Chapter 8
Day two of our little camping trip.
A solid day of good food, exercise and a good sleep on something other than a metal floor, had improved my mood, as well as that of the others. They weren't recovered by any means, but they had already started to take on a better 'air' of health.
I'll admit, I was a little bleary eyed, but I hadn't spent mine and Raphtalia's watch (yes, I let her sleep) idle. I caught more fish, popped a few stray Balloons on some stone spikes, made more medicinal soup for breakfast, and went through every 'help' file I could in my Status Screen. I also 'mastered' a couple of shields, to get that passive bonus they gave. Now I had 'poison resistance up', 'plant appraisal', and I no longer needed the Rope Shield out to use Air Strike Shield. Let's hear it for passive abilities.
It seemed kind of silly. At this rate, I'd have so many passives stacked on each other... Maybe that was the point? Though, I had no 'real' offence ability with the shield, Air Strike Shield and Rope Shield in the right hands could certainly be useful...
"Okay." I said after we'd eaten, our sad little bark bowls and wood spoons not looking like they'd last another meal, not to mention our bark pot. "We need better equipment, and the town is off limits unless we want to risk sneaking in?"
The three of them shook their heads 'no' at potentially getting thrown back in prison, or worse.
"This means, we need to find animals who aren't made of thin skin, or food." We'd already put Balloon skin to use though, wrapping the hilts of our stone knives with it, or securing the heads of stone spears to the shafts of wood they were on. "The Ringmaster's Clown who left us here, said there was a town that way." I pointed down stream. "Do any of you know how far?"
"Sir?" Usa pointed back towards the Castle-town, then drifted over East a bit in the direction of the big grassy plain I'd started hunting on solo. "Unless it was destroyed... There is a little town called Riyute that way." He drifted over more, south of where we were. "Lafan is... that way I think." He paused, turning to look at a low but landmark worthy mountain west of us, "That... um..."
"mrrrrrrrr." Clive rumbled wetly.
"Ah thank you. Mirso Village is at the foot of that little mountain there." Use gave Clive a thankful nod, and the drift eyed lizard man returned a thumb's up.
"Um." coughcough, "My... where..." She pointed in the direction of Lafan, "On the coast..." She paused, then looked down at her feet.
"It's a little far at the moment." I said, "But I'm sure we can go there eventually." Having her look up at me and attempt some sickly sparkles (but still sparkles!) made me feel better. Then to Usa, "Riyute is closest?"
"Yes sir." He replied, Clive nodding as well.
"Very well." I looked in that direction, then up and down the opposite side of the little river we were next to. "We'll move up stream a little to get out of the marsh, cross, move through that patch of forest there, and make for Riyute. If it has any trade to speak of, we'll see what we can do for clothing and the like. Proper shoes too."
Since my 'shoes' were part of my 'self repairing mana cloth outfit' I didn't have to worry, but the three of them were wearing woven reed and canvas slippers. They'd help against little pebbles, but not for long.
"Let's pack things up and start marching."
We crossed the river, carefully made our way through a patch of spongy marshland, then started making a path through various kinds of tall grass. Thankfully, Usa and Clive were tall enough to see over it, and yes, I kept hold of Usa's bad hand, and one of Raphtalia's hands, when ever the grasses were too tall for her and I to see over.
A few times, Usa would stop, turn to 'scan' the area ahead of us with his ears, and lock on to (more often than not) incoming monsters. Still reasonably weak, they were nothing we hadn't encountered before, and with me in the front, Clive and Raphtalia stabbing things that tried to latch on to me (or I let latch on to me), and Usa making sure we were never surprised, we had no trouble.
Well, aside from Raphtalia tripping on a root and skinning her knee. But that just gave me an excuse to test out some 'Healing Salve' that I'd made with the local medicinal plants.
However, we could only travel for about an hour before we needed to rest. Raphtalia was having another coughing fit, and the other two were looking a bit winded.
Another weird monster decided to show up from the tall (not quite tall enough to block my vision) grass. Some kind of... well, they were like the Balloon monsters. Just made of Eggs. Just like the Balloon, they seemed to have no 'real' anatomy, were weak (only a little stronger than the Balloons), and looked like some kind of mutant Pac-man.
