Chapter 10 - Part 1: Make Up

Despite Jasson's plan to return to the guild after lunch, he wasn't able to leave for hours. This was due to two reasons. 

First, Elizabeth's husband was yet to come home with this week's pay. There had been a payment left at the guild of one silver and two coppers, but Elizabeth insisted that Jasson receive full compensation for his heroic actions. So they had to wait for the kids' father, Harry Harrison, to return.

Second, Jasson had a burning rage screaming from his muscles, like a crowd of pampered college kids being put through boot camp. Thankfully, the family was kind enough to let Jasson use their tub and soak in the hot water until Mr. Harrison returned. It was most unpleasant when Ethan came pounding on the bathroom door with news that Mr. Harrison was home.

So it was that after dinner, upon being briefed, Mr. Harrison immediately sat with Jasson to discuss a reasonable price. Mr. Harrison said things along the lines of 'Yes, the quest literally offered a copper piece per head. But it would take forever to get someone up there to start counting everything. And spiders of that size go for a lot less, so this whole situation could get sticky. How about two gold pieces and we call it a day?'

Jasson responded by telling him to go up the ladder and see for himself. The man returned shaken, being scolded by his wife for tracking more footprints across the floor she'd just cleaned.

"Twelve gold pieces?" Mr. Harrison had said, "I really can't afford more than that."

Jasson had paused, then said "Ten and you give me a ride there. I can't walk more than a dozen feet right now."

Jasson was regretting the deal as Cogswik Street disappeared behind them. Mr. Harrison was a muscular construction worker, and neither sweat nor sawdust had been washed away. Jasson was perched on Mr. Harrison's back, straddling his hips in a manly piggyback ride. Amazing how many baths you can want in a day.

"I can't say how thankful I am that you took care of that spider nest." Mr. Harrison said, "Since I work in construction, my family depends on me staying in good shape and not getting hurt. A healer costs too much these days, especially without a patron. Still…are you sure that you're okay with only getting ten gold for this? I saw how many you killed, and I did offer twelve."

Stop tempting me, Jasson thought, Your family isn't rich.

"It's fine," Jasson said, "Ten gold is already more than I thought I'd get from this. Just don't tell anyone you offered twelve. I don't want my miserly landlady to get wind of me turning down money."

Mr. Harrison chuckled and said "I get that. Thanks."

Jasson let the point of appreciation lapse and decided to use the time to ask Mr. Harrison questions about Stalt. Although Jasson was too tired to remember most of the answers, he still smiled. Maybe he could visit the Harrisons sometime and keep fostering this connection.

The evening breeze was sweeping the streets clear of the heat of the day as the sun faded into crimson remission. Jasson's hands were tacky from Mr. Harrison's shoulder sweat, which combined with the other sweaty contact to make Jasson eagerly search for his destination. This area looked familiar, but he was coming from a direction that-

"There!" Jasson said, pointing to the Adventurer's guild as they emerged from an alley, "Oh thank goodness."

Mr. Harrison grunted in agreement and sped up until they arrived at the door, probably eager to return home.

"All right," Mr. Harrison said, pushing the door open with his foot, "Let's- one second. It's jammed."

The door bounced back, meaning that Grog was on the other side. Jasson didn't feel like getting carried in like an invalid when all he had was sore muscles. Not even a single bite, for which he was grateful.

"Just put me down," Jasson said, "I can walk this far."

The second Jasson's legs touched the ground they buckled and Jasson just managed to catch himself on the doorframe. Mr. Harrison stood, ready to catch Jasson but Jasson waved Harry down as he got back feeling in his legs. It wasn't that he was weak, it was that being carried piggyback for over a mile has a way of making one's legs numb.

Walking on stilts, Jasson made his way into the guild. A line of other tired adventurers had formed in front of three receptionists, but the rush was not as bad as in the morning. Jasson squinted, trying to make out if one of the receptionists was Jane. It wasn't and Jasson sighed, picking a line at random and getting in line with Mr. Harrison.

Probably for the best, Jasson thought, I'm not exactly looking my freshest. Or smelling.

Thankfully, Jasson was able to get the hang of walking and didn't fall on his face in front of everyone. He got to the front of the line and slapped the quest down triumphantly. 

