Chapter 24: It’s closed!

“Should we go back home? We must be ready for tomorrow.” Dorian says, still exhausted from the fight. Do we really have to? I’d love to level up a bit more. Even if it’s just a few of them, they might help in the fight.

“I think we should find that camp and gain experience. What do you all think?” I decidedly say while looking at the rest. Yes, we must level up.

“I would like to make my class evolve. And I don’t think I can do that with ogres. I mean, I can only cast fireballs with them.”

“Good point Mike. Lillia?”

“I…” She doubts for a moment if she should join me, but her face already tells me that’s not her final decision. “I’ll go to the city and find out if there are health and mana potions in this world. We’ll need them.”

“Indeed.” I nod. “Okay, it’s decided. I’m sorry, guys, I should have thought of all of this before proposing finding the camp. Let’s go back. Mike, maybe you can take Rand and go practice with monsters around our level?”

“Yeah! Come here, Mike! I’ll protect you!” I let out a good laugh at Rand’s enthusiasm.

Then… I’ll need someone to help me with the ogre and the cart. “Dorian, would you help me?”

“What do you need help with?”

I stare at the giant lying on the ground, then at the cart, and then back to the giant.

“Fuck! You want to take it?”

“Well, I’d love to... but I’ll be content with taking its armor, club, and tusks. I don’t think they’d let us bring a corpse this huge into the city, after all.”

Why is everyone so quiet? Did I say something weird? I squint one eye and examine their disturbed expressions. “We must make money…” I whisper so faintly that none of them even hear it.

“Okay, I take the armor and help with the cart. But the tusks are yours.” Dorian crosses his arms in front of his chest, clearly stating his position.

“I was expecting none less!”

The group splits up, and I’m left with a gruesome task. Essentially, the same one as with its little brothers, just with a lot more carving, blood, and flesh. And pulling. Fuck! I’m repressing my gag reflex with all of my efforts, but this thing is bigger and wider than my own arm!

Once done, and it’s not been a small and easy task, we also start making our way home.

“Dorian… do you think we can smelt all this metal? I mean, no one would buy it as it is, right?” I don’t think we will ever find someone its size.

“I don’t think anyone would, no. Maybe we could ask John; he was in the business for a long time after all.”

“Oh yeah! Let’s see what can be done. There’s a lot of material after all.”

The conversion dies, each immersed in his own thoughts. He is probably also thinking about tomorrow. I don’t know what to expect, what we’ll find there, but I’m sure we will die.

As we close to the city walls and the soldiers come into sight, I realize we are not the only ones thinking about it. There are no happy faces. Everyone is in a rush to get something done. Even though war won’t hit the city for 3 days, the soldiers are under immense stress.

We go straight to the stall, not daring to stare too much at anyone nor anything. Most shops are closed, either out of merchandise or already preparing for a siege. This war is going to have severe repercussions…

While not even a shop yet and far from grandiose, ours is the only one opened on our side of the street.

“How has the day been, John?”

“Slow. There aren’t many people, and money is something they can’t afford to spend lightly.” He looks down, pressing his lips together and shaking his head. “We have had a few adventurers willing to buy the clubs, but that is all.” The clubs? Are there users able to wield those huge clubs?

“Well, at least we’ve sold something. How much did we make?” His hand with all fingers extended but two, answers for him. About three thousand, quite good, actually. I nod. “We bring some more things. Here.” I push the cart to the front and let him inspect it.

“Mmh, not bad. Not bad. The steel is not of the best quality, but it can be reforged into interesting pieces. The tusks, however, are of supreme quality.”

“Do you know someone who works the metal?”

“I certainly do. Do you want me to negotiate something? With this much, I think we can get both Rand and Lillia a complete set.” They are our two tanks; dressing them in complete steel sets would definitely be an advantage.

“We actually hadn’t thought of that… do you think it could be ready for the battle at the city?”

“That I do not know. But I’ll make sure to ask. If you lend me the cart, I’ll go ask now and be back in 30 minutes.”

“Sure.” I take out the tusks and the big-ass club and pass the cart to him. “Dorian, if you are free, maybe you can help him?” He has shown to be trustworthy, but I prefer to be on the safe side.

“Sure, why not. Let’s go, John.”

