A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 66  The Colour Red - Part 7

"Oh?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know why you think your opinion is that important, stupid." She said, sticking her tongue out. "Anyway, are you almost done? I don't want to wait around here much longer. I have things to do, after all."

She returned the same line that Beam had said to her earlier, only with a good degree more sass. Beam was left thinking that girls were unbelievably difficult to deal with. Especially this one. He was getting kind of envious of her skill with the bow.

After all, if he had the same skill, could he not have hunted the Goblins better? Would it not have been far simpler to pick them off from a distance and narrow their numbers down, only to engage them up close?

Whilst convenient, his recent training informed him of just how long such a skill would take to learn. And to get to her level would take even longer.

"Yeah, I'll snap this up, then I'll be off," he said.

"Back to more work for Greeves?" Nila asked, without really seeming interested. It seemed to be more of a dig than a question.

"No, I don't work for Greeves," Beam corrected, with more ice in his tone than expected. "He's just paying me to do a couple of tasks."

"That sounds like you work for him, dummy," Nila said, yawning. She'd really taken a liking to calling him stupid. It reminded Beam of how his master called him trash. The words themselves didn't hurt, but the reminder of the state that his strategy was in did and he twisted his mouth in annoyance.

There were only a few weeks left after all. If he couldn't improve his strategy and beat Dominus in Battle, then all his work would have been for nothing.

Beam said nothing as he loaded his log sled to the brim. Then he motioned with his head for her to put some of the game she'd caught on top.

She glanced at the pile of animals that she'd collected and from the look on her face, Beam could tell that she was hardly half a second away from refusing him. But even she acknowledged that it would be a pain to carry so many animals with her bare hands.

She placed them gently on top of the wood, as though afraid of hurting them. Beam watched her, unused to the grace of a woman.

"Ah, wait, haven't you overfilled your sled?" She realized, as she placed everything down. Beam really had filled it high, higher than normal people might fill it. But he'd made sure that all the wood was placed sturdily so that it wouldn't collapse even after he pulled the sled hard.

"Hah, I thought you were going to tell me off for not collecting more," Beam said with a laugh.

"Well, I would, but now I've come to realize just how stupid you are, I think it would be a bit too cruel to make you do too much," she said.

"Alright, alright," Beam said, ducking behind the sled's handle. "Another sledful, and you'll be fine for the winter, right?" He asked as he prepared to pull.

She looked at him doubtfully, as though disbelieving that he'd be able to get it moving at all. "Mm… Maybe. A third sled full and we'd definitely get through, though."

"Heh, maybe I'll give you another one and a half sleds then," Beam said, taking in a deep breath and using a good amount of force to break the inertia of the sled.

This here was definitely the hardest part, where the soil was soft and the sled sank into the ground. Not only that, but they were on a hill. To make it back up to the path would require a significant bit of effort, but Beam had done it a few times by now, so he knew his limits.

"Make sure your meat doesn't fall off," he said as he began pushing, steadily plodding forward as he ascended the hill.

He had to really put in a good amount of effort to make it over some of the rocks that were sticking out of the ground, but he made steady progress and showed no signs that it was a significant struggle for him.

"Hehhh… You're kinda strong for someone so little," Nila said in wonder as she walked behind him.

"I'm not really that little," Beam pointed out, "I'm just kind of average."

She shrugged. "For a boy, you're pretty little. Must suck, huh? All the girls will go for the taller boys, knowing that they're stronger."

Beam shrugged back. "I'd rather be stronger than look stronger."

Nila shot him a searching glance, as though trying to puzzle him out. "Hmm…"

They made it to the path and from there, the going was much easier. Beam could walk all day on those paths, even with that weight behind him. He was getting stronger with each passing day, and he could feel it. That night, he was expecting a new record in his strength training, after building up to it for a few days and he flexed his fingers in excitement, nodding to himself as he pulled.

'Yup, I'm in good condition – I should be able to get it done,' he thought to himself as he went.

They made it back to Nila's house in relative silence.

They paused at the door. "I'll go and get mother so she can see what we got," Nila told Beam.

Beam nodded. A few moments later, her mother came to the door, wearing her apron, seeming as though she'd just been in the middle of work. She looked from Beam, to the sled full of firewood and stacked with meat and her eyes widened in joyous surprise.

Beam nodded. A few moments later, her mother came to the door, wearing her apron, seeming as though she'd just been in the middle of work. She looked from Beam, to the sled full of firewood and stacked with meat and her eyes widened in joyous surprise.

"There's so much wood!" She gasped, her eyes watering. "And so much meat, too! How did you both manage this so quickly?" She asked.

"I think because he's stupid, he doesn't get tired as quickly as other people," Nila told her. "But look!" She said, puffing her chest out. "Look how much I hunted. Pretty good, right? I'm easily going to be able to get us all the meat we need for winter at that rate."