"Quest completed," Jasson said, then motioned to Mr. Harrison, "And Harry Harrison is present for additional payment as well."

The woman nodded and looked at the paper, then back up and said "It says that you're to be paid ten gold coins for an extermination quest? One that was originally one copper per head and one silver upon completion."

"That's what we agreed upon," Jasson turned to Harry, "Right?"

"Yes," Mr. Harrison frowned, "It's the least I can do for him."

The receptionist was silent as she looked between them, creasing her eyebrows. Jasson saw her gaze flick past him, and he turned to see that she'd been looking at Grog. An encouraging sign if Jasson wanted to visit Mance.

"Sir," the attendant said, "Are you under duress? Did he threaten you?"

Jasson was about to answer that he was not causing anyone duress when Harry spoke.

"What?" Mr. Harrison said, "No. I swear, I didn't threaten him or anything. We agreed that ten gold was how much he'd accept. I can't afford more than that, so kindly stop pressing the issue."

"What?" The attendant said, "How many spiders were killed in the attic then? By this math, there must have been one hundred and ninety-five of them."

Mr. Harrison paled and said "Look, I feel bad about that but he insisted that ten was enough. It's not like I could pay for all the ones he killed. Besides, none of them were as big as the first. I swear that I'm not taking advantage of him and that this was his idea."

The attendant looked confused and turned to Jasson and said "What did you do to this man?"

Of course, Jasson thought, I'm the bad guy.

"Look," Jasson said, feeling his blood pressure rise, "What's your name?"

"Ali," the attendant said, bristling at Jasson's annoyance, "Do I need to call Grog over?"

"No," Jasson stopped then said, "Actually yes. Call him over. I have nothing to hide, Ali. I fulfilled this job fair and square, whether you believe me or not." 

Jasson took a breath and forced himself to calm down, then said "I know it doesn't seem possible, but it's the truth. What happened was that, instead of one or two large spiders, it was one large mama feeding a clutch of several hundred baby spiders. I managed to crush all of the ones I could find, but I don't know if I got all of them or how many. So instead of paying for completion, and to avoid a painstaking amount of time counting them, Harry agreed to pay me ten gold for all the ones I got. And, to be honest, I'm far too tired to argue further with you. Do you want to send an evaluator? Bankrupt an honest man because of a poorly written quest?"

Mr. Harrison was visibly alarmed and turned to Jasson, saying, "I cannot afford that! If the evaluator says that I have to pay- Please Miss Ali, just accept that it's done. We both feel that this is fair, and nothing fishy is going on."

Ali hesitated and said "I'll ask Grog to-"

"It's fine," Jane said, coming out of the back door like a manager, "I'll clear them. This kid doesn't have the capability to duress anyone, let alone Mr. Harrison. The spider was probably a Hunter. Individually a Hunter would be hard-pressed to kill you, but if you kill the mother at the right time then you can easily get overwhelmed with numbers if you're alone. They don't carry the babies on their back, so they can have a larger brood than most. I'm impressed that you made it back- erm…what was your name again?"

"Jasson Boar," Jasson said, "And I'm just as surprised as you are."

"All right Jane," Ali said, "I'll process the points and payment, just make sure you've signed off on it. Additional payment please, Mr. Harrison."

Mr. Harrison handed over the ten gold to Ali, and Jasson watched as Mr. Harrison got a silver and two coppers back.

"There's the old reward you left with us," Ali turned to Jasson and said, "And here is your fee."

Ali handed Jasson back nine gold pieces, and Jasson couldn't help but stare at the tenth lying on the counter.

"Quest tax," Jane said, seeing his face, "Part of life." 

Taxes, Jasson thought, can't live with them, can't live without them by penalty of imprisonment or death.

"Can I get this broken up?" Jasson said, holding out one of his gold coins, "I'd like to pay for some of my daily fees."

"You still have twelve days remaining," Ali said, taking the coin, "How much do you want to put in?"

"Umm," Jasson said, "two lead coins worth?"

"Are you sure?" Ali said, pulling open a drawer full of coins, "At your current level that may be a month and a half, but once you get higher the charge goes up. You accrue fines if you don't pay."

"Then I'll put more in at that time," Jasson said, "For now I just need change."

"All right," Ali said, shrugging "Give me a moment and…here's your change."

