At nightfall the whole group meets at a midpoint in between both cottages, usually Ayumi would give her daily report informing us about the amount of supplies available, in addition to the daily advances in construction and technology, but this time it's different. After spending two weeks apart, both groups have a lot to talk about and, although the cold is getting more and more unbearable, everyone is excited to be able to spend time outside."We have to go to the village as soon as possible!"Luke exclaims, insisting again on the need to explore the new world."Luke, we've already talked about this, we're not ready yet and there will be plenty of chances to do so"Ayumi replies in a condescending tone"I don't know, I think Luke has a point"Tsao, with black circles in his eyes and a tired expression on his face joins the conversation"It's true we weren't prepared before, but I think the time has come to expand our area of action. If our goal was just to survive we could stay he
"Quickly! go heat up some soup for Anne, her condition is very bad"I order Helena. My mind feels more agile, clear, it is as if all the distractions dissipated and allowed me to concentrate on the problem in front of me.Helena hesitates for a second before letting go of the curtain and heading into the kitchen, I can hear the sound she makes as she reaches for the utensils she needs to heat up the stew for lunch.What Anne needs is not only rest, she must also eat a proper meal. I've long thought of stamina simply as the amount of energy we can expend before getting tired, but since we've long since had enough food to go around, I completely forgot the importance of eating properly.Surely Anne would recover anyway if she didn't eat now, but eating will allow her to recover much faster. If my assumption is correct, the pieces of this puzzle are fitting little by little.Health points represent just that, health. But it's not as simple as thinking that just because you have a large n
"Are you sure this is going to work?""Nothing is certain, but at least it will give us a second chance if things go wrong on the first try"Ayumi and Tsao exchange words while the rest of the group shows signs of anxiety. The plan is to split up before entering the city, Bob and Luke going first and spending the night there, if things go well they'll spend two nights there and everyone will reunite.Tsao provided them with some food and trinkets to trade, telling them tirelessly to pay attention to everything they see. Luke is eager to be the first to make contact, so he walks outside the cave, his excitement overflows and for the first time he looks genuinely happy."Hurry up Bob, we're wasting time""But Tsao said we'll take our time, it must give the impression that we've come a long way""But if things go wrong we will be completely alone""Don't be scared man, just do what I tell you and nobody will mess with us. Just put on your best poker face and don't say anything, just by s
The next day Both Bob and Luke woke up refreshed by the best night sleep they ever had. After meeting up at the entrance Rina greeted them politely."Good morning dear clients, did you find your accomodations to your liking?""Yes! the bed was so comfortable I fell asleep as soon as I lied down""Hehe, thought so, since it's past noon already. Your village must be really far that you were so tired""Miss Rina, has mister Rudd arrived yet?"Rina chuckled after hearing someone speaking about Rudd with respect."Yes, he's been waiting for you since morning, he asked me many times if you were still sleeping"After thanking Rina they went downstairs and found Rudd standing up looking impatient. After exchanging pleasentries they sat down to discuss business."So, mister Ironwood are you ready to talk business?""Yes, I gathered all the funds I could before coming. But first I'd like to ask you a couple questions. Why did you choose to do business with me when you could've just sold your me
"A bit more to the left Ayumi, watch out you're gonna cut him""Shhh, I know what I'm doing"Ayumi does her best to cut Hiraku's hair and she's so scared to hurt him that her hand trembles. We're about to head to the town and the reason Hiraku had to take the risk of being cut is that we need him to look as neat as possible since he's supossed to be our boss."Now the only thing is to tie a bow in Mochi's tails so it can pass as an average one tailed cat, we need to avoid rising any king of suspicion"As soon as we're ready we head outside the cave and set our course straight to the town. Pulling the sled has proven to be quite a difficult task since it's full to the brim with pelts, meat, mochi, croquettes and some trinkets.Bob and Luke are waiting for us just outside the town and they wave their hands at us as soon as they notice our approach. Hiraku walks ahead of us and as soon as we get close to them they bow politely in front of him."Hello guys, so, how did you fare?"The bow
"Hey miss Rina! Claire did a hell of a job with today's breakfast!""Yeah, I'd like some more bread please!"Everyone is cheerful at the tavern, it seems that they liked my cooking even though I only made some regular bread. The only one who seems down is Claire since she knows she wasn't the one behind today's breakfast success. I don't pay her any mind though and just enjoy my breakfast.When Rudd arrived we're all ready to go. Meeting the mayor is one of the milestones we need to cover in order to become part of the town and earn the trust of its inhabitants. Once we are outside he takes out a coin purse and hands it to Luke, who in turn passes it to Hiraku."I hope this is enough for you, I had a hard time yesterday running from place to place making deals but I managed to sell everything. The pelts were a big hit, but most of the coins come from selling mochi and the croquettes"Rudd looks happy making Helena chuckle. This would be an awful time to tell him that those were intend
