Leo was surprised to see the diversity of this little village. It had a smithy, at least four different clothing stores, and a small library aside from two bakeries and a sweets shop.
"Farna is a popular mercenary hub. It's close to bandit hideouts and wild beasts but not close enough to endanger those living here. Many rich mercenaries settled here, and this is how this village was created. My father was one of the first settlers, along with my mother."
Runo explained to Leo as they made their way out of the village. There was a hill nearby where the shepherd usually watched over the herd. It became visible after the two of them passed the welcome sign of the village.
"Your father is a mercenary?"
"Yes, his abilities are defense-related. He acquired many useful skills, and mercenary groups often invited him for bigger missions. He has the freedom to decline missions he doesn't like nowadays. Oh, we arrived."
Leo wanted to ask how someone could get more abilities, but doing so would have been suspicious. He just decided to visit the library later and find out. Runo stopped in his tracks as he reached the foot of the hill where the huge flock of sheep lazed around.
"I'm going to go back now. The old man doesn't like me climbing the hill when the sheep eat because I will scare them, but you can go. These sheep don't get scared. The grumpy old man said that to me because he dislikes talking to strangers besides my father."
Runo turned around and walked away like Leo was not there in the first place. Leo looked up to see if the old man was around. There was a small hut on the top of the hill, but no old man in sight. In the end, Leo decided to climb the hill.
A few minutes later, he reached the small hut and knocked on the door. The old door slowly opened and revealed the old man whose uncut hair and long beard managed to hide most of his face.
"Good day, I'm Leo, and my acquaintance, Mort, told me you're looking for an assistant."
"That's what I said. Follow me. I will show you the ropes. Being a shepherd is not a tricky thing. Your job is to herd, feed, and guard the sheep. I used to do it alone, but I'm too old now. I need someone to watch my sheep instead of me so I can concentrate on selling the surplus sheep."
Leo followed the old man as he explained his job to him. He was blunt and somewhat rude, as he didn't even introduce himself. The two of them arrived on a field surrounded by a fence. There were three big German shepherds separated from the herd here.
"These are the dogs. Part of your job is to let the dogs out at the end of each day. They will herd the sheep back inside that building there."
The old man pointed at a huge wooden hall, somewhat further away from the hill.
"What are the names of these dogs?"
"They're dogs."
"That's it? Okay, you can trust me with this job. I'm confident that I will do a satisfying job. Can I ask how much are you going to pay me?"
The pay was something Leo wanted to clear as soon as possible. He was not familiar with the laws of this world and didn't want to get scammed.
"A gold coin every day as long as no harm befalls my herd, but you will have to pay me two gold coins for every injured or dead sheep."
"When do I start?"
Leo asked the old man after they discussed everything he needed to know about the job.
"You can start today. The morning just passed, so you still have a full day ahead. You can observe the sheep from the top of this hill. Make sure that none of them escapes and keep them safe from danger. That is all you must do while I visit the village and buy some necessities."
"You can trust me. Have a safe trip."
Leo replied to the old man with a theatrical bow. Seeing Leo's playful nature, the old man smirked and left him alone, thinking that Leo was responsible and his sheep was in good hands.
At first, Leo was motivated to make sure that no sheep were in danger, but hours later, he started to feel bored. There was nothing to do here, under the shade of a tree. He just lay on the grass and observed the sheep while they did nothing.
Eventually, the boredom got the better of him, and he started tinkering with his abilities. Leo started doing backflips and ran around the hill, chasing the sheep into the wooden hall they were supposed to stay in during the night.
He also tried to fight with the dogs and even lost a barking contest against them. However, one can only do so much using physical abilities. Thus, Leo decided to play with fire instead.
The little flame wandered from one finger to another. Leo conducted various tests using his ability. He wanted to know how long it takes for his finger to catch fire and if he could move it around.
The results were better than expected, as Leo improved his ability activation time. Sadly, nothing lasts forever, and Leo gets bored once again. This is when a dangerous idea crossed his mind.
'I remember hearing from somewhere that sheep wool is fire resistant. I even saw a video back on Earth. Trying it once should be fine.'
Leo silently approached a sheep from behind and commenced the mission to counter his boredom.
You've successfully activated [Fire (F-Rank)]
His finger caught fire, and Leo didn't hesitate to stick it into the wool of the sheep before him.
"How cool! It really worked. Sheep are actually fire resistant."
Leo shouted as he pierced the wool with his flaming finger multiple times. Not even ten seconds had passed when the wool suddenly caught fire, and the sheep erupted in flames. The magical fire had different properties than normal fire and was perfectly capable of burning wool, but Leo didn't know this.
He raced with time itself to separate the unaffected sheep from the ones that caught fire. Eventually, the fire subsided, but the black smoke alerted the villagers, including the old man.
'There goes 120 days worth of gold coins.'