Micky had been scared at first because Squishy did not have a [Tamer’s Token] but the [Guard]s didn’t actually seem to care about a slime. As it was, as long as the slime didn’t actually attack them, he wasn’t sure they would even bother ‘guarding’ against it.

So now, they finally, finally! got into the town. He was amazed by the walls as big as a mountain (In his opinion). Now he was gawking at the houses that were as big as mansions (Again, in his opinion). Of course, now people were looking at him as if they were ready to fleece him, whether they were thugs going to bring him to a back ally, some kind of scam, or just merchants calculating his total life’s savings and what they might be worth.

Luckily he had Princess, Mathew, and the ‘mercs’, plus a baggage train of refugees. Thus, most, of these people decided he wasn’t worth it. Of course some were just going to give him a friendly intro to the town, a tour of blackout ally, the seedy section of town, his new shanty in the slums, the usual.

But glares from Princess his new unofficial knight kept them off for now. She was a well known [Beserker Hellion]. It was a mixed ranged/melee class. Though you wouldn’t know it from the way she fought. Of course her natural stats made up for most of what she needed in a fight.

Micky gawked and pointed, others shushed him and the other kids so as not to draw attention. If they were surprised by this then just wait until he saw the actual church, mansions, and the town hall. They brought themselves to a respectable inn, Princess had been there a few times herself. She had practically grown up in this town with all the trips she’d taken. They got two rooms for themselves.

Now that all the people were situated, and Mathew gained an official debt from the left wing he never expected to get paid back for, it was time to explore. Micky still had to get to the city to register for school.

Micky traveled around with his ‘persanal attendant’ Princess riding his coattails. Honestly he might have been annoyed and yelled at her if it wasn’t so obvious that the thugs were looking at him like he was fresh meat. Instead he was worried that she wasn’t going to be enough.

“Don’t worry they won’t try anything. These little fish know that they couldn’t get away from my father fast enough and the bigger fish are at least aware not to cross him.” She said.

“And that’s supposed to make me feel any better? Honestly, I’m supposed to rely on your father to protect me from them! He’s a guy I already had some forceful dealings with and that’s how I ended up with you. You really think I trust it?” Said Micky.

“Am I that bad?” Said Princess.

“Yes!” Said Micky.

“Ok I’ll admit to that one, shouldn’t have opened myself up to that sucker punch. But am I that incompetent?” Said Princess.

Micky really wanted to say yes, but they both knew he would be lying. She had been remarkably competent and attentive so far. Micky wanted to say yes anyways just because she was annoying, but that would just leed to an argument. So he just settled for a glare instead.

They walked in a competitive silence. Micky glaring at everything, his mood now ruined, and Princess seeming to have won something, her mood ecstatic. Squishy just seemed happy to sit on Micky’s shoulder and observe everything regally. Her thrown was a whole person, how could any of these peons compare.

Micky found the first shop he was looking for. It was a shop called [Tamers Er Us], and somehow Micky didn’t have high hopes for it. But it was the only taming shop in town. It’s only competition was a general store but they sold more expensive tamer supplies at a more expensive cost. So it was worth it to come down here just to save on the coin.

Micky entered the shop and looked around, he found what he was looking for. There were some [Least] ranked [Tamer’s Token]s in a corner with some other tamers tokens. He walked over and started haggling.

“How much will you give me for one o’ these?” He said.

“One for 5 bits.” came the counter.

“How about three for a half copper?” Micky said.

“The best I could do for three would be a full copper.” said the clerk.

“5 for a full copper.” Said Micky.

“Just take em’ then and be done with it.” Said the exasperated clerk. But it didn’t seem like he was actually exasperated. No, it seemed like Micky had woken him up. This was what these merchants lived for… Well, at least the ones that wanted to be merchants.

Micky looked around for things he might need. His family had given him a small parting gift of coin, and he still had his bandit loot to pawn off somewhere. He was secretly worried that it would piss off Princess, but at the same time she didn’t seem too shook up about her fellow bandits, none of them did. So they were probably the scum of the lot.

There was a ceremonial dagger that had a mild hemastatic enchantment on it, and though it was expensive it was cheap. It was something novice enchanters make en mass. The enchantment wouldn’t last through a lot of rituals but it would last a long time. So novice enchanters would make these for some pocket change and also to practice. There were a few other household enchants that they would do for cheap. But the powerful ones were still something expensive only done by miserly masters.

