71. The Manor House 7

Novum walked out of the shop and was about to try and find his guys when the runner from before seemed to appear out of no where. "Baron, the Earl said you and your friends are more than welcome for dinner tonight."

"Thank you." He pulled out a second gold coin and tossed it towards the girl. She ran off and he went to find rooms for all of the guys that he brought with him. He also needed to pay the guy at the storage lot that he liked to use. He used the same inn as last time and got lucky. A caravan was leaving and freed up almost all of their rooms. Novum took all the rooms but two and then headed out to pay for storage.

The same guy from last time saw him walking up and smiled. "Good to see you again Baron. I recognized the horse and started a tab for you and did not charge any of your guys. Knew you would be along."

"Thanks for that." He pulled out a patch of gold and set on the counter. "I will settle up the difference when we take off."

"That is fine Baron. You have earned some trust with us after your last trip and the amount of money that you spent."

Novum headed deeper into the market and saw a few of his guys and saw that the shopping was going well. He found the guys at the livestock area and saw them looking over some animals. He walked over just as they were reaching a deal on the chickens and even a few ducks. He did have a lake. He was a little concerned when he heard the price.

"It seems that price is a little high. Is there something special about this breed of chickens?" The man saw Novum and started sweating but he had not even seen his badge just his size intimidated him.

"Tell you what throw in a Jake, a Jenny and a dozen poults and I will balance it out with another gold coin."

"Keep the gold coin. The poults are getting a little big and my prices are a little high, even if this breed is know for laying a lot of eggs."

"I can see the age and think they are still worth the gold."

"Thank you sir." The man looked at him again. "I mean thank you Baron." The man gave him a deep bow.

"No need for that. I am only wearing the thing because I do not know how to get it off without stripping naked, and a doubt anyone wants to see that."

He heard a voice a short distance away. "Oh, I don't know about that I sure wouldn't mind."

Novum also choked when he heard her and when he went to turn she realized she spoke out loud and darted into the crowd and out of sight. "Guess that was better than a lot of people agreeing with me. But never mind that. Have you guys found a bull you like yet."

"We were heading over there next sir. There is a guy who I know that has a big place to the south and he has some of the best livestock in the area. Just not sure about how his bulls are this year. Figured I would start with him."

"That is fine with me. As long as he has a good quality product I am fine with it." He followed Alan to an area where the bigger livestock was kept. Alan saw the man and moved quickly through the crowd as he saw there a few people that were watching the corral that had the man's animals in them. Novum could see over the top of the men that were in front and looked over the cattle and he was not really excited about them. They all looked okay but the bull was barely as big as the cows and it did not appear to be that way because it was young. Even though Alan knew him Novum realized he was trading on his name.

Novum looked around a little more while Alan was trying to get close to the guy and hope to get an advantage in pricing. Right before Alan got to him he looked up and saw that Novum was gone and looking at another coral of cattle. He was not sure what was going on but if Novum was looking at something else he had a reason. He moved out of the crowd and followed behind Novum.

"Alan, sorry about that but he is trading on his name and not the quality of his goods."

"It is your money so you pick what you want. And now that you mention it his stock is getting a little small."

Novum saw the cattle in the pen and realized that they were the best ones that he had seen in the yard. There was a younger man dealing with the animals. He saw Novum and moved over towards him. "How can I help you Baron?"

"You have some nice looking stock here and I am interested in purchasing all of it. But it appears that there are not a lot of cattle here. Do you have more that you might be interested in getting rid of?"

"Well to be honest Baron I was hoping to get enough from all of these to pay off the family farm as well as get my parents that healing that they need. Mom is sick but my father was injured hunting in the woods trying to make some extra money. My old man was stubborn and not willing to get rid of any."

"You said was." He could see the young man was holding back tears.

"I just got a message that something went wrong with dad's injury and he got really hot last night and was dead this morning. Now I am not sure what to do."

"First things first take care of your mom. I will buy all of these from you without any hesitation. And I am willing to buy the rest of your herd. If you would like that send a message to Three Mines. And if you are lost on what to do, you can come and work on my manor with the cattle. I have a herd but I need a bull and the bloodline is a little weak. So it needs some new blood."

"I, I am not sure."

"And you don't need to be. Sell me these so you can go home and take care of things. And just so you know I bought these because they are fine animals and not out of pity."

"Thanks you for that sir."

Novum was surprised at how cheap the boy was selling the herd and bought them without hesitation. "You guys take care of the paperwork for us to keep them in this pen overnight and we will move them out in the morning." He handed the agreed amount of gold to the young man. "Remember young man if you decide to sell the herd, send a message to Three Rivers and I will send a few guys to your farm to pick everything up. And you and your mother are more than welcome at my manor."

"Thank you Baron. I am not sure about anything yet but thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness right now." He gave Novum a deep bow of his head.

"No worries young man. And I am sorry for your loss." He put out his hand and the kid shook it. And then disappeared into the city crowd.

"Boss how do you know that he was telling the truth?"

"He might not have been. But for some reason it just felt right. And he could have been trying to drive up the price with a sad story but honestly the quality of these cattle is way above what I just paid for them. Honestly that bull was worth close to that much."

"You are right about the quality of the animals. I will take care of the paperwork and have this pen attached to your stall at the holding area. We should be able to keep it for two days until we leave."

"Then I will leave this part of it to you Alan." Novum walked out of the area and lit a cigarette. He walked through the city and looked at a few of the stalls and kept an eye out for anything that might be of use to him or anyone in the near future.

Suddenly he saw a shop that he had to go in. It was a toy store and he was not sure any of the kids in his village had any real toys. He looked around and saw lots and lots of things that it looked like the kids would enjoy. "Greetings Baron. How can I help you today?"

"I will take everything that is not a special commission."

"Baron that is a lot and my stock will be completely wiped. How about leaving me a few of each item just in case and I will sell you everything else."

"That is acceptable." Novum handed the clerk the money and then told them the stall at the holding area. Now it was time to link up with Erica and Crystal and go to dinner.