17 - Seasoning

A month had passed since everything. 

The three of us, and Toast, had really bonded and almost settled into a peaceful life and routine at the shop.

Maja had started making potions infused with her spells to help the people of the city. The old man we had met returned to visit us and brought along a very sick friend, who Maja made a potion for and they recovered very quickly. News spread through the slums about the healer who would treat people for only what they could pay, even if it was nothing, and Maja became somewhat of a local saint. She started using her room as a clinic for examinations and spellcasting. We weren't making much money from it but she was happy to be helping others, so we were happy for her.

Strangely, the guild had caught wind and sent a few recruiters along for Maja, but just like the adventurers at the gate, she declined each and every one.

Pinnea was sending more and more of her customers over to see Kana. Not like that!

Kana would help them out with what she'd call "wife troubles". She gave advice, picked flowers for bouquets, mended and made dolls and stuffed monster toys for their children, she even went shopping with some to help pick gifts for birthdays or forgotten anniversaries. 

Kana was definitely the breadwinner now, and I was feeling a bit useless.

I'd become somewhat of a delivery boy for the shop; delivering items Kana had fixed or crafted, and potions Maja had made for people who couldn't visit the north district.

Just last week Kana had me delivering bento lunches to one of the construction sites she used to visit. She was really bringing credit to the name 'all-rounder'.

I was happy to help as she seemed to be running herself a little ragged, but I couldn't let myself be satisfied coming all the way to a new world and getting stuck doing a basic delivery job like when I worked for Uper Eats.

Our business was slowly growing thanks to the girls, but I wanted to contribute in my own way too. I just wasn't sure what it was yet. For the time being I was passing out flyers during my deliveries, trying to spread the name Silver Bounty through the markets, and of course continuing with my paltry hunting quests through the guild. 

Meanwhile the rumours about boss monsters being near the city had spun completely out of control. The guild had imposed a curfew on the city, which Pinnea was rather upset about considering most of her clientele visited at night, and everyone was on edge worrying about how safe the city really was when half of the adventurers were too afraid to fight.

Not all of the rumours were baseless unfortunately. Depending on what district you were in, you could hear monsters outside the walls. Even we had heard roaring, shrieking, howling, and not the usual kind we'd hear from next door. It was ominous to say the least.

I was still taking Toast out despite this since all the reported incidents had occurred at night, so venturing out during the day was relatively safe, and I had gotten really invested in grinding for skill points. If the low level monsters around the city weren't on infinite respawn, I'd bet dollars to donuts we'd have cleared them out in the last month. With the new SP we'd farmed I'd gotten some new skills for Toast that I hoped would give us an edge should things escalate with the boss monsters attacking the city. I swear I'm not picturing a giant head popping over the wall.

Toast's skills had him set up as an all-rounder too, and I was feeling more confident in letting him fight since we'd unlocked a few defensive skills. 'Barrier' was fantastic, and put Toast in a small pink bubble that completely blocked attacks from low level monsters. It made me laugh when he used it though because he looked like an oversized hamster running around in it.

We'd also grabbed 'Shield', which put a one-hit blocking forcefield in front of every party member, and 'Shield+', which did the same thing but was on a 30 second timer instead of being for one hit. That one was pretty expensive to purchase, and expensive to use. Toast's stats were initially high in the first place but because we'd only been grinding with relatively easy monsters, he wasn't getting much in the way of any increases. Just a couple points here and there. I had to be mindful of skills that used a lot of MP and make sure to let him have plenty of breaks to recharge. My heart still couldn't handle seeing him knocked out like that.

After beefing up our defense, I unlocked a non-offensive skill called "Laser Focus" that accidentally became offensive. The description read that it would increase visibility and eyesight by 20%, which I figured would be good for my little one-eyed guy, but my guess is that his strength stat is too high, because when he activated it an actual laser shot out from his eye. Chaos ensued as he tried to look at the laser, but because his eye moved the laser moved, so a high powered laser was darting around burning everything up. That would have included me as well if we hadn't been testing Shield+ seconds before. I guess that's my fault for playing with him with a laser pointer back home. It's less funny now.

Lastly was 'Earth Shatter'. That one blew through most of the points we'd collected. It was expensive in and of itself, but we had to unlock all the previous skills on the tree to get to it too. It started out as 'Stomp', a short-range attack, but my focus was getting Toast long-range skills for his own safety. After two more tiers 'Stomp' became 'Earth Shatter', which opened a crack in the ground and sent enemies plunging to their deaths. We managed to take out another Sagi colony with that one.

We'd had a productive month for certain, and with the shop actually getting a few customers here and there, we were on track for a decently comfy slow paced life. I just needed some self-satisfaction in the mix. 

I decided to visit Pinnea for some words of wisdom. She seemed to have a kind of 'all-knowing' sense about her, and I wanted some direction.

"Well of course you're lost darling! Barely a month in a new land and you expect to have it all figured out? Don't worry so much!"

"I just want to be helpful to the girls."

"Oh my goodness! Are you not being helpful right now? Of course you are! Who is it I see running all around the city with bags and boxes? Why, our dear little Kana would work herself to death if you weren't there! And think of all the elderly folk who can't visit Maja! My word! My goodness! Not helpful you say! Shame on you Mitsuta dear!"

"I know, I know. I'm happy to support them but-"

"But your heart just doesn't fill up like that, does it?"

"Not as I'd hoped."

"Well now, let's have a think! What did you do before? Where you came from? Could you do that?"

"...Maybe. I did a lot of different things. Some of them I couldn't do here, and I don't think any of them made me happy."

"Happiness comes in time sweet boy! Tell me about some of the things you did! Maybe my customers could use your help too, like they do with Kana! Such a lovely girl, that Kana, yes lovely! Any progression with you two since holding hands?"

How does she know about that?!

I could feel my ears burning and I desperately tried to redirect the conversation.

"Insurance! I worked part-time for an insurance company."

"Well now, I suppose you're right that you might not be able to do -all- the same things you did before, but think about your skills darling! I'm sure you're a great salesman!"

I briefly wondered if Pinnea knew what insurance was or if she was taking a stab in the dark.

"Anything else dear?"

"I worked part-time for an archaeology company, mostly digging and cataloguing arti-...rocks. Also a hobby shop, trading cards- collectible items. A general goods store, just as a cashier. A bookstore, a game store, an offi- place where I did paperwork..."

I listed place after place, correcting myself from using terms Pinnea may or may not have understood. She listened attentively before sharing her final thoughts in her rarely seen calmed demeanor. 

"It sounds to me like you're exactly where you need to be."

"Huh?"

"All those things you listed, it sounds like running a business is the perfect job for you, and you're already doing that my dear sweet boy. I'm sure you could help people with unique tasks here and there, but you've got time ahead of you, and I think while those jobs might not have made you happy, the people you're working with now do. The rest will fall into place."

I kind of understood what she meant, and kind of didn't. My impatience was getting in the way of my clarity.

Regardless, I thanked Pinnea for the advice and returned to my room, where I was greeted by Toast's angry howling that I had left him behind. A ringing in my ears started.

~Mi!~