Gaining Confidence 1
After Tenur resolved the men's problem with scurvy, the servant led him to a cabin on the bottom floor of their ship.
There, some birds the size of adult human heads were on a perch, surrounded by what appeared to be pigs.
Small pigs, three times the size of the birds, were resting or eating amidst some fallen and fetid specimens.
Tenur immediately brought one of his hands to his face as he entered there, feeling the stench of the dead pigs' bodies.
"What is that?" He asked.
The servant then said. "Those animals are what we have of meat for the rest of the trip. Lord Mero bought 30 pigs and 30 chickens when we passed through Amri.
That should be enough for the rest of the trip to Cusca. However, some of the animals have been dying in the last few days. Due to the developing situation, we cannot reach our destination with enough food.
In addition, lord Mero is concerned about the quality of this meat."
Tenur heard this and understood that the ship was having food problems and part of the crew would probably starve in the coming days.
'How lucky I was to get that young man's attention...
If I weren't called to solve the problem, I would probably die of malnutrition because of the rationing they would soon have to start!'
He clenched his fists and pondered. "I will have to see the condition of each of these animals. If they are all sick, the best thing to do is to abandon them.
Keeping them here could be bad for the whole crew."
"What? Are you out of your mind? And what will we eat?" That servant felt like punching Tenur for saying such a foolish thing.
Avoiding meat from sick animals was not as common an idea as not eating meat from dead animals. So as much as these people would not eat the dead pigs, they planned to do it with the living ones.
What this man wanted in bringing Tenur there was not to hear an answer regarding the dead pigs but to test whether this captive could prevent the other animals' death.
However, Tenur seemed to have foolish ideas in his mind!
'If that bastard says one more stupid thing, I will whip him for a whole day!'
Tenur already knew that such a man would not like his opinion on the matter. Still, before he said anything else, he entered the pigsty and examined the dead bodies.
He would do with each of them to investigate the cause of death, which was difficult to do considering that he had no useful equipment. But analyzing these bodies would be enough for him to determine whether or not they had died from similar causes.
Depending on the condition of some organs, he might have a better idea of how to begin to proceed with the living animals.
'I'm not a veterinarian, but after opening some of these bodies, I'll have a good idea of how to analyze the live pigs...' He wondered before saying something to that man supervising him. "Senior, let me see the situation of these animals first. Maybe their situation is not bad...
In any case, I have alternatives to solve the food problem on the ship if those animals are lost."
"Oh? And how is that?"
"You have wheat, onion, garlic..." He listed some common ingredients and asked if the ship's storage contained any.
The servant was strange to hear that from this white slave but answered sincerely. "Of course. Those are resources present in any household. How could we not have those on lord Mero's ship?"
"Excellent!
If those animals are lost, we will have a choice." Tenur said after sighing.
He didn't like to cook, but making vegan meat wasn't difficult for someone with his experience. But not only that, even considering his lack of cooking skills, he didn't feel threatened even if he had to cook for Mero.
The meals he had tasted since arriving in this world were somewhat bad, to the point that his food could be considered acceptable to good!
Tenur was not worried about losing his head for making a disgusting dish for Mero...
Anyway, the servant taking care of him didn't understand what Tenur's idea was. Yet, he held back from acting against this white fellow.
Mero had ordered him to take care of Tenur until the next dawn. If he did something now, like punishing this slave without reasonable justification, he would risk displeasing his master.
Since he didn't like Tenur very much, he chose to see this individual go wrong so that he could give the lashings promised by Mero.
'All right, you smartass, I'll let you get on with your plans...
If you don't settle this by tomorrow, I will make you suffer for trying to approach lord Mero through lies!'
Tenur didn't know what was on the mind of the man watching him. He just continued with his work, which would last over two hours just for him to open all the pigs' bodies there.
After identifying the situation that had caused the death of all those corpses, Tenur would examine the pigs, and then the birds stuck on the perch.
Finally, when it was already night, and he was stinking blood and the smell of dirty animals, he commented to the servant watching him. "Senior, all the animals except the birds are contaminated with the same disease that killed those pigs.
So I have to recommend that you throw those animals away for the crew's good."
That man clenched his fists and looked coldly at Tenur. "I already told you we can't do that, slave!
What are we going to eat?"
"I have an alternative. Just give me those ingredients, and I will create meat for lord Mero. If he approves, I will make it daily in whatever quantity he wishes." Tenur argued, putting his master on the spot to stop that servant's stubbornness.
With people like that, trying to teach or convince them of anything was no use. That person didn't like Tenur, and until this slave proved himself until someone ordered such an individual to listen, he wouldn't do it.
The opposite of that, this servant was probably more inclined to hinder Tenur than to help solve the problem that could affect himself!
Tenur had seen problems related to people like this servant countless times. So he would not waste his time with this foolish individual.
"You..." Mero's servant looked Tenur in the eye and wanted to argue. But thinking about his master, he decided to take this matter to the final consequences.
'If you want to take your chances, so be it!' Then, after thinking, he turned and walked towards the upper floor from where they had left earlier.
...
At this moment, Mero was in his cabin, getting ready for dinner after taking a shower, a luxury that only he could have daily on this ship.
He was half-naked while one of the few women on this ship, one of his servants, was helping him get dressed.
"Scurvy... Where did Tenur get that name? Is that the name the foreigners give to that disease?" He muttered as he remembered what one of his servants had already passed on to him.
He was doubtful about the resolution of the illness of those people. But since he had nothing else to do, he had authorized his servants to feed them with the fruits that Tenur gave as an option.
"Do you believe this foreigner, my lord?" The servant heard Mero's comment and questioned him, bolder than others since she was providing him with not only ordinary services...
Mero then said. "No, but I have no reason to stop him from trying. None of this can help him escape his situation, and even if he is wrong, I lose nothing."
"But if he is wrong, wouldn't the lord lose those resources?"
"A small price to pay to cure my doubts about the capabilities of a slave so different from the others." He said, looking out his cabin window and seeing the moon's reflection in the dark waters. "If he is a liar, I will rip out his tongue and only use him until he pays his acquisition cost.
But if he can keep his promises, I can use someone useful correctly."
What waste wouldn't it be to use a talented person for something she was useless at?
Even living in a society of low technological level and education considered primitive in the eyes of a cultivator like Tenur, there were people curious about the whys of this world.
Mero was no genius, but he believed he could get better results by employing the right people in the right roles.
Some could only use their bodies in the simplest ways, such as motor power or sex. In contrast, others could cook, and create weapons, in short, things with great utility and added value.
As someone who had no importance in his family, Mero could only use all the intelligence he had to maximize his margins. Only in this way could he obtain results to elevate him to the same level as individuals favored by heaven!