Chapter 80 - (Almost) New Year, New Cart | Out Shopping

Gren's optimistic view towards the cart being stolen wasn't shared by Jessica. "Please explain to me why you didn't hide the cart or at least tie it to something."

Gren already knew that his answer wouldn't work on Jessica. "The area was clear of any people. I didn't think that it would be stolen by anybody."

"Start thinking more. You were the leader of the mission. It's your job to make sure that all equipment is secured. As punishment, you're not going to be the leader for any more missions until you've proven that you can be responsible." Gren had a problem with discipline so she wanted to try fixing it now before his children were born. Next month he'd be considered an adult so he really shouldn't be so immature at his age. "If you fail to follow orders then you'll be banned from doing missions for a month. Got it?"

Gren didn't like the sound of that but it was better than her outright banning him from doing missions. "Understood." He didn't really care whether or not he was the leader as long as he could still do the missions. "Do you have another mission for me?" There was still plenty of time in the day so he was hoping that there was something nearby that he could complete to get that last research point.

Jessica pulled out the papers from her sidebag to confirm the requests. "There was a request to take out some wolves that were seen near the farms outside the walls but Midna and Luna were already dispatched to deal with them. There's another subjugation request that we've got but I won't accept it unless Ahk returns from her mission before tomorrow night. Other than that we've got a request to help sell some products for a blacksmith, an escort request to Fort Togo, and a request to help look for a lost child. I'm most likely not going to accept the sales request but the search request seems like it will be good for the inactive members without combat capabilities."

Gren didn't really care about the other requests; other mercenaries would accept them or they would hold a meeting to see who was willing to go. If anything, Gren was more interested in why Luna and Midna went on a mission. He figured that Luna's upset stomach would be better by now but what happened to Midna's date? "Why was Midna back so early?"

"The man that she was supposed to go on a date with turned out to be a scammer. He tried to get her to help pay ransom for his kid but one of our clients tipped us off when they saw him. He doesn't have any kids and he has scammed women in the past." Jessica didn't understand how anybody fell for such obvious scams.

Gren didn't know much about the guy but he already hated him. "Well, if someone from our guild ever kills the guy then let me know. I can help hide the body." Even the detectives from his old world wouldn't find the body if it was in his pocket dimension.

Jessica ignored Gren's comment and got back down to business. "You've got a few things to do today so make sure you remember this. Go submit this to the mayor's office, buy the ingredients on this list, and make sure that you feed the vampire; today is your turn to give her blood."

Gren took the registration slip and grocery list while thinking about the vampire. He had only fed her once before but he was a bit scared of her. The look in her eyes made him think that she would attack him if her mask was taken off. There wasn't much about the vampire species in the Bestiary so he didn't know what to expect from her. All she did all day long was sleep, drink blood, and stare at people like they're just food. "It's getting a bit warmer out so I'll check on Jasmine to see if she feels like going."

"Don't bother. She's not ready to leave her little cave just yet. Try to find someone else that's willing to go with you." Jessica knew Jasmine better than he did so Gren took her word for it.

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Gren thought about the various active guild members to see who might be willing to go.

Ahk, Korra, Luna, Midna, and Tahloh were currently doing requests. There was no way that they could go with him on an errand.

Jasmine, Eliza, and a bear beastman that went by the name of Yuna were all hibernating due to the cold. There were other ones that couldn't deal with the cold but they hadn't been doing requests. Gren kept the three of them listed as active members because it wasn't their decision to go inactive. He didn't want to punish them for what was merely a part of their biological differences. Each guild member got paid a small amount each month so that they could buy essentials but members that completed requests got more each month on top of the commission from completing those requests. Just like the women that were currently doing a request, there was no way that they could go on an errand.

Shenzi, Noir, and Choco just completed a mission and it was against his policy to ask someone to do two jobs in one day. He'd ask them if they wanted to go shopping but he'd still need to hire someone to protect the cart. He couldn't think of any other women... that's it!

If there were no more women then what about the men? He had forgotten about the knights as potential candidates because they weren't doing missions but they were really strong. They were staying here for free while doing practically nothing; not even one of them had gone on a request so far and had only helped out in other ways. Two of them--Sven and Herman--seemed to have a thing going on with the succubus while the third--Rodge--had become Rumi's drinking buddy over the last few days. It might seem hypocritical for Gren to think this but he thought that they should really be doing more than just flirting around with women all day long.