They also had useful 'skin'. The Shield soaked up the three different coloured 'Eggug' shells, and while their insides were runny and foul smelling, their shells were like actual eggshell. Something to add to the soup at lunch time.
Egg Shield Unlocked. Equip Bonus: Cooking 1
Blue Egg Shield Unlocked. Equip Bonus: Vision up
Sky Egg Shield Unlocked. Equip Bonus: Simple Cooking Recipes 1
While I felt a tiny bit insulted that some bit of magical equipment could teach me about cooking, I looked at the 'simple cooking recipes' list, and I couldn't help but sigh and facepalm. The other three looked at me with a clear question in their eyes, but I waved it away and said 'wait until lunch'.
Yes, it was a list of snack foods. I was starting to wonder if there WERE Gods in this world, except they died of embarrassment when they came up with the Rules.
It was after Noon, and our lunch of boiled vegetables, Mush caps, stray medicinal herbs and Eggug (calcium) powder seemed to have already been forgotten by my stomach. Raphtalia's too. Then, as was his 'job' Usa signalled a stop, stopped, then spoke.
"M... Sir? There." Usa pointed.
I looked and saw... white smoke? With a wave of my hand, my shield changed shape to that of a large blue oval (Blue Eggug Shield), and I activated my 'Vision up' skill. It was a little like having adjustable binoculars instead of eyes, and after a moment I picked out a few details, like little houses and small shapes moving around. I turned the ability off.
"Almost there. Good." I nodded, "Raphtalia? Are you okay to travel a bit longer?"
I could see in her eyes, even after only a day and a bit out of the Ringmaster's cage, that she wanted to say yes. But she changed her answer, "Not much further... My chest..." Yes, any lie was punished. It would sound cruel to most people, but I was instilling 'going to the dungeon rules' on them. No problem was too small to mention.
I reached out, paused as she flinched from my hand, then resumed my motion and gave her a headpat when she looked at me again. "Okay. Clive? Help me clear a patch of grass. Usa, Raphtalia, set up some stakes. I spotted some more herbs just over there. After we set up a circle, Raphtalia and Usa, set up a fire, Clive keep watch, and I'll go gathering."
They nodded, and we got to work.
About ten minutes after I went to gather herbs, I spotted another cluster of Mush pretending to be harmless by a tree. I considered not bothering them, like I would in the Dungeon if I was in a hurry. But a gust of wind swept over the grassland, and the shifting of shadows under the tree showed me it wasn't like the other Mush clusters we'd encountered (and eaten). Sunlight filtered green by the leaves, the sudden sunlight on them showed me they were actually green, and one of them was even blue.
Being hungry was only secondary to me picking up a rock and throwing it at them to get there attention. Honest. New variations on monsters meant potential new shields. Oh, and one of the (insultingly simple) recipes called for 'colourful Mush Caps' for an ingredient.
A few minutes later, my body covered in angry Mush of three different colours trying to bite through my overcompensated defence, I walked to the edge of my our little camp. They were of course surprised, but after the initial shock, I started peeling the Mush off me, and let the three of them take turns killing them.
Blue Mush Shield Unlocked. Equip bonus: Simple Compounding Recipes 1
Green Mush Shield Unlocked. Equip bonus: Apprenticeship compounding
Again, the insulting assumption that I'd need help with alchemy, and I already had my own alchemy kit (minus the heating stone, stupid King...), but this seemed like an automatic function?
"This world is... weird." I sighed as we sat around a shallow bark pot.
"Sir?" Raphtalia gave me a 5 degree head tilt. "What's so weird about it?"
"When we aren't having a snack in monster infested wilderness, I'll tell you all a story. But for now..." I paused as a little timer in my status window ticked down. All I had to do was select the ingredients from my inventory, match them to the recipe I already knew (and had been adding to the soup), and the Shield just... did it all internally.
Very convenient. But...
Healing Medicine Successfully Created! (oh sure... bold letters and everything, as if it was so special...)
Healing Medicine: Quality: poor, increased to slightly poor due to 'Medicine Efficacy up' skill!
And there it was, resting in one of my inventory's slots. It was even 'created' with a woven leaf cup! So, I summoned it out of my Shield, and offered it to Raphtalia, "I have good news, and bad news."
She accepted the thick leaf cup of ominously green medicine, "Um..."
