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Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 02 - An endearing indenture - Part Two {Rewrite}
🕑 Added 2022-08-06 11:46:01 +0000 UTCOgre Tyrant: Chapter 02 - An endearing indenture - Part Two {Rewrite}
The innkeeper had left soap, but I wouldn't be able to use it for anything besides Toofy’s hair. She would need to wait for her next bath before her injuries were healed enough to handle soap without becoming aggravated. Besides, Toofy was barely tolerating the warm water as it was.
After Cleaning Toofy’s arms, I quickly scrubbed her back and shoulders before handing her the brush, “Alright, use this brush to wash your front okay? Just like how I washed your arms.”
“Okay,” Toofy agreed with a determined expression. To her credit, she sounded like she was really doing her best. Naturally, I had turned away to give Toofy some privacy while desperately trying to think of a way to get her legs cleaned without being damned to hell. In the end, I just had to hope that soaking in the warm water would dislodge the worst of the filth on its own.
“Toofy done!” Toofy declared proudly.
“Ah okay Toofy, let’s try and get your face cleaned up next okay?” I suggested helpfully.
Toofy bit her lip and indeed reluctantly, “Kay.”
I could understand why Toofy was reluctant, there was no avoiding the pain now. The large cut down the right side of Toofy’s face would need to be thoroughly cleaned to make sure she did not get a major infection and risk losing her eye. “This will hurt, but you have to be brave okay Toofy?”
Toofy nodded and fidgeted uncomfortably.
I was regretting not asking for painkillers, assuming of course that they had any. I then thought of something that may at least take her mind off the pain a little. Unbuckling my belt, I folded it over and held it in front of Toofy’s mouth, “Here Toofy, bite down on this. It should help a little with the pain.”
Toofy didn’t even hesitate, snapping her jaws down on the belt in a blur of teeth.
“Ready?” I asked, taking a deep breath to steel my nerve. The thought of deliberately hurting Toofy was barely made tolerable by the fact that I would be helping her.
Toofy nodded and began enthusiastically chewing on the belt. It wasn't what I had intended, but it seemed to make her happy.
I cleaned away the grime from the parts of Toofy’s face and neck before finishing with the right side. I put the brush away and did the next part by hand. I tore off a small section of linen bandage and soaked it in the clean water before gently dabbing at the cut, rinsing the cloth off in the bathwater, before wringing it out and wetting it with the cleaner water from the bucket. I lost track of how long it took in the end, but eventually Toofy’s face and cut were clean, albeit bleeding slightly. While cleaning Toofy’s eyelid I was relieved to find that her right eye was actually relatively unharmed, merely bruised and slightly inflamed.
“Alright Toofy, we are almost done now, I just need to clean your hair. I need you to keep your head tilted back and your eyes tightly shut okay? You really don't want soap in your eyes,'' I explained as I tilted Toofy’s head back and began cupping bathwater into her hair. Toofy’s hair had more twigs in it than most bird nests I had seen, so after wetting the greasy tangled mess, I had to slowly remove the broken twigs and painstakingly untangle the seemingly infinite number of knots. Only after all of that did I dare to introduce soap.
With how greasy Toofy’s hair had made my hands, it was a pleasant relief to feel that sensation subside as the lathered soap stripped it away. To take care of the remaining knots, I had to resort to using the bristle brush to gingerly comb through Toofy’s hair. To her credit, Toofy didn’t complain once during the whole ordeal. Then again, she did have a belt in her mouth.
“Arms out of the water Toofy,” I warned before slowly and carefully rinsing the soap from Toofy’s hair. I made sure not to use all of the water set aside in the bucket because I still needed some of it to clean the small cuts on Toofy’s arms after removing her from the bath. “Alright, time to come out, Toofy,” I picked her up from behind and set her down by the bath while doing my best not to look anywhere I shouldn’t. Retrieving the bedroll Nadine had left in my room, I discreetly wrapped it around Toofy just under her armpits to help her dry off.
It was then that I noticed the thin trickle of blood running down from her calf and remembered how the Vrabbit had tried to take a chunk out of it. “One-moment Toofy, I need to bandage your leg,” I insisted in a mild panic while fumbling to grab a bandage. Wrapping the bandage tightly and securely, I breathed a sigh of relief as the stain on the bandage stabilised. If I had anaesthesia and a sewing kit, I could have sewed the wound shut to halt the majority of the bleeding, but since I didn’t, I had to hope that the bandage would hold.
With Toofy happily chewing away at my belt and the issue of my eternal damnation experiencing a desperately needed reprieve, I began carefully cleaning Toofy’s arms in preparation for the bandages. Bandaging Toofy’s arms was actually rather simple. The injuries that could benefit from the protection were all limited to her forearms, so it was a simple matter of securely wrapping them in the bandages and tucking them in the edges to hold them in place for the time being. I would have preferred to pin them in place with medical tape or a safety pin, but I didn’t have access to either and didn’t trust myself enough to risk using knots.
The cut on Toofy’s face was trickier. In the end, I had to settle for making a headband, wadding some bandages, and then holding it to the injured area while looping another band of bandages diagonally around her head and combining it with the headband to help stop the wadded bandages from slipping. It was far from perfect, but it was the best I could do without pins or at the very least a needle and thread.