Gren decided against asking Shenzi and the kobolds after thinking of a better idea. Ruby had been wanting to go shopping for a while so it would be perfectly normal to ask Rodge and Rumi to come shopping with them. This would also let him spoil Sasha since she didn't normally accept things from him. It was the perfect plan; he could complete the errands that Jessica gave him and spend some time with Ruby while trying to complete two secret objectives.

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Gren summoned the new cart. Unlike the last one which was made entirely of wood, this one had leather straps on its handles and metal reinforcing the frame. There was also the letters FMC engraved into different parts so that it was identifiable. It was a massive improvement over the old design. The best feature of all was the optional metal frame covered in canvas--the canvas was also covered with the FMC logo through embroidering--that could be removed using a special tool that he created alongside it. It was essentially just a socket wrench but nobody else seemed to be using tools like this yet. The rest of the world was still using nails in everything and hadn't advanced to the point of using nuts and bolts.

He only planned on using it for another few months before he could upgrade to an automobile but he wanted those few months to be more comfortable. He designed it with the idea in mind that it would one day be his children that he was pulling around in it. Technically that day would be today since he was going to be pulling along his adopted daughter but she was a child already. He wanted to make sure that it would be safe to bring around infants in it. If Estella's pregnancy would last the normal nine months then he'd just wait until he could build an automobile but he didn't have the luxury of having that much time.

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Rumi was confused by Gren's request for her to go shopping with him until she saw that Ruby and Sasha were waiting upstairs by the courtyard door. Ruby was excited to go out while Sasha was clearly nervous. Sasha was afraid to be around humans so coming out from the underground was already difficult for her; leaving the guild was definitely a bit much for her but with Ruby and Rumi there then maybe she'll be fine. It took Sasha a few days to warm up to Rumi and if it weren't for Ruby explaining to her that dwarves weren't just short humans then maybe Sasha never would have warmed up to Rumi at all.

"Not everybody is here yet?" Gren arrived just after Rumi did. The only person left that they were waiting for was Rodge. Ruby wasn't running up to Gren but that was normal when Sasha was there; she was a good girl that wouldn't abandon leave her friend when she seemed scared. "You girls can go ahead and get in the new cart. You're in for a real treat, nobody else has even gotten a chance to see it yet."

Ruby was the first to run outside, leaving the frightened Sasha behind. So much for Gren's thoughts; Ruby just needed the right incentive to leave her friend behind. Gren realized that Sasha was scared of him and kept his distance while Rumi helped her leave the house. After they left the guild's building, he slowly followed them into the courtyard and saw Rumi help the two little girls get into the back of the cart. Gren still didn't know why Sasha feared him; he barely knew anything about her. She didn't want to talk to him and everybody else respected her privacy and chose not to tell him anything about her condition. Hopefully their shopping trip would change the way that she saw him.

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Rodge finally showed up after they had waited for around fifteen minutes. The reason for his tardiness was obvious when Gren noticed him; he was now in his full suit of armor. The unique luster of the magic metal it was made out of couldn't be completely hidden with the well-worn travel cloak that he was wearing over it.

"Good, everybody's here now so we can begin the meeting. We've got two tasks for today that the guild master has entrusted us with." Gren decided to treat it like a request since Ruby had hinted towards wanting to go on one with him. That, and he found it more fun to pretend that he was doing something more important. "The first task is to drop off some paperwork to the mayor's office. The second task is to go shopping; the members of this group will be given an allowance to buy whatever they like but we need to secure the items on this list. Any questions?"

Ruby popped her head out from the flap on the back of the cart. "Can we bring Purrnina with us?" That sounded like the worst idea he had ever heard. Gren was just beginning to forget that Purrnina existed. Why did Ruby have to bring her up now of all times?

"She's probably too busy to come with us and her room would take a long time to reach. We don't have that amount of time. I'd rather not bother her." Gren hoped that would be the end of it but Ruby really liked Purrnina. It was odd but the annoying cait sith was surprisingly good with kids; when Ruby pulled her tail when playing with her or Sasha chased her down and tackled her, she would never use her claws or teeth to defend herself. The only exception was when she was eating but, even during those times, she would only use her natural weapons on the goblins and violence against that group of goblins was always acceptable. They could take a beating and, even if they didn't deserve it at the moment, they would surely do something in the future that would make them deserve one anyways.

"She's already in the cart." What? Gren wasn't sure if he heard Ruby correctly so he popped his head in to look. There she was, a curled up ball of fur just sleeping in the cart. How? He just had the cart built by the system not even an hour ago and he didn't see her on his way down to talk to everybody. It just didn't make sense for her to be in the cart. "Can she come with us? I promise that I'll make sure that she behaves."

