Killing
is easy.
Bureaucratically
speaking.
Killing
monsters was never wrong, and usually, if you popped into the nearest
Adventurer's Guild, there could be a reward for killing in addition
to advancing your ranks.
Killing
people is harder, and an active bounty made everything smoother. One
could just inform the nearest guard of the kills and be escorted to
the nearest barracks to check out the posters.
Seventh
remembered how Branik, the local village guard, had been just a
little bit nervous to check the most recent notifications. He had
found three matching posters for the bandits that Seventh had killed,
and a quick report had been made.
Back
at the Adamantine Bastion, Seventh presented the three bodies to the
City Watch and provided a more detailed report. He didn't even
remember how he had returned to the city.
The
bandits were stripped of their equipment and given to Seventh as a
bonus. You owned what you killed while doing bounties, but the guards
made it crystal clear that that didn't mean that Seventh should start
killing bandits and raise them as undead.
Some
things were frowned upon.
Seventh
remembered standing outside the barracks, feeling the weight of the
coins in a pouch.
The
weight of three lives.
All
of that was becoming hazy afterimages of a long-forgotten memory
after a long day and short evening of drinking in the Bloated Badger.
Seventh had dropped the bag of gold in front of Annise and asked her
to throw him out after the money was spent.
He
had a vague concept of time passing by, people moving around him,
talking, and loud laughter. After a couple of cups, they blurred into
distant shapes and buzzing background noise.
Even
the wound on his chest started to ease. Throbbing less and less, mug
after mug.
Tha's
useful, no spell needed...
A
familiar face appeared in the sharp centre of Seventh's vision. Her
long brown hair was cut short on both sides, leaving only a strip of
mid-length hair in the middle. The front of the longer strip was dyed
red, making Jenn look like a chicken in Seventh's eyes.
He
snort-laughed loudly and almost tipped his mug over. Annise had swept
around his table a while ago and changed the pricey tin mugs and
steel steins into cheap wooden cups and mugs.
“Did
ya lose a bet orr wha?” Seventh asked while trying to figure out
which one of the two empty cups he was seeing was the real one.
Jenn
answered with an annoyed groan. “No, it’s fashion! Dyed hair is
in right now, look it up.”
“’nd
the butchery o’ the har?”
“You’re
clearly drunk, my hair is awesome,” Jenn said with a wide smile and
slid her hair back. As the hair slowly recovered, Jenn made a deep
sniff towards Seventh, and her attitude shifted slightly, worry
entering her tone. ”Actually, you’re really drunk. You... okay?”
“Neeever
better. Got my Soldier Class alll the way to uppidy-upp Bronze. All
skill tapped 'n ready fo’ E-rank. Even got a fourth Classs. Oh! 'N
Necromancy, the usual, ya know,” Seventh said with a long, droning
voice. Clearly bereft of the joy and happiness such news usually
brought.
“Ooo-okay,
maybe I take this— and put it right here,” Jenn said and deftly
picked the mug Seventh had been nursing away from him and placed it
outside of his reach. “And you might want to consider drinking some
water.”
“That
wasn’t water?”
She
sniffed the mug and blerghed. “No, I think this is some kind of
alchemical concoction made from old vomit and new regrets.”
“Would
explain a lot.” Seventh reached towards the bottle. Who needs cups
and mugs anyway?
Jenn
snatched the bottle out of his hands before Seventh could even sniff
it out. “Gimme that. So, where’s the troll farting? I heard you
go to sleep early and wake up early. It’s almost midnight, not
really your style.”
”Told
ya alreedy. Got my Class up.”
”Yeah,”
Jenn said and poked Seventh’s shoulder playfully. ”You’re the
beacon of happiness and a pinnacle of adventuring success right now.”
Seventh
focused and laboriously met the Ranger’s eyes and kept his head
still. “I collected . Not from the Guild.”
Understanding
spread on Jenn's face. “Oh. I’m... I'm sorry, Seventh.”
“Yeah,
yeah. I’m okay— gonna be okay? Yeah, am okay,” Seventh managed
to mutter while looking for a not-empty bottle that Jenn wouldn't
snatch off his hands.
