I was at the bank.
At one moment, the banker was telling me, without even looking at the details of my account. "You're an E-ranker that just started out, and you want to take out a mortgage for 300 platinum? That's not possible." She smirked and adjusted her hair. She looked at me like I was a naive kid who was bright-eyed and delusional about the world. "I can give you a realistic estimate. Let me just have a look at your account here…"
And a moment later, having looked at my account, her entire tone changed. "Madam, you should consider putting 10 platinum into an SB-Savings Account and have your money work for you. Right now, it's just-"
"What about the mortgage?" I interrupted her rambling advice.
"Oh, yes. Yes." She vigorously nodded. "We can certainly do that. As I was saying, you're a very promising E-ranker, Madam. And when you get an SB-Savings account worth over 5 platinum, we can put that into your file as an asset, and then if we…" She went on a ramble about SB-Savings accounts, premium accounts, interest rates, transfers, withdrawals, advances, insurance, etc. But in the end, she gave me an estimate that said with 155 platinum as a down payment, I could get approved for a 300 platinum mortgage. Because I'm an E-ranker, I had to put more than 50% down to get the loan. And this was all after looking at my bank history for the past 5 years, which has always been positive. Every month since I was 10, I've been putting in more than I ever took out. So I can't even imagine what it would be like for a person with an average account history. It would've been much better if I had ranked up to C or B. Finally, she ended her rambling by mentioning my mother, "And you're Madam Clara Hooper's daughter." She smiled while looking at the certificate that proved my noble status.
"Ah, yes." I didn't know what she was smiling about; my mother would rather I sell my kidneys than ask her for money. Camelia, my oldest sister, might still get to suck on her tits for all I know, but Jess and I had always had to take care of ourselves.
Anyway, a mortgage for 300 platinum was approved. But I still haven't heard from Steffi yet. Hopefully, the price can be brought down to 280, and I can breathe easier.
When everything else was settled, I said, "I also need to withdraw 20 gold and 20 silver." The 19 gold coins were for the metal shop and Virginia, and the 1 gold and 20 silver were for me.
"Sure. I can do that for you." She said.
***
When I returned to the hotel, I went into the restaurant for some lemonade. They sold great lemonade. And I spotted Terrie's and Nikola's boys at a table. I got my glass of lemonade and sat down with them.
"Where's Nikola?" I asked Woodie and them.
"She's out. You know… Leveling." He said.
"Oh, okay." I guess that's good; she's working hard. She's grinding in more ways than one. "And where's Terrie." Garth wasn't around either.
"She's still out with Garth. They haven't come back." Woodie said.
"Okay. And where's Otto and Sterling?" I thought they'd hang out with the rest of the boys.
"We invited them, but they decided to spend the morning in their room," Woodie said.
"Hm. It's almost lunch. I'll go get them." I said and finished my glass of lemonade.
***
I opened the door to my room, and they were in bed again. This time, they were making out. It was an intense make-out session, from the looks of it. The bedsheet covered half their bodies. Otto laid on top of Sterling and fed him his tongue.
They stopped making out when I came in, and Otto asked me, "Do you want to join?" While Sterling caught his breath.
"It's almost lunch. I came to get you guys." I said.
"There's still time." He said.
"No." I shook my head. I was getting turned on watching them, and I liked playing with them… but playing with them increases my anxiety, in a sense… Because I could be spending that time and energy with men who could give me experience. Like Nikola, I should be leveling up too. Just doing it for fun felt like a waste of effort. "I can't play around like you guys. You guys do what you want, but I have to work."
"What's the matter?" Sterling asked. He had a way of sensing my thoughts.
"Nothing." I shook my head. Maybe after defeating the demon queen, I can have a simple life. I took out the money pouches the bank gave me from my pocket. "Tell Garth this is the money for the metal shop, and this is for Virginia." I held up one in each hand. My bank had lovely little pouches with its symbol on them.
"Why don't you tell him yourself when he returns?" Otto asked.
"Yeah, if he shows up before I finish lunch," I said. "Otherwise, you guys have to tell him. But you can tell him he can do the errands tomorrow."
"And where are you going after lunch?" Otto asked.
"Ah," I thought about it; there wasn't much to do until the house stuff was settled, Virginia finishes those contracts, and the tailor finishes those custom clothes. "I don't know, somewhere…" I had a few quests in mind. But mainly, I just didn't want to play around and waste time. Soon it'll be 2 months since I left home. Since I wasn't going to make potions or scrolls, staying at home didn't feel right. There isn't a lot I can do till the house is bought, like working on potions, hiring alchemists, and basically preparing everything I need for the dungeons. There are things I could do early, like hiring a boat. And then there are the quests I can do for extra credit. Or I could… try to kill two birds with one stone. "Maybe I'll go to a bar."
