Chapter 3.08 G WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

Kingdom of Ravaryn

4th Fireday of the Full Moon

Ginka awoke inside an unfamiliar room. Swinging her legs over the bed, she stood up and fell back onto her ass. She seemed to be dizzy.

Am I hungover? What happened last night?

She laid back down for a bit more till she could stand again. Going down to the common room, she found Vastra humming along as she was cleaning the tables.

“Good morning, V. What happened last night?”

“Oh, Ginka! We had what you called a pizza party! I’ve never had as many people in my inn as we did last night. Thank you so much!”

Vastra went into the back and brought a bowl of what might have been: kind of, sort of, not in any kind of ballpark, oatmeal.

“Breakfast,” said Vastra.

With a groan, Ginka got up and went into the kitchen. She removed two enormous eggs and some vegetables from the runed ColdBox. In minutes Ginka had two large omelets ready to go. She brought them upfront, placing one in front of V.

“Breakfast,” said Ginka.

“This is so good, Ginka,” Vastra said as she did a little happy dance.

“No problem. So, Aelithis tells me you own the shop next to the inn as well? Do you have any plans for it?”

“No, I don’t. I can barely keep this place going. If I had to pay taxes, I would have gone under phases ago.”

“Well, I want to run a bakery. I’d also like to keep helping you as well. I think Bastiva sent me here with the idea of me helping you out while I work on my plans. What would you say to me taking over the shop next door, and I’ll help you out with dinner here at the inn?”

The Bast cleared over the bar without touching it and gave Ginka a crushing hug.

“Yes, Yes, Ginka! Thank you!”

V let Ginka go, bounded up the stairs, and was back in a few moments.

“Here is the Runed Key for the shop. You’ll need this to get inside. You can have the room above the shop as your own. Feel free to use the Inn’s kitchen till you can buy the equipment you need.”

“Thank you, V. I’m going to go explore the shop and the area for a bit. I’ll be back tonight to make dinner. If anyone asks, I’ll be making spaghetti with sausage.”

“Spig tee and sausage. Ok, I’ll tell them.”

Ginka left the inn and headed to the shop next door. Unlocking the door, she found a very dusty front room filled with glass cases. Wiping her fingers across a glass case, Ginka came back with a pure grey stain on her fingertip. Walking behind the counter, then through the door to the back, she found what seemed to be the remains of a storage room. Grabbing a few discarded rags, broom, and mop, Ginka began the arduous task of cleaning the front room.

Grabbing the bucket, she filled it with water and began dusting and cleaning everything. After a few hours, the shop was free from all dust.

With the shop all cleaned up, Ginka noted things she would need and locked up. Going next door, she spoke with Vastra about how garbage collection worked. The Bast brought Ginka out through the backdoor and into the alley, where she showed Ginka the large containers they used for trash.

“Fill them up, and someone will be by to pick the containers up and replace them with empty ones. They just know when it’s full. I’m not sure how. They probably have some type of runes in them as everything else does. You can use mine till you register your shop and get your own,” said Vastra.

“Alright, thank you. I’m going out to go explore some. I’ll be back later.”

Ginka walked through the city, taking in the sites. She asked Sig to take notes of the blacksmith’s locations and the woodworker. They would be two of the first places she would need to visit once she wanted to start getting things made for her bakery. Passing an open market, she stopped to grab a few dozen more eggs and a type of ground grain they had. Wandering around the market for a bit, she found Bulbie sitting in the same place he had the day before.

“You’re back already, Bulbie?”

The young centaur male ‘tsked.’

“My parents think because I sold everything, others will see the product is good and will buy some themselves. Of course, I have yet to sell a single sack today.”

“I’m sorry. Once I start experimenting with it, I might be able to buy more from you. Could I bother you for a favor? I’m going to take over the shop next to the inn and turn it into a bakery. I wondered if you would help me clear out the shop of the broken display cases and everything in the back room? I’m not strong enough to move much. I can pay you with a few dinners for your trouble.”

“Sure, I can help you out, Ginka. Will you be making more of that pizza?”

“Not tonight. I’m going to make something a bit easier. Something I can teach Vastra how to make.”

“Alright, let me close up shop then.”

Bulbie waved his hand, and the sacks all wisped into the Centaur’s magic bag. The two began walking back towards Ginka’s future bakery. Ginka pointed out all of the old clutter she needed to be removed from the shop, and Bulbie got to work. Ginka told him if he needed anything, she would be next door working on dinner.

Removing the flour and eggs, Ginka began to experiment with making the dough. Once she got the desired consistency, she began making a larger batch. With the larger batch, she added salt and what looked like olive oil from the market.

Rolling the dough out to a very thin layer, she sprinkled more flour onto it, folded it a few times, and then began cutting the dough into noodles. That done, she then placed the noodles into a strainer and set them into boiling water.

Ginka fished a noodle out around five minutes later and tossed it at the wall. The noodle stuck in place.

Guess they’re done.

Removing the strainer from the boiling water, Ginka placed it above a metal bowl to strain. Next, she began working on the sauce for tonight’s dinner. Using the same purple tomato fruit, she made the same sauce for the pizza, except she didn’t strain out the fruit’s chunks this time. With the sauce now on the stove, she cut up the same sausage meat from the night before. The chopped pieces were thrown into the sauce as well.

