Cain entered the meeting room and greeted Jacob and Jared who were still there. “You guys take care of all of your errands already? Where are the girls at?” He asks while taking a seat. “We took care of most of them. The girls are out shopping with our new funds.” Jacob replies while taking out the map of Hellion Forest once more.

“We managed to escape being luggage mules by saying we should stay behind and catch you up on what you missed” Jared answered while pointing towards the door. “Catherine has been waiting for you for… an hour? Something like that.” Cain walked towards the door and peeked his head outside it. He saw Catherine sitting outside the doorway to the right instantly stand up and bow lightly.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (17ms)

Cain: Go join the girls and inform them about the banquet.

Cain: Let them know I’ll pay for everything they need if they decide to go.

Cain: Make sure they don’t choose something too revealing, and don’t forget to get yourself something

Dresil: Do you not trust them, Master?

Cain: Nah, I just don’t trust those horny nobles.

Cain: Chances are they’ll try something while thinking with their lower brain and today has already been eventful enough.

Dresil: Alright.

--------------------------

“H-hello.” She said meekly. “Well… Let’s talk inside, I need to sit.” Cain sighed as he spoke then guided Catherine inside. He sat back down on a chair closest to the door on the side of the medium sized rectangular table inside the room. “So, why did you want to see me?” Cain asked Catherine while staring at the map of Hellion Forest. Dresil’s map only showed part of the forest since it focused on the countries’ terrain and cities. Whereas this map showed the forest in detail with roads and military outposts marked.

“I-I want to apologize for scheming against you and trying to rope you into my family.” Catherine did a respectful, deep curtsy while speaking. “It’s not like you actually implemented any of those plans though, so there’s nothing to forgive.” Cain replied with his eyes closed, trying to suppress a headache.

So he did know about them… how frightening. She thought while requesting. “A-and if possible, I’d like to join your party to quest a few times. I feel like there’s a lot I could learn from you.” Catherine made this request in an attempt to still have a path in the future that would allow her and Cain to build on their relationship, hopefully going from acquaintances to good friends. “I’m not the party leader though. Ask Jacob.” Cain responded as he opened his eyes now that the headache was gone.

“Oh… um… I’m not particularly opposed to it.” Jacob muttered while fumbling with his words and a stick used to point to locations on the map. “You sure? If she joins, our party will contain six people, then we won’t be able to use this quest to help rank you up.” Cain questioned Jacob’s decision, unsure as to why he would pass up on an almost guaranteed chance to complete an A-rank quest.

“Yeah… Our original plan was to wait until at least two of us were at the 5th circle before trying to upgrade our ranks anyways. This way we won’t have to keep doing dangerous quests. Also, I don’t quite feel like I deserve the chance to upgrade yet since my 5th circle wasn’t exactly achieved with my own efforts.” Jacob spoke while frequently looking down and fumbling with the pointer.

Is this his pessimistic side showing? Well, it’s not up to me anyways… Cain thought to himself while Jared pulled out a coin. “Why don’t we just flip a coin to see if she comes or not?” Jacob nodded and Cain shrugged. After receiving their confirmation, Jared flips the coin up in the air and waits for it to land on the map. The coin spins rapidly in the air then descends onto parchment, landing on heads.

“Well, I guess she’s joining us then.” Jared declared with a slight smirk on his face. It was clear from his behavior that he was going to try and flirt with her throughout the trip. “Will the girls be ok with this though?” Cain asked Jacob who merely shrugged. “If they aren’t we’ll just say it’s your idea. Then they can’t really complain about it.” Jared nonchalantly said. “Nah man, don’t drag me into this.” Cain waved his hands and shook his head while he spoke.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (5ms)

Dresil: The girls have decided to go to the banquet.

Cain: Ye ok, I’m about to ask the bois rn.

Cain: Also let them know Catherine has been added to the party for this quest.

Cain: The decision was made using a coin flip.

Dresil: Understood.

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“Ah, that’s right. The king invited me to go to the banquet tonight. You guys are welcome to come as well, the girls have already said yes.” Cain announced, slightly shocking Jared and Jacob. “Really? We can go to such a high profile party?” Jared asked, delighted for the chance to flirt with other girls. “Yep, although I recommend you stop trying to flirt with every girl you see there. Not because they’re out of your league, but most of them don’t have great personalities.”

Jared nodded his head to Cain’s warning, thinking it through for a while. Jacob looked at Jared as if he were a foregin man. “You’re actually thinking about not flirting with women? Who are you and what have you done to Jared?” he asked Jared which dragged him out of his thoughts. “Huh? Well… if it’s something Cain has said, then it must have some truth to it. Especially since he visited the king.” Jared replied.

“Huh? How did you guys find out about that already?” Cain asked, confused as to how the news could spread so fast. “Victoria told us that the carriage who came to pick you up was one of the personal carriages of the royal family.” Jacob responded to Cain since Jared went back into his thoughts. Interesting… Isn’t she supposed to be a low-rank adventurer? Sure knowing it’s an imperial carriage is something everyone would know. But a personal carriage to the royal family? How did she know this? Cain thought while staring off into space.

“Ah, that’s right. Can you fill me in on the meeting? Then we should go meetup with the girls and go buy some fancy clothing. Catherine, you should come listen to this too since you’re in the party now.” Cain stated, realizing there were still tasks to be done. I almost thought they forgot about me. Catherine thought as she took a seat across from Cain; previously she was just standing off to the side. Jacob nodded, then spent the next few minutes showing Cain the pathway they would take, their stops, and where the ruins from the quest are located.

