11:02 A.M.
February 6
Frostmonth 8
The Unusual Huntress, Limeroom, Veotera
The tavern was abuzz with people as Gary walked through the door. Remmy had been understanding insofar as letting Gary sleep in once he’d taken care of his armor and weapons. He’d had a long day. The buzz in his head from Plunderer gloating over his new Skill had only faded a little bit, and Gary was all smiles at this point. He was in his dark-hued cassock without a cloak this time. Remmy had said nothing about the matter as he’d seen the state his first one was in but the man hadn’t magicked another one into existence just yet.
Shaking off the cold as he closed the door behind himself Gary waved to the barkeep as he circled the perimeter of the room to sidle up to the Delver’s counter. Jack looked a little bleary as he yawned mightily and stretched deeply. Upon seeing Gary lean on the counter and wink at Dina the man walked over to stand beside the woman and eye the not-priest outfit Gary was in with an unreadable expression.
“Great morning, Jack! And no, I don’t expect you to have money ready for what happened last evening with the dungeon, so don’t worry.” That seemed to take a load off the man’s shoulders as he saw him straighten up a little and lean across the counter to look Gary in the eyes. Silvery glints mirrored his stare without challenge but a refusal to back away.
“I have to ask. I’m going crazy trying to put it together, Gary. How can a person kill a fucking dungeon?” The words were soft, gentle, clearly meant to be lost to anyone not an arm’s length away from the speaker. Gary leaned in and gave another cheeky wink to Dina before looking Jack dead in the face and saying a single word in that exact same tone and volume.
“Origin.” That earned Gary a startled blink. He chose to elaborate. “At that grade of Class, you get a special Skill. Mine.. Mine lets me steal the unstealable.” The last came out in a grin-wrapped murmur. Jack and Dina froze at the statement. Gary tilted his head a little bit at the response. Yet again, Remmy was right. “I’d appreciate it if that tidbit managed to elude your report. Those who need to know about Skills of that grade already know about them.” Jack swiped at his forehead before checking his fingers to see if he was sweating. His fingers came back dry.
“No wonder you’ve been tearing through contracts. Hell, I don’t even know how to pay out for killing a dungeon. I don’t think we have a payment schema for that.”
“I’m in no rush. Let’s start with the dungeon clearing. Perhaps you can get me information on other dungeons in payment for the later part? I’m sure there’d be a lot of people who’d be very generous once word gets out about what I am capable of. Having solid references to establish credentials goes a long way towards dealing with the stigma of my Class.” Gary nodded sagely at his own statement. He was very sure what most people would say once they found out his Class, and he wanted to leave as sterling a reputation in his wake as possible. Being able to enter certain high-grade doors wouldn’t hurt his chances, either.
Jack grunted in assent at the desire. “No mentions of your grade, then. Origins are rare as they get.. Most of the known ones are in major organizations like the Holy Order or various kingdoms. I think you’ll make Ridiana’s fourth in three generations?” A name for the kingdom he was currently in. Gary noted it. Another objective down. God damn he was just scoring wins left, right, and center these past few days. Lord Wevre was the last real sticking point in Limeroom, it seemed. Hopefully the fucker would hurry up so he could deal with that situation.
“Pretty elite company, then. Glad to know it.” Dina finally came out of her stupor and gave him a reserved smile as Gary pulled himself off the counter and stood to his full height before stretching. “Gah, still got soreness from that damn Champion. Thing was a tough bastard.”
“It usually takes two or three knights to bring one down.”
“Good thing I came back for reinforcements, then. I was honestly considering just pushing forward but I got the shivers looking down that main tunnel and thought better of it. Death is permanent, after all.”
“That is great wisdom, Gary. Mind if I use it for newcomers?” Gary smiled and waved off the question with an assenting gesture. “It’ll take me a bit to get the money together for the dungeon subjugation, since I gotta split it between everyone who participated.”
