Ch16: Pickham Pinchers
After getting to eat a great banquet at Ascantha without King Trode (because he wasn't with us when we entered the Moonshadow Land), he obviously was a little peeved at us for forgetting about him. "Hmph! No doubt the King of Ascantha treated you to a feast with lots of fine wine and food," he groaned at us. "Yet you have the nerve to forget about us?" "Sorry, grandad... I don't blame youse for gettin' all mad and stuff... I know what it's like to be an outsider," Yangus frowned.
"Hang on a tic... I got an idea! Me 'ometown is just to the south of 'ere!" Yangus exclaimed. "Whaddaya say guv? Sure, Pickham ain't no rosebush, but even if they ain't got the news 'bout Trodain, the town 'as a motto sayin' that they don't treat outsiders unfairly. Ol' grandad'll be able to git a drink wivout any worries!" "Sounds like a good place to unwind," Angelo smiled.
"An' I actually 'ave a mate down there who may be able to 'elp us out. 'Is name is Brains and 'e knows everyfin about everyfin. We can right as rain git 'im to give us info about Dhoulmagus. Two birds wiv one stone!" Yangus smirked. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's 'ead down to Pickham town!" Stella smiled, having since recovered from summoning my family here. "Good thinking Yangus. We owe ya one," I smiled as we headed off for the town famous for one thing: bandits.
The walk down to Pickham had a fair good bit of monsters that didn't look like the friendly type, but were actually helping us by giving us some items we could really use. For example, a Gorerilla gave me some Magic Beast Hide while a very attractive Witch handed Jessica an upgrade to her staff in the form of a Magma Staff. As for me, a Night Fox gave me a rare sword in the form of the Uber Double Edge, which I was quite surprised to receive from a fox in fencers garb. "Well it seems that these monsters certainly have a penchant for being nice to us," Medea smiled as we finally got within the last few feet to Pickham. "Well that's only because we've been having a good rap with the monsters since we've been helping them on the northern continent," I smirked.
We finally entered Pickham not too long after and, just like Yangus and the game would say, Trode being in Pickham wasn't anything bad to go by at all. "Well then, I'm off to the Pub. Come around once you've found this Brains fellow why don't you?" Trode asked as Medea led him into the area of the local pub and inn. "Brains's place is dis way, down Beggar's Alley and along the rooftops," Yangus smirked as he led the way. I made sure to have my weapon in my hands when we went down Beggar's Alley if only because some of the men looked at me with creepy eyes while licking their lips. And I certainly wasn't going to have them rape me today or any day.
As expected, Brains wasn't home, so we all went back to the Pub to talk to Trode. "It never used to be this difficult to get a drink," Trode frowned as I began to talk to him. "Believe me bud, I know the feeling from back where I came from," I frowned, remembering that, in my world, it was nearly impossible for me to get a drink until I turned 21, which I was still 19 at the time and I was 20 right now. So I didn't really have any beer unless my mom sneaked me some from behind the scenes.
It was then that Medea let out a whinny like I told her to do and we were off on a wild chase to go from Mitts to Dodgy Dave's to try and find Medea. And, in what seemed like only a few minutes, Red had already gotten her hands on Medea. And I could actually see her speeding off towards her hut when we walked out of Pickham. "After that 'orse!" Stella exclaimed as our group ran after Red and the kidnapped Medea, all the monsters that were friendlies knowing to get out of the way.
By the time we reached Red's hut, all of us in the group were huffing and puffing, wondering how Red could move so fast when she had a horse and cart that didn't want anything to do with her. "Oi... want to try talking to the guard, Yangus? You are a former bandit like this Red girl, aren't you?" Jessica smiled at my lovable sidekick. "Urgh... fine," Yangus groaned as he walked up the steps and looked the bull-masked guard in the eyes. "Wot? Yangus? Wot are you doin' 'ere? The boss don't want you 'round 'ere no more," the guard said. "Listen, bub, we have some business with Red. So could you please step aside?" I asked him, hoping that he'd at least recognize my elf ears.