“We’ll leave tomorrow morning and it’ll be about a 2 day journey to the ruins. We’ll stop at this military outpost fairly close to the ruins to rest up and prepare our weapons. Then we’ll head out on the 3rd day of our trip to explore them.” Jacob summarized the meeting while saying when they would leave. Cain nodded his head as he talked, memorizing the map and their path.

“Alright, let’s go meet up with the girls then pick some fancy clothes.” Cain used SRI to open a portal outside the store Victoria, Veronica, and Dresil were in. He disappeared through it followed by Jared, Jacob, and Catherine.

They waited outside the clothing store for the girls to finish their current trip. Dresil, Veronica, and Victoria walked out while talking to each other. Their conversation immediately stopped the moment they saw the boys and Catherine waiting for them. “So, we’re really taking her with us? Did you guys actually decide this with a coin flip?” Victoria sighed as she spoke.

“We did.” Cain spoke up first to prevent any misunderstandings. He couldn’t exactly place his finger on it, but he knew there was something between Victoria and Jared. “How much of your shopping did you guys get done?” Cain quickly changed the topic to prevent an awkward atmosphere. “We still have a few more stores to go to.” Victoria replied, relieved to get off the subject.

“Alright. I’ll need something to wear to the banquet, and I assume Jared and Jacob do as well. And as for Catherine… I don’t know what your situation is so…” Jared and Jacob nodded while Cain spoke. Near the end, Cain’s voice trailed off, unsure about how to smoothly exclude her from the group without outright telling her to leave.

Although he had a few ways to do so, because of the way the party viewed Cain and his power, if he wasn’t careful, anything he said could become fact and law. This was the first time he was put into such a situation and was clueless on how to proceed. Although it was somewhat similar during the meeting with the village chief and the elders a few hours ago, that was a time that Cain needed his words to be interpreted as law.

“I should probably get ready for the banquet in my estate. It’s getting pretty late anyways.” Catherine stated after reading the atmosphere between Victoria and Jared. She then walked towards the nearest gate to the inner wall to request a carriage to her estate. Victoria clapped her hands together to bring everyone’s attention to her. “Alright, let’s go get some clothes for you guys, do some more shopping, then head back to the inn to get changed.”

Everyone nodded then went the opposite way as Catherine to the nearest men’s clothing store. On their way there, Cain noticed that they were hardly carrying any bags.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (12ms)

Cain: You’re not overworking Bob, are you? He’s already got a lot on his plate.

Dresil: Nope. Although where we put our luggage is starting to fill up.

Cain: Dang… you guys really didn’t hold back at all.

Cain: I’ll just have Sinclair come out and help us carry them.

Cain: He probably needs to get out of that stuffy dimension anyways.

Dresil: Understood.

--------------------------

Weird… Is Dresil hanging around with Bob too much and that’s why she’s being so formal/agreeable? Usually there’d be a “yes” or a pun/joke instead of “understood.” Ah… I need to dm Bob to get Sinclair to come out here. Before Cain could dm the requests to Bob, a portal appeared behind him and Sinclair walked out. Looks like Dresil already took care of it… He thought while stopping in front of the clothing store with the group.

“Is this the demon wolf that was with your master yesterday?” Veronica asked Cain when she noticed Sinclair’s presence behind their group. “Yep, this puppy will be under my care for the time being. We can also sling some luggage across his back.” Cain’s reply nearly made Victoria’s eyes light up. Sinclair would no doubt be able to carry more than Jared and Jacob combined.

The surrounding people started to gossip and some even called knights the moment Sinclair walked out of the portal. Cain waited for the knights to come rushing towards them before he addressed them. “Easy there. Lower your weapons, this puppy is completely tamed and won’t attack bystanders.” Cain put himself between the pointed spears and swords of the knights and Sinclair as he spoke.

“Watch.” Cain turned his back to the knights and faced the demon wolf. “Sinclair, lay down.” Sinclair immediately laid down then waited for further instructions. “See?” Cain stated as turned back around to face the guards. The guards looked at each other, confused on what to do next. The captain of their group shrugged his shoulders and said “You’re Cain right? As long as this demon wolf doesn’t attack anyone it can stay here, but the moment it does we have to get rid of it.” Cain nodded, “Thank you officer. Have a nice night.” The knights then dispersed and attempted to disperse part of the crowd that gathered during their confrontation.

“Sinclair, wait outside the store. Dresil, create a clone and something to help him carry the bags for us.” When Cain was done with his instructions, he looked over the faces of the party. Veronica and Victoria were staring at Sinclair’s fluffy pelt, their desire to pet it almost becoming tangible. “...you guys can pet him if you want to. Put your hand up to his nose like this though.” Cain bends down and puts his hand a few inches away from Sinclair’s nose.

“If he shies away from it, then don’t go nearer. If he sniffs it, then slowly pet him.” Cain said this while looking at Sinclair. [This way if you don’t want to be pet, you can refuse.] He transmitted to the wolf who was still laying down. [Thanks.] Sinclair replied then sniffed Cain’s hand to finish his demonstration. Cain stood up then went inside the store, making room for Victoria and Veronica to pet the pup.