Before Tara could say anything, the blond answered. "Some idiots here and there are making themselves pests to her. But once they have a one look at the dad, they quickly back of~" The blond smile was similar to a predator as she said it.
"I bet that your dad is way more busy getting rid of idiots, who want to make you their wife." Mark said with a smile "I am sure your ambitions go much further than marrying some dirty villager"
Spoiler: speech fail The young woman shrugged. "Eh, it could be worse. At least daddy will allow me to meet the decent boys of the crop~" She giggled. Mark noticed that Hana and the man finished speaking and were making their way to the fire.
"Decent shouldn't be enough. Men there are far less impressive than in other parts of the Middle Earth" Said Mark before going silent and seeing what Hana has achieved in her own chat.
"Oh? Like where?" The blond asked as she looked at Mark curiously. Her mother approached the trio. "Tara, bring the food, we will be having a meal together. Samantha, you help her." She siad as she threw a not to friendly look at Mark. "And you young man, bring water from the stream - you will find it around 200 meters that way." She said as she pushed a pot into his hands.
"I thought people here are more polite to strangers," Mark smiled, thinking about a few nasty things he could do to this woman should he have opted for the other route. He looked around to find his slave, "Juka, please bring water to this lovely lady. And fill our waterskin while you are at it."
The woman growled as she pushed the pot back into his hands. "It's you who I asked to bring the water! Look at her, no muscles to move such weights! Really, Mrs Hana was right about you, you lazy bum." She shook her head. "Now of you go, no work no food." She waved Mark of as she grabbed Juka. "Come, you will help me with preparing the rabbits..."
"As If I am a big muscular guy," Mark whispered under his nose but complied this time. "I could be fucking her by now" he added further away. Strangely enough, he wasn't truly annoyed. In fact, he liked this tiny bit of normality in his line of work. But still, he didn't abandon his plans to get one or more prizes out of this.
Mar found a small river around fifteen minutes away from the camp. He could easily make out a couple of fish here and there, as well as footprints of some larger game. It seemed it was popular spot for animals to take water.
This stream, like many other places in the world, was stunningly beautiful. Mark loved his current position. He loved nature, he loved traveling, and he loved having two beautiful women to enjoy. If the choice were his, he would spend years in his beloved world, meeting new people like this simple family and having various adventures. Yet, he had a huge debt to pay, so such an idyllic life would have to wait. He peeked into his phone, just in case he missed some notifications, and then went back with the requested water.
Fortunetly, there were no new notifications on his cellphone. As he put it away, a glint brought his attention to something. As he approached, her realised he was looking at the large green husk laying on the bank... which was strange, the stream seemed to be small to accomodate bigger fish...
"Can it be... a mermaid?" Mark asked himself and carefully looked around hoping to find any track. Such vibrant green just didn't fit an ordinary fish.
As Mark looked closer, the husk might indeed belong to a mermaid... it couldn't belong to a fish... well, not a normal fish. Yet as he looked around, it was simply physically not possible, for something of size of a mermaid to have moved through the stream that he was taking the water from. Yet, mysteriously, the husk was here...
"This merfolk must travel by land if at all." Mark picked up the husk as a trophy and redoubled his effort to find some track but he was ready to abandon it and go back to the wagon \\if he finds no track he goes back, otherwise his curiosity takes over and he goes
As he looked around Mark was not able to find any tracks that would point at either mermaid or any trace that would suggest that the husk was brought here... It didn't look old to have been here for long time... the only solution Mark could think of, was that it just came from up of the stream.
Making a mental note to ask the peasants if there is a large lake nearby Mark went back to the Wagon, intending to spend the evening peacefully and deciding what to do in the morning. Mermaids seemed far more interesting targets than some tier 1 villagers. After all, he specifically requested the addition of merfolk because those fascinated him and he had no chance to try one in the company dimension.
As Mark looked up, it seemed that the stream was going up, into the mountains. If there was a lake with a mermaids, then it would be quite high...
"Well, if something is worth climbing into mountains, it is a nice fish-smelling pussy," saying this bad joke to nobody Mark hurried up back to the wagon... As much as a full pot of water allowed him to hurry.
As he arrived back at the camp, Mark found the group of six sitting around already burning fire and discussing something eagerly. Hanna seemed to be discussing something lively with the head of the family. The wife noticed as Mark walked up to them and waved her hand to come closer - walking around with a pot of water was not an easy thing for someone of his stature...
Indeed, this trip made Mark determined to improve his stamina as soon as he would get the necessary credits, he didn't look like a hardy mercenary at all. Somewhat grim, he went closer to the fire and sat in the crowd trying to get into the conversation.