I guess this leaves me watching over the stall? I correct my posture, relax my body and stand right behind the stall, putting my best smile on. There are still a lot of clubs left to sell. I guess there are not many that can use them, as I suspected. Maybe… I drag the boss’ club to the stall side, squat, and hold it with both hands. By pushing with both legs and using all of my strength, I manage to somehow lift it just enough to drop it on the stall. I push it a bit, just enough to secure its position and ensure it won’t roll away.

Maybe we won’t sell it; after all, who the hell could fight with this. I can’t even properly lift it. However, I smirk as I think it, it is gonna make a hell of an attraction here. And now… do we have any rope around here? I guess it would be too much to ask. I’ll wait and ask John.

Time goes on, albeit dreadfully slow. Some people stop to stare at the club, seldom of them with wide-open mouths. But none come to buy. It’s not like we have much to offer. Actually, we sell clubs exclusively right now. We have to gather more variety…

Oh, there he goes! “Hey John, alone?”

“Yeah, Dorian went a different way after visiting the blacksmith. Here’s the deal, 5000 pieces the set, 6000 if you want it by the day before the war. Anyhow, I guessed that at worst you’d want it smelted, so I left it all there.”

“Wow!” I’m momentarily taken aback by the amount. For our reserves, that’s quite a hit. Still, considering the smith must melt the steel and create new pieces, it could be worse. And I bet John has managed to bring down the price for us. “Okay, we’ll do it.”

“Lillia and Rand must go over to the blacksmith; he needs their sizes. It’s right over at the end of the street, can’t get lost.”

“Thank you, I’ll tell them.” I don’t know if NPCs are supposed to know about the user’s message system. Better not tell him. I sneakily contact them with the instructions. “Lillia will pay once they get there. Thank you for everything, John.”

“It’s a pleasure! It feels good to be useful again.” His smile, forced and too wide, hides a sad story. Maybe one day he’ll be ready to tell us; I won’t force it.

“Actually, one more thing. Do you know someone who works with ropes?”

“Rope? What do you have in mind?”

“I don’t plan on selling these tusks yet,” I point to the boss’ tusks, “so, meanwhile, I was thinking of hanging them over my belt.”

“Oh? It would give you quite an aggressive look. You can try over at the tanner. He works with leather and usually sews and puts together light armor, so maybe he can help you.”

“Where can I find him?”

“At the opposite side of the street, crossing the avenue. Oh, and don’t forget to tell him you come on my behalf.”

Immediately taking off with the tusks on my arms, I shout back a quick thank you. Let’s see what he can do!

Now that I think about it, I have never been on this side of the street, have I? It’s actually pretty similar to ours, at least decoration-wise. Maybe the only difference is its lack of stalls. Which is clearly compensated by the vast amount of specialized shops. Woodworking. Smithy. Witchcraft. Leather. Plati- leather! That must be the tanner.

I head over to the shop, a two-story building, and promptly enter it. A crisp ring announces my presence to the owner. Quite clever, it’s a cord-activated mechanism. Did he do it hims-

“Get the hell out of here! Didn’t you see the sign at the door!” An angry shout, belonging to a deep and hawky voice, chases me out of the shop.

“Sign at the do-”

“We are closed! Fuck off before I come to beat the shit out of you!”

I haven’t even seen him! Just the shouts from the other side of a backdoor at the end. The dude is probably hiding in his workshop.

“Ah, well,” I fake a cough, “I just came to see if you co-” Fuck! A tool, spinning too fast to get a hold of what it might be, comes flying straight to my head.

“Hey, hey! Can we pleas-” not again! The motherfucker won’t even listen?

The door slowly opens, revealing the sight of a robust man with broad shoulders and a big mustache. Armed with a pipe, it would seem. Does he intend to-

Oh, yes, he does. Fuck, I can’t simply fight back and hurt him! But he’s coming straight for me. And I shouldn’t go revealing my spirit form. Then… this is the only way.

[You have received 15hp damage]

Not bad for a tanner! “Please listen, I came because Jo-”

[You have received 12hp damage]

“- John told me to co-”

[You have received 14hp damage]

Oh? His arm has stopped mid-swing. “Have you said John?”

“Yeah! He told me to-”

[You have received 16hp damage]

“-FUCK! Are you enemies or what?”

“Nothing like that. I just didn’t feel like giving an odd number of hits.” He shrugs his shoulders and smiles as if it was natural and the most logical thing in the world.

Fuck my life...