Chapter 23: From NPC to Friend

The road to Gimmimunee, once again, crosses the Tilde Plateau. Thankfully, after we see this city, we won’t return to the Tilde Plateau in a while. It’ll be nice to see a change of scenery. The journey, according to Sheffie, is expected to take about a week. The Orc Tribe are traveling with us for 5 of those days, and then we’ll split up as we get closer. As much as I’d love to stick with Orcs, they can’t exactly infiltrate a major city without getting completely annihilated by nearby adventurers and the city guard. Since the General is staying back at Fort Forth to hold up the Hero, my party heading into Gimmimunee consists of me, Reuby, and my Rock Chickens. The rest of the flock, the Pebble Chickens, will stick with the Orcs for now, but I’ll be keeping Cooper, Emerald, and Rocco.

So far, our time traveling has proved remarkably productive. The most notable thing is my growing sense for battle. I’ve long accepted the fact that I can’t level up, but I’m starting to accommodate for my inherent weakness with items. I’ve had Sheffie whip up some equippable items with his Weapon Cooking. I’ve got new socks and boots, a somewhat sturdier apron dress, and a shiny chicken hairpin to complement my chickens. They all have buffs baked into them, such as stronger attack power and defense. I’ve also “reheated” my clawed gauntlets through Weapon Cooking. They feel more chicken-like! When I told Reuby this, he looked at me like I was crazy. Is “chicken-ness” not a proper metric to use for something like this? Measuring things with metrics like sharpness and speed all the time is boring don’t you think?

With my upgraded gear, as well as the protection of the Orcs, I’ve been more confident heading into battle and slaying the monsters of the Tilde Plateau. My inner completionist has been rejoicing at this opportunity. I won’t detail my love of recolored enemies again, but seeing them in a new context was truly a healing experience. I’ve been preparing my own version of the game’s bestiary. Unfortunately, I don’t have the artistic expertise to magnificently portray the beasts of Namida, but I’m sure my extra little doodles will be fine enough! I’ve memorized all of the monster descriptions from The Tears of Nephelai, so I can accurately rewrite all of that flavor text in this book. Plus, in A Comprehensive Bestiary of Namida: Talon Edition you get author comments! I’m sure people will be thrilled to know that Orcs are super cool, and that Yellow Goops taste like bananas, not like lemons.

Of course, in these battles, I’ve been practicing my Chicken Synchronization with my Rock Chickens, and I’ve found out various things about each of them. These three are more capable than I thought.

Firstly, Rocco has opened up to me a bit more. I can now safely pet him and feed him, though he still remains a bit prickly with others. He seems to dislike Reuben a fair bit, though I can’t figure out why. Rocco is definitely the tank of the party. He has the ability to puff up his feathers and solidify them into tougher material. I’ve tried knocking on his sturdier form, and there’s not any weakness at all. It’s a scarily impressive defense. I don’t even need a shield when he’s around. Rocco has also been clucking at me when I fight monsters. I can tell he’s really trying to refine my movements through his coaching. I certainly appreciate his efforts.

Rocco remains the leader of the flock, but it seems like Cooper is training to surpass him, which has left me with some exciting entertainment whenever I am bored.

Cooper has gotten faster. A lot faster. It’s hard to keep up with him at times. Rocco uses pecks and his heft to fight, but Cooper is all kicks. With his scratchy feet and quick movement, he’s quite the damage dealer. He has some slight problems being overconfident against some larger foes, but can usually make up for it with a quick recovery. I’ve even seen him digging his talons into foes and gripping them hard. What a wild bird he is.

Emerald, as if she was waiting for thousands of years to meet me again, has been sitting on my face every chance she gets. It’s like there’s a quota she has to meet, and because we were separated, she needs to catch up. Is my face really that comfortable? I can only hope that it’s a way she shows affection.

