Terin being a lightning rod for unlikeability contributed immensely of course. The end result being Tagalong Girl got to dip her toes into this sort of assisting role much better than with Harlod and Lorn. Even if I did oversee a lot of the process, it was a whole flock of birds with one stone.
I waited for her to wake up in the early morning before leaving the shadows of the forest, giving me a few hours in town to talk, barter, side-quest, investigate, rally, all the things needed for the next leg of the journey.
The Green Huntsman Guild would treat the home of a textile merchant, Erwin, as their meeting place. A good 24 made it to the morning rendezvous(since they didn’t exactly have prior engagements), and I solidified the ground rules for the commune/vertical monopoly that was going to be set up. Things would be tight, but I predicted profits for the organization within the next two or three weeks. Hopefully at that point they would receive a (human) messenger from me, as my party would be in the next town by that point getting ready to settle down.
Such a gathering gave me a wealth of information to draw upon… a lower-middle class amount of wealth perhaps, but things were progressing much faster than finding random marks in bars to try and befriend the right sort of gossipy fellows there. I heard of two villages that might need an herbalist or alchemist, as well as several low on manpower after some families headed for the Randall-Varren.
More importantly, there needed to be a plan to dodge the vast majority of the whole ‘enslaved leaf-licker’ issue. After sensing them a few times, I became able to distinguish their souls so we handily avoided them, but their numbers were growing the closer we got to Medean.
I hoped to wait until we were about to leave before stirring up any major trouble, and wanted to work Tagalong Girl through the shallows, not dive headfirst into a bloodbath of revolution. I smelled some sort of fuse already burning on this powder keg. Well, the individuals that posed a threat remained scarce enough that worrying about worst case scenarios was unnecessary.
As a carefree connoisseur of collecting corpses I’d no considerable concern with conflicts over captivity, but coaching my kid compelled my character to conduct my conscience more commendably.
Soon though; the way she was politely listening to Jeph’s rambling and Marken’s occasional interjection made me feel some hope for this introvert.
Time for me to welcome them back.
Terdri didn’t have much in the way of a crowd, but there were still enough occupants for a diversion. Taking note of Johan’s footsteps, I lightly used
“Wait, didn’t you just get here yesterday? Why’re you leaving so soon? Where’re you going?”
“I think there’s something he’s looking for in Medean. We’ll probably stay in one of the nearby villages until the end of winter before moving on.”
“Huh? That’s not long at all! Where are you going after that, you need to come back soon, at least visit for a bit!” Tagalong Girl’s stride hitched imperceptibly(to them). It had been a bit since in the company of pushy children— while I can certainly be many things for her, I did not fit the role of a peer.
To her, their roles were either to be used as Rion, or practically irrelevant, like the rest of the children. She instinctively wanted to speed up and just ignore the conversation, but habit kept her from showing any displeasure. Of course after leaving her little village she needed to encounter people that didn’t fit into those molds either, such as Jeph.
Yesss, let us slowly transform that averse nature that looks down on others to one… that still looks down on others, but in a patronizing, slightly more caring way.
I thought, depending on the success of the Green Ascetic Group, of bringing her back once, or maybe twice. Moving at inhuman speeds would make a journey on my own a cinch, but bringing her with me required revealing too much of my power for a ‘casual outing’.
A mysterious wizard always has a few hidden cards to play.
Unless of course I drastically increased my powers…
Nonono, bad Alric. Let the children learn in peace.
“He is very effective. We are likely only stopping so… my sister can rest.
“Makes sense I guess, he’s crazy strong. He couldn’t be stopped by anything, I bet he’s a match for Disciples.”
“He taught me how to target vitals by wrestling a tiger and holding it still for me.”
“Wait, that can’t be, that’s a little extreme, and also impossible?” I bobbed back and forth out of sight as Marken had this habit of looking around when he ‘challenged’ someone.
