Leaving the journal open on the table for when he invariably thought of something else, he headed out again—and nearly slammed into Euclid.
"Hello, again!"Euclid said cheerfully, seemingly oblivious to their near run-in."I have baskets for you, one filled with mushrooms.Kastie said that if you would fill one with dragon nuts for them, then you can keep the other two baskets."
"Deal."He loved mushrooms, but had always hated foraging for them, the work much harder and fussier than simply gathering nuts and cracking them open."I'm headed out now to gather the nuts and berries.I'll spend the night preparing the nuts, and have them ready for taking in the morning, at worst in the afternoon.How do you manage this across the whole forest?There is no way you can do that much walking in a single day, let aloneeveryday."
Euclid blinked at him."I know many ways to walk, and I know my forest."
So definitely magic involved, though he'd never heard of any such magic.No doubt some lofty scholar in a fancy building had, though.Many ways to walk.Euclid could just say magic.But of course he wouldn't."You are a strange fellow to be sure.Thank you for the help."
That got him a sunshine smile."It is my pleasure to keep well all in my forest.Good luck with your foraging."Then he slipped away, and by the time Dipak had gotten through the door and around the corner, he was gone completely.
He left the mushrooms by the still-warm stove to dry as much as they could until he could deal with them properly.The other two baskets he took with him.Having to haul them both back full would not be pleasant, but as with so much else, he'd done much worse, and unlike most of those other times, the results would be worth it.
So he worked.Found an entire clearing of berry bushes and picked them until his first basket was full, then found a couple of dragon nut trees and again worked until the basket was full, nearly overflowing.Shouldering the basket with the nuts, he carried the one with the berries as he headed back home.It was late afternoon, fading rapidly into dusk by then, but the rain had stopped and his clothes were mostly dry, if filthy.
Back at the cabin, he—
Stopped and stared at the stranger standing by his door.A large man, round and heavily built, the kind of person mistaken for merely fat when most of him was the kind of muscle that could pick up whole barrels like they weighed as much as feathers.Between the build, the clothes, and the burn scars on his arms, it wasn't hard to guess this man was a blacksmith."May I help you, good sir?"
The man smiled affably."Name's Abrar, blacksmith for the area.Euclid said you had work for me?"
Dipak's brows rose."I do need a blacksmith, but I did not mention it to that nosy little bastard."
"That's often how it goes," Abrar said with a chuckle."That the well in question, I assume?"He nodded at the well, and Dipak wasn't remotely surprised to see that all the debris he'd piled up was gone.
"Yes."He set his baskets down and followed the man, watching as he measured, poked, and prodded."Right.I actually have most of the parts made.I'll just have to make the main shaft to size.Can have it all to you in a couple of days.Did you need me to assemble it?"
"I think I can manage that.It's been some years since the last time I had to do it, but I remember enough.What did you want in trade?"
"Paid already.I was still in Euclid's debt over a…" he waved a hand, "complicated matter.This will make us even.Wouldn't mind a handful of berries for the walk back, though, if you're willing."
"Of course.Let me get them washed."
He sent Abrar on his way a short time later, and spent the rest of the night cleaning, cracking, and laying things out to dry across whatever relatively safe surface he could come up with.He was definitely going to spend the next couple of days on drying racks.If he was going to be in the business of berries, nuts, meat, and skins, he desperately needed those racks.
With no room left for him inside while things dried, hoping he lost a minimal amount to mice, he went outside, found a relatively dry patch of ground and, despite the overall discomfort, immediately succumbed to exhaustion.
The next few days followed a similar pattern of wake, work, collapse, with of course random visits from the peculiar Euclid.More and more, Dipak felt like he was missing something, like some bit of knowledge was staring him right in the face, but every time he was almost there, it slipped away again.
A whole day passed before he realized his journal was missing, and he only realized it when Euclid showed up that afternoon hauling an absurd amount of goods.The field had been empty when Dipak had gone in the house, but when he came back out, Euclid stood there surrounded by more stuff than he surely could have carried."What… what in the Great Nine is all that, and where did it come from?"
"Some of it is for other persons, but you were my first stop in this part of the forest today," Euclid said cheerfully."I do not suppose I could have some tea?"
"Of course.Sit, sit, I'll bring it out here.The poor house is stuffed right now while I work out proper storage for everything."
Once the tea was made and they were sitting by the pond, Dipak motioned to the piles and piles of goods."So what is all that?"
"Most of your list, of course," Euclid said, as though that were the most obvious thing in the world.
"My list—" He was a dumbass."You took my list?I thought you didn't steal things."
Euclid had the audacity to look hurt."I do not steal.That is dishonorable for those who have other means, and I am a good dr—trader.I have no need to steal.Everyone leaves lists for me of things they need if they think they will be out when I come to visit.Is that not what you did?"
"That's why the blacksmith showed up.I should have realized, but I was so exhausted…" Dipak shook his head."No, I did not leave that for you.I just got here, remember?I had no way of knowing that's what people did.That was for me, so I would remember all the stuff I might eventually need if I am going to be here longer than six months."
"Six months?You did not move to the forest to stay?"
Dipak laughed bitterly."I have a beautiful house in the city that I paid for in full with money that I spent years earning.I have several bookcases of costly books, an entire workshop of herbs, potions, tinctures, and more that took me years to acquire.I suffered unbelievable pain to acquire these altered eyes.I had a lover, though they're dead now.Why would I throw all that away to come live here with nothing?"He yanked up his left sleeve, baring the brand that had been seared into his arm just two days before they'd carted him away to dump in the forest."If I leave this forest and my brand is seen, my life is forfeit.That'swhy I'm here."