Chapter 36

After Ava sent the invitation for Finn to join their group, they ventured outside, where the person in question stood leaning against the wall. He tapped with a finger in front of him.

“Hert’s party?” He snorted. “How lame is that? We’ve gotta change the name.”

Ava skipped forward and laced her fingers around Finn’s arm. “Now you’re one of us! Isn’t that awesome?”

“Of course it’s awesome, it’s got me in it.”

“And me,” Ava pouted.

“Yeah, but you’re the crown jewel.”

Ava blushed. “Thanks.”

“So, let’s meet up tomorrow again. And this time, let’s work together,” Leon said, even though it was only around lunchtime. “We could continue today, but considering Hert is still shutting down his shop and Ava is going to work in a couple of hours, I thought it might be better to take the rest of the day off.” Not to mention that he wanted some time away from Finn, if that was at all possible.

Hert nodded. “Yeah. Eight by the crafting fountain.”

Ava and Hert said goodbye, and as they started walking away, Finn called after them, “Don’t forget to think about a new name!”

Leon shook his head and walked toward the narrow street that would take him back to the inn.

“Easy-peasy,” Finn said, just behind him. “See? You just had to let me show what I’m capable of, and now you’ve got a powerful team mate. Don’t you regret saying no at first?”

“Yeah, sure,” Leon said.

“So, what are we going to do now, team mate? Celebrate with an ale at the inn?”

Leon debated with himself. He wanted to go to Trouble, to see how she’d been doing during the day, but going back to the inn wouldn’t get him away from Finn. He also needed to have a look at something for Trouble to lie on. Where could he find that, though? The tailor?

“Yeah, you know, let’s take that drink another time. I just remembered something.” Leon turned around to walk back to the square.

“That’s cool. I can come with you,” Finn said, following.

Leon stopped and turned. “Alone. Look, I get you’re all happy to be with a party, but your behavior today doesn’t really make me want to spend more time with you.”

Finn frowned. “What do you mean? I was awesome.”

“You sure were.” Leon racked his brain. “I thought you’d be tired from all that fighting. Surely you don’t want to go on a shopping spree and then run circles around the Slum for an hour or so?”

“I can run if I want to,” Finn said, crossing his arms.

“I’m sure you can. But since you’ve done so much today, you really deserve a break.”

Finn nodded, slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I totally do.”

“See you later, then,” Leon said, waving him off.

“Just remember—you owe me a drink!”

Leon just raised his hand and kept walking. A drink for some alone time. A good bargain, considering his options.

A minute later, Leon pulled on the door to the tailor, but got a notification that it was closed for today, for personal reasons. Leon chuckled. Someone really took time to create these NPCs if they had complicated home lives. But then again, Margaret was also an NPC, and she definitely had feelings of her own, too.

Leon looked to the side, but decided it would be wise to give Finn more time to get to the inn or find something else to occupy his mind. So, he started running in the other direction.

There was no reason for him to go into the forest by himself, because it would only grate on his weapons with little to no payoff, especially now that the party had an extra person in it. Better just to train his agility some more and hope it helped.

As he passed the general goods store in the Slums, he slowed. Maybe the man had some spare piece of leather or something else that Trouble could lie on. He walked up to the porch and raised his hand to open the door, but stopped. His contempt for the man won, and he let his arm fall.

“Sir, do you have a coin to spare for an old lady?” a voice said behind him.

Leon chuckled to himself. It brought back the memory of when he first entered Pura and the same voice had asked the exact same question. He’d had to run the best he could to not be robbed blind. He also remembered having to climb up on the roof after being stuck in the Slums after dark. An idea popped up in his head. Maybe it would work, but he’d rather wait to try it out until evening came and he knew he didn’t pass through the Slums.

Pleased with the idea, he started running again.

It was almost three in the afternoon as Leon finished his last lap and approached the inn. As usual, the square held several small groups of people, just standing around and chatting, but he couldn’t see Finn anywhere. Hopefully, he wasn’t at the bar, either.

Leon opened the door. The same grumpy-looking men sat at the tables with their tankards, and the lute playing woman sat in the corner of the next room, plucking at the strings. For some reason, the sound she played sounded more off beat than usual. Leon crossed the floor, toward the staircase. As he climbed the first step, something caught the hem of his shirt.

“Hey, you,” the old innkeeper said. “You never told me you had a rabbit staying with you.”

“Is that a problem? In that case, I’m sorry.”

The old man let him go and scratched behind one of his ears, looking at the floor. “Well…”

“Look, I’m sorry. She couldn’t fall asleep on the floor, but as soon as I get something for her to lie on, she’ll probably be with me most days. You won’t notice her anymore.”

The old man’s face turned up, his eyes wide. “No, no. Don’t worry about it, lad. Actually, she’s quite charming.” He coughed into his hand. “Well, it’s against regulations for an innkeeper to go into rented rooms, but since I heard a weird noise…”

Leon smiled. “That’s alright. So, there’s no problem that she stays with me?”

“No, no. Actually…” He held up a finger. “Wait here.”

Without giving Leon time to respond, the man trotted over to the string, pulled it, and entered beneath the trapdoor. Leon frowned as he watched it close. Less than a minute later, he came up, holding a brown, rolled up bundle in his arms.

“This is for her. On one condition.”

Leon raised his eyebrows and looked from the leather to the man.

“If… if she ever annoys you when you’re trying to sleep, or she doesn’t want to join you for a day… leave her with me.”

“Okay? Um… sure, I suppose. As long as she wants to and she doesn’t come to harm.”

The innkeeper pushed the leather into Leon’s arms, prompting a box.

Innkeeper Crag wants to gift you a bundle of leather. [Accept] [Decline]

“Accept,” Leon said. “Thanks.”

Crag waved him toward the stairs, and Leon continued up them. What a weird little man. He seemed so grumpy and uptight, but he also seemed to have a soft side. He supposed that was good.

Leon entered the room, where he saw Trouble sitting in the middle. She jumped toward him and pressed her head toward his stomach. He put the bundle of leather under his arm and scratched behind her ear.

“I heard you made a new friend today,” Leon said, walking past her. She followed and stopped when he did. “He wants you to keep him company from time to time. Is that okay with you?”

Leon opened the bundle and rolled it out over the floor, close to the storage chest. Trouble pressed her head under his arm.

“I suppose that’s a yes?”

She pushed her head toward him, making him step aside. Then she approached her new bed with two careful jumps. She sniffed it, then laid down.

It was simple leather, except that it still had light gray fur covering one side. He wondered where it came from. It looked like from a wolf, but bigger. A flash of the dungeon keeper flushed through his head. When dungeon keeper Prelock killed the behemoth wolf, the body hadn’t shattered until Ai ordered it to. Maybe the same reason held true to this piece. That must be how they got meat and such as well.

Leon tapped his fingers on his arms, wondering what more to do today. He deposited the small stack of loot into the chest to be sold later, since they had forgotten to divide it before they split up for the day.

They’d gotten three grasshopper legs and one antenna, which were both labeled as crafting material, and between 18-20 coins for each felled monster they had taken down. Painfully little, considering they were three who would share the loot and how much time they’d put in. Maybe hunting wolves wasn’t such a bad idea, after all. Although… there might be another option.