"A bar?" Sterling didn't like the sound of that. "You can buy drinks in the restaurant. Isn't that enough?"
"You don't understand. Go back to what you guys were doing. Don't worry, I won't drink. This is for a boat."
"A boat?" Sterling asked.
"A boat in a bar?" Otto questioned.
"No, there are captains of boats in bars. I don't need to explain things to you." I said.
"And why do we need a captain?" He asked.
"We don't need one. Well, we do, the girls and I, it's for later. It doesn't… I don't… Tell Garth about the money. I'm going back downstairs." I didn't want to explain things to them, so I left the room.
***
I was almost finished with lunch when they came into the restaurant. And they came in giggling like two schoolgirls and looking like some lovey-dovey couple.
"You already had lunch," Otto said when he saw me finish my plate.
"Yeah, what time do you think it is." He looked at the clock and saw that it was past 12:30.
"Oh, we lost track of time." He smiled.
"Eck." I frowned. I'll be honest; watching them was making me jealous. What simple and easy lives they live. How blissful they are, ignorant of the war on the horizon. "Okay, I'm going out." I wiped my mouth and got up. Garth and Terrie still weren't back. "You guys do whatever you want. Don't wait up."
***
I went to the bar I had visited many times in the game. Port town bars always had sailors and captains with histories. You can gain their trust, get free rides, and get quests by talking to them. And Delaron had a captain with an easy quest worth doing. Technically, it's a string of quests, but there was no requirement to do all of them.
It was still bright out, so the bar was quiet when I got there. Though a few barflies were moping about in the dark corners.
"What would you like?" The bartender, a tattooed woman with a scar above her eye, asked.
Sterling was constantly nagging me about my drinking, and after looking at the women moping in the bar, I wasn't in the mood for a drink either. "I'll just have a glass of water."
"Hm." The bartender frowned. "We don't sell water."
"Then what do you sell that's nonalcoholic?" I asked.
"Nothing." She said.
We stared at each other. "Okay, fine, give me a beer." Sterling can't blame me; I tried.
"Alright, coming right up." She said. I'll just drink moderately, I thought to myself. "What's a doe like you doing here?" She put the pint of beer in front of me.
"I'm looking for a boat captain," I said and took a sip.
"Which one?" She asked.
"Ah," I need to be careful bringing up names, or I'll get a lot of questions I can't answer. In the game, you didn't need to bring up any names; all you had to do was buy her a drink and let her talk. Eventually, she loosens up and mentions the quest. Which was a simple puzzle-solving quest. Technically, she'll mention her sister, Nilda Garza, and you have to show an interest in her. She'll then talk about the box her sister left her and how she doesn't know how to open it. Show that you want to help her, and you get the quest.
I really was early because there was barely anyone in the bar. If I have to wait around for days like I had to for Thratt Nommay Osh, I'd be better off hiring a random captain. The reward for the quest was simply loyalty, and free boat rides anytime you want when you're in Delaron.
While I was thinking, the bartender asked, "What? Can't answer?"
"Ah, no. No, I'm not looking for anyone specific." I fibbed.
"Just looking to go somewhere then. Where are you looking to go?" She asked.
"We're stopping at Greinne and Pallad. And she'll have to wait for us for a few weeks while we go to Gwawl. Then we'll go to Brynhildmar." I said.
"Brynhildmar." She crossed her arms. "What business do you have up there?"
"None that's yours," I said.
"Don't be like that. I'll point a few good captains your way." She said.
"Ah, nothing. We're just going there to hunt a few monsters. We're an adventurer's group." I lied. You got to say something, or they'll keep asking.
"Oh, hunting in the Horn, huh? If you catch a Red Deer, sell some to me." She said.
"Fine. If we run into one, we'll catch it." I said.
She smiled. "My husband loves red deer meat."
"That's nice," I said.
"I think Gala and Tatiana are free." She said. "They're making their money giving boat tours for Tourists these days. I think they'll like a longer gig like this. A proper gig."
Tatiana Garza was precisely who I was looking for. "Oh, do they come here often?"
"They'll come for a drink later. I'll point them out to you." The bartender said.
"Great. Hm. Tatiana sounds like a nice name." I tried to direct the bartender's mind to the captain I wanted.
"I guess." She shrugged. "I'll point her out to you when she shows up. She always comes around 9."
I looked at the clock. The big hand was just past 2. It had a long way to go before 9. I guess I'll be having dinner here today.