Making Plans

Several days had passed since they returned from the Baverne Dungeon, and the four members of 'Kris's Party' were celebrating in their room at the inn, sitting on the couches, and holding mugs of beer. Clashing them together, they all took a drink, before each grabbing one of the sweet pies on the table.

The reason for celebration was...they had made the latest loan payment.

While she was munching on a sweet pie, Mibu said, “You know, it feels kinda weird that we still have a loan to pay off, that you got to buy me. A lot happened since then.”

Kris nodded in agreement. “Yes but...we still have to pay it. Or we'll get enslaved ourselves.”

“How many more do you have?” Celica asked.

“Eight...” Kris replied with a sigh.

Mibu gave a fist pump, “We'll pay it off in no time! Our levels keep going up, and we should be able to rank up soon, too!”

Kris nodded. They had been focusing on getting their magic skills, specifically, up since they had come back, since they had used them a lot in the Dungeon and would be useful in future trips. Ranking up again would be nice, but getting skills up is the most important thing right now if we want to challenge the Dungeon again. “I say we get our magic levels close to 20, and save up a bit more, then we can prepare.”

Paddy, who had already eaten three pies, chimed in, “Why don't we try harder requests that pay more?”

The other two looked over a Kris, who looked down in embarrassment. “Sorry, I just...get worried.”

Mibu patted his shoulder and gave a thumbs up, “Don't worry, we're all really strong now!”

Kris gave a wry smile. “Yeah, I'm sorry...let's get a tougher one tomorrow! Actually, let's get the highest payout we can find on the Iron-rank Board!”

The other three cheered to match his enthusiasm, and they clinked their mugs together again.

After finishing up their celebration, they temporarily split up for the evening.

Celica had fallen asleep on the couch, a usual occurrence after she drank.

Kris was was staying with her on the opposite couch, having borrowed one of Mibu's books to read.

Paddy was still hungry, so she had gone out to the tavern to eat something else.

Mibu was on her way to the bathhouse. She had gotten in the habit of going most nights when they were staying in Coburn. At first, she had just been going so she could be nice and clean for her nights with Kris. Now, she just enjoyed going.

When she entered tonight, she encountered someone she hadn't seen at the bathhouse before. “Corinne?”

Corinne turned around, smiling when she realized who had called out to her. “Mibu! Do you come here often?”

Mibu smiled back, “Yes...probably too much,” she giggled.

Corinne giggled back, then waited until Mibu had paid, entering into the changing room with her. “So...how are things with you and Kris?” she asked.

Mibu was a bit taken aback. Not because she minded being asked about her mate, but the tone of Corinne's voice was much different than it was at the guild. I guess she's normal girl, too. At least outside of work. “It's great! He likes to talk to me about things, annnnd...he likes to treat me to steaks, annnnd...” her voice lowered a bit, “...we'll mate usually once a day. Depends on the other girls, too.”

Corinne blushed and giggled again, “Did he not do that before?”

Mibu was about to reply, but got temporarily distracted as Corinne undressed. As she took off her guild-girl outfit, it revealed more of her bronze skin, glistening slightly with sweat. It made her silver-hair stand out even more. However, Mibu's eyes were drawn towards Corinne's chest. She had known about they were decent-sized, but now she could see they were on the same level as hers. Kris would love those! Realizing she was staring and not undressing herself, she hurriedly restarted, “Ah...he did. To be honest, I just go along with whatever he says, but it's nice that he trusts me so much.”

Corinne nodded, seeming thoughtful.

Should I say something?... Mibu was about to see if she was interested in Kris, too, but Corinne had headed into the bath area. Mibu hurried after her.

“Do you want to wash each other's hair?” Corinne asked, turning back to look at her.

Mibu smiled, “Of course!”

After making some small-talk while scrubbing each other, they got into the tub to soak.

Mibu was still debating if she should broach the subject. I really want to see if she's interested in Kris, but... she thought back to the party's conversation. Maybe...maybe we should just focus on skills and money for now. Then we can expand the pack once we're better off.

Corinne, seeing her seeming to be thinking, asked, “What's wrong? Thinking about Kris again?” she asked with a sly grin.

Mibu blushed a bit and nodded. “Yes...”

Corinne nodded back. After a couple moments, she asked “Do you mind if I ask something a bit personal?”

Is she going to broach it herself!? Mibu shook her head vigorously, forgetting her thoughts from a moments ago.

