Chapter 108 - Days CCCV - CCCX

The day started with the usual travel to the city center, and from there, to Velvet Lotus, where the meeting was about to take place.

Hailwic was guarding the door, sitting on the usual stool with her ax resting on her knees. We exchanged brief greetings, and I went inside. Blue-pink duo was this time not playing anything, just sitting on the bench, looking bored. They ignored me, but Alice, from behind the counter said:

- Morning Peter. Everybody is already there.

- Morning Alice. Thank you.

I went to the main hall, pushing the cloth to the side. Behind several put-together tables were sitting everybody with their guards, or if you prefer, companions. They didn't wait for me, and the discussion was already ongoing.

- ... and that's why I believe we should invest more time into preparations - Jayadeva finished his, probably, long speech.

- It's pointless. Those aliens made it despite being weaker than Will and Peter. We will have one of them with us and many other accomplished hunters. Juan for example - Blue argued. - We are wasting time over-preparing and ignoring potential dangers. From what we know this ball thing, the sapling, could be making people go mad slowly, and you want to sit idle here? We should go and find out.

- Maybe they were weaker, but they had the advantage of knowing the terrain.

- That's an assumption - Blue stood up and pointed his finger at Jayadeva. - You don't know that. From what I understood they couldn't even make it to the city because of our sapling, which indicates they are keeping their distance from those parts.

- We have no proof of the device making people mad. Besides, what alternative do we have? There is no food around here. No animals - Aisha joined.

- That's why I would like to reintroduce Zhang Yong's idea of greenhouses.

- You have no right to speak about him! - Hatta suddenly rose his voice, slamming his hand on the table.

That was the beginning. The beginning of the heated argument with everybody yelling at one another. This time though, I had no intention of stopping it. I rose my hand to greet Will, who has been sitting all this time in silence. He gave me a slight nod in return.

Then I headed to the right, to sit by the bar, where Vesa was warking to prepare everything for the opening tonight.

- Hi Peter.

- Morning Vesa. Where can I find Nadia?

- She is busy in the kitchen with the rest. We need to restock before opening today. Would you like something to drink?

- Yeah. A glass of water if you would be so kind.

She smiled and poured me the drink. Then she rested her elbows on the counter, leaning a bit towards me.

- This will take w while - she said looking past me, at the argument.

- Yeah. They need to solve this on their own though.

- I wasn't suggesting anything.

- You weren't? I bet your ears hurt as much as mine.

- Ok. Maybe a little suggestion, but we can't have them arguing for the whole day. We need to clean up the place.

- I'm not doing it.

She sighed.

- Fine. Let them have a brawl here.

- They won't have a brawl. Relax.

- They won't? You better take a good look before you say something like that.

I turned around after her words. All of them were standing, yelling, pointing fingers. Aisha, William, and Jayadeva tried to keep the others calm, but the rest was ready to just launch themselves. Only Nobuo and his men were sitting in complete silence. Waiting.

- Ok. Maybe I spoke too soon.

She snorted.

I finished my glass of water, then threw it at the wall. Upon collision, it exploded into thousand pieces. Everybody went quiet, looking at me.

- How about you keep it down?

- How about you stop breaking my glasses?

- I'm sorry ok? But you guys need to get your shit together. I know you all are new to this, and I also know I shouldn't be the one talking, or even sitting here since I'm, not going, but how about you let one person among you, who knows about the thing or two you might expect on the road, have a word? And how about you decide then, with a vote or something?

- It's a great idea - surprisingly Blue was the first to agree with my words.

- I agree - Nobuo broke his silence.

That was enough for them to allow Will to talk. I turned back to Vesa.

- There is no need to thank me.

- Thank you? For what? For breaking that glass, so I will have to spend the next hour looking for all the pieces? Yeah, I guess I should thank you for that.

Then she put another glass in front of me and filled it with water. I guess she wasn't that angry after all.

The meeting continued, and the decision was finally made. Although not everybody was for it, the majority won. Departure after five more days of preparations.

There was no time to waste. That day was lost, but we still had five more. Every single one was spent chasing after more class points for Will in the rats' nest.

When the last evening came, our crystal count officially hit 16 513. Divided by three meant everybody got 5 504 stones overall, with one additional, which ended in Martin's pocked, alongside every single boss one. A little bonus, which we decided was appropriate.

That gave me 660 480 more points, which I saved for now.

- The last day huh? - said Martin, looking at the sky. - That was a journey.

- What are you gonna spend them on? - asked Will.

- To get bigger and stronger - he posed showing off his bicepses.

There was something childish about him, jet I just simply liked the guy. With him, you always knew what you are gonna get. He didn't care about the politics of this place. He didn't care about winning or losing. He knew exactly who he was, and didn't pretend to be anything else.

In this new world full of shitty people, he was like a beacon of hope for me.

- You need to watch out, cause you won't fit into any door if you keep getting bigger - responded.

- I'll stop when I hit tree meters. I'm gonna be the tallest man ever! Haha!

- And what will you do after that?

- I'll find myself a woman, and we will have the tallest kids.

- That's it?

- What else do I need? I can afford a home now. Food, clothes and other necessary things are also no problem. Just a good woman, and a bunch of nice, tall kids.

All the family talk made William silent, so I attempted to switch the topic:

- So what are you gonna do now Martin? Any plans?

- I don't know. Maybe a break for a day or two, and then I'll go back to hunting. It would be fun to explore the world with you guys - he turned to Will. - But you probably don't have any vacant spot.

- Sorry. We are going in as few people as possible. Only the strong individuals.

- It's ok. There is plenty to do close to the city.

- How about we go together to the canyon? A bit of rest tomorrow, and the next day some hunting for a really big score?

- You don't have to ask me twice Peter. That sounds great.

- You are ridiculous Peter. Do you seriously ever rest? Take a week off. Blue will be out of the city. You can finally stop worrying for a moment. Besides, you should spend some time with Nadia. Not to mention it's probably too soon for our dear friend Martin.

- I'll think about it. Taking few days off from hunting, and spending them with her does sound nice.

- You are obviously new to this whole relationship thing - he came closer, to put his hand around my shoulders. - Let your good pal William, the conqueror of women's hearts, give you some advice.

- Wow. That escalated quickly. A bit too quickly for my own taste. How about we put that on hold, mister conqueror?

- You don't trust my words? I used to have three girlfriends in high school. I was what you call a playboy. Handsome, popular, smart...

- And humble - I interrupted him in the middle, and removed his hand off my own shoulders with only two fingers, like it was something stinky. - You forgot about 'humble'.

- Very funny Peter. I'm trying to help you here. Share a piece of advice. Wisdom of older, more experienced man. It's for your own good. Trust me. You won't regret it. It will change your life.

- You two should be on TV. You are born comedians - said Marting with a big smile.

- You know what, Martin? Go home. You are not helping me here - was Will's response.

German giant laughed and that's how we parted our ways. I had a dring with William that night, but we didn't talk too much. He was a bit nervous about the upcoming journey. At some point I left him, to spend some time with Nadia, and he actually found a better companion in Vesa.

I observed them talking and joking from afar. It inspired me a bit to spend at least a few days not even thinking about crystals, monsters, or hinting. Just simply focus on Nadia. She loved the idea.

Later, instead of going home, I spend the night with her. In her room.

Day ended with 1 132 701 points remaining on my account.