Turning my attention to the clothes Emelia had donated, I quickly realised that my earlier assumption was correct. With no other alternatives, I rolled up the sleeves on the tunic and trousers. “Alright Toofy, it's time to get dressed again, arms up,” I put the tunic on her first, for obvious reasons, then removed the damp bedroll and helped Toofy into the trousers. I cinched the trousers around her waist with a leftover bandage and roughly tied a second length over the top of the tunic in the same place to stop it billowing about with every breeze through the window. Even so, the tunic almost reached the floor and was more like a mumu or robe.
“There, feel better?” I asked with no small measure of pride for a job well done.
Toofy nodded and continued gnawing at the belt.
Rolling my eyes, I picked Toofy up and put her down on the bed. Having her wounds cleaned and dressed was probably a tiring experience, so I think it will be best if she at least took a nap. “You can take a short sleep if you want Toofy, I will wake you up when there is food, okay?”
Toofy nodded emphatically, drool running down her chin as she made herself comfortable and fell asleep almost the instant her head touched the pillow.
Sighing and shaking my head, I took a closer look at the rags Toofy had stripped off earlier. If it weren't for our current state of poverty and my current loss of smell, I would not have been nearly so bold.
Toofy’s armour appeared to be made from discarded and damaged pieces of leather armour crudely tied together with plant fibre cords through holes bored by her shiv or some other sharp impliment. I could only assume that it held no real value. Similarly, the rags Toofy had been wearing as clothes were completely irredeemable, most of them fell apart in my fingers at the slightest pressure.
The only things of note amongst Toofy’s belongings were her small iron shiv and silver belt buckle. It had been tied to a cord-like she was wearing it as a necklace. It was obvious that Toofy valued it enough to keep it, so I didn’t want to take it from her. Washing the plant cord and silver belt buckle as much as I could manage, I left them on the bed by Toofy to dry. I wonder if Toofy ate the belt that it came from, after all, she really seems to like chewing on leather.
After a short while, there was a knock at the door and the innkeeper entered with three bowls of stew on a sturdy wooden tray. He put the tray down on the foot of the bed and looked over at the bathtub and sighed.
“I’m sorry, she was pretty dirty,” I apologised.
The innkeeper looked at me in surprise, “Ah, no, it’s fine,” he replied a little strangely. Using the bucket, he then began bailing the bathwater out the window.
I suppose it’s a reasonable expectation since this room doesn't look out onto the street and repeatedly walking up and down the stairs would be quite tiring. Just bailing the water out the window was still visibly tiring the middle-aged man out.
“I can help if you want,” I offered. It was never a bad idea to be in the good graces of local businesses. I pulled on my tunic, now that I had well and truly dried off.
“Oh, erm, sure,” the innkeeper agreed a little breathlessly.
I nodded and lifted the bathtub, it was still about half full but I didn’t feel overburdened. Carefully walking over to the window, I made sure to disturb the bathwater first to dislodge the filth and then threw the remaining water out the window in one go. “Would you like me to carry the bathtub back downstairs for you?” I asked helpfully.
“Alright," the innkeeper agreed thankfully.
“Okay, just a moment please,” I put down the bathtub and gently shook Toofy awake, “Toofy, wake up, the food is here.”
Toofy’s one good eye immediately flashed open, “Food?!” Toofy asked excitedly, sniffing eagerly at the air.
I pointed at the tray with three bowls of stew, “These are for you. Make sure not to spill any and no biting or breaking the bowls or tray, understand?”
Toofy nodded emphatically but stopped suddenly, “What, tray?”
I chuckled and tapped the wooden tray, “This is a tray Toofy,” I explained patiently.
“Oooh," Toofy nodded her head sagely for a moment before growing sombre, “What Tim eat?”
I shook my head, “I am not hungry yet, this is all for Toofy.”
“Okay, Toofy eat!" Toofy sniffled, a tear running down her left cheek as she lifted the first bowl and began gulping the stew down.
Picking up the bathtub again, “I will be back in a little bit, so behave, okay Toofy?”
Toofy nodded, too occupied with licking her first bowl clean to speak.
“Ah, alright, this way please,” the innkeeper motioned for me to follow him downstairs.
Making sure to close the door, to reduce Toofy’s temptation to explore, I followed the innkeeper downstairs, through the kitchen area and out the back. This small walled-off courtyard served as a laundry area, with lines of clothes and bedsheets drying on one side. On the other side was an old fashioned pump, a small stack of similarly sized bathtubs and a middle-aged woman currently engaged in washing more sheets against a washboard.
“Should I rinse out the tub with the pump?” I asked.
The innkeeper looked surprised and nodded. After overhearing Nadine's description of typical levels of monster Intelligence, he was rather well justified in that opinion.
Rinsing out the tub thoroughly, I stacked it back with the others and was going to head back to my room when the innkeeper called out to me “W-wait.”
I stopped and wondered if I had accidentally done something wrong.
“Would you be interested in doing some work around the inn? More like chores really, but we are short-staffed at the moment and expecting a large number of new adventurers to enter this floor of the Labyrinth soon,” the innkeeper explained hurriedly.
The innkeeper’s wife frowned somewhat and gave her husband a questioning look.
“Maybe,” I agreed tentatively, “But I need to bring Toofy with me so I can keep an eye on her.”
The innkeeper looked relieved, “That should not be a problem. Most of our rooms are empty at the moment.”
“Alright,” I agreed amiably, “What would you like me to do?”
