After an hour of quietly winding down, Mina seemed a bit better. Maybe she was just getting over the day, maybe my Soothing Purr was slowly helping, or perhaps Ium’s terrible puns were the cause. Probably a mixture of all three, but I’d gladly take all the credit for it. Eventually she got up, leaving the room and ascending the stairs. Without me. I was just curled up on a table, all alone now.

I was a bit miffed to be honest. After everything I had done, she just went upstairs without me? Whatever, I was fine on my own. I could entertain myself perfectly well, I’d simply Insight everything in the shop. Boom, exciting and productive! Had to be close to leveling up now, right? I’d just do it until that happened.

A wooden door.

A glass mug.

A bottle of wine.

A green healing potion.

Due to repeated use, Insight has reached level 3!

Ha, I knew it was almost there! Felt a bit too fast to be honest, it had been what, a day? Longer than the first level up for sure, but Insight was going up quick. Probably because all I did was sit around and spam it on people. Anyway, time to see what changed, I suppose.

A potent green healing potion.

Oh wow, a new adjective. Great. So helpful. Now what?

Leveling Insight was my only real goal I had right now, even if I had thought it up on the spot. It had taken me all of 20 seconds, and the payoff had been mediocre at best. What was I supposed to do once I’d achieved all I wanted? I wasn’t really the best at thinking up ways to keep myself entertained, in this life or my last. Giving up on deciding has always worked for me before, so I guess I could just sleep until something happens. Sighing with slight boredom, I curled myself up atop a table and closed my eyes. At least drifting off was always nice.

My attempt at sleep was tragically not allowed to happen. Would have been nice, but no. I had been trying to fall into dreamland for not more than five minutes when the tavern door swung open, Mina’s parents walking in. They seemed to be mid-conversation, so I perked up my ears to hear better. I hadn’t really heard these two talk with each other before, might as well snoop in.

“She won’t like that at all, honey.” Warned Mina’s dad.

“I know. Can’t forget how it went over the last time you offered to work with her.” Mina's mom responded. “But this will only be for a few days, maybe she’ll be okay with it.”

Mina’s dad sighed. “Hopefully. I just wish she was easier to help.” He placed a large, covered basket that he’d been holding behind the bar.

“Would be nice.” Mina’s mom slouched down into a chair, scratching my ears. “She’s got a stubborn streak longer than a cragwurm.”

Mina’s dad chuckled. “I wonder who she got that from, dear.” He said, bending down to plant a kiss on her cheek. For fucks sake, really? Get a room, you two.

Ah wait. They had gotten a room. I was in their home.

Smiling, Mina’s mom gave a quick peck back. Sappy bastards. “Couldn’t be me. Should we call her down now?”

Mina’s dad paused for a moment before nodding. “No sense putting it off. I’ll get dinner heated up if you go get her.” He said, walking off to the kitchen.

Mina’s mom got up and went upstairs. Perhaps now I would be able to sleep.

Nope, of course I wasn’t gonna get to sleep. Don’t even know why I thought that I would. I’d been forcibly relocated to a chair this time; if Mina’s grasp was hard to escape, her mother’s was a maximum security prison. Both the parents had returned, three plates of food set out. After a minute of waiting, Mina walked in and sat down.

“Sorry, had to finish something up for a potion.” She mumbled.

“No need to apologize.” Mina’s mom said sweetly, beginning to dig into her food with gusto. A tension filled silence came over the table as everyone picked at their meals. Eventually, Mina’s dad broke it.

“So, how was your day?” Oh no, wrong question. Do not ask that.

“Was fine. Lots of customers.” It was not fine.

The awkward silence returned. Mina’s mother broke it this time. “Well, we heard about some noble child crying that, and I quote: ‘A vicious beast at the guild hall tore through his flesh, insatiable in its thirst for his blood.’” She chuckled, no one else did. “Kid had a tiny scratch, if anything. I assume there’s more to the story?” Oh great, Chet complained after almost killing someone. What a nice guy. Hope his scratch got infected.

“I was closing up. He was mad that he had to come back tomorrow. Yelled a lot, threatened me, had lightning on his fists.” Both her parents looked rather livid. “Soot scratched him and he ran away crying before he could hurt me. Paw got singed from the lightning though.” Oh no, all of them were looking at me now.

Mina’s dad frowned a bit. “Well, your mother and I said that the cat could only stay if it didn’t cause trouble, and only until the paw was healed…” They looked at each other, nodding. “But this is definitely an exception. You can keep Soot as long as you want. Who knows what that bastard could have done to you otherwise.” He reached over to pet me, which was very deserved in my opinion. It was rather gentle, if a bit clumsy. 8/10 pet score for Mina’s dad.