“You
wanna talk about it?”
Seventh’s
hands stopped working the cork on the bottle he had found. “Nope.
Not at all.”
Turning
the bottle in his hands, fingers still trying to pull out the cork,
his movements grew slower until his hands stopped. Seventh stared at
the label on the green bottle as he spoke.
“It’s
her face. Her last words, she begged.” He couldn’t read the text
on the bottle through the haze.
Jenn
gently slid the bottle out of Seventh’s limp hands.
“Tha’s
becoming old. And rude,” he said.
Jenn
deftly popped the cork and poured them both a drink. “You can’t
let the death talk get to you. It will fester— and crumble you
inwards if you let it.”
“You...
have also... ?” Seventh didn't finish the question, but instead
sipped the drink. It was probably booze, but his tongue had been shot
for hours. He could be drinking Alchemist's Fire for all he knew.
“Yeah.”
Jenn looked down for a moment, diving deep into her memories. It was
her turn to stare down at her drink. “A couple of years back, with
another party. Some of the guys... well, they did exactly as you are
doing right now. A month-long bender with a plethora of arrests.”
Seventh
tried to taste the drink again by sloshing it in his mouth. No luck,
he swallowed. “I prolly can’t keep thi' up fo' a month. They
still ’round?”
“They
quit. Crumbling, remember?”
“Not
you, though. Ya found a new party.” Seventh shifted awkwardly. Last night's talk with Fang is still fresh in his mind.
Jenn
chuckled, a smile slowly returning.
“How have they been? I... haven’t had a chance to sit 'n chat with ya.”
Jenn
flicked her hand dismissively. ”Fine, I guess. They kinda disappear
for a week or two before they're ready for the next delve. But now
we’re talking about you. What happened?”
Seventh
told her the condensed version. How he had escorted Ford to the
village, heard about the bear, and went looking for it. The fight,
his wounds, and the new class. He even pulled out a Wizard-Killing
Arrow from his inventory. There had been two of them in the bandit's
quiver.
Jenn
listened, nodding along, twirling the arrow on her hand. At the end
of Seventh's story, she poured a heavy drink for both of them.
“Saint’s bones, no wonder you’re a wreck.”
Seventh
lifted his mug for a loud toast, “FOR BEING A FUCKEN WRECK!”
Half
of the bar cheered and lifted their drinks. “For being a fucking
wreck! Sammy-boy!”
Seventh
blinked as he stared around. One eye at a time. ”A wha boy now?”
“It’s
nothing important,” Jenn said quickly and steered the conversation—
and Seventh's focus— away from the other smiling tavern patrons.
“What I hear, you did all correctly. You helped a village. Probably
saved that Hunter from retribution for killing their bear.
Beatsmasters get touchy with things like that.”
“I
know. 'Bout the right thing, ya know? Not about the Beastmasters. No
clue 'bout their... animal business'ess.”
“So
why—”
“”
Seventh interrupted by slamming his wooden mug to the table, cracking
it. “All I to do is help. Tha's all. Normal, simple,
no-strings-attached, bloody . I try to become an
adventurer, Interrogation. I kill rats, I become the
Necromancer of the Sewers... ”
“A
what now? Interrogation?”
Seventh
didn't even hear Jenn's comment while continuing his rant.
“...
I kill veltids, te' whole damn Guild turns on me for doing the right
thing. Can I join a party with that sorta attitude?
And just hates us. Necromancers! I haven't even done
anything nefarious! The Class! I try to
kill a bear, I get shot, bleed on the ground, and then and then... and
then... ”
The
barrage of words died to a loud swallow, coercing the words to come
out. Seventh tried to clear his throat with a drink, but the cracked
mug had emptied itself onto the table.
“She
me,” he finally whispered. “Not to turn her into a
monster. Or called me a monster... Tryin’ to figure that one out
’ere.”
They
sat in silence while the tavernfolk started to sing merrily around.
Somebody had bought a round for all, Annise skipped Seventh and
Jenn's table.
