Stumbling Up: A Loser's Guide to Progression - Chapter 58: Family Meeting

As family meetings go, the setup for this one could have been exponentially worse. Lunch wasn't a busy time at The Velvet Box, so we had a large booth to ourselves. Mistress Del had even given us a full spread for lunch.

Apparently, she’d been grateful for the closure we’d provided.

Everything was great until Tandy revealed she’d donated most of our [Dungeon Treasure Chest] to the orphanage.

"You did what?" Leo exclaimed, bits of biscuit flying out of his mouth.

Tandy looked at him as though he was a barbarian. Reddening cheeks betrayed the sense of guilt she felt. She went on the offensive.

"You weren't there. The children were living in canvas tents, eating burned gruel for breakfast." Tandy didn't bother mentioning who'd made the gruel. Little Rust had told me it'd been the best-tasting breakfast they'd had in a while, so I kept my commentary to myself.

"But we were going to use that to gear up for the hunt." There was a flatness in Leo's voice that brooked no argument. He was pissed. And I realized there would not be a compromise that didn't involve going to the Hunt with Leo. The orphanage needed help, but I was going to have to be creative in how I executed it.

"We can still make it to the Ceaparean Drift in time, even without the money. It’s what, three weeks to get there? And we've got a little under five before the Hunt starts? Plenty of time to work a few jobs along the way. Plus, Tandy, you kept some coinage, right?" I said the words knowing that Andrew was going to insist we keep something. He'd taken on the plight of the orphanage himself, and he'd already thought any donation was too much from a fledgling [Adventurer] party.

"I've got two golds worth, twenty silver," Tandy admitted. It wasn't a ton when spread across four [Adventurers] and an [Immortal] mollusk, but it was a lot more than we'd had entering Eddie's Mill.

Leo looked as though he'd bitten a lemon.

"You gave it all away?" The anguish in his voice seemed mismatched with Tandy's actions.

"These were kids, man. We'd never let kids live in those conditions in Woodsten." I left unspoken what I was hinting at. No one had let him live in those conditions once he became an orphan. Not that Uncle Artie was an upstanding citizen, but Leo'd had a roof over his head and food on the table.

Leo looked at me, his eyes blazing. Message received.

"Look," Meredeath jumped into the conversation, putting a hand on Leo's arm. "I'm not thrilled with our wealth evaporating, but we've still got the ability to make it to the Hunt, and we've got free room and board, so we can earn more before we leave. We've got options here."

Tandy and I exchanged a look. Meredeath wasn't helping our end goal.

"So if we've got a week before we leave, what do we do with the time?" Leo asked.

I want a spa day.

"Do spas even allow slugs in?" Meredeath asked, eyebrows raised. She was obviously egging Richard on.

The four of us looked at Richard, who sat idly in front of a bowl of leafy greens. He was gumming a sprig of dandelion absently. He didn't bother replying to the jab.

"Well, thanks for that suggestion. Anyone else?" Tandy prodded.

"I think we should log the new dungeon with the Adventurers’ Guild. There's got to be a reward for finding a new dungeon." This idea came from Meredeath of all people.

"How about you, Cole?" Tandy probed. I knew what she wanted me to say.

Glancing at Leo, I put my heart on the table. "I want to help the orphanage. The house is falling apart. If we focused on fixing it up, it could really turn things around. Honestly, I thought about suggesting we stay here and help make a real difference." Leo opened his mouth to object, so I rushed the rest. "But I know how important it is for you to go to the Hunt. For us. I just want to do as much for the kids as we can before we leave."

I put my cards on the table.

"We can barely take care of ourselves, much less an entire orphanage?" Meredeath asked. She wasn't wrong, I just didn't think she'd take a hard line against 'helping orphans.' I was about to say so, but Tandy stopped me.

"Don't you feel the need to help?"