As it turns out, the innkeeper and his wife had fallen very far behind their self-imposed schedule and had not had a break in days. Every room in the inn was due for its floors being scrubbed, including the common room and kitchen. There was a substantial backlog of laundry as well, which the innkeeper's wife was stoically chipping away at.
More than able to manhandle around the furniture, I decided that given how early in the day it was, I would start with scrubbing floors. I really didn’t mind it all that much, my new thick skin seemed to stop my knees from getting sore and Toofy’s endless barrage of questions and child-like observations kept my mind otherwise occupied.
The entire ground floor was made of stone, so it was very easy to get clean and didn’t take me long at all. The innkeeper said he would handle mopping up the small puddles of water, so I could move on to the upstairs floors. Although a little more tedious, because I had to mop up the water with a rag as I went, it still wasn’t that bad with Toofy for company.
After cleaning all the floors, it was hardly past midday, which seemed ridiculous to me at first. But my increased strength really did seem to make scrubbing the floor incredibly easy, so I suppose that's why it didn’t take very long.
Helping the innkeeper’s wife with the laundry, she was sceptical at first but really didn’t seem to mind the extra help. I was by no means as good at it as she was, so I handled the sheets, while the innkeeper's wife washed the clothes. After a while, I seemed to figure out the trick and began making decent headway.
One of the reasons why the innkeeper's wife didn't complain was because I could wring water from the sheets to the point that they were very nearly dry. This saved a great deal of space on the laundry lines and sped up the drying process. We finished the last of the washing early in the evening.
“Thank you for your hard work,” the innkeeper said gratefully, “Please, for your trouble,” he offered me a wooden tray with two bowls of stew and three copper coins.
“Ah, thank you, but is this okay?” I asked, not wanting to get the innkeeper in trouble with his wife. Each meal was worth a copper coin, and copper coins seemed to have a great deal of purchasing power in this feudal economy.
“It is alright,” the innkeeper smiled, “My wife insists that you be paid for your work and this is what we pay the maids who usually help with the work, so it is fine.”
“Oh, alright then,” I agreed, happily accepting the tray, “Let’s go back to our room to eat. Come on Toofy.”
Smelling food, Toofy eagerly scrambled along behind me, “Toofy eat!” she declared eagerly.
I had worked up a little appetite, so I ate one bowl of stew and left the other two for Toofy. Besides her injuries, I had noticed that Toofy was also somewhat malnourished, so hopefully, this extra shot of nutrients would help her bounce back and recover faster.
Having quickly polished off her own two meals, Toofy looked curiously at the copper coins, “Shinies,” she whispered, her good eye fixated on the coins like a magpie. Toofy was about to pounce on the copper coins but stopped herself at the last moment. Toofy gave me a guilty look and stiffly sat back down, “Toofy no steal Tim’s shinies...”
Toofy looked so disappointed, I let out a sigh and gave her one of the copper coins, “Here, this is for you,” Toofy’s distracting presence had made cleaning the inn more bearable, so I didn’t feel too bad giving her just one of the coins as compensation.
Tears welled in Toofy’s good eye as she accepted the copper coin with trembling fingers, “Tim give Toofy shiny?” She sniffled, rubbing away dribbling snot from her nose with the folded sleeve of Emelia’s old tunic. “Tim good, help Toofy. Toofy give Tim shinies”
It was hard to understand Toofy sometimes, “No you can keep the coin Toofy, it’s yours,” I insisted.
Toofy shook her head, “Not coin. Toofy’s home, many shinies hide!”
I didn't quite understand what Toofy said at first, but then I remembered the primary cause for the current situation. According to Nadine, monsters had four possible sources of value. First, was experience to level up. Second, was the mana stone embedded in each monster’s head, which could be sold for money. The third was the monsters' body parts, also able to be sold for money used to make weapons, armour and potions. Lastly, higher difficulty monsters carried their own equipment and hoarded treasure like dragons from fairytales.
Even though Toofy’s personal equipment was admittedly garbage, the description of her Scavenger Class Ability meant it was possible that she had a hidden treasure hoard, reconsidering the words Toofy had used from her limited vocabulary, that seemed to be the case. “Toofy, are you saying you have a hidden stash of items?” I asked for confirmation.
Toofy looked a little confused as she took a moment to puzzle out the meaning of what I had said before answering, “Yes! Toofy hide many shinies. Toofy hide shinies under tree, hide from Grobguk!”
“Grobguk?” I asked, it sounded like gibberish but I had to be sure.
Toofy nodded with a dour expression on her face, “Grobguk big Orc, scare Toofy, steal Toofy’s shinies! So Toofy find tree, tree hide Shinies, hide Toofy from Grobguk!”
Ah, that made more sense. The larger monster was bullying her, so Toofy hid herself and her treasures in a tree. “Did those adventurers find the tree?” I asked, hoping Toofy knew who I was talking about.
Toofy vigorously shook her head, “Bad humans hide, attack Toofy foraging. Toofy scared, run far. Ground biters chase Toofy! Toofy fall, hurt, sad. Toofy no want die, Tim save Toofy! Toofy like Tim!” Toofy’s voice and expressions started angry and bitter, then became scared and then finally grateful.
I felt touched, “I like you too Toofy,” I ruffled Toofy’s hair. It was nice to have some company and in a more selfish sense, to have someone else besides me in the same situation. Although I had known Toofy less than a single day, her near guileless childlike personality made me feel like maybe I had a little sister. “Alright, we can talk more about it later. You should sleep until dinner time, okay? You still need to recover.”
