Chapter 7: Laundry

Errick sinks into his grandfather's large armchair, breathing out a sigh of satisfaction as he gazes upon his handiwork. The chair was far too large and he felt like a child upon a throne, but it was nonetheless the comfiest cushion he had ever experienced.

The floors were mopped, the displays squeaked with cleanliness, any and every metal object shined with polish and organized into their proper places.

Any tinkerer would be happy to work in such an orderly environment. After all, it's hard to do your job when your workplace is a huge mess.

Oh yeah. I actually have to work in a city now.

Errick's mind wanders to his time in his village. He'd work at a local restaurant, and spend some days messing with whatever tech a stray traveler or adventurer might sell while listening to the radio.

Errick grumbles as his hands clench the arm rests. Of course, that was before the monsters began to make a move for the mountains.

The gnomes of Errick's village, Javiksgur, knew what fate befell the halflings when they ignored the warnings, and they wanted to avoid a similar fate. They needed to flee to the Izoran kingdom.

But the kingdom is careful about who it lets in, so Javiksgur sought to exploit an opportunity.

Any technology from the Myrrhnians that the kingdom could reverse engineer would make a giant splash, often spawning entire businesses dedicated to the new products. Any competent tinkerer would migrate to the inner cities for the best opportunities.

Unfortunately, that would leave the cities on the outer edges of the kingdom without anyone to maintain whatever new technology was implemented.

Luckily, gnomes had an innate ear for the songs that machinery would hum, a talent that Javiksgur utilize by sending their best to the kingdom's outer cities. The best would gauge Izoran's need for gadget men, and pave the way for the rest of the village to be welcomed.

However, it was a highly demanding position. To be a general tinkerer means that you had to quickly learn the ins and outs of a vast amount of equipment.

If you were sent out to a city, you had perform well at your job and keep up a good reputation. Ermon and Errick were among those sent out, so whatever happens during their stay in Trudid would affect the fate of their village.

Errick closes his eyes, trying not to let the pressure of his situation intrude on his attempt to relax.

...

"Aaaagh!" Errick yells out, kicking out in protest before curling up in the seat cushion.

So why did I get chosen?! I'm not as smart as everyone thinks I am! Sure, I might've SEEMED smart when I was younger, but that was compared to other kids! I'm an idiot now! Why bet on me?!

Gramps is good with people, but he's old! He doesn't understand anything that came out in the last 50 years! He can't even work a radio!

The gnome grumbles, feeling a pressure building up in his throat.

I don't think I'm going to be able to enjoy my break...

Crawling out of the chair, Errick wipes at his nose, deciding it better to distract himself with more chores. "I guess I can work on the laundry."

Heading down the hallway, Errick opens up the door to his room, coming face to face with a small hill of crates and bags containing whatever didn't need to immediately be unpacked.

At the foot of the hill was a wooden tub, with three brown sacks containing everyone's dirty clothing since they had set off from their village. One particular sack was almost as big as Errick himself.

He climbs into the tub, grabbing one of the smaller bags and sniffing it, detecting the stench of fish guts. "Found mine..."

Suddenly, he hears the back door squeak open.

"Errick? Are you still here?"

It's the girl that stayed the night. The gnome's ear twitches at the woman's voice.

What was her name again? Gwynevere?

Errick hoists the sack that smells of fish over his shoulder. "In here!"

He hobbles towards the door, only to be stopped by a black skirt appearing in front of him.

Errick looks up to meet 'Gwynevere's' eyes, but is instead greeted by the bottom of her buxom chest.

Woah.

"Dow-" Errick's stops, quickly clearing the frog in his throat before speaking again, stepping back as to avoid the woman bumping into him. "Down here."

'Gwynevere' quickly takes a few steps back, nervously chuckling as she holds some string in her hands. "Are you still doing chores? I have a spell that I'd like to try."

"A spell?" Errick raises an eyebrow, apprehensive. "What kind of spell?"

