The Wanderer's Rebirth: Other Paths

*Day 4*

The next “morning” came, so Joram got up and did his escape artist routine, then noticed that the trio of demons had changed their own routine a bit.

Seeing as how the bed he’d made hadn’t yet vanished, they’d instead climbed into it instead of falling asleep on the hard floor. Well, he couldn’t blame them. But really? What was up with them?

Shaking his head, he went back outside to get back to work. He was pleased with how much Mind 3 had been able to go through, for he felt as though he was much more familiar with the various Powers in the archive. He also noticed that Mind 4 had added a lot of Dust Crystals to his inventory, which would help with other projects that he was thinking about starting.

Once he was out back, he made a quick detour to the bamboo planters. He quickly harvested it all, then used [Grow] to replenish the planters, before repeating the process a few more times until he had a veritable mountain of bamboo.

From there, he quickly processed it into a few different grades of cloth, from silky smooth to a heavier canvas-like cloth. The latter would be used to make the girls some shoes, for he felt absolutely terrible for having forgotten to make them before now.

He quickly stored away the bulk of the bolts of cloth before he had Mind 2… or maybe M2 would work better? Yeah, that would work.

Anyways, he quickly used [True Creation] to make a several blocks of sneaker-quality rubber. Well, vulcanized rubber, anyways. With that done, he quickly made some stainless steel, then a pile of laces. Five minutes later, he had two pairs of shoes for each of the girls. Though, the pair for Qyress were a bit different, as they were more sandal than sneaker due to her almost avian feet.

With that done, he quickly used [Ectoplasmic Creation] to make some temporary boxes for the shoes, pre-labelled with each of their names, then packed the shoes up. Once that was done, he instructed a few constructs to bring them to the mess hall and leave them on the tables there for the girls to find.

Then he facepalmed.

Ten minutes later, he added a dozen socks for each of them to the pile.

Now that that was done, he got back to work on the dairy, which was a bit more complicated than he’d initially thought. Mostly, he wondered what bacterial culture they’d use for the cheeses, then just gave up. They knew what they were about, so he’d trust them.

Then the next thought nearly had him wanting to forget it.

How would they… milk themselves? Did they do it like the farmers of old? Or did they have some sort of pump they’d developed, much like breastmilk pumps back on Earth? Not looking forward to that conversation with Shae’ra, he filed it away for later. Much, much, later if he could help it.

After making a few butter churns and a few vats that could be heated via enchantments, he added a few supermarket-style refrigerators with large doors. He then made a few milk tanks, just in case they needed them, along with a couple hundred glass bottles with lids.

Then, after making sure that the plumbing was up to snuff, he left, hoping that he wouldn’t need to go in while they were gathering the milk they’d be using…. Well, mostly. He was still a man, after all. A very curious man.

Shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts, he made his way to the apartment building and went inside. He went up and down the hall on each floor and found that not a single person had moved in last night, disappointing him a bit.

Well, given what Avi said last night, I guess that I shouldn’t be surprised, he mused as he looked out a window at the end of the hall. It looked out at his house, matching it for height. The sun was just coming up now, which meant that everyone would be getting up and the women or Kirkwall would be arriving once more.

He went back downstairs and made his way to the mess hall and found that the ladies had indeed arrived, but also that the girls had arrived. He smiled as they variously looked at the shoes, inspected them, or tried them on. He was glad that he’d [Delve]’d each one when he got their psychic imprints for the rings. That he could make them shoes that fit just right for them made him pretty happy, for he knew just how torturous ill-fitting shoes could be.

He made his way over to Celys, surprised that she was once more in attendance. After a quick conversation, he found out that she’d basically hired the single women of Kirkwall who didn’t have very many daily duties to help out at his place. Which made sense, given how much time they were spending there. She’d also procured more food stuffs for the day, which was nice of her.

So, he passed her the fee from last night as well as a Grade B Core to compensate for their time and the food. Once again, she protested, but he pretty much ignored her protests as he walked off in search of the trio.

Who were easier to find than he’d thought. They looked to be having fun trying on their new shoes, one normal cut with four laces, one high-topped with six laces.

“Say,” he said to get their attention, making the three of them jump. “Once you’re done with breakfast, could you come with me for a bit?” he asked, a little confused at their intense reactions.

“Y-yes, young master,” Arise said, stepping forward then bowing to him from the waist.

“Ah, none of that,” he said, feeling a bit awkward. “It’s just Joram. I’ll meet you at the front gate,” he said, then hurried outside.

Once he was at the front gates, he idly wondered if he should just walk to town with the three of them, or if he should quicken the trip by making some transportation. On the one hand, walking would allow time for them to chat and get to know one another better. On the other hand, he wondered if making the trip faster would be a better idea given how flustered they’d seemed at his request.

