Chapter Eight - Alpta Afar
The next morning was just as awkward as she expected it to be. At least, at first. Cricket was surprisingly resilient, and by the time the early morning had passed, the [Jester]'s mood was restored.
She was still testing Rosario, however.
Part of that was innocent. Cricket recounted a few funny stories, and tried to 'pin down her sense of humour.' Her end goal was to have Rosario laugh so hard that she peed herself, which was...
Rosario wasn't sure if that was laudable? Actually, no, she was quite certain that it wasn't, but making a person laugh was hardly cruel.
The [Jester] also tested Rosario by pushing her to move faster.
After some minor questioning, it turned out that [Jester] and the previous [Clown] Jobs were both the Combat Jobs that boosted Cricket's Dexterity. [Jester] improved her Charisma as well.
Rosario wasn't sure if the latter was working, but the Dexterity was.
The [Jester] asked her if she was fine with jogging a little, to speed up the trip, and Rosario accepted.
After nearly twenty minutes of a nice, slow jog, the pace picked up, then again, then again.
They stopped after half an hour, mostly because Cricket was breathing hard (which made her whistle strangely) and was too tired to keep it up. Rosario was fine. She hadn't even broken a sweat.
It was making the [Jester] look at her funny, but Cricket didn't press. Rosario... actually appreciated that. She didn't owe the funny bug girl anything, really. Especially not an explanation. Besides, a maid didn't have to explain things to someone who wasn't in her household.
That didn't stop a tiny bit of guilt from gnawing at her.
So far, this whole new world was... rather lonely. Cricket was maybe not a friend but the bug woman had been friendly and that counted for a lot.
Still, there was a world of difference between feeling a little guilty about not revealing her true identity and being stupid enough to tell someone she'd only known for two days that she had the same Title as a legendary Great General who seemed reviled and hated and whose existence was probably illegal.
For all she knew there was a bounty out for The Faithful Maid.
"Do you want to run some more?" Rosario asked.
Cricket huffed. "I have pretty good Dexterity, you know. That doth mean that I'm pretty speedy when I want to be. And yet you most suspiciously kept pace, and didn't seem winded at all. Perhaps I ought to gather a level or two of [Scullery Maid] myself, mayhaps?"
"You are welcome to try," Rosario replied. "I think you'd seem very different, dressed in a maid's frock."
Cricket's face twisted in disgust so blatant and overdone that it had to be an act. "Wear such silly headwear? Doth thou take me for a fool?" She shook her head, setting the bells on the end of her cap to ring.
Rosario held back another laugh. "It's not so bad. You're dressed in black and red, simply switch the red out for white and you're there."
Cricket snorted. "A [Clown] is only as strong as their brightest smile!"
"I... confess that I don't know what that means."
They did a little more running. Cricket could only keep it up for perhaps twenty minutes before she needed a pause, but in that time they moved fast. Rosario had rarely left the house, so she didn't exactly have experience in track and field to draw on, but still, she had the impression that set next to an olympic runner, the two of them would rank favourably. Maybe not outpacing them, but still, they were definitely far faster than the average person.
And she could go faster. Much, much faster. She felt it in the way her muscles almost wanted to push harder.
Cricket couldn't keep that up, however, and she ended the run wheezing and out of breath and had to settle into a walk afterwards.
A solid forty minutes later, once Cricket had settled down, they ran once more.
She was quite certain that their pace was chewing up the distance. But if Alpta was two day's normal walk away... at best, they'd make it there by nightfall.
"Wanna play a game?" Cricket asked as they returned to a walk. "Ah, while we look for food. You wouldn't happen to have [Forager] or something? [Hunter] maybe?"
"Neither, I'm afraid," she admitted. "We're also out of leftovers."
"Mahhh... thou art a terrible planner! I shall starve then, lest we find... berries or something. Hmm... keep your pretty elven ears peeled for the sound of a distant hum, would you?"
"...Sure?" she said. "So, a game?"
"A traveller's game!" Cricket said as she bounced around, her entire outfit jingling and jangling. "You obviously have many suspicious questions to ask, as do I! So, a trade of questions. You ask one, and I ask one. If you refuse to answer, or doth not desire to answer honestly, the other gains two questions."
"I see," she said.
She could quickly see how that could break apart, but on the other hand, she had a lot of simple questions to ask.
Rosario nodded. Worse case scenario, she'd cut the game off. It would only make things more awkward, but she could live with that. "Fine then. Who starts?"
Cricket grinned. "Is that your first question?"
"Was that yours?"
