A Series of Unfortunate Events!

Morty was considering complaining to the Cat Distribution System once more. He was in his costume, forced to walk by the small and cute black pony.

"Morty, come on! The pony is not big enough for two! And it is not like you are wearing a heavy backpack like me!" Dobri tried to pacify the kitten.

Morty snorted.

He knew that the bottomless backpack weighed less than a feather, for all that Dobri had stuffed it to the brim with robes.

"Besides, exercise will do you good!" Dobri continued so, as if the cat would believe him if he tried hard enough. "Come now, Morty! Don't be like that! I really cherish you!"

Morty hissed. He knew what Dobri cherished about him. Not his purring, but his fur.

Something that was becoming thinner and thinner with each bath.

Morty looked at the skies. This time he listened through all the instructions for the Cat Distribution System's call center.

He was sure that this time, the Maine Coon was going to come.

Only to be answered by a bored customer support agent.

"Look, we know your case," the man said, as he sounded so, as if he just wanted for his shift to end. "But no Maine Coon would agree to go up against such a kind owner! He is feeding you Whiskas, my man. That is premium care!"

Morty hissed, Dobri sighed, and the customer support agent hung up.

The kitten grumbled in disbelief.

Knowing that there was no use contacting the Cat Distribution System anymore.

He had to take the matter in his paws.

Dobri didn't know that his cat was planning his demise. He had no idea that the fluffball was already trying to remember when Dobri went to bed and was thus the most vulnerable.

The only thing Dobri could think about was the Black Market. That lovely and magical place where he could sell cheap robes for goods that were worth their weight in gold!

"You know," Reggy said, as he looked at Bart. "Why don't we go full barter? I mean, most of the beings in the Black Market have some neat stuff, but since they are mostly monsters, they can't sell them anywhere else."

"Reggy, my man," Brat said, who was liking the idea more and more. "I don't want to agree with you out of principle, but this time I must!"

Dobri nodded.

"Yes, I was thinking about something like that as well," he said, as he patted his pony, Arthur, on the lovely and silky black mane. "I mean, we are taking the deer trails. Surely, no one is going to stop us here, will they?"

Reggy sucked in a breath.

Brat facepalmed.

Hans, Hugo, and Harald jumped out of a bush as if the universe had sent them.

"Oh! It's our Dobri!" Harald said, as he smiled. "Do you need guards?"

Dobri sighed.

 He really should have minced his words.

"If I say no, does that mean you'll eat my pony?" The gnome asked.

Harald chuckled.

"Yep! And your cat as well!"

Morty let out a hiss.

"Nothing personal, Morty! It is just what is expected from us!"

Morty wasn't buying it! Where had the kind troll gone, who had offered him chicken wings? Why was Harald betraying him now so?

Dobri put two and two together.

He couldn't exclude the possibility that the three trolls had been looking for him. They couldn't keep a job, unless the job was to enchant a bridge so that it would look a ruin.

Not to mention the fact that if he hired them full-time, then they would keep people like Gildana off him.

"I would like to offer you wages of 1,000 gold coins per person per month." Dobri knew that this was a lot of money. Money, he didn't have.

But he had something on his side. People didn't get their paychecks right off the bat.

The trolls would be forced to wait to the end of the month. He was certain that he would have tons of money by then.

Even if the odds were stacked against him.

"Really?" Hans asked, as the three trolls shared a look. "You have that much money?"

"I can tell you all about it," Dobri said, as he thought that perhaps this was going to be a good investment for the future.

After all, money brought problems with it. There was no telling when someone was going to make it their mission to take all of Dobri's money away.

Having three walls of muscles, who were also trolls and could turn into berserkers when the need arose, was just a smart investment for the future.

Besides, he needed someone to harvest the silk the spiders in his backyard were spinning for him at a speed that was turning worrisome.

The three trolls nodded. Dobri used his signing rune to get Gildana to make him the three work contracts.

Soon, he was riding his pony between the three brothers.

"There is this dwarven lady, who bought up all the bartered goods," Dobri said, not wanting to make it look grander than it was. "And I bought more pajamas! I will also need to go to the library! I am investing in a rune smith!"

Harald chuckled.

"Only you, little man," the troll said, as he patted the gnome on the hat. "Only you can take something like this and turn it into a golden goose!"

Dobri nodded, his smile blinding.

His little pony let out a soft neighing sound. Morty soon found a new perch in Harald's arms, even if he was yet to forgive the troll.

The least the man could do was to carry him.

"Hey, why did you put Morty in a costume? Doesn't that make it hard for him to walk?"

"He got it from somewhere, I don't know from where, though," Dobri admitted. "And I don't remember putting him in it."

Morty let out a hiss!

It was the customer support agents who had brought the costume that had placed him in it.

The cat began to pat the costume with his paw.

Harald began to take it off.

Morty was appeased.

For now.