The next morning had sadly been normal. Despite heavy teasing from me and Piper, neither Aria nor Maxwell were blushing any more than usual, so I suspected they hadn't gone much farther than making out. Still, it was quite nice to see that they had actually crossed the threshold into becoming an actual couple. I still didn't understand how sharing a tent was any different than sharing a bedroom at the inn, and no one would elaborate on the reasoning for me. Must be a cultural difference again. Aria seemed really happy with the turn of events though. She was positively chipper, and even Maxwell's typically gruff expression softened a little.

  "We're back from the Hunter's Association," Maxwell said as he sat down at the table. Aria and Maxwell had spared us the trouble of going to the association again this morning. The two of them had gone to see if they were going to approve his claim on the umber hound.

  "Any luck?" Piper asked.

  Maxwell smiled. "Got one of them. I managed to talk them into giving me the biggest one in exchange for releasing the other two to them."

  "This might be a dumb question, but why can they claim the other two at all? Wasn't it our kill?" I asked.

  "They were serious about keeping them so they could investigate the changes on the path to Fallow. The Hunter's Association doesn't do it very often, but they technically can demand you let them keep anything found on a mission they're involved with in exchange for its market value. I kept the largest one, the female, and they paid me ten tigers for the other two after splitting it with Valkin's group," Maxwell said.

  Iris nearly spit her drink out when she heard the amount of money we were given. I chuckled at her, but the others ignored the distraction.

  "How are we going to split that?" Piper asked.

  Maxwell laughed. "That's a good question. There's a few ways we could go about it. What do you think, Helena?"

  "Why not just split it evenly? Not including Iris, of course," I replied.

  Maxwell put a bag of coins between us on the table. "Well, we could do that, but you, Luna, and Aria are the ones that fought the umber wolves with Valkin and Norrik."

  I shrugged. "We wouldn't have been able to go at all if you two hadn't stayed to guard the caravan, and Piper's healing was vital after we returned. But even if that weren't the case, I think we should split rewards evenly when possible."

  "Well, there lies the problem," Maxwell said. "Is it an even split if I am using the materials from the remaining umber hound we claimed? It was different from the other one. You killed that yourself, so other than a little bit of treating, I had no claim on it. I technically don't have a claim on this one either, but I still want to use it."

  I looked at Luna for help. She shrugged and spoke to all of us using the rings. ("In a way, we already talked about this kind of thing when we were originally dividing loot. I guess it will be good to refresh the conversation with Aria and Iris here, but I thought we were still operating under the plan of splitting anything that we don't need and giving whoever needs something the most, first choice.")

  Piper nodded. "That's why Maxwell is hesitating though. This thing is valuable enough that he thinks he shouldn't get a share of the remaining money."

  "Ah, I see," I said. "Well... ten divides more evenly to five than four though..." Iris laughed at my response.

  Maxwell gave me a look. "Are you serious? We can split it into bears. That doesn't matter."

  Luna nodded. ("If you think the umber hound is valuable enough, then we'll divide the rest of the money between us without giving you a cut. In exchange, we won't ask for anything from the umber hound corpse. Fair enough?")

  Maxwell nodded. "That's what I was thinking."

  I shook my head. "That's fine with me, but I think you're overthinking things."

  "I disagree," Piper said cutting in. "If we don't try to maintain fairness the entire time, things could blow up later. Maxwell is doing this now so a... debt isn't built up between us, so to speak. Now that we paid off the rings, it's not like we're really saving up for anything anymore. Even Luna's silent casting is mostly taken care of, right?" she asked Luna.

  ("There is still more instruction that might be valuable from a fire caster, but I think I have things under control. I've had some trouble weaving the sound into my magic efficiently because I can't vocalize things myself, but I'm already seeing improvements in my speed. Currently, I'm still making better use of the ring Helena got me from the jeweler in Fallow though. I'm not sure if silent casting is much of a priority anymore,") Luna explained.

  "I still need to pay to actually have the pelt fashioned into armor, but after that, I'll be fully ready to delve deep into the Ironcastle dungeon," Maxwell said.

  "Before we go deep into Ironcastle, we need to get Iris going first anyway," Aria said glancing at the mousekin. "The early kills in particular will be necessary to empower her."

  "There's also the matter of getting a... what did Vera call it? A grimoire for utility wind magic," I added.

  ("Grimoires can be expensive... Maybe we should put the money into that first,") Luna suggested.

  Iris sat up now that the conversation had begun to focus on her. "I don't want you to spend so much on me! You're already doing a lot to be taking me with you. I... don't want to be in your debt like that either..."

  "That's not exactly accurate, Iris," Maxwell interjected. "The grimoire would be for you, but really, it's for us. No offense, but if we take you now, you'll be deadweight. At least a grimoire would help you grow into becoming more useful to us over time. It's an investment in you now, so you can help us more later."

  Iris's big mouse ears went back. "That... makes sense. But I still feel bad that you're doing so much for me. First checking my affinities and now this..."

  "Affinities?" Someone asked while walking into the bar. I turned around to see Milana come in. "What are you talking about? Sounds interesting," she asked.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Maxwell looked at me and I shrugged at him in response. "Should we let her join us?"