Mina’s mom continued the conversation, passing me a large piece of meat. “Chet Tysoon will be banned from here from now on, so no need to worry about him coming back.” Mina smiled at all the good news, sitting up in her seat. “That being said, it would be a lot safer if incidents like this were prevented preemptively. I know you strongly prefer not to have help, but it’ll be crowded here for the next few days…”

Mina’s dad picked up where her mom left off, like they were passing batons in a race. “So, to make sure nothing like this happens again, I’ll be working alongside you for a bit.” Is this what they were talking about before?

Groaning, Mina threw her hands in the air. “I can handle it perfectly fine myself!”

“We know you can, but we don’t want you to get hurt. With your condition, defending yourself isn’t exactly safe, and this rush of sign-ups will go by faster if your father is there to help and deal with problems like today. He did this job for years, there’s no shame in having him return to it for a couple days.” Her mother explained calmly.

“And remember, if you ever want a day off, or a break, just ask and I’ll cover for you no matter what.” Her father finished, continuing to eat. There was a bit of sauce in his mustache, but he quickly wiped it away with a napkin.

Mina had her arms crossed. “Fine.” She answered simply. “But I don’t need a break.” She replied firmly, looking up at her parents with fiery defiance. I’d assumed her parents were just overworking her until now, honestly. Why was she being so resistant to help on a job that, as far as I could tell, sucked ass? Who denies less work, or a day off? Mina, apparently.

That seemed to be the end of the conversation. After a few more minutes of silence and small talk, she cleared her plate, excusing herself. She paused for a moment, as if she was about to pick me up, but I was currently feasting upon the sizable slab of meat that had been tossed to me. Shrugging, she went upstairs, leaving me to my feast.

Dinner was finished not long after Mina left. After clearing the table, wiping it down, and opening the doors, some people began to trickle into the guild hall tavern, taking seats at various tables. I’d elected to hop back up onto the bar, and Mina’s dad seemed far less peeved about it than before. It was a bit less packed than the previous night thankfully, but there was still a buzz of conversations to listen in on. Good ol’ eavesdropping.

“I hear the demon king somehow stopped the hero summoning! What are we supposed to do now? This war is as good as lost…”

"I pray Radia can protect us."

Huh? That isn't what happened, and Radia isn't gonna do shit.

“Eating out twice in a row, Vic? Quite the treat!”

“Don’t really feel like making dinner tonight, y’know?”

Oh, they were here last night, right? Meh, who cares.

“You gotta believe me man, some demons feed on negative energy and emotions! They can’t live without it, they’re pure evil! I swear one’s been following me around!”

“Dude. It’s been one drink and you’re already being weird.”

Gotta love weird and unrealistic crackpot theories.

“They say the demon king’s dragon annihilated an entire squadron last night.”

The demon king had a DRAGON? Glad I wasn’t trying to kill him. Sucked to be those guys.

“Sal became an adventurer today… I’m proud of him, but I’ll miss teaching him about the forge.”

“Well, you have to let them take flight one day, hopefully he and Harper both enjoy this path.”

“Oh! Did your daughter sign up too?”

Hmmm, those were vaguely familiar names.

“Ugh, Petter’s Potion Emporium sold me a shoddy vision improver. I swear, that shop is always scamming people.”

Personally, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to get scammed, but that’s just me.

As the night wound down, my peaceful listening and judging was interrupted as it always is. Mina’s dad had scooped me up over his shoulder with one arm, the covered basket in the other. He gave a ‘one moment’ sign to the last few stragglers at the bar, heading up the stairs. No one ever asked before picking me up, I just had to accept that I had no agency over my own location anymore. He placed both me and the basket on the floor, knocking on Mina’s door and brushing my fur off his shoulder.

“Mina, I think Soot wants to go in!” He called. Bending over, he patted my head once, smiling. “Well, you can’t understand me, but thank you for defending her earlier today.” Yeah yeah, you’re welcome. I’m amazing. Do it yourself next time.

Mina opened the door as her dad walked down the stairs, bringing me to her bed before making a second trip for the basket. There was a note with incredibly neat handwriting attached to it.

Reading the note, Mina smiled faintly, even if she rolled her eyes a bit. Uncovering the basket, she gasped, breaking into a grin as she sifted through the contents. There were at least 30 vitaleafs, along with a slew of plants I didn’t recognize. Assorted horns, furs, and gems, vials of liquids, powders, small solids. Tossing the note aside (and quickly apologizing when it bounced off my head and landed in front of me), Mina bounced with glee, eagerly opening her desk drawer and slotting some of the new ingredients into it. I rotated the note a bit, beginning to read it.

If you ever want assistance with work or with your potions, please don’t be afraid to ask. I know you prefer to do things alone, but your mother and I are more than happy to help. I figured you could use some extra supplies, but I’m not the most potion savvy so I just got you a whole bunch of stuff. Consider it payback for that rude guy from the vitaleaf quest.

Love, Dad.