Chapter 69: Kiss

The guy Milo pointed to was a rock elemental, which usually implied bulk. They were a big people. But this one was different. He was as thin and small as Arthur. And while Arthur was a pretty good-sized person by human standards, both he and this rock elemental were tiny by boulder-people standards.

“Talca, I’m back. This is Arthur.”

“My other customer?” the rock elemental laughed. “Your friend is a harsh bargainer, kid. I’m sitting here, the fastest transport in this town, and he manages to get me to wait for you to come give your okay.”

“Yeah. Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be sorry. Most transporters won’t out-and-out cheat you, so you can always get a decent enough price. But if you’re going to be spending a week in a cramped space, it’s good to make sure that everyone is on board. That’s a good friend. And you don’t mess with that. It’s good priorities.”

Arthur was starting to like Talca. He mentally shifted getting-to-know you tactics on the spot.

“What should I know about you? Milo probably mentioned it, but I’m not from around here.”

“Well, I’m fast, but you know that. As transports go, I’m also a bit fragile. I’m a good-roads transporter whose skills lean towards speed instead of keeping the wagon in one piece.”

“What does that mean practically?”

“Under perfect conditions, I can get you out to this one’s Dad in three days. Not so perfect, a week or so. And some of the roads out that way are pretty rough. It’s a roll of the dice.”

“Oh, shut up, Talca.” Another man sitting on a much larger wagon broke in. “I move goods. You know how long it takes me to make the same trip? Three weeks. Talca isn’t lying that there’s some chance involved. But no transport class is going to get you there much faster. He makes up for the repair time in speed.”

Arthur nodded his thanks. “A lot of repairs?”

“Basically. I’ve had trips where everything went wrong and I was more or less rebuilding the whole cart on the side of the road. But overall, you should be able to count on four or five days. That’s average, even with some bumps.”

“Got it. And price?”

Talca named a figure. Arthur tried not to gasp. It would be his largest purchase ever, even more than the rune-work he had ordered that morning. It wouldn’t quite clean him out, but it would get close.

“Remember, you’re paying half of that, Arthur,” Milo said. “If you’re short, I have close to that much.”

“Phew. Yeah, forgot about that. Talca, forgive me, but that’s a good price?”

“It is. Couriers are faster than me, but they can’t carry much in terms of weight, which is why most people stick to sending just messages. The transporters can carry more weight, but they’re a lot slower. If you want to get somewhere or move something fast, I’m your best bet.” Talca opened up some kind of canteen near his side and took a drink of something that Arthur was pretty sure wasn’t actually water, grimacing as he swallowed it down. “Frankly, this isn’t a great trip for me. There’s probably not going to be a good backhaul on the way back but I have some family out that way that I can visit. That’s the honest truth.”

And it was, Arthur thought. His perception was pretty high these days, and he was getting absolutely nothing from the stat that indicated any dishonesty around Talca. Even without the stat boost, he would have been pretty sure that the rockman was shooting straight with him. Talca seemed like the kind of guy who didn’t have to lie to do good business.

“Milo, you’re good with all this?”

“I am.”

Arthur held out his hand. “Then we have a deal.”

Talca looked curiously at Arthur’s outstretched arm, then at Milo.

“Oh, you have to grab his hand and move it up and down a little. He’s an offworlder. He won’t leave unless you do it,” Milo explained.

Talca grabbed the outside of Arthur’s right hand with the palm of his left, and weakly jiggled the whole assembly a bit. Arthur decided that would have to do for now.

“Don’t worry about resting. Eat, drink, party,” Talca said. “I’ll be doing the driving tomorrow, and you’ll have plenty of time for naps.”

—

The rest of the day was mostly spent getting Milo the things he needed. They went half and half on a bag of backup toiletries, figuring that it was unlikely that they’d both lose their toothbrushes or soap. Milo already had serviceable travelling clothes, but helped Arthur pick up his before they went shopping for various Demon World equivalents of roadside snacks.

On top of what they bought for themselves, they each got a supply box of sorts from Ella, plus a box of treats for her husband that she absolutely forbade them from touching.

“I don’t care if you starve to death. I haven’t been able to cook for him in… oh, much longer than is right. Make sure he gets that. It’s the most nourishing food I can make,” Ella said.

“We will, Mom. Gods. We have food. We have food for weeks at this point. That’s if Talca doesn’t make us throw it out for being overloaded,” Milo said.

“If you throw out your father’s food…”

“Mom!”

“Fine. I’m just worried. About all three of you, really. This man seems reliable?”

“Everyone at the gate said he was.”

“Then he is. Transporters don’t lie about that. If he was all that flawed, you would have known it from the jokes alone.”

“Well, good to know,” Arthur jumped in. “Are you getting up in the morning to see us off, by chance?”

“Of course I am. Why?”

“Because, Ella, I have some place to be.” He kissed her on the cheek. “And wish me luck. Because I don’t know what’s going on, very honestly.”

“Oh, idiot boy.” She hugged him back and kissed the top of his head. “I can’t say for sure, but I’d be surprised if everything didn’t turn out okay.”