“Go equal shares with that. The last bits were rough. I’m fine with it as long as I get something. I already have my Plunder for the raid. I’m going to take it easy for a little bit and recuperate, so the contracts are safe from me for a while. See about that information, and maybe a letter of glowing praise?” Gary’s smile turned cheeky and Jack and Dina returned it at his easygoing attitude and clear generosity on the matter of rewards.
“Sounds like a plan. The party starts in the evening. Be sure not to be late.”
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The party did indeed start in the early evening, and as Gary walked back into the tavern the Delvers turned in their seats, spotted his tall athletic frame in a dark brown tunic and trousers, and shook the building with a cheer. Gary spread his arms in greetings and loudly proclaimed, “Gentlemen, the party has arrived!” Another cheer went up, accompanied by flagons of what smelt like much stronger alcohol. Gary fought down the grimace he was feeling creep onto his face. Appearances had to be maintained. He swept among the crowd, offering greetings to people as he worked his way through the throngs, learning names of people he’d probably never meet again. He took photos and notes on all of them.
Gathering a tankard clearly meant for him from the barkeep with a thankful nod, he raised it in salute as Jack stepped beside him with one of his own in hand. “Brethren! Today we celebrate yesterday’s accomplishments. I do believe we’ve set a record for several categories here in Limeroom. The fastest clearing of a dungeon, no fatalities or incurable injuries to either the populace or Delvers, and what is quite possibly a world first: the destruction of a dungeon!”
Another cheer and thumping on the floor with dozens of feet that shook the building. The barkeep seemed to be mildly worried but also very happy at the news. He knew he’d sell a lot of alcohol tonight. Gary waved his tankard gently as the man continued.
“Now as you all know, we owe these feats to the shortest-serving member of our branch. He’s concerned about his reputation because he’s a sneaky Class, but I think he’s pretty damn generous and doesn’t let the stigma weigh him down. What’s more is that he’s insisted on making sure that even though he did a lot of the work everyone is getting an equal share of the payment for clearing a dungeon!” Louder and happier thumping. He got the feeling this was a particularly good point. He was glad he’d told Jack to do it. It was apparently going to be a lot judging by the ferocious grins on everyone’s faces.
“As I told Jack earlier today, Death Is Permanent. You faced equal risk, so you should have equal reward!” Gary took a visible and long sip from the tankard, using the size and angles to disguise the grimace from the definitively stronger alcohol. The bitterness was far more pronounced with this bit, and Gary took it to mean he could taste the alcohol this way. 「Perception」 was surely to blame for this sensitivity, and Gary didn’t know how to feel about that. Finishing his disgusted sip, Gary raised the tankard as he continued. “Hopefully this marks the turning of the age to a better place. Sorry if I put you guys out of work!”
His remarks were met with a chorus of laughter and lighthearted heckling Gary didn’t bother to really pay any attention to before the crowd Jack made a sweeping gesture with his own tankard. “No threat of that, Gary. Enough monsters out in the wild they’ve long been breeding up a storm. Plenty of work for honest folk to do even if you closed them all tomorrow. Their coin purses will be fine.” The man smiled broadly at him, causing Gary to give him a relieved smile in return as the gathering turned towards a more jovial tone than before now that he’d arrived. Somewhere a couple of musicians were playing a local tune and Gary swept back into the crowd as he made sure to greet those he hadn’t gotten on the first pass.
This high-spirited approach was partly Gary taking a moment to revel in his comparatively rapid luck thus far, and establishing himself as a generous person to those who worked with him. He knew that despite whatever report Jack put out he’d get people investigating him; he wanted a trail of happily-supporting character witnesses. His actions here were absolutely going to draw attention to himself. Gary preferred the idea of shielding himself with sheer and blatant audacity. Plunderer may be a thing of shadows and sneakery but there was nothing saying he couldn’t hide in the light. He needed as many doors open as he could to keep going towards the goal of being able to warn Earth.
Gary eventually found himself sat at one of the establishment’s larger tables and listening to some of the other Delvers go on with what they intended to use their soon-to-be-acquired wealth for. He used the tankard to take tiny sips of the foul-tasting drink that he did his best to disguise as larger ones, disguising his face when he thought about the fifth time he’d heard “buy more beer” or “visit a brothel” would give away his thoughts about the lack of discipline.