She handed Jasson a pile of coins, and Jasson picked out a copper coin and dropped it into the Tips box.

"That's all I can afford for now," Jasson said, smiling at the surprised Ali, "And we'll see about tomorrow."

"But I accused you of being a scammer," Ali said, "Why did you still tip me?"

"I don't know," Jasson shrugged, "I felt like it. As a sorry for earlier. You were the attendant that told me I couldn't repost the quest, right? Sorry about that."

Ali nodded and Jasson stepped away. Now for the big apology. Jasson looked around and saw Jane a step away from the door leading into the back.

"Jane!" Jasson said, rushing forward on burning legs, "Look. I wanted to say that I'm sorry for yesterday. I'm…well I'm not a great guy. I've never been good at doing my best. But I was wrong yesterday, and I hope that you'll be okay working with me from now on."

Jane paused but didn't turn around and said "Look, kid, it's late. I stepped up for you because Ali was giving me a headache, nothing else. I'm not that mad at you for yesterday, but I'd like to keep you as forgettable as possible. Do that, and I'll be professionally fair with you. Nothing more, nothing worse. Got it?"

Jasson nodded, then realized she wasn't looking at him and said "Yes Miss Jane."

"Thank you," Jane said and pushed her way into the back.

Well that went great, Jasson thought, I kinda preferred the anger. Ah well, not sure what I was hoping for.

Jasson hobbled away rather unheroically and found a seat in the front corner behind Grog. Jasson wanted a moment to himself and started charging his phone again. Jane's rejection shouldn't have meant that much, but it still stung. He'd put so much into getting that apology out, and she'd brushed it aside with cold uncaring. This was probably for the best, but it still hurt. Now that he was done with the apology, there was nothing left but to meet up with Petra and Clara. Maybe they'd be proud of how much money he'd made, Clara specifically. 

"Speaking of which," Jasson muttered, "How the heck am I supposed to get home when I can barely walk?"

Jasson might make it to the meeting place, a small restaurant with outdoor seating by the northern gate, but then what? He couldn't make the hike home like this, and Jasson doubted that Clara would-

Actually, Clara would be fine with carrying him. But the thought of that much contact made Jasson blush, and he tried to think of another option. Maybe there was a healer around who could heal him? Petra wouldn't be able to until she got a new crystal, and Jasson dearly hoped that he wouldn't have to heal the natural way.

"Hey," a low rumble said, "You look hurt."

Jasson looked up and saw that the mountain Grog was sitting up and had rotated his recliner to face Jasson.

"Oh, it's nothing," Jasson said, "I just overexerted myself and now I'm really sore."

The mountain nodded and said "That would be about two copper coins worth of healing. We have healers here who can help for a price. You get special rates for recently completing a quest. You'd have to pay a gold coin for the same treatment without guild rates. "

Jasson considered this and said "Maybe. It's tempting but I can't afford even two copper coins. I have friends who are counting on me to bring back as much money as possible. I almost failed at that today."

"Yet you tipped Ali a copper," the mountain said, "Why?"

"Well," Jasson sighed, "I know that I'm not the best person to work with. I recognized her as the one I talked to when I wanted to put the quest back. So I felt like she deserved it. Besides, I was planning to tip a copper anyways so it wasn't part of my budget."

The mountain nodded then said, "Come here."

Jasson obeyed, although not normally a person quick to his feet (especially when said feet felt like Chinese takeout warmed up in the microwave). It was less of a conscious choice and more of a gut instinct, or at least the part of the gut that clenches with fear.

Jasson walked up to Grog who said "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

Then Grog put his hand on Jasson's head, the mammoth palm resting lightly on Jasson's scalp like a warm hat. A familiar red light pulsed and suddenly Jasson felt much better.

"There's a freebie," Grog said, "Don't expect any more."

"You're the healer?" Jasson said, shocked, "That's amazing!"

"I'm not the healer," Grog said, "But a wizard that can't heal is either a fool or incapable of doing so, of which I am neither. You should try to yourself when you get enough to afford a healing crystal."

"How much are they?" Jasson said, hesitantly.

Grog chuckled deeply and said "Too much. There may be a shortage due to the war, but it was never tall to begin with. It's getting dark so you best be on your way now that your legs can carry you."