"It's not our problem. We didn't create it. This is an Eddie's Mill problem that the general populace is turning a blind eye to. No matter what we do, unless we dedicate our lives to the solution, it's only going to be a temporary fix." Meredeath used her fingers to emphasize each point, the edges of her black nails poking my heart. She wasn't wrong.

"Okay, so how do we get Eddie's Mill to care?" Tandy asked quietly, unwilling to let it go.

"Mind if I join you?" We'd been so focused on our conversation, no one noticed Mistress Del sneaking up on the table. Before anyone could respond, she pulled up a chair at the end of our booth and sat down heavily. "I can leave you be, but it sounds like you've stumbled upon an 'Eddie's Mill problem that the general populace is turning a blind eye to?’ Sounds like my kind of problem. Lucky for me, [Overhear] is a skill of my trade." She made no genuine apology for eavesdropping. Meredeath met her eyes with determination. The older woman calmly just asked, "Can you tell me about this orphanage?"

With the question, all the tension at the table melted. Meredeath looked away, tracing cracks in the wooden table as we explained.

Tandy gave me a quick grin of triumph. Both of us had hoped to bring Mistress Del into the plight of these kids. We already knew she had a soft heart, just from taking us in. Tandy and I fell over each other filling the Mistress in on the details of Eryn, Andrew, Mira, Rust and the rest of them. Even Leo softened a bit when I talked about the state of the house and Richard spending two hours just cleaning the kids up.

Mistress Del asked questions calmly, drawing out possibilities we hadn't considered. At the end of the conversation, we didn't have answers, exactly, but we had direction, an immediate plan that didn't involve Leo rushing off by himself or the abandonment of the town's orphans. Tomorrow we were going to visit the Adventurer's Guild to see what the payout was going to be for the dungeon, then bring the Mistress, Leo, and Meredeath by the orphanage.

"Well, I'm glad that's settled," Meredeath said abruptly, as though she'd been bored the whole time. "I'm going to hang out with some new friends. I'll see you all in the morning?"

"It's only settled if we leave on time," Leo said, giving us a steely gaze over his mug. He was like a dog with a bone. Nothing was going to stop him from making the Hunt. I was looking forward to it too, but it'd taken on a deeper meaning for him. Like an adventuring lifeline.

"Yeah, Leo. We hear you. We're going to go to the Hunt." I turned to Meredeath as she stood to go. "Want some company?” The look she gave me made me immediately regret asking.

"You're welcome to join me, but I'm not sure it's your scene." I got the impression she was offering out of obligation.

My heart clenched. Was I going to be brave and go with her? With the possibility of being an unwanted third wheel? Did I back down and stay with Tandy and Leo? Safe, but an outsider to this separate world Meredeath was a part of?

I jumped off the cliff.

It was time to find out what else was in the world, and it started with Meredeath.

It was time to jump — to say yes.

"Yeah, no. I want to go." The words came out less confidently than I had hoped, but I'd said them. I'd taken the leap.

Meredeath and Mistress Del exchanged a look.

"He's going to need different clothes." Mistress Del said, her nose upturned at the state of my Woodsten wool. "And some accessories."

Meredeath's eyes twinkled with mischief as she responded, "Do you have anything we could borrow?"

"Oh, honey, the lost and found has better options than this." She waved at me. The two leaned together, talking conspiratorially. Tandy rolled her eyes, scooting to get out of the bench. She was, no doubt, off to practice. Leo sat sipping his beer, looking amused.

"You want to come with us?" I asked him hopefully.

Leo smiled, taking another draft. "No, I think I'll stay here. You asked for this, bro." He leaned back, watching as the two women batted about several options, from a fishnet tank top to an eyebrow piercing.

"Eyeliner?" I blurted out, overhearing one suggestion they'd settled on.

I think eyeliner is going to be the least of your concerns. You're going to be wearing a collar by the end of the night.

Oh fuck. I wasn't sure if I'd agreed to a date, a trap, or public humiliation. Odds were good it was going to be all three.

I wonder if they’ve got a leash I could hold?