Twenty minutes later, Ginka was now eating her first bowl of spaghetti and loving it.

“Vastra, come here!” Ginka shouted.

The Bast peeked her head into the kitchen, looking around as if clearing the room of danger, and then walked over to Ginka.

“What can I do for you, Ginka?”

“Try this, please.”

Ginka handed V the bowl she was eating from. The Bast looked down at the familiar dish.

“Pasta?”

“I can’t always make new and wondrous things for you,” Ginka said.

The Bast began to eat and didn’t stop eating till the bowl was empty.

“This is the best pasta I’ve ever had. Is this the same sauce as the pizza?”

“It is, but I left the chunks of the fruit in the sauce and added the meat as it cooks. If you like it so much, I can show you how to make it. Come watch as I make the next couple batches of dough.”

Ginka took Vastra through the steps of making the dough and was amazed at how the Bast never got hairs in anything she mixed. After a few attempts, V seemed to get the hang of making the dough and breezed through making and cutting the noodles. Vastra only got to work on one batch as the Bast was pulled back to the bar when people started to come for their evening drinks.

As Ginka finished making two more large pots of the meat sauce, Bulbie came through the back door.

“Hey Ginka, I cleared out the back room and the broken display cases. Anything else you need help with?”

“Nope, come and have some dinner, kiddo.”

Ginka made Bulbie a large plate and had him head out to the common room. A few minutes later, V came into the back and said a few patrons want what the Centaur is eating. Ginka served her spaghetti to another full room for the next three hours. It seemed news of the inn’s new cook had quickly spread around the area.

After the night began winding down, Ginka denied someone to drink with them for what seemed like the hundredth time. She didn’t want to get accustomed to waking up with a hangover. As Ginka finished cleaning the kitchen, Vastra came in and handed her a small stack of coins.

“Last night, and tonight’s money for the food. Thank you again, Ginka. I was able to fill up a few more rooms tonight as well.”

“Don’t worry about it, V. Thank Bastiva instead for sending me your way. I’m just glad to be meeting and talking to people again. I didn’t think I’d ever get to work like I used to.”

The Bast left her new friend to clean. Ginka pocketed the coins, her magic bag telling her she now had 435 silver. Finished, Ginka walked out to the common room to say her goodbyes but was stopped by one of the Dwarfs.

“Hey lass, V be telling us you look to open a bakery next door and require equipment.”

“That is correct. I still have to figure out what I need and how much it will cost. I’m told the runed equipment V has is expensive.”

“Aye lass, that it be. My grand-nephew and I are blacksmiths. We specialize in crafting equipment. If you come by our workshop, we can show you what we make and give you prices. We can even do custom orders if need be.”

“Oh, that would be grand!”

The three chatted for a while longer. Ginka then got the directions to the workshop and said goodbye to the two Dwarfs. She gave Bulbie her thanks again and said good night to Vastra. She left the inn out of the backdoor just in time to see two dark figures picking up the garbage container and placing it on a cart. The second person then replaced the box as soon as the other picked the full one up.

“Excuse me,” said Ginka.

The two figures froze and then ran to the side of the alley. They bowed their heads the entire time as Ginka walked by and into her shop’s backdoor. Looking behind her, she noticed the two dark figures had slightly red-glowing parts on their body. She also noted with concern the two still kept their heads lowered as she closed the door and locked it.

Going upstairs, she headed straight to bed. She sprawled out on the mattress and then groaned.

“Damnit, I forgot to buy sheets and a blanket,” Ginka complained to the empty room.

Getting off the bed, she left the room and looked around the spare two-bedroom apartment.

“Sig, can you make a note for things I need to buy tomorrow?”

[Sure, Samantha.]

“Please call me Ginka from now on, I guess.”

After giving Sig a list of things she would need, Ginka went into the living room at the front of the building and stared out into the street below. With the runed powered lights off inside the apartment, the lanterns glowing brightly lining the road, casted shadows inside the living room.

“Add curtains to that list as well, Sig.”

Ginka sat down in the room’s sole chair and looked up at the ceiling. The image of Bastiva flashed across her mind and the small bag she had in her magic bag. Pulling out the small bag and untying it, she reached inside and pulled out an old dusty tome. Reaching into the bag again, she noticed her hand going further inside than it should have been able to. Removing the next object, she found a small ornate box. Inside the small box sat a little round marble the color of lilacs.

Reaching into the bag again, she pulled out another small sack. Inside were more marbles that shined brightly. Putting the sack on the ground near the book and box, she reached into the bag again. The last item inside was a folded piece of paper. Opening it, she began to read.

Ginka,

A mutual friend of ours has asked me to ‘drop this’ in front of the Adventurers’ Guild on my way to my classes today. I’m informed you are new to our world and need a little push in the right direction.

Inside this magic sack, you will find a Knowledge Tome, a Skill Core, and a bag of, might I say, very expensive cores. These are all items that are given to my students. As you are new, please take everything and go to the Guild Hall before you sleep tonight and ask for an ascension room.

While there, crush all the cores inside the sack, and then say Status. Level all of your attributes till they are 10 and finally, accept the changes once you are inside the pool.

Champion of Bastiva

“Well, Sig, this sounds interesting. I guess tonight’s as good a time as any to go do this.”

[You will not be happy in the morning.]

“What, why?!”

[Waking up after you’ve ascended is a smelly business.]