"The good news, is I can make medicines inside the shield. They aren't very good, but they don't need me to lay out my equipment on a table or something. So I can just... let it make medicine as we travel, and use it when we stop."
"Oh! That seems quite useful Sir." Usa said, with Clive nodding in agreement.
"The bad news, is it comes out in it's pure form. And it's going to be bitter." I held up a finger, "You have to drink it, but I will teach you a bit of a trick."
She looked... less than pleased that I had almost given her a direct order to do something that she wasn't going to like. But then a little hopeful at learning a 'trick'. "What is it?" She asked.
"Your sense of taste is linked to your sense of smell. Breath out through your nose." She did. "Pinch your nose closed." She did that too. "Take a good breath through your mouth, not too much." She looked puzzled, but did that as well, "Keep your nose plugged and drink."
Clive, Usa and I watched her chug the cup of green stuff down, do a full body shiver that made her raccoon tail puff out, then a full 'face scrunch' at the taste. "blehhhh still so bitter..."
I took the cup back, but Usa and Clive looked curious, so I offered it to Usa who was closest. He touched a finger to some leftover goop and touched it to his tongue, and also made the same face. Clive did the same, but since his face didn't really have the ability to show expression, he showed his displeasure by letting his tongue flop out of his mouth with a 'ehhhhh' noise.
Also of note, I now understood why he couldn't really speak. His tongue was much thicker than a 'human' tongue, and it made his throat warp and twist when he let it dangle from his chitinous 'lips'. He probably lacked any real vocal chords.
This did however, make Raphtalia laugh at Clive's silly face. It was a little laugh, hardly more than a giggle, and it was soon consumed by a small coughing fit. But it was the first laugh she'd had since we left the Ringmaster's place.
"Easy easy." I said, squinting at the still usable leaf cup, and putting it back in the Shield's inventory. "After we have our snack, we'll finish the trip to town and get properly equipped."
We arrived at the village of Riyute just as Raphtalia and I had a near synchronized stomach rumble. I sighed, while she looked a bit embarrassed, and the other two tried to hide their amusement. Even if they'd been prisoners until a couple days ago, I didn't feel so bad about 'owning' them, if they were already getting comfortable with me 'in charge'.
Now, the idea that they, or anyone, would be 'comfortable' with being owned bothered me. But at least they weren't resentful towards me. I don't think I could have taken it if they were. I would just treat them as I did with the Oni, or Delly. With honour and dignity.
Anyhow... The village of Riyute.
It wasn't a huge place, but it seemed well organized, and had (from what I could see just standing at the road leading in from the direction of the Castle-town) most everything any town should. The largest building by far, was a two floor with a possible attic house with the universal sign for 'Inn' hanging above the front door. There was a stable near the town's entrance, the sound of a blacksmith coming from someplace past the Inn, wide squat buildings to store produce from the farmland around it, the scent of sawdust in the air telling me there was a lumber yard around...
Oh, and a couple lookout towers and a... well, it would be a chest high wall, had I been an adult. This place seemed reasonably secure, and if you weren't vertically challenged like I was, you'd be able to see Melromarc Castle from here.
"Seems like a busy place for such a small town." I commented to my three party members.
Usa nodded, "Yes sir." He said, "Being on the main road out of Melromarc it is a trade stop for towns that are further out. It has reasonable access to many things travellers want. It has been a while since I was brought through here, and I worked on the farm a while before..."
"We don't need to talk about that, if you don't want to." I said, "Let's see if there's a table for four in that Inn."
Usa fell silent, and the other two tried to give him an encouraging look, while I did my best to walk like a hero in front of them and ignore the looks from the few townspeople who spotted us. Considering I was the only one wearing real clothes, while the other three were literally wearing the rags they had while imprisoned and canvas cloaks... It was as if I were some noble child showing off their family's newest acquisitions.
The Inn, when we entered, quieted as the four of us entered. However, the assortment of patrons resumed minding their own business and went back to their food, drink or conversations as if we hadn't entered at all a moment later.
I spotted an empty table, motioned for them to go sit, and went to the bar along the back wall. Once again, I had to stand back so I could talk to the man behind it, but I also had to stand behind the only empty bar stool, so I didn't have to talk past people's elbows.