  "Sure, pull up a chair, Milana. We're talking about Iris here. We had her tested for magic affinities at the association yesterday and now we're talking about looking for a grimoire for her," Maxwell said.

  Milana grabbed a nearby chair and sat down while Maxwell began to divide the coins up into four even cuts for us. "Oh! Did she get anything interesting?" she asked.

  "Wind magic and two uncommon affinities. She'll grow into a strong mana pool though," I told her.

  "Hmm, could be better. Reminds me of my sister, to be honest. Though, she didn't even get anything as useful as wind magic." Milana looked down at the young mousekin. "You're serious about taking the girl with you?" she asked.

  I sighed. "We are. I didn't want to just abandon her. The others talked me into bringing her into the dungeon though. I don't think it's a good idea. I would rather she do something out here where it's safer."

  "The girl is an orphan, correct?" Milana asked.

  "Yes, ma'am," Iris replied.

  Milana shrugged. "If you're serious about helping her, I don't think it's a bad idea. I do agree that getting her a wind magic grimoire would help her a lot. Even if she didn't have a strong mana pool, wind magic is incredibly useful and versatile. If you protect her in the early floors, Ironcastle's dungeon is a good place to train her from everything I've heard of it. The first few floors are predictable enough to keep her safe, and they aren't nearly as packed as the ones in Fallow. A little bit of training and she'll be very useful to you."

  "Do you think so?" Iris asked earnestly.

  She nodded. "I've traveled with a wind mage before. I thought he was kind of an idiot at first, he was so carefree and lazy, and I thought that his magic would make it harder to cast without interference. But as it turned out, his magic repeatedly turned away trouble for us. Beasts didn't come near, he was able to warn us of trouble long in advance, we constantly had the wind at our back, which made our trip faster, and the one time we did get into a fight with him around, his magic combined with mine and made it more powerful. I grew a new appreciation for wind magic. It doesn't seem to do a lot on its own at first glance, but little things add up over time."

  "That sounds amazing!" Iris said. "The lady at the association, Miss Vera, taught me how to use the wind blade spell, but I can only use it twice in a short time."

  Milana nodded. "Wind magic doesn't have a lot of offensive power on its own, and wind blade isn't much when compared to the early water, ice, and fire offensive spells for the amount of mana it uses, but wind magic grows to be very powerful if you approach it with a creative mindset. I'm sure working with Luna will help you both... ah, but the ring issue..."

  "Turns out, when they paid off the debt they owed, the person who sold them to her gave us an extra one," I told Milana.

  Maxwell elbowed me. "Don't tell people about the expensive things we have."

  I shoved him back. "She was there for the lightning thing. I don't think it's a problem."

  Piper laughed at our antics and shook her head. "Well, thanks for the input, Milana. You've helped put me at ease a little. I've also been worried about bringing her along, but if you think she can actually grow to be useful, I think it'll be worth taking her with us."

  Milana smiled and nodded. "Not a problem. I would recommend one other thing though. You should buy her a bow. One thing I learned from that wind mage was that even small amounts of mana could make her deadly with a bow, given proper training. That man was able to hit things well out of the range of most other people with high accuracy. At long enough distances, he could even correct what would have been missed shots using his magic. It was frightening to see."

  "Hey! No fair, I don't wanna be replaced by Iris!" Aria said jokingly.

  Milana smirked. "With some practice, I'm sure Iris could correct your missed shots as well. Think of it, two deadly archers that never miss and a fire mage that can spread her fire far in any direction she wishes."

  Aria's eyebrows went up. "Well... we'll have to find her a good bow then."

  "I've never used a bow before... Is it hard?" Iris asked hesitantly.

  "Yep! But don't worry, I'll show you what to do!" Aria said happily.

  Maxwell cleared his throat. "Miss Milana, do you happen to know of any good stores that may sell an appropriate grimoire for the girl?"

  She shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. This is my first time in Ironcastle. After asking around a little, you're most likely to find what you're looking for closer to the castle where the richer stores are."

  He nodded. "Well, I suppose that this has been enough chatter for today. It looks like we have a bit of spending to do. We need to find some gear that will fit the girl, commission a new armor for myself, find a place that sells the right grimoires, find a bower, and pick up a few odds and ends before we take her on her first delve tomorrow."

  "Tomorrow?!" Iris squeaked.

  Piper reached over the table and ruffled the girl's hair. "No sense in putting it off. The sooner we get you up to speed, the sooner you'll be pulling your own weight! Looks like we have lots of shopping to do today!"

  Luna, Aria, Piper, and I picked up our split bags of money and put them with the rest of our things as we started to get up from the table.

  "Before you go, Luna. Will you be around tonight? I'd like to get your help with something," Milana asked.

  Luna tilted her head. ("Ask her what she needs.")

  I relayed the message and Milana smiled in response. "I'd like your help with my sister. After some testing during our trip, I've found that she is indeed compatible with the... beads all of you found. I'd like your help in teaching my sister to manipulate the magic. I think she may be able to channel it into her arrows. I don't have the affinity for it, but after watching you handle the beads, I'm sure you'll be able to help her. We could work something out as payment, but I believe it might be good practice for you as well."

  Luna smiled. ("Alright! Sounds exciting. Tell her I'll do it.")

  I nodded to Luna and turned to Milana with a smile. "See you tonight then."

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