“Okay,” Toofy yawned and curled up on the bed before promptly falling asleep.
The evening was a little chilly and since I didn't have a lantern or even candles, I needed to keep the window open for light. To ward off the chill, I doubled over the blanket and covered Toofy with it. I had never really minded the cold myself, which was probably because of my extra layer of insulating body fat and damaged nerve endings.
Not too much later, I heard Clarice grumbling and groaning downstairs, “Ugh, I am sooo tired! I need a bath!”
“I need one too!” Emelia complained, “I’m so sweaty!”
“Share?!” Clarice demanded incredulously, most likely in response to Nadine. “Fine!” Clarice began stomping up the stairs grumbling loudly under her breath as she passed Tim’s door.
A couple of minutes later, there was a knock at the door and Nadine entered the room, “Good evening Tim,” she wearily waved in greeting before sitting down on the chair and letting out a tired sigh.
“Good evening,” I replied.
“How is Toofy doing?” Nadine asked with obvious concern. Understandable, considering she had taken a loan to keep Toofy after all.
“Better. The cut didn’t go deep enough to permanently injure her eye and I made sure to clean everything thoroughly before applying bandages.” That reminds me, “Is there an antiseptic, or salve I can put on the cuts to stop them from getting infected?” I asked, aware that Nadine had already told me that medicine was considered quite expensive.
Nadine grimaced uncomfortably, “There is, but they are too expensive for us right now I am afraid.” She shook her head apologetically. “We need to save every copper until we get that loan paid off, or at least get a month ahead on the scheduled repayment.”
I nodded, it was pretty much what I expected, “How much would a needle and some thread cost?” I asked.
Nadine hadn’t expected that particular question and took a moment to reply, “I think you can buy a packet of needles and a cheap spool of thread from the tailor for a copper each, why?”
I shrugged, “The bandaging on Toofy’s face would fit better if I could sew some of the bandages together. I could also alter Toofy’s clothes to fit better. Just a couple of ideas,” I explained.
Nadine shook her head, “As I said Tim, we can't make any extra purchases right now.”
“Ah, I know. It’s okay, I understand,” I explained hurriedly, “I did some work for the innkeeper today and he paid me a couple of coins is all.”
“Oh?” Nadine looked curious, “What is it that he had you do?”
I shrugged, “Just scrubbing floors and helping his wife with the laundry. It really wasn’t that hard.”
“So that’s why the floors look so clean,” Nadine commented while nodding her head thoughtfully. “You really didn’t mind doing that kind of work?” She asked a little apprehensively.
I shrugged, “It’s fine. I had to keep an eye on Toofy anyway, so I decided to spend my time productively.”
Nadine was a little surprised but nodded in understanding, “Would you mind doing some other jobs around the foothold?” She asked tentatively.
I shrugged, “It depends on the job. I really don't mind doing most things.” It was true, I worked a number of temp jobs and part-time jobs over the years to put myself through school and had done a little bit of everything.
“Tim, would it be alright if I arranged for you to do some jobs while we are hunting Vrabbits tomorrow?” Nadine asked.
I nodded, “So long as it is something I can do, then it should be fine,” I agreed amiably. Even though I probably wouldn’t see much benefit personally from working these jobs, the earnings would probably go towards paying off the loan sooner anyway, and it would give me an opportunity to learn more about my surroundings. I was actually a little surprised that Nadine had not asked for the two copper coins.
“Euuuf,” Nadine exhaled with an unladylike grunt as she unsteadily got back to her feet, “I have already paid for three meals. The Innkeeper should deliver them soon. I will see you tomorrow morning Tim,” she wearily walked out the door and towards the room she shared with Clarice and Emelia.
Just as Nadine said, the innkeeper arrived a couple of minutes later with three bowls of stew on a new tray. “Here you go,” he announced hurriedly, placing it down on the bed and swapping it out for the tray with three empty bowls.
I had already moved the two remaining copper coins into the pocket of my leather apron, so there was nothing to worry about in that regard.
“Ah, would you mind helping with the baths again? Five baths need filling. I do not think my back is up for it and my wife is busy tending the fire. I can give you a copper coin for the trouble,” the Innkeeper offered.
“Alright,” I agreed happily, “But can I ask something first?”
“Go ahead,” the innkeeper agreed, now looking much less stressed than a few moments earlier.
“How much do you charge for a bath?” I asked. Bathing was important, so knowing the price would help me decide how regularly I would theoretically afford to do so going forward.
“We charge only a single copper during most seasons, but in winter we have to charge twice as much to cover the increased cost of firewood,” the innkeeper explained honestly.
“Okay, I will come down once Toofy and I have eaten the stew,” I smiled as I noticed Toofy’s nose wrinkling and her nostrils flaring as she smelled the nearby food.
“Thank you,” the innkeeper promptly left to see to his work.
“Toofy wake up,” I gave Toofy a gentle jostling, “The food is here.”
“Food!” Toofy was up and scrambling over the blanket in no time.
“Okay, these two are for you and this one is for me,” I explained quickly, taking my bowl of stew and drinking it down with gusto. I really wasn’t all that hungry, but since waking up in this strange place, whenever I start to eat, I suddenly feel famished. Without the willpower I had honed over years of strict dieting, there is no way I would be able to stop at one bowl of this delicious stew,
In no time flat, Toofy had eaten both her bowls of stew and licked clean all three of our bowls, rubbing her stomach with a look of contentment.