He wasn’t going to touch the idea of visiting a brothel as a client with a pair of ten-foot poles welded together at the tips. Even without the flashing and just-as-fastly dismissed articles of information on the matter, Gary knew that prostitutes were a source of three things he didn’t need right now: sexually transmitted diseases, ‘baby daddy’ drama from some opportunistic but desperate woman, and falling into depravity when there was work to be done. He wasn’t opposed to the idea of having sex with a woman - quite the opposite, in fact - it was just simply that he’d been raised by Uncle Thomas to understand that getting his dick wet was near the bottom of the priority ladder in life. His uncle had dodged three bullets like that in his life and was a strong advocate of monogamy ever since.
As he set the tankard on the table and listened to what was apparently older stories from the people at the party, Gary smiled a soft smile at the memories of his uncle. The man had been a source of stability in his life, and though he sometimes missed his parents he felt that his uncle had more than stepped up to the role of role model in his life. He felt pride in being a Zavon and thought that he’d been doing his lineage good thus far.
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“More drink?” Gary looked to the source of the feminine voice and found one of the female tavern workers standing by him with a pitcher of what he presumed was more alcohol in her left hand. She hovered it near his tankard as she looked to him expectantly. The woman in question was roughly his age give or take a year as she still had that high cheeked brightness to her that teenage girls in good health always seemed to have when he looked at them. Long honey blond hair spilled down her head, shoulders, and ended somewhere roughly at the top of her lower back; bearing a loose braid around the back of her head like a wreath of laurels. Her amber eyes glittered as they looked into his gray ones, framed by a slightly growing blush that had probably started before he had been looking at her.
Her figure was triangular in build; favoring her being top-heavy in her outfit’s cream-and-brown colored short dress. Gary had to wonder what it was with the women on Veotera pretty much all being endowed in the breast department. The ghost lady had been bigger than the girl before him, but he had figured that for selective breeding to enhance visual attractiveness. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen any woman in Limeroom with a small bust that wasn’t a pre-teen. Puberty was kind to the women around here it seemed. Her outfit was far more of what he’d expect a modern-Earth interpretation of a somewhat-modest ‘tavern wench’ flavor of maid cafe uniform would look like; what with her thin straps holding her bustier-like top in place and a flaring mid-thigh ruffled skirt being rounded out by detached sleeves, short knit cream-hued socks and some form of slip-on low-heeled mini boot in black leather.
Gary smiled lightly at her but shook his head. “No thank you, miss. I’m still working on what I have.” He was being polite, as politeness cost him nothing. It earned her face about half a shade’s worth of blush, he noted.
“Are you sure? I haven’t seen anyone give you more and it’s been a while.” She was being playful as she pouted at him and fluttered her eyelids. He shook his head gently and scooped the tankard in question up away from her hovering pitcher. A slow, purposeful sip brought the stale-water taste up to his lips but he only took a tiny sip. Alcohol was going even further up on his list of things he didn’t like the longer he drank the stuff. He really needed to look into just getting some cheap tea or something after this.
“I’m sure, my dear,” he said as he set the tankard down again, deliberately out of the server’s reach. “I try to attend parties reasonably sober.”
“Bah! It’s not a party unless you get pissed off your feet, boy!” One of the Delvers he was sitting with playfully chided him and Gary simply gave him a half-grimacing smile.
“More of a social drinker, honestly.” One of the other Delvers scooped up his cup, set it down in front of the girl’s pitcher and before Gary could lean forward to stop the action she was already pouring the contents to refill his tankard nearly to the top again. Gary froze as he saw the deed was already done and couldn’t help but let out a growling sigh as he slumped back into the chair. “Goddamnit. ..Fine, but no more. I want to keep my wits about me.” He grabbed the cup and took a long draught to satisfy the people watching him. It also helped him disguise the glare of anger he directed towards them while the cup was blocking their view.
