Winners: Library, Training Field Upgrade. Total: 11.7k.
Day 23, End (For Real This Time)
"I'd reallllyy like to get a Library on site... I think it'd be useful for all of our non-physical members." You looked over towards Dark Blade, who was a perfect example of someone who probably would never use the physical training grounds for himself. "But... I'd also really like to get our training field some actual training equipment finally. I feel bad that we didn't do that before we finished the quest, it seemed like Momo-sama was disappointed in us." You sighed as you said that, "But I don't think we have enough..."
"That would be about... eleven thousand, seven hundred, after your discount. I can't really go any lower, even for the hero of the town, Hita-chan. I have to make sure all the labors paid for, after all." The old man frowned as he said that.
"Oh, no worries! I've been saving up too!" Fluffy gave a big thumbs up as she glommed onto you, "I kiiinda wanted it to be a surprise, but I've been pinching my pennies and saving sooo much up. And I fiiigured that if we're doing one upgrade, we should do more. Soooo~!" She held out a large bag of coins towards Goto, "Why don't you also get us some better walls too~? I think we should have enough for both~."
The merchant looked confused for a second, and then shook his head, "Sorry miss. I can't do that for ya." He looked towards you, and waggled his finger, "According to all my records, the only officer of the guild whose been named is one 'Kitan Von', which means only he or Hita-chan here can authorize construction. Allowing unauthorized construction would be a huge breach in a ton of laws, ya know."
"Woooww...." Fluffy looked hurt as she looked up at you, "Can I be an officer too then~? Can't I~? Pleeeease?" Her big puppy dog tigress eyes looked into your soul as she begged for the right... and then she just laughed, "No that's fine, I don't caaaareee~ I just want to be with you, I don't wanna have to take care of anyone else besides you~!" She giggled as she put the money under your chin, still holding onto you with one arm, "So heres the money and youuu can buy it~!"
"That sounds right." Goto laughed as he watched the display, "It is so lovely to see young couples, you know. It reminds me of my wi-"
"They are not a couple." Kitan said it very seriously, from where he had been watching the goings on. You're pretty sure he would be slinging fire already, if you weren't in a wooden store with paper doors full of flammable merchandise.
Fluffy herself had let go to become a blushing mess as she held her cheeks, "WooooowImeanIcan'tbelievesomeonewouldthinkImeanIwouldn'tmindbutohmygoodnesstothink~!" She was practically in her own world talking to herself, and entirely ignoring Kitan and his anger right behind her.
You shook your head, handing over the money that was given to you along with all of your own, "I guess we're going for the barracks, the library, the upgrade to the training fields, and an upgrade to the walls and defenses too. Is that gonna be too much for your... guys?" You weren't even sure where the workers were from, it seemed like everyone in town was mostly old people. Except their servants?
Fluffy has been saving up, and spent her money on paying the difference for the Training Field upgrade, and still had enough leftover to buy the Defense upgrade. I flipped a coin to see if she would buy Defense or Decor upgrades.
"We'll get it done. Don't worry about it. No such thing as too much for the savior of my business, ya know?"
"But how do you get it done?" Kitan asked it, through still narrowed eyes, "I haven't seen a single laborer in town. And I doubt you've been calling them from out of town while the roads were shut down."
Goto narrowed his own eyes in return... he didn't say something for a long moment, and just as you opened your mouth to apologize for Kitan's rudeness, he started laughing, "Wow, your parents really didn't teach you much about stuff did they?" He shook his head, "I think your Dragon friend would be the best to explain it, but I guess I can. Did you really think that the only people who pledge their souls to the Azure Dragon's service are warriors? Nah. Chefs, architects, generals, smiths, you name it. Anyone who is a patriot and doesn't mind not having eternal rest can pledge their soul to Them. And then their priests can contract with them, just like with a warrior. So I'll be heading over to make some donations, and they'll be helping me with the task of building all these things you want."
"Oh. That's neat." You looked over at Dark Blade.
But he looked as surprised as you, "I... ah, I didn't know we could... uhm, do that. That's neat."
You thought to the researchers you were about to recruit. There were a handful of necromancers in that group. Maybe they'd be able to provide something besides just reading books after all, even without going into combat? "Where would we be able to talk about acquiring new ghosts for my friends to use? That seems super useful!"
"Oof, first off don't call it acquiring. Necromancers don't like it when you imply their spirits are pets or objects." He shot another glance at Dark Blade, who meekly hid behind you, "But you'd probably be able to just... ask at the temple? I know they're normally pretty protective of 'selling' contracts to untested necromancers, but your groups been making a pretty good name for themselves. They might be willing to do so."
