Chương 71: Chapter Sixty Seven: Broke Before You Start

Grumpily, I went through the motions with the livestock. Don't run. Eat this. Damn, they shit all over this…

"Out. Run free for a little bit." The house was a mess. As expected after that earthquake. They definitely contributed to the destruction with earthy vandalism. Spent from the exertion, I pried Melinoë's fingers apart and sliced mine on a few of her prey's scales.

"Mel, don't put her on the stove, you'll break it. Penguin, help me." Nuwa suddenly screamed, all jokes forgotten, "She's biting!" I shoved everyone out of the house and activated renovation mode. Alright. The double vision lasted for a minute as I got used to the different perspective. Blinking away the awareness, I pulled up the primary setting. Despite my reservations about my staff, I do believe they deserve a decent room. So I'm going to have to expand the house, and we need a proper bathroom.

Showers are a must and the time has come for us all to bathe. I can't believe I let it get this far. I browse the options and come up with three cost-efficient plans within the budget. 1. Six new rooms, a bathroom, and a storage room for three thousand six hundred and eighty-seven gold. 2. Three new rooms, a bigger kitchen, a storage room, and a bathroom for three thousand and seventy-two gold. 3. A new house with five rooms. Three bedrooms, one kitchen, and a bathroom. For four thousand and two hundred sixty gold.

Option one would expand the house, offer a bathroom, and throw in a storage room for all my new stuff, which I desperately need. However, the materials the house is made of would remain the same. Option two is a bit similar. However, it also offers a bigger kitchen for me to move around in. Option three, however, offers a brick house and a modern bathroom with a real toilet. No more chamber pots again. I already know what I'm going to choose. My pockets will bleed, but it's an investment in our future.

No more chamber pots! I press the third layout and watch my coins grow wings. Bitter tears leave my eyes as the house changes before my eyes. Except for the doghouse, it's the only thing that remains the same per my instructions. Everything we didn't remove from the house is spit out on the ground as it changes and expands. The others back up in my bird's eye view, and I crack my neck. This new vision thing always makes me feel motion sick.

The house settles, and I click on furniture so I can put it back in the house. So three bedrooms. I guess I can share with one of them whenever I'm here. I don't actually sleep. I just rest. Never felt so much like a vampire before. Technically, I can always rest in the fields. Not a bad idea now that there's something to look at. Do I have a moon now that there's sunlight? Stargazing might be fun. The other two rooms can be for Aja, Penguin, or Akeso. Nuwa will, unfortunately, have to make do with the pond.

The kitchen is better looking, too. I look up furniture and bite the bullet to get a gas stove and oven. Now. The moment I've been waiting for. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The bathroom. It's unfurnished and bare except for a porcelain toilet and sink, but I've never been happier with the place. It's finally a house. I put everything back and bought two more beds. Putting my coins in the hundreds again. I exited the bird-eye view and collapsed to my knees.

"My money…" Penguin gives me a pat on the shoulder, and someone brushes past us. Mel hums to herself tunelessly showing no remorse for bulldozing her way past the homeowner and unlocked the freshly painted white door.

"Wow!" The others file in without further ado. Ungrateful ass… The livestock refuses to enter the house after the last fiasco and shivers outside where it's safer. Inside, the first thing we see is the open concept living room and kitchen. My precious gas stove rests against the wall, close to a framed window, and I almost run over to it. My precious. No more lighting fires. No more gathering pet feed to burn or buying wood from the store.

I opened my inventory and placed some of my new tools in the cabinet overhead, along with some food just to liven it up. I always wanted a house. I ran my fingers down the wooden cabinets. Even if it's fictional. Closing the door, I went through the rest of the inventory to take out the light kingdom cookbook and display it on the counter. Now it looks more homely. A cookie jar or some other center pieces to bring it home would really give it some character.

"It's a box?" Mel pokes at the white metal harboring the fire beast and tries to figure it out. My heart leaps once she finds the switch but someone beats me to it. Penguin corrects her and provides a simple explanation.

"It's a gas stove. The top part is used for cooking and the bottom part." He opens the stove with accuracy, and Mel gasps with delight.

"This is for baking things. The appliance uses natural gas and is several times more efficient than a kiln or a mudstove." He says proudly. Mel claps like a dolphin and showers it with praise.

"It's beautiful. Look at its adorable little door handles. The glass.. It's so shiny." She runs a hand down it lovingly.