Then, just going with it, he decided to make one of those bike and buggy things. The bicycle being attached to the passenger buggy with an articulating shaft, making turning much easier. Then, the buggy’s seat would have to have a low back to accommodate their wings…. An awning… covering… thingy would also be good to keep off direct sunlight and any rain that might fall. Yes, that would do nicely….

So, the bike was made with the standard twenty-one gears he’d been used to using growing up, while the buggy’s seat was made to be both plush and firm, allowing for long-term comfort. Nodding, he finished up then hopped onto the bike to get a feel for it. It wasn’t bad, especially with the disc brakes….

Thinking about it more, he’d need to make brakes for the buggy itself, as momentum and mass weren’t anything one should ignore. Looking at how everything connected, he was fairly certain that he’d need a lot of strength to use the same cable-powered brakes that were on the bike portion….

So, he changed it up. The brakes went from being on the bike’s wheels to the two-wheeled buggy. The cables got much longer, and understandably thicker to accommodate how much tension would be needed to make effective use of them. The brake itself changed from a disc-style to a sort of clamp-style that he attached to the axel instead of the wheel. The bonus was that the brake pad wouldn’t wear out anywhere near as fast as even car brakes because of the bonus durability from his Title and Achievement.

Nodding at work well done, he turned to find the trio already waiting for him, mouths hanging open.

“Ah-hahahaha, let’s get loaded up,” he said, laughing nervously as he helped them into the buggy before stepping behind the buggy.

No buggy would be complete without a little spot for luggage. He quickly made a small chest and dropped seven thousand silver coins inside for his trip to the bank. He once more got gaping looks from the three women, so he quickly made his way to the bike and started peddling.

After a minute of peddling, he thought that maybe he should start a conversation, but had absolutely no idea how to break the ice after getting looked at like that. So, he kept quiet as he peddled, pleased that it was at least a smooth ride. Even when using the weird braking system he’d made, he found that it worked pretty good as he slowed down as they approached the west gate.

“What’s this new thing here?” one of the guards called out as he got close.

“Ah, just another experiment,” he said, trying not to feel too embarrassed at the attention, mostly because he was the one who’d both decided to make the thing and to take it to town.

“Well, it looks fun. Let me know if you’re giving out rides later,” the guard said, giving him a bright smile, making him realize just how pretty she was.

“Will do,” he said, then hurried up again, soon leaving the wall behind.

In fact, getting to the bank was- of course- much faster than it had ever been. Once there, he helped the gals down and retrieved the small chest from the back of the buggy.

He was a bit surprised that they still hadn’t said anything yet, but then supposed that they were probably a bit shy given how many looks they were getting.

“Come on,” he said, using his head to nod towards the bank as he headed inside.

Inside, he was a bit surprised at the looks they all received. The guys looked, predictably, fairly interested in the gals. But the women looked slightly… appraising. Guarded? He didn’t know, but didn’t let it bother him as he went up to the counter where the first guy who’d helped him when he’d gotten his ID stepped up to speak with him.

“How may I help you today?” the clerk asked, as professional as ever.

“Well, I’d like to get three more IDs and to make another deposit,” he said, using his chin to first point at the gals then at the chest he was carrying.

The clerk gave him an odd look before nodding slowly.

“We can certainly help you with your deposit but, unfortunately, we aren’t able to provide identification cards for demons, sir,” he said apologetically.

“Why’s that?” he asked, now suspecting racism.

“It’s the law of the kingdom, sir. Demons aren’t recognized as friendly entities. As such, they’re only tolerated as slaves,” the clerk said, looking a bit uncomfortable.

“OK,” he said, thinking. “Can they get a bank account?”

“No, sir.”

“As slaves, can they perform errands for me?”

“Yes?”

“Can they, say, come to the bank and make deposits or withdrawals for me?” he asked, trying to see just how much they’d be allowed to do.

“If you’ve given permission, then yes,” the clerk replied, looking a bit uncertain.

“Then how can they prove that I’ve given them permission?”

“We staff would remember,” the clerk replied, looking even more uncomfortable now.

“Well, what if I’m in another town or city? How would they go about helping me with my banking there?”

“They would need a slave card,” a woman said as she approached.

Joram looked over to her and noted her professional attire, what looked almost like a pants suit combo, though closer to what he’d expect to see on someone in the 18th Century in England, and on a man. Her hair was done up in a neat bun, as red as the tips of Asami’s ears.

“Hello, I’m Zerava Farshonne, bank manager,” she said, extending her hand for him to shake, so he did.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, giving her his second-best smile.