“No, it definitely is! I saw him rip a cobblestone out of the street with his bare hands and tear it in half!” Of course I just needed to do some flexing for a kid, rather than trying to find emotional keystones as I did with most of the adults.Very refreshing, although it pains me to admit it was mostly magic and not raw strength that let me tear apart rocks. “So if he can break rocks and grapple tigers, he’s definitely unstoppable.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Tagalong Girl should have just voiced her refutation that there was more to problem solving than strength, but likely hesitated due to her awareness that I had more going for me. Instead she started to fall back a bit towards her silent self, simply examining the surroundings.
Some fellow trying to get people to buy some sleek, likely waterproof, furs sized me up, before deciding I was too tall, and that our company looked like hunters, so he vigorously shouted at some other passers-by. My diligent student noticed his gaze was somewhat off, and turned around.
“Ah—””Ah!””AHH!”
“Decent, but if I were a tiger I would’ve eaten you by now.” I grabbed the top of Jeph’s head and gave it a playful squeeze. Marken, who I had been closest to before he screamed incredibly loudly and stumbled away, had a hand over his chest.
“Sir… you scared…” This skinny kid had an inclination to using his brain, but unfortunately inclinations didn’t count for much. Tagalong Girl had the sort of missing piece in her heart that easily drove her forward, and it would still take me years to properly raise her. Marken, well…
I can’t just ignore him, but Terin and Jeph had far more impactful spirits.
“Take a breath. You’ve done fairly well for such a short excursion. And barring unforeseen circumstances, we’ll be here longer than a few months. She should be able to come back at least once.”
“Green Ascetic, I didn’t notice.” Johan slowed his steps falling back to me. “We ran into a mutant thenk, but Lucy kept its attention from the others and fatally wounded it. She could serve as an excellent support for any hunting party already.”
“Yes, she’s quite diligent, isn’t she? Make sure you do your best to train the other children in the future. Soon the Green Ascetic Group will need as many trustworthy hands it can get, and…”
“Only those that can uphold the teachings of Tias have hands.” One might not initially expect it, but Johan was a hunter from a city, he knew plenty of Derrish aphorisms. Not being particularly religious still meant heading to church at least once a month though.
Tch— maybe I should have gone that route with Lyssa. Glaucen felt a bit too close for the start of Tagalong Girl’s Hero’s Journey, and there was the fact it was more or less just moving house without the intent to travel, and I would have also still been studying alchemy, vastly harming my all-knowing mysterious mentor schtick… I’d already considered all these things which is why we didn’t just hang out in Glaucen.
Still, I could tell in the stories untold with the Vara some of this church business would have been much easier.
“In the not too distant future I’ll contact the group. Look forward to the day.”
With that, I gestured for our departure.
Tagalong Girl passed her burden to Jeph and Marken. Moving behind, she spent a moment adjusting the weight to be better centered before patting Jeph on the back. My brain immediately took notes.
“Erm, sir? …Nevermind.” Marken on the other hand couldn’t even bring himself to ask for advice.
“Then we’ll be off. May the Patriarch illuminate your path.”
Heading off through some back alleys, I patted Tagalong Girl on the back, at the same time
ing away the filth and blood she’d been accumulating. Her gait actually eased up a bit into something more natural.
“Being comfortable in any situation will let you operate at peak efficiency. Now why don’t you share your thoughts on the trip?”
“Teamwork is something built up over time…” She knew I didn’t accept that sort of answer, she was just buying herself more time. “It was difficult to communicate during the hunt, as silence is important. Johan kept the others in line, so I lacked an opportunity to do so myself or otherwise interact.”
How to go about this… she still wasn’t reacting strongly at all. No hint of blaming herself, not that there should be, no suggestion that she didn’t know what her goal was supposed to be or that she didn’t endeavor towards it. Altogether, another clinical outing for Tagalong Girl.
“Really? You didn’t have any opportunities? Jeph isn’t the sort that pipes down while tracking, nor would Terin pass up a moment to jockey to secure his place in a hierarchy.”