"It's called 'Call Servant.'" 'Gwynevere' answers, reaching into a pouch on her waist and pulling out a creepy tome to show to Errick.. "It summons a spirit of force to perform simple tasks, like cleaning dishes and fetching things!"

"Oh."

Errick didn't want to shove his chores onto a guest, but if a sorceress offers to show you some magic, can you really say no? 

He waves the book away, not like he could understand anything that was written in it. "I was about to do laundry, can it help with that?"

"Of course!" 'Gwynevere' smiles brightly, stepping past Errick to grab grab the edge of the wooden tub. "Go ahead and set your bag somewhere outside, I'll bring these out in a second."

Errick shrugs, walking towards the back door and pushing it open, his eyes widening of the sight of the transformed backyard.

Several motes of light hover in place, twinkling with varying colors as the nearby table gleams. A large cone of soot decorates the ground, as if a wave of fire was sprayed out onto the soil.

Out of the corner of his eye, Errick barely spots the silhouette of a black cat scurrying away into a side alley.

Errick hears the half-gnome struggling behind him, dragging the wooden tub outside with the two remaining sacks of laundry. He asks, "What did you say your name was again?"

"Kathryne Wyrm?" The wizard huffs as she sets the tub down, stepping away.

Wow, I wasn't anywhere close to her name.

"What's with the-" Errick generally motions to the backyard.

"Oh, eh-" Kathryne quickly draws a rune into the air, dismissing the floating lights with a pop and beginning to clean the soot with a thrumming force. "I was testing some spells."

With another wave of her hand, the string she was holding before ties itself to a stick with some difficulty, before being planted in the middle of the back yard. Standing a few paces away, Kathryne pulls out a creepy tome from her pouch.

The book brims with an ominous, arcane energy as it begins to float at Kathryne's eye level, fluttering through its pages.

Errick swallows, taking a couple steps back just in case he needs to take cover, yet still intent on watching the spell manifest.

Kathryne takes a deep breath before etching a new symbol into the air, one more complex that the others Errick had seen her cast before. A purple circle begins to burn into the ground in front of her, sparking with mana.

A gust of wind begins to blow from the circle, thrumming as Kathryne raises a hand, as if pulling a creature from its depths. Light bends around the silhouette of a small humanoid rising from the sigils, before all the energy and light suddenly flare and disappear with a bang.

Errick stays silent for a moment, looking around the back yard. "Did it work?"

Kathryne looks down at the stick planted on the ground, observing how the string disappears into a ghostly tail, pointing towards the space just in front of her. "I think so."

The wizard clears her throat, pointing towards Errick's bag. "Servant, bring me that bag and open it up."

After a pause, the bag suddenly floats above the ground, bouncing over to Kathryne's feet as the knot quickly undoes itself.

"Yay!" The wizard smiles at the success of her spell, taking a step back so that she could see the opening and waving a hand to telekinetically pull out a rough tunic.

However, her nose scrunches upon catching a whiff of its smell. "Woah!"

Errick's cheeks turn red, embarrassed at the state of his clothes as he chuckles. "Yeah. A monster fish tried to eat me, so some of my stuff might smell funky."

"A monster f-!" Kathryne stops herself, covering her mouth to keep herself from laughing, quickly conjuring a cleaning rune. "I'm sorry. Did Wolfgang help you with it?"

"Wolfgang?" Errick buffers, before correcting himself. "Oh, yeah, Wolfgang helped."

I forgot that that's what she's calling herself now.

As Kathryne holds out the now clean tunic to the servant to fold, Ermon's voice calls out from inside the store.

"Errick?! Come help carry this stuff inside!"

Errick spins towards the door, then backs away from the wizard. "Sorry, they're calling me. Are you going to be okay here?"

"Yup!" The wizard holds out two thumbs up towards the gnome, turning her attention to the laundry as Errick disappears into the building.

