He still felt terrible as he got out of the bath. The harsh scrubbing he’d given himself cleaned off all the dried blood from the day, but the emptiness still remained inside of him.

Ethan wrapped one of the towels around his waist and took his weapons to the bath. He could have cleaned them by placing them in his inventory, but he always preferred to clean them by hand. These tools of wood and iron let him get stronger so he could go home, he always treated his weapons with respect.

When he walked by the mirror he saw the tangled wet mess that was his hair. He quickly grabbed the comb from the rack and finished the process of making himself look more presentable.

His towel still secure around his waist, Ethan picked up his weapons and went back into the bedroom. Gently he laid his axes on his bed and removed his towel with one hand the other and swiped with his other to start getting out his equipment.

“Oh my god! I am so sorry!” A feminine voice behind him yelled out in surprise.

“JESUS CHRIST!” Ethan yelled as he quickly tried to cover himself with his towel.

Ethan whirled around to see Alera face the door.

“I am so, so, so, so sorry!” The barmaid stuttered out an apology. “Jerry sent me up, he wanted to give you a shirt to wear when you went out.” She held up a somewhat dingy piece of white cloth, her back still to him.

Holding his towel with one hand, Ethan quickly took the three steps and grabbed the shirt from the startled woman.

She quickly turned around, her entire face bright red with the flush of embarrassment. If he wasn’t mistaken, her eyes seemed to flick over his nearly nude torso appraisingly. Ethan felt his own embarrassment at being walked in on undressed.

“I’m just…. I’ll be… I… uh… I’m sorry.” Alera quickly turned back to open the door, a hint of a smile on her face and quickly left his room.

Ethan sighed and pushed on the door, making sure it had latched before turning and tossing the borrowed shirt on his bed. This is the weirdest this town has ever been. He thought to himself.

With a quick flick of his hand he went back to removing his gear from his inventory. When he had it all out laying on his bed, he returned to what he’d been doing before he was rudely interrupted.

The shirt Jerry lent him wasn’t as badly fitting as Ethan thought it would be. The cloth was soft and he was able to fit his battle harness over it. When he tucked it into his kilt it didn’t even look as baggy as it was. Not bad at all. He evaluated himself in the metal mirror. Of course he’d be wearing completely different gear in the next 24 hours but it wasn’t a bad start. He did cut off a strip of leather from one of his sandals to tie his hair back in a tight bun. Real shoes just jumped to the top of the list of purchases.

After reequipping his weapons, Ethan finally made his way back to the bottom floor of the inn.

Jerry was sitting at the bar when he came down the stairs, Alera made eye contact with him before quickly turning away, he cheeks already turning red again.

“Much better, you smell less like a foot now. And you’re properly dressed to boot!” The bear of an innkeeper greated him as he walked over to the bar.

“Yeah, thanks for the shirt. I’ll wash it and get it back to you after I get one of my own.” Ethan’s gratitude was earnest, he always thought of the NPCs in game as real people. Even ones with a lower AI had wants and desires, as obvious of Mihal, Jerry and Alera. “What do I owe for the room, by the way?”

“That’ll be 1 silver per night.” Ethan was a little shocked at the price. Usually it was less than half that, but he did have a room with a private bath and Jerry was still a businessman. If he hadn’t gotten the secret quest he wouldn’t have been able to afford it.

He handed over the silver for that night and the following. He was sure he’d be able to finish the quests in the town before nightfall the next day, but that was only if he booked it. Meaning he’d had the following morning to finish hiking to Startesgarde and grinding experience off whatever he found along the way.

“Meals included, right?”

Jerry had a mischievous look in his eyes as he responded.

“You know what, sure. I’ll count the “show” you gave Alera earlier as payment.” He laughed uproariously, wiping a tear away at his own joke. “The look on her face when she came down stairs, I thought she’d seen something awful! I laughed so hard I’m surprised you didn’t hear me upstairs.”

Alera had turned around again in embarrassment of the event.

Ethan scowled and walked away. What do I care if an NPC saw me nearly naked? It was an accident, she wasn’t trying to barge in on me. And besides he’s the one he’d sent her up there.

Outside the inn he saw the daffodil patch Jerry had mentioned and cut a handful free with one of his throwing axes.

This is so weird. Ethan made his way back to the gate he’d just come from. Mihal was still standing there at attention. It must suck being an NPC guard of the starting town. I bet that that’s why he was given an interesting home life.

“Greeting Adventure!” Mihal’s face was glowing with pride at his position. Once again, Ethan was envious of the man’s glorious mustache. “I see you’ve got on an actual shirt now. I can only barely make out your nips! Did you perhaps give my gift to Jerry?”

“Of course. He said he loved it, and thanked you for your wonderful gift.” Ethan’s small lie made the guard stand even taller. He ignored the comment about his nipples. “He wanted me to bring you these flowers as a thank you.” He handed over the bunch of daisies. Mihal wasted no time in picking one from the bunch and carefully placed it under his lapel.

“They certainly are lovely! Thank you so much.” The love between the guard and innkeeper was inspirational. The developers may have trapped everyone in this game, but they had definitely added sweet small touches. Maybe I was wrong about him having a low level AI. “It’s not regulation to my uniform, but my shift ends soon so I won’t get in any trouble for wearing such a wonderful token of my love for a little while.”

“Not a problem.” A mischievous thought occurred to Ethan, a little payback for Jerry’s joke about his encounter with Alera. “Jerry said to tell you that he loves the necklaces you give him and was hoping you’d branch out into other forms of jewelry. Maybe a tooth charm bracelet or earrings next?”

“Hmmm… I’ll have to see what I can do, but that shouldn’t be too hard. I’d do anything for my sugar bear.” Maybe I wasn’t wrong about the low AI…

Bonus Quest Completed! Labors I’d Love II

You have given a token of admiration from Jerry to Mihal the guard. Both men will be welcoming to you in the future!

Rewards:

You gain 5 Experience

You gain 10 Silver

You gain Hideous Wolf Tooth Necklace

Sweet, that’s a fair amount of silver off this one quest line. I mean, it’ll be nothing by the time I get to my actual home, but to start it’ll help me get a couple more supplies.

“Make sure you check the message board in the middle of town for some more direction on where to go!”

“Will do. Have a good night.” Ethan turned back to the road into town. When he was out of sight of the guard he pulled out the necklace. It had been marked as a quest item, but now it was an actual piece of jewelry he could equip.

Hideous Wolf Tooth Necklace

Quality: Uncommon (Crafted)

+1 Constitution

+1 Strength

-1 Charisma

This necklace, while lovingly made by Mihal for his husband Jerry, is absolutely hideous to look at. Little bits of gum and dried blood are still attached to most of the teeth. Maybe put it under your shirt.

Ethan’s eyes lit up when he inspected the quest reward. The silver had been a good enough prize, he hadn’t ever gotten anything better than “Good” quality as a reward in Grassmere before. The strange bonus quest had actually paid off.