A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"Mm, does it not bother you having to hunt in a dress?" Beam asked, noting it. He figured it'd get in the way.

"That's what the trousers and boots are for," Nila said. Her woollen trousers peaked out from underneath her dress, allowing her to wear it shorter. And her leather boots – a luxury for a family as poor as hers – covered half her shins. "I'm still a girl though, after all. This is about as much as I can get away with.

Besides, should you not be saying 'good morning' before you start criticising my clothes?"

"I wasn't really criticising, I was just curious," Beam said, seeing that from the flash in her eyes, his comment had actually angered her.

"Then keep your curiosity to yourself. I would much rather be dressed differently, y'know. I don't need your comments making me feel worse about what I'm wearing," Nila said.

"I'm not saying it looks bad, though…" Beam said.

"Are you saying I look good then?" Nila teased.

"…I'm going to fetch the sled," Beam said, deciding it was best to ignore her as he rummaged through the pile of leaves and dragged his sled out.

Nila tutted as he dodged the question, but didn't say any more on the matter. "Are we going to be staying around here then?" She asked. "It'll be easier on your leg if we stay closer to the edge of the forest."

"Oh? And here I was sure you'd drag me even deeper this time," Beam said.

Nila twisted her lips at that. "That was just because we were hunting deer… Besides, it wasn't a problem when you weren't hurt, was it? You made pulling the full sled look so easy, after all. I didn't think it would tire you."

"It wouldn't. But I don't think you were bothered about that, were you? A week ago, you were content to just use me as your luggage man," Beam pointed out.

"C'mon, why are you being mean? I didn't expect you to be in such a bad mood."

"I'm not… Hah, fine. I'm going to chop wood down then. Are you hunting?"

"Mhm," Nila nodded. "We've still got a ways to go for meat if we're going to have a comfortable winter. David and Stephanie are eating so much more now, and the meat I brought in before has already dried, so it's about time we stocked up. I think there's only a couple of weeks left before the cold starts really coming in."

"Is that all you need to get you through the winter?" Beam asked. "Just the firewood and meat? Everything else is fine?"

"Well, that's all you were told to do by Greeves, wasn't it? Make sure we had firewood and meat?" Nila said.

"It was… But, since you helped me, I'm beginning to see a benefit in having someone that I can exchange help with… y'know?" Beam said awkwardly, not quite sure how to phrase the idea. In his head, he was thinking of Dominus' lectures on the importance of allies.

And then he was thinking back to just how much Nila's family had helped him when he'd been sliced up by the Hobgoblin – because to him, in his mind, that situation with the Hobgoblin was entirely his fault. And it was that family who'd helped him through that failure.

"Hmm..?" Nila looked at him curiously, her green eyes seeming to search his face for something. Beam looked away uncomfortably, and she smiled. "Are you actually really kind, Beam?"

"..? As I said, it would be more of a trade. I don't think equal trades are necessarily kind," Beam said.

But Nila already seemed happy with the conclusion she'd drawn, for she continued to smile. "Hmm… Well if I had to say, it's probably just money that we're struggling with – to buy extra clothes for David and Stephanie, since they're growing so fast. That and we need it to buy the extra things that we can't make ourselves." She said that with some hint of embarrassment.

She knew if she'd said it to anyone else, then they'd be liable to look down on her. Money was seen as something that rewarded hard work – if you didn't have enough money, you just weren't working hard enough.

But Beam had a different view, and he nodded seriously when he heard that. "If it'll help, you can hunt with me in the future."

"Hunt? You mean like get some deer in and sell it for extra money?" Nila asked, tilting her head. She'd definitely considered hunting an excess to sell, but as she was, she didn't know anyone that would be willing to buy off her. Well, that wasn't true.

She knew that if she offered up good quality meat, no butcher would turn her away… But still she thought that she'd experience some difficulty in some sort of way because she wasn't a true hunter. And she'd draw attention if she delivered too much. She wasn't sure if that attention would end up being bad.

"I meant monster hunting, since Greeves is willing to buy them. He hates doing it and always complains and he pays me way less than they're worth – but it's still way better money than I'm used to," Beam said.

Nila put a finger on her chin in thought. "…You did give me 5 coppers for those two Goblins, after all. Do you have more of those that you need to hunt?"

Beam nodded. "I've got a giant spider quest and another Goblin hunting quest. I'm not sure how well giant spider parts sell, though, because I've never hunted them before."

"But you really don't need me at all, do you? You can easily deal with those yourself, like you did before. And if anything strong showed up again, I'd be holding you back… This doesn't seem like an equal trade. It's really just you doing me a big favour," Nila said.

Beam shrugged. He wasn't going to lie to her and pretend that he needed her assistance. "It's a way of making extra money if you're interested. Your skill with the bow is the real deal and whatever you kill, I'll sell to Greeves on your behalf."