Previously in NWC-
Reno tried casting magic but failed. Exhausted, he goes to use the mayor's shower. He spots Lyn and Hector, the ex-bandit. Hector turns out to be a much better carpenter than Reno, with actual experience. Reno makes his way to the townhall where the mayor is going over some papers. One thing leads to another and Reno ends up deciding to tell the mayor he wants to resign as carpenter and be an adventurer...
The mayor's eyes open wide as he listens to Reno. It takes him a bit to think of a response, but finally, he speaks. "You're… serious? Even after experiencing what it's like to almost lose your life, do you still want to be an adventurer? But… why?" The mayor's utter bewilderment is apparent as his mouth hangs agape.
"I don't know if I ever told you, but I have a little brother. His name is Arthur, and he's everything to me. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm unable to see him until I take care of some things. When I do finish up what I need to, I want to have loads of stories to tell him. Because being cool in his eyes is all I want, and being an adventurer is the best way to do it."
"I... I see." The mayor thinks to himself for an extended period of time. He gathers his thoughts, then finally speaks. "There's plenty to explore around here. Maybe you should try checkin' out a couple of those places before you decide?"
"Actually, about that. CeCe has somewhere she's going the next time she comes around and I'll be her hired muscle it seems. She even offered me 1,000 dulls!"
The mayor nods his head and scratches his chin. "That's quite the amount! CeCe is a fine merchant, so being employed by here would be quite a good financial opportunity. I suppose if you already have a job lined up that's payin' you that much, then it might not be a bad idea." The mayor glances down at the plans in front of him and then back at Reno. "You're sure that's what you want, young Reno?"
"Positive." With zero hesitation Reno nods his head.
"Alright." The mayor pulls out a stamp and stamps Hector's floor plans. When he lifts the stamp back up, a green 'Approved' mark is left in it's place. "Next time I see Hector I'll see if he wants to be the village's carpenter permanently. Just promise to be safe out there?"
Reno happily nods his head. "Of course! And don't worry; I still want to help make Bambadale awesome, so I'll be sticking around."
The mayor smiles as he slowly pushes himself up. "Well, you got this old man all excited thinking about his youth. I think it's time I went to bed and started windin' down now." The mayor slowly walks over to Reno, gently placing his hand on Reno's shoulder. "Thank you, young Reno, for everything you've done so far. You might not think you've done much, but Bambadale wouldn't be the same without you." The mayor takes his leave, retreating further into the building and off to bed.
Reno is left standing there, feeling confused. "Why does everyone have to be so sincere here? I'm not used to people saying how they actually feel…" Still not sure how to react, he goes home, gets Luna and Medusa, and goes to bed.
The next morning starts much like the others. Reno screaming for dear life as the air is slowly squeezed from his lungs and Luna watching as if nothing were happening. This, despite being a unique circumstance to them, has become their new norm. "Reno!" Medusa finally wakes up from her deep slumber and calls out to Reno, squeezing him harder.
"Medusa, for the love of fucking god, please let me goooo!!!" Finally, after a minute of being strangled, Medusa's grip loosens. Reno catches his breath and tries to scold Medusa, but is unable to after looking in her bright, yellow glowing eyes. "Just… not so tight, okay?" Medusa happily nods her head and waves her arms in the air. Reno ends up taking a trip into town to restock on their supplies, spending 10 dulls this time around. His last stop is Lyn's. He heads to her house to find that she and Hector were outside, with Hector making floor plans again. "Hey, Lyn. What are you guys doing?"
Lyn looks over and sees Reno with his backpack. "Ahh, if it isn't my favorite business partner! I see you've come to uphold your continuous part of the deal?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll buy some stuff from you after you tell me what's going on."
Lyn raises an eyebrow, peering over the rim of her glasses. Her green eyes shine in the sunlight which give them a fiercer appearance. "Someone is getting a bit too comfortable. Need I remind you your place?"
Reno clears his throat. "I am so sorry, Madam Lyn. I've come to do none other than give you my physical monetary units in hopes you will bless me with your wares." His voice is monotone as he puts on his lackluster performance.
