Chapter 83
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Next Schedule (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Alright, let's eat dinner and have a meeting."
"Yeees~"
Back at the lodging, we all had dinner together, then called our comrades into Claude's and my room—just like we did during the day—to talk about everything that happened.
"Hey, Cain!! I went shopping with sis and bought clothes and cute underwear and all sorts of stuff!!!"
"Yeah?"
"S... Sia?!"
"Yep!! Loren sis's panties are like thiiiis... Mmph!!!"
Though she wasn't the same age, Loren looked young enough to pass for Sia's peer, and Sia was so thrilled about their shopping trip together that she was about to describe the design of Loren's new underwear—only for Loren to frantically cover her mouth.
Before long, Loren handed me a detailed list of everything she'd bought, like an itemized invoice.
"Oh... Looks like you put some real effort into organizing this."
"Hmph! I have to be able to handle at least this much!"
Her ears fluttered happily at my praise.
What an easy read.
"Good. From now on, you can help me split the paperwork and stuff like this."
"W... Well, as long as I'm not too busy, I'll help out."
I'd given her a budget of 5 silver, and seeing that she'd bought clothes, underwear, and daily necessities without getting ripped off, I turned to Claude.
"Claude, did you help her out?"
"Huh? Well... yeah, hahaha!"
The guy who usually skimped on shopping out of laziness must've gone full cheapskate mode, grilling the shop clerks every time.
"Here, Loren."
"Hm? What's this?"
"Herbs and plants that the potion workshop buys directly. Do you know what any of these are?"
"M... Moonflower at this price?! And then..."
Loren's voice began to tremble as she looked over the paper from the potion workshop.
"What's wrong? Too outrageous, or too hard to find?"
"N... No!! You know that gathering zone, right?!"
"Yeah."
"More than half the stuff listed here is there!"
"Really?"
Alchemists sometimes hired explorers to gather materials outside the city or posted requests, but half or more in the gathering zone?
"Nice. When we're staying in the city, you'll handle gathering herbs and such. Looking at the rates, direct trades like this should make us more money than taking guild gathering quests."
"G... Got it! Leave it to me!!!"
I continued as I watched her beam with pride.
"Oh, speaking of which, let's go over our group funds and profit shares again."
"Huh...!"
"Mmph."
"P... Profit shares? What's that, Cain?"
With our comrades back and Claude's screw-up to account for, it was time to straighten things out.
"Everyone, look at this paper."
I wrote down the numbers and slowly explained to the group.
"With Loren joining, our lodging and food costs have gone up a bit. For ten days with four people: 14 silver."
Two rooms for ten days plus breakfasts—3 silver 3 coppers base for three people, 20 meals at 7 silver, totaling 10 silver. Loren bumped it up by about 4 silver.
"Claude's gear installments: 3 silver a month."
Scribble scribble scribble—
"Consumables... We could cut back more, but let's budget 3 silver loosely for now."
Camella was now supplying unlimited consumables, so no real cost there, but we'd earmark it as spare funds for discussion.
"Anyway, after subtracting all that, we split the remaining amount monthly: half to group funds, the rest divided by headcount."
"Mmph...!"
"Claude's recent screw-up means he only gets one-tenth of his share; the rest goes to group funds."
"Why?"
"Hm?"
Sia and Loren glanced at Claude, then tilted their heads at me.
"It was a pretty bad mess, so he owes compensation. Anyway, Loren joining won't change how we split profits."
"Got it!!!"
"Yeah..."
"Hm... Cain. Didn't you say we'd all train in the Labyrinth together?"
"Oh, yeah, we should cover that too. Money from solo requests or side gigs in the city is yours to keep—no group funds required, but don't add more than half if you do. As long as it doesn't mess up our explorations, use side earnings however you want."
"Ah..."
"That's why I'm putting Loren on gathering duty."
"Aah!!!"
As an elf, she'd have sharper eyes than us for spotting herbs anyway, and her expertise would make it a nice side income.
If she got too caught up earning from side gigs and stalled on her swordsmanship, I'd just send her to a training hall. That's the real reason I assigned her gathering.
Loren caught on and grabbed my hand, thrilled beyond words.
"Thank you!! Really, thank you, Caaaain!!"
"Hee hee, sis..."
"..."
"A... aaaah!! What am I doing? Sorry, Cain. Ahem!!!"
