All in all, arriving in town, getting signed up at the guild and finding an escort mission turned out to be a surprisingly fast affair. So it was, that after accepting the request from Miss Adrianne, three young women found themselves in a new town with some time to spare.

The caravan would be leaving on the following morning, so the trio had a good half a day to spend as they wanted.

In a way, Fayette felt like she was getting a small break. She hadn’t really had much time to explore Palogne, what with all the cleaning work she had to do there, but this town felt orderly, at ease. For the first time in a bit, she didn’t feel any urge to get cleaning.

The three stood outside the inn, Olivia digging through her bag, Mireille lost in thought, and Fayette examining her broom.

The [Doctor] was the first to speak. “I think I have to go resupply,” she said, closing her bag with a sigh. “Ended up using a lot back in Palogne, and now I risk running empty.”

“Hmm, I think I might have to head out shopping too,” Mireille said. She turned to look at the market on the opposite side of the road—eye drawn to the rich furs on display.

“Me three,” Fayette added. She experimentally made a few swings with her broom, then inspected it closely. “Broom is starting to show some wear.”

The three agreed to meet back at inn later and set out on their tasks.

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Fayette's errand brought her to the [Blacksmith’s] shop she had seen at the edge of town. It was easy to find—she just had to follow the steady trail of smoke emanating from the hot kilns.

The place itself had a small building, attached to which was a covered workstation, where the clanging of metal rang out at a steady pace. The blacksmith himself, a portly man with an easy countenance, was busy at work at the anvil, hammering out some horseshoes.

Fayette approached his station, but stayed back to wait for him to finish. It would be rude to interrupt. And, well, she had always liked watching people work metal. The steady swings of the hammer reminded her of the swings of a broom, and she felt herself relaxing and easing up as she followed the rhythmic clanging.

Every [Maid] needs a good blacksmith to rely on. Much harder to do good work with a rusty pan and dull knives.

“No need to wait there girlie—I can talk as I work.”

Fayette started at the voice and realized that the [Blacksmith] was looking at her, while still hammering at the horseshoe.

“Ah, excuse me, I came to offer some work. Would need it done quick though.”

“What kind of work? I have some pots and pans ready to go.”

Fayette thought for a moment—while she was here for her broom, she could still honestly use a good, big pot. She had neglected her kitchenware when ransacking the manor, so she was only working with one small pan at the moment.

“Yes—I could take one pot, a good big one, but mainly I’m here for a weapon.”

This attracted the [Blacksmith’s] attention, and he stopped pounding at the horseshoe, setting down his hammer and rising up to examine Fayette.

“A weapon, huh? A knife could suit you well. Don’t need much force, just get close and stick em—I have ones sharp enough to pierce through leather armour, one nick is usually plenty. Or do you have something specific in mind?”

Fayette nodded. “Actually I do.” She raised up her broom. “I want to upgrade this.”

“Hm? A quarterstaff? I mainly work metal here, but I know who to ask.”

“No—” Fayette turned it around, revealing the bristled end. “—a broom.”

To his credit, the blacksmith only stared blankly for half a heartbeat before returning to his professional bearing. “I see, can I have a look at that?”

Fayette handed over the broom, and the man began examining it, eye flashing with insight from an ability. He nodded, then turned back to Fayette, this time with respect in his look. “Seen a lot of use this has—a true weapon. Can scarcely believe it. What do you want done with it?”

He tapped the blunt end and dragged his finger across the grains of wood. “It’s taken a beating, but should still manage for quite some time, especially with some reinforcing. How about adding a spear tip to the end?”

Fayette thought on the option. True, poking holes in your enemy was a proven strategy, but it had some issues too. First of all, typically, when you poked holes into people, blood tended to come out. Fayette had done some experimentation on that herself. Poke enough holes, and you would have a veritable bloodbath.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Fayette frowned at the image. And guess who’s going to have to clean all that? Some poor [Maid]. Besides, I have to be careful to not make a mess. My [Maid Armour] needs me clean. No, no to blood splatter.

She shook her head. “No—a bit too messy for me, really. I prefer to bash them so the blood stays inside, you know. A lot more elegant.”

The [Blacksmith] stroked at his beard and hummed in thought, then started measuring the sides of the blunt end. “How about something mace-like at the end? Will give blows a lot more oomph.”

The idea sounded better, but the phrase mace-like struck Fayette the wrong way. Though she wanted a weapon-ish upgrade to her broom, she still wanted it to remain a broom first and foremost. Not a mace with a broomhead attached at the other end. It felt important it should be like that.

Is it an MMA thing? I guess you wouldn’t do [Maid Martial Arts] with tools a Maid wouldn’t use.

“Can you make the metal bit kind of small, and ornamental looking? Like, someone looking at it would think it was a broom with a metal end and not a mace with a broom end.”