“Alright, I need to work again, so I need you to be on your best behaviour,” I explained quickly while putting on my leather apron.
“Okay!” Toofy agreed, snatching my belt from the bed and climbing into the apron pocket.
I was a little surprised that Toofy had guessed at my intention without needing to be asked. I had planned on stowing her in the pocket to keep her out of trouble, albeit without my belt, but this was fine too I guess.
With Toofy gnawing happily on the belt, I quickly made my way downstairs and the innkeeper directed me to the kitchen. They heated water for the baths by boiling water in a very large kettle over their large fireplace. While the innkeeper’s wife was busy, she gave me quick directions and a handful of keys.
I didn’t need to know how to read the local language to do the job, which was a relief. I just had to bring a bath to each of the rooms with doors matching symbols to the wooden tag on each of the provided keys. Straightforward enough, I went out the back and made a stack of five bathtubs. Heading upstairs, I then delivered one to each room after knocking to make sure the room was unoccupied. I made sure to lock the doors behind myself before returning for the next step. Thankfully, the inn had a larger bucket than the one I had used earlier to rinse Toofy’s hair. Well, technically it was a barrel with handles, but whatever, I sure as hell wasn’t complaining.
I could carry enough hot water in one trip that the innkeeper had to let each of the adventurers know their baths would be ready much sooner than expected. Not that either party minded.
Once I returned for the required cold water from the pump, I made sure to grab one of the buckets as well. After filling the bathtub most of the way, but making sure the water was still hot, I filled the bucket with cold water and left it by the bath. On my way out of the room, I nearly knocked down an adventurer who was returning for their bath. I apologised and left him standing there clutching a small bar of soap with a stunned expression on his face.
“That was fast!” The innkeeper congratulated me as I refilled the kettle with fresh water from the pump outside.
“Thank you,” I replied, a little embarrassed. I wasn’t used to receiving praise, it was nice.
The innkeeper's wife nodded in agreement, “He is very hardworking and diligent. If he was not a monster, I would have introduced him to our Millie!” She chuckled, adding dough dumplings to the large stew pot.
I just smiled vaguely at the intended compliment.
As a favour to the girls, I made their bath the next one I would prepare. Clarice, Emelia and Nadine were all surprised when I knocked on the door and entered their room. I had already seen their room earlier when scrubbing the floors and it was pretty much the same as mine, except it was a little bigger and had a much larger bed. It wasn’t just because they were trying to save money either, Apparently sharing a bed was common in this world.
“Eh, why is Tim here?” Emelia asked, apparently oblivious to the large barrel of steaming water I was using to fill the bath.
Clarice rolled her eyes and continued eating her dinner.
Nadine appeared to have already finished her dinner and was dozing face-down on the bed, still fully clothed in her adventuring outfit.
“I am preparing the bath,” I explained, pouring the last of the water into the tub, “I will be back in a couple of minutes with the cold water.”
“Huh?” Emelia looked expectantly at Clarice.
True to my word, I returned shortly afterwards with the cold water and bucket. “How hot do you want the water?” I asked politely.
Clarice shrugged, “Pretty hot, but not too much,” she replied unhelpfully.
I sighed and slowly began pouring in the cold water, “Is this about right?” I asked.
Clarice dipped her fingers in the water, “Colder,” she declared with dissatisfaction.
I poured in more cold water, “How about now?”
Clarice tested the water again, “Colder,” she repeated.
We continued this back and forth until the bathwater was barely lukewarm.
“This will do,” Clarice shrugged, waving me away dismissively.
I frowned. From what I overheard earlier, the three of them were going to share this bath and rather than taking a turn later when the water had cooled, Clarice was selfishly going first and pretty much guaranteed Emelia and Nadine would be left with cold bathwater.
I kept my complaints to myself and returned downstairs to prepare the water for the next person’s bath.
“Something the matter?” The innkeeper’s wife asked.
“Kind of?” I shrugged, not really sure what complaining would accomplish.
The innkeeper’s wife stopped what she was doing and looked at me with an expectant expression.
I released an uncomfortable sigh, “Clarice, one of my owners I guess, is taking the first bath and wanted the water cooled to the point that it will be well and truly cold by the time the other two have a chance to use it.” I explained, “I know, it’s petty and stupid, but the others are pretty worn out, you know?”
Far from being dismissive as I had expected her to be, the innkeeper’s wife was nodding with a conflicted expression, “I have heard many things of Clarice from other adventurers. She is certainly difficult, to say the least.” She agreed, “But the solution in this particular instance is simple. Just empty out the cold bathwater later and replace it with hot water again.”
“Ah, we don’t really have the funds for that right now, that is why they were meant to be sharing,” I hurriedly explained.
The innkeeper’s wife smirked, “I assumed as much, but you misunderstood me. I was not intending to charge you for the water.”
“Oh, uhm, is that alright though?” I asked nervously. They were running a business after all and needed to earn a profit.
“It’s fine,” the innkeeper’s wife reassured me, “Since you are already helping my husband and I, boiling water while the fireplace is still lit or the coals are still hot, costs us nothing.”
“Thank you,” I smiled and bowed appreciatively.
The innkeeper's wife waved off my thanks with a smile and returned to her work.
While returning from filling the final bath, I heard Emelia’s muffled voice from down the hall.
“Clarice! The bath is ice cold! Why did you take so long!” She demanded, her voice filled with the pain of betrayal.
