Chapter 76 Monster Guts

The rest of the trip was entirely uneventful. Large groups had both an advantage and a disadvantage. On one hand they wouldn’t be pestered by shadow-wolves, spiders, snakes, or small bands of Ori-Masa but on the other there was a risk of drow ambushes or larger monsters like Tunnel-Horrors taking exception to their presence. The wagon train was only seven wagons and they were all mostly empty but they were skirting the line between efficiency and recklessness. The fact that the wagons were mostly empty was probably the only reason they hadn’t been attacked by anything major, other than the army of Ori-Masa of course, because full wagons sound different than empty ones. Many predators in the Innerworld relied heavily on sound to find prey and the heavy rumble of a full wagon traveled far.

Once the caravan reached the city gates of Safeharbor, Wo Lu, Isaac, and Lenna all dismounted and walked in first. The caravan would have to be checked for contraband and everyone’s identification needed to be looked over. The process was a quick one in comparison to many other cities but it would still take an average of ten minutes per wagon. Seventy minutes Isaac, Lenna, and Wo Lu weren’t going to wait through.

The trio arrived back at the Adventurers’ Guild and met Alice while she was in the middle of her dinner while doing paperwork. “Where do you even get this much paperwork?” Isaac asked. “You are always up to your chin in papers and maps. Granted, your chin isn’t very high but still.”

“Hello Alice, nice to see you Alice, I finished my quest without major incident Alice, sure I wouldn’t mind waiting until tomorrow for my payment because you are busy.” Alice went on sarcastically while giving Isaac a fake cheery smile.

“Remember to take breaks, kiddo.” Wo Lu told her and patted her on the shoulder with his massive hand. Half of his hand didn’t fit on her shoulder and Isaac had to struggle to hold back a chuckle at the comedy of it. The extra large elf and the pint sized gnome/lightfoot girl were just such a strange sight to see. “Stress will make you age faster.” He explained and then went to get food from the tavern section of the Guild Hall.

Alice sighed. “This job makes me age faster.” She grumbled. Her eyes met Isaac’s and then Lenna’s before her brows furrowed. “What happened to your armor?” She said to Isaac. He wasn’t about to put on the guts covered set so it was still stored in his Inventory.

“It’s… gross.” He explained. “Both it and I need a proper bath.” He continued. “Anyway, here’s a heads up. A wagon will be by with two Ori-Masa in a barrel and a wagon load of Tunnel-Horror rings. I’m selling the guild the rings and I’ll send Jala down to get the… research materials.” He said the last part like he’d eaten something sour.

“Where did you get Tunnel-Horror rings?” Alice asked in mild shock. She was already briefed on Jala’s particular field of study and wasn’t about to question the eccentric wizard’s choice in test subjects, especially when they were little monster fishmen who liked to prey on adventurers and caravans.

“Where do you think?” Isaac asked in reply with a raised eyebrow.

“What? How? When?” Alice barraged and then just sat there silently.

“That’s… a long story. The short version is the Ori-Masa turned into a blob monster and then a Tunnel Horror tried to eat it and instead got sucked into the blob monster. We killed the blob monster and the only part of it that was salvageable were the rings.” He explained. It sounded almost exactly how Lenna would have told the story, if Isaac wouldn’t have been craving a hot bath and Leo’s cooking then he would have filled her in on the entire adventure, instead of only hitting the highlights.

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“That’s… a lot to go through. I assume there will be a report later?” She replied.

Isaac nodded and then glanced at Wo Lu. The elf had heard everything from across the room and nodded. They had decided who would write the report via a game of cards. A game that Lenna had won, only because she caught Isaac cheating and that disqualified him, and Wo Lu had lost. “Thanks.” Isaac said in the direction of Wo Lu who nodded again. ‘His hearing is insane.’ Isaac thought to himself. He was sure that Wo Lu could hear a pin drop from across the street during the morning rush.

“Okay then.” Alice replied. “Anything else?” She asked.

“Not for now, no. I will leave you to your mountain of paper.” Isaac replied and turned to go.

“Don’t work too hard.” Lenna offered the younger woman. “The old wolf is right, stress makes you age faster.”

Alice sighed. “I won’t, I know.” She replied but her eyelids hung heavily. It was clear that if she took a break then she would fall asleep. She sleepily took another bite of her food and went back to reading over the paper she had been reading when the group arrived.

Lenna met Isaac just outside the door. “Home or Jala’s first?” She asked.

“Both?” Isaac asked.

“Both?” Lenna replied.

Isaac nodded. “I think by now you shouldn’t get into too much trouble covering the handful of blocks in between the Dawn and the wizards towers. I’m gonna soak for a bit.” He explained. Lenna looked hesitant. “If you don’t want to go to Jala’s I can go there later I just figured it would get everything done sooner that way.” He continued.

Lenna shook her head. “It’s not that.” She replied. “I just don’t want to be that far from you.” She spoke in little more than a whisper.

Isaac smiled warmly. “Give me your hand.” He told her. She offered him her hand palm up and he placed one of his under it. With the other hand he poked her palm and coated the inside of her gauntlet with shadows. He made sure that the connection was invisible to everyone but himself and now her. “There.” He said once he was done. “If it suddenly turns to death flames then I’m in trouble. If it disappears then I am in a lot of trouble.” He explained.

Lenna nodded and smiled under her helmet. “Alright.” She acquiesced. “I’ll tell Auntie to pick up her research materials.”

“What should we do if you get into trouble?” Isaac asked with a frown.

“Trouble? Without you?” Lenna asked incredulously. “That’s possible?” She teased.

Isaac chuckled and shook his head. “You’re right. You’ll be fine.”

—

Jala looked up from her table of strange elixirs and monster parts in jars of stranger liquids with a start. “Lenna?” She said quickly and looked around. “Where is your-our Lord?”

“Trying to wash monster guts out of his hair.” Lenna replied. It wasn’t quite accurate but it was accurate enough.

Jala’s eyes got wider. “You two aren’t together? Why? Did something happen?” She asked, concerned. She was sure that there was something going on between her niece and Isaac but if they weren’t together like they always were she didn’t think it was a good sign.

Lenna shook her head with an amused smirk on her face. “Nothing happened. I’m just here to tell you there are two… specimens, that should be at the Adventurers’ Guild sometime within the next hour or so.” She explained. “I’m going back to Isaac now. He just didn’t want them to starve to death before you picked them up.”

Jala nodded slowly as her eyes returned to normal before abruptly widening again. “Oh?! What kind of specimens?!” She pressed in an ever escalating voice in both pitch and volume.

Lenna winced. “Mushroomancer victims, Ori-Masa.” She explained and then winced harder at Jala’s childlike squeal. “Auntie, you are much too old to be acting like a little girl on her birthday.”

Jala ignored her niece’s reprimand and hurried to change into clothes that weren’t covered in blood up to her elbows. She apparently didn’t mind waiting at the Guild Hall. “Fen!” She called. “I’m going to need some help!”

Lenna shook her head and turned to leave just in time to see the exasperated looks on the guards faces, who had been stationed to prevent Fen from causing havoc and anyone from entering the tower, she could only mouth ‘Sorry’ to them on her way out. She really did feel bad for whoever got stuck watching over her aunt and uncle. Lenna’s mind drifted towards her destination. ‘Maybe Isaac is right.’ She thought. ‘Maybe a two person tub would be nice.’ Her face flushed as she thought about the inevitable conversation with Celeste about it. ‘Or not.’