Ruby had on her big puppy dog eyes that Gren couldn't say no to. "Fine, but you need to make sure that she doesn't run off when she wakes up." Purrnina was proud to be a pet so she was the only person... thing left in the guild that was wearing a collar. This meant that Gren was still technically her owner and that he would have to pay for anything she damaged or stole.

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They were almost to the mayor's office and the trip out was not at all what he thought it'd be like so far. Gren didn't feel like he was getting closer to Sasha. Rodge and Rumi didn't even say one word to each other. Purrnina was actually quiet for once; that was mainly due to her being asleep but it was still the one thing he didn't plan on that was still welcome. Things would have to be different when they were going shopping or else his plans wouldn't work. Except Purrnina's behavior, anyways; she could sleep for the entire trip and he'd be happy.

Coming up to the building itself, Gren parked the cart. Gren wanted to make sure that nobody could move it even if Rodge was there to protect it. There was a hole on the side of the cart that matched up with holes on the rim; after lining them up, Gren just needed to insert and tighten a bolt to lock the wheel in place. Anything more complicated than a bolt or a hinge was too much for Gren to design by himself so this cart was the limit of what he could currently create before earning one more research point.

"Alright, Rodge, you and Rumi protect the girls while I'm away. Rumi, you can hold on to my sword and shield while I'm in there since they don't allow weapons." Gren didn't think that he'd be inside for long but there was a chance that they would send him running around.

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The main mission that the high priestess gave to the three knights was to protect both the Goddess and Gren. Other than that, they had to keep an eye on Gren's surroundings to make sure that he wasn't being influenced by anybody that might possibly be acting to harm any of the members of the guild. Although he didn't know if the Goddess was great at dealing with political opponents, it was clear that her son was too trusting of others and had no talent for politics. Rodge in particular thought that Gren had done something stupid by accepting the slaves without confirming their background; many of them didn't even worship the Goddess and there were some that were extremely dangerous like that minotaur.

The other two knights were becoming more and more useless by the day so Rodge needed to try harder to pick up their share of the work. It was all becoming a bit too much for him to deal with. Rodge knew that the stress was the cause of him going back to drinking but there was nothing he could do. If he returned to the Church to tell on Sven and Herman then he'd just be ostracized by whoever they replaced them with.

"That took longer than expected. They thought that my tool was a weapon so they had to confiscate it." It seemed that Gren was done with his business. "I always hate having to deal with officials. Was everything out here alright?"

"No problems whatsoever. The girls stayed in the cart and nobody approached us." Maybe things weren't so bad for Rodge. Even if he was more stressed out, it did seem like Gren had been noticing that he was doing a good job. Why else would Gren ask for him specifically to join him on this errand?

"Alright, we'll be heading back to the shopping district. If you girls see anything you want then let me know." Gren used his tool to remove the small object that was holding the cart's wheel in place while talking to them. "Right, I almost forgot. Here's your allowance for helping out, Rodge. Feel free to keep what's left when we get back home." Gren handed Rodge two gold coins; a staggeringly high amount for a simple job like this. He didn't need the money but it felt good to have his efforts rewarded.

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The places to buy the ingredients would be located near the guild so going to get them first would cause the shopping trip to end prematurely. It would be best to take a detour through the streets that led to the gate. This way they could head straight down the main street that had all of the businesses on it and the girls would be more likely to find something they're interested in. Ruby loved clothes with cute designs embroidered on them and things that were fluffy but he didn't know what Sasha would want.

After reaching the shopping district, Gren slowed down. The shops closest to the gates were filled with products that were popular with travelers. There wasn't much that interested him but Ruby seemed to find something that she wanted and was trying to get his attention.

"Pst. Papa. Hey, papa." Gren didn't know why she was trying to be quiet but he stopped the cart and got closer so that he could hear her better. "Don't tell her I told you this but Sasha said that she wanted a fur coat." There was a place that sold coats nearby so Ruby must have seen it from one of the cart's flaps. "It has to be wolf fur." Gren didn't say that he would buy it but Ruby assumed that he would... and she was right. Gren gave her a thumbs up and left Rodge in charge of protecting the cart.

There was something wrong about a wolf girl wanting a coat made from wolf fur but Gren had already gotten used to it. The demihumans just didn't see themselves as related to the animals and monsters that shared physical traits with them. There were supposedly some exceptions to that rule but Gren had never met any beastman that identified with an animal.

