Penicillium - Chapter Thirty-Five
I was taken aback by the question. I wasn't expecting to have to give a performance review now that we were out of the dungeon proper. "Uh, yes, yes, I'm very satisfied. You went above and beyond what I could have asked for. Certainly more than what I paid you for."
Phillipe grinned. "Thank you," he said. "You were... one of my more interesting customers. Now, if you could repeat what you told me at the delver's guild as part of a review, that would be quite helpful."
I barked a laugh. "Sure," I said. "I should be heading back that way soon enough anyway. It wouldn't hurt to stop in and leave a positive review. Do they actually help?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "A little. On rare occasions a client will be very discerning and look for someone with a very particular set of skills and experiences. Usually those people will pay a premium to get exactly what they want, and their kind of mission is always more interesting than the next standard dive."
"Well, here's hoping the review gets you more of those," I said.
Phillipe nodded.
"Did— did you want anything else?" I asked.
He rubbed at his chin. "No. I don't think so. If you can pass by the guild within the day, or tomorrow at the latest to attest to a completed mission, then that would be all for us."
"I would kill for a bath," Tyro said. "And you look like you could use one too, brat." "Brat?" I repeated.
He grinned. "Not the client any more, so I can get away with calling you what you are," he said.
"So much for that glowing review," I said. Then I waved a hand in the air, as if quoting something. "Sir Phillipe is a talented and well-mannered and experienced delver whose assistance was invaluable. But his son Tyro's a little shit."
Tyro laughed, and Phillipe chuckled along with him. I joined in too. It was kind of funny, and I could feel a lot of tension bleeding away now that we were out of the dungeon.
"This is goodbye then," Phillipe said with a nod that carried a lot of finality. "We'll be seeing each other around, I suspect."
"Yeah," I said.
I stared at the ground between Phillipe's feet until I saw him starting to turn.
Then I stepped up and wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled myself close to his side. I wasn't strong, but I squeezed as best I could anyway until a hesitant hand touched my head.
I let go in a rush, and I could feel my ears burning. That had been... ah. I turned towards Tyro and did the same to him, the teenager acting as teenaged boys did when confronted with emotional outbursts. He raised his arms above his shoulders and just stood there until I let go a second later.
"Thank you," I said.
Then I gathered up my things and ran.
I didn't know why I'd done that, at the end. Maybe some lingering emotions from Dada, maybe... I don't know. I didn't feel like exploring it either. I sniffed, rubbed at my nose, then pushed through the discordant thoughts swarming my head. What was I supposed to be doing now?
Home, I supposed.
My mom would be worried.
The farm. I'd left Bet in charge of it, but she didn't have a hundredth of my experience with the farm. And I had to stop by the guild too. I promised I'd give that review, and it was the least I could do.
The more I thought, the bigger the list of things I had to do grew. I ran, homebound, while hugging Sir Nibbles close because the fat little panbadger was the closest thing to warmth I had.
The next few hours flew in a daze. I stopped by the guild first. I was near it, so it just made sense to go there now. Besides, the memories of the delve were fresh and I knew that I occasionally had the bad habit of putting off anything paper-work related. Or I had that habit in a past life. So far I hadn't had to deal with taxes yet.
It took a few minutes, once I got to the guild, to sign off on the completed mission, ensuring that Phillipe and Tyro would get the other half of their pay. Then I asked and received a document where I could write commentary about the mission. I put some actual effort into it.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Phillipe deserved the best recommendation I could get across, so that's what I did.
Once that was done and the papers were handed back to an amused secretary to be filed away, I scampered off back across the city.
Tyro's comment about needing a bath wasn't wrong. I stank. My clothes were stained by goblin blood, grime and a fair bit of sweat, and I probably looked like I'd just worked a shift as one of those coal shovellers I was so covered in dirt.
No one bothered me on my way back through the slums, probably thanks to that exact look. Passing as a poor, dirty urchin was a fantastic way to avoid getting mugged.
I stopped by the farm on the way back, but found it locked up tight with no signs of it being disturbed, so I didn't bother sticking around any longer than I needed to. I did set down all the sample vials of new mushrooms I'd picked up in the Ditz Dungeon though. I'd get to growing those soon enough.
Then it was off to home, where I found the place disturbingly empty.
It wasn't early enough for mom to be back from work yet though. So I boiled some water after starting up the stove. A few minutes later, Sir Nibbles and I were making a mess on the bathroom floor as I tried to keep the panbadger in the bucket of warm water long enough to get the grime off of his coat.
He, of course, bit me until I let him free to run around the house splashing water across the floors.
That's what my mom walked into: me, mostly undressed, chasing after my pet who was squeaking angrily at me while clearly enjoying every minute of the chase.
Everyone froze, and the tableau held for a moment before mom pulled the door closed behind her. "Where were you?" she asked, voice low, almost raw.
"I left a note," I said.
She walked up to me, grabbed me roughly by the arm, then pulled me into a hug.
There seemed to be a lot of that going on today.
Then, of course, the screaming started.
She grounded me, threatened to tan my hide, and generally made a fuss about me running off with bad influences to get up to trouble. I didn't feel like I needed to fill her in on the exact details of what I'd actually been doing.
That would just make her worry more and... well, in a way it was nice to be screamed at. It kind of meant that she cared, at least enough to raise her voice at me. After Dada passed there had been months where she had done very little but take care of her basic needs and work. I think those had passed as a haze for her.
This was maybe her snapping out of that. Or something. I didn't have the kind of experience with psychology to really say. My own reaction to the loss had been... well, it was ongoing. Maybe that fire had turned to burning coals of resentment lately, but it was still something I was silently dealing with.
The next day, I returned to my farm early in the morning, steadfastly ignoring the fact that I was grounded. I had science to do, new mushrooms to cultivate and grow, then combine into whole new forms that might, maybe, prove useful to me.
Bet showed up early in the afternoon, with her unfolding table and cooking set up. "You're back!" she said.
"Hey," I said with a wan smile. "I am. How did things go while I was gone?" I stepped aside, letting her into the farm. She knew enough to stay in one corner of it and avoid touching anything. I might have lied to her about the dangers of mushrooms to prevent her from poking at things.
"Things went okay," she said. "I sold out quickly today. There were a lot more people at the dungeon than usual."
"Oh?" I asked. A busier day? I could think of a few reasons for that. Maybe a few new factories had popped up, or there was a bigger need for dungeon resources somewhere.
"Yeah, there were dozens of bullies, and mages, and all sorts of people," Bet said.
I felt my heart skip a beat.
"Really?" I asked, and she nodded. "Any idea why?"
She nodded. "Someone said that the things they pulled out of the dungeon were disappearing!"
***