Chapter 11:

"Stop moving around, Wel-lo! How am I supposed to paint you if you keep on moving around?"

Wel-lo humphed indignantly, "Well if you painted faster we wouldn't have this problem!"

Hirt poked his head out of his room, glaring at Ren-so and Wel-lo who were in the lobby, Hirt grumbled, "And if you both stopped yelling, I could get some sleep, dammit!"

Wel-lo bowed, "I apologize, Hirt-Sensei, I will contain my voice," Then she mumbled under breath, "But I don't know about Ren-so."

Growling irately, Ren-so dabbed his paintbrush in some purple paint, "Just get back to the pose, Wel-lo."

Retreating back into his room, Hirt grunted again, "Whatever, just be quiet."

Glaring at Ren-so, Wel-lo returned to the pose that she had been trying to pose, "See what you did? Hirt-Sensei is mad at me now!"

Ren-so peeked out from behind the canvas, "Stop glaring, remember that your father's going to be looking at this, and you don't want to be glaring at him from a canvas."

Sighing, Wel-lo adopted a small smile, "This good?"

"Whatever, I already finished the face."

"So it doesn't matter whether I glare or not?!"

"Sh! You'll wake everyone up if you keep on yelling like that."

Wel-lo watched in silent fury as Ren-so flicked the paintbrush around on the canvas. After a while Ren-so stood back and admired his handy work, "Done!" He said with a final flick of the brush.

Breaking the pose, Wel-lo walked over to the canvas and looked at the painting. It was excellent and extremely realistic, the colours blended smoothly and it did look like Wel-lo there, a small smile on her face.

Admiringly, Wel-lo commented to Ren-so, "Wow, I heard it takes months, even years to make a painting look like this, how did you do it in a dozen or so hours?"

Shrugging, Ren-so cleaned his brushes in some water and turpentine, "I dunno, it's a gift I guess."

Wel-lo left Ren-so's side and began walking to her room, Ren-so called after her, "Hey! Wait a minute!"

Wel-lo turned, "Yeah"

"You can call me Ren-Chan if you want!"

"How about no? I don't think I stomach calling you Ren-Bo."

"Oh, okay than, Wel-Chan."

"Don't call me that."

"Okay, Wel-San."

"Just Wel-lo."

"Fine, Wel-lo,"

"Goodnight, Ren-so."

"Goodnight, Wel-lo."

Ren-so was left cleaning his brushes alone. He finished up and glanced at Wel-lo's portrait. He stared at it for a couple minutes before heading to bed himself.

Hirt stood in the lobby, staring at the portrait. Ren-so walked into the room and Hirt sniffed critically, "Not bad, not bad. Didn't you put a too much of, you know, leg in there?"

Ren-lo shrugged drowsily, "I paint what I see and that's what I saw."

Tapping the painting to see if it was dry, Hirt grumbled, "What, did she take her clothes off for you?"

Wel-lo entered the room, "Hirt-Sensei! I would never!"

Hirt examined his finger, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, kiddo."

Walking to his room, Hirt asked Wel-lo, "Did you write that letter last night?"

"Yes, Hirt-Sensei, I did."

"I'm going to grab some packaging paper, why don't you grab the letter and we can go mail it together, eh?"

"Sure, Hirt-Sensei."

"What's that, Hirt-Sensei?"

Holding up a letter, Hirt answered, "Oh this? It's a letter of my own creation. Ol' Fyle is getting two letters and a painting."

They mailed the package and the letters off and were walking back now. Glancing at Hirt curiously, Wel-lo asked him, "Hirt-Sensei, why aren't we in the Labyrinth yet? It's Monday, remember?"

Hirt shrugged, "Well, I did tell you we would be doing whole days now, so it doesn't really matter that much. We'll leave when we get back."

Hirt examined who all was there, "So we got, Wel-lo, Rentos, Ubu and Ren-so?"

The group was there, and Ren-so scratched the back of his head, "Uh, it seems like I'm alone in a sea of females!"

Hirt glared at him, "What do you mean by that, Ren-so?"

"Oh! Besides you, Hirt! I'm sure you're a male!"

"Better believe it, buddy."

Elbowing Ren-so harshly, Wel-lo growled, "How dare you insult Hirt-Sensei like that!"

Ren-so recoiled and whimpered, "Just a slip of the tongue, Wel-Chan!"

Rentos looked at Wel-lo curiously, "What, you two are going out or something?"

Wel-lo squeaked and pushed Ren-so aside, "NO! Nothing like that!" She turned to Ren-so, "I told you not to call me that!"

"I'm sorry, Wel-San!"

"Not that either!"

"I forgot! Wel-lo! Mercy!"

