He woke up in a sudden rush, his hand cold and empty. He sat up, and realised that it was still pretty early, and Serah had just rolled over in her sleep. The sun had barely started to rise over the horizon. Chris put away his bedroll, and ran off into the woods. He brandished his blade as he approached his target. With a quick strike, he killed an Orcish Boar and drug it to camp. He began cleaning it, and cooking the meat. He had spent an entire silver coin on seasoning, and now was the time to use them.
‘I want to impress Serah and everyone else.’ He cooked the meat to perfection using flame control, and imbued his own mana into the meat while it cooked. It gave it a stamina boosting effect. He gathered some edible plants from the forest line, and once the sun had risen to a good enough extent he woke everyone up to eat. Brandishing perfectly clean earthen plates, shining in the burgeoning sunlight, he served the food to everyone.
They thoroughly enjoyed it, Harriot talked about how wonderful of a husband Rose would be, and Serah elbowed her. Everyone thanked him for cooking, and Chris felt a little better, being useful for something other than pure slaughter. When everyone was done eating, Chris crumbled the plates, returning them to the earth.
He took one last walk around while everyone else packed up. He approached the forest line again, and heard a cry. It was strained, and quiet. Chris quietly stepped through the forest, slowly pinpointing the cries. Just as Chris began feeling better about himself, he saw a small Orcish Boar, crying out while following the scent trail that led to the camp. It would sniff for a bit, then cry out, walk forward, then repeat.
Chris approached it slowly and calmly. Kneeling down in front of it, he reached his arms out. ‘I killed its parent, it won’t survive on its own.’ The boar approached, sniffing Chris then recoiling a little. It let out another strained cry, and Chris gave it some of the mushrooms he had found in the forest prior. It munched them down, and let out a more pleased cry. Chris was able to pick it up without much fuss.
He walked back to the camp with the adorable little boar in his arms, being cradled like a baby. When he approached everyone looked at him a bit confused. “What’s going on Rose?” Harriot asked him. “I’m a father now,” he stated bluntly, and walked towards the carriage.
Once they were back on the road, Chris explained his sudden new companion. He was determined to take care of it until it was old enough to fend for itself, since he took that away from it.
The trip had been going for a little over a week, and they still had a long way to go. Some nights they were able to stay at inns or merchants houses near the main travel path, and others they continued to camp out. Chris realised he never actually looked at how much the pay for this trip was.
He whispered to Serah asking about it. “You mean you just took up this mission because you felt like it? Not even caring about the pay?” she scolded him. He nodded in agreement. She sighed, “This trip has a payment of ten silver per guard, with a bonus depending on how quickly we arrive.”
‘Shit, I spent two silver just on spices alone, maybe I should be more careful.’ “So how long should ten silvers last for someone normally? I’ve studied money, but I don’t have much real world experience,” Chris scratched the back of his head.
She sighed and grabbed his hand, “You really are helpless aren’t you,” she smiled, “Alright, money crash course time.” She went into detail explaining the average cost of goods, from food to rentals, as well as the differences between larger cities and smaller villages. Basically each silver is worth one hundred copper, and each copper can be used to buy a simple vegetable. Three is the cost of bread. And around ten copper can buy you a night at a cheap inn, twenty if it comes with a meal. For a single person with ten silver, they can afford to live decently for around two months.
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“That’s kinda scary, after such a long trip I earn enough to cover around the same time I am gone plus the trip back. I would constantly be having to work without seeing family if I had one.” Chris thought more about it. “Are human lives worth so little Serah?” He looked up at her. They both thought of Tarles corpse lying on the ground.
She squeezed his hand, “No, they’re worth far more. We just got unlucky with how our trip went at first. It's normally not supposed to be like this.” She looked down, Chris knew she felt guilty. He squeezed his hand back, and whispered, “Thank you for your hard work.” Serah blushed, trying to turn away so Chris didn’t see, but he did.
That evening they arrived in a smaller town. “Want a real world experience to see the value of money?” Serah questioned him. He nodded and they hopped off. Chris noted Harriot pouting, but he didn’t pay it much mind.
They helped Fernando stash the goods into the inn they were staying in, then went off to the market to look at goods. Chris and Serah enjoyed themselves, buying a few treats from the stands, and Chris splurged on even more spices to add to his collection. Serah admonished him for wasting his limited money, but he explained how hard seasoned meat was to get where he was from.
The night approached and they headed back to the inn. “Do you need me to stay with you tonight?” Serah asked Chris, who was slowly getting better. “I’ll try handling myself tonight, but if I need you, I’ll let you know.” They parted, and Chris went into his room and crashed into bed.
He woke up to the feeling of someone lying next to him, warmth clinging to him. ‘I guess Serah decided she would stay anyway. That’s sweet of her.’ He clung to the person lying next to him. He opened his eyes to see red hair and eyes in front of him. He jumped back, tumbling off the bed. His ass hit the floor hard.
“Guess I startled you. Sorry, I was just cold in my room,” Harriot said as if what she was doing was normal. ‘What the hell is she really here for.’ “Ohh, I-I guess that's fine, I can give you a spare blanket if you want?” Chris stumbled over his words and Harriot frowned and sighed. “Alright fine, I just wanted to lie here with you after seeing you getting so cozy with Serah.” Chris stood back up, hands in his pockets. “What’s even the deal between you two, you fall in love that fast?”
Chris shook his head, “You wouldn’t get it, it’s not like that.” Harriot leaned forward, exposing her cleavage more, “Ohh, then this is fine?” Chris took a deep breath and sighed. He awkwardly turned away, avoiding the temptation. “Get out please. I’m not interested in that right now.”
Harriot was annoyed and stomped out of the room. She slammed the door shut behind her, and went back to her room. Chris went to lock the door when he heard a knock. He opened it to see a smiling Serah.
“You look like you were having a good time huh?” She prodded him with her elbow. Chris let her in and threw himself on the bed, “Not even, she took the fact that we aren’t madly in love or whatever as an excuse to tempt me. I might be a guy, but even I won’t give out my first time like that.” Serah laughed, and hopped into bed with him.
“It turns out that I guess I’m struggling to sleep without you, do you mind if I stay?” Chris turned to her, taking his mask off. “As long as you don’t try to take my chastity I guess I won’t complain.” Serah and Chris held each other and fell asleep quickly.
After that night Chris noticed that Harriot distanced herself more. Chris didn’t think much of it though. The trip was dragging on, and he just wanted it to be over soon. They had around another week and a half left before they arrived at Iltern. Chris spent the time taking care of his new baby boar named Balfor, guarding the cart and talking to Serah during the day, and sleeping next to both at night when they weren’t in cities, and just Serah when they were.
Sometimes he would run off to gather plants for little Balfor to eat, and other times he would bring him with. The boar slowly grew more and more comfortable around Chris, seemingly understanding their relationship. It stopped crying out and began to snort instead. In the short span of the trip, it grew twice its original size, and slowly became harder and harder to be discrete with. It grew from cradle-able to as tall as Chris' knee.