After passing through the gate inspection without incident, I headed back to the Shangri La Hotel.
I’d actually been thinking about getting another ability assessment done first, but the sun had almost set, and I had some wounds to tend to, so I decided to leave that for another day. I also wanted to make sure I could focus on hearing Ralph’s and Hester’s updates.
When I entered our room, I found the two of them kicking back and looking relaxed.
Even Ralph, who had looked really down in the dumps a week ago, looked like he was back to his old self.
“Welcome back, Chris. Wait... Are you okay?!” asked Hester.
“Your armor’s all busted...and covered in blood. Actually, you just look pretty nasty in general,” Ralph chimed in.
“I had a bit of a run-in with some freakish monster in the woods,” I explained. “I came straight home after without washing up in the spring.”
“Are... Are you hurt?”
“Just a little bruised and achy. No serious injuries, though.”
“Any monster you’d describe as ‘freakish’ must be pretty crazy. Maybe you shouldn’t visit those woods anymore,” Ralph said.
“It was five times my size. I’m totally fine, though. I put a clean end to it, so there shouldn’t be any issues next time.”
“Well, if you killed it, then I guess there’s no point trying to stop you... But don’t you dare die on us, all right?! We’re teammates now!”
“Don’t worry. I’m not just gonna drop dead on you guys. Anyway, I brought some meat skewers, so let’s eat up.”
“Huh...? You bought us meat skewers? Yes!”
Ralph and Hester had been giving me worried looks, so I tried to distract them by handing them the skewers. Sure enough, the dubious expression on Ralph’s face vanished in an instant, replaced by a satisfied grin as he chomped down on the meat.
He could be a real pain sometimes, but for the most part, he was pretty easy to please.
I watched Ralph enjoy his meat skewer, completely lost in his own world, then turned to ask Hester how things had gone in the capital.
“How did things go on your end, Hester? Were you able to meet with Vlad okay?”
“We were. He’s making a living now in the black market, and he seemed like he’s been having some real money troubles.”
“How’d the haggling go?”
“It went well! Initially, he quoted us fifteen platinum coins for the surgery, but we kept refusing and finally got it down to five.”
“Five platinum coins?! That sounds really promising!” I exclaimed.
The twenty platinum price tag that the first healer had quoted was pretty outrageous, but five coins was actually doable. If we worked hard, we could save up for that.
My only misgiving was that we were placing our hopes in a disgraced healer, which meant there was a risk that he might not actually be able to perform the surgery at the level that we needed. Considering that it was our only real option, though, it felt like a risk worth taking.
“Personally, five platinum coins still seems pretty out-of-this-world expensive... Are you sure that’s gonna be okay?” asked Ralph.
“That’s not even in question. I teamed up with you guys on the assumption that we’d heal your leg—and that Hester would learn magic, no matter what.”
“Right... Thank you so much, Chris!” Hester said after a pause.
“Also, I’ve been thinking about bringing this up for a while now, but you don’t have to be so formal with me, you know. You can just say ‘thanks.’ We’re the same age, and we’re teammates now, so you can relax a bit.”
“I’d prefer to keep things respectful, if that’s all right with you,” Hester replied.
Ralph had never spoken to me very formally in the first place, but Hester insisted on keeping it up. I’d hoped that my suggestion could change that, but it seemed like she wasn’t going to budge.
I honestly didn’t care that much either way, though, so she was welcome to keep speaking formally if that was what she wanted.
“Sho? How ber abentda guh?” Ralph asked me.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.”
He gulped his food down. “I said, how’d your adventures go? You must’ve been doing more than taking down that freakish monster while you were away, right?”
“Yeah. I got a pretty good haul, actually. I didn’t get attacked until I was almost ready to head back anyway, so I managed to finish everything I wanted to.”
“Oh. Man... You’re already so far ahead of us, and you’re still just plowing on and getting even further ahead.”
“You should be grateful for that, you know. You guys wouldn’t be able to save up any money otherwise.”