A week passed like it was nothing and the only one missing their settlement was Ayumi who couldn't stand the sight of another woman hitting on her husband. Meanwhile everyone else was faring well, the most successful were Hiraku and Helena, the first was making a killing on his trading business while the latter was so skilled in tailoring that the richest people in town would fight for a set of clothes.Anne, Bob and Tsao decided to join Rudd in one of his mining expeditions. Since Rudd was also a hunter, it was his duty to keep everyone safe on their way to their mining spot.It was the coldest morning they've faced, but they were not alone in this trip. Every three days hundreds of people would gather at the north entrance for what they call the shift change. There weren't many professional miners, but most inhabitants would go into the mines every so often so everyone knew the basics.Tsao analyzed the equipment everyone had but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Most people ca
Soon after Tsao's group reunited, the wolves retreated ending the battle as quickly as it started. Among the survivors there were few standing, making Tsao realize how close they were to end up among the casualties. When he met bob he was about to fight a wolf barehanded and Anne would have been a sacrifice just to earn a couple seconds more to a lowly scum who wouldn't even fight for himself.Some people were mourning the dead while others walked around trying to help any survivors. Tsao noticed that there were those who would die after a single bite and those who survived even the most gruesome wounds, but still perished due to blood loss or lack of treatment.As soon as it hit him, he went back to the sled and picked up some potions and bandages looking for survivors.Anne said and Tsao replied nodding silently.They lit a fire with whatever they had at hand while Bob went to look for survivors. Anne started to melt some snow to boil water and brought the sleds near the campfire.T
"Move your legs Helena! there are clients waiting!""No I-I, I can't do this after all, Anne, please tell Tsao I can't""If you didn't want to put on the new uniform you shouldn't have made it in the first place"Helena and Anne just finished getting dressed with the new uniform of the tavern. It's a short skirt and a very revealing shirt made out of high quality, yet thin, fabric. It's so tight that it highlights Anne's plump rear and the V cut cleavage is so low Helena's big and tender breasts are almost completely exposed.Tsao is waiting just outside the room to check if everything is alright, or at least that's what he said, but in reality he just wanted to be the first one to see the bountiful treasures the girls had to offer.After comming back from the mayor's house Tsao realized what a dumb move he made, he could've gotten the same results without spending that much money. Now that he knows how much money the tavern made in the past at least he knows he can win the bet, but e
The worst part of the trip was that even after spending so much time, effort and resources, I couldn't get my hands on the elemental stones everyone speaks about. I can always make some more potions, though the silver flower is rare, Hiraku is already planning on sowing them, but I really wanted to see why is this town so crazy about mining. I mean, how can they even afford to go mining when there's so many poor people who in a week or so won't even be able to buy groceries.commentEver since we came back from the mine Rina has been bothering me non stop to bake more bread because the tavern is always full. Normally I would have rejected since I got my own business to attend, but since my skill in cooking is getting better I can't complain.It's late night but the tavern is still open, this is due to the cold but also because many clients have the habit of passing out in the tables and as long as they don't get on Rina's bad side she doesn't mind.She's just a kid but she's so tough
Soon after Tsao's group reunited, the wolves retreated ending the battle as quickly as it started. Among the survivors there were few standing, making Tsao realize how close they were to end up among the casualties. When he met bob he was about to fight a wolf barehanded and Anne would have been a sacrifice just to earn a couple seconds more to a lowly scum who wouldn't even fight for himself.Some people were mourning the dead while others walked around trying to help any survivors. Tsao noticed that there were those who would die after a single bite and those who survived even the most gruesome wounds, but still perished due to blood loss or lack of treatment.As soon as it hit him, he went back to the sled and picked up some potions and bandages looking for survivors.Anne said and Tsao replied nodding silently.They lit a fire with whatever they had at hand while Bob went to look for survivors. Anne started to melt some snow to boil water and brought the sleds near the campfire.T
