Otto came into the lab early in the morning and said, "You didn't come to bed last night." He stood there, scrutinizing me, with his arms crossed.
"Yeah," I said, hunched over the table, drawing circuits on the new pendants. "Had to work."
"We thought you were out levelling up." He said.
"No, I am making pendants for Nikola and Terrie."
"Okay, well, breakfast is ready."
"Alright, I'll be there. Give me a few." I had managed to finish half a pendant. And despite it being an inferior imitation of the Shield of Andromeda, I felt I could get a few platinum for them when they're finished. Though, I don't plan on selling them.
"Okay. Don't take too long, or the food will get cold."
"Okay." I didn't look up and continued to work.
"Hmm." He hummed and left.
I didn't realize how much time had passed till Nelli showed up.
"O, boss. Good morning. Up early?" She said.
"Good morning. I'm always up early," I said, putting down my needle.
"O, right. It's just that you weren't here yesterday." She said, putting away her bag and taking her spot at the table.
"I was… doing something else." I thought of Sterling. I had to shake my stupid thoughts away, "No, I got some work done."
"Ah, yeah." She was confused by my odd reaction.
"Hm, what time is it?"
"Quater to 9. I like to come 15 minutes early and start setting things up." She said.
"Damn, I lost track of time." I pulled a cloth over the pendants and said, "Don't touch this, and don't let anyone else touch it either." Unfortunately, there was no safe in the lab. "Maybe I should get a safe for the lab. A small one." I mumbled while washing my hand in the workshop's toilet. "He's going to be pissed," I said as I came out of the bathroom. I was juggling multiple thoughts and mumbled some aloud.
"Who's going to be pissed?" Nelli, being a good sport, tried to decipher my jumbled thoughts.
"My boyfriend," I answered as I walked out of the room.
"Ah, I see." I heard her say.
I heard the unmistakable sound of metal striking metal as I exited the lab. I turned to the sound and saw Terrie and a stranger clashing swords. "What?" At first, I readied to help her, but then I noticed the cheering crowd. Maura's children and Terrie's men stood to the side, shouting and clapping at the spectacle.
I joined them and asked, "What's going on?"
"Cut her in two, Brigitte!" A little boy shouted.
His bigger sister was there to slap him in the head and set him straight. "This is a spar, idiot. You don't use your full strength here."
"Ouch, so Brigitte isn't using her full strength?" He asked as he soothed his head.
"Of course not." His older sister answered.
His pupils dilated like a blossoming flower. "Big sis is amazing."
"Of course." The girl nodded.
"That's Brigitte, Maura's daughter," Theo answered me. "She came yesterday. She's a Rhino Knight. I thought you already met her? She wants to join your team, you know. Well, her mother wants her to, but I think she wants to too."
"So, that's her." Brigitte was a muscular woman with a butch haircut. She had two scars on her face, one on her forehead and another that had misaligned her lower lip. I looked her over with [look-a-look]; she was level 17, the same as Terrie. "Rhino Knight…" I tried to think back to the game… there are way too many knight variations… While playing the game, I never realized how much more popular martial artists were compared to magicians in this world. And knights are the most popular among the martials, with around 30% of people being a variation of the knight. "Rhino Knight… defence heavy, right?" She was swinging a buster sword clad in faux samurai armour.
Theo shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know."
"Yeah, why am I even asking a man."
He smiled. "How would I know."
"Yeah, it's defence heavy, but her attacks are heavy too. And she has a basic skill that intensifies her attack every time she dodges or deflects her opponent. Also, after level 25, her attacks basically become area-of-effect like." Said the girl who'd smacked her younger brother a moment ago.
"You know a lot about your sister's class."
"Yeah, I read up on it."
"Well, then it doesn't look good for Terrie." Brigitte was dodging and deflecting many of her attacks. Terrie wasn't taking the match seriously enough. With someone like Brigitte, you need to end the fight as quickly as possible; aim for the kill. In a spar, Brigitte had the advantage. "She should try to knock off her sword." It's frustrating watching your teammate lose. "Put your back into it, Terrie!" I shouted.
"She's going to lose." The girl said matter of factly.
"Yeah, probably." I frowned. "One gets stronger as they fight, the other gets weaker. The match was decided from the beginning."
"Weaker? I guess so." She didn't fully understand me.