“Should have eaten your dinner faster,” Clarice retorted unsympathetically.
“Clarice!” Nadine growled menacingly, "That was meant to be for all of us!”
Knowing things were coming to a head, I knocked on the door.
There was the sound of a brief scuffle and then Emelia opened the door, “Hell-oh, hi Tim. Are you taking the bath back?”
I shook my head, “I am going to replace the water,” I explained, filling the barrel from the bathtub.
“Oh wow! Really?! Thanks, Tim!” Emelia pumped her fist in the air as if posing in triumph.
“Ah, Tim? Is that really allowed? You know you can't just do things without asking,” Nadine asked worriedly.
“It's okay, the innkeeper’s wife gave me permission,” I replied happily.
Nadine looked somewhat surprised, “Oh, Rose? That’s really sweet of her.”
“It will only be while the fireplace is still lit, so the next person shouldn’t take too long or the last person will miss out,” I clarified, just to make sure there aren’t any misunderstandings.
Nadine nodded, “Alright, thanks Tim,” she smiled appreciatively.
“You’re welcome,” I gave Nadine a nod and then left the room with the barrel of cold bathwater.
“Please, please, please, please let me go next Nadine?!” Emelia immediately began begging before I even managed to close the door.
Emptying the bathwater outside, I filled the barrel back up again with boiling water and took it upstairs. Emelia was already waiting expectantly wearing only a towel. Since I was now adding boiling water to the cold water left in the tub there was no real temperature control anymore. If it was too hot, Emelia would just have to wait for it to cool somewhat first. Thankfully, Clarice had only used half the bucket of water, so it should be fine for Emelia.
Leaving them to it, I went back downstairs to prepare the water for the final bath. Toofy had fallen asleep again, so I was taking my time and making sure not to wake her up.
The inn’s common room was pretty busy, more than half the tables were filled with adventurers noisily eating, drinking and chatting with one another. While I got some attention, it wasn’t nearly as much as I initially expected. I have to assume that given my current clothes and that I appeared to be working at the inn, people were not paying close enough attention to tell that I was different.
Since I had nothing else to do for a while, I chatted idly with the innkeeper’s wife, Rose. It was mostly just idle gossip of no real consequence, but it helped me get a better idea of the differences in this world. Most notably, it was a bit of a shock to find out that people were considered adults at the age of sixteen and were considered strange if they were not married by their early twenties. As a result, many adventurers are quite young. The allure of easy money in the Labyrinths ensured a constant stream of young people hoping to strike it rich. Unfortunately, the Labyrinths had a truly horrifying mortality rate.
According to Rose, Only one in ten adventurers would reach the fifth floor of the Labyrinth. Some would give up and seek a normal life, but many simply died because they were not strong enough to survive. The death toll tapered off on the higher floors, but it was not because of lower difficulty. The rate of fatalities decreased because the adventurers too weak or foolish to survive were already dead.
Rose had been curious about my obviously human level of Intelligence, but didn’t press the issue when I mentioned that Nadine had called me a named monster. I don’t know if she believed that or not, but she stopped asking questions about it.
After about an hour of chatting with Rose, I filled a bucket from the pump outside and then took both the filled bucket and empty barrel upstairs. No one answered when I knocked on the door, so I used the key to get in. The girls had all fallen asleep and the small candle on a plate by the window had blown out.
Using the light from the lantern mounted in the hall, I placed the bucket by the bathtub, then filled the barrel from the tub and submerged the empty bucket in the barrel. Quietly moving over to Nadine, I gently shook her awake.
“Nng, huh? Wha? T-Tim?” Nadine blearily blinked her eyes in confusion, her face plastered with her long auburn hair.
“I was about to refill the bath if you still wanted to use it,” I explained hastily before she had a chance to misunderstand the situation.
“Huh?... Oh, thanks Tim,” Nadine seemed quite tired and sore, barely managing to sit up as I left the room.
Returning a couple of minutes later, I found Nadine wearing a towel and sitting on the edge of the bed. She perked up a little upon seeing the steam rising from the barrel.
Emptying the barrel into the bathtub, I then turned to leave Nadine to enjoy her bath.
“W-wait” Nadine called out before I could close the door.
I stopped and turned back.
Nadine’s cheeks flushed, “Could you help me into the bath?” She asked quietly, “My muscles are too stiff.”
I didn’t trust my voice not to crack, so I just nodded. Going back into the room, I closed the door behind me and tried to ignore the intimate setting provided by the weak candlelight.
Letting Nadine pull herself up with my arm, I supported her over to the bathtub and realised that I would have to be more proactive. Gulping down my saliva, I lifted Nadine by the waist with both hands and sat her down on the rim of the tub.
“Ahhhh! Thanks, Tim, the hot water feels so good on my tired feet,” Nadine sighed in relief, “Uhm, could you stay? Ah! I mean, I am quite tired and I don’t want to drown in the tub! Since Emelia and Clarice are already asleep...Could you stay?”
Thankful that my flushed cheeks were not visible in this poor lighting, I nodded and carefully sat down near the bathtub but making sure to face towards the wall to give Nadine her privacy. I heard Nadine remove her towel and slowly lower herself into the water.
“Ahhhhhhhhh,” Nadine moaned in pleasure.
Is she doing this on purpose? Nadine has to know what she sounds like, right?
I gulped hard and tried to keep my mind off of the scene behind me.
