The sheep that caught fire all died, but the rest survived without injury. Leo was proud of himself.
'I didn't kill 60 of them. I saved 240 sheep!'
However, his smile didn't last long as he saw the villagers approaching. Leo knew that explaining what happened here would be difficult. The first villagers arrived after a few minutes with visible confusion on their faces.
"How did you do this?"
"Did you do it on purpose?"
"YOU! You killed the sheep!"
Some were curious about what happened, and some wanted to blow up the story and turn Leo into a criminal. Only a short time after Leo burned the sheep, roughly half of the little village was on the hill.
They didn't let Leo speak and started discussing among themselves. However, the mess came to a halt once Mort, Runo, and the old man arrived. Mort and Runo looked at each other with question marks visible above their head.
'How did this happen so fast?'
The old man quickly became angry and scolded Leo without letting him explain himself.
"YOU DAMN PUNK! What did you do that killed 60 of my sheep?! I never should've trusted you, Mort!"
"No, it's not Mort's fault. I burned the sheep, thinking that wool wouldn't catch fire. I mean, it's true that wool doesn't catch fire under normal circumstances, but I didn't know that my flame ability could burn it. This all happened because I couldn't restrain my curiosity."
Leo defended Mort, who did nothing wrong. He feared Mort would throw him out of the house after this event.
"You're crazy! Wool doesn't burn. That is the truth, but the heat still hurts the sheep. You have to pay me! Is there someone who can write up a contract? He has to pay me 120 gold. 2 gold for every sheep he killed."
"HERE! I'm a court apprentice. We can write a contract immediately if both sides agree on the amount of gold. We also have witnesses, and the young man did admit his mistake. There is nothing else we need in the current situation."
The old man suddenly started demanding money for his sheep. However, Leo was prepared for this. He didn't mind being 120 golds in debt. Lawyers on earth were much more demanding. They needed consulting fees, and you also needed to pay for mental damage.
Leo knew that escaping this time was meaningless. There were people in the crowd who had the ability to disarm him in seconds. This was a crowd of mercenaries, after all. It was better to wrap this up while the court apprentice was here.
"Let's write the contract. However, keep in mind that I don't have any money currently. This is why I wanted this job in the first place. I won't be able to pay back immediately.
…
A few minutes later, the contract was completed. Leo was given two months to pay back the damages. Given his situation, it was still ridiculously short, but the old man's business would have suffered otherwise, and Leo didn't want a bigger debt.
"Now scram from my hill. I don't want to see your face ever again. I still need to think about how to survive the next two months."
The grumpy old man walked away and shut himself inside his wooden hut. The group also dispersed after a few minutes of chattering. Thus leaving Leo with Mort and Runo.
Little Runo looked away and focused on the vast distance. He was not sure what to say. Leo became akin to a big brother to him during this short period, but he also knew that his father's generosity was not endless.
Mort looked at Leo with a disappointed face.
"Leo, I accepted you, knowing my attempt to help you has a chance of failing. Tell me one good reason that convinces me. Why should I house a beggar who doesn't want to work?"
"I understand you, Mort. I wouldn't house myself if I were in your place either. I had a good opportunity to land an easy job and didn't live with it despite my situation. You have every right to kick me out, but I still want to ask you to give me one more chance."
Mort massaged his temples and asked Leo about his plans.
"How do you plan to pay back the 120 golds you owe to the old man? I'm not going to pay it back for you."
"I might be bad at being a shepherd, but there's one thing I can do that requires me to destroy things, and I'm good at doing it! I will become an adventurer."
Runo and Mort were surprised by Leo's bold decision. Adventurers were known for their short lifespan. They accepted missions without much background information and often ended up in places where no one found them.
"Working as an adventurer is dangerous, but you are an adult, and I'm not going to tell you to find something else. However, this is your last chance. I'm going to help you and prepare you, but if it doesn't work out, we'll have to part ways."
Leo nodded, and the trio walked home without saying a word. However, it wasn't as simple as it was supposed to be. Anne greeted them with a knife in her hand. Ready to interrogate Leo and Mort about what happened.
They had to calm her down by letting her stab into Mort's iron shield multiple times. Eventually, Leo managed to calm her down by telling her that he was going to taste her fried egg.
Mort called Leo inside his room around an hour later to discuss his plans as an adventurer. He wanted to test Leo and see if he had the ability to stay alive.
"Leo, how much do you know about abilities?"
Mort asked Leo with genuine curiosity. There were a lot of people in this world who didn't care about the system and just spent their lives peacefully.
"Honestly, close to nothing."