B1 Chapter 18 - Farewell Shelter

I was sweeping the front area with Nancy and waiting for Jackson, ever since the slavers incident, she insisted that I not leave for or from work without him. I pouted at the idea. I was a big girl, but I didn’t wanna draw any attention to myself, so I obeyed. The worst part is she didn’t want either of us drinking. My sweet nectar! Dawn’s husband was right, it tastes better when someone else pays for it.

“So, you got so much geld, what are you planning to do with it?” Nancy asked.

“Right,” I said, taking out eighteen thousand geld. “This is your share.”

“What? No. I won’t take your bounty money from the slavers incident,” she said, handing me back most of the geld. “The six thousand is enough.”

That left me with eighty-four thousand geld. Enough for the magic bag and still some left over. “I found a shop selling a magic bag for fifty thousand geld. I was thinking of getting that.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Whatever for?”

“They seem cool and useful!” I said.

She laughed. “You're such a mystery. I suppose yes, they are. But no, you barely have anything to store anyhow. Plus, didn’t you wanna bring your sister into town? This is the perfect seed money for fetching her and getting yourself a nice room at the guild.”

She did make an interesting point. “I’ll need to take work off to go get my little sister.”

“Then, let the guild know today,” Nancy said.

Jackson walked up, waving. His right eye was finally open again. Apparently, what happened that night was that the guards went to fight the slavers, and Jackson stayed to protect me, but in his drunken stupor, he got beaten up, and I got taken anyway. He had been kicking himself for what he felt was a failure, but I was just glad he wasn’t hurt.

Apparently, six slavers attacked that night, and they captured three, with two taking us. The last guy was never found. Slippery little bastard.

“So did you get some revenge against the guy that busted up your eye?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, he was the same guy you tackled. I was sure to show him what this town thinks of slavers,” he added.

As we approached the guild, I noticed the restaurant at the corner had a sign up. It wasn’t in letters, but a symbol saying they were looking for a renter. “Hold on a second,” I said as I walked inside.

A bald man and a woman, looking like his wife, waved to me. “What can I get you?” he asked.

“About the room? How much, and can I see it?” I asked.

Jackson was with me, so he looked around, seemingly judging if this place was good enough for me.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Twelve thousand geld a month, and sure,” he said, walking me upstairs. The first floor was the business, and the second floor was locked, presumably his home. The third floor was where he let me in.

Walking inside, I just saw a chamberpot and a bed. Not even a table. Twelve thousand geld a month was cheaper than even the shelter. I’d be paying fifteen there. But that was more because I was donating ten percent of my income.

He pulled a rope, and a ladder came down. “The attic comes with it, a bit small for living, but it acts like a closet.”

“Alexis, the guild rooms are way nicer,” Jackson said. “And I don’t think they are that expensive.”

“I’ll take it, but I won’t be ready to move in for a week or two, is that okay?” I asked.

“That’s fine,” he said, smiling. “Give me five thousand geld, and if you don’t move in. I keep it, but if you move in, I’ll take the other seven and call it the first month's rent starting when you give me the seven.”

I opened my satchel and handed him the needed coins. “Deal.”

He smiled and led us back down. On our way out, he plucked the sign from in front of his store.

Jackson sighed. “Once your mind is up to something, you know I don’t think anyone can stop you.”

“That’s not true. Nancy convinced me not to buy a magic bag just today,” I pouted.

“Why would you want a magic bag? Where in town is even selling one of those?” he asked, seemingly more shocked than before.

I rested a finger on my lips. “Tis a secret. But what do you think?”

He paused. “It is close enough to the guild that you should be fine. But I still don’t get this obsession of yours. You are making good geld after all.”

“Hmm, that may be true. I guess I am still learning to live at my means,” I said. “Maybe one day I will get it right. So, are you gonna miss me?” I asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“I am gonna go get my sister. That is gonna take about a week. Maybe longer.”

“Oh! Maybe I should take-”

“Nope. You gotta stay here. Keep Nancy and them safe while I am gone,” I said.

“That’s not fair. Are you gonna hire a bodyguard at least?” he asked.

“I’ll consider it if it will put your mind at ease. I do have lots of geld, as everyone keeps pointing out, and I seem to be bad at seeing what I should spend it on.”

Work went as can be expected. A fairly routine day with the only depressing part seeing Allen and all the baby cores he brought in. I had the unfortunate luck of being the receptionist he turned them into today. It took a lot of willpower not to puke directly on him.

I ended up turning in my request for time off. The guild master approved it and was kind enough to explain how I should make arrangements. I would first need to take a carriage to one town over to the east. That town was much larger than this one and would have carriages willing to take me the rest of the way.

The next town over also happened to be where I could hire a guard if I felt inclined to do so. The guild master agreed with Jackson that I should employ at least one bodyguard. This was going to make the entire trip quite expensive. I never realized how much it would cost to go around trip in style. In the past, I would have just walked it. It would have taken five times longer, but it was basically free.

But it was more than obvious everyone would flip their lid if I even considered going on this trip alone. I was having a hard enough time trying to convince Jackson to not come with me to the next town over. It was a short trip, but he would still have to pay round-trip for it, which seemed like such a waste of money. But more than that, I obviously didn’t want him to see me not hire a guard.

Everything was ready. The guild master was even nice enough to arrange the first carriage for me the next morning. I was excited. Next stage of my life, here I come.