"Excuse me." I started, getting a bemused look from the tall wiry man on the other side of the bar. "My party and I would like something to eat." I motioned back to the table the others were at.
He looked down at me, then across the room at the timid collection at the table, then down to me again. "A kid like you shouldn't be borrowing their parent's slaves."
"They're my slaves." I said, meeting his eyes and suppressing a sigh. This was going to happen a lot, I could tell already. "What's a room cost a night?"
He didn't question my 'ownership' but again looked doubtful at my words. "Silver a night for a room." He paused, "We don't rent out stable space though."
"How many beds in a room?"
"Two."
I waved a hand over my shield, produced four coins, then reached up and flopped them onto the bar top. "Tonight and tomorrow. Meal included?"
He paused, "Ah... no. Another silver for the four of you." Another pause as I dunked another coin onto the bar in front of him. "Ah... What's your order then?" He motioned to a sign stand at the end of the bar, one face of it covered in a sheet of slate and drawn on by chalk.
Sadly, I could only make out a couple of the letters. I hadn't had much time to learn the words yet. So, I called on my supporter. "Usa?" I called across the room. "Can you read that?"
He shook his head, and to my surprise Raphtalia raised her hand shyly. "I... I can."
"Please order for us then."
The byplay had quieted down the patrons again, some amused, some puzzled, but no one stuck their nose into our business. I watched Raphtalia mumble to Usa and Clive, get a word and a hand sign back, then, "Um... What did you want?"
"What you're having." I replied.
"Ah... Can... Can we have two stew, one catch, and three fruit?"
I looked up at the bartender, "There you have it. Oh, do you have tea? None of us drink alcohol."
The guy behind the counter was looking like he was ready to take us seriously now. Which was good! He surprised me though when he said, "I'll do you one better. The tea here isn't very good, but we do have fruit juice."
"Sold." I smiled, "You know where we'll be."
Even with the busy Inn's atmosphere, we were basically ignored as we ate. This was good, since I was (yet again) hungry enough to consider someone else as food if they bothered me while I ate. The 'stew' was thick and savoury. The 'catch' smelled fresh (and Usa was quite pleased with it), and the Fruit was as I suspected, a bit weird looking but also fresh. Melromarc was indeed a fertile kingdom. The juice that was served was mellow and made me think of the 'fruit soup' at the castle. Not quite like grapes, almost apple... Oh, and there was bread. It had a more 'whole wheat' taste and texture, but it was still perfect for mopping up stew from the bottom of the bowl.
But as we wound down and got to the point of wondering if the little bits left on our plates was worth the effort of chasing, I started to lay out my 'plan'.
"Now that we are sitting down and don't have to worry about some weird coloured monster nibbling at our tails."
"rrr."
"Or ankles, for those who don't have a tail." I nodded to Clive, who seemed just as much an omnivore as anyone else. He wasn't really able to 'chew' like us, since he lacked lips, but he was well aware of that limit, and ate in small very civilized bites now that we didn't have to worry about monsters interrupting a meal.
"Are we... are we getting new clothes? Shoes?" Usa asked.
"If there is a place in town, yes." I nodded, "We've been lucky to not have rain. We'd all catch chill with what we're wearing now."
As luck would have it, a serving woman came around with an empty platter balanced on her hand, "Refills? More food?" She asked as she paused at the end of the table, "Oh my..." She'd also apparently missed our entrance.
"Good timing." I said, "More bread if you please? And could you tell us if there's someone who sells clothes in town? Tools? Hunting weapons?"
She blinked at me, then noticed that not only were the three of them wearing rags, but we all had stone weapons of some kind. "Um... Not to be rude Sir... But you let your slaves stay armed in your presence? Even controlled by the Curse, they might still..." She grew a thumb across her throat, an apparently universal gesture for 'murder'.
I sighed, but Usa spoke before I could. His voice had no 'force' to it, but he wasn't mumbling either, not shy at all, "Sir Kodori is the first person to treat us like people, even with the curse."
Usa shied away from the look of doubt, but I covered for Usa, "The three of them cannot lie without punishment." I said, "But please, we are unfamiliar with this town."
Again, that look of doubt, but she just shrugged and shook her head, "Not my business. But yes, we've a tanner in town just down the way, near the other end away from the homes. There's a seamstress across the way one house down. And the hunter's lodge a couple houses down from here will have something better than... is that river stone?"
