28 - Zesty

We had our lunches in my room. Hassel was apprehensive about joining us and was anxious to report back to her master, but Maja successfully bribed her with some sweets she'd gotten to take home to Kana. I also had to bribe Toast and Zay'tun to be quiet and well behaved while we talked, and pulled out some 'goblin' meat that I had to pay an arm and a leg for here. I miss Linna!

They spun in circles and Toast told Zay'tun about how tasty it was before remembering he didn't like to share. He guarded his hunk of ham with his body and growled over his shoulder at Zay'tun, who did the same.

I sat down with the others and struggled to find a way to start the conversation, knowing there would be pushback, but thankfully Tamon was there to not read the room.

"You should come fight the demon lord with us!"

"Ahh, I see. You guys are all crazy, huh?"

A reasonable response to such a statement.

Maja took over explaining our situation as she was definitely the only one Hassel respected from our group. She finished by commenting on the Master's treatment of Hassel, and with a serious tone expressed how wrong it was. Hassel looked down at her feet.

"It's not like I don't want to leave, but I need a signature on my certificate. I have to become a Master, I just have to..."

I took the risk and cut in.

"Why is it so important to be a Master? I heard you say you don't like making weapons."

She widened her eyes before glaring at me.

"That's exactly why I need to be one, idiot! Then...Then no one can tell me what to make! I can make whatever I want!"

Maja, the ever kind hearted diplomat, skillfully de-escalated with a warm smile.

"What do you want to make?"

Hassel's face flushed and she turned her head towards the wall. 

"...ines"

We learned in to hear better, but she cranked her volume and startled us.

"MACHINES. I want to make things that help people! I want to make toys! And timepieces!"

I felt my heart flutter. Not for her aspirations, gross. Hearing that timepieces existed here after all was thrilling.

I'm counting the minutes! Haha

Tamon tried once again to convince her to join us, and offered up a stroke of genius to her certificate problem.

"You can have any Master sign your thing right?"

"Well....I guess so. But apprentices need to prove themselves to a Master to earn the signature."

"Isn't there any way to do that outside of apprenticing? Like...Fast tracking it?"

She thought for a moment, making some questionable faces and sounds.

"There is a way... If I forge a weapon level 50 or higher and present it to a Master for approval...but..."

I chimed in.

"You're not sure if you can do it?"

"Of course I can! Idiot! I can make weapons up to Level 70 already! I just don't know where to find a Master to present it to!"

"Would a Guildmaster work?"

"Of course idiot! A Master is a Master in any field!"

I was starting to regret speaking up.

"Well, I happen to know a Guildmaster personally. In Linna."

Maja clapped her hands together and startled the 'dogs' into waking from their food coma.

"My my! There you have it. Hassel will come with us to fight the Demon Lord, and in exchange we'll introduce her to Miss Ilta at the guild."

We bickered a little more but the plan was set. Hassel would no longer return to that dreadful forge, and we'd continue our journey together. She collected her things in the dead of night, and stayed with Maja for the next couple days while we procured some provisions to embark into the southern lands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We left Kaupalla against the warnings of those at the outskirts of the town, and started into a vast desert. After walking half a day, Tamon and I were melting. 

Maja was fine, and even a little more peppy than usual, saying her home had areas like this, and it reminded her of childhood summers. Hassel was boasting about how much hotter the forge was, but I could see the sweat dripping from her face.

Toast and Zay'tun were suffering too. They both had enough fur to fill a pillow each, and were panting like crazy, though I couldn't be sure if Zay'tun was just copying Toast. I requested Maja use a low heal constantly on them just in case, to help prevent them from overheating. We swapped from each carrying a 'dog' to her carrying both, and I took her bag in exchange, but after a while I could tell using heal for that long was draining her fast.

We changed tactics and set up camp to travel by dusk and dawn instead, just until we reached the end of the desert. Hassel had a pretty resourceful skill similar to Kana's, where she could combine items in her status screen. So with just a tarp, rope and some sticks we'd found, she crafted us a small tent to rest in while the sun was high. 

I could have done that!

