6 Run Down

Ren and Arne went back to the house quickly enough and were soon sitting across from one another at the table. Arne handed Ren a small piece of jerky as he took a bite of his own before saying. "Alright, now, the council has put you under my charge and it's about time to figure out what to do with you. You appear strong enough from what I was able to see, but you obviously have no hunting or fighting skills since I was able to catch you completely off guard before. Do you have any skills that you can use in the village?" He asked, staring him down patiently as he assessed the young man before him.

On Ren's part, he was already feeling uncertain about everything. He was finally able to get his fabled system, but as far as he could see it would take a while for him to put it to use. He thought over what a medieval village like this needed. The obvious things were food, water, protection, and crafts such as baskets, and tools. He'd never really worked all that hard with his hands before. The most he'd ever done was make a few toy models and some dioramas in school. Even if models needed fine control to build, that wasn't what the village needed, unless he wanted to be stuck as basket weaver with what he assumed was the women. He had plenty of knowledge that he could put to use helping the village such as well digging, and a number of technologies to help, but none of that would work without the resources to do it or the time and patience of the villagers to let him work for basically free. That was out too. 'Well.....I can't use any of my modern skills...so maybe I should just try relying on my new body for now and see where I can fit in later.' He couldn't help but shrug in helplessness at how few modern skills actually transferred to the medieval era when you had nothing to work with.

"I'm alright with my hands and have enough muscle to help out moving things and doing daily chores. Other than that though, I don't have too many skills that I can remember as of now." He made sure to play up the amnesia again, hoping it would somewhat explain how a complete moron by their standards could survive on his own.

Arne looked skeptical still and said "Right, your lack of memories. Alright, well, the village can always use an extra field hand. We've only got the few families managing the little fields we have so they should welcome you at least for the extra work. I'll try introducing you to Liv and his family. He just lost a son last year, so he should have the extra tools." He stroked his chin in thought, thinking the idea would at least work and maybe get some of the responsibility for Ren off of him, but then he looked over at Ren just eyeing him with a weird expression and couldn't help but sigh.

"As for your living space, I suppose we can let you sleep in the shed here. No one else has any room, and as much as I think Liv will accept you. I don't think he'll let you near his barn at night. That means up before sunrise to eat, and back by dark if you don't want my daughter jumping you. Any questions?"

Ren gulped at Arne stared at him like he was a leaching bug and couldn't help but feel somewhat hurt. It wasn't like he was purposely taking up their time. He just wanted to make his way in the world on his own, but there was no way with nothing on him but the clothes on his back. "I guess.....that covers most things. When do I start?"

"What are you talking about? We're going over now, otherwise there's no way Liv will even look at you when he's busy tomorrow. Besides, I need to go back on patrol tomorrow, in case you attracted any beast." He said before getting up and motioning for Ren to follow him without so much as a second glance.

Ren couldn't help but sigh as he followed the stern man across the village and towards the river he'd previously seen on his map. He asked 'System, do I have a minimap function or something to keep it constantly open and navigate easier?'

'Answer: The "minimap" function is currently locked and requires payment to unlock. Current standing price is fifty units to unlock minimap function. Does host wish to make a purchase?'

The system was as robotic as before and the price seemed massive given that it was half of his current purse.

'I already have a map I can call up, so there's no real reason to get one right now, especially if I don't even know whether I'm wasting my points or not. Crap, no I don't want to purchase it.'

'Acknowledged. Should host wish to view where he is, simply open the map function or request a way-point be set at a designated area.'

'Hmmmm, system, can you set a way-point for Liv's farm?'

"Answer: Yes, Liv's farm is currently within system area and is recorded in database. Designating way-point to Liv's farm.'

A small bright blue dot appeared in Ren's vision and he could see at least the general direction of the farm. It seemed they were taking a winding route for some reason as when he turned his head, it was off to the distance and the dot shifted to its new location. Though there was no other information with the dot, he at least knew he wouldn't get too lost if he couldn't find something later.

The two men continued walking and as they walked through the village at what seemed near noon, Ren began to see more and more people. They were busy doing chores near their homes or chatting in the road. He even saw a few kids run past back towards the village center and look at him strangely. 'Ugh, what am I, a walking sideshow?'

The houses began to become sparser and finally they came out the edge of the village on a path that seemed to follow the river for a ways. They made a turn down a sloping path towards the river and soon found himself and Arne passing a large slope until they began to see large tilled fields all along the riverside. It was an interesting sight as there were very little buildings down here but the fields seemed large enough. They had thick waving fields of what he assumed was rye and a few other fields of various smaller foods. As they walked they saw a large group of people eating just outside the field around a fire. There were several women and a few men merrily chatting and eating after a long day.

Ren and Arne walked over and one of the larger men stood up. He was easily over six feet in height and had long dirty blonde hair. His face was grizzled in a dirty beard and he practically stomped over towards the two of them.

"Arne! Haha, what brings the might hunter down to us lowly field workers today? Just here to lord your might over us, or have you come to steal my wife?" His eyes full over merriment at what Ren hoped was a joke.

"Pfffft, you wish I'd take your wife anyway. It'd let you go around the village more often without her hand on your ear you old oaf. Besides, I'm on business today. This here is Ren, and I was hoping to have you let him help with your fields."

"Oh? So this is the little sneak you guys found in the woods then?" Liv came closer and glared at Ren, inspecting him from head to toe. His hand running through his knotted beard as he made a few discerning noises.

"Hmmmm...seems a bit lacking, but fine, I'll take your idiot off your hands. Boy, you start work tomorrow. I want you here by sunrise, and get ready to have a...haha...fun day in the fields."