Rosie and I made our way back to Market Town over the next few days. The journey took longer than our previous trip into the forest since we had to stick to trails that the carriage could fit through. It was fortunate that it was winter, otherwise the corpses would have smelled terrible by now.
Occasionally we came across some predatory animals that didn't know it was a bad idea to attack me. I gave them a "light" slap each to show them who is stronger. Rosie became on guard in each of these instances, but not towards the predators; she was watching me. This hurt me deeply. She had forgiven me, but she could no longer trust me in a fight. I didn't know how to repair the damaged trust. I did the only thing I could think of which was to pour my affection on her. Not just by giving her extra pats, cuddles, and treats, but by really, genuinely feeling that affection in my heart, so it would transmit over our connection.
Other than the occasional wolf or lynx, the journey home was uneventful. We stopped at the gate into town with the carriage and explained what had happened ... well most of what had happened. Somehow, I didn't think they would find a young girl single-handedly defeating a mortal beast as very believable. That didn't stop Rosie from trying to pantomime me brutalizing that ape with a doll she had found though. I awkwardly excused myself from the guards while trying to hide Rosie's elite Pictionary skills. I was so embarrassed. Fortunately, the guards thought Rosie was just playing. The guards thanked me for bringing them to town for burial. They said it would help bring closure to the families of the deceased.
I headed back to the villa much lighter. I may be strong, but I never want to act as a mule ever again. My hands were very blistered now. I hoped Li Kai wouldn't count this as "injured." I was wrong.
"It took you 8 days to kill a mortal beast and on top of that, your hands look like raw sausages! I trained you better than this!" Li Kai said with exasperation.
After about an hour of getting chewed out, I finally got a word in to defend myself.
"So you found the Ape's trail from the beginning, but he was a three-day journey into the forest. Then you took some dead villagers back to town and that's why your hands look like a patchwork quilt of torn skin. Fine, I guess you were technically uninjured in your fight. I can't very well be the guy that docks you points for doing a good deed. Here's your reward." Li Kai flicked a pill towards me, I caught it before it was lost in the snow.
I'll spare you the gruesome details of what followed. This purification pill was just as bad as the last time, except the maidservants were more prepared. There were more buckets of water ready. The maids all wore masks too. It reminded me of a virus outbreak that occurred in my previous life, except that these maids uniformly wore the masks, no one wanted to smell the foul impurities again. The squeamish maids were all sent to other tasks as well. Finally, they added soap and a strong perfume to all the buckets of bathwater. It was a floral scent, not exactly my style, but I wasn't going to begrudge the maids any opportunity to reduce the smell.
By the end of that horrible bath, I had again gained +2 to every stat except luck. Looks like this was a linear progression. That was fine, I was already way stronger than any mortal had a right to be. I looked myself over in a mirror, and my skin seemed to shine. I worried that I might sparkle by the end of this. That would be mortifying.
Vivian found me soon after and began excitedly talking to me about the last few days.
"An opportunity opened up in the nearby town of Snowbreak. Traders keep complaining about there not being any proper mercantile there. So we're going to do it. I'll be going there tomorrow, and staying there for the next year, maybe longer to get things set up." Vivian explained.
"Ooo, the great Vivian Seeker will have to delegate for once in her career." I joked.
Vivian responded by tickling me mercilessly. Crap, this body was ticklish. Very ticklish. The great Zoey Seeker could be defeated by a feather! Vivian finally relented when my face started turning purple and allowed me to breathe again. I glared at Vivian, she raised her hands in a threatening ticking gesture again. I kowtowed quickly to apologize.
Vivian continued her story, "So since we'll be expanding to another town we'll need to come up with a proper name for our business, here we've always simply been called, the warehouse. Any ideas?"
"Why not Seeker Mercantile? You could even come up with a corny slogan like, Find whatever you seek at the Seeker Mercantile." I suggested.
Vivian's eyes glowed, "That's perfect!"
I supposed naming standards here were pretty poor if my suggestion was so amazing to Vivian. I feared what horrible names I may see in the future if my terrible naming sense was considered superb.
I began lamenting over the fact that my warm cuddle buddy would be gone for a year or more. Little did I know that I would be missing more than the comfort of my sister very soon.
"What do you mean wilderness training?"
The next day happened to be another training day with Li Kai. He was explaining to me the next phase of my training.
"By now I've given you a very solid foundation, but you're too soft, for the next year you'll be living in the forest to harden your resolve and refine your skills." Li Kai told me.
"A whole year! But I'm a soft princess, have mercy on me!" I pleaded.
"That's exactly why we're doing this." Li Kai was unmoved. "Now remove that storage ring, sword, and throwing daggers. Other than the clothing on your back, you're only permitted to bring that combat dagger with you."
I cried, pleaded, and begged to be given more, even a couple of changes of underwear, but Li Kai remained firm. I was never an outdoorsy person, even in my last life. I could make do in my hunts because of the many luxury items I brought along. With tears running down my face I handed Li Kai the storage ring after putting the other items inside it.
Li Kai inspected the ring, "I'm still fascinated Nikol managed to craft this. I asked her how, and she said it was a Seeker family proprietary secret. Just as shrewd as Gregory."
I didn't have the heart to tell him that my mom only said that when she accidentally stumbled into something but forgot to write down the steps to repeat it. However, she produced the ring was now lost due to Nikol's simple absent-mindedness. If she still remembered or had notes on the process, she would've completely spilled the information to Li Kai. Shrewd? Not even a little bit. She was just embarrassed she had forgotten how to craft the ring.
I began trudging slowly towards the forest again while dragging my feet. Occasionally looking back at Li Kai with big, round, watery eyes and a tiny little frown. Rosie even aided in the pity act, her ears and tail down, and another set of sorrowful eyes staring back at Li Kai. He didn't buy the act and even laughed and told us to get a move on. That miserable miser! I'd get him back one of these days.
I knew Li Kai wouldn't be happy if I settled on the outskirts of the forest, so I headed deep inside. It was still relatively easy to hunt and gather for food. Water was more difficult though. Li Kai had taken the canteen too. Initially, I drank straight from the mountain creeks, but eventually, I fashioned a new canteen by whittling a block of wood. I knew this would quickly dull the knife, but the utility of portable water outweighed the usefulness of the knife. If I was a normal weak person, maybe the knife would be more important, but I could kill all my prey without it.
That night and the next several nights, I fashioned a simple lean-to and cuddled with Rosie for warmth. Six days of travel into the forest I found a shallow cave and decided to make that my base camp. I built a basic structure around the cave opening to extend the livable area and prevent the cave from getting water-logged, then built a fence in a wide area around the structure. It was very crude. I had zero survival skills from my past life, and only cursory theoretical knowledge in this one. The tutors didn't expect a princess like me to rough it in the woods and Li Kai wanted to teach me by first-hand- experience.
Rosie and I spent most of our time in the ragged camp, longing to return to our pampered lives.