"Sharp and pointy river stone." I corrected, "Thank you. What of the smithy?"
"He only sells bits and bobs, or farm tools if you're lucky. He can sharpen a sword or knife, but arrowheads are the closest he'll get to a 'weapon'. He might have something someone has sold to him though. With Melromarc Castle so close we don't really have need of it, though..."
The look on her face caught my attention. It was something I saw a lot in the eyes of a 'rookie' adventurer. Usually before asking 'how would you go about killing (insert monster name here)'.
"A problem?" I asked.
"It's nothing you should worry about." She said, giving me an infuriating smile, "You said you wanted some more bread? Five bronze."
I pulled another silver from my Shield's stash, "Make it a lot more bread, please, and thank you for the information."
She slipped the coin off the table and I could hear her say 'what a strange child' as she walked off.
"Sir... If you sigh like that, the spirits will make you sick." Usa said.
"While we wait, I'll tell you a little of where I came from. Back home, we called it 'letting the giggles out'.
I had just managed to finish telling 'The First Story' to my three companions, when the lady came back with an entire platter of bread. Easily double what I'd paid for.
I could have hugged that woman. It was the second show of genuine kindness I'd gotten since arriving. Third, if Erhard had actually given me a discount.
But, as soon as he back was turned, the four of us picked up our 'snack for the road', and I quickly shovelled the rest into my Shield's inventory. Maybe this time, I could actually test how well food kept in there, instead of getting hungry and eating the experiment.
We then filed out, nibbling on bread, and I took a vote, "Clothes or equipment first?"
It took a moment for them to realize I was asking for their opinion, but Usa turned his head suddenly, "Um... We'll be getting rain soon. Clothes?"
I looked in the same direction he'd looked and saw some grumpy looking dark clouds in the distance. "I... I would like to... yes, clothes please?" Raphtalia added.
Clive nodded, pulling a little at his ragged shirt while letting out a quiet bubbling grumble.
"Right."
The Tanner was a mostly bald, rail thin man. The chemicals of leather tanning had not done him any favours, and he could have been anywhere from twenty years old, to fifty. Thankfully, he didn't seem to care that I (a child) was bringing in three slaves.
He ran his shop out of a kind of converted stable. With a house (where he had his goods) facing the street, and an open on three sides workspace in the 'back yard'. Again, thankfully, the four of us didn't have anything to do with that part of the shop, so the only smell of tannin and ammonia bothered us.
The bells above the door had hardly stopped ringing when he came in from a door in the back, much like Erhard's shop. "Oh... Huh... Welcome I suppose!" He shook off the strange sight of our party, then perked up. Considering our state of dress, we probably looked like easy to please customers.
"Good sir." I greeted, "My party and I require boots."
"Ah..." Usa started to talk, but stopped when the shopkeeper shot him a dirty look.
So, I held up a 'wait a moment' finger to the shopkeeper, "Usa?"
"Sir and Raphtalia will outgrow clothing very quickly, if we continue as we have been Sir." He said, leaning down to talk into my ear.
Right, weird Demi-Human things. I lowered my hand, "Okay. Boots for these two." I motioned to Clive and Usa, "And sandals for us? We'll be doing a lot of walking, so something durable?"
The shopkeeper squinted at me, probably wondering 'just who this upstart kid was', but then said, "Well, you know what you want I guess. Sure you don't mind giv-"
"I need them to keep up with me." I said with a smile, "Hard to do that with a pebble digging into your heel."
He ran a hand over his balding pate and chuckled, "True enough, okay you two, take those off your feet? Lift a foot? No claws? Good good... Would you believe some Demi-humans complain about their claws poking holes in their shoes?"
In the end, I spent about ten silver on two pair of simple 'open faced' boots, and two pair 'gladiator' sandals (child size). I also spent another five silver for four pair of leather bracers. Usa only needed one, but I made him wear both, since he could still feel pain with his lame arm, and you could store things in it as well, like a stone knife.
Lastly, since no adventurer would leave home without it, some belts, with pouches. All told, twenty silver and a couple bronze spent. I probably earned the respect of the Tanner as well, since I made sure to ask if things fit, or were comfortable, and didn't just assume they were and be done with it.
