4 Deadbeat Horses and Potatoes

"All that hype and all we get are two deadbeat horses that can't even walk towards death's door," Charles shouted. "And you even asked for one more!"

They found themselves tending to their three horses inside an old stable. The room itself looked like it has seen better days. There were parts that had bruises and holes while some, especially the place where the walls and the ceiling meet, had turned gray because the roof too had failed to protect it from the incoming rain. The hay beneath their feet, on the other hand, gave this faint old scent of grass instead of untended manure that surprised Charles. He kicked them about while Roland was giving some water to the horses and there was nothing that he could find except for the pieces of broken whithered grass and dust.

"Did that for a good friend that might or might not tag along with us in our mission," Roland replied, still caressing the horse's mane. "And don't be like that, they're looking pretty good."

"We got ourselves some horses that made us walk, and the thought of having one more of you at our party doesn't make it better!"

"I find them adorable, they remind me of my mother," Roland said, wiping his hands with a piece of cloth as he walked towards the door at his side.

"Why, is your mother dead!?" Charles scoffed as he followed Roland into the other room.

"Not quite. She's alive and kicking… and hello Mister Breen," Roland smiled and the old man at the counter tipped his straw hat.

"Howdy boy, what are you up to today?"

"Thank you for letting us use your place Mister Breen and yeah, we're looking for some supplies." Roland looked around with Charles behind him. "Do you have any bag of potatoes or carrots that we could buy?"

"Do you have any dried meat?" Charles asked and the other two fell silent.

The man then placed his straw hat on the counter as he slowly curved his gray-bearded mouth into a smile. "Well, you're askin' for the impossible there mister. It would be hard for an old farmer like me to get my hands on something to dry much less eat."

"Okay, so no meat…" Charles stepped back to go to Roland's side who was sticking most of his arm inside a barrel. Still feeling the gaze of the old man on his back, he nudged Roland and whispered, "Sir Roland, we need to get the hell out of this store and go buy some real food."

"But potatoes and carrots are real food, and cheap too…"

"No, you're crazy if you're thinking that I'll only be eating-" He gritted his teeth and locked his jaws. He gazed around him just to check the store and he didn't find something quite out of the ordinary. The counter was there at the far back of the room, the walls looked fine but when he returned his gaze to see what Roland was doing, he found trouble at believing his own eyes. The brown and lush texture of a potato has been burned in his brain for as long as he could remember but what he saw in Roland's hand was a black ball of mold that made him whisper, "what the fuck…"

"What?" Roland replied, not minding Charles' prying eyes as he pushed his hand deeper into the barrel.

"What the fuck is that… thing?"

"Oh, this?" Roland then pulled his hand out, summoning a pungent smell that made Charles step back in disgust. "Potatoes, and at a good price to boot."

"I'd rather chew my own boot or starve rather than eating that piece of shit," Charles shouted and Roland fell silent. "Just tell me, do you have any money? Are you poor? Aren't you a Knight? Why are you behaving like this?"

"Well," Roland replied. "It looks like we're not gonna get paid anyways so I don't want you to trouble you by taking care of our expenses. It's the least I could do for a new friend."

"You…" Charles' chest tightened. He looked away to clear his throat and after a moment of silence, with his voice quick but weakened, he murmured, "I'll just go out for a breath of fresh air."

He stepped forward but when he raised his hands to push Roland to the side, he hesitated. He lowered his head, he then shoved his left hand into his pocket after a bit of thought and at that moment, the store's bell rang and another customer entered the shop. It was a tall and tanned man that stood with a huge muscled build. He had a messy dark brown hair that had a few strands of gray and a bushy beard that swayed when he greeted Roland.

"Hello, kid, how did the meeting go?"

"Fine, how's my mom?" Roland asked. "Also, how did you know I was here?"

"Dude, this is literally the only place where he could get food around here," the man replied with such enthusiasm before he followed, "and oh, she's feeling a little better. She said that her hips felt stiff this morning so I rubbed the pain out of it. Well, why are you even here?"

Roland stepped back to give himself a slow nod while Charles raised his brow with a hint of doubt and hostility. "We were tasked to deliver some stuff to the vanguard, we went here water the horses and grab some supplies. You?"

"Ah… she said that she was feeling hungry so I figured that I should go out and grab something that I could prepare for her to eat and ohh… you have a new guy?"

"Ah, this is Sir Charles, the one I'm going with for this mission. Sir Charles, this is Melvin, my friend…" Roland looked down, gritting his teeth to turn his words into a whisper, saying, "an immortal, maybe you could try stabbing him." To which, with a normal tone, he followed, "and Melvin, this is Sir Charles, a high cleric from the church."

Both of them nodded at each other and after that, Charles raised his hands and turned his attention towards Roland. He showed him a piece of a silver coin without making eye contact. "Take it, it's not much but it should help."

"Thanks?" Roland said and after that, Charles showed himself out of the store.

"Hmmm, what a weird guy… it really shows that he doesn't like it here," Melvin said, moving towards Roland to look at his barrel of old potatoes.

"Nah… It's alright, I think he's cool," Roland then replied, picking up his bag before he walked towards the counter with a handful of copper coins in hand. "Might be a smartass and an asshole, but yeah, he's cool."