"Oooh... well, thank you so much Goto-sama~!" You nearly hugged the man, before instead deciding to bow to him.
"Haha, you're the oddest Tiger I've ever met, Hita-chan. Most of your kin ain't got a third of the respect for their elders they should. You've maybe got a tad too much. Personally, I'll pray that's a good thing for ya." He gave a serious nod, "Now then, if ya don't have any other business... I gotta make a walk to a temple. Better start with the construction now, if we wanna get it done fast. So I'll be closing up shop."
"Thank you so much for your time, Goto-sama~! I'll be back to do all my shopping here~!" You rushed out with the rest as he indicated you should leave. You still had things you had to do today.
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First and foremost being finding Ichi-nee. It wasn't too hard - her and all of the researchers were in... well, the cheapest, most rundown Inn in town. It was the first time you'd set foot into Kirin town, but it seemed to be the part of town set up for more outsiders to stay in. The buildings here were made tall - real tall. It was interesting to see the way the different 'species' had spread out. The Tortoise with their short, squat, mostly-underground homes. The Tigers with their walled in stone buildings with large yards. The Dragons with their simple, unfanciful wooden constructions. And now the Kirin with their grand, tall wooden buildings.
But the inn in question was far from grand. The aptly named 'Traveler's Last Refuge' looked like it was an inn going through hard times. Walking in the door you saw no one behind the bar. Except you did see colored movement back there. It took a second for one of them to heft themselves up, and a young child said, "Hey guys! We got some lookie loos! Lure 'em in!" The child spoke in a deep voice and... after a moment you realized that they didn't have long hair in front of their mouth. They had a beard.
Two other smallfolk rushed out from behind the bar as you were overwhelmed, "Welcome, welcome to our inn! Please take a seat and have a rest! Our first travelers! And so quickly after the news of the roads clearing. Wow!" The white-blonde girl seemed happy to see you as she practically dragged you to the table. And you mean dragged- despite her small body, she was remarkably strong.
"Hey waitaminutenow!" The black haired boy with a clean shaven face tapped his lips for a second, "These aint travelers at all!"
"What do you mean not travelers?" The brown haired bearded one, who seemed to be the oldest of the bunch, narrowed his eyes... and then after a moment, "Oh great Shogun of heavens, you're right! Beautiful tiger girl, with the pretty braids up, and the smile and the silver eyes and that freckle and that ra-" He was suddenly elbowed in the throat by the blonde one as he talked.
"What my Father means is, you must be the great Hita von Fluffens! So sorry for not recognizing you! We didn't think any heroes would stop in to see little ol' us. We've heard all about you, come sit sit. Let us get you a drink. On the house! But you'll have to pay for the meal with it. Sorry. Tough times." She scampered back without giving you the chance to answer yes or no to it.
"...I mean, we haven't eaten." You said it with a shrug.
"Was he about to compliment what I think he was?" Fluffy looked ready to explode as she glared at the barkeep who was not subtly looking at you.
"We're here to see people. Not for a nice visit." Kitan reminded you.
"Right, I'll tell her when sh-
You hadn't even seen her approach, when the girl - holding four full sized drinks in a distinctly non-yamato style stein and having four trays of hearty breakfast food started to lay them all out. She didn't even seem to be struggling, "Tell me what? Oh, sorry if you wanted something more traditional. Dad's actually from Caerlea. But he fell in love with mom and well...." You realized after a second as you looked at her. Her hair wasn't just white - in spots it shined, just like yours. She was part Tiger. "Oh right, introductions. I'm Tay. Brother's Trey. Dad's Troy. Nice ta meetcha, heroes! Oh, also, I brought out one cup of juice for the young'n. Can't be caught selling alcohol to minors you know! hahah!" She seemed to be in a good mood as she bounced around you, taking in the view of all of you.
"Thanks, Hita Von Fluffens. As you uhm, know I guess!" You rubbed the back of your head, it was pretty funny how she was acting, "These are my friends, Kitan Von, Fluffy-Nee, and Dark Blade. We're actually looking for some... uh..." You struggled to find a word for them, "Acquaintances. Ichi-nee and uhm, her friends. We were told they were staying here?"
"Oh yeah! Those deadbeats!" She laughed as she said that, "Wait, you didn't say friends right? No? Good. Anyways, yeah they stay here. But they're probably all out at the library again. All they do is read, eat, and sleep. And they've only paid up til tomorrow so..." She ran a thumb across her throat, "Well, you know how it is. Can't run a charity in a business."