There was the sound of disturbed water and then a wet slapping sound that spattered me with some stray droplets. Puzzling over what happened, it took me a moment before I realised that she must have just whipped her wet hair.
We didn't say anything to one another for the next half hour or so. Nadine just made suggestive moans and moved about in the water while I remained silent.
“Ah, Tim?” Nadine asked sleepily.
“Y-yeah?” I replied, clearing my throat to keep my voice even.
“I am ready to get out now. Could you bring me Emelia or Clarice’s towel?” Nadine asked.
“Alright,” I did my best to keep my eyes averted and picked up one of the damp towels. I then held out the towel so Nadine could take it.
“Thank you,” Nadine gratefully accepted the towel and then there were more sounds of moving water. “Ah, Tim, you can turn around now."
I slowly turned around and found that Nadine had wrapped herself in Emelia’s towel, thoroughly soaking it through, but at least managing to cover herself. Of course, the wet towel was clinging to her body and left so little to the imagination that I reflexively glanced away again in embarrassment.
“Can you help me out of the bath?” Nadine asked tiredly, “I still need to dry off and I am struggling to stay awake.”
I nodded and let her take hold of my arm, then I pulled her up out of the water. Almost like my subconscious activated latent telekinetic abilities, or perhaps because of physics, the soaked towel fell off Nadine’s body and disappeared into the depths of the tub.
Nadine just stood there, still clinging to my arm and intensely staring down at the bathwater as if she were trying to determine where her towel had disappeared to, or maybe whether this was a bad dream.
After thoroughly getting an eyeful and etching the image onto my very soul, I managed to find a shred of remaining decency and reluctantly looked away. Nadine’s original and still dry towel was within arms reach on the bed, so I snatched it and almost knocked Nadine over trying to hand it to her.
Nadine made a sort of squeaking noise and snatched the towel with one hand, while furiously digging her nails into my arm with the other, or at least she tried to. She used my arm to keep her balance and shakily got out of the bath before letting go of my arm.
Certain that nothing good could come of lingering further, I picked up the barrel, left the room, locked the door and disappeared downstairs. I was so shaken up that I very nearly woke up Toofy when going down the stairs.
Kirk the innkeeper looked at me strangely, “Is something wrong?” He asked probingly.
I shook my head and blushed.
Kirk crossed his arms and smirked, “Alright, fess up. What happened?” He demanded jokingly.
“The towel slipped...” I muttered quietly, ducking into the kitchen before he could ask further questions.
After returning the barrel and bucket to where they belonged, I hastily made my way back to my room before Kirk or his wife Rose could ask any follow-up questions. Trying to remove Toofy from the apron pocket, I met with little success. Toofy even stopped sucking on the leather belt long enough to bite me on a particularly poor attempt. Like a cat that had found the perfect place to take a nap, there was no dislodging Toofy without risking hurting her in the attempt.
Left with little choice, I had to leave Toofy be. This was unfortunate because I just realised the door to my room was currently left unlocked. Since the only way to get a key to lock it would be to either go and ask Nadine or the innkeeper to lock the door, I resigned myself to sleep in front of the door instead. Relying on my bulk to keep the door securely shut through the night, or at least wake me up if someone tried entering, I slowly fell asleep.
I woke up to find Toofy jumping up and down on my stomach and had the impression that this may have been going on for a while judging by the mild level of discomfort. So relying on being shoved by a door may have been unrealistic.
“Toofy huuuungry!” Toofy declared listlessly as she continued jumping, apparently unaware that I had already woken up.
How could Toofy be hungry already after eating so much yesterday? I wondered. Wait a minute! Judging by the fact that I kind of felt like I needed to pee, which was briefly intensified each time Toofy landed on my stomach, I was forced to consider the very real possibility that Toofy was almost definitely not toilet trained.
Snatching up a surprised Toofy, I leapt to my feet and bolted down the stairs to one of the inn’s toilets. Thankfully Toofy was too surprised to react. Little more than well-ventilated drop toilets, I suddenly noticed a very real problem. The hole in the seat was too big...
“Tim?” Toofy asked in understandable confusion given the circumstances.
It only now occurred to me how lucky I was that Toofy didn’t soil herself in fright earlier. Given how much stew she ate yesterday, she must be positively bursting.
“Ah, Toofy. You probably need to relieve yourself right?” I asked.
Toofy stared back at me uncomprehendingly.
I was starting to get really worried that I would need to clean up Goblin piss or worse, “You know, pee? Poop?”
“Pee? Poop?” Toofy asked, obviously confused.
I tried not to panic, “You know, it comes out, down there,” I pointed at her groin.
Realisation dawned on Toofy’s face, “Oh!” her expression suddenly became troubled and she nodded, “Toofy poop!” Toofy began scrambling to get away.
"Gah Toofy! Poop goes in the hole,” I pointed to the hole in the board and left with no other options, pulled down her trousers and hiked up her tunic. I was barely in time.
Dangling precariously over the hole, Toofy released an unholy abomination that I am forever grateful to be unable to smell. From what I was hearing alone, her diet before being captured by Emelia must have been awful.
I didn’t dare lift Toofy away from the hole until I was absolutely certain she was finished. Thank god for what has to be the most amazing and miraculous existence in this crazy world, dawnmoss. Thoroughly absorbent, odour suppressing and rapid growing, dawnmoss was this world's substitute for toilet paper. I had my doubts initially, but after using it yesterday, I have to say that it is better in just about every conceivable way. Rose even claimed that adventurers sometimes forget emergency rations, but never forget to pack a few pounds of fresh dawnmoss. That’s how big a deal it was.