Next, with the Tanner giving us a 'thank you for your business' wave, we headed to the Seamstress. Her shop had the sign on the door itself, so I'd have missed it if the nice lady at the Inn hadn't told us about it.
An older woman, stoutly built and maybe in her forties started to greet us, but then took one look at my party, then at me, and with a near fury that had me suddenly fearful of flying slippers or waved ladles, she said, "You should be ashamed to have them-"
"That's why I'm here!" I couldn't quite meet her volume of indignity, so I tried instead to head hers off before she could really get started.
She gave me a withering look, but settled down with a huff. "And what did your parents tell you to get?"
Once again, I sighed, but shook it off before I could feel frustrated and replied with, "We're going to be doing a lot of travelling. Good sturdy clothes you can work hard in." I paused, thinking of something, "Clive? How are you with cold weather?"
His two eyes stopped wandering around for a moment, and he hugged himself and mocked a shivering motion.
"Something thicker for him. And do you have something for rain?"
Once she figured out I was paying attention to their needs and not just 'making them look decent', she dropped her initial air of anger. A few moments later, she really started to get into it and was humming a little tune as she found things that fit us. She already understood that Raphtalia and I would be outgrowing our clothing soon, and sold the two of us something closer to 'big brother's hand me downs'. She had to roll up the legs on the pants and shirts, but she showed us where we could undo the stitches to lengthen them again.
She seemed a little unnerved by Clive's chameleon eyes, but actually helped Usa into his new thick cotton (or whatever it was called in this world) shirt. It seemed that not everyone treated slaves poorly.
In the end, we looked like farm hands who expected something to go after their livestock. But that was okay, the clothing was reasonably priced, tough, clean, and looked much nicer than the canvas rags they were wearing.
She even gave us thin leather capes with hoods to keep rain off! Oh, and Raphtalia got a headpat. I was a little sad I didn't, but she was at least smiling when she took my money.
Our last trip before we would decide to either head out of town for a little while to explore, or just spend the rest of the day at the Inn so we could start fresh tomorrow, was the Hunter's Lodge. It looked more like an old barn that had been given a face lift, or a meeting hall that the local hunters took over since the town wasn't really big enough to have a garrison or the like.
When we entered, we were greeted not by angry Hunters, or Guards, or even curious looks. No, we weren't greeted at all really. There were however, all kinds of trophies hanging on the support beams that led up to an open loft (much like a barn would have). Some of the beasts looked like this world's version of deer or other herbivore, with antlers or curved horns like a ram. Some though, looked like hunting cats, or some kind alligator.
Then Raphtalia squeaked in alarm, nearly knocking over Clive with the sudden jump sideways to hide behind his legs.
"rrr?" Clive bubbled as we looked to Raphtalia, then where her fearful gaze was directed.
"Some kind of dog?" I asked. The head was larger than Spot's (the Manor's, no, Orario's Best Doggo, who just happened to be an almost car sized Hell Hound), but the fur was almost coal black.
"That's right lad. A single headed Black Dog." An older man said as a railed door slid sideways, letting out a white haired gentleman in lumberjack's clothes, as well as the scent of butchered animal and smoking meat. "Ah pardon, I was cleaning a kill someone brought in. You're not... the usual sort we get around here."
He was human, but wise enough to know something wasn't 'normal' about us. There was no counter, no chairs, just a couple tables a few candles, torches mounted to the few pillars that didn't have trophies on them, and a couple sliding doors in the back.
"My name is Kodori, this is Clive, Usa, and Raphtalia." I introduced us, then decided to gamble, "I'm not sure you've heard, but the Four Heroes have been summoned, and..." I looked down at my shield.
He blinked at me a couple times, his white eyebrows bobbing amusingly, "You... That's a poor joke to be telling."
With a wave of my hand, I changed the shield from the Small Red Shield (because I missed Hagane) to the Blue Eggug Shield, then back again. "It's no joke good sir. We," I motioned to the other three as well, "We need equipment to hunt with, and..." Something the lady at the Inn hinted at came to mind, "There was a problem you needed help with, wasn't there?"
He looked at us again, then me and my Shield, "I..." He scratched at his chin for a moment, "Well, wouldn't do to doubt the Summoning magic I suppose." He gave his chin one more scratch, then motioned us over, "Come here a moment. Just so happens we DO have a problem. The other three Heroes did pass this way a couple days ago, but never bothered to ask. So..."