“I noticed Kris released you and Paddy from your slave contracts, but you're both still with him. Honestly, it seems like nothing changed, besides the crest being gone.”

Mibu corrected her, “We also have to buy contraceptive medicine now, too.”

Corinne blushed a bit, before continuing, “Of course. So are you planning on staying with him permanently?”

Mibu nodded vigorously this time, “Yes. We already talked about it, we're mates for life! We're gonna have children once we're done adventuring.”

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Corinne raised her eyebrows. “So you've already planned that far, hmm...” she trailed off, seeming deep in thought. “What made you think he was a good 'mate for life'?”

Mibu struggled to talk as she tried to say multiple things at once. Pausing for a moment to organize her thoughts, she replied, “He's strong, but not mean, and cares about all of the packmates. He's always worried about everyone's safety, maybe too much. He always knows the right things to do, or say. And he makes me feel...important,” she added with a smile and a blush.

Corinne giggled. “Most of that just sounds like what makes a good party leader, not a good husband to raise a family with.”

Mibu blinked a few times. “Isn't a family and a party the same thing?”

Corinne thought for a moment, then nodded. “Maybe you're right...”

While Mibu and Corinne were soaking, Paddy was at the bar, eating a large bowl of potato chowder while Frieda served her another beer.

Paddy blushed, “Um, I'm okay, I don't need another.”

Frieda laughed, “Haha, don't worry, it's on me. You always buy so much food I can afford to give you a free beer.”

Paddy smiled and nodded. I'll need extra energy for the big request tomorrow!

Inside their room, Celica had woken up, and was now lying on top of Kris. He was still reading, he just had to hold the book up a bit higher as Celica's head was on his chest.

After a few minutes of laying there, she turned her head to put her chin on Kris's chest and looked at him, seeming like she was considering something.

Kris lowered the book onto her back. “Uh...what's wrong?”

Celica paused for a moment, then asked, “Do you love me?”

Kris closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Is this a trick? “Um...of course...are you concerned I don't?”

Celica blushed, looking down into his chest now. “You always say 'I love you all' or something like that. “

Does she just want... Kris sat the book down on the table, and grabbed her and sat up, sitting her in his lap. “Celica, I love you. You're pretty, and smart, and our party needs you. I need you.”

Celica teared up a bit. “Really?”

Kris chuckled a bit. “You don't believe me?” he said, hugging her.

Celica hugged him back. “Just say it more!”

Kris nodded, “Sorry, I'll try and remember...” and gave her a kiss.

Celica giggled and nodded back. “Obviously, I love you too,” she said, before kissing him again.

As she did, the door opened, Paddy and Mibu entering.

“Celica! Why are you getting ahead of us!?” Mibu exclaimed, though a smile was on her face.

The next morning, the party went to the guild as planned, and started searching through the Iron-Rank requests.

“Ooohh, this one is forty silver!” Mibu said, pointing to a sheet.

“This one is fifty,” Celica said, kneeling and looking at one on the bottom of the board. “It's pretty far away though.”

Since they had gotten there early, Corinne was still pinning up new requests on the row of boards. When she got to the Iron-Rank board, she asked them, “Are you looking for something specific?”

Kris scratched the back of his head nervously, “Yeah, we wanted to get the highest payment we could find.”

Corinne nodded, and started thumbing through her stack of papers. After a moment, she pulled one out, “This just came in today. Rather urgent, actually. Seventy silver.”

Kris raised his eyebrows as he took the paper and started reading. Seventy silver...Friedrich's Haven, I don't know where that's at...Giant Crabs!?

The girls were reading over his shoulder.

Mibu exclaimed, “Ooooh, Friedrich's Haven is on the sea, right? We could go swimming.”

Corinne nodded. “Yes, it's on the other side of the mountain. The same one you had a fenrir request for, if I remember correctly,” she added, scrunching her forehead as she remembered the details of how they completed it.

“A mountain!?” Celica replied. “I don't know if I can climb it...”

Paddy, trying to reassure her, “I...I can carry you! I use to live in mountains.”

“You can take a carriage part-way, although I doubt they will take you through the snow-covered parts of the trail. If the roads are even wide enough for a cart there...”

Kris, remembering their time up there, “They're not...” he shook his head, wanting to get back to the request, “Hold on, before worrying about the traveling, why is there a request for crabs!?”