"What my sister means is that we're expecting to be a lot busier soon, with more travelers coming. So as bad as it sounds, we can't really lower our prices to help them, even if they've been pretty good customers of ours." He seemed a lot less high strung than his sister. You also saw no signs of the silver marks she had in her hair anywhere on him. His eyes, his nails... all of them looked distinctly normal.
"Well, that's fine. We were here to tell them we are building an expansion to our guildhall, and that we'd like for them to join us as thanks fo-" You noticed belatedly that all three of the smallfolks were staring past you now. And you turned to see Ichi-nee and the others in tow behind her.
"Hita?" She lit up a little, "Wait, I only got to hear like, the last little bit of that. Was that about us?" Her eyes got wide as she asked it.
"Yeah! Oh, I'm glad you guys made it back! We managed to find the slime guy! And kill it! And well, we uh, were trying to figure out how to reward you guys. So I thought... why don't we use the reward, and build an expansion. And then you guys would be able to join us, because we'd have room in the guild... and then you'd... you know. Have beds and stuff. And a place to go. And well, we're even building a library. Though I mean, it's not gonna be the greatest to start but it's something! And you wouldn't have to hunt or anything... just uh, I mean, it wouldn't be a reward if you did. But if you wanted to, we could help teach you too."
People started to get light up as you said that - and then Tay opened her mouth, "Wow, touching scenes, heart wrenching! Love and care! Please stop stealing customers away from us right in the middle of the dining area, jeeze!" She threw her hands up in protest.
"Oops, sorry about that Tay~" You waggled your fingers at her, as you pulled out enough money for the food for everyone, "Though I think you said they wouldn't be customers much longer at this rate."
"Hmm! True... fair, okay, nevermind!" As soon as she was paid, she rushed away to go behind the bar, handing the money over to her father.
"So... uh," you looked back over to the group, "Would you be interested in joining?"
"Yes!" Almost all of them seemed excited for the prospect.
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"We'll have to check out the temple tomorrow." Ichi-nee nodded, "I doubt it'll be cheap but maybe..." You had told them all about your new discovery of production-class ghosts, and how Necromancers could call them. It seemed relevant, and the handful of necromancers in her group seemed excited by the prospect of having things to do other than fight.
"There's also a skill you can get." You were talking directly to Ichi-nee with this one, "Or well, that Armory Priests can. It's just called Repair, and it lets you repair item durability by spending time and mana. It'd be like.... really useful if you guys wanted to try and learn it. I mean, it'd mean having to level up a few times... but I bet people could help."
She frowned at that, and then nodded, "Maybe. I mean, I don't mind just reading and finding stuff to help. But we could also go and like... look around the town to try and find quests for you and stuff. But if you want, I wouldn't mind learning something like that! I'm just happy to be around."
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Day 24
The work on the library and defenses were already done overnight - a new wooden building sitting upon your home, in the opposite corner of the field from the barracks. The short wooden fencing that once surrounded the yard was now replaced with a neck high stone wall. It wasn't much, but it meant that you had to use the gates to get in and out easily and comfortably, instead of just... stepping over the small fences that couldn't keep anyone out.
The priests and their ghosts were already outside as everyone woke up, waiting to get to work on the barracks. Now the question was what you wanted to do with your day; because you had plenty of options. Luckily you also had a very busy and full guild you could ask for help.
What does Hita's party do?
[x] A. Spend a day leveling/collecting loot in the Slaimyo's Dungeon.
[x] B. Start working on the Eastern Woods Problem
[x] B1. Spend the day searching for and destroying Death Pockets.
[x] B2. Spend the day killing mobs inside of the Graveyard.
[x] B3. Spend the day trying to find if there's a hidden dungeon in the Graveyard.
[x] C. Explore the Northern forest beyond Tortoise Town, and investigate its current problems.
[x] D. Investigate the Kirin town and the southern woods to see if it also has a major problem building up.
[x] E. Take the researchers out and power level them to see if they get any useful skills + get them some gold.
What do you ask the guild to focus on?
[x] G. Do whatever they like, you're not gonna give them a specific job.
[x] H. Focus on raising their levels and gaining items while they're benefitting from the dungeon xp/drop boost.
[x] I. Focus on helping with the Eastern Woods problem.
[x] J. Investigate the northern woods and the humanoid monster threats.
[x] K. Investigate the southern parts of town and finding any quests or things of interest.
[x] L. Taking the researchers out to level them up.
What do you ask your new researchers to focus on for you?
This option is invalidated if E or L wins.
[x] M. Head back to the library and try to research about the Graveyard's current threat.
[x] N. Head back to the library and try to research about the humanoid monster tribes to the north.
[x] O. Head around the Kirin town and have them find info on what problems its been having.