*****

Kathryne holds out both of her hands to the last bag of laundry, thrumming with Presto's magic.

A whirlwind of dust, old blood, and grime spirals out of the sack's opening, leaving the clothing inside clean and odorless.

Using Magic Hand, Kathryne telekinetically pulls out a large pair of pants, obviously Wolfgang's. She quickly searches the pockets, pulling out a few small snacks and placing them on the table with the other things that were forgotten in the laundry.

Maybe I should summon another servant to make me some food. I'm getting kind of hungry, and I could get some practice with ritual casting.

Kathryne hands the pants over to the existing servant when she suddenly feels something touching her leg, freezing in fear of accidentally stepping on whatever it is.

She looks down, only to find her own chest obstructing her view again.

"Mnyah!"

The sound of a sudden and tiny meow provokes a soft gasp from the wizard, twisting her torso to the side to see what was underneath her nose.

A small, black kitten bats at her skirt with tiny paws. Its body seemed to be made of the deepest shadows, absorbing all light and forming the vague outline of a feline.

Kathryne has to restrain a squeal, trying not to scare such a creature away.

"Mnyaaah!"

The cat lets out a tiny scream for attention as it hops onto her skirt, beginning a long climb up her leg. Kathryne's breath quickens as it crawls up her hip, scrambling up the side of her torso before finally clambering on top of her chest, looking Kathryne right in her violet eyes.

Its crooked whiskers twitched slightly, looking at Kathryne with light blue eyes that struggled to hold a thought.

Will Save: 2.

Kathryne's composure finally breaks, lightly cupping the kitten and stifling a few sobs while her chest wells up with adoration. "Ohhh my heart! You're so skrunkly!"

The back door opens, Wolfgang ducking underneath the frame and looking around. She finds Kathryne crouched down, cupping a kitten as it tries to climb on top of her head.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Kathryne lightly wipes at her eyes with a free hand, catching the cat as it stumbles and holding it out to the beast woman. "Look! Li'l kitty!"

"Mnyah!"

"That's... nice." Wolfgang responds with an incredulous look for a moment. "Ermon wants to see you."

"Ah?" Kathryne's expression quickly changes from excitement to anxiousness, standing up. "Am I in trouble?"

"He just has some questions." Wolfgang says, trying to maintain a stoic expression.

"R-right." The wizard walks over to the door, although she tries to hand the cat to the slayer. "Could you hold him for a little bit?"

"I'm not- cat's don't-" The slayer stammers in surprise when she's suddenly handed the kitten, unsure of what to do as it stands up and explores her large hands.

"Don't worry, I'll be back in a bit!" Kathryne thanks Wolfgang before walking into the store, swallowing nervously as she wonders what Ermon wants with her.

Maybe he wants to know what I plan to do? I did kind of come out of nowhere last night, so I don't think I can just stay here forever.

The wizard arrives at the front of the store, spotting the elderly gnome besides a wooden crate and a few water jugs.

Ermon fiddles with a strange iron bar lined with small plates and spikes, his bushy brow wiggling in thought as he shapes it into a crowbar.

Maybe I can ask if I can work here? But he already has Errick and Wolfgang, would I even be a good investment?  Is wizardry in demand? I don't wanna be a waitress again...

Kathryne feels her neck begins to trickle with sweat as Ermon looks up at her, resting the crowbar against the crate and stretching his back. "There you are. I've heard that you've been busy with magic."

Crap, is he mad? I can't tell if he's mad.

"Ehm... I'm sorry."

Ermon raises an eyebrow at the apology, chuckling as he climbs on top of a large armchair, sinking into its cushion. "There's nothing to be sorry about. I actually have a question for you."

He motions towards a nearby seat, one that is obviously made for a gnome. Kathryne obediently sits down, although has a bit of trouble squeezing into the seat.

Ermon leans back in his chair, clasping his hands together and laying them on his lap.

"What do you say to working here at the store?"