The 'problem' was that this little town was a bit of a trade hub. There was a nearby forest, big orchards and farmer fields, reasonably abundant game to hunt, and a rich mine nearby. Except, after the last Wave, the Mine had become unworkable due to a sudden infestation. With the Castle-town and whatever passed for a military in this world had been kicked pretty hard pushing the Wave back, no one had bothered to look into the problem.
So, one of the town's richest trade items was inaccessible. There were other mines in the Kingdom, and in other Kingdoms, but this one was famous for its good ore. With it cut off, trade would slow, miners would wander off, and an easy source of material for Melromarc would be off limits.
Raphtalia and I were standing on stools, while the Old Hunter explained all this. On the table in front of us was a local map, with Clive and Usa holding it open while the Old Hunter spoke. "Okay, we'll look into it." I nodded, "But, this brings up..." I took out my stone dagger, "Our lack of equipment."
"Well, that is the best stone knife I've seen." He chuckled, but sounded serious at least, "Let's see what we have. We keep spares of just about everything a hunter might use, but you'll have to pay for it."
"Of course. We have to work to eat."
"Something comes to mind though..." We followed him towards another tracked door, and his hand stopped on the handle before he opened it, "Why bother scrounging for equipment here, instead of getting it at Melromarc City?"
"Because I'm a Demi-Human, and the Shield Hero." I replied, "That's all some people need."
"Shame about that." He shook his head and slid the door open. "Won't be much, but the Hunters here trust it, and I get right angry at them if they don't keep things clean and sharp."
I felt a little relieved I'd risked the 'reveal' of who I was. "Say..." I looked to Usa, "My companion here has a bit of a lame arm. Any ideas on what he might use?"
The room smelled of dry wood, old leather, and fish oil. There were all kinds of pegs and hooks on the walls with bow staves, some farmer's implements like scythes and pitchforks, herding tools, a couple buckets of arrows, a bucket of old looking swords, and a few shelves I couldn't see the contents of. The Old Hunter paused in the middle of the room, turned, looked at Usa, then scratched his chin again.
"I might have an idea or two."
So, with the help of the Old Hunter, we got actual weapons for the Party. As usual, my Shield was being a possessive jerk and wouldn't let me use anything else as a weapon. But that was fine, I could play support, and while I had little practice myself, I knew, and had been on the other side of a huge amount of shield techniques.
Raphtalia, with her small size, got a proper dagger (it was more of a short sword in her hands), and a short bow. The hunter called it a 'training bow for the farmer's kids', then gave poor Raphtalia a fatherly ear scroofle when she tried and failed to draw the bow. "You'll learn! We all gotta start somewhere! Why, when I was a boy..." The other three wouldn't stop him from getting into a story time, and I didn't stop him either since he had a good voice for it.
For Clive, he replaced his stone knife with a good hunting knife (being an adult, it looked like a proper knife in his hand), and a long bow. When I described how Clive fought, the Old Hunter did some chin scratching and said 'here try and hit that target there'. It took a long moment for Clive's eyes to line up on the target, and he missed the shot. But he was close enough that the Old Hunter seemed satisfied and gave Clive a pat on the shoulder.
Then we got to Usa.
"Now you... Your arm? Won't get any better, will it?" He was asking with honest curiosity, not cruelty.
"Ah... No Sir. It was like this when I was born..." He then did what he did for me, moving his shoulder as best he could to make his lame arm flop around a little. "My..."
"Go on." The Old Hunter said, "I've seen injury before, nothing to be shy about."
"My last owner, I heard him mention a possible cure, but I wasn't worth the price." Usa looked at me, "After that I was sold off to the Ringmaster."
The Old Hunter soaked that in, then paused, looking at them, then me, "These are slaves?"
"I bought them after the King tossed me into his dungeon for a crime I didn't commit, somehow missed the throw, and put me into the hands of a slaver. I negotiated for my release, and because I am a Demi-human, a Child, and the Shield Hero, I had to buy my party since no one would join me like they did the other three." I replied with blunt honesty. "So yes Good Sir. They are slaves."
His face darkened a bit, so I continued, feeling a bit of anger bubbling under my voice (though it probably sounded like my voice cracking).
