Breakfast and Boons
Arriving downstairs of Arlington's manor, we headed into the dining room. Grander than one might expect for the average commoner, the room was still not quite big enough to be called a dining hall. There was a long wooden table with benches down either side and an oversized chair on either end. One of the chairs was slightly more impressive in its regality as it was the spot reserved for the town's leader and master of the household, Arlington. Today, however, Arl directed me to take it as the guest of honour who had saved his family and friends and gone so far beyond the submitted quest parameters. I graciously took the seat. My hunger peaked as I stared across the veritable buffet of breakfast foods prepared for us. There looked to be enough for all five of us, even taking into consideration the vast hunger that lived inside my lover's feminine frame.
Seated in the chair, Luna sat on the bench to my right, while Arl took the seat to my left after placing down mugs of tea before Luna and myself. When we arrived on the first floor, Dina had gone to the kitchen and now returned, carrying a stack of wooden plates and utensils. Following behind her were her sister, Lana and Lana's fiancé, Carson. They each bore platters of the last few items of food that had been prepared last, namely the baked items, such as buns, pastries and donuts. Dina sat next to Luna, who grinned knowingly that the girl was likely to take Luna up on her educational offer after eating based on her seating choice. Lana sat next to her father, with Carson taking a seat on the other side of her.
Everyone seated at the table crossed their arms in the shape of an 'X' across their chest. "If you would lead us in thanking the Gods." Arl nodded towards me, the respect in this statement even more significant for this family than the current seating arrangements. "Of course," I smiled back. Everyone bowed their heads with their eyes closed. "Divines above us, we thank you for the bounty in front of us, the loved ones beside us, and the struggles behind us. May you continue to guide us on the path to betterment and peace. Blessings be upon us all."
"Blessings be upon us all." The five others parroted back. With the short prayer of thanks out of the way, everyone started doling food out onto their plates. Luna snatched up my plate and started getting me helpings from all of my favourites. She already knew what I loved to eat, and she even gave me a few dishes I had never tried before. She explained that based on what I like, she thought that I would probably enjoy these dishes as well. I optimistically tried out the new dishes first with my untainted palette. As I tried out each of the new dishes, I was pleasantly awarded for my faith in Luna, with delicious new items being quickly added to the breakfast food rotation.
Looking over to Luna, I found her on her third plate of food already. Once again, impressed by her combination of dainty manners and quick food consumption, I noticed the others watching with awe as the beastwoman ate with the gusto of a man five times her size.
After finishing off all the food, Lana and Carson had to head over to Carson's parents' house. Lana was needed to help watch Carson's siblings' children while all the men of the family helped repair and rebuild the bits of the property that monsters had damaged before we had arrived. Lana offered to help clean up before they left, but Dina and Luna waved away her offer, knowing how exhausting it could be handling the children all day.
After the young couple departed, Luna and Dina scooped up all the dishes and took them away to the kitchen. The kitchen was separated from the dining area by a thick stone wall. It was a perfect opportunity for Luna to answer the questions that had been brewing in Dina's young imagination throughout breakfast. Arlington and I moved over to the two armchairs near the hearth of the fire. Arlington handed me a mug of ice-cold ale, one of the benefits of having ice magic at his disposal, and I took a long draught from it before placing it on the table next to me. I reclined in my seat and crossed my legs, relaxing as I waited for Arl to bring up whatever had been on his mind.
"So tell me, John, what do I need to repay my debt to you. No, let me finish." He held up a hand to cut me off from interjecting with me, trying to wave him off. "You saved us. I know that we had the Guild quest you had accepted, but you went so far above and beyond. And now I feel inadequate when it comes to compensating you for all you did. Not only did you deliver the ingredients for rejuvenating the barrier, fight your way in through a horde of monsters and then deliver us salvation by facing eight straight days of waves of monsters and monsterkin attacking, but you also used your ingredients and expertise to craft potions for us. The healing elixirs you handed out saved more than a third of the village, including almost all the men. You even saved my daughter Lana, who almost passed before making it to her wedding. I know you are dedicated to Luna, but I want you to know that you may have her hand in marriage if you desire Dina. I know she is young now, but give her a few years, and she will be a beauty like her mother and sister."