Sighing, Hirt shook his head, "If we can finish up this highschool drama, that'd be great."

Wel-lo looked around as they walked through the second floor, "Wow, it's a lot nicer down here during the day."

Looking around cautiously, Hirt grumbled, "Yeah, don't get too caught up with the scenery. Largebills roam here during the day, and they are a pain to fight."

"Yes, Hirt-Sensei."

Ren-so shook his head, "Why are you so damn formal?"

Wel-lo raised her head and humphed, "Because I'm polite and feel shame."

"I feel shame! Every now and then!"

There was a sucking noise and a muddy slurp. Ubu let out a high pitched screech, "Eek! Help me, Hirt! Heeeeeeeeelp meeeeeeee!"

Hirt turned and looked at Ubu's situation, he smirked, "Oh, you've just stepped in a bit of mud, Ubu, nothing to worry about!"

"That's not iiiiiiiiit! That's a really big bird!"

Looking up, Hirt noticed the green Largebill perched in a tree, eyeing Ubu hungrily. Grabbing a hold of Ubu's arm, Hirt wrenched Ubu out of the mud.

Panting softly, Hirt stared at the Largebill, "There's a Largebill, and now we have to deal with it."

The Largebill swooped down from it's perch and attempted to grab Ubu with it's talons, but missed and landed in the middle of the group. Rentos, flipping open a book, recited a bit of strange script and rain began falling from the sky. Confused, the Largebill stared into the sky, only to be struck by a large bolt of lightening. The Largebill's wings began spasming uncontrollably, clearing the area around it.

Jumping high into the air, Ren-so unsheathed his Makiri and fell towards the Largebill. Retaking control of it's limbs, the Largebill struck out at Ren-so. The Largebill connected with Ren-so, but Ren-so simply disappeared upon contact. Confused, the Largebill squawked harshly and stared dumbly at its wing. Another Ren-so appeared underneath the bird and slashed upwards. Reacting to the slash, the Largebill kicked at Ren-so, but this one also disappeared. Yet another Ren-so appeared above the bird and slashed at its back. Again, the bird destroyed the fake image of Ren-so.

Ubu stood next to Wel-lo, "That's like your ability, isn't it?"

Awestruck, Wel-lo shook her head, "No, no it isn't. My projection cannot interact with other things, while his can…"

Hirt jumped at the Largebill, "Quit yakking and start smacking!"

Hirt grabbed ahold of the Largebill's wing as it came at him. Hirt raised his fist and slammed it into the wing, ending with a snap and lighting it's feathers on fire. The Largebill cawed in pain and threw Hirt off.

Wel-lo sped towards the Largebills head and the Largebill dipped it's head towards her. Thrusting upwards, Wel-lo's sword pierced the Largebill's jaw. Wel-lo quickly jumped back as the bird fell.

Ubu stepped forward, "Did you kill it?"

Shaking her head, Wel-lo spoke, "No, it is just asleep."

Standing dramatically, Ubu announced, "Then I shall make the final blow! Or, my snake will."

"Your snake?"

"Yup! Here he comes now!"

Out of the woods slithered a massive snake, it raised it's head and stared at Ubu. Ubu pointed at the sleeping Largebill and the snake lowered it's head and slithered towards the dormant bird. Slowly and smoothly, the snake intertwined itself with the Largebill. After it was done it's intertwinement, the snake revealed it's fangs and sunk them into the Largebill's neck.

As Hirt watched the snake slither away, he muttered, "Now it's dead."

Later that day, after the group had returned from their venture, Hirt and Ren-so were standing in the Firm, pawning off everything they had gotten in the Labyrinth.

The clerk sighed, "750 en, that's it! Final offer!

Picking up another bag of animal parts, Hirt emptied the bag's contents on the table, "What about this bag?"

Surprised, the clerk eyed at the items, "Good Lord, what do you do down there? Wait for the monsters to come to you?"

"Well? The contents, miss clerk! What's your first offer?"

"500."

"650."

"530."

"635."

"550."

"620."

"575."

"600."

"Fine! 600 en. That comes out to 1,350 en. Ugh… That's a lot."

Accepting the money, Hirt and Ren-so walk out of the Firm, leaving the clerk to sort through the pile of parts. Ren-so laughed, "You sure drive a hard bargain!"

"I guess," Hirt fingered through the money, "Uh, what's 1,350 divided by 9?"

"Uh… exactly 150."

"Okay then, 150 en for every one!"

"What about you, Hirt? Where's your share?"

"I don't need a share. I got a lot of money anyways, and I don't need weapons or armour, I'm a monk. So, what do I need the money for? The owner of the Inn is paying a debt owed to me, so I really don't need all that much money. But I do know what it's like for you young people, spend, spend, spend. Armour, weapons, dresses, shoes, food, odds and ends, anything really that suits your fancy, you must buy. Of course you get a little wiser with money as you age."