Taking a small clump of dawnmoss from the bucket nearby, I gingerly give Toofy’s behind a once-over before dropping it down the toilet and handing her a piece, “You use this to clean yourself after a poop,” I explained.
Toofy rolled her good eye at me, ”Toofy know! Not idiot!” She sighed indignantly, snatching the dawnmoss and cleaning herself before glancing at me uncertainly and throwing it down the toilet as I had done.
Crisis averted. “Sorry Toofy, I don’t think you're an idiot,” I apologised.
Toofy pursed her lips and shrugged, “Okay, Toofy forgive Tim.”
The dawnmoss was amazing for another reason as well, the jelly-like sap inside the moss has antibacterial properties and was harvested for a secondary form of soap. Taking up a third clump of moss, I squeezed it hard in my fist until the clear sap came out. There is a small pot of it in the corner, but I knew from what Rose told me last night that fresh is best and while the sap is cheap to purchase from the apothecary, it is not free. “Okay, let's wash our hands, get you dressed again and see what we can do about breakfast.”
Toofy didn’t look overly enthusiastic as she took a blob of sap and expertly cleaned her hands with it.
“Uh, Toofy, breakfast is a human word for food you eat in the morning,” I explained patiently.
Toofy immediately perked up upon understanding what I had intended.
I figured that may have been the case. Dropping the squished dawnmoss down the toilet, I helped Toofy back into her trousers. Taking her back out into the common room, I could tell by the amused expression on Kirk’s face that he had seen my desperate dash to the toilet.
I gave him an embarrassed shrug and led Toofy back upstairs. It was still quite early, so besides ourselves, the innkeeper Kirk and presumably his wife Rose, no one else was awake yet. Toofy was not taking things particularly well once we got back to our room with no food to show for it.
“Toofy hungry!” Toofy insisted, her lower lip trembling and one good eye watering pitiably, “Toofy dying!” She declared dramatically, falling backwards on the bed as if struck down from starvation.
This really sucked, because even though I knew Toofy was being overly dramatic and may only be a little hungry, I still felt bad that I had only a few options to resolve it. I could spend one of my three remaining coppers on a meal to tide her over, but then I probably wouldn't have enough for the sewing supplies. I could spend Toofy’s single copper on a meal, but that didn’t feel great either. All the more so, since we were technically Emelia’s responsibility and she should be taking care of this.
In that train of thought was the final option, I could wake up the girls so they would begin organising breakfast. The problem with that was of course what had happened last night. I am not too proud to admit that at this moment I was pretty damned terrified of what Nadine might do to me. I still didn’t know what her Class was, and after hearing from Rose about what some of them are capable of, this is not the way I want to find out!
“Just be patient a little while longer Toofy. Oh, here, you can chew on my belt until the food arrives okay?” I pulled my belt out of the apron pocket where Toofy had left it.
Quick as a flash, Toofy leapt off the bed and was now hanging off the belt in my hand with her teeth. Letting go of the belt, Toofy landed on her feet but immediately leapt back up onto the bed and began rolling around.
After a few minutes, there was a knock at the door and Nadine let herself into the room. Far from the blackened wrathful expression I had expected, Nadine seemed just as nervous as I was. “Ah, Tim, I really need to talk to you.”
Toofy sprang to her feet, the belt forgotten on the bed, “Food?!”
Nadine was taken aback for a moment, “Ah, what? Oh, I'll take care of that in a minute.”
Toofy lost interest immediately, dropping back down onto the bed and resumed chewing on the belt.
Nadine smiled in bemusement at Toofy for a moment before returning her attention to me, “I want to talk to you about what happened last night.”
My mouth became dry in an instant and my imagination kicked into overdrive considering exactly how Nadine was going to kill me. Unable to speak, I mutely nodded.
“I would really appreciate it if it was kept just between us. Please don't tell Clarice or Emelia!” Nadine pleaded earnestly.
Considering how I had begun my morning, it seemed only fair that things balance out this way. I nodded to show Nadine that I agreed to keep our secret.
Nadine sighed in relief, “Thank you. I don’t think I would ever have been able to live it down otherwise.”
Having met Clarice, I was inclined to agree.
*****
Grobguk sighed contentedly as he licked the fresh blood off his knife. The human he had captured the day before had proven very entertaining and almost as delicious. Were it not for a particular problem, Grobguk would have agreed that his life was perfect.
Unfortunately, that problem was an Ogre and it was in Grobguk’s territory. For as long as Grobguk could remember, he had been the strongest monster in the territory. Anyone that dared to so much as look him in the eye would be hacked to pieces as an example, and Grobguk’s amusement. However, Grobguk knew on an instinctual level that the Ogre was stronger than him and Grobguk would die if he was stupid enough to fight it alone.
Fortunately, Grobguk had an entire tribe of expendable minions. Once the scouts located the Ogre’s lair, Grobguk would send waves of his minions at the Ogre until it was sufficiently weakened and Grobguk could kill it. After all, the Ogre was not necessarily a calamity. Far from it, Grobguk knew that if he could kill the Ogre and feast on the stone inside its head, Grobguk would grow even more powerful.
Cutting off another chunk of meat, Grobguk stuffed it in his mouth and savoured the rich flavours. “I wonder what Ogre tastes like?” He mused, blood dribbling down his chin as he smiled.