I realized the man's exasperation at his inability to repay what he saw as a life debt. To comfort him, I placed a hand upon his shoulder and looked him straight in the eye. "Arl, I have told you before, and I will tell you again. I did this not for recognition, but to be the man my mother raised me to be, to be a man deserving Luna's love and affection, and to be a man who can look his father in the eye when I pass on from here and see the pride in his eyes. As for offering me Dina's hand, well, I believe it is her choice. So when she turns the age of majority, if she wants to pursue a relationship with me, tell her to send me a letter through the guild. Now, enough of debts, let us discuss trade. I need the following. Please have it ready within two hours, and I shall be in my room until then. At that time, Luna and I shall depart." I produced a list of goods Luna and I could use that the village had in abundance. After the damage they had suffered, they would have a dire need of funds, and if there is one thing I had in abundance, it was money.
Handing a few gold coins as my budget to Arl, he took the money with a shaky hand. "I think this may be too much for this stuff..." He tried to politely point out what he saw as a miscalculation. "Just consider the extra as the rush order fee," I responded as I headed to the stairs. I went upstairs to our room and sat in the chair at the desk in the room. I pulled out my alchemical tools from my storage and arranged them on the desk in front of me. I then used my HUD to pull up several recipes for potions I wanted to craft before our departure. With my now maxed Alchemy skill, I swiftly crafted several different mid to high-level brews.
"Honey, are you in here?" Luna's sweet voice called as she lightly knocked on the door. "Yes, babe, come in. I just finished a few things for gifts before we leave." Luna walked up behind me, and I felt her breasts press against the back of my head as I leaned back. She ran her fingers through my hair and massaged my temples as I proceeded to explain my gifts.
"First, we have these gifts for the soon-to-be-wed couple. For Lana, this medication promotes fertility. Once that one is successful, this one ensures the baby in her belly gets all of the nutrition it needs regardless of her diet. Plus, I put a few lesser health potions, just in case there are any birth complications, or if the little tyke gets the self in any accidents once they are old enough to cause chaos." Luna nodded along as I explained. I watched her face in the mirror, looking to see if she had any ideas to add. "Maybe something for morning sickness? And something to help her figure recover after the birth?" She added. I knew she would think of things I missed. I took her left hand that was rubbing my temple, and kissed the back of her hand. In response, she proceeded to stroke my beard as well.
I pulled a few potions I had in my storage that I had made previously. "Here is something for Lana's nausea, and this one will promote her body to heal up using any extra weight she has after to be used for energy to repair any damage the birth causes."
"Now for the hubby. I produced an aphrodisiac with... *cough* performance-enhancing properties. He will be like a prized stud with this in his system. Between this and the fertility medicine, they might end up with triplets." Luna let out a low whistle. "Hopefully, he doesn't wear the poor girl out." She snarked.
"Haha, hopefully not, but she has the health poultice just in case, right?" I winked back at Luna.
"Now, for the final few items, I created this case of assorted low-level remedies and potions for Arlington to keep hold of to help take care of any village problems, hopefully." I patted a leather case I had made just for storing the glass bottles.
"Let us go give them to their recipients." We headed downstairs and out front of the manor, where we found our carriage all ready. Arl and Carson had just finished loading the last couple of items. "I thought you two were at Carson's folks' place?" I asked Lana, who was standing with Dina in the shade of a tree in the front yard.
"We were, but they realized that they needed some extra materials that we will get in a few days from a trader who often stops by. In the meantime, we came back to help you get ready to leave." She stepped in closer, "I heard from father about your help with the order you placed. I cannot thank you enough. I hope the Gods smile forever upon you."
"I only hope that we can get a world where it is the norm, rather than the exception, for how we treat our neighbours." I smiled back. "Now, I have a few gifts for you and Carson." I pulled out the gifts and walked her through each item. Finally arriving on the bottle of magical blue liquid, I cautioned her against giving too much to her fiancé. She blushed at the intimate topic, taking the case of bottles and bowing deeply.
Arlington and Carson came over and reported we were ready to ride. I handed the case to Arl. He sat it on a bench and opened it, looking from the bottles to me. "These are my extras from practicing, so they are particularly potent, but I will rest better knowing you have these for small incidents. Arl reached his hand forward for a handshake, his eyes tearing up a bit. As I reached out for the handshake, he pulled me in and hugged me. "I feel as if though my wife must have put in a good word with the Great Ones if they were willing to send a blessing like you upon us, John."
"You might just be right about that," I joked as I turned to jump into the carriage. I felt an impact against my thigh as Dina gripped me in a hug. "You will honour your promise you made to my papa, right?" Luna shot me a look. "A man doesn't make a promise he is not willing to keep." I gave her head a rub and hopped in the carriage, reaching down a hand to pull Luna up as well.
As we left the village, we could still make out the outlines of all the townsfolk who had come to see us off.
"So, what was the promise you made?" Luna asked, tilting her head inquisitively.
Uhh.