"Wot's all the ruckus goin' on out there?" asked an angry Red from behind closed doors. "Er, sorry boss. I wos just gettin' rid of some pests fer ya," the guard frowned. "It's Yangus, isn't it? Just let 'im in. I can deal wiv it meself." "You 'eard the boss. In with ya," the guard frowned, finally moving out of the way to let us through. "Angelo, you stay here with Trode. Us girls and Yangus will try talking with her," I frowned, taking Jessica and entering the homey shack along with Yangus.
Red's place was just like it was in the game, but it felt even cozier in person. She had a whole lot of trinkets on the shelves as well as some tiger skins, a chair fashioned out of a monster's bones and hides, and a fireplace that warmed up the whole place. "You must be Red, the one who bought that horse recently, is that right?" I asked her, trying to talk to her woman-to-woman instead of Yangus. "Heh. Don't see much in the way of you Elves around these parts for years. Wot is it that you want?" Red asked, actually smiling at me.
"Well, the thing is, Red, that horse you bought from Dodgy Dave? Yeah, it belongs to me and my group. She got stolen from us and then sold to Dodgy Dave until she finally came into your hands," I frowned. "Heh. At least you're honest about yer mistakes. But I ain't gonna give ya that 'orse. She's a quality mare and really knows 'ow to pull a cart. And everyone knows that I adore quality," Red said smugly. "Sorry, but we're not leaving without that horse. See, it just doesn't belong to us, it belongs to the king of Trodain," I frowned, telling her something that nobody would've expected.
"Wait, wot? Trodain... where 'ave I 'eard that name before..." Red frowned, actually going into full-on thinking mode. A rare sight to see. "Oh yeah! Now I remember! It was that place that got cursed wiv thorns, ain't it? And yer sayin' that this 'orse belongs to their king?" Red asked. "Yep. And anyone with half a brain would know that stealing from royalty is a crime that isn't taken lightly," Jessica frowned.
"Peh. I didn't steal the 'orse, I bought it... but I can tell that you lot ain't gonna budge from yer story, so I'll give ya a fair deal," Red smirked slyly. "If you can survive the Swordsman's Labyrinth and get the jewel known as the Venus' Tear, I'll go ahead and trade that 'orse and cart fer it." I knew that this was different from the main plot if only because Red would've tried to trick us if I hadn't spoken up. But she literally said she'd trade without a doubt with no trick up her sleeves at all. She must've known the severity of the 'stealing from royalty' punishment.
"Alright, Red. You got yourself a deal," I smiled, holding out my hand to her. Red looked at my hand for a good couple of seconds before finally extending her own and shaking my hand, her eyes unwavering from me as I did so. "You coming, Yangus?" Jessica asked as we began to walk out the door, Yangus just standing there in amazement at what just happened. "Y-Yeah, I'm comin'," Yangus groaned as he finally followed us out the door.
"You look a little surprised Yangus. Is there somefin wrong with this or somefin?" Stella asked, fluttering around Yangus's head as we began to cross the bridge with King Trode and the others. "It's just... I've been adversaries wiv Red for awhile now an' I know that she's not one to just up and make a fair deal to just anyone," he admitted. "So when she said that she'd exchange the Venus' Tear for the 'orse princess wiv no strings attached, I was quite surprised is all..."
"Well that may be because I happened to be extremely friendly with her even though I've never met her before. Maybe I threw her off a bit with my friendliness in making the deal," I smiled as Stella flew into my cleavage again. "By the time we're done with this gig, it'll be near nightfall by the time we get to sleep anywhere," Jessica pointed out. "Heh. Maybe if we do well enough by that time, we could 'ave Red allow us to sleep at 'er lil shack. I gotta to admit, for a place in the middle of flappin' nowhere, it was very cozy," Stella smiled.