Chapter 37 - Out of Control

Everybody was covered with hooded cloaks except the ones that either wouldn't fit in one or didn't need one. At the very least there was nobody that would get in trouble for indecent exposure, if they even had laws against it. Not everybody would fit in the carriage and there were two cages that needed to be placed on the back.

Each one of the cages was carrying an elemental and were smaller than Gren had expected. The cages had solid metal walls so Gren couldn't see what the elementals looked like. There were bars at the top but Gren didn't dare get his face close due to the extreme temperatures.

Gren decided that only Yun and the injured people--Faith, Annie, and the magician--would be in the carriage while the rest walked. Gren realized that there were a lot of people and that Jessica wouldn't have prepared for them so he needed to buy some food along the way. Food couldn't walk so it'd have to be kept in the carriage or carried.

After helping the women into the carriage, Gren noticed an issue. There was a small person wearing a hood trying to climb into the carriage. "If you can walk then don't get in the carriage." Gren went to grab them but they hopped off and looked at him before he could.

"How rude! You expect me to walk like a common slave? I am a PET and if my new meowster heard you then they would be insulted!" Gren recognized this demihuman. Everything clicked in Gren's brain. He saw her being carried into the building yelling about being abandoned so he should have figured it out earlier. This was why Albert was willing to give Gren free stuff if he bought her.

Gren felt ripped off. He'd rather bring a parade of naked slaves down the street than be forced to listen to her. He'd even strip off his own clothes and join them if he could return her. He really didn't like cats! A cat beastman was different since they just looked like humans that were wearing accessories but Purrnina was unmistakably a cat. A cat face and a cat body; if she wasn't standing up on two legs and talking then she'd just look like a weird cat.

Gren didn't want to talk to her anymore so he let her climb into the carriage without saying anything. Gren thought that everything was ready but there were a few more women that couldn't walk on their own. Two women had no legs--instead having fins/flippers on their bottom half. They looked like mermaids but didn't look similar at all. The last aquatic demihuman had tentacles for legs and could somehow walk around without a problem.

There were two plant-type demihumans. The one that looked like a flower with a woman popping out of the center could get around by using her roots. However, the tree-like woman moved too slowly; it would take her forever to get to the bakery. Gren could tell how slow she was by the fact that she was currently screaming in a soft voice while trying to run away from the caterpillar at top speed; an impressive 0.1 miles per hour. The caterpillar was not much faster but was still catching up. This was probably the slowest chase that Gren had ever seen.

Gren picked up the caterpillar and pulled it away from the tree lady. The caterpillar with a woman's face might have been the same size as him but she was light. Albert was right, she was very soft. Looking around, Gren saw an older centaur that was the perfect size for the caterpillar. "Excuse me. Do you mind if I place her on your back?"

The older centaur was surprised that her new master was actually asking her for permission. Her previous master would always yell at her if she didn't do things perfectly and sold her when she no longer had the strength to pull a loaded carriage. Maybe things were looking better for her. "I don't mind at all." She smiled at Gren and he couldn't help but feel that she looked like a gentle grandmother figure.

The caterpillar had been dealt with for now but the tree lady was still too slow. Gren tried to see if he could carry her but she was too heavy. He could hear her soft voice saying something about how she wasn't ready but Gren didn't understand what she meant. There were no clothes that would fit her and her body was mostly covered in bark so she didn't look indecent. Still, she needed to be carried so Gren needed a strong pair of hands to help him.

There was one woman much larger than the rest; at least two feet taller than Jasmine. Her muscles were well-defined and each of her arms were as thick as the base of Jasmine's tail. She looked strong. Really strong. From her appearance she should be the Minotaur everyone was talking about.

The Minotaur had a milk chocolate skin tone and her face was quite attractive. If she had less muscles then she'd be his type. He needed help so he went to talk to her. "Excuse me. Can you help me carry that tree lady? She's too heavy for me."

"No." Gren's request had been rejected.

"No? Can you tell me why?" Gren would just find someone else if she really didn't want to help. Jasmine might be able to lift her onto the carriage.

"Ahk warrior. Warrior no lift." Ahk? Was that her name? She definitely looked like a warrior.

"Not even if I pay you? There has to be something you want." Even a warrior would have a price, right?

Ahk took a moment to think. "Weapon. Big weapon. Ahk axe gone. Punch strong. Kick strong. Weapon stronger."

Gren could agree to those terms. She looked strong so Gren planned on having her kill monsters to earn him points and pay back her debt anyways. "Okay but you'll have to carry her all the way. I'll get you a new axe but it won't be until tomorrow. Deal?"

"Deal. No axe? No puny human." Gren could swear that he just had his life threatened but he'd definitely have the axe for her tomorrow so he ignored it. He remembered having at least 6000 points left so he should be fine. Ahk left to pick up the tree lady and now everybody was finally ready to leave.

The carriage was going to be pulled by Jasmine but a young centaur wanted to pull it instead. This left Jasmine free to hold Gren's hand as they set off. Since they would pass a market on the way home, Gren told everyone that they could get whatever food they wanted and that he'd be paying for them.

Gren regretted this as soon as they reached the market. Entire stalls were cleared out and the carriage was quickly filled. This made it where Yun, Annie, and Faith had to squeeze onto the front seat. The mermaids were squished together; partially buried by the mountain of food. Gren gave a little prayer for Purrnina that was(hopefully) KIA as she disappeared beneath the food. The weight became too much for the centaur to pull so Jasmine unfortunately had to let go of Gren's hand and push the back of the carriage.

The rowdiest of the women were the goblins. Their teamwork was amazing to watch; two would remain on the carriage to catch the things that were thrown their way while the other four ran around grabbing everything they thought looked good. Even now they were all gleefully carrying as much food as they could. One of them was carrying nothing but apples and even had an apple hanging from her mouth.

Gren had to apologise several times as he was paying the merchants for the food that they had bought. The trip through the market was slow and took much longer than planned thanks to everyone being out of control. Their group had finally made it to the bakery as Gren directed the centaur to turn into the alley. He had no idea where they would stay for the night but at least now Jasmine had all of the help she'd ever need in the basement, right?