The thing Dobri didn't expect was to find a cat purring on the enchanted robes.
"Just from where you got this much fur on the robes from?" The gnome asked, as he marveled at the fur pelt that was now on the robes.
He wasn't even mad. He was impressed.
Considering that the cat before him was just a kitten, it shouldn't even have this much fur.
It was one of the big mysteries of life. Dobri had no answer to his question. He knew that the cat wasn't going to give him one, either.
"I suspect that you wish to be my cat?" Dobri asked, as he petted the small furball. "Which is all well and good, seeing as I have just the thing for your fur!"
No one could say Dobri was not an opportunistic soul. Not even the cat, who looked at him with wide eyes, as Dobri activated the cleaning rune on the wagon and collected all the fur.
"I bet that your fur will sell well to these organic folks in Mirstone. They are always on the lookout for more fur to put on their winter clothes!"
The cat meowed, Dobri took it, going back to the wagon's bench. "You are a cute little thing. And if my hunch is right, you are going to make me rich!"
The cat blinked. It had basic understanding of human speech. The cat distribution system always made sure that its charges could tell a bad person from a good one.
But the thing was that this cat was not really certain if being exploited for the renewable resource that was its fur was a good idea or not.
"Hey, none of that!" Dobri said, as he hugged the cat closer to himself. "You came, you ate my lunch, you left your fur on my wares. Now you are mine to love and cherish! Just don't eat anything that will force me to take you to the vet. I'm broke; I can't afford to get stuff out of your stomach. If you eat something that you shouldn't its game over, ok?"
That was not something the cat expected. It meowed in protest.
"Noted, ignored," Dobri spurred the oxen forward.
The cat began to purr in distress.
It was not a good day for the cat distribution system.
****
Dobri should have known that the 40 km trek to Mirstone would not be without pitfalls. Gildana's oxen had gotten him to a broken bridge.
And under the bridge, there were three giggling trolls.
"You may pass!" One of the trolls said, giggling in his hand. "It is quite safe!"
"By the way, do you prefer to be grilled or turned into a stew?" Another troll yelled, only for Dobri to hear as it was smacked.
"I am only 50 cm tall," Dobri said. Honestly, if he were a troll, he wouldn't have chosen to eat a gnome. "You are all big organisms. I am more of a toothpick for you."
He looked around. The road to the side was a bit rough, but he figured that if the oxen walked slowly, the wagon won't end up being overturned.
"Wait, what? 50 cm? Seriously?" The first troll yelled, as he jumped from under the bridge and looked Dobri in the eyes. "How do you function?"
That was a very good question. It was a question more than one gnome had asked God, Karma and Mother Nature.
But Dobri was not one of those gnomes. He was not spiteful for being born a gnome.
It was just how life was. Nothing much to it.
"I use my wits. It is not too hard, being small. You just need to be resourceful! If you don't stand in my way, then I will become a merchant prince and richer than you have ever dreamed of!"
Dobri saw the opportunity in those three trolls. Trolls, be it human or real trolls, weren't the smartest. Or they would not get in such situations as the one they were in now.
"Then… do you think you would be able to afford to buy us dinner?" The shortest troll, who was still 2 meters tall, asked. "We haven't eaten in quite a while."
Dobri nodded.
"Yeah, sell them trolls to the slave market, Dobri! That's a good call!" Brat, his shoulder demon, said, making a victory pose.
"No, Dobri," Reggy, his shoulder angel protested. Not because he cared much about the trolls, but because his life depended on Dobri's positive Karma points balance. "Just take them under your wing. They can help you with the trading! Become your guards!"
Dobri looked at the trolls, then at the cat he was going to sheer every chance he had.
He knew that Reggy was dear to him, but Brat was making quite the pose.
"I will buy you a diner, if you get me to Mirstone safely!" Dobri heard as Bart groaned.
His existence hanged on Dobri's negative Karma points.
Reggy looked at his rival with a smirk.
"Dobri is no saint," Brat told the self-satisfied angel. "And you are becoming more like me with every day!"
Reggy snorted.
Knowing it was the truth but preparing to take full control of Dobri's broken moral compass.
The three trolls got next to the wagon, clapping their hands.
The bridge repaired itself.
"It was just an illusion, wasn't it?" Dobri asked.
"We need to eat," the youngest troll told him.
"Yeah, I get that much," the gnome said, as he spurred the oxen forward. "But do you really need to attack travelers?"
"Meat is meat," was the charming answer. Dobri decided not to test if the three were really as hungry as he anticipated.
He took out his backpack, which had an expanding rune on it, and then took out three normal sized loafs of bread. Each one bigger than him.
"Please, have a bite to eat while we travel!"
The: and don't eat me, please, was left unsaid , but known by all travelling companions.
The cat let out a worried meow. It knew that if Dobri got eaten, it was next. It began to shed more fur from the stress.
Dobri collected it with his rune all the while, already thinking up ways to sell it.