after a few minutes of silence, hil decided to continue the conversation.
"hi, erm... sir?" hil noticed the rich man was lost in thought "are you going to pay me now or ill have to come back later?"
the man quickly regained his wits and answered "erm... yes, indeed heres your payment for the kill" the man handed him a single silver coin.
"thank you sir. now, do you know where i can sell this thing?" hil said while lifting the goblin from his leg, he looked like a child lifting his doll from the floor.
"well, i guess you can find a guild or a monster merchant. there are more people who will buy that thing but its far more likely you will find a monster merchant in the nearby city, this kind of areas are infested with them you know" the man answered honestly. being a merchant, he could easily try to persuade hil to sell him the goblin with a 50% discount. but after the short conversation they had, he doubted hil actually wanted to know where he could sell the goblin, it was more likely he just wanted to confirm it.
"how far is the city" hil said that with such a confident voice that it sounded as if he already knew the way.
"its not that far, i think its about a day if you will start walking now."
"if i pay you 20 coppers, will you lend me a horse, will you perhaps take me there yourself?"
the man was shocked, a rich merchant such as himself, taking a slave to a city? he absolutely didnt want to do that. in fact, he was disgusted by the thought of that. but he felt like he couldnt refused, the young man in front of him just killed a goblin, he didnt even had any weapon yet he killed the goblin his own guard fled from. the young man in front of him could easily kill him, and no one could stop him. he was probably stronger than the guard and he was sure his slaves would be happy if he died and they were free, there werent any city guards either and they were in the middle of nowhere. it was the perfect place to murder someone and because the goblin was found inside the nearby cave people could assume he died by a goblin BUT HE WAS MURDERED BY A DAMNED MILK-DRINKER. the rich man felt like hes going insane. after some time he came up with a solution.
"well i cant do myself so ill send my horse and my guard with you, itll be 30 coppers since the guard will be there to protect you" the man said with a friendly smile, a smile of a proud father, such a welcoming smile that if someone walked by he would think the rich man actually was hil's father, well that is, if he didnt noticed how thin and dirty hil was in these rags he had as clothes.
"shut up" hil snapped "we both know i can protect myself better than your useless guard, its 20 coppers for the horse and if you are afraid ill steal it come with me or send that scared baby of yours"
the rich man had no choice. as he suspected the young man really was an expert, every word he said was true and the rich man couldnt disagree with him, hil even persuade the man to not give him the guard. but the man couldnt just let such a strong fellow go with his horse, he had to send the guard with him.
"very well, my guard will go with you, after you pay take him and the horse and go to the city"
"fine" hil was satisfied from the trade. not only he got a ride, he even got protection. well, even if the guard couldnt even fight a rabbit, hil was sure he could make a decent distraction.
hil handed the man his silver coin, "i think you owe me 80 coppers".
"yes, indeed. here you go" the man handed hil 8 coins. they all had a square shaped hole in their center.
"hi... i thought you owe me 80 coppers, not 8" hil said with a hint of anger in his voice.
"hmm? are you okay? did a rock fall on your head in that cave? dont you see the hole in the center? that means its 10"
"hmph fine, ill believe you" hil said while turning to the horse.
"HI, COWARD. GET ON THAT HORSE TOO" the rich man shouted at the sleeping guard. the guard ran to the horse faster than he fled from the cave. "make sure the horse returns here alive and healthy. got that milk-drinker?" the rich man thought hil was right, his guard did run from a single goblin and if hil could kill that goblin that means it wasnt a special goblin.
the guard murmured something under his breath. it seemed he still didnt forget the fear from the goblin.
when the guard got on the horse hil started to go towards the direction the rich man pointed at.
"ill return the horse in a day, i wish you a happy life mister" hil said before making the horse gallop towards the city.