Chapter 75 - Setting a Goal

Gren's happy family meal had barely come to an end when there was someone pounding on the gate leading to the courtyard. "Jess, take Ruby upstairs with you. I'll go see who it is."

{Let me know if anything is interfering with my magic from now on}

<Enabling notification for when the following is true: magic interference detected>

Gren slowly opened up the side door and peeked outside. The people at the gate wasn't fully in view but enough of them was to let him know that they weren't here to harm him. "Claire, Carrie, wait a moment while I unlock the gate for you two."

The two of them were visibly relieved to see that Gren was okay. "We came here as soon as we heard about the attack. Thank the Goddess that you're alright." Gren unlocked the gate and stepped aside so that they could come in.

"It's good that the two of you came over; I wanted to discuss the request. Please come inside and out of the cold." After they entered the courtyard, Gren locked the gate. "It's just through that door there."

The kitchen was barely big enough for the three of them so Gren had to move the table. "Sorry that I don't have any chairs made for your body types. Now, on to our business. I'd like to get something out of the way and say that I can no longer fulfill the request as promised. If you're dissatisfied then I can offer you a refund on your down payment."

Carrie seemed a bit disappointed about something. "As far as I'm concerned, I'd say that you fulfilled the request. I didn't expect for anybody to attack you like that. I actually came here to give you the rest of the payment and to apologise for what happened." Carrie untied a sack from her belt and tried to pass it to Gren.

Gren pulled out the contract that the two of them signed already. "If you're satisfied with the job we've done then sign your name on this line here." Gren accepted the payment as Carrie signed the papers. The contract was only between the FMC and Carrie so she didn't need to stamp it with her blood.

"Hey, Claire. Catch." Gren tossed the small sack of coins to Claire and watched as she juggled it before finally clutching it to her chest. "There's your payment for guiding us on the mission."

"But what about your payment?" Claire was confused by Gren's actions. Gren just couldn't bring himself to accept the full amount for such a shoddy job.

"Like I said, I didn't complete the mission. If you want to pay me back then just stay quiet about the mission. If anybody asks you about me or the mercenary guild then act like you don't know anything." Gren was too high profile on that mission and would need to hide his identity for a while. He decided to take this as a learning opportunity. "Besides that, maybe some information would be helpful. If you know of the attackers or can tell me about the rumors you've heard then I'd appreciate it."

Claire and Carrie told him everything they had heard about the group that attacked them. According to them the group was likely part of a mercenary guild. Gren thought that it was odd that Carrie picked his guild over the guilds in the slums but was soon given a good answer.

His guild hadn't done anything shady in the months that they've been open and they weren't situated in the slums. Those other guilds were little more than criminal organizations given permission by the Duke to operate. The guilds keep the peace in the slums and in exchange the soldiers turn a blind eye to their behavior.

It could be said that Gren's guild was the first guild in Adierton that wasn't controlled by a noble family, merchant organization, or gang. Gren didn't feel like it was much of an accomplishment; the only reason why his guild could survive this long is that he had his system and the constant coin infusions to keep it running.

Gren thanked the two women for coming and let them out. The mission this time was a real eye-opener for Gren. The attack made him realize that magic wasn't as reliable as he originally thought it was. If low level magic interference is enough to make his spells nearly useless then anything more than that would completely block his magic.

Gren needed better weapons and armor. He got lucky that the arrow only hit his arm; it wasn't guaranteed that he would be able to survive a seemingly fatal attack like his mother did. Gren didn't want to die and, more importantly, he had gained something that he would give up the world to protect.

Fighting on equal terms was too risky. The weapons from his original world would give him an edge against those that would hurt him and his family. He might not be able to build everything from scratch but he had the system to do it for him. He had plenty of points thanks to the guild members but that wasn't enough.

One research point was all that he had and it wasn't enough to unlock anything other than glass. Gren needed another fifty nine research points to create firearms and another five on top of that if he wanted steel. One large monster was worth at least a dozen research points on its own if he could manage to get in the finishing blow.

{Looks like I'll need to go hunting}

Gren returned upstairs where his two pregnant wives and his adopted daughter awaited. Jessica was at the top of the stairs holding on to Ruby. "It's alright now. It was just the client from the other day. Here's the finished contract for you, Jess."

There was a look of relief on Jessica's face. "I was a bit worried that it would be those people that attacked you. I'm glad that my worries were unfounded." Jessica changed the topic while trying to hide a sly smile. "So, did you find someone to tend to the shop?"

"Yeah, I found two people that were suited to be clerks and another one that would make a good guard. I'll have to renovate the shop. We need weapon racks and armor stands." Gren was thinking about adding some cheap iron weapons to help increase his point acquisitions.

Unfortunately, Gren said something that made Jessica pout. "You're not planning on selling weapons, are you? Tools and armor are fine but if you want to sell weapons then I'll need to apply for the right permit." There was always something getting in the way of Gren's plans. "Anyways, you've finished up your business already so that means you've got some free time. Are you forgetting your promise?" Jessica's smile returned.

Gren did forget but her reminder made him remember. "Before we begin, let me go check on Estella. Being pregnant has been pretty bad on her lately."

Gren and Jessica entered Estella's room. Inside was Estella with a swelled up belly, immobilized by her current condition. The time that she stayed awake was only half that of the time that she was asleep lately. She had even gotten a bit chubby. If she was part of any other species then her condition would seem severe but for goblins and hobgoblins it was normal.

"I'll check on her and then head on over to your room. One more thing, have Ruby go downstairs to find the dwarf named Rumi." Jessica closed the door behind her as Gren turned back to examine Estella. The scan didn't take long and nothing negative showed up but Gren couldn't stop worrying.

{Her body is healthy but will this condition continue? If it takes her a long time to give birth like my Mom did then would she still be okay? Can she even live that long?}

Gren had lots of questions but couldn't think of a single answer to any of them.