“Something more inconspicuous then? Good for catching people off-guard, I see...” The man turned the broom over in his hands and turned to look over his tools. “I think I can arrange something like that. You needed this for tomorrow? Should be manageable.”

Fayette nodded. “I’ll leave the broom with you and come to get it back tomorrow then. Now, about the cost, and about those pots...”

The [Blacksmith] smiled, then gestured towards the door. “Ah, let us go inside then, I’ll show you the wares.”

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Fayette’s shopping trip ended with success, but she was not the only one looking for gear upgrades—Mireille had been thinking about her tools too. During her rampage by the textile warehouse, she had noticed a curious thing. Whenever she took up a new type of cloth for use, she would get a noticeable increase in experience gain.

So, here she was, perusing the local market, looking for good deals on cloth. She needed to use the textiles for something meaningful, just throwing them about wasn’t enough, so she planned to buy some more exotic types, and save them for later.

First use them to tie down some enemies, then later make some clothes out of them. She wanted to maximize the amount of experience she got for money spent.

Being a [Seamstress] is all about making clothes, so it makes sense that using new materials in new ways is encouraged. Factoring in the challenge and danger factors, I should be using difficult materials. Success may be harder, but the rewards will rise proportionally.

She was planning a project. If she really wanted to level, she needed to do something special, some type of clothing project more ambitious than anything she had attempted before. She didn't know what quite yet, so she was planning as she perused.

The local offerings were rather good, which was not unexpected. Crossroads a bit out from the biggest cities were a typical place for hunters to offload their catches, so the supply of furs was especially affordable.

Mireille was having a look at the selection, feeling the different leathers and furs for their properties, and only recognizing half of them. This greyish colouring, and odd feel... what type of beast is this from?

She raised her eyes and saw that the pelt was in her budget range. “Excuse me, what type of pelt is this?”

In a flash, a [Merchant] was by her side, a pleasant smile on his face. “Ah, you have a good eye, miss. That’s a Dire Beavermonkey pelt—just had a catch come in a few days ago. A pack of them is apparently loose nearby. One of the best materials for resisting water and fire you can find—though it can be a bit tough to work. Are you interested?”

Mireille had heard of Beavermonkeys before—their pelts were a common staple in upper-class autumn fashion, renowned for how they kept the water out. The rainy season is just arriving—if I fashion something out of these, I should get good experience, and get a good price from the sales afterward. Maybe even something bigger...

“I’ll take four. Now for those pelts over there...”

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And so, two of the party managed to find the goods they were looking for, but the [Doctor] had been shopping too, and of the lot, she was unquestionably most efficient.

The woman had simply walked back into the inn, knocked on the front desk to summon the [Innkeeper], and made a simple order.

“Excuse me, I need a few bottles of the strongest ale you can offer. I’m a [Doctor].”

True, her shopping was strictly for personal use, but she was still a [Doctor], so she threw in that magic phrase. Strangely, it always tended to make sales a lot easier to negotiate. Olivia found it very convenient. She had many reasons to drink, especially with what had finally gone down in the city. But that issue was a tale for another time.

----------------------------------------

So, by the time the other two returned to the inn, Olivia had been finished for an hour.

“Ah, you two finally arrived, took long enough,” she said, downing her third mug for the day.

Fayette and Mireille frowned, but still sat down at her table.

“So, everyone has the things they needed?” Mireille asked.

“Sure do,” Olivia said, raising her mug up.

“Will be done for tomorrow,” Fayette said, nodding.

“Right—then for our rooms,” Mireille began.

Fayette groaned. “Do I really have to do it? I don’t have a good feeling at all about this.”

“Fay—you know it’s more efficient like this, right? Think of the money.”

“Fine, fine, I understand.” The [Maid] said, then slumped down on the table. “It’s just—I know this is going to be troublesome... I don’t like sleeping around people I don’t know.”

“She's our client, we'll all be getting familiar anyways. Besides, that room had way too much room for one, even a separate bed. It’s not that bad.”

“Yeah—but it’s still the same room...” Fayette said, turning to look up the inn’s stairs, which led to her target.

Yes, Fayette was preparing for a trial of her own: Spending the night in their customer’s, the so-called “[Governess]” Adrianne’s room.

It was a bit of savvy business dealing from Mireille. Seeing the miss all alone in that giant suite had given her an idea. Why not have their escort mission start a night early, giving them a little boost in paycheck, and savings for rooms?

So, Fayette was to guard the [Lady] for tonight, while the other two would only need a two-bedder for the night—another bit of smart saving.

Fayette thought of the mess she had seen up there and shuddered. Her fingers were already twitching. This is going to be a long night. But I’ll make use of it—people are at their most unguarded when asleep after all.