understand, sir, that the more dangerous and complex a job is, the better the pay must be."
"This village is not as rich as the villages in the south, Master Dall," said Taupin. "We don't save a lot of money. But you don't have to worry, we have enough fish to eat. So as long as you stay here, you don't have to be afraid of starvation."
"Do you mean …" Rogas straightened up, "you're going to pay us with fish?"
He shook his head when he saw the innocent face of the village head. "We need money, Master Taupin. Sazets! Which we can easily bring if we want to return to the south. You think we'll have to lug around sacks of fish all over the place?"
"Like I said before—"
"Sazet, Master Taupin. Money! I believe you have that. Don't lie to me. I know, for every fisherman and hunter who works here, as well as every passing merchant who passes, you always collect taxes. And definitely in the form of money, not fish! Now, it's about time you put out some of what you took, right? I'm not asking for much, of course, I'm just asking for an appropriate amount, which matches the difficulty of the job, as well as our skills."
"How much do you want?"
"Thirty sazets at the moment, plus thirty at the beginning of each month, and thirty at the end of the fall." Rogas glanced at William. "Oh, that's for me. For my brother, twenty at the beginning, twenty every month, and twenty at the end. Hmm … yes, I guess that's enough."
Taupin looked at Rogas in disbelief. "I'm not lying, Master Dall. I have savings, but definitely not as much as you're asking. That's crazy!"
"Okay, so how much can you give?"
"Fifteen, fifteen, fifteen."
Rogas froze. "So … thirty every month, for the two of us?"
Taupin shook his head. "Fifteen for you two."
"What?!" Rogas' face instantly turned darker. "I can earn that much by being a waiter at a restaurant in Ortleg! We are experienced soldiers! We-"
"We accept it," William cut in.
Rogas immediately glared at him. "Hey, you shut up. Let me decide."
"We accept it!" William glared back. He turned and nodded at Taupin. "We accept it, sir."
"I'm glad you understand, Master Tuck." The village head nodded happily. "So we're in agreement, Master Dall?"
Rogas' face was still red, he glanced at William in annoyance again, but in the end, he agreed. "Okay. Fifteen! Ten for me, and five for him."
"No problem," said William.
"Good!" Taupin smiled broadly.
"Now, can we receive our first fifteen sazets now?"
"You seem really impatient. Don't worry, Master Dall, I'll give it to you." Taupin stood, looking at his two guests. "But I can tell you, once you receive my money, you become my men. You will not deceive me. You have to obey and work well. No bullshit, rebuttals, or anything. If not … I'll take back every piece I gave away." He looked at Rogas and William. "Do you understand?"
William nodded. "No problem."
"Hey, we're professionals," said Rogas casually. "We know what to do."
Taupin looked doubtful, but then nodded and turned back into his house.
As soon as his figure disappeared, Rogas looked at William.
"Next time, let me decide. You …"
"No," William replied. "Next time I will give you my opinion too. I know a fair price for our work. You greedy bastard!"
"I was bargaining!" whispered Rogas stifled. "You shouldn't take it for granted." Then he snorted. "Okay, I see, you did it on purpose to piss me off. You damn vengeful brat."
"You have seen that this village is not rich. Do you expect to make a lot of money from here?"
"You need to get to know this person better." Rogas approached William, and whispered more quietly, "Taupin is a loan shark, understand? He likes to lend money to those who are poor, then ask for it back with high interest, or impose high taxes on their work. He has a lot of money. He has nothing to lose by spending some of that money on us."
"How do you know that?" William asked.
"I know people like him."
"That's just your assumption. And still, he cared about the safety of everyone in the north. Do you care?"
"Of course I care!" exclaimed Rogas. "If only I could have gotten those thirty pieces at the beginning, I would have given twenty of them to the poor people here, for free."
William looked at him in disbelief. "Are you serious?"
"Yes! Now, with only ten pieces, how can that be?"
"You can still give it now if you want."
Rogas shook his head in annoyance. "You suck."
"It's your own fault. If you have any plans to hand out your money, tell me from the start. Now, let's just accept it. For the next seven months, we have to work for him."
"Don't worry." Rogas smiled meaningfully. "That was the original plan. But you've learned, haven't you? Everything could change in a short time if something happened. Maybe our luck will change later, for the better."
"Or for the worse," William said irritably. He should have understood that Rogas must have other plans in mind.
"What? Do you mean we're going to die? Hey, if it turns out that we're going to die and fail to make it through that seven-month term, that means we don't have to worry about anything anymore, right?" Rogas let out a long laugh.