Cricket blinked, then giggled. It was a surprisingly pleasant sound, like the tinkling of her bells. "Thou has me! Very well, you may start!"
Rosario considered it for a moment, then shrugged. She'd start easy for now. "Where are you from?"
"I? Hm, I was born in Narfasker," Cricket said. "But I mostly grew up on the road once I was out of the bug den." She grinned. "My turn!"
Rosario tensed. Cricket could very well ask something that she would have to lie about, or skirt around, or outright refuse to answer. Her Titles, her jobs, her past which didn't exist in this world she could ask--
"Do you prefer closed or open drawers?"
Rosario suspected that if she was herself, more herself than she was now in any case, she would have choked on her own spit. The worst part was that her [Seamstress] Job immediately filled her in on what Cricket was talking about.
Strangely, there was also a sort of... disconnect. She was familiar with a lot of clothing and clothing styles that she could replicate and recreate from base materials, a lot of those were probably entirely wrong for the time and place that this world was in.
Maybe? She actually wasn't sure. Her maid outfit was definitely inspired by early 20th century lady's maid outfits. Cricket's own outfit was more mid-14th century, with her cap and bells, though the way her poofed out trousers were designed was a little later.
She shook her head. "I... uh."
"Oh, hoh, one question in and I'm ahead?"
Rosario sighed. "Closed," she replied tersely. "My turn. What should I know before entering Alpta?"
Cricket blinked. "Boring question, but fine. I suppose... The guilds are a lot more powerful there than you'd think. And I don't just mean the Adventurers. There's the Banker's Guild, the Merchant's Guild, the Glass Blowers, Seamstress, and Perfumer's. Oh, the Fishing guilds are pretty big there too."
Rosario nodded along. She recalled Alpta being a nice spot to grind lower levelled fishing content. She never much cared for fishing in games, however. It always felt a little tacked-on.
"What else... hmm," Cricket said as she tapped her chin. "The churches aren't too strong, not compared to elsewhere. At least, that's what I've heard. There's a big castle in the middle of the city that's off-limits to nearly anyone. Ah, and the guard is very open to bribes! Heh! There are some, ah, less reputable guilds too, in Night Town and Bardsway. Mostly it's like any other big city, I suppose."
"Have you been in many?"
"Ah-ah, my turn for questions," Cricket said, which Rosario supposed was only fair. "What's your favourite pastry?"
"Pastry? I... I like chocolatines?" Rosario replied. "Scones as well."
Cricket nodded along. "Good, good. Your turn!"
Rosario had a lot of questions about the world and the economy, about banks and guilds and history, but... Cricket wasn't asking things like that. She was giving her easy, friendly questions. "Why [Jester]?"
"I like making people happy," Cricket said with a laugh. "Ah, but that's not the whole answer. Hup!" she jumped forward, executing a textbook cartwheel, seemingly for the joy of it. "When I left Agoir as a wee little bug, it was with a travelling troupe! We visited all sorts of towns and cities and put on a lot of shows. At first I joined as a [Caravaneer] but I plucked [Clown] out eventually and that's what I am!"
"Do you like bugs?"
"I... don't like small, creepy things," Rosario said. Cricket's hat deflated and her antennae drooped. "But I don't mind bug people. So far those that I've met have been kind."
Cricket perked back up.
"How did you end up in Riverbend, away from your troupe?"
Cricket was quiet for a long time. "Skip," she said.
"I... okay," Rosario replied. She wasn't going to push. "In that case... you're a member of the Adventurer's Guild, yes? Is it hard to join?"
"Not that bad! If you have the skills for it, it pays well enough. There are always monsters to kill and roads to clear and most of all old keeps and deserted towns and such to work around. I'm just a lowly second tier, however. Still, joining is easy enough. They have their own internal ranking system. I'm a bronze ranker! Second question?"
"Thank you. Ah, I suppose... What sorts of monsters live in these parts?"
Cricket blinked. "You're awful at this game!"
"I am?"
"Yes! You're asking about cities and monsters. Thou could purchase a map! A bestiary! The purpose of the game is to learn about your travelling companions!"
"You asked me about my underwear."
Cricket nodded. "And did I not learn much from it?"
"I... I rather wish you hadn't. But fine. No monsters. Favourite colour?"
"Red! Though mine knickers are of the purest white!"
Rosario sighed. She hadn't asked that.
Fortunately, she was saved as they crested a hill, and up ahead of them, rising in the distance and nestled next to a lake that may as well have been a sea, was Alpta.
***