She had a moment of introspection, looking up so that her hair would stay out of her face as she thought. Holding it back in a ponytail it was a little similar to my own but she didn’t have a constant
“I was paired with Terin when we split, and I didn’t wish to speak to him any more than necessary.”
“That’s fair enough.” She worked as a team player and showed a bit of consideration. We weren’t in any sort of rush. “Back at the inn, we’ll do a little alchemy practice, and if the appropriate materials are good, I’ll show how to use *kintsugi* to repair your spear.”
A look of relief that surpassed anything prior crossed her face. That spear didn’t have the build to follow her through her whole journey, yet it still had the strength for quite a few more stories, no need to put a replacement at the top of my priority list.
Taking a roundabout route, Tagalong Girl followed unquestioningly.
It’s hard to deflect questions when you don’t even throw a softball my way.
Just following along. Her eyes never lingering, not appreciating the little details of the rest of the world. A traveler with worn down shoes stained with ichor, only bought her attention for the moment because of his sword, disregarding the tales his small necklace of trophies might tell. A mundane father teaching his daughter to prepare a piece of timber for carving in front of their building, an art piece soon to be installed and become a part of the city. The diligence of seamstresses and butchers, as well as those preparing items for religious rituals and praying.
Tagalong Girl only wanted to see the world in a very particular way. That made some things easier. Letting the innkeep know of our departure, we headed back to our room. Ria shuffled around a bit while I was gone, but hadn’t rummaged through our things excessively. Hopefully I could subdue the curse enough to properly interact during our upcoming pause.
I gestured to the floorboards, and she sat seiza style. She was taking this seriously— that was good, or rather, to be expected. Or rather than ‘or rather’ to be good was what I expected. Overthinking things several times over, I started the lesson without delay.
“Kintsugi is an art, originally in regard to pottery, that emphasizes the repair rather than remaining unobtrusive. Traditionally this is to emphasize a state of mushin, which…”
“Is the stoic philosophy of accepting things how they are.”
“One might call it a stoic philosophy, but the origins differ. It is also more of a state of being rather than an outlook. Acknowledge the history of things as a natural part of the passage of time.”
I placed her spear on the floor between us, tracing the invisible fracture.
“It has served you well, that can’t be undone. While the challenges of the future won’t be those of the past, we can prepare.” This lesson may hardly seem pragmatic, recall that on some level magic was being derived from egoism. That spear served as a mental focus, so it needed an identity that wouldn’t be ground away as it became more damaged.
“Now the haft’s timber is decent, and the fracture thin. However—“ I spread out numerous natural treasures that could serve as reagents. “Seek not to simply repair, but reinforce. It needs not be the same as before.”
From there, I let her explore on her own. Her eyes flickered on and off, examining without straining herself. She freely played with lesser ingredients, asking for wood samples to experiment, although her tests were still conservative.
A variety of increases in the number of shade beans, or unctus shards, she never strayed far from established methods of bonding or infusion. Her most ‘wild’ test merely consisted of adding some fire element to try and break down and meld two metal element reagents together.
Oh well. I was picking up some good data watching her. Our alchemical supplies were hardly bottomless, so it was better to just learn on the spot with her regarding the nuances of these less complicated reactions.
Letting her finish her experiments, Tagalong Girl went ahead and applied her mystery concoction to the spear. Overly firm, as if she could knead it into the haft. Stooped over with such concentration, she wasn’t sparing any of her paranoid attentions to Ria(Which if she considered the girl to still be dangerous was a mistake, but not one I could bring up.) Just a girl and her beloved spear.
Might that metal infusing itself, gradually replacing the wood be a parallel to her own transformation? The familiarity to common ointments reflective of her humble upbringings? Its uneven application a representation of her lack of polish? A metaphor for how she herself grew tougher through trials?
No, we just didn’t have anything else on hand to fix it.