Jenn
tried to meet Seventh’s wandering eyes, leaned forward, and softly
squeezed his hand. Her fingers were calloused, warm.
“You
are not a monster, no matter what anybody says. Don’t let others
define you. Especially not some bandits,” she whispered.
“Show those fuckers what Necromancers really are. Who really
are.”
Seventh
nodded slowly, avoiding eye contact. He feared that he would see
barely hidden disgust or contempt in Jenn's eyes.
She
leaned further and whispered conspiratorially, “You don’t have
them in your inventory, right? That would make this
awkward afterwards.”
Seventh
tried to keep the indecent laughter in, but it burst out with an
impressive snot-filled snort and boisterous laughter.
He
hoped everybody would think the tears were from laughing.
“No.
I have a bear, though. It ”
After
Seventh had calmed down— and wiped his face clean— Jenn started
to ask about his first week of adventuring. He slowly opened up about
the Order of Illumination interrogation, his rather odd guildmaster,
and fighting in the sewers.
Normal,
boring adventuring stuff the grand sagas forget to tell you about,
and the bards didn’t sing songs of; the blistering callouses,
grainy ration bars, and the god-awful stench of the sewers.
Jenn
listened to Seventh's ramblings patiently, often chuckling and
offering advice or telling stories from her own first month.
It
turned out she was born and raised in the Adamantine Bastion and had
lived there most of her life. She had spent a couple of years in the
eastern Skyreach Mountains doing caravan work.
She
had nothing else but a glowing recommendation to spend a bit of time
just rolling around in the countryside, trying to get some low-key
adventuring done.
Somewhere
in between two people just talking with each other, Seventh slowly
started to feel like a human again, not just an adventurer climbing
the rank-ladder.
As
his sense of taste slowly returned, Seventh realised Jenn had been
pouring water for them. He smacked his lips like he was at a higher
echelon winetasting party— the meeting kind, not a collection of
roving murderhobos kind— and eyed suspiciously at the bottle Jenn
had poured from.
“You
know,” Seventh said. ”I believe I have been tricked.”
“Not
my fault you tried to poison yourself with something called...
Sarges’s Ferosious Rotgut. The label says this works as a boat
cleaner!” Jenn retorted while pouring more water, and pointed at
the half-full bottle sneakily pushed aside.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Seventh
grunted and emptied his water mug. “Thanks for being here. For me.”
“Don’t
mention it.” Jenn leaned back with an amused look. “Wouldn’t
expect your skinny ass to hold so much booze. Your inventory Skill
comes with a Hollow Leg or something?”
“Nah.
I just... You know, focus on the task and keep it up. I think my legs
are numb, though.” Seventh slapped his right leg hard, making some
of the other patrons look over. “Yep, sleeping like a log.”
Jenn
chuckled. “Maybe it's just you country folk can hold our city folks
weak booze.”
“Um.
Country folk?”
“Your
accent slipped when you were more drunk, fun to hear though. Where’s
it from?”
“I
have an accent?” Seventh asked dumbfoundedly.
“Not
right now, but, yeah. From somewhere up north?”
She
might have been just having some innocent small talk, but Seventh
felt his smile slip. Jenn spotted the change immediately.
“Yeah.”
Seventh tried to find a better sitting position with his unmoving
legs. “Somewhere.”
Or
someone else's.
An
awkward silence fell between them for a moment before Seventh broke
it by saying, “Ah, shit, that tingles something fierce,” and
rubbed his ass.
Holding
her ribs, Jenn giggled at Seventh's excruciating fate and reddening
face.
“I
was going to apologise for being late, but it looks like you’re
having company. Hopefully I’m not interrupting?” A woman's voice
asked behind Jenn. Seventh had seen her come in, look around, and
promptly walk toward him and Jenn.
The
rooster-headed Ranger turned her head, widened her smile, and leapt
up to hug the speaker.
She
was a black-haired, fair-skinned young woman in her twenties, dressed
in a working-class dress and a loose brown vest with a wide
green clothbelt. The belt and the long dress were both decorated with
yellow stitching patterns running along the hem. Her hair was tied in
a simple, messy ponytail.