When Emerald battles, she maintains her princessy attitude and deliberately distances herself from the fight. I was worried that she wasn’t a fighter, but she’s actually a strong user of wind magic. I don’t really have any magic sense, so I can’t fully comprehend all of her intricacies, but according to Sheffie Jr., she’s been upsetting enemy balance, and keeping Cooper on his toes when he gets excited through light gusts. I’ve tried asking her to speed up my movement through some sort of slipstream, but all she does is cluck haughtily and try to sit on my face again. Strangely enough, when it comes to battle, I’ve synchronized with her the least. I would’ve thought she’d be the easiest one based on her prior attitude towards me.

Overall, despite some slight hiccups, I would consider such a journey mostly enjoyable.

“Talon, I need you to drink this, please.”

Or at least I would if Reuby was pestering me like some door-to-door salesman.

What the heck is up with this guy? If throwing medicinal herbs my way wasn’t enough, now he’s trying to make me gulp down some dubious concoction in an unmarked bottle.

“Reuby, you won’t even tell me what it is. Why is it bubbling? What’s with that color? Were you actually a mad scientist all along? Did I have the wrong impression of you?”

“Mad scientist?”

“Ah, right, you wouldn’t know what that is…”

“Are you going to explain what it is?”

“Nope! Too much trouble. Instead, I’ll rephrase my question. Are you trying to become a witch doctor or something?”

“A witch doctor?! That’s an insult to my studies to become a healer.”

“Oh? This is news to me.”

“Well… I… had a flash of inspiration a little while ago. It was before you got to Dadirdtoun.”

“I see, I see… Speaking of, what the heck are you doing here with me? Aren’t you, like, the Elder’s best friend or something? You kind of just showed up with my chickens and never explained yourself.”

“I got permission to embark on a pilgrimage. The chickens actually helped me find you, though I had to endure a lot of pecks in the legs during that process.”

“Hehe, Reuby, you just don’t have the bird bond that I do! You’ll have to improve your game if you want to compete!”

“I wasn’t really trying to compete in the first place, Talon.”

“Hmmmm. I think you should bond with the Rock Chickens anyways. We’re all a party now, so it would be better if everyone got along. Did you have a certain destination in mind for your pilgrimage?”

“Um… It’s actually just you. You’re the destination.”

“Heh, so you’re basically just saying that you have no idea what you’re doing.”

This poor guy, who knew he would be so aimless in life? I’m not sure he’d be able to stick around without a strong conviction. I’ll be diving into the depths of the abyss in order to defeat the Hero, does he have the resilience to endure what will come?

“You say that, Talon, but do you have a goal? I can’t determine what you might be up to. Actually, that’s not all too different from normal, please forget I asked.”

“Oi, don’t think I didn’t hear that last part. What’s this about me not knowing what I’m doing?”

“You disappeared at the Frying Festival, made the entire town your enemy by siding with Orcs, temporarily earned the ire of the General, and accidentally read off a necrotic spell that has permanently damaged your body. Do I need to list more?”

“...”

“...”

“Reuby, clearly, you can’t see the genius behind my actions.”

“I would be able to understand if you would just tell me what your goal is. Talon, are you going to keep doing crazy things?”

“I’ll reveal my secrets once you tell me why I need to drink that concerning concoction.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t do that. But I promise it will help you.”

“Then we’re at a standstill, aren’t we?”

Reuby sighs. It’s the same old usual Reuby sigh. He’s only creating more stress for himself. He traveled all the way to me on such a flimsy conviction, and now he’s getting frustrated because he’s stubborn about revealing one simple detail. I would risk revealing my endgame plans to him if he would just let me know what I was drinking. Isn’t that transaction significantly more beneficial to him? What a strange NPC.

We continue to banter and bicker for a while, and eventually, I convince him to listen to my thoughts on monster recolors. He looks confused, he sighs a bunch, and he’s stubborn about pestering me, but in the end, that’s the Reuby I know. I don’t know why he’s here, but it’s nice to have that familiar NPC traveling with me.

Hm. NPC doesn’t quite suit him anymore. What term would suit him? Character? Person? Village Boy B? When it comes to Reuby, these terms are starting to feel weird on my tongue. It feels like he needs something different.

A friend?

Aha! That’s it. He’s a friend now. Yeah. That sounds better.