70. Closes #2
“What do you think?” She asked, folding her hands.
In the background, the half-ogre thing sat down and started eating out of a tin bowl.
Kain took a moment to glance over the wares.
There were real mana crystals this time, not the husks from geodes that she had been selling previously.
There were potions that you couldn’t just see through, and which were corked with real cork, not merely stopped up with something cheap.
There were scrolls that vibrated with latent energy, real scrolls that could help train a mage to learn new magic.
“I think you have a lot less food coloring in these bottles than last time,” Kain leaned forward and squinted at the bottles. “That’s genuine healing potion. Nice stuff.”
Carol ran her eye over it, and the woman shrugged. Her wild hair bobbled around with the motion. “And would a discerning customer like yourself need some of it? Perhaps more of the wound balm?”
“I still have the old stuff I bought. I don’t get wounded that often,” Kain shrugged.
“Well, with this dungeon around, that might change,” the woman shrugged. “If you ever change your mind, it’s three gold now.”
“Highway robbery,” Kain shook his head.
“Supply and demand,” the woman gave him a broad smile.
Kain met her eyes. He and the woman understood each other well enough. He walked away, and Carol followed. As they walked off, she leaned in close.
“What was that all about? What is she?”
“Someone who has a lot more potential than she’s ordinarily willing to admit,” Kain shrugged.
“That doesn’t sound like anyone I know,” Carol elbowed him.
Kain didn’t say anything, but he reached up and took her hand, holding it tightly.
Carol stayed at his side. They tried the treats.
They helped Sasha serve drinks at the Kettle.
Business was slow at the Kettle that day, with the warriors eating in the street, but Sasha didn’t seem to mind.
Matthew didn’t mind. The boy had the run of the tavern.
He toddled the floor end to end, grabbing onto chairs and laughing at townsfolk and warriors alike.
Once, as Carol and Kain shared a drink at the bar, they heard a sharp cry of delight. One of the warriors had just tossed a piece of fat into the hearth, which made it sizzle and crackle loudly. Matthew started to toddle toward it, and Sasha looked over the bar.
“Matthew. Stop this instant.”
Matthew paused and turned back, and an impish grin crossed his face. Kain and Carol both braced themselves, and Sasha’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t push it, young man.”
Matthew turned and toddled as fast as possible toward the fire.
Kain and Carol both jumped to their feet, but Sasha was faster.
She caught him before Carol had taken two steps, and as she hefted him into the air and turned around, she rolled her eyes, like someone accepting that she was going to be chasing him and preventing him from running into bonfires for the next eighteen years.
When the evening came around, bonfires were lit in the city streets, and the party moved fully outside. It had gone on since sunrise, but somehow, that didn’t seem to diminish anyone’s spirits. Townspeople mingled with the warriors, swapping stories.
“You never saw anything like it, I bet,” Jeremiah said, talking to a young warrior with a broadsword across his back.
“There I was, trying to help that poor goat give birth, and you know how many lambs I got out? Five. Five lambs in a single birth. They were all tangled together in a mess of legs and fur and it was fierce and funny all at once. I kept waiting for a sixth, but it never came.”
“Reminds me of a wyrm I fought back in Frostwinter,” the warrior murmured. “Turned out to be a hydra, but I didn’t know that at the time. I went in and cut off the thing’s head, thought I’d done good, and five more heads popped out.”
“Five heads?” Jeremiah snorted. “Really?”
“Yup. All of them were on necks about, oh, I’d say three or so feet long. Just looked like a snarled, mess of a tumbleweed or something. It just about killed me, but I managed to get it first.” The warrior shrugged. “I was able to sell its eggs for almost twenty gold apiece.”
“Eggs. So it was a female?” Jeremiah turned the cup in his hand. “Some country to come back from.”
The warrior nodded and lifted his cup.
Carol looked at Kain sideways.
“What was that for?” Kain asked.
“You were going to tell that story to half the village by morning.”
“I’ll remember.”
Kain reached the end of the street and turned around to look at the festival.
Warriors and farmers mixed. Weapons. Shovels. Armor. Tunics.