Even Sia gave an awkward smile at Loren's total character collapse, and we all laughed as we wrapped up the meeting with more chit-chat.
Before bed, I snuck into Sia's room. We nibbled and sucked each other dry in all the right places before I headed back to crash—only for Claude to mutter.
"Tomorrow's gonna be fun."
"What?"
"Training with Loren."
"You know it's sparring with me first, right?"
"Fuck... Why's sparring with you getting harder every time?"
Why? 'Cause I stole your swordsmanship blessing, so your patterns are obvious as hell.
"How should I know? Maybe 'cause you're a moron?"
"Wanna die?"
"So, how was the tail-end last night?"
"Urk...!"
No alert after introducing Loren means she's already fallen. Guess it doesn't matter if the guy's into her afterward.
Shame she got one-shot into conquest. Tsk.
"No, seriously, I'm curious. How was it?"
"Well... first off..."
Claude closed his eyes dreamily, his philtrum stretching as his face turned more punchable by the second. Annoyed, I pulled the blanket over me and rolled away.
"Forget it. Hate seeing your face get gross like that. Tell me later."
"You asshole!"
The next morning, the open lot behind the lodging was abuzz from the start.
After breakfast, Claude and I had our intense 30-minute spar, followed by endurance training. Claude had been humming happily at first since he'd be training one-on-one with Loren, but...
"Huff! Hah!! L... Loren..."
"No! Leader, lower body is key—fix your stance!"
"St... stop...!"
"What? Only two hours in and you're tapped? Ha...!"
He crumbled in under an hour to Loren's brutal 150-year regimen.
Two hours later, Loren gazed down at the gasping Claude like a disappointed squad leader. I approached them.
"Loren."
"Hm? Something up, Cain?"
"Think you tailored the training too much to your own standards."
"I... Is that so?"
"Yeah. We're strong despite weak basics, sure, but your intensity is a bit much even for humans."
"I hadn't considered that... Sorry."
She pondered my words, then bowed in apology.
"No need to apologize—just adjust going forward."
"Right... Leader, rest up. We'll try again this afternoon."
She turned from apologizing to me to telling Claude they'd train more later.
"Hah... huff! Th... this afternoon too? I..."
"Hm? I heard from Cain you'd train all day."
"Loren, let Claude handle afternoons himself. You and I need to go gear shopping like we talked about yesterday."
"G... Gear!!"
Her ears perked up again, just like when she first heard about it.
"Yeah. And starting tomorrow, spend afternoons with Sia heading to the gathering zone and foraging."
"Ah... I see."
"Sia won't help much with focus issues, but it builds her stamina just going back and forth. Plus, she likes you, so it'll help you two bond."
"B... bond.. gulp!! Yeah, got it!!!"
Her face flushed at the thought of getting closer to Sia. Maybe have them fool around later?
The real reason for pairing Sia with Loren was to let Sia’s endless chatter clue her in on our subtle dynamic.
Loren already vaguely sensed Sia's innocence. Toss in a love triangle? Sia hadn't fully grasped her feelings yet, but a nudge or two from Loren could spike her Hitomi score from this stagnant level.
Loren's porn-addled brain might spout nonsense and sway Sia, but I could re-educate her first.
Me straight-up saying, "You like me!" lacked punch with her Claude feelings tangled. But an outsider pointing it out? Sia would flip.
"Wanna loop the zone with Sia and grab lunch?"
"Y... Yeah, got it. Sia!"
"Heek...! Heek... Siiiis..."
Loren stepped past Claude sprawled on the ground and approached Sia, who was lightly jogging the lot's perimeter.
"Her form... it's amazing. Really solid."
"Hee hee, Cain taught me... Huff..."
"Oh... impressive..."
Loren assisted Sia, extending her run a bit more, and morning training wrapped. After lunch, we split off.
Claude crashed for a rare break, Sia rolled around her room, and Loren and I prepped to head out. We met in front of the lodging.
"Oh, cute. Something from yesterday?"
"Y... Yeah."
Her old elf traditional clothes felt plain; this green dress suited outings better.
Alone together, she twisted shyly like a bashful maiden. Adorable.
"Underwear too?"
"Eh?"
I stared right through her crotch, and her face turned beet red.
The blush faded quick as her expression turned coy, her words stumbling.
"If you're... so curious, just... strip me and see... Hmph!"
Headache. What character is this now?