Bob The Innkeeper 11 Chapter 11 Peasant Porridge

"Maybe I need to go see what's available," said Robert with a grimace.

"You can take the kids with you, and I'll run the counter?" said Trudy as Liam dragged the giant soup pot over to the fire-pit that he had built next to the store.

On the west side of the store, Robert had a door installed, leading to a lean-to for Liam to cook under. That way he had quick access to the area, and no one would try to come into the store trying to buy the soup. He had also decided it would be good for the hotter months, to have the fire outside of the store.

"I'll finish putting the stones against the wall as a protection from the flames as the water heats for the soup," said Liam, heading out the west door.

Robert looked around for a moment, then nodded, grabbing his cloak and motioning for the kids to follow him. They all hefted their huge backpacks onto their backs and followed dutifully.

"There's a few other places I think I want to run by, while I'm out. Will that be alright?" he asked Trudy.

She blinked and then laughed. "You're the boss. If you want to go to a couple other places, that's up to you."

Robert nodded and headed out the door. He was still trying to get it into his head that he was the boss.

Trying to walk so that his coin pouch didn't jingle too much, he headed straight to each of his father's stores. They were all very surprised that he would choose to show up personally, but he quickly noticed that none of them were really carrying anything that he could use. They all catered to the n.o.bles and those with a lot of money. Standing outside the last one, with Max and Jon waiting for him, he thought about what he needed. The other two were busy hauling the few things he had found at the stores.

He wanted to provide useful items to the adventurers, and the poor people, and also run a soup kitchen. But he didn't know what all went into soup. As his stomach growled at the thought, he nodded to himself and headed home.

"Master Robert! What brings you home?" asked Edith quickly taking his cloak and hanging it in the tiny coat closet, before turning to consider the two children with him.

"I need to speak with Stewart, is he here?"

"He just returned from the market; he should be in the kitchen."

"Ok, thanks Edith. You two stay here, I'll be back in a minute."

They nodded and plopped down onto the floor, grateful to be out of the cold. Edith sat back down to tend her st.i.tching, keeping half an eye on them, while Robert made his way to the kitchen.

Stewart was busy mumbling to himself about the poor quality of items he had bought, so when Robert stepped into the room, he almost dropped the squash he held in his hands.

"Master Robert! What brings you here?" he asked.

"I'm trying to start up a soup kitchen for the poor and the adventurers. What kinds of things do I throw in the pot?" asked Robert, looking over the foods Stewart had laid out on the table. Most of them looked far and above what he sold in his store.

"Well, any vegetable you can get super cheap, like carrots, peas, squash, beans, onions. You'll want a grain or flour to thicken it, if they don't have bread. If you can get your hands on any kind of meat, that will help to flavor the soup. Don't leave out the bones, either, they have a ton of flavor to bring to a good soup."

Robert nodded, as he tried to remember all of this. "So, it doesn't really matter what I put in the pot?"

"Not really, and you can keep whatever's left in the pot for the next day, just add more water to keep it from getting too thick, and add a pinch of salt, if you can afford it. It's up to you really."

Robert nodded. Now that he knew how easy it would be to make this soup, he merely had to find the people who sold these things and get them.

"Thank you, Stewart," he said as he left the kitchen.

Gathering the two kids, he wrapped his cloak around him and headed back out, towards the marketplace. Once he arrived, he quickly headed to the section that focused only on food sales.

The first stall had two halfling brothers selling vegetables from their garden, so Robert stopped to look them over.

"Can we help you, sir?" asked one of the brother's eyeing the kids who were following him, and his heavy coin purse.

"I'm looking for your cast-off produce. Perhaps things that you don't wish to sell?"

"Are you from the trash service?" asked the halfling, the shine in his eyes dulling significantly as he looked back over the two kids again.

"No, I'm still willing to pay for the sc.r.a.ps, but it depends on the price, quant.i.ty, and quality."

The halfling perked up immediately. If he could still make money off of the things that he would normally have to pay to have hauled away, then he was much more interested in speaking with him. He showed Robert back to the pile of refuse that he and his brother had decided couldn't be sold.

"You can take all you want for a silver," said the halfling, giving the pile of rotten vegetables a grimace, then smiled at Robert as he handed over a silver.

Even if the quality wasn't the best, Robert knew that he would easily sell ten bowls of soup to pay it off. He spent the next half an hour picking through the pile of vegetables, and loading both of the kids bags down with soft squash, carrots and moldy onions. Sending them back to unload and bring back the other two, he looked through the last of it, and decided it couldn't be salvaged.

Thanking the halflings again, he moved on to the next stall. The old gnomish woman who sat under a thick blanket gave him a hard look as he approached her tables. There were small bundles of dried herbs and spices. Robert knew from her look that she wasn't going to make any deals with him, especially since her goods wouldn't spoil like the halflings' had.

The next two stalls, he also skipped over, as he wasn't interested in fresh strawberries, or exotic spices. The third stall had another family trying to sell vegetables from their home garden, and he quickly made the same deal with them. The four kids returned to find him having already picked through the meager pile behind their cart, and Oliver was quickly loaded down, and sent back.

Robert looked over the cookies and small hand-sized cakes for sale at the next stall, wondering if they ever had leftovers they couldn't sell.

"Can I help you?" asked the woman who was running the stall.

Robert could see the faintest hint of horns hidden in her hair, and realized she was a tiefling. They were rare here, as having demon blood was often a sign that you were evil. He suddenly wasn't sure he wanted to buy any of the cookies or cakes.

"What kind of cookies and cakes are you selling?" he asked, deciding it didn't hurt to find out a little information.

"I have sugar, honey, and oatmeal cookies. The cakes are just a basic simple cake, with a slight glaze on them. They're all sinfully delicious," she said with an almost desperate smile.

Robert suddenly realized what was wrong. The day was almost over, and yet her tables were still full of cookies.

"You don't seem to be doing much business, how much are you asking for them?"

"Only a copper per two cookies, and 5 copper per hand pie."

It was confirmed to him. "Are you having trouble selling these because of being a tiefling?"

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly ducked her head. "Everyone thinks I've poisoned them, or something."

"I run a store, where these would sell out very quickly, especially at these prices. If you let me stock my store with them, and charge a little more, so I can make a profit, you wouldn't have to sit out here and have people make fun of you."

He watched her look at him with guarded eyes.

"How could such a young man have a store of his own?"

"My father is a merchant who owns several stores in the city. I just opened my own up near the western gate, near the poor people. I don't think there would be a problem selling these to the adventurers."

She seemed to think about it, looking out over the streets at all of the other stalls, who seemed to be making plenty of money.
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"I'll think about it, and maybe come see you tomorrow."

"Great! See you then," he said with a smile, before turning towards the next stall.

By the end of the day, he had purchased a ton more vegetables, along with making deals with people who were looking to have to pay to have their waste gotten rid of. He found out that many chose to haul their own waste away, rather than pay the fees for having it hauled away by the trash people. Those who sold breads were also very interested in selling their leftovers to him, and promised to haul it to his store each evening to save him from having to send the kids after it.

When he finally headed to the store, he couldn't wait to see what Liam thought.