"Terrie's skills are geared for fighting monsters… Maybe if she grows to hate your sister, she might win." I shrugged. "Though that doesn't look to be the case right now." If anything, she seemed to be getting friendlier with her.
"Hate my sister?"
"Never mind. Your mother said your sister wants to join us."
The girl nodded. "Yeah."
"Why isn't she already in an adventure group?" She was only 19 years old and already level 17. Her looks were average, and with those scars… Let's just say it couldn't have been easy to get to level 17. It showed ambition. They should be lining up to recruit her.
"Don't know. She doesn't tell me. But I know she got kicked out of 3 groups two years ago."
"She got kicked out of 3 groups in a row?"
The girl nodded. "Now she works for money. You know, as a guest." We spoke with our eyes fixed on the fight.
"Is she a mercenary?"
She shook her head. "No, she's still an adventurer."
"You can be both."
"She doesn't do anything illegal."
"Not all mercenaries do illegal work." The girl was still too young and had false beliefs. "So she's like a lone adventurer."
"Yeah."
"Well, then they should get along." Terrie was also a lone adventurer till I came along.
At this point, Terrie was taking a one-sided beating. She was only blocking, yet it was clearly taking a toll on her. And Brigitte's attacks seemed to be getting stronger. Each blow made Terrie stumble back. Finally, she was too slow to block that last attack, but the sword stopped… inches from her neck.
Terrie swallowed her saliva and admitted defeat. "You win."
"Yeaaa!" Brigitte's sisters and brother's cheered! They crowded her and praised her.
The younger ones were especially filled with asshole energy. One of them mockingly parodied Terrie's moves. Brigitte smacked her little head and said, "Good fight. You're very skilled, but it looks like I had the advantage in this fight."
Terrie put on a phoney smile and said, "Yeah, it seems so."
Theo, Benard, and Wilf cheered up the loser.
Theo kissed her sweaty forehead and said, "You did well."
"Yeah." She kept up her fake smile.
Benard and Wilf just hugged her.
I stood between them and observed. After the little girl got smacked, the rest of them were a lot nicer to Terrie, asking about her class, skills, and whatnot…
"Are you Sherrie?" Brigitte asked.
"Yep, that's me." I smiled. "You fight well."
"Oh, no. That wasn't a real fight." She said.
"You should let her join, Sherrie. She's got the skills." Terrie rooted for her.
"Thank you." Brigitte respectfully bowed to her.
"The winner shouldn't be bowing." Terrie shook her head.
"Your sister told me you got kicked out of 3 groups in a row."
"Oh, yes… I was younger, stupider, and got into a lot of fights. I've changed since then." She honestly admitted.
"With your teammates?"
"No! Ah… once, but that wasn't it." She shook her head. "We worked that one out."
It seemed she was hesitant to answer in a straightforward manner, which only made me ask even more questions. "What were the fights about?"
She sighed. "Men. It's always men."
"Let go of me!" Her little brother shouted as her sister pulled him away. "I want to hear!" He put up a futile struggle, but the little girls worked together and restrained him. "I already know how you girls gain experience!" Terrie's men helped herd the children away, so we could talk privately.
"So you fucked one of your teammate's men without her permission." I surmised.
"No, well, yes. But we worked that out." Terrie and I squinted our eyes suspiciously. "No, it was mostly other adventurers that couldn't keep their men in check. They come picking fights when they realize I got their points. Claiming rape or some shit. What rape? The studs were happy to get a swamping."
We were both concerned. "Did you rape them?"
"No! They gave it to me."
My eyes met Terrie's for an instant, and we decided to believe her. "I thought most women were fine with their men sleeping around." It made me wonder… Would I start a fight if Sterling or Otto cheated on me? I'd feel betrayed, and we'd have to talk about it… and figure things out, but given how many men I'm sleeping with…
They were both looking at me like I was either an alien or an idiot. "What gave you that idea?" Terrie asked.
"What do you mean? Women sleep around. And that's how it was in my hometown. All the women were fine with my sisters sleeping around with their husbands and stuff. Some even offered me nights with them." I recalled my hometown where all the people were so nice. Well, not all of them were cool with my sisters sleeping with their partners, but the majority of them were.
"What?" Brigitte was so confused. "What hometown is this?"
Terrie shook her head, "Your mother is the Baroness. Obviously, they'd let you sleep with them."
"Oh… Oh." That changed my worldview a little bit. "But- Oh."