Despite the lack of emotion, Lyn finds it adequate, chuckling. "Good. And, to answer your question, the mayor has agreed to sell me this plot where the old fire hazard was. So, I've employed the help of the village's newest carpenter to design and build me a separate building for my bakery."
"That was quick. You wasted no time."
"Yes, well, CeCe is leaving in a couple of days and If I'm to get this wood ordered then I need to have someone make the plans and give me the list of what's needed."
"Well, I hope it works out for you."
"As do I. Now, shall we head inside?" Lyn leads Reno inside.
Reno follows Lyn inside her home. He's strong armed into spending 10 dulls at her shop, leaving slightly irritated. He mumbles to himself as he opens her door to leave. "Ridiculous. I'll show her one day."
From behind him, Lynn speaks with a menacing tone, pushing her glasses up and glaring at him. "What was that, business partner?" Her voice is cold, like she was ready to attack at any moment.
"No. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I love it here. This is the best food ever, thank you so much!" Reno dashes out of the building, a shiver going down his spine. He returns home, trying to fight of Medusa from eating all of the cookies he just bought. The rest of the day consists of Reno trying to cast magic, and getting irritated when it doesn't work. The day passes, and the group go to sleep. Reno, in an attempt to not be woken up by being suffocated. Wraps his arms around Medusa and holds her vines together tightly.
The night passes and morning arrives. The first to rise is Luna as she looks at Reno, entangled in Medusa's vines yet again. "Poor Reno, he should have known it would be inevitable." It only takes a couple of minutes for Reno to start waking up. "Ahh, here we go." Luna moves away slightly to give Reno space to thrash around like he usually does.
"Medusa! Son of a bitch!" Reno struggles like usual, and also like usual, he is constricted even more. It takes them 10 minutes today to get Reno unwrapped and Medusa awake. "Finally!" With that, the day begins. Reno's plans for the day are much like the previous. He plans to take a walk and practice magic some more, but suddenly he get's an idea. "Hey, Luna. Do you remember how I told CeCe about you and Medusa?"
Luna's voice is slightly irritated. It was clear she was still upset about this. "Yes, and?"
"Well, CeCe is leaving tomorrow, so, what if I had come here to meet the two of you? Since we'll be adventuring together, I thought it'd be a good idea."
"There's a lot of things you think are good ideas, aren't there? Fine. But if this turns out poorly, then there's nobody to blame but yourself. Understand?"
Reno, being entirely oblivious as to why Luna is upset, speaks with a hint of confusion. "Okay? Cool, I guess? I'll go find her and set up a time later today for her to meet you." Reno slowly walks off, looking over his shoulder to Luna occasionally. He makes his way to town, quickly finding CeCe outside Lyn's house. CeCe spots Reno and motions for him to join them.
"Hey, Reno! We were just talking about you, and then you appeared out of nowhere! Isn't that weird?! It's like we summoned you!' CeCe smiles playfully, finding enjoyment in the coincidence.
Reno, on the other hand, is terrified about what they were talking. "Oh, yeah? What about me?"
Lynn pipes in, not wanting to miss out on the chance to mess with Reno. "Wouldn't you like to know, business partner?" Lyn chuckles at the fact that she gets to mess with Reno and CeCe laughs at the fact that Lyn called Reno her 'business partner'.
Finally, CeCe speaks again. "So, what brings you here?"
"I was actually looking for you. I wanted to ask you something."
CeCe eyes widen with excitement as she covers her mouth and gasps. "Me?! This is so exciting! What did you want me for?!"
"(How do you ask someone to come meet a goddess and unidentified creature? I really should have thought about this beforehand. Then there's Lyn here, so I can't really give away too much information since she knows about Medusa but not Luna. I can't just NOT do it either since this is really important. Whatever, she'll probably know what I mean.)" Reno clears his throat and looks her in the eyes. "Wanna come to my place later?"
TO BE CONTINUED...