As soon as we reached Benard's farm, a little girl came running to him and jumped into his arms. They laughed and hugged.
"It's his little sister," Terrie explained to us. His sister didn't have any of the sheep people's traits; she looked completely human.
"Oh, I see," I said.
When we met his mother and the rest of his family, everything became a lot clearer. He was a half-breed. His mother was human, and her 3 husbands were sheepmen.
They were a happy bunch despite the sad occasion. Nikola was tearing up watching them. She kept looking at her 4 human boyfriends with hearts in her eyes.
"Thanks for taking care of Benard." His mother said to Terrie.
"Ah, no. He's the one taking care of me." She said shyly.
His mother hugged Terrie and said, "You should go take off your armor." Then her attention finally turned to us. "And you folks are?"
"Benard said you guys had guest rooms," I said. She looked a little hesitant. "We're willing to pay." That brightened up her mood right away.
"Oh, yes. We do." She said, rubbing her hands. She looked over our whole group and tried to gauge our wealth. "How much will you be able to pay?" As she talked, her eyes scanned Nikola's swords, my suit, our luggage…
"Ah, we want to stay for… Well, hopefully, I can wrap everything up tomorrow and leave the day after, but it might take longer. We'd like to pay for a week. How much is it for a week?" I didn't want to answer her question.
"Hmm." She quickly did some calculations in her head. "How does 50 copper sound?"
"Mom!" Benard wanted to jump in and help us. "Don't be so greedy!" His voice instantly saddened her face.
"That's fine. 50 copper is fine." I said.
The smile returned just as quickly as it disappeared. "They're fine with it, dear. It's fine." She shooed her son away.
I counted out the 50 copper from the space expansion bag and handed it to her.
One of her daughters showed us to our rooms. They gave us two big rooms. Nikola, Woodie, Dixon, Halit, and Garth took one room, and the 3 of us took the other room. It seemed all the somber stuff happened while we were gone. Terrie showed up at my door while we were settling down. I was taking turns making out with both of them when I heard the knock at our door.
"Don't move. I'll be right back," I said to the guys before skipping to the door. And I opened it to find a sad Terrie waiting for me. Her eyes looked like they'd been crying… That ruined the mood.
"Do you want to come, take a look at him, now?" She asked, sniffling.
"Ah, sure. Give me a second." I closed the door and put on the clothes I had taken off.
"You're not coming back," Sterling asked.
"Ah, I got to go look at the dying man," I said, buttoning up my shirt. "Thanks to you."
"Oh, you want me to come?"
"No! You stay here," I said.
Then I opened the door and went with Terrie to the dying man's room.
***
The room was a lot somber than the rest of the house. It was like all the sadness had decided to gather in one room. Benard's mother was on one side of the bed, and Benard was on the other. He was holding on to his father's hand. His eyes were red and tearful. Everyone looked at me the moment I entered.
Benard moved out of the way, so I could have his seat right beside his father.
I took the seat, and his mother, who sat across the bed, said with a voice filled with regret, "I didn't know you were a doctor. I can-"
"It's fine." I stopped her. I could tell she felt guilty about the money, but 50 copper wasn't a big deal to me. Also, I wasn't planning on curing her husband. But I took a look at him anyway with [look-a-look]. "Oh."
"What? What is it?" Terrie asked.
"Ah, nothing." I recognized what the disease was and knew the cure for it. I had to cure it in the game for a quest. I was going to tell them I didn't know what it was as I had planned, but I looked Terrie over from head to toe, and a new idea formed in my head. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" I said, standing up.
"Me?" She asked.
"Yes, you." I walked out of the room, and she followed behind me.
"Where are you going?" She asked as we stepped out of the house. I got out of the house so no one could hear us. I looked her over from head to toe again. "What is it?"
"I know what's wrong with your boyfriend's dad," I said.
"You do? That's great!"
"Wait! Stop!" She was about to run back and tell them. "But it's expensive." I didn't mention I was the expensive part.
"Oh, the cure." She said. "How much is it?"
"I can…" I scratched my head. "Ah, well, I can afford it, but what do I get in return."
"Oh." The atmosphere changed instantly, and she stared at me more coldly. "If you want my boys, I can lend them to you. I don't think I'll be able to stop Benard even if I tried. At least not in front of his mother. And I'm sure his mother might let the other boys-"
"No, stop." This is what I'd expect in the game as well. "I don't want the boys."
"What? Then- Oh. Is it really that expensive?" Her expression became more sympathetic. She was forming conclusions in her head.
I decided to go along with it. "Yes, the ingredients are very expensive." By proletarian standards, they certainly were. "What your father-in-law has is a disease called Bog Brain. The church would at least want some of the girls to join their ranks in return for the cure. And of course, they'd take some of the boys to be trained as comfort men for the soldiers."
"It's that expensive." Her eyes grew wide.
"Well," I didn't want to say the church was evil since I was trying to do the same thing, "so now you understand."
"Then how…" Her face twisted in doubt.
"I can afford it, but I want something in return."
"If it's that expensive, I don't think I have anything…" She shook her pretty head.
"Yes, you do," I said and pointed at her.
"What? What do I have?" She asked, confused.
"You."
"You?" She asked.