“You can’t know that.”

“Nobody can for sure. But… you know what, just go. Disagree with me later if I’m wrong.”

—

Arthur jogged through the streets. It wasn’t quite sunset, so there was still time before he was expected. Even so, he found it hard to hold back his speed as he put the stone streets behind him. Nerves were an entire thing, he was finding out for the thousandth time. And a thing he wasn’t that good at dealing with.

The problem got worse when he arrived at Mizu’s building a full half hour early and was immediately and effortlessly spotted by Onna. He briefly considered running on so he didn’t look like a dork who showed up early before wisely concluding that Onna would know he was a dork anyway.

“Oh, hey. I’m here to see Mizu. But I’m early, so… I guess just don’t get her yet? I can wait. And if you can see your way to doing it, please don’t tell her I’m super early.”

“I know you’re here to get Mizu, you doof.” Arthur momentarily wondered what word the system was translating to doof, but Onna cut back in before he could get very far with it. “She left an entire hour ago, and left me waiting here to tell her boyfriend where she had gone. Outside. In the cold.”

“What?” Arthur asked.

“You know it’s cold out here, right?” Onna asked back with a smile.

“I do,” Arthur said.

“And that I’m delicate.”

“I know,” Arthur said, even though Onna was anything but fragile. “And I’m sorry. Very sorry. But Onna, where is Mizu? It’s important.”

Onna shook her head and laughed. “Okay, that’s enough messing around. Mizu’s up on the wall. It’s straight out from here. Just follow the road and climb.”

“Thanks, Onna. Really.”

“I’ll see you later. Enjoy your trip.”

Arthur didn’t have time to ask her how she knew about the trip. Knowing that Mizu was waiting for him, he felt strongly that the time had finally come to let off the brakes, stomp on the gas, and give his newly buffed stats a run for their money. Was he Karbo-fast? No. But compared to anything he had ever been capable of before, the extra six body stats made him feel like he was the wind itself. He made it to the wall in mere minutes, not gassing out until he was halfway up the stairs.

He had just enough presence of mind to stop at that halfway point and catch his breath, only to have that recovery effort be for naught. When he got to the top of the staircase, he saw a sight that knocked the breath clean out of him all over again.

“Our peace treaties were negotiated harshly with hidden anger in our hearts.”

“Mizu, this…”

“I didn’t think you’d be here this quickly.” Mizu pulled a few more items of food out of a box, setting them out on a blanket she had spread near the edge of the wall, overlooking the city. “I wasn’t quite ready.”

Mizu had, Arthur noticed, found time to wash the mud off. In its place was a flowing white dress. Her hair was down, brushed straight. She had no jewelry or any other kind of distraction. It was just her.

“It’s great, Mizu. It’s beautiful.” Arthur crossed over and sat down. “I don’t think I understand, though.”

“No?”

“No. I’m very glad to be here. I just don’t know why.”

“Oh. Yes. I can see that,” Mizu said. “Earlier, when you said you were going away, I was worried.”

“About the trip? It’s supposed to be pretty safe.”

“It is. But you’re going new places. New towns. Meeting new people.” She looked down at the food. “I just don’t want you to forget me.”

Arthur couldn’t help it. He leaned over and kissed her. He didn’t even know he was doing it until it was already done and both of them were blushing so hard they looked like the flag of Liechtenstein.

“Mizu, I’ve spent all day thinking you were breaking up with me over this.”

“What?” To her immediate credit, she looked genuinely shocked. “Why would I ever think that?”

“That. Right there. That’s how I feel about forgetting about you on this trip. Why would I do that? How could I do that?”

“I don’t know.” Mizu looked down. “You might meet someone better.”

“Not a thing. Mizu, did Onna already call you dumb over this?”

“Yes. She said you didn’t know other women existed.” She smiled weakly. “I probably should have listened to her.”

“Well, we should all listen to Onna more. Probably. But in a way, I’m glad. I probably wouldn’t have done that before I left otherwise.”

Mizu lifted up her hand and lightly touched her lips with it. “Yes. That was good.”

And then everything was all right.

Mizu had packed a truly incredible amount of food. Arthur got the impression that Mizu had spent a lot of time on it, probably ever since he saw her at work. And it was a good thing that the other wellers adored her, covering when she went to prepare the picnic. There was fruit of the kind that grew in the winter and the preserved kind baked into pies. There was meat, cheese, crackers, and bread. There was even wine, which Arthur hadn’t known was legal for them to have until now.

“It’s weak. There are stronger wines. You could have those too, but most of the shop keeps won’t sell them. But there’s no law.”

“I’ve never seen a single person our age drink. At all.”

Mizu shrugged. “It’s not the time for that. Everyone our age is busy.”

They sat side by side with their legs dangling off the edge, drank the wine, and watched lights go out around the city,

“You know what happened before? When you got here?” Mizu asked.

“I do,” Arthur said. He thought he knew.

“It would be okay if it happened again,” Mizu said.

It happened again.