Micky picked up 2 for the price of one. It would both help him with taming the more intelligent monsters and also with the [Oath] when he reaffirms it at the institute. He looked around for anything else he might need. He then found a Scroll on [Monsters and One thousand ways to tame them!] he got volumes one and three for 5 copper.

The shop keeper seemed to be catching on to his buying in volume tactic. Micky had decided to mix it up from now on. He needed to show these town folk how a village boy haggles!

Micky found some baits that would make catching monsters easier. But he didn’t even want the whole barrel, let alone to buy up for a discount on more. So Micky pandered around a bit. “How much for the monster bait?”

“Two barrels for 3 gold.” The shopkeep said. He thought Micky had been building up to the big seller. His eyes sparkled with gold coins.

“How much for a handful?” Micky said. The man almost cried.

“You can’t get a handful, hell you have to be careful of that stuff if it gets on your hands. You don’t want to start a monster wave just because you went into the forest and back. I’ll take 1 and a half gold for a barrel.” Said the shop keep.

“What if I give you a few bits for a handful and a box to keep it in.” Micky said.

“Son that’s worth at least a copper just in the container.” The shopkeep said.

“Deal.” and this is when the shopkeep realized he’d been played.

“Fine you runt, now pay up and get out my store or I’ll call the [Guard]s!” Said the man. Micky paid up and took all of his stuff in a sack free of charge.

But Micky wasn’t done shopping. No he just built up steam, and Princess had to carry it all. She internally thought that something was wrong with this situation but couldn’t place it. After all she was the strong partner, it was only right that the weaker partner liked shopping and the stronger one hated it but got stuck carrying everything right? No, that didn’t make sense. Her mother loved to shop, and to haggle, but dad had to carry everything, even when he had a minion available. And she knew that mom was much stronger than dad in that relationship. No, there was something deeper here that she couldn’t quite place.

Micky bought sundries and a few other items that he would need for his travels. He would purchase the other things he would need and travel on the day he left. But he still made inquiries.

Micky went back to the inn confident in tomorrow.

When Micky woke up and finished pandiculated, he felt relieved, and a little worried about traveling to the city. But he had Princess and these roads were well traveled. The only reason that the bandits tried to rob him blind was because it was a village road, so they didn’t actually care about him or his stuff. Had he been somebody that knew the ‘rules’ he wouldn’t have had the trouble. Of course, there are bandit wannabe’s and those that like to torture their victims out there but they were a rare breed or not worth worrying over.

Micky got to the gates and was stopped. Two guards approached him. He worried about what he did, then he worried about the fact he was accompanied by a bandit Princess. But he didn’t worry about the double entendre that he just made.

“Yo! Good sir Micky it has been a while!” Said one of the guards.

Micky recognized these guards. They were the tweedle dee and tweedle dumb guards that had given him the scholarships in the first place. He relaxed but also felt tense.

“Where might you be going this fine morning?” Said the other guard Micky now called Guard Dee.

“I was just heading off to the city sir. I need to register for school.” Said Micky.

“That’s six months away lad. You realize that you wouldn’t even be able to register yet. Then you would be stuck in the city and eaten up. By the way who is this pretty little lass?” Said Guard Dumb, very very dumb.

“I ain’t little and I ain’t nobodies ‘lass’. Call Me Prin, I’m Micky’s knight.” Said Princess.

“Already given out a sponsorship, eh? Why don’t we go somewhere else and talk. Ahh, but don’t worry about leaving for the city, we have that already arranged, or well, the counts do.” Said Guard Dee.

They traveled over to a nearby Inn. There was a small bar there. They ordered the set meal and sat down to talk. “So, the counts have been thinking, and though we can see you have finally reached level 10 you are still quite under leveled and trained for school. So we have arranged for you to be inserted into an adventurers training class in the meantime.” Said Guard Dumb.

“What he means is that they arranged a class, and then let other kids join it. Didn’t want to make you stand out and all. This will also be an opportunity to find another sponsorship, no pressure though, there will be plenty of talent in the school’s opening ceremony. There you will get a special seat to view the entrants. Oh, by the way Miss Prin, you will need to enter the normal way. Though for Micky it is actually a hassle to enter the tourney, for you it is mandatory.” Said Guard Dee.