The next day…
We were still in the guardroom. Gobta had borrowed another cell to sleep in, which I assumed he was still using. Having nothing better to do, I was watching some dwarven personnel run through morning training in the field behind the guardhouse. Swinging heavy wooden swords around to work on their speed, sparring a bit in simulated combat, running a few laps, the usual.
I sat there, taking it all in and imagining how they’d fare against the assorted creatures I had Predated by this point. It was a bit like a game to me…but would the Sage mind if I used it like this? Seems like kind of a waste of talent—but what the hell? It’ll be fun.
Turned out, the guards barely stood a chance. Even if I gave myself a handicap, there were only just a few of them who could beat the bat and the lizard.
In a one-on-one matchup, the scales tipped pretty heavily toward the monsters, but since the dwarves always seemed to operate in teams of four to six, a few of the combined parties could take on the spider fairly well. Even all twenty of them out in the field couldn’t take on the centipede, though. I wasn’t expecting these guys to be Special Forces types, of course, so the results made sense to me.
✦ ✦ ✦
They were just about wrapped up by the time Gobta awoke. The captain checked in at around the same time.
“All right,” he said, “you’re free to go. Sorry I kept you in here for so long—I was beholden to keep you overnight, at least. Apologies!”
“Oh, no, no. It saved me one night’s hotel cost, at least.”
“Glad you see it that way. Here, let me make it up to you. I can introduce you to a talented blacksmith I know!”
“That would be perfect. Thank you!”
Things were looking up, finally. We just got priority entry, one—inspection, schminspection—and we had some extra money to spend. I thought finding a weaponsmith who wouldn’t rip me off at first sight would be a chore, too, but a military referral was about the best I could ask for! Maybe I can afford to be a bit optimistic after all!
“In exchange for that…”
Mmm? A catch? The only “catches” I ever liked were the ones on porn sites.
“If you have any of those recovery potions left, would you be interested in letting go of them?”
Aha. They must really be short on them, huh? That soldier mentioned that yesterday. Well, I’ve got a ton I could sell you guys…but I don’t really know the going rate.
Now what?
…Ah, why not? I had a manufacturing cost of exactly zero on those things anyway. If he wanted some, he could have some.
“All right,” I replied. “It’ll depend on how many, though. I need to keep a few for myself, too.”
“Any extras you’re willing to part with are fine by me. Even if it’s just one.”
Mm? Rather odd way of putting it, isn’t it? I thought he was trying to rebuild the guard’s stockpile. One’s not going to be enough in a pinch, is it? …Well, whatever. Maybe times were just that tough.
“Okay, um, well, how about five, then?”
“Five! Ah, that’d be wonderful!”
“Sure. Oh, also, I’m pretty sure they’ll still work even if you dilute them a little bit, all right? If it’s just a regular slash wound, ten parts water to one part potion oughta do the trick.”
The captain nodded eagerly, fully convinced. I spat out my five potions, and he responded by giving me a small pouch. Inside I could see a selection of gold coins. “I know it’s not much,” he explained, “but I hope you’ll accept this. I’ll give you five gold pieces for each one of these!”
Twenty-five gold, then? Fine by me. I don’t know if I’m undercutting myself or not, but I’m not in a position to haggle. Better figure out how much that is, though, exactly.
“Uhmm, if I could…”
“Not enough? I’m doing my best here, sir…”
“No, no, the price is perfectly fine, but I needed to ask you…”
“Huh? It is? So… So what did you need?”
Ooh. Mmmm, that’s not a good reaction. So I’m being ripped off after all? I knew I should’ve started higher. Oh well. The captain seems like a nice enough guy. I doubt he’s fleecing me that badly.
“I’m sorry to admit it, but I’m not exactly sure what this money is worth, or what prices are even like around here… If you could give me some guidance, that would really help! I’m just a slime, besides!”
Way to contradict yesterday’s magical-girl saga, man. Good thing he apparently never bought it in the first place.