Barely
giving Seventh a cursory glance with her brown eyes, her expression
changed from curiosity to a mild worry and surprise in Jenn's
bearhug.
“Viv!
Sorry, I didn’t see you coming in!” Jenn said while kindly
crushing her friend.
Red
flushed on Viv's pale cheeks and tapped Jenn on the shoulder. “Jenn.
Jennifer! Lungs... need... oxygen... to live... ”
Jenn
let Viv go and slapped her friends back apologetically. “Sorry,
sorry. You’re real late, and I have been spending the night with
Seventh here. Wha' too ya so long?”
Viv
took in a lungful of sweet air. “God’s, Jenn. We saw each other
yesterday! Hardly enough time to give me good ol’ ribcracker!”
Seventh
had silently observed the unfolding scene from the sidelines. He
hadn’t stood up in the polite way as he’d wanted, but his legs
were still pins and needles— untrustworthy at best.
Viv’s
and Seventh's eyes met, and he waved an awkward hello. “Hi. I, uh,
can’t stand right now. Pleasure to meet you... Viv?” He leaned
forward to offer his hand for a shake.
His
gesture was met with a surprisingly cool and soft hand. “That’s
right. It’s Vivienne, actually, but everybody calls me Viv.”
She
continued her silent appraisal of Seventh and slowly looked at the
messy table with the bottles, mugs, and cups. She ended up his sweep
to look at Jenn scooting over, offering Viv a seat, and squinting her
eyes lightly. “So... what’s the occasion? I hope you haven’t
snatched Jenn away from me for the evening.”
Viv
gave Seventh a final pass before sitting next to Jenn. “You’re
not his usual type though... ”
Seventh
automatically looked down at himself. He was in his casual civies, a
heavily patched and repaired grey tunic with matching trousers. Only
his boots were good, thick-soled, quality goods on him. “What,
she’s not into friendly neighbourhood hobos?”
“Not
unless they are tall, wide-chested, hairy brutes that can... ” Viv
started, but was rudely interrupted by Jenn's expertly planted hand
over Viv's mouth. Muffled mumbling was audible, but Seventh couldn't
make sense of it.
The
description matched someone Seventh knew, and he gave Jenn a
questioning raise of an eyebrow. A slight blush flashed on her face
before she reigned in her emotions.
Viv
shrugged as she mumbled behind Jenn's hand and wiggled her eyebrows
rhythmically at Seventh, ending her mysterious dialogue with a wink.
Seventh
and Jenn looked at each other, both shrugging in bafflement.
“Yeah,
I have no idea what she said. My knowledge of pantomime starts and
ends in knife-charades,” Seventh said while Jenn released her grip.
“Okay,
I'll bite. Something you wanna share with the whole class?” Jenn
asked.
“Nope,”
Viv smirked. “Just wagged my gums to make you curious and release
me from my eternal imprisonment.”
Jenn
rolled her eyes and poured drinks— Seventh got water again.
“Sneaky.”
“That’s
me,” Viv said and raised her glass. ”But not nearly as much as
you two since you didn’t answer my question: what’s the
occasion?”
Seventh
rolled his mug in his hands as Jenn leaned in to whisper something
quickly in Viv's ear.
With a curl of his finger and a short chant, Seventh sent an annoyed Whisper Wind at
Jenn. “Hey, no whispering in a company.”
She
raised her hands in a defensive gesture while sticking out her tongue
at Seventh.
“It
was nothing,” Viv assured Seventh. “She just asked me to play
nice for once.”
“Thanks,”
Seventh flatly said to Jenn. “I am indeed a delicate flower that
needs protection from the cruel world.”
“Ya
needed it about an hour ago. Two hours?” Jenn muttered into her cup
as she peeked outside. It was dark, impossible to tell the time from
the position of the sun.
“Damn,
that bad of a delve?”
Not
wanting to share too much, Seventh chose the golden middle ground of
not telling too much, but enough so he could change the subject soon.