The four woman looked at him.

“They're giant crabs,” Mibu said, holding her hand up as if to show a tall height.

Corinne shook her head, “Giant crabs can get up to three meters tall, and their pincers can crush through small boats. Even larger ones will get damaged.”

Kris nodded, Of course, it's an isekai fantasy.

“The request says they are wreaking havoc on their fishing industry, and their local guards aren't equipped to handle them. Hence the Guild request.”

Mibu did a fist pump, “We got this!”

The others nodded in agreement.

“Alright, we'll take it,” Kris said, slipping the request into this status screen.

Since they would be taking part of the three-day journey to Friedrich's Haven on foot, they packed relatively light, just enough to make it Friedrich's Haven. Stuffing some water and dried food, bedrolls, and a tent, they also needed to leave room for their fur coats for the mountain leg of the journey.

Celica, who had needed to buy one, could barely fit hers in her bag.

“Why did you get such a thick one?” Mibu asked as she helped her.

Celica blushed, “Sorry, I haven't put on much weight yet, so I don't have much padding.”

Kris stopped himself from sighing. She's still on about that... He then looked over a Paddy, who had gotten what was more accurately described as a light jacket.

Paddy blushed when she saw him look at her. “Wha-what?”

Kris smiled, “Just hoping you'll be okay.”

Paddy nodded, “It's not winter yet, so even the mountain won't be that cold.”

Once they had finished, they met up with their usual drive, the pipe-smoking old man.

“Sorry, I can only take ya so far up the mountain',” he said as they put up their bags. “Can't have Betsy trottin' around in the snow,” he added, patting his horse.

Kris shook his head. “That's fine, we appreciate as far as you'll go.”

Once inside (it was Mibu's turn to sit next to Kris), they went over the plans for the trip again.

“With the carriage ride, we should be able to get up into the mountains by tonight. Then tomorrow we can get through them and over to the other side. And then we should arrive at Friedrich's Haven the next day.

The other three nodded.

Eventually, the carriage started to slow as the incline got steeper and steeper, until the eventually coming to a halt. The four of them got out, grabbed their bags, and started heading farther up the mountain.

The old man tipped his cap, before turning the carriage around and heading down.

As far up as they were, it was already getting chilly, and everyone (besides Paddy) put on their fur coats, before getting in a single file as the path narrowed even more.

After a while, the light started to dim as dusk grew near.

“Should we set up camp?” Kris asked.

Mibu nodded. “I can find a cave again.”

As Mibu was sniffing, Paddy walked over to the nearest cliff face. After a few moments, she motioned to them.

“Is there one over here?” Kris asked.

Paddy nodded. “There should be one this way.”

Sure enough, after just a couple minutes, they came upon a small opening. While it wasn't huge, the cave was small enough for the four of them to huddle together.

“I'll grab some wood,” Paddy said.

“Wait, Paddy, don't go alone,” Kris replied quickly.

Paddy smiled, “It's okay, I'm used to being in the mountains.”

Kris blushed, “I know but...I'd just feel better if someone was with you.”

Mibu quickly jumped up. “I'll go with you! We can carry more wood that way.”

Paddy smiled at her and nodded, and they left.

Celica, despite her coat, was shivering as she sat, rubbing her hands together.

Kris slid over and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.

Celica blushed but smiled, leaning into him. “I wanted to adventure with my husband, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind...”

Kris sighed, “We're not married though...”

Celica frowned, “But we're going to be eventually...right?”

“Yes, yes,” Kris placated her with a kiss.

Celica blushed, but cuddled more into him and smiled.

After a few minutes, Mibu and Paddy returned, and Kris started a fire. They then broke out some of their food, eagerly ingesting the dried meat and fish as the fire warmed their bodies. Mibu also snuck a few sweet pies out of her bag, handing them out after they finished.

Once they had their fill, the four of them squeezed back into the cave.

While they were prone to sleeping together anyway, in this situation they had even more reason too, with the three girls forming a fluffy burrito around Kris.

“Shouldn't I be on the outside?” he asked.

They all shook their heads.

“You're really warm,” Mibu explained, with the other two nodding in agreement.

Kris sighed, not arguing further. He didn't particularly hate the situation, but he was worried about the practicality if something happened. However, after the others had fallen asleep, he closed his eyes and attempted to fall asleep as well.