Off in the distance, in the night sky, a faint bluish hue could just be seen where the dungeon was.
Most folks didn’t notice it. The warriors did.
They pointed it out to some of the townsfolk.
They looked at it the way sailors looked for a moon just over the horizon, a glow that would soon be something more than a glow.
Kain’s sword sat steady at his side.
Carol’s fingers laced through his.
The night went on around them.
◇ ◆ ◇
「─────── END OF BOOK 2 ───────」
「Name: Kain Asheld」
「Age: 32」
「Level: 35」
「Mercenary Rank: B」
「Adventurer Rank: Unranked」
「Affiliation: The Silver Hands (Disbanded) | Tillamore (Pending Constable)」
「Status: Active」
「Titles」
「Wyvern Slayer」
「Last of the Silver Hands」
「Goblin Slayer」
「Professional」
「Bandit Slayer」
「Bodyguard」
「Homesteader」
「Gryphon Slayer (New)」
「 └ Solo kill of displaced gryphon at property edge」
「 └ +15% damage vs. Avian/Gryphon-class | Minor wind resistance」
「Attributes」
「Strength: 42 (+1) | Dexterity: 36 | Constitution: 45 (+1)」
「Perception: 38 (+1) | Willpower: 43 (+1) | Charisma: 29 (+1)」
「Combat」
「Blade (One-Handed): B+ | Block: B- (↑) | Hand-to-Hand: C+」
「Knife: C | Archery: C+ (↑) | Traps: C+ (↑) | Light Armor: B」
「Survival」
「Field Craft: B- (↑) | Navigation: C+ | Tracking: C+ (↑)」
「Field Medicine: C+ (↑) | Cooking: B+ (↑) | Herbalism: F (New) | Brewing: C- (New)」
「Social」
「Negotiation: B- (↑) | Intimidation: B (↑) | Leadership: C+」
「Passive」
「Body Enhancement (B-Rank) | Strong Bones | Better Healing」
「Farming (Updated)」
「Tilling: E+ | Planting: D | Harvesting: D-」
「Soil Management: E- (↑)」
「Animal Husbandry: F+ (↑) | Riding: E- (↑) | Preserves & Storage: E (↑)」
「Handyman: C- (↑)」
「Glazing: F (New)」
「Current Condition: Healthy」
「Combat Readiness: Re-Engaged」
「─── SENECA FARM: BOOK TWO SUMMARY ───」
「Property Status: Good (was: Fair)」
「Structures」
「Farmhouse: Good | Roof: Good | Barn: Good」
「Front Steps: Good | Back Porch: Good」
「Pump: Functional | Well: Functional」
「Fireplace: Functional | Root Cellar: Good」
「Stone Wall: Standing (full perimeter)」
「Cold Frame: Built (winter close)」
「Smokehouse: Operational」
「Garden」
「Plots Active: 10 (6 + 4 East Expansion) | Mulched for winter」
「Soil Quality: Good (improved from Fair)」
「Pumpkin: White Skeleton, First Place, Fall Festival」
「Livestock」
「Horse: Roan (gelding, age 5) | Status: Healthy」
「Companion: Ghost (wolf, adult) | Status: Resident, Patrolling | Scarred (gryphon-cut along left flank, fully healed)」
「Finances」
「Total Earned (Year Two): 2g 8s 12c」
「 └ Gryphon Bounty: 30s | Gryphon Parts (cut): 36s 12c | Harvest: 1g 24s | Tile/Repair Work: 18s」
「Total Spent (Year Two): 1g 47s」
「 └ Roan Final Payment: 50s | Supplies/Tools: 87s | Cold Frame Materials: 10s」
「Current Balance: 61s 12c」
「Outstanding Debt: None」
「Village Standing」
「Tillamore: Dungeon-Adjacent Settlement (Guild-classified)」
「Local Guildmaster: Sam Ofosky」
「Constable Role: Pending (sword reactivated)」
「Recognition: Gryphon Slayer (village-marked)」
「Open Threads」
「Dungeon Maturity: 3 months (midwinter)」
「Guild Liaison: en route」
「Sarah's Family: payment owed (Year Three)」
「Mark's Promise: ongoing」