Ch45: Out on Another Adventure
Thea spent the rest of the day rather subdued. It took her a while to fully run out of tears, but it did eventually happen.
Krvavy kept combing the noble girl’s hair long after it no longer needed combing. It was relaxing and comforting for both of them. With the smaller girl held in her arms for nearly the entire day, they were able to talk. Though talk isn’t quite right, as Krvavy hardly said a word. Just the occasional encouragement and prompt to urge the noble girl to continue.
Thea mostly spoke about her childhood and growing up. Krvavy had to steer her away from the memories that clearly made her upset to think about, and instead subtly encourage her to focus on the good ones. But even then it sounds like her parents didn’t so much as raise Thea as their servants did. While Krvavy is pretty sure that is fairly normal for nobles, normal does not mean it is good. The girl hardly knows her own mom and dad.
The happy memories from Thea’s childhood mostly involved a single servant, an elderly woman she just called Nana who had been around long enough that she helped raise Thea’s father. This servant told her stories, they went on picnics in the garden, she would even disguise Thea in commoner clothing to go out to see the festivals, cared for Thea when she was sick, and just acted like a mother to the girl. Her actual mother, on the other hand, would just ask the same practiced and brief questions about how her studies were going and would occasionally buy her gifts.
Her Nana isn’t around anymore, having died around five or six years ago. Thea wasn’t too specific on the date and Krvavy didn’t want her to dwell on that. But ever since then Thea has felt that no one cares about her, and that she is just a burden to her family.
Krvavy doesn’t quite agree with the girl, though she wasn’t going to argue. That only would have upset the girl even more. It sounds like, at the very least, Thea’s brothers do care quite a bit about her. But she doesn’t really see it that way.
Thea struggles to do even a bit of what they can do easily, so she gives up and gets frustrated at how they are better than her. Kostas taking time to help her study languages and writing is seen as an insult, as condescending, but it sounds like he is simply just trying to help. Same with Nikolas telling her to toughen up and Dimitrios trying to help her figure out what type of magic she might be able to do.
Thea hasn’t had a bad life by any means, as she always got what she wanted in her incredibly safe and sheltered home. But she didn’t exactly have a happy one either. All the items and objects don’t mean much when she didn’t get the one thing she wanted most: recognition and attention from her parents.
The day was not exactly what Krvavy expected. But she did get her brat of a noble to open up, which... is nice?
At least the girl returned to normal around dinner time, when Beryl came back with a goat that she had hunted down. Thea didn’t want to cuddle up with Krvavy after that. Guess having a witness made that too embarrassing for her...
But even then Thea didn’t go back to hurling out insults. Instead she went off to the side and spent some time alone staring off into the grotto. She didn’t seem all that sad or depressed. More... contemplative than anything. Her life has changed a lot in such a short time, and she is only just coming to terms with it all.
It was tiring consoling her all day. But in a good way. Krvavy would do it again. It felt nice to just be there for someone...
“Mmmwah~!” Beryl exaggeratedly kisses the tip of Krvavy spent cock as the barbarian sits back, eating her stew. “Ya sure Ah can’t convince ya ta stay~?”
Krvavy wryly smiles down at her tomboyish Elf. “You’re acting like I’ll be gone for ages. Weeks or months.””
She has spent the last two days cooped up in her cave, and while Krvavy is no stranger to staying home she would still like to go out and see the world some more. Though she does feel a bit bad about leaving so soon... A part of her wants to stick around a little longer, but she really is starting to get antsy. It is almost like a bug is buzzing away at the back of her brain, telling her that the only way it’ll go away is if she goes outside and gets some fresh air.
“Even a single day without ya tears at my heart~!” Beryl dramatically laments, her act almost immediately fading. “Can’t Ah at least service ya again before ya ‘ead out~?”
“You’ve already got me off four times today, and I’ve only been awake a couple hours!” Krvavy exclaims. She is genuinely a little surprised at how much this Elf has already made her cum. This really is a porn game in disguise... “Seriously, I’m not even getting hard again, no matter how much you try.”
“Ah’m not tryin’ tha’ ‘ard~!” The tanned tomboy teases. “But if ya insist...”
“Oh don’t act like that. I’m giving you the same deal as last time: when I come back I’m going to ravish you and we can spend another day together.”
“Aye, but fer one day o’ pleasure Ah’m going ta be without ya fer five, maybe six, days!” Beryl complains with a sigh, rubbing Krvavy’s muscular thigh. “At least be safe, okay? Ah don’t want ta lose ya.”
“Don’t you worry, nothing can stop me from coming back here to you.” Krvavy confidently states, as this is where she respawns. “Besides, I want to get something nice for my little princess over there~!”
“S-shut up!” Thea calls back from the bedding, her face flushed red in embarrassment. “I am not your princess! Y-you vile fiend!”
“Sure you are.” Krvavy casually returns, a teasing glint in her emerald eyes. “I’m a dragon and you are a noble girl that I snatched away. That makes you my princess~!”
“Th-that is not how it works! L-lousy lizard!”
“Mhm.” Is all Krvavy’s response is, infuriating the noble brat with her coy smile. Thea is almost back to normal now, though she still isn’t using quite as many insults. And she seems to be trying out some new, less offensive, ones. Kind of cute, really.
But even if the girl’s bratty attitude was way more bitchy, Krvavy would still be happy.
