While the fiend and his mistress were busy shopping, the adventurers had set sail again. Hunting not goblins, but rather something more tame. Herbs and mushrooms as described in a fetching quest. Bearing neither blade nor claws, the subject could barely hurt them if it could hurt them at all.
Plucking mushrooms from the base of the Kesmer root, polishing their fingers with grease before snapping the unassuming yet poisonous flowers of Heylin's grotto, and most important of all, keeping their hands clean with dried soap napkins that they kept on a shared basket. The collection was grand today, but the downcast expression on everyone's face could easily make one wonder if a funeral were being held.
Both Audrey and Roxanne were tired from talking to Rudy last night. Nothing seemed to affect him back then, but at least now, he seemed somewhat more present in the moment. As for Charlotte, she simply kept her eyes peeled and watched over their surroundings. All four of her blades equipped on hands and tail; ready to strike down anyone and anything that tries to get closer to her party.
The look of subtle frustration was apparent on her face, making it so nobody spoke to her or even made a sound so as not to disturb her. However, a quiet mind could only go on being hush for so long, and as Rudy looked at Charlotte's back, he decided to speak up.
"I'm sorry about last night," he said, his eyes focusing on his aunt.
As the screen of lewd stats appeared abruptly, however, his focus quickly wandered. Turning his head back to the ground, he busied himself with the task at hand. Not wanting to read either hers or that of anybody else, he'd kept his head lowered and even refrained from looking at them for the draw of those wretched stats was otherwise too much.
"Just do the work, Rudy…" Too tired to complain, Charlotte tried to avoid small talk.
Upon hearing her voice again, however, the young hero couldn't help but look at her again. To his surprise, his aunt was a virgin with zeros in every slot except one. Which just so happened to be kisses, something she used to shower him plenty of when he was young. Beyond that, the intimate kissing, or rather the section with tongue kisses, was empty as well.
Shaking his head, he quickly looked away again.
'What's up with that list anyway?' Thinking back on his stats, he had noticed something strange yesterday. A section cut off with a jumble of inscriptions that made little sense to him. The language seemed archaic, and whenever he tried to talk about his, no words could escape through his lips. 'First that slave woman and now this, what's been happening lately?'
Troubled by the last few days, Rudy tried to shut his mind, but before he could, Roxanne brushed her hand against him to get his attention.
"Just so you know," whispering in his ear, she glanced at him sideways while plucking another mushroom from the tree's base. "It will be a long time before she forgives you, you know? If anything happened to you, who do you think would have to take the blame?"
Slowly turning his head towards Roxanne, he responded.
"I didn't mean to trouble any of you, I just–"
"Tell that to your mother," speaking from his left, Audrey chimed in on the conversation. "She called me all sorts of names when you were trapped in that dungeon. And if you'd died, she would've made my life even more miserable."
"What are you talking about?" He asked, visibly confused by Audrey's blabber.
"What do you think?" Squinting her eyes, the fox girl looked right into Rudy's eyes. "She hates me, Rudy. Maybe she doesn't say that in front of you, but trust me, she'd made that clear enough in front of everyone else. So please… don't try to get yourself killed because if that happens she might just kill me next!"
"Shut up, all of you, your voice might attract monsters," Charlotte complained, her voice calmer than anyone could've expected.
She didn't want to yell, especially after their last blunder in the forest. Taking note of the demi-human's restraint, the others fell quiet as well. However, as time went on, Rudy could not help but turn his head to see more of everyone's stats. A streak of red remained constant on his cheek as he read it all, but from the look of it, much like him, the girls were also virgins with no experience at all.
'I don't know why, but I feel relieved that nothing weird showed up.' Roxanne was one thing, but even Audrey's stats being clear brought a strange sense of comfort to him. He tried not to look too deeply into it since she was his step-sister, and finding out why he felt the way that he did would only make their relationship more tense or awkward.
Returning his mind to the gathering of mushrooms and flowers, Rudy tried not to think about anything. Not the people he was surrounded by, nor the memories of the last few days, nor the monstrous realization from last night that even he could be a monster in someone else's life. A mindless chore was perfect for such a feat; no thinking was required, just the plucking of flora and fungus.
Though the minds of his companions were split in two. Some still angry at him, others wondering how they could heal their mental wounds. The one thinking of healing was, sure enough, the healer of their party. Her eyes kept glancing at the young hero, a friend since childhood, and whose affection for her everyone but her knew.
'How do I even talk to him about this?' Having never seen Rudy as a potential partner, she didn't want him to chase her forever. 'Maybe soon, once the dust has settled on this whole thing.'
Making a vow to herself to tell him the truth, she returned her mind to work. A heartbreak was waiting for the young hero, but blind as he was, he failed to see that there were options around him, options that also saw him as a potential partner…