Previously in NWC-
Reno and Luna discuss their current gameplan. Reno finally finished moving the iron and takes on more and more tasks. Reno takes a shower! Reno sleeps in and then pays a visit to Kent to pitch an idea. Reno recommends using the iron to better equip the town of Bambadale...
Kent looks Reno up and down, trying to find any hint of a joke. "You're serious? N' what kinda' stuff you reckon we make to be able to fight? You n' I are about the only ones who'd be any sort of use, n' you're not gonna be much use, no offense."
"Oh, none taken. I'm aware that I'm weak, which is why better equipment would help."
"Well, I'm listenin'. This had better be good."
"The mayor made it apparent that everyone is too old or too young to do anything. But, that's assuming they were forced to use swords and stuff. What if instead of conventional weapons, we made guns and explosives?"
Kent looks at Reno like he's crazy, but quickly begins to ponder. "Wait a minute, you're on to something. But, what about the guns? I can make the barrels, no problem. What about the stocks?"
"Leave it to your trusty carpenter!" Reno points his thumb at himself and dons a smile to further sell the point.
"It's not as simple as puttin' fences together, Y'know?"
"I'm aware. All I'd need is a prototype. If you scrape together a dinky barrel then I can use it to start working on stocks."
"You understand that if we do fight back, and our weapons aren't enough, the bandits will most likely turn to killing?"
"I know. I understand it's not fair to the townspeople to go behind their backs and gamble their lives when I don't know any of them. But, the old man's dream is to expand this village, and that's a dream worth fighting for."
Kent thinks to himself, leaving Reno in deafening silence. Finally, he sighs and shakes his head. He grabs the clipboard and pen and makes a line through his numbers. "I'll tell Ben I miscounted. I hope you're ready, 'cause this isn't just a little game we're playin'."
"Thank you, Mr. Kent. I'll do my part to make this plan work."
"Fine. Come by later today n' I'll have a pipe made together for ya'."
"Thank you, Mr. Kent. I'll see you later today, probably tonight." Reno waves to Kent as he exits the blacksmith's. "Well, Luna. I think that turned out pretty well. Time to call it a day and head home!"
"Not so fast."
"I know, I know… To the town hall!" Reno makes his way to the town hall. Stopping to have a late breakfast with the mayor. Afterwards, he makes his way to the forest, where he retraces his steps to find his designated training area. "This place looks a lot more menacing than before… are we sure about this?"
"It's not menacing, you're just feeling lazy."
"How dare you?! I mean, yeah, you're entirely correct and I have nothing to defend myself with. But how dare you?!" Reno sighs as he sits on a fallen tree. "I don't even know if I'd be able to move this stuff at full strength. What were we thinking?"
Luna sighs as she floats around the perimeter. "Then perhaps you should look into borrowing a saw or axe? A means of transporting the wood would also be a wise decision."
"All this back and forth is killing me." Reno slowly makes his way back to the mayor. "Hey, old man, can I borrow that axe again?"
They mayor hands Reno the axe, a look of curiosity crossing his face. "What're ya' cuttin', young Reno?"
"Just some fallen trees in the forest."
"Ah! That reminds me! Kent was here earlier, he wanted me to tell you something! He wanted you to swing by his shop later when you get the chance."
"Really? I was just there like 30 minutes ago though."
"He said he needed to talk to you about something, but he wouldn't tell me what."
"Got it, I'll head over there now. Thanks, old man!" Reno leaves the town hall and makes his way over to Kent's shop. "Mr. Kent?"
After Reno calls out, Kent emerges from the back. "That was quick, wasn't expecting ya' for a bit."
"I just happened to need to borrow something from the old man. You needed something from me?"
"Right. I need you to cut some wood that I can make in to charcoal. I need a couple of hours to clean everything up so there's no rush."
"Coincidentally I was just about to take care of some fallen trees in the forest. I just had one problem. I don't have anything to transport that much wood, and I can't carry it all by hand."
"I got an old cart you could use. It's missin' some boards, but it should be able to handle a load of wood. Let me pull out the junk in it n' pull it around for ya." With that, Kent heads outside and begins preparing the cart. Reno heads outside as well and waits for Kent's return. A couple minutes later, Kent walks around the building with a dinky cart that looks like it's seen more history than everyone in the village combined. "I know what yer' thinkin'. It's a hand-me-down, and I'm the 3rd owner. She's old, but she gets the job done." Kent sets down the cart and steps out of it.
"You make this thing look so small." Reno steps in and grabs the bar, giving it a test pull and push before turning back to Kent. Thank you, Mr. Kent! I'll have a load of wood ready in a couple hours!"
"Thanks again, kid. If you want, I can come grab it once I'm done cleaning up."
"Really? Are you sure? I don't mind bringing it here."
"It's alright. You're already cutting the wood, I don't like havin' others do the work for me, but if we're gonna' keep this little project under wraps then I can't be steppin' away from my usual place too much."
"Well, if you're sure, then it'll be waiting behind the barn they're letting me sleep in."
"Alright, I'll come grab it later. See ya', kid."
"See ya'!" Reno takes the cart and begins pushing it, swaying side to side as he tries to get used to pushing it. "This thing has mind of it's own." He finally manages to get it out of the town, pushing it to the edge of the forest. "This thing isn't that hard to push once you get used to it. Luna, you should try it!"
"Very funny." Luna's voice is monotone and unamused.
"Worth a shot." Reno shrugs his shoulders and continues on his way. He manages to find a path clear enough for the cart to make its way through. He arrives at the future training grounds and flips the cart around. "Guess I'll start with the biggest one first." Reno begrudgingly grabs the axe from the cart and begins to chop away at the larger fallen trees. While he's only able to get through a single tree, it quickly fills up the cart. "This is a lot harder than I thought it'd be. I should see if I could pay Kent to make me a new axe, cause this one is not cutting it, literally."
After hours of cutting the large fallen tree into smaller chunks, he decides it's break time. "Kent didn't really say how much he needed, but I'd image a whole tree should be pretty good for starters, right?"
"I'd say you've done phenomenal. The cart looks like it could break soon if you put anymore in it. You should take a break, Reno."
"Yeah, my back hurts like hell from all this swinging. I just gotta roll this thing behind the barn." He slowly rolls the cart through the forest, his speed noticeably lowered from the extra weight and fatigue. "This is literally hell! Why the hell did I agree to this!"
"If I remember correctly, you said it ninety-five percent for your brother, three percent because you want to help, and two percent because it sounded cool."
"I'd say it's more like four percent to help and one percent because it sounds cool. This is getting crappier and crappier by the day." Reno finally manages to push the cart behind the barn. He quickly downs an unknown amount of water from the spigot and heads back to the village. "I should see how the old man is doing." He stops by the town hall and meets with the mayor. "Hey, old man!"
"Hello, young reno! Here to have lunch with this bag of bones again?"
"That wasn't the original intention, but I don't mind." They eat lunch together, but this time Reno catches the mayor off guard. Reno leaves the mayor a gold coin as thanks for everything he's done so far. "I can't just keep using your shower and eating your food."
"Nonsense! I told you I don't use that shower, and I buy too much food all the time! You're just savin' it from goin' bad!"
"Look, old man, can you please just take the money? If you won't take it personally, then could you at least use it on the village? I can't just keep taking things like this."
"Well, when you put it like that…" The mayor begrudgingly takes the money and puts it away. "Don't be workin' too hard out there, y'hear?"
"I won't." Reno bids the mayor farewell and heads back to the future training grounds.
TO BE CONTINUED...