The girl had caught the motion of his eyes and her reaction drew his gaze. She could only see his left eye and she must have misinterpreted the annoyed look for one of interest as she very subtly swayed a little bit in place, the skirt swishing a tiny bit in the motion’s wake and the look on her face seeming to suggest she wanted more attention. Gary calmed himself down, send a silent prayer despite his misgivings to the rating of his Constitution, and finally set the tankard down on the table again. Before anyone could attempt anything his hand flashed from the handle to cover what he could of the open top.
He noted the look of slight disappointment on the girl’s face at the lack of an excuse to lurk around him more, but gave her a polite half-smile and gentle wave with his free hand to indicate she should move on. Gary watched her swish her hips as she turned towards other patrons of the tavern and sent a steely glare at the Delvers who’d goaded and ultimately gotten his drink refilled. They were clearly far enough in their cups that his look only made them grin dopily at him and motion for the festivities to continue, his displeasure clearly lost on them in their slowly-growing drunken haze.
As the evening progressed into night, Gary more closely guarded his cup; snatching it up and away from any roving barmaids. He did partake of the meats and other small foodstuffs presented hoping to at least blunt the edge of his growing warm haze in his belly. It was safe for Gary to say he was miserable at this point. The party had shifted from mostly celebration to more raw drinking and rowdy intoxication along the way as the spirits flowed.
Gary slid his chair out perhaps a bit more noisily than he’d intended, drawing more than a few looks. He noticed the blond was in particular paying attention to his every move. She saw him seeing and the blush crept back onto her face. The isekai’d teenager rubbed at his temples in a weariness he didn’t know he had until just now. As he rose from his seat there was a faint but noticeable wobble to his balance, only picked up because he was both paying attention for the inevitability and because 「Perception」 decided to ‘helpfully’ kick in to give him an understanding of his compromised state.
His opinion on drunkenness was rock bottom before, and he felt it dig itself a few feet into the bedrock as he wove his way through the rowdy crowd and quietly placed his half-full tankard on the counter without a word. None of the partying Delvers seemed to clock his silent exit as he wove back into the heart of the space and emerged at the door outside. A glance over his shoulder, a frown on his lips, and he was gone into the chill night; having had his fill for the evening.
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Delilah had really been interested in the tall young man; his polite attitude towards everyone he met and those beautiful silvery eyes of his. She’d had thoughts a while now about maybe asking him to be with her for a time. He’d clearly been holding back on his drinking, but she had been confident that if she could get to talking with him alone she could have enkindled something. He’d remained perhaps one of the most sober people in the room, and her heart tugged uncomfortably every time she saw him grimace at his drink.
It was true there wasn’t an abundance of good-tasting drinks here, but she was a little sad that she’d given him something he didn’t like. Gary’s bearing reminded her of long-squashed dreams of finding a nobleman’s son to fall in love with and marry. A silly commoner child’s dream was just a dream. But why did he make her heart flutter?
It could have been that she knew he was powerful. Power was attractive in a man, and the fact the Delvers were having such a rowdy party proved that. Not to mention Jack’s announcement at the beginning there had given a lot of context to exactly how much power the gray-eyed young man had at his fingertips. It could be she was just a greedy bitch and knew he was in a lot of money in short order. There was enough truth to the self-reflecting statement that she felt her hand settle gently on the bosom that showed out of her dress.
She’d always liked the quiet thrill of wearing this skimpy of an outfit. The hungry looks of men on her flesh and their clear imagination of what lay underneath had always sent a tingle through her that gave goosebumps in all the right places. Gary hadn’t looked at her like that, and it was attractive for the sheer lack of lustfulness to it. Her body had stepped over to the half-full tankard he’d placed on the counter before sliding out of the party without further interaction. The Delver had clearly had enough of the party by that point.