"…" Walk away. My legs took me towards the rest of the layout, looking into other rooms. Three bedrooms are lined up one after another within the same hallway. Doors spaced out but sharing the same wall. We only have two new beds, and I made a note to buy another. There's a small window facing the back of the house on the farthest wall of each room, providing a bit of sunlight to the inhabitants. It would pass an inspection where I'm from. The window opens with little prompting from me.

The unintended use of power doesn't shock me. It just feels right to exercise it that way. But it's not a good thing that it comes so naturally. Right? The door closes behind me and I take my hand off the knob. Pausing a little at the almost compulsive desire to do so. That bashing Hypatia gave me or the fixing Penguin did. Did it do anything to me? Bathroom. Stick to the bathroom. The last door is waiting for me at the very end of the yellow trail.

Striding towards it with the solemnity of a gladiator I arrived to find the door ajar. Aja. Her hand presses down on the handle, and it flushes. All of them back away startled at the sound of plumbing before coming closer again. Akeso stands in the doorway hiding her curiosity behind her hands. Peering between fingertips but too shy to come any closer.

"I think it's a night pot." Nuwa holds her tail to her chest protectively and struggles to see.

"What is it?" Akeso softly makes an inference tactfully, "I believe it's a hygienic apparatus for washing ourselves. After…" She can't appear to finish so I offer to clear it up a little. Knocking on the wall next to me, so they're not too startled by my presence, I began explaining.

"Close. It's a very efficient…chamber pot. You just go…and then press the handle down." Three pairs of eyes attach themselves to the silver handle.

"Then it'll carry away the waste and you'll never see it again." Their wide eyes meet each other, and they ooh and ah at it. I've seen weirder stuff and I get it after living the way I've been living for the past year.

"Look. We have three bedrooms and beds."

"So we're going to have to figure out our living arrangements." Akeso fiddles with her decorative staff, "Which means?"

"You're going to have to share. Except for Nuwa." Her face brightens.

"You're going to use the pond." Her tail drops to the floor, and I ignore it. Fish belong in water. Prove me wrong, I dare you.

"So it's just the two of you who are getting rooms." They didn't seem too happy about the privilege of living with their new roommates and I don't blame them. If I could evict them I would. Aja, Akeso, Mel, and Penguin. My proposal comes unbidden, "I suggest that Aja and Mel room together. Then Akeso and Penguin share the other room. I can take the empty room and use it for storage as well." Nuwa pouts. Her tail slithers and passes between my feet.

The hair on the back of my neck stands up and I'm too disgusted to even move out of her way.

"Do I really have to use the pond?" Her sultry tone of voice makes me sneer. Nice try, fish-stick. In a fake tone, I promoted the pond like a snake oil salesman.

"Yes, our pond is the cleanest for miles and guess what? You'll be the only one to use it." Her face lifts a little at the exclusive perk, and I decide to add one more small detail.

"Until we get more fish and pond animals. Then you're sharing." So, you'll be the only guest for a little while.

"..." I walk out of the hallway and towards the outside. Mel and Penguin are already there discussing a book. Is that my book?

"What are you doing?" Penguin's eyes light up.

"Perfect! Miseria, I was discussing our low income." I winced at the ultra effective jab.

"Now that we have so many extra hands and advanced cooking equipment." He shook the book to grab my attention.

"I was thinking we should use this cookbook to recreate the food recorded in it and sell it instead of just selling raw ingredients the way we have." Mel retorted."That's too much work! We should expand our garden and buy more chickens." I'm ready to stand with her when Penguin pours cold water over the imaginary chicken coop. The mechanical voice grates on my nerves.

"With what money?"

"..."

"..." We both halted. An argument swallowed and a dream crushed again. He emphasizes, "We have four hundred and nineteen gold coins. No matter what you choose, you'll be broke before you even get started." Penguin looks down at the book to find more finishing touches to his accusation. Flipping the pages even though he could easily just press scan and feed into his own printer drawer. Mel twirls straw hair around her gnarled finger, while I tried to figure out where exactly I had gone wrong.

Poverty is such a pain in the ass. We needed the house. Didn't need the new people but he insisted we did… Massaging my head with my fingers, I try to think. We do need money. We didn't need them. Shove them all in the pond? Why did he ask for them again?

"Ria?"

"Hmm?" Penguin has an innocent half smile gracing his youthful face. Blue hair combed or pinned back to reveal the sheep's wool.

"What do you want, now?"

"How would you feel about using your rookie bags?"