Ren-so fell silent, but a little while later, he blurted out, "You have some niece, eh?"

Hirt rolled his eyes, "Honestly, you'd think I run some sort of dating service. Flom and Savilo, Sae and Asunio, Derith and Missy, what is in the air? It's not even spring!"

"Uh, bad time?"

"Oh yeah, bad time."

"Sorry."

They grew silent for a little while again. Again, Ren-so fumbled with some words, "You think she's into me?"

Again, Hirt rolled his eyes, "Judging from appearances, she hates your guts and wouldn't minds either way if you fell dead at the hands of a Platypus."

"But, what if you didn't judge from appearances?"

"She is on the fence. She's used to not having feelings, whatsoever, so having you around is introducing something completely opposite of what she's used to. She doesn't know what to feel."

"Oh."

"Yup."

"What do you think of me?"

"What do you mean? I'm not her father! But, honestly, I don't know what to think of you. You seem alright, but I don't know if you'd improve Wel-lo or hold her back."

Ren-so looked down and kicked a pebble, "I figured you say something like that."

"Hey, just my solid opinion."

They arrived back at the inn and Hirt handed out the en to the group, except for Derith, who was at the Bistro, and Flom and Savilo who were at the docks again. Asunio nudged Sae and mentioned the docks, which caused multiple and varying emotions to run through Sae's face. Hirt thought this curious, but dismissed it.

Hirt approached Rentos and Ubu, who were sitting together, talking about random and immaterial things. He sat down next to them, "How are you two guys doing? You seem to be missing out on all the action going on around here."

Ubu shrugged, "Not really mister Hirt, I'm just patiently waiting to meet my brother in the Labyrinth, and when that happens, a lot of things will revolve around me."

Rentos stared off into the distance, "Personally, I'm just waiting for the right man to come along… ahhhh…"

Standing up, Hirt shook his head, "Oh, I see."

Derith accepted the en gratefully, "Oh, thanks, Hirt. I needed to pay for my meal."

Crossing his arms, Hirt raised his right eyebrow, "So what were you going to do if I hadn't come along with the money?"

"Uh, I would've made a tab or something."

"On me, no doubt."

"Aye."

"Well, I'm off to give Flom and Savilo their share."

"You sure you want to do that? They're probably fogging up the windows of some hotel."

"Nah, my son's a prude."

"Oh."

Missy waved to Hirt as he left, "Bye-a, mister Hirt!"

Returning the wave, Hirt smiled, "Bye, miss Missy, take care of Derith for me, will you?"

"Done and done!"

"I figured."

Hirt found Flom and Savilo sitting on the docks, talking about the sea and its beauty. Hirt didn't approach them and listened in to their conversation.

Savilo clung onto Flom's shoulder, "Don't you think the sea is just beautiful?"

Grinning, Flom nodded, "Sure, but I've seen better."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I've seen people more beautiful."

Sitting down next to Flom, Hirt chuckled, "Why thank you, Flom. I always knew my beauty would reach out and touch you."

Flom sighed, "I wasn't really talking about you…"

Hirt took out the two bags of one-hundred-fifty en and handed it to both of them, "If you say so. Anyways, here's the share of the Labyrinth, don't spend it all in one motel."

Sighing wearily, Savilo pocketed the en, "No chance of that, your son's a prude."

Flom went red in the face, "Hey!"

Hirt nodded and stood up, "I knew that. You can't imagine the difficulty of giving him a bath when he was little."

Serinew leaned on the railing of the ship, the sea spray cooling her off underneath a blazing sun.

The captain of the ship, Dunvus, approached her, "Nothing feels as good as the sea, eh marm?"

Closing her eyes and soaking in another spray, Serinew shook her head, "No, I've never felt something like this before."

Dunvus adjusted the Panzerstecher at his waist, "The life of a pirate, er, sailor is one I love, that is true."

His first mate and only crew member, Juna, stood behind him and fiddled with the red hair at the back of his neck, tucking it into his hat. She laughed, "I think she already knows, captain."

Serinew spat out some water she had gotten in her mouth, "Yeah, I found your flag in the pantry, but I don't mind. If we get caught, I'll plead ignorance."
Scratching at his eye-patch, Dunvus laughed, "As if anyone could catch me when I'm on a ship."

Juna sighed, "Yes, but on land that's a problem. We need a place to lay low while in Armoroad."
Serinew thought for a moment, "I'm going to join my father's guild, why don't you too?"

Dunvus looked at Juna, "Might be fun."

"Why not?" Juna smiled, "Could be fun! I haven't shot anything for a long time!"