“Something
like that. There were... deaths, and I'm trying to find some answers
from the bottom of these bottles.” He waved his hand across the row
of empty bottles. “Haven't found anything else than a convoluted
way to get legs asleep though.”
“No
party deaths,” Jenn clarified.
“Ahh.”
Viv nodded in understanding while sipping her drink. “So, a new
adventurer then?”
“Band
spanking new. Somebody called me the greenest turd on the yard... or
something like that. Greenest leaf?”
Viv
let out a delightfully short giggle as a laugh.
“I
remember that saying! It's that old guardwoman, the one with the old
sayings singularly revolving around outhouse humor. Jenn, what was
her name again? Basil?”
Seventh
snapped his fingers. “Oh, Tilly! It was her.”
Both
women nodded as the name awakened some old memories.
“Oh,
I haven't seen her in years,” Viv said as she reminiscenced ages
past. “I haven't had the need to go to the sewers for years, so
maybe that's why.”
That
perked Seventh up. “Oh? You’re an adventurer too?”
Viv
flashed Seventh an endearing smile. “Hardly. I work in a...
Family-owned tavern.”
Weird
thing to specify, but OK. “You adventured with Jenn back in the
day?”
“Yep.
We, and a couple of other people over the years.”
Seventh
remembered what Jenn had told him before and just nodded. His
slightly awkward silence and an obviously time-buying sip from his
mug made Viv side-glare at Jenn.
A
cocked smile rose to Viv's lips. “I was gonna ask earlier, but
what’s with the hair? Is that the newest fashion among the
farmer-warriors? Of the especially... kind?”
Jenn
sucked in her lips and refused to answer. Seventh used the silence as
his advantage.
“It’s
apparently ’fashion’,” he said while making airquotes.
“Really?”
Viv looked at Jenn dubiously. “And who said that? A dye merchant?”
“That’s
how they get you.” Seventh chuckled. “The next thing you know,
they are selling you the stuff to get the dye off.”
Jenn
mock-pouted and absently stroked her leftover hair. “You’re just
jealous, that’s all. You don’t have the guts to go for the
highest forms of self-presentation!”
“That’s
where you are right.” Seventh pointed Jenn with his mug before
taking a sip. “I'd be terrified of getting too much attention from
a horde of chickens.”
He
and Viv laughed at Jenn’s dramatic intake of air with a clutching of her chest. “You dare...? But yeah, in all
seriousness, I just wanted a change and went with it. That is ”
Her
deadly glare disarmed Viv's next comment, and she just smiled and
played for a moment with Jenn’s hair, trying to make the red strand
stand straight up. “You look good, darling. Very easy to spot on
the streets, too. Like Nevin when he takes the coif off.”
Seventh
snorted. “You should see him after a bath! He’s like a walking
forest fire.”
“You
know Nevin? And have been to the baths with him?” Viv made another
appraising glance of Seventh before turning to look at her friend. “
Is West Wind buttering up recruits or something?”
“Nah,”
Jenn said, squashing Seventh half a second flicker of hope. “We
just picked Seventh up from the dungeon, and he went to the Yellow
Springs with Nevin. He had his usual soak.”
“Aaah.”
Realisation lit in Viv’s eyes. ”You're the guy! Sammy-boy!”
”Who—?”
Seventh's
voice drowned under a tavern shaking, thunderous bellow of tens of
mouths, ”SAMMY-BOY!”
Mugs,
cups, and steins slammed onto the tables before being loudly gulped
devoid of beer and ale.
The
man in question looked around in utter confusion. “Wat?”
“Oh,
you know... ” Jenn started. “Adventurers like to gossip, exchange
information, stories, and the like. Somebody like you arriving during
odd circumstances tends to... make people talk. It's the flavour of
the month. Before we went to the mining expedition, there was a story
going around of a crazy party trying to get to the lower layers of
the dungeon by monsters!”
She
was clearly trying to desperately change the subject, but Viv didn't
have it. “And it doesn't hurt the rumor mill if sings,
loudly, the Ballad of Sammy-boy in the loo. Repeatedly.”
