NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24 - Seeds
My teenage daughter didn't respect my orders.
With a bow pulled taunt, she pointed it at the apostles running toward us with their chirping now green poison dart frog.
I smacked her bow with my axe.
"Hey!" she complained.
I explained my actions. "Don't attack first. I have the seeds. If they do anything, the city guards will protect us."
The dagger hissed by my ear and launched into the ground by me. Turning back, I noticed how powerful a level twelve and a level fourteen apostles were.
The rope tied to the dagger tripped me. The young, speedy apostle took advantaged and grabbed for my legs to hold me down. With a kick to his face, I knocked him off me. I heaved myself up off the ground, looking for support.
There were a lot of NPCs on the streets, but no city guards.
The elder apostle's lean build crashed into me and knocked me down to the ground. The seeds flew from my hand. As the bag landed on the ground next to Naiad's feet, not one seed scattered about.
"Those are your seeds!" I told the apostles as they tried grabbing my arms.
I wrestled back as peacefully as I could. The man was twice my age and beating me only because he had a younger man also helping. I slipped out of one hold, only for the other to sit on my leg and grab my wrist. They pinned my arms and tied them together with the rope. I struggled to fight back.
The annoying frog on their shoulder chirped. It had a circle and triangle spots on its body, their colors glowed.
"Those aren't seeds worthy of Leith. You'll come back and give what she demands. Then repent." The apostle translated.
What was with all the repenting?
Naiad ran over with her dagger out. Behind her walked the city guards.
Rebellion fueled her forward to join the fight and would only get us in trouble.
"The guards!" I warned her.
"Ugh!" she groaned as she picked up the seed bag and launched it at the younger apostle.
The heavy bag knocked him back. Flying from his shoulder, the frog then tried to climb up my chest.
The marching guards approached as my daughter used her dagger to cut my hands free. With a shoulder nudge, I blocked the older man. It was a nudge, not a shoulder check! I hope guards saw it that way.
Naiad sliced at the apostle's leg that pinned me down. He let out a scream.
The marching of the guards paused. I expected the wanted alert to show up any minute on my menu. It was a shoulder nudge!
"Another culling is it?" The guard talked to his friend.
An NPC with a top hat tilted his hat, looking at the four of us flopping around on the ground. "Seems that way, sir. The good Leith is cleaning the streets of these uncultured souls."
"Hrrmph." The guard said. "Have a good day."
And went on their way.
"What the hell!" I screamed at them.
More annoying chirping came from the stupid frog, louder than before, because it sat right on my chest.
"Give me the seed and mushrooms," the womanly voice cried out from its small body.
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[Warning! The goddess Leith has accessed your inventory!]
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"Crap!" I cried. With my legs free, I jumped up and swatted at the frog with my tied wrists.
It fell off and a Bark of Resilience landed on the small frog, covering it completely. "Where is it? The rest of her?" the woman's voice cried out, chirping echoing beneath it.
"Chopped to be pieces." I spat back. "Naiad, run to a bright temple. Look for a safe haven, for protection."
We took off away from the two and their frog goddess. This was why I wanted to avoid gods as much as possible in the game. They were as bad as nobles in chaos and had unpredictable quests that make every NPC hate you. Monsters are easier.
The pedestrian NPCs didn't scream as the apostles came at us. Instead, they sighed and moved out of the way. This was a common occurrence for them. The guards literally pivoted the other way when we got near. This part of the town really did not like adventurers. Protection in this city didn't apply to us.
"Argh," I said, "We're going to this church next!"
I pointed at one that was a simple mud style house, an adobe style. Dark brown logs stuck out of the roof. A sand stained clothed waved in the wind. A bell sat at the entrance of the stick fence, a rope dangled beneath it.
As we neared it, a man in a white coat ran next to us and grabbed Naiad's hand. "This way!"
"Hey!" was all I said as I followed him and my daughter through the few NPCs on the streets. I realized the man was a player, and he stepped around each NPC saying excuse me, passing each religious order on the way until we got into the first shop next to the holy area.
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He cracked open the door and let Naiad go in first, me, and then himself before he slammed the door shut and shoved the lock into place.
Naiad and I stood up, ready for what came next. The door banged once. The apostles stood there in their black robes with blue collars, but no sign of the tiny frog. Twisting my body around, I looked for the creepy frog hiding on me and then Naiad. It didn't follow us in.
The old man yelled, "Baker! Let them go. If you don't, we'll take our business elsewhere."
Behind us in the shop, a woman of my height sighed and walked around the store's display. She had a round face, large green eyes hiding above her cheeks as she intimidated us with a welcome and a deep voice. "Welcome to the shop." She pointed a flour covered hand at the man who saved us. "You grabbed some stragglers off the street again? You're going to be on puff pastry duty for this one. Y'all move."
The woman was broader than me, pulling a rolling pin out of her large apron pockets. All three of us obeyed her as we moved out of the way. With a calloused hand, she removed the lock and looked at the apostles of Leith. "Of course it's you again."
The religious hunters straighten at seeing her. The one with the beard talked. "Ma'am Buttercee, these people paid us a visit and did not give a tithe and-"
He paused, pulling out a small drum from under his tunic.
"Don't you dare go playing that drum here unless you want something to happen to your precious bread next week? You, lad," Ma'am Buttercee pointed a finger at me, flour caked on her knuckles. "Did you know you had a tithe to pay?"
"No, Ma'am." I said in the most respectful tone.
Not that I was afraid. We were in her house, her temple. I could handle her and her rolling pin. I just didn't want to ruin my Root and Seeds quest with Leith, a goddess, stealing from me. Also, getting hit by a rolling wasn't on my bucket list.
"Are you going to work here to make a payment?" Buttercee inquired. "Or should I have you march back to their temple?"