“Are ya goin’ ta bring the bag ta ‘elp ya carry any loot ya find?” Beryl asks, still lovingly rubbing Krvavy’s thigh.
“Eh... Nah.” The barbarian replies with a shrug. “I’m not going to head straight to the road and I’m not going to wait around for a wagon either. If I find one I find one. So no point carrying the thing around. Besides, I’ll have a bed sheet and some rope, so if I need to I can whip up another sack with that.”
Krvavy mostly just wants to go out and wander again, with any potential raiding just being a bonus. The road is to the west, so she’ll head on out and walk ever so slightly to the north as well, changing to south when she hits the river. That way she should do a big circle, or oval, around the relatively straight line she took last time. It’ll take a few more days, but she’ll also get to see more of the area around where she lives.
Beryl unhappily clicks her tongue. “Tha’ bed sheet is fer sleepin’ in. Not carryin’ loot.”
“I didn’t really use it much last time,” Krvavy admits with a shrug, “so I can make do without it.”
“Alright.” Beryl isn’t satisfied with that answer, but she isn’t going to argue. “Ah’ve got the meals all packed up fer ya, wit’ some freshly made deer jerky, so ya can leave whenever ya’re ready.”
“Thanks. I should probably get moving now anyway.” Krvavy says, leaning forwards to give Beryl a rather chaste kiss, though the Elf does try to get Krvavy worked up by nibbling on her bottom lip. “We’ll have some fun when I get back.”
“Aye, Ah’ll be looking forward ta it~!” Beryl eagerly replies as she takes Krvavy’s empty bowl.
“Now you,” Krvavy turns to Thea with a mischievous smile on her face, “don’t get into any trouble, my little princess~!”
“Ugh! No! Get back!” Thea protests, but she is ultimately unable to prevent Krvavy from leaving a quick kiss on her forehead. Krvavy really needs to get better at braiding hair, as she doesn’t want her noble girl to always look this dishevelled.
“And you to, sleeping beauty.” Krvavy crouches down beside Khalia’s comatose form, leaving a kiss on her forehead as well. “I haven’t forgotten about you. I’m still waiting for you to get better.”
“Do not get your hopes up!” The noble girl huffs out. “You really broke that Greenskin!”
“Don’t be such a downer.” Krvavy waves that off as she ties on her loincloth. “Goodbye my three ladies!”
“Goodbye my dearest love~!”
“Ugh, good riddance!”
The sun is high in the sky as Krvavy catches sight of the road, which is a few hills ahead of her.
She might have gone a little too far north after leaving her cave. Krvavy has already spent two nights out here. But hey, it isn’t like she had a schedule or anything... So all that means is that she isn’t really going to bother waiting around for anything on the road.
Luckily the wind is blowing into her face today, so it is unlikely that any horses will smell her and freak out. The panic that her scent seems to send animals into is useful if she wants to attack, but it also kind of takes that choice away from her.
Climbing up the last hill and crouching behind a tree, Krvavy looks out to the road. Off to the south, as far as her eyes can see, it is completely bare. But the same can’t be said about the north, as she spies three wagons. And they are heading her way too. How lucky.
But three wagons is a lot. Even if she brought the backpack there is no way she would be able to carry that much of loot. A lot would go to waste. Granted, that is assuming that the wagons are full of things that she’ll want to take in the first place, and not just sacks of grain. It is also assuming that she can handle three wagons worth of people...
They are far enough away that she has plenty of time to make a decision though, so she isn’t in a rush. And as the wagons approach she can make out more details to help her decide what to do.
The first cart has two men sitting on the front and it appears to be stacked full of crates. The men are wearing armour, but instead of the shining knight kind it looks to be something more padded, like a gambeson. That is a good sign, as they kind of look like generic town guards and not some high level fighters. Granted, it would be better if they didn’t have any armour, but she isn’t going to complain. Too much.
The second wagon doesn’t seem to be a wagon at all, but a carriage. How curious... Riding at the front of the carriage is another man, wearing armour that looks a little bit better than those of the two men at the front. Whoever is in the carriage can’t be all that important if they have so few guards, but it does add some more risk to this. She figures that there could be up to four people in there, as any more and it would get pretty cramped, but she can’t know for certain. It could even be empty.
On top of that, this carriage probably won’t give her much loot. Maybe some jewellery for Thea, but does she want to mug some random people? The travelling merchant that she killed last time was a bit different, as he was just one guy and he had a weapon. But whoever is in there is probably unarmed, and it could be a family with children for all she knows. Yeah, this is just a game, but she’ll still feel bad for slaughtering an innocent family.
The third wagon is much the same as the first one, piled high with crates and with two guards sitting at the front. So at the very least she’ll have to fight five armoured men. That could be a problem. She’ll be outnumbered by what she assumes to be professional fighters...
But she does have an almost entirely full bar of mana. Can’t forget that. Seismic Stomp will probably be useful to knock them down, or at least make these men unsteady on their feet, which could be the advantage she needs. And she also has that new Knit Flesh spell, which is kind of a healing spell? It’ll help stop her from bleeding, that’s for sure.
Part of her regrets not bringing even a single roll of those magical healing bandages. She would be a lot more confident about this if she had those on hand...
So... Is it worth the risk? She can’t tell what is in those crates, but it doesn’t look like there are any sacks of wheat sitting around, so maybe there will be something good inside them? Whatever her choice is, Krvavy needs to make up her mind soon. The wagons are getting closer and closer with each second.