Terrie saw how shocked I was and added, "Well, most women probably won't start fights over it, though, especially if the man only has a few points."
"That's a myth. That's just something women with high pointed men think. Sometimes, the women with the lowest come screaming the loudest." Brigitte shook her head. "Most often, the men keep their mouths shut, and everyone leaves happy, but sometimes…" She shrugged.
"I see," I said.
"But it is true that women with low pointed men are usually weak, so they won't do shit even if they know."
"But… The problem I'm having is… I thought women- I mean, isn't it kind of hypocritical with how much women sleep around?" I mumbled since I didn't like thinking about it. After all, I was one of those hypocrites.
"No, it's not the same thing," Terrie answered curtly.
"How is it hypocritical?" Brigitte didn't even comprehend the question.
"She means because it's sex." Terrie tried to explain it to her.
"What? No, it's not the same thing." She shook her head. "It is as the Goddess told through the prophet: women are the maintainers of men for that Goddess has preferred in bounty one of them over another, and for that they have spent of their wealth. Righteous men are obedient, guarding in secret that which Goddess has guarded. Those from whom you fear rebelliousness, admonish them and desert them in the bed and beat them. Then, if they obey you, do not look for any way against them. Goddess is High, Great." She spewed her memorized belief with such pompousness that it stunned me.
"Ah… I'm not really that religious, but I guess it is different." I agreed that men and women were different. I was too stunned to even think properly.
Terrie nodded approvingly. "I don't believe men should be beaten. I think the current mome would agree with me on that, but you're spot on about everything else." She smiled. "We should go to church, Sherrie. We haven't gone to church since we came to this city."
"Ah… well…" I had no desire to go to church.
Terrie enthusiastically piped up again and said, "You know that reminded me of a proverb my mother used to say: a gracious man gets honor, and violent women get riches. Hmm, that's not a good quote, now that I think about it… and I forget the rest of it."
"I think I know; it talks about being kind. It's a good proverb." They were both trying to remember bible verses.
I interrupted their religious blabber and said, "Okay, you can join us on our next trip." The more hands, the better. "And we'll see how it goes." I wanted to watch her over the course of the trip before deciding whether to let her into the sisterhood.
"Okay, sure." She agreed and then asked, "Where are we going?"
"It's a long trip; I'll tell you the details later. I'm starving right now. I'm going to go get something to eat."
"Okay."
"Okay." Terrie nodded.
It looked like they wanted to continue their religious blabber, so I let them be and marched on to the mansion.
***
"Yaw." I yawned. Most of the staff were having breakfast, so the kitchen was pretty empty. Though, I could see Woodie cleaning plates at the other end of the kitchen.
There was also Otto; he put a big plate in front of me and said, "Here's your breakfast." Strawberries, pineapple squares, bread, jam, butter, cut up weiners and dried slime. "Wait, let me get you a fork." He quickly washed and dried a fork. "Here." He stabbed it into the strawberry.
"Thanks," I said and ate the strawberry. Then I chewed on the sliced bread.
"Aren't you going to put any jam or butter on it?"
"Too lazy."
He rolled his eyes. "Give it to me." He yanked the bread out of my mouth, got the butter knife, and spread the butter. I ate more strawberries and pineapple pieces while I waited… "Here, now eat." He returned the slice of bread, buttered.
"Thanks. You're the best."
"Yeah, you better appreciate it."
"I do." I nodded.
"You should get some sleep." He noticed the dark circles under my eyes.
"Yeah, I think I will…" It was exhausting just to eat.
When I finished eating, he asked, "Should I wake you up for lunch?"
I shook my head. "No. If I get up, I'll eat. Otherwise, let me sleep."
"Okay." He frowned. "I don't think you should work during the night. Especially if you're not going to eat properly."
"Yaw." I yawned, "I'm fine. And I need to. It's the only time I get the workshop to myself."
"But-"
"Don't worry, it's only for a few weeks."
"But then you'll head off to the dungeons."
"Yeah." I concurred as I washed my hand in the sink.
He drooped. "Okay, you can wake me up if you need anything." Even his sadness looked cute. It made me smile.
I would've given him a hug, but Maura showed up. "No, you can wake me up, master Sherrie." She said, having caught the end of our conversation. "You should let your cute boyfriend sleep."
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind." I agreed.
"Hmm." Otto didn't like it but said nothing.
"Alright, I'm going to bed. Call me if you need anything." I said and left the kitchen.