Delilah found herself scooping up the container and rotating it to how he held it. A slender pink tongue darted its tip across her lips as she stared into the semi-dark foaming liquid within. A furtive glance left, a secretive peek right; Amber eyes half-closed as she brought the tankard to her lips where his had been and she quietly drained the contents down her throat before coming up for air with a soft pwah of held air. She finally lowered the cup and looked at it some more as she let idle thoughts consume her before she looked up back to the wider tavern to find several of the Delvers and her fellow barmaids had seen what she did and offered cheeky grins and quiet snickers.
Her face flushed deeply red and she thunked the cup onto the counter before turning to her work. She still had duties to perform. Delilah could work on connecting with Gary later!
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Remmy Wikloss almost missed the entrance of his young pseudo-ward, but the swirling of a chill breeze as the adolescent slipped in through the always-unlocked front doors gave him away. Gary saw him tending to some late-night reading by candle light while he was in the darkened end of the church’s main room of worship and nodded a silent greeting. As the boy moved through the darkness towards the wan light he was reading by, it struck him yet again how sharp the boy’s eyes were. The pale gray made it very obvious where he was looking as it caused his pupils to stand out all the more, while the light catching them just right put a nearly-metallic sheen to them.
It wasn’t for the first time he shuddered ever so slightly at the way those eyes never wavered or seemed to bob with Gary’s steps as he slid through the darkness until he reached the circle of candle light. The boy moved like a ghost sometimes. It was painfully obvious to Remmy that the boy had at least some rudimentary military training as he knew very well the way proper soldiers carried themselves at rest and in movement.
The fact he was from another world was becoming more and more obvious now that he’d been confessed to; now that Gary had offered a perspective on Veotran history that sent a real shiver down his aged spine. This whole thing had been one long invasion? Dozens of generations had suffered under their savior - the System? Gary’s fervor was slightly infectious, and with that horrifying Skill he’d used to destroy a dungeon? That laughter had been the pure mirth of someone who’d found the tool that would make miracles happen, and knew they’d been right about it being right the whole time. It was still blood-chilling at how quickly his demeanor had changed for a short time, but Remmy could really mark it down to Gary simply finding hope in the midst of despair.
“Early night, Gary?” He honestly hadn’t been expecting the boy back until near sunrise. The Delvers were famous for their all-night parties. He watched Gary’s face flash a snarling expression as he glanced ever so slightly in the direction of The Unusual Huntress before he calmed his expression and slipped into an affect of a dim smile. Remmy saw right through it, and the smile faded as Gary understood he’d been seen through. At least the boy was honest.
“Yeah. I’m not real enthused by the taste of alcohol, and I’ve still got a bit of soreness from the fight against that Goblin Champion.”
“..And?” The grimace that took over Gary’s face was obvious that there’d been something else. Remmy frowned at Gary.
“Honestly, I can’t understand this whole ‘drunk’ thing. The drinks taste like stale water, people lose intelligence faster than a sieve loses water; what’s the damn point?”
The frown lessened on his face as Remmy nodded a bit at the line of thinking. “Hell, I’d have preferred there was an assassin or something!” Gary looked like he wanted to spit the foul taste out of his mouth but thought better of it when Remmy’s frown re-deepened. “..You know what? Fuck it. This is a set of problems for tomorrow Gary. Good night, Remmy.”
Remmy waved the brown-haired boy off to bed. It was still a surprise how quickly he made decisions and delegated tasks. More evidence of military training. While Gary had been off at the short-lived attendance of the party, Remmy had received the first of his replies to his letters. Without revealing the details of what Gary had theorized, Remmy had laid out the case for viewing the historical record of the monsters, the dungeons, and the System as stages of an invasion plan. The initial observations had come back as intrigued as to the line of thinking, with more thorough comparisons to be done in the next little bit after consulting more military-minded colleagues about the hypothetical.
Initial thoughts were looking like Gary’s theory held, though. It caused the old priest to feel a great remorse. How had they not seen it? Once it had been pointed out even Remmy’s violence-disliking mind easily made the connections. He reaffirmed his decision to do what he could to support the adolescent, even though he was clearly gearing up to move on in search of new places to grow stronger and reach his home. Hopefully he’d be considered an ally in those calculations in the boy’s head.