“There’s
a song?!?” Seventh asked incredulously as Jenn's face flushed red.
“Nooo-o-ooo!”
Jenn said while quickly covering her friend's mouth again, stopping
her from starting to sing.
Jenn
opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Viv.
“You
know,” she said, cocking her head at Viv. “Licking my hand
doesn't get you released faster. I'm a trained adventurer, and I
don't fall into your tri-III-cks!”
The
mischievous barmaid had slid her left hand behind Jenn's back and was
mercilessly tickling her on both sides while clearly smiling wickedly
towards her.
The
shrieking laughter coming from the distressed Ranger attracted some
attention from the other drinkers, but contrary to Seventh's
expectation, most of them turned their heads back to their tables
when they saw what was happening. Or who was doing what.
Releasing
her prisoner, Jenn retreated to the far end of the bench and rubbed
her sides. “Meanie.”
“Always.”
Viv flashed a smile to Jenn before tapping her finger on her lips in
thought. “Say, Seventh?”
“Ergh?”
The Necromancer had stared in fascination at the fight unfolding right
in front of him. He had remembered to close his mouth— just so it
didn't look like he was leering— and found it difficult to speak
properly.
“Another
thing I heard from a little bird— an unflying, domesticated
variant... ” Viv nodded towards Jenn. ”... you have an
interesting set of Skills? At least one in particular?”
Seventh's
merry mood vanished in an instant. He slowly moved his gaze towards
Jenn, who had the decency to look embarrassed. Just what had she been
babbling about him?
Is
it the necromancy again?
“You
have to be more specific,” Seventh said through lightly gritted
teeth. “I have multiple ones you could call interesting.”
Viv
lifted an inquisitive eyebrow as she said, “I'm talking about the
one that creates something small and granular?”
Taking
in a slow, deep breath, Seventh closed his eyes. It was extremely
poor manners to talk about somebody else's Skills and Class build
unless the one who was being spoken of was a very good friend of
both, or a known figure.
Seventh
folded his arms and leaned back, carefully not giving Jenn a single
glance when he opened his eyes. “Maybe I have. Why do you care?”
“Well,
depending on the size and how much you can do it, I might be
interested in making an introduction to a friend of mine.
Interested?”
There
was a soft clatter of wood and a low curse coming from Jenn.
“Why
would I? There’s a perfectly good Enchanter’s Guild in town I can
conduct business with.”
Looking
around to check they weren’t being listened to, Viv leaned in.
“Because while reputable, Prismatic Stone isn't exactly known for
their exemplary salaries or raw material purchase prices. What I can
offer to you is more reasonable prices and some goodwill around the
high people in low places, low as the grass grows.”
“And
this is just something you and your... friend, whatever, are ready to
speak with a complete stranger?”
“Nope.
I am an excellent judge of character, and frankly, most of those who
come into this tavern have the needed prerequisites to work for us.”
“Easy
to manipulate and/or plenty of blackmail material?” Seventh
guessed.
“No!”
Viv let out a short laugh, ending it on a smile. “A flexible moral
fibre and the entrepreneurial can-do-attitude!”
Seventh
furrowed his brow. “That's... just an adventurer, isn't it?”
“Now
that you mention it... Yeah, there is some overlap. Most of our
workers have done some adventuring on the side or have done so before
our employment. But back to you. Have I piqued your interest? Some
stable money on the side of adventuring? Maybe a hard-to-come-by
item or two instead of cold, hard money?”
That's...
an oddly good guess, Seventh thought as he unfurrowed his face
and finally made a cursory peek at Jenn.
The
Ranger had been oddly quiet and staring daggers at Viv. Jenn's
expression gave Seventh pause. There was deep-seated anger and
disdain well hidden, but her subtly twitching corner of the mouth and
tension around the eyes betrayed her innermost feelings.
“Well?”
“I'm
thinking.”
There
was indeed an item Seventh wanted to get his hands on, but hadn’t
had much luck in acquiring it. The Book of Right Measures and
Deviant Growths had been high on Seventh's things-to-buy-list,
but finding one had been... problematic.