"Uhh-"
"We'll work here." Naiad spoke immediately.
I wish she volunteered that fast on cleaning up from the kitchen food fight. Maybe it was the flour on the face of Buttercee that added to the threat level?
Buttercee gave a harrumph. "Ya'll hear it? Go back and tell Leith that these people have arisen and will be in my bakery. Challenge it, and lose her bread."
Buttercee didn't wait for a reply as she closed the door on their faces. She shut it so hard that the flour on the floor flew up for a moment, glistening in the light from the afternoon sun coming in through the glass.
"May Leith protect you!" The apostle called out and walked off. He played his tiny drum to a marching beat.
I brushed my shoulders, hoping to shake off Leith's protection. It was the last thing I wanted if it meant I get mind controlled by her.
"Thanks for protecting us, Ma'am Buttercee. Do you have a ward around your store?" I asked.
"No wards. Good old-fashioned baking and some good smells, will always chase away anyone trying to prey on the naïve. Now follow me, I need some bread loaves kneaded out and cakes made as payment." Ma'am Buttercee made her way behind the counter and to the back of the shop, where the rich aromas called out to me more than the incense of Leith.
"Say what?" I replied to the shop owner.
"Clogged ears?" she countered.
She waved a hand for us to follow. Naiad didn't hesitate and had a smile as she walked to the back. It was probably the same face I had when I entered the Temple of Leith.
"Naiad, do you have any cinnamon to smell right now?" I wanted to distract her from the buttery goodness of the store. To break the trance that was on her.
She pulled out the light brown dried up bark, looked at me as she rubbed it under nose. "I'm fine. Ma'am Buttercee just saved us. Be nice and go help."
I didn't appreciate her attitude or the fact she was trying to teach me about being polite.
The player that saved us from the street came over and pulled out a pair of stained aprons. "You're going to want this. You're not the first players that got pulled in by Leith. I think the apostles have to hit a quota or something. It's the fastest revolving door temple in the area. My name's Kryz."
Naiad nabbed her apron. "Naiad."
"Boulder. Hey, mind telling what's all going with that church?" If I was going to waste time baking, I would at least try to get information about the Root and Seeds of the Problem quest.
"Sure. People go to the temple of Leith, lured in just like you, get assigned a simple quest that rewards you with a nice luck bonus, only a percentage. But then there's nothing else to do from the church but to spread her name. You lose the buff once you follow other gods." He put his coat away and put on his own clean apron. "I've never seen the apostles of Leith that obsessed with enticing a new follower. Normally, they let people say no."
"The frog said something to me about a seed. Do you know anything?"
"Frog?" Kryz walked to a countertop, tossed some flour on it, reached into an urn, and scooped out a glob of dough.
"I didn't hear her talk about the seed." Naiad chimed in.
That made sense. "I could only understand the chirps once the frog was near me."
Ma'am Buttercee grunted to get attention. "The frog is Leith's conduit. It's how she communicates to those chosen. Save the chatting for when your kneading. I need you to make four loaves here. Use those muscles for something. The young one, I'm going to teach you about pancakes. This way."
Naiad and Ma'am Buttercee went over to a griddle station.
I shrugged, accepting my fate. Four loaves wouldn't take too long. "Where's the mixer?" I asked.
Kryz pointed to my arm, "Those are you mixers. There is no machinery like that here." He lowered his voice. "Trust me, I'm trying to make it, but I'm running into difficulties."
"Are you a follower of Leith?" I asked as I touched the sticky dough. It stretched between my hands and didn't let go. "Uh, I need more flour."
"Nope, you need more patience. Work the gluten in for a while and it stops being a sticky mess. I've never heard Leith talk to me. Ma'am Buttercee does the delivery there. She doesn't want me to get stuck there forever."
I watched the man's form as he smacked the dough and pushed. I tried to copy his push and pull method. "She mentioned something about seeds. Why would she want those?"
"When I did the simple quest, I had to go through Clingeo Forest to Peaceful Prairie and sprinkle some seeds around a cairn, water them, pat the ground. Done. The moment you complete it, you get the bonus luck. I know some people mentioned they had to move the cairn around the trees. I wonder if the quest changed with the forest being burned down?"
It was another pointless one-off quest then for a god. Glad I avoided it. "Thanks for saving us, then."
If people moved the cairn around, then we didn't trigger the legendary quest by knocking it down. What was the point of the cairn and luck buff then?
"It was Naiad who saved you. She seemed to break free thanks to the cinnamon. Was it from Nitia's garden?" Kryz asked.
"Yeah." I grunted as I kneaded. I should've listened to her sooner and give her a thank you.
"Hmm, wonder if I can use that to deliver to Leith and get some new jobs and recipes for baking." Kryz pondered.
There were a lot of holy gods in this place and I didn't understand their relationship to this world or us at all. The dough between my hands became less sticky. I lowered my voice. "Is she a god?"
"Ma'am Buttercee? No." Kryz laughed. "She's the supplier for their daily bread. She gives me immunity and I can study making bread! I always wanted to be a baker. It's nice to do small mundane tasks like this, even the cleaning is meditative. When I finish everything, I get to enjoy the flavors without messing up my gains."
I hummed, doing the task with him for a bit. "You know a lot about the gods."
"Except for three of the temples in the city, I do the delivery for all of them. You learn the inner working quick and see a lot of the behind the scenes as a delivery person. If you ever need holy, unholy, or grounding potions, I have a stash."
"Kryz, mind if I friend you? I have a feeling I'll be wanting some of this bread later and needing information about the gods more."
"You got it." He replied, done with kneading his bread. "I'll give you info if you give me ingredients. Things in the city are shifting since the forest burned down and I need a source of goods from an adventure."