“The pleasure is all mine, Joram Smith,” she said with a brilliant smile of her own. “The [Hero] of Kirkwall is always welcome.”

“I’m not a [Hero],” he said, embarrassed.

“You many not have the Path, but you certainly have the heart for it,” Zerava said as she continued to smile at him. “You’ve saved Kirkwall and many of the people who call it home. That’s a [Hero] in my books. Not only that, but you’ve also gained the favour of Asami Miki.”

He really didn’t know what to say, so he coughed and changed the subject.

“So, about how these gals can get some sort of proof of having permission to do banking on my behalf?” he asked, hoping that he didn’t sound near as desperate as he felt.

“There is actually a sort of identification that will allow such,” Zerava said, nodding. “We haven’t ever used them here, so I’ll have to dig them out from the storage room. But it’s effectively a tag that you would add to their slave collars that holds your information and theirs on it. That way they would just need to present the tag to any teller, or clerk, and they’d be able to conduct business on your behalf,” she finished, having shifted into a more business-like tone as she spoke.

“That sounds good,” he said, then turned to the three gals. “What do you think?” he asked, not wanting to force anything on the three of them.

In fact, he wasn’t planning on having them be errand girls for him. No, if they could access his account while out and about, then they’d be able to get any money the needed for whatever they were planning on getting. Since the other girls now each had an ID and an account, he didn’t want the three gals to feel as though they were being left out, or feel as though they were second-rate compared to the others.

“If that’s what the young master wished, then we would be happy to help,” Fyrellia said with a slight bow, answering for them this time.

“Well, let’s do that then,” he said, then remembered the chest that he was holding. “Oh, and I have seven thousand silver coins to deposit, if that’s all right?”

“Certainly,” Zerava said, having taken over for the other guy already. “It may take a little while to confirm the amount deposited, though, as your deposit from yesterday is still being counted,” she said with an apologetic smile that also seemed to convey that it was his fault that it would take so long.

“That’s fine, that’s fine,” he said, waving it off with a shake of his head. “Where would you like me to set this down?” he asked, looking around.

“Since you’ve kindly offered, then please follow me to the back,” Zerava said with a bright smile while motioning for him to follow.

He stepped around the counter and followed her down a short hall, then turned right. There, he saw what looked like an olde-time bank vault… which translated to a barred room in this world. As he approached, he could feel mana practically radiating off the bars, telling him that they were heavily enchanted, relieving him somewhat.

“Just inside,” Zerava said, motioning to a spot just to the left of the door.

“So,” he said, standing up again after placing the chest in the requested spot. “I also have a couple of Crystal Cores that I’d like you to look at, if that’s all right,” he said, getting a surprised look from her.

“Certainly,” she said, motioning for him to follow her once again.

He soon found himself in her office, sitting across from her at her desk. Not wanting to waste any more time, he withdrew five Dust Crystals, though of the “Grade B” quality, and placed them on her desk.

Since they were somewhat smaller than a normal Core, she gave him a dubious look before picking one up to take a closer look. After a few moments, she opened a desk drawer and retrieved a small… plate.

It was octagonal in shape and reminded him a bit of an ancient Chinese Taoist… compass? Feng-shui thingy? Anyways, it was covered in arcane symbols whose meaning completely eluded him. What’s more, there was what looked like a compass needle in the centre with a shallow bowl supported by eight narrow legs just above the centre of the plate.

Zerava placed the Dust Crystal inside that shallow bowl and watched as the needle slowly turned until it stopped just under a fifth of the way around the plate, making her raise her eyebrows in astonishment.

“Where did you get this, if I may ask?” Zerava more stated than asked as her gaze turned to him, sparkling.

“I’ve been messing around with [Cleanse],” he said, shrugging, and hoping that he appeared as casual as he hoped. “These came out smaller than the others, so I was wondering how they’d be evaluated.”

Zerava looked at him for a few moments before standing up, walking around her desk, and closing the door behind him. She then touched a panel on the side of the door before returning to her chair.

“Because you’re the [Hero] of Kirkwall, I’ll give you some advice,” she said, suddenly looking deathly serious. “Don’t tell anyone that you can do that,” she said, motioning towards the Dust Crystals on the desk. “I heard that you’re not from around here, so your common sense might not be the same as ours. But, if anyone finds out that you can make those, you’re going to get kidnapped then enslaved to produce those for the rest of your life.”

“What’s so special about them?” he couldn’t help but ask, even though it showed how ignorant he was about them.

“Aside from their unusually small size, they’re considered high-grade, Grade B Crystal Cores. Do you know what Crystal Cores are used for?” she asked, looking as though she knew what he’d say.

“No, not really,” he said, shrugging and hoping for all he was worth that he looked as insouciant as he was hoping to come off as.