Brandon’s the last to return; no surprise there. We’re already on dessert and coffee.

“Okay, what do we need to do while we’re here.”

“Don’t say other guys,” Helen tells Brandon with an annoyed sigh.

“All the girls,” he says instead, grinning. “But seriously. We need to look around for healing stuff.”

“Doesn’t the club have that? You said they carry what we’ll need for expeditions.”

“You don’t get the best, and they prices are fixed. If we can’t find what we need at the pharmacies and apothecary in the city, we can get that here.”

“I need to unload some of that jerky.”

“You aren’t going to get much for them here.”

I snort. “I wasn’t going to get much at the Wayne stop. I just want to free up inventory. If there’s a needy community around here, I’ll just give it to them.”

“Does a city like this have needy communities?” Silver asks.

“Don’t let the beauty fool you,” Helen replies. “There are always people in need. Some city just hide it better.”

I’m surprised at the bitterness in her tone.

“But Indianapolis doesn’t hide it,” Brandon says. “We just aren’t close to that part of the city. It’s at the western edge, if you need to know, and it isn’t a nice place to visit.”

“How bad, compared to Detroit.”

He snorts his drink, then glares at me as if I’d known he’d react like that. “Walk in the park, compared to there. But that doesn’t mean you want to just wander in expecting hugs. Offers for sex? You’ll get plenty of those. Hugs? They probably have a knife ready.”

“Then I see if any of the shops are willing to buy the jerky. If not, we see who we need to talk to about getting it there.”

“Not going to just wander off and do everything you can to fix their lives?” he asks so innocently I grind my teeth.

“No. At the very least, it’s going to be the two of us, and you’re going to keep me from running after every cry of pain we hear.”

“So I need to get a chain to leash you with. Got it.”

“Be serious, Brandon. But I’d prefer it if we stuck together. Safety in numbers and all that.”

“I need to do some shopping,” Helen says. “Magical reagents, among other things. Unlike what the stories want you to believe, you can’t find nearly enough in the wild to stay properly stocked. Especially with combat magic.”

“I need a proper repair kit. I can’t keep letting my armors fall apart and replace that.”

“I need strings for my violin and hair for my bow.”

“So we all need to shop for something,” I state. “We can do that together.”

* * * * *

The rest of the day goes surprisingly smoothly, which ends up putting me on edge when nothing explodes around us by the time we return to the club. I got my repair kit, along with leather patches and a quick rundown of how to sew them in place. The merchant made it clear that unless my goal was to do work for resale, I shouldn’t bother worrying about putting points in the skill. For what I’ll be doing. The quality of the material is more important than ‘how well’ I do the work.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Also got healing ‘potions’ in the form of powders to add to drinks. Cheaper than the healing bars by a lot, but slower to act. Unfortunately, the small packets take just as much space in my inventory as anything else. So it’s thirteen of them in a slot, and by then, I hadn’t found anyone willing to take the jerky off my hands. By the time we were done shopping, I’d freed up two of my personal inventory slots. That’s over three hundred fifty dollars, but I still have six slots full. I can not believe how much I’ve accumulated over months of practicing butchering and making jerky.

If it didn’t go along with training my archery, I’d slow my hunting down to when we need the food.

Silver got her replacements for the price of an hour of playing. I’m pretty sure the merchant made well over what they’re worth from getting those watching to give money, but Silver had fun.

Helen got her reagents, as well as a few sets of clothing. For the road, she said. I can’t believe that after all this travel, she still prefers style over solidly made clothes. At least the fabric these are made out of is tougher.

I don’t even want to think about how Brandon paid for his stuff. A few sets of clothing, healing powders, cooking spices and almost certainly other stuff he doesn’t want me to know about.

I’m just happy he told me when he was stepping away to ‘negotiate’ with someone about something when he did so.

“Mister McLeod,” the barkeep, possibly club owner, calls when I enter. “May I have a word?”

I scan the room, looking for trouble, but no one seems to be paying us attention.

“Relax,” Brandon whispers. “You’re a member. He can’t do anything unless you’ve broken the rules.” He fixes his gaze on me. “You haven’t broken any of the rules, have you?”

Would I even know? What I remember if what I’ve been told of them amounts to ‘don’t cause trouble,’ but there’s no way that’s all there is. Still, as far as I can tell, I haven’t done anything wrong, unless he’s going to complain about not putting the wet towel where they went. There was no basket, so I just folded them on the end of the bench.

The man watches me as I step to the bar and I can’t read his expression. “It’s been brought to my attention you’re looking to unload jerky. How much are you looking to get for a couple of treens?”

I have to lean against the bar as the tension leaves, and he looks surprised.

“If you have thirty dollars,” I finally say, “I’ll give you a full stack from my personal inventory.”

He raises an eyebrow, then a window appears between us.

Charles Goal is offering to trade with you

They are offering $30

What are you offering?

I move a stack of jerky to the window, and a second after that, it vanishes and I have an extra thirty dollars.

“I have more, if you want. A lot more.”

“I don’t have that much use for it. It’s just something that’s good to have around for emergencies.”

“And those don’t happen often?”

“Not if you’re planning your expedition carefully. But it’s surprising how many rookie explorers put food as the last thing on their to-do lists and barely have any money left by them. Jerky I’ve gotten for cheap is something I don’t mind being generous with.”

“Well, if you need more before I leave, I have stacks of them. I’m probably going to be giving… Actually. Brandon tells me there’s a poor area on the west side of the city. What can you tell me about it?”

“Immigration Town, is what we call it. Started as a tent town for people waiting to be processed into the city, but as more and more showed up, and the city no longer expanded as quickly, it sort of became a permanent settlement. It’s outside the city, but close enough the wilderness level’s barely noticeable, so it’s safe. But the city doesn’t officially regulate what takes place there, so it’s not the safest area.” He chuckles. “But nothing like Detroit, from what I hear.”

“So they can use the food?”

“I’m sure they can.”

“And they aren’t going to stab me in the back for being generous.”

“I can’t promise you that. Just like I can’t promise no one in Indianapolis will ever plant a knife in your back. There are assholes everywhere in this world.”

I take that as the reassurance it’s meant and join the others at the table.