Thankfully we only had to continue on like this a few more days before the sand turned whiter, and a body of water came into view, along with two lounging figures.

Approaching with caution, I could start to make out finer features beyond the haze of the heat, and the encroaching dark of night.

Two large monsters were squabbling with each other while laying around in the sand by the water's edge.

The first one looked like a goat with a long furry torso, human feet and hands where its hooves should have been, a long fluffy tail, and a flat face with a long human nose and mouth. He was quite a bit uglier than Varis had been. 

The one he was arguing with seemed like a cross between a frog and a gorilla. He had slick and shiny green skin, and a frog-ish face, but his body was thick and buff with bits of hair on his arms and legs. He was kicking his frog feet in the air like a girl discussing love problems. I was shocked to see no horns or wings on that one.

The two of them bickered about their titles, specifically who gets what from the sounds of it.

"It's not fair for you to get Baron, I've worked here longer!"

"But I picked it first. I don't want to be a Marquess of something fluffy sounding. Duke is obviously the coolest..."

"Of course Duke is the coolest but Varis is the one who asked about it, and we can't use Lord or King or anything like that."

"No one would believe you were a King anyways."

"I know! That's why I want to be a Baron!"

"What about a Count?"

"......Someone else is definitely more of a count."

"That's true...."

I decided to risk my luck and hope these guys were as relaxed as Varis was. Ahem. 'Duke Varis'.

"Excuse me?"

They answered with a "yeeees?" in unison like students to a teacher.

"We're... wondering if this is the right way to the Demon Lord's castle?"

The frog one stretched its slimy thick legs and I knew if it had stood up it could have stepped on me easily. I felt a lump in my throat.

"Who's askin'?"

I hesitated to answer with the truth but the vibe they were giving off was so relaxed I took another chance.

"The...Hero's party I guess?" 

I turned around to see my 'party' had distanced themselves and were peeking out from behind a palm-looking tree.

"Another one? Hey Vuohi didn't the last Hero just come through here?"

"No no, that was over a year ago. Sorry about Sammakko, he's terrible with his days, you see."

"I am not! Be more respectful to your senior! And let me have Baron while you're at it!"

They squabbled some more, almost forgetting I was there.

"Look hero guy, we're supposed to block your path or whatever but honestly that last hero whooped us good, and we've already been lounging here all day and-"

"Yeah, I don't know, I'm really tired from baking in the sun all day, and it's getting late, you get it right?"

"Right and you're not going to make it past Ketty anyways."

"You're gonna get whooped by someone else if word gets back that you used that nickname again. Why do you and Varis always have to give cutesy names to stuff?"

"Loppy likes it!"

"No way! Varis got reamed just last week for using Loppu again!"

"It's fine!"

I could tell after talking with these two for a couple minutes that I needed to keep them focused or they'd go right back to arguing. I directed my next question at Vuohi, the goat-ish one.

"Do you know where we need to go next?"

"Uhhhhhh......Yeah, I think Kettu had been hanging around to the north of the castle, all that fruit started growing there recently."

"Yeah that was weird wasn't it? I'd never seen those tree-"

I was losing my patience and cut in more promptly this time.

"WHICH....way is that? Please?"

"Golly, in such a rush to die, huh? Cross the water kinda...that way?"

He pointed his gangly finger to the southwest. I didn't like his confidence in my death.

"Hey wait, before you go off, can you do us a favour and tell Kettu that you clobbered us?"

"Oooh yeah! Good idea! Oh, oh, also, hey! You're from the other world right? Hey what sounds cooler for a title? Baron? Or something else?"

I used my knowledge gained from reading historical romance manga to play a prank on the demons that had exasperated me so greatly.

"Baron is pretty cool... But you know there's a rank above Duke right? One of you could be an Archduke. Stick it to Varis."

They both gave me an "oooooo" and clapped a bit.

"I want that one!"

"No way! I'm the one that asked!"

"You picked Baron!"

"Only because it was cooler than Marquess!"

I laughed to myself and quietly backed away from the two demons who had renewed their quarrel, and with my 'party' reunited we followed the shoreline west.