He
had asked around the bookshops, parchment sellers, and ink-boilers,
but half of the shops swiftly drove him out upon hearing the title,
and the other half sold him a lot of ink and parchment so they
wouldn't go and tattle to the church about a Necromancer asking
around interesting questions. Seventh hadn’t even bothered to ask
Father Degen about the book. A gaggle of shopkeepers was enough for
him, and he didn't need a priest to blast him down with Smite.
Seventh
had started to think it was probably some kind of trap set by those
investigators— or maybe Miller just had given him a book title that
just happened to awaken ire and fear. Either way, it was something
Seventh could ask for services rendered.
“This
person you want to introduce me to... how’s their bookshelf?”
“Oh,
absolutely overflowing. They have knowledge of all sorts, and if your
tastes are more... exotic, they can ask around, try to get their
hands on a specific book.”
Stroking
his beard, Seventh glanced at Jenn. She seemed more relaxed with the
situation and was pouring herself a stiff drink of Sarges’s
Ferosious Rotgut
“Okay,
but I want Jenn to come with us to this meeting,” Seventh finally
said.
“What
the shit?” Jenn exclaimed while spilling her drink. Seventh could
swear he saw a small puff of smoke rising from the wooden table where
the liquid had touched it.
“Mildly
problematic, but I see what I can do,” Viv said while giving Jenn a
side-stinkeye. ”This and that one have some personal history
together.”
Jenn
chuckled nervously. “I can stay outside of all this,
you know. No need to get little old me involved... ”
Seventh
gave Jenn a sickly sweet smile and tapped her hand over her mug. “But
I would just crumble without emotional support in this new and scary
thing! I am a delicate flower after all.”
”Yah,
but... ” Jenn licked her lips nervously. Seventh could see a cold
sweat on her forehead.
Seventh
almost felt bad for his little pedantic revenge for her blabbering
about his Skills. I might have gone a little bit overboard with
this.
“Hey,
it’ll be fine, Viv will keep us safe, right?” Seventh asked.
Viv
grimaced and waved her hand in a fifty-fifty gesture. Better odds
than usual.
“Besides,”
Seventh continued. “We could tell Janiq what we're doing, so at
least one adult knows what’s happening.”
“Oh
Hells no!” Jenn said as her face lost most of its color.
“Perfect,”
Viv said. “I'll inform them that Jenn will be joining us as an
associate of yours. Anything else you might need for a business
meeting?”
“Can't
think of anything at the moment.”
Feeling
he had already stolen enough of Jenn and Viv's time, Seventh finished
his mug of water and finally got up. His legs had recovered from the
shock of having bloodflow again, and he offered his hand to Viv.
“It
was a pleasure to be your acquaintance, Vivienne. You contact me?”
“Pleasure
was all mine.” Viv gave Seventh a warm smile as she shook his hand.
”Good to see Jenn’s taste in men has improved. See you around...
Sammy-boy.”
With
an eye-rolling groan, Seventh left the two women and retired to his
humble room. The rise on the rickety, narrow stairs was almost
another adventure altogether, and upon arriving at his room, Seventh
collapsed to his bed, not even taking his boots off.
He
felt the slowly healing chest wound throb through the numbness of the
alcohol, and stacked Rejuvenate to speed up the healing. He had
sporadically recast the spell, but the wound still a lot of healing
to do.
It
was weird that his health bar was full, but he could feel his
less-than-optimal state. A small discrepancy that he had noticed when
checking his status after a night's rest. He'd have to check into
that— but probably when he was sober.
Seventh
almost cast Numb on the wound before stopping himself. He let it
slowly throb, getting used to the sensation.
Smacking
his pillow to the maximum fluffiness— not that it would be “fluffy”
by any standards— Seventh lay his head to rest properly and let his
mind wander around, thinking back at the day's events.
Viv's
smiling face was nice to think about as he slowly drifted asleep. His
final thoughts for the day were on the wonderment of where that smile
would lead him.