“I know. It just makes me feel a certain way, is all.”
An indecipherable expression crossed his face. It seemed like Ralph had some complicated feelings to sort out.
As much as he loved the meat skewers I brought him, it was clear that it didn’t sit right with him to leave everything up to me. That just wasn’t his personality.
And since we were the same age, it seemed like he felt a bit competitive with me.
“Oh, that reminds me. The tip you gave me about wafers was a huge help, Hester. Thanks for that,” I said.
“Really? I’m so glad I could help.”
“As long as I have those, I can eat a whole bunch more poisonous plants. I’m impressed you knew about them.”
“I heard about them from the Seven Fortunes’ owner, actually.”
Lugentz really does know everything, I thought. Then again, I guess he’d have to be pretty knowledgeable in order to run a pawn shop successfully.
“Um... Not to change the topic, but what are your plans for us tomorrow?” Hester asked.
“I don’t really have anything in particular that I need you to do, so you can just keep up your goblin hunting. I’ll let you know if I want you to gather some more intel again.”
“Okay. I’m always happy to help out with that, so please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Right. Thanks.”
After we chatted for a bit about this and that, I ate some of the ghost grass and speckled shrooms I’d gathered. Then I got all my things ready for tomorrow and climbed into bed.
I planned to start adventuring again tomorrow, and I was ready to take on my first non-location-specific quest. I wanted to hunt the stray cowbird that Hester had researched for me.
Since she’d already figured out where to start looking, I figured I could probably hunt one down pretty easily in a matter of days.
There was always a chance of running into something nasty like the Ducalursus again, though, so I had to be careful to keep my guard up.
I thought back to when the bearlike monster had attacked me, trying to brainstorm some other strategies for next time as I fell asleep.
I woke up the next day and checked on the bruises running down my flank. Once I’d determined that I was fit to go out adventuring today, I headed toward the Adventurers’ Guild.
Stray cowbirds must have been in high demand, because I spotted another request for one on the board again today.
I accepted the quest at the quest desk and bought another rusted sword from the weapon shop’s bargain shelf to replace my busted one. Then I headed out of the city to hunt the stray cowbird.
According to the information I’d gotten from Hester, the best spot to find stray cowbirds was on a large plain east of the city. She’d warned me, however, that although it was the most likely place, it didn’t necessarily mean there were a lot of them there.
Plus, it was where most other adventurers would also probably go to hunt them, so there’d be competition. In the end, she recommended a different spot I should try.
Funnily enough, I was already sort of acquainted with the spot she named. It was a rocky stretch that led in the direction of the mountains, beyond the abandoned road to the northwest of the city where I’d hunted my first goblin.
It didn’t seem like the kind of place that many people would visit, and there hadn’t been many sightings or reports of cowbird hunts in the area, but Hester had heard of it from a few people who’d chosen it as their designated hunting spot.
I hunted some goblins on my way down the road before arriving at the rocky stretch near the end.
At a glance, it didn’t seem like there were any monsters in the area, but I figured I’d just keep an eye out as I continued. The rocky stretch was uneven and hard to walk on; there wasn’t really a path or road. But I just kept going, my eyes peeled for monsters.
I spent several hours exploring the rocks, but the only birds I saw were the ones flying in the sky. Finally, though, I spotted what appeared to be a bovine monster up ahead. It was eating a patch of the sparse grass that was growing in the rocks.
Wait... Could that be a stray cowbird? I wondered.
It was hard to be sure from so far away, but I felt like what I was seeing matched the description I’d heard of its distinctive features.
I’d heard that they were cautious, guarded monsters, so I carefully moved behind the rocky outcroppings to hide my presence as I slowly made my approach.
I knew it. It is a stray cowbird!
It was, as the name suggested, a cow-bird hybrid. I’d never eaten one before, but it was a common ingredient in all kinds of dishes, so most people were reasonably familiar with it.