"Every hunter must take good care of his tools. So, I am. New shoes for travelling. Proper clothing for whatever weather we might encounter. Weapons to defend themselves and each other. Oh, and as much food as we can eat."
Raphtalia's stomach chose that exact moment to grumble, and she hid behind Clive's legs again. I made a point to look the Old Hunter in the eye as I waved my hand over the shield to take a little loaf of bread from its inventory, and hand it to her. She took it a moment later with a quiet 'thank you'.
"A good hunter uses what ever they can to succeed. So, using the only money I'm likely to get from the King, I did what I could with what I had." I finished. "Is there going to be a problem?"
He focused on me, and I was sure he was having a hard time swallowing the fact a 'child' just talked back to him. But after a moment, he sighed, defeated, and said, "I'd never have known they were Slaves until Mr. Usa admitted it." He sighed again, then took something off a peg on the wall, "Try this."
It was a whip. A short one, probably used to urge a... oh right, no horses... One of those dragons or birds along. Or drive cattle. Usa took hold of it, the rest of the two metre or so length uncoiling to the ground. "Um..."
"Well, let me show you how to do it without skinning your face off." He took down a second whip, and motioned us to move to the main room.
"I... I think I'm getting it?" Usa said, his good arm swaying back, then forward and across, the whip snaking forward with a hiss then CRACK of air. And just like the Old Hunter had shown him, he did a little extra motion with his wrist to stop the whip from snapping back towards his body. The motion looked almost like a swordsman doing a 'slash' then a 'draw cut'.
"Good good! Now, a plain leather whip won't do the most harm, but if you get it just right..." The Old Hunter lashed his own whip at one of the support pillars, and instead of leaving a nick in the wood, the last metre of the whip wrapped around the post. "If you can't use a limb, why should they?" He laughed. "The entire point of a whip, is to control the animal. Snap it over their head to get their attention. Tangle a leg to stop them from running. Tear a strip off them to make them limp."
I honestly would never once have thought of this. I was thinking I'd get him to learn to throw knives. Like I'd directed Kiba back on Earth. A well placed blade, throwing star, or even rock, can ruin just about anyone's day. And I was sure, once I learned a few more things about this world's 'ingredients' I could start making smoke bombs and sticky vials like back home.
"So how much does it all come to?" I asked, watching Usa try to repeat the Old Hunter's trick, but not quite get it to work.
He looked at me, then the rest of us, and shrugged, "Take care of the mine, and I'll think about the price." He held up a warning finger, "But you better not lose any of it!" He paused, "Oh... Five silver for the arrows." He laughed, "I don't expect those back."
I pulled the money from the Shield, "Thank you." I said, "We'll leave tomorrow for the Mines, and see how bad it is." I looked to the other three, "We'll spend the rest of daylight practising, then the rest of the evening learning to read."
The Old Hunter accepted the money, then, "Wait... You can't read?"
"My Shield translates words, but not images. But don't worry. Apparently Raphtalia can read, and I have a story book for her to teach us with." This time it was my stomach that grumbled, "After another snack..."
It wasn't much training. But the Old Hunter showed us to a small (VERY small, like... two lane) archery butte, and a little vacant chicken (or whatever the little puffy birds that were served at the Inn were called) pen.
Clive did his best, and I told him to take all the time he needed to line up a shot. Usa started to lash his new whip at the fence posts of the pen. And Raphtalia and I started sparring. Well, almost started.
I readied the Shield, and waited, but then Raphtalia lowered her knife. "I... Won't attacking you..." She touched her chest, where the Slave Curse was.
"All you have to do, is not wish me harm. This is training, not fighting. Though, you are right, just having you swing that thing wildly at me is a terrible idea..." I sighed, "You did well on the monsters I held for you, but soon enough... So, hold your dagger like this..."
Notes!
And so the Party gets started. Our weird band of (literal) slave rejects, is now equipped and spending a bit of time learning how not to hurt themselves with their new equipment, and the world's best Raccoon Girl is getting actual lessons on how to use a weapon! There will be more excitement next chapter for sure. :)
Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!
aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!
And my actual book, Were Too? is on Inkitt.
And! I'm looking into getting some story themed merchandise made. Join the Discord to find out more!