"Not me, you. You, you. Terrie, you." I sighed. I have wanted her to join our team since I saw her fighting the monkey-goblins. She'd be perfect, and I'll be able to stop relying on Garth.
"What?" She was still confused.
"I want you to join my sisterhood. Our adventurer group. If you become my sister, I'll be able to help you. If you become my sister, I'll have to help you." I said with open and welcoming arms.
"Ah, that. Join an adventurer's group. I'm not good against… My old teammates didn't… I'm not good against humans and… in dungeons… ah, well…" She stopped in the middle of her sentences and sounded very unconfident.
"I don't want you to fight other humans. And I saw your powers against monsters already, don't sell yourself short." I smiled. "So, what do you say."
"Let me think about it."
"What?" I was getting annoyed. She was taking this too lightly. It didn't seem like she understood that I had all the chips. "You want to save your father-in-law, don't you?"
She bit her lip. "Let me talk to my boyfriends."
"Can't you make this decision on your own?" I thought I'd tease her a little bit. "Do your boyfriends have you by the cheeks?" I smirked.
"Ah, that. Ha…" She tried to laugh and scratched her head feeling embarrassed. "We got out of a sisterhood a few years ago, so… I'll tell you after I talk to them. Sorry." She bowed her head and ran back into the house.
I sighed. I didn't want people knowing about this conversation, but if she's going to tell them… it can't be helped. "Whatever."
***
"She can cure him!?" Benard shouted, clenching his fist.
"Quiet Benard." She hushed him.
"But she won't do it." He said more quietly. His fist clenched tighter. "She doesn't care about father."
"Calm down, Benard. I think the cure is very expensive." She tried to calm him down. "I think she's trying to be kind by only asking for me. She said the church would demand a lot more."
"Ah, that." His fist lighted a little bit, and his expression became muddy.
"That's why I came to ask you guys, should we join them?" She sat across from her two boyfriends.
"Do we have a choice?" Benard huffed. "She won't cure him otherwise."
"Ah, that…" Terrie scratched her head.
"He's right," Theo said. "If that's the only way to cure father-in-law, then we don't have a choice."
"That's true… But I think you guys have the wrong view of her. She didn't sound like that… I was the one who talked to her. I think she was being sisterly. She's not… I don't know." She didn't have the words to express herself.
"If that's how you feel, Terrie, we'll support you," Theo said.
"Don't leave this all on me. Plus, you know I'm not that good at fighting. You guys know how I fuck up. I'm worried she might toss us out like Agneza." She said.
"Agneza was a stupid cunt." Benard said.
Terrie smiled at her two boyfriends, who agreed with her.
***
I was just getting frisky with Otto and Sterling again when I heard more knocks at our door.
"Oh, god, who's it this time," I said, annoyed. "Maybe we should just ignore it."
But more knocks followed, and Sterling said, "You should answer it."
I exhaled. "Haaaa. Okay."
I opened the door, and it was Terrie again. "Can we talk privately?" She asked.
I looked back at my two boys, sighed, and said, "Give me a minute." I closed the door and put on a pair of pants and a shirt. I was in my underwear. "I'll be right back," I told the boys.
When we stood under the starry night sky, alone again, I asked, "So, did you come to a decision?"
"Yeah, I'll join you." She said.
"Good. You won't regret it." I said and gave her a hug. I slipped my hand down and gave her big caboose a squeeze.
"Oh, ah… Okay." She was confused, but she pushed me off and said, "Thanks."
"Oh, that felt nice," I said.
She ignored me and asked, "So can you cure him now?"
"Ah, that. I'll need to buy some ingredients. You don't expect me to carry everything with me, do you?"
"Oh."
"Now that you've joined us. You'll come with us to Delaron. There I'll buy the ingredients, make the cure, and send it back here." I told her the general plan.
"Oh. Ah… okay. I guess there isn't another way." She said, nodding.
"There isn't. This place doesn't have an alchemist store, as far as I know. I don't think I'll find the ingredients I need here." I said.
"Mrs. Popo sells a lot of alchemical products, but I'm not sure if she has what you need," Terrie said.
"Mrs. Popo? We can take a look at it if you want. But probably not. I don't think she'll have it." I said. "Plus, I'll need time to make it. Don't worry, Bog Brain might look bad, but he still has a year or so from the looks of it. It takes a while before it kills. Right now, he gets up and says incoherent things every now and then, I bet, right? He looks like he's at the stage where he wakes up and says incoherent thoughts."
"Yeah! That's what she (Benard's mother) said!" She nodded. "You can tell all that just by looking at him once. Wow, you really are a genius."
"Nah." I shook my head. I'm just an idiot who'd become way too engrossed in an ero-game instead of living a decent life. I sighed and mumbled, "I'm the furthest thing from that."
"What?" She didn't hear my mumbling.
"Nothing." I shook my head regretfully at my past life. "Let's go back."
***
When I returned, the boys were already asleep. "Dammit, Terrie." I sighed and got in bed. Tomorrow I'll have to get up early and hike into the forest. I was hoping for some snu-snu before that. "Stupid, Terrie." She cruelly pushed me off when I grabbed her butt too. She has a nice bum…
I tried to not fantasize about a naked Terrie since I needed to sleep.