A week passed like it was nothing and the only one missing their settlement was Ayumi who couldn't stand the sight of another woman hitting on her husband. Meanwhile everyone else was faring well, the most successful were Hiraku and Helena, the first was making a killing on his trading business while the latter was so skilled in tailoring that the richest people in town would fight for a set of clothes.Anne, Bob and Tsao decided to join Rudd in one of his mining expeditions. Since Rudd was also a hunter, it was his duty to keep everyone safe on their way to their mining spot.It was the coldest morning they've faced, but they were not alone in this trip. Every three days hundreds of people would gather at the north entrance for what they call the shift change. There weren't many professional miners, but most inhabitants would go into the mines every so often so everyone knew the basics.Tsao analyzed the equipment everyone had but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Most people ca
"Hey miss Rina! Claire did a hell of a job with today's breakfast!""Yeah, I'd like some more bread please!"Everyone is cheerful at the tavern, it seems that they liked my cooking even though I only made some regular bread. The only one who seems down is Claire since she knows she wasn't the one behind today's breakfast success. I don't pay her any mind though and just enjoy my breakfast.When Rudd arrived we're all ready to go. Meeting the mayor is one of the milestones we need to cover in order to become part of the town and earn the trust of its inhabitants. Once we are outside he takes out a coin purse and hands it to Luke, who in turn passes it to Hiraku."I hope this is enough for you, I had a hard time yesterday running from place to place making deals but I managed to sell everything. The pelts were a big hit, but most of the coins come from selling mochi and the croquettes"Rudd looks happy making Helena chuckle. This would be an awful time to tell him that those were intend
"A bit more to the left Ayumi, watch out you're gonna cut him""Shhh, I know what I'm doing"Ayumi does her best to cut Hiraku's hair and she's so scared to hurt him that her hand trembles. We're about to head to the town and the reason Hiraku had to take the risk of being cut is that we need him to look as neat as possible since he's supossed to be our boss."Now the only thing is to tie a bow in Mochi's tails so it can pass as an average one tailed cat, we need to avoid rising any king of suspicion"As soon as we're ready we head outside the cave and set our course straight to the town. Pulling the sled has proven to be quite a difficult task since it's full to the brim with pelts, meat, mochi, croquettes and some trinkets.Bob and Luke are waiting for us just outside the town and they wave their hands at us as soon as they notice our approach. Hiraku walks ahead of us and as soon as we get close to them they bow politely in front of him."Hello guys, so, how did you fare?"The bow
The next day Both Bob and Luke woke up refreshed by the best night sleep they ever had. After meeting up at the entrance Rina greeted them politely."Good morning dear clients, did you find your accomodations to your liking?""Yes! the bed was so comfortable I fell asleep as soon as I lied down""Hehe, thought so, since it's past noon already. Your village must be really far that you were so tired""Miss Rina, has mister Rudd arrived yet?"Rina chuckled after hearing someone speaking about Rudd with respect."Yes, he's been waiting for you since morning, he asked me many times if you were still sleeping"After thanking Rina they went downstairs and found Rudd standing up looking impatient. After exchanging pleasentries they sat down to discuss business."So, mister Ironwood are you ready to talk business?""Yes, I gathered all the funds I could before coming. But first I'd like to ask you a couple questions. Why did you choose to do business with me when you could've just sold your me
"Are you sure this is going to work?""Nothing is certain, but at least it will give us a second chance if things go wrong on the first try"Ayumi and Tsao exchange words while the rest of the group shows signs of anxiety. The plan is to split up before entering the city, Bob and Luke going first and spending the night there, if things go well they'll spend two nights there and everyone will reunite.Tsao provided them with some food and trinkets to trade, telling them tirelessly to pay attention to everything they see. Luke is eager to be the first to make contact, so he walks outside the cave, his excitement overflows and for the first time he looks genuinely happy."Hurry up Bob, we're wasting time""But Tsao said we'll take our time, it must give the impression that we've come a long way""But if things go wrong we will be completely alone""Don't be scared man, just do what I tell you and nobody will mess with us. Just put on your best poker face and don't say anything, just by s
"Quickly! go heat up some soup for Anne, her condition is very bad"I order Helena. My mind feels more agile, clear, it is as if all the distractions dissipated and allowed me to concentrate on the problem in front of me.Helena hesitates for a second before letting go of the curtain and heading into the kitchen, I can hear the sound she makes as she reaches for the utensils she needs to heat up the stew for lunch.What Anne needs is not only rest, she must also eat a proper meal. I've long thought of stamina simply as the amount of energy we can expend before getting tired, but since we've long since had enough food to go around, I completely forgot the importance of eating properly.Surely Anne would recover anyway if she didn't eat now, but eating will allow her to recover much faster. If my assumption is correct, the pieces of this puzzle are fitting little by little.Health points represent just that, health. But it's not as simple as thinking that just because you have a large n