The store that sold coats didn't have anybody else inside of it besides the shopkeeper. The fur coat that was on display near the entrance said that it was made from the pelt of gray wolves. It was made for an average-sized adult so it was much too big for Sasha. "Excuse me, do you have this in a smaller size?"

The smallest size that they had in that material was still too big for Sasha but there were women in the guild that would be able to modify it. A little bit of stitching was all that they'd need to make it fit her. In the end, Gren bought both the large coat and the smaller coat, choosing to wear the large coat over his armor before exiting the store. It only cost him twelve silver to buy the both of them; fur was considerably cheap in this world.

Gren bought it as a gift for Sasha so he didn't deduct the amount from the allowance that he was giving them. Returning to the cart, Gren could see Ruby's upper-body sticking out of one of the flaps. "Gimme, gimme!" She was reaching out for the coat in his arms.

"Not this time. Let me give it to Sasha." Gren knew that Ruby was going to take the credit for getting the coat if he handed it over to her. She always did that with the treats he gave them that she shared with Sasha. Ruby had a look of disappointment on her face as she pulled herself back into the cart.

When Sasha saw the coat in Gren's arms, her eyes were opened wide and they almost seemed like they were shining. Although she was afraid of Gren normally, he didn't seem as threatening right now and she really wanted the gift he said he had for her. After taking the coat, Sasha couldn't help but hug it tight. Although the feeling wasn't exactly the same, Sasha was able to imagine that she was being hugged by her parents.

"Now, what should you say to Gren?" Rumi wanted to teach the two girls manners; something that would prove to be difficult with Gren trying to spoil them rotten.

"Thank you, Gren." Sasha said it quietly but Gren could hear her. She was still close to him so he rubbed her head.

"You're welcome, Sasha. If you ever want anything then just let me know, okay? I'll always be here for you and Ruby." This was the first time that Gren was able to touch the fur on top of her head; it was really soft. Did all beastmen have such soft fur?

Gren had accomplished his first secret objective of interacting with Sasha and started pulling the cart back towards the guild. Ruby had him stop many times and eventually exceeded her spending limit, causing Gren to increase it for everybody. She bought a couple of cute dresses that she liked, a giant stuffed animal that looked too realistic, and a lot of sweets. Gren really needed to focus on improving his magic control so that he could treat cavities because Ruby's future was going to be full of them with her eating habits. Thankfully, she ran around a lot and wouldn't put on weight from the sugary foods. Healing magic couldn't directly help someone lose weight.

Sasha actually asked Gren for something, even if it took Ruby pushing her to ask for it. It was a bone dagger that was popular among beastmen tribes and Sasha said that her mother had one that was similar to it. Gren only bought it for her after she promised that she would never use it against anybody and she showed that she was aware that it wasn't a toy. All of the money that she didn't spend would be put away for the future in a box that was kept in Jessica's room.

Rumi ended up buying a bunch of alcohol, to nobody's surprise. However, she consulted with Rodge to find out what kind he preferred which helped to complete the second and final secret objective that Gren had on the shopping trip; getting the two of them to talk about something while they were sober. Gren wanted to help Rodge and Rumi hook up since the two of them were getting along well.

Rodge only bought a few things but they were mostly related to maintaining his weapons and armor. His purchases were mundane things that didn't interest Gren at all. Except the potions, that is. Gren still hadn't learned how to make potions yet since healing magic was more useful but the potions could follow people around when Gren was busy with something else.

Purrnina woke up at the smell of grilled fish and almost caused an incident. After she was tackled by the red projectile named Ruby, she started to behave herself. Gren knew how much Ruby's tackles hurt so he bought Purrnina some grilled fish out of pity. Stowaways didn't get an allowance.

After getting the ingredients, Gren headed directly back to the guild. On the shopping trip there was only one thing that he felt that he had to buy besides his new fur coat; a prototype weapon that looked a lot like a crossbow. It was smaller than the crossbow that he was somewhat familiar with from his old world and, according to the poor guy that was forced to sell it, the weapon was designed to fire medicated darts. It was the firing mechanism that Gren was interested in. If he made a giant version then wouldn't that just be a ballista?

Gren pulled the cart into the courtyard while thinking about how he would modify his new purchase. It wasn't until later in the day that he realized that he was too distracted by the system's design function and forgot about the third thing that Jessica wanted him to do.