19- Spicy planning

Now on land, with the ferry trip part of their journey behind them. With the ferry workers doing their part, moving all sorts of cargo and assisting to some of the merchants that were also in that particular spot for business.

They stood at the ramshackle inland port at side of the river that went from the west side of the Kingdom, all the way to this particular area. To the south of the kingdom, way past the vast plains that held several settlers and farms that depended on the kingdom’s protection, by now the river was trailing along with the Domain of the Forest Lord, leaving them in the first of the many Inland ports by the forest.

Checking their departure with the pertinent crew, they disembarked the ferry and started preparing themselves. Not all of the ports by the Forest domain had sizeable settlements, but all of them had a small encampment of sorts at the very least. Small structures here and there to house travelers while waiting for the next ferry to arrive and a handful of personnel from the merchants at the pier. Depending on the importance of the ferry stop, or the cargo on itself, there could be a number of guards, mercenaries or adventurers stationed. This spot was not the case.

With a brief look around the place it was obvious they made the right choice in preparing all their equipment and goods beforehand. The most they could hope to get here was a wet bedroll by a fire and expired rations, just by the look of the encampment. Commerce was known to be poor at any of the inland ports along the Lord’s Forest, but the situation they saw was precarious at best. Any possible goods acquired by adventurers, travelers or merchants, were most likely send immediately to the kingdom, to the Bastion republic, ways south, or any of the medium settlements along the river. Since there was no way to create a sustainable settlement within or even near the Lord’s Forest, there was no way a merchant would decide to put a store in such a territory.

With just a quick inspection and a few questions asked, Mimiru and Bannon made certain there was nothing else of interest within the encampment. Even the outdated information they had about the research team seemed to be as good and sometimes even better since it was common fo the staff to rotate positions. Even if the research team had made an impression with the encampment workers, the tendency of said staff to rotate made it almost pointless to ask for more details.

After making sure every single worker in the encampment knew He was on site, reassuring them of their safety now that he was here, and about to go out into the forest (to which most of the workers seemed delighted to hear), Bannon called over Mimiru and Feugan, signaling to them as he brought out a map from his satchel.

“Here. We are in this spot on the northern side of the Lord’s Forest” He said while signaling at his own map, which Mimiru couldn’t help to notice it was even more full of notes, corrections, scribbles and even doodles all over the map.

“Our final target, the research camp, should be just half a day away from this point of the main route. We will have to look for a hidden cave where last known location of the research encampment was at. While following this path we will gather anything that seems worthwhile while evading any unnecessary conflict. Mimiru, the old man said you can soothe any beasts with your skills, you do that and let us know when it’s unavoidable. If necessary we will fight, but we will run unless there is no other choice. We will focus on the requested ingredients, then anything we know it’s expensive, then the useful, anything else we can gather on the way back after we have made sure what the research camp’s situation is. Questions?”

“Yes. Why do you seem so reliable all of a sudden?”

“Oh! how you hurt me Mimiru! An adventurer must always be ready to switch gears to their game face! Play hard but work hard too! That’s what my old man used to say!”

“{How will we find the hidden cave? I have sharp enough senses, but old hidden trails might be difficult}”

“Oh! We will find the research encampment with the help of this special device, here” Bannon brought out what seemed like a small metallic lantern, it gave off a soft yellow glow even in the middle of the clear morning.

“This little lantern here will glow in a bright green color when we are near the camp. It’s a special tool the research commission uses to find their teams”

“{I thought you couldn’t understand me!}” “Oi! I thought you couldn’t understand Feugan”

“Oh! I cannot understand you Feugan, I just assumed you would want more information on how to track them” Said Bannon while looking straight at Feugan as if responding directly at the dragon’s question.

“{Can you or can you not understand me?! Which is it?!}”

“I am great, I know! No need to praise me! too much! Hahaha!”

“{You…}” Feugan just blowed angrily through his nostrils in defeat while staring at the now grinning Bannon.

“Bannon, Can I get one of those meat bribe-, er… Meat buns, please? I suddenly feel like I need some solid motivation” Said Mimiru, looking tired and crestfallen already, all the interactions with Bannon seemingly sapping her.

“Oh? Yeah sure thing, Sis said there were extra special since it would be your big first into a dungeon, your ‘Maiden Maiden Voyage’ she called it, hah!” Bannon just tossed the lantern inside of his bag much to Mimiru’s chagrin. He then brought up a small package that she immediately recognized.

Blue and white checkers on waxed paper, enveloping one of Jeanna’s special meat buns. They were known all over the kingdom, and they were very sought after, Mimiru rarely had the chance to get her hands on one. The price wasn’t an issue with them, as much as the amount being sold. Jeanna herself once claimed she just wanted to do bakery as a hobby and had no intentions of asking big amounts of money for doing something she loved. In Mimiru’s eyes she was the equivalent of a saint bringing (very delicious) food to the people in need.

Mimiru opened one side, taking a good look at the alluring well baked white bread, crunchy on the exterior, soft on the inside, it still felt warm somehow. The smell alone was almost intoxicating, giving her a goosebumbs, and this was even before she got a whiff of the still warm meat filling reached her. A mixture of several spices and meat. This was jeanna’s second specialty, her incredibly famous, curry mixtures.

“Oh! This is great! Jeanna really overdid herself this time! Mmmm!!”

“Hah! Ill let her know you appreciate her buns!”

“Ugh… I… Thanks…” Mimiru felt like there was a double entendre there, but Bannon seemed to reply honestly with no bad intentions that she could see.

“But what is this? Red curry? I cannot quite make which kind of meat this is. Its very chewy, yet I feel as if I’m invigorated the more I eat”

“Oh, its Red Dragon Curry, Pops recipe”

“DORA- THE WHA?!”

Epic grade meal Consumed You gain benefits for the next full day. +15 Strength +20 Vitality +50% Bonus on all physical skills