Chapter 13: Circus Party
Bringing in a deer instantly got Kir on the good side of half the caravan.
Given how few villages there were compared to the distance traveled, and the fact that the circus would be saving itself for wintering in the big city, the majority of meals would be made of cheap, well-preserved, and mostly flavorless food.
Most people in the caravan also pulled double-duty foraging, so there were a lot of local ingredients to be had along with the venison.
Brigit contributed salt and fire to the event, with three separate firepits - one in the middle of the circle for the meal, two outside the camp for smoking and preserving what wouldn't be eaten that night. The beast's hide was also being treated, but it would need to get to the city for proper tanning.
Kir was offered five silvers for the hide, but knowing it came from a crystalbranch made him want to keep it instead. The man who agreed to treat it didn't seem to know the difference, and so he let it go without a fuss, thanking Kir for the meat.
With not a lot to do, Kir had wanted to sit back and have some thought experiments over what went wrong with his railgun attempt, but his moms insisted that he hang around while the deer cooked.
Thus, he found himself sitting on a log, watching as people salted and spiced portions of meat, cooked soups at smaller fires, or otherwise made merry. There were even a few children about, and they played games of tag or helped their parents.
The half of the caravan that appreciated the meat seemed intent on making their way to him one by one. More often than not the men would hand him a mug of beer that he politely accepted before passing them off to Darlae, who downed each of them within moments.
The half of the caravan that distrusted him seemed mostly to be people from Darlbridge or other small towns that joined up with the circus on their way.