Chương 12

Adventurer Ellen Ellen watched as the 'new' Ellen walked around the third building in Onroc, trailing her fingers over the weathered stone. Once in a while she'd stop to push or probe at the stone and mortar with her fingers, but mostly she simply looked them over. She'd been doing that all morning. It was a little surreal, seeing this girl so much like herself… yet so different.

Builder Ellen—as she'd dubbed herself—preferred lighter, more casual clothing than the rugged clothes that Ellen or Hunter Ellen preferred. This was a lot like Village Ellen, whom she was a duplicate of. It was as if she'd inherited Village Ellen's reluctance toward violence, making an entirely different branch of preferences. Ellen leaned back against the wall while Builder Ellen completed the inspection. Something about all this had been bothering her, but she didn't want to interrupt her other self.

Even if her other self wasn't much like herself any more, in many ways. Had it really only been two weeks since the whole thing had started? Since she'd awakened next to the girl who would become Village Ellen? No, not since she'd awakened. She wasn't Ellen Two, was she? Even if she was. Because she remembered being Ellen Two, who was distinct from Ellen One, who had eventually become Village Ellen. Not to be confused with the current Village Ellen who had started out as Village Ellen and— Her head hurt.

"These three are probably the most sturdy. Hunter Ellen has a good eye." Ellen looked up at the words, to see Builder Ellen standing nearby, arms crossed. She looked satisfied, a beaming smile on her face. Comically, one of the many stray cats chose that moment to pad to the corner of the building, atop where the roof beams used to sit, and hunker down. The tabby peered down at Builder Ellen, then narrowed its eyes at Ellen as well, in that feline judging manner. The cat population was pretty bad here.

Or possibly good. Hunter Ellen claimed to have identified at least nine distinct individuals, but she hadn't earned their trust enough to assess how many were male and how many were female. The fact that there had been a fox den in one building—now driven out—limited the population. It meant that the ruins of the town would be relatively free of mice or voles or other pests, though. She could see the tabby contemplating a pounce down, but then rejecting it in favor of watching from its high perch.

It was nice to see that some things remained familiar.

"I can't really tell from here," Ellen admitted with a fidget. She passed her spear from one hand to the other, impatient to join Hunter Ellen in exploring again.

"Are you sure you can get us some roofs done before winter? It's already a little chilly." Builder Ellen shrugged and walked over to the ledge where they kept a washing pot. She rinsed her hands off as she spoke.

"I'm not sure -sure, but I think if we all pitch in for doing the lifting, and can get the materials, I can make us a little dormitory for the Ellens and a workshop for anyone doing crafting. The real question is if we want to do this or should we try to find a different spot? Or maybe even go our separate ways?"

"Do you want to go back home?" Ellen asked her other self the question bluntly, but she was genuinely curious.

"You and Village Ellen don't really seem to want to do the adventuring thing any more." The other Ellen shook her head.

"No… I mean I would probably be more okay with going home than you would, but I don't really want to." She leaned against the wall and looked up, noticing the cat with a smile.

"I think it's more like I think of adventure differently now?" Builder Ellen tapped her chin.

"It's strange. I don't want to build up a famous name any more, but I wouldn't mind it. I'm happy to just have you or one of the other Ellens do that, while I do my own thing. It's almost like we can pursue whatever interest we want now." She turned her head to smile at Ellen again.

"I like being out here in the wilds, figuring out problems and making our own life. Everything we do is… well, I guess you could call it one huge first time bonus!" She giggled softly.

"I really like the idea of getting these buildings usable again, so we have a place to live. It'd be something I could say I've accomplished, just like you have a Guild card now." As different as Builder Ellen seemed to be from her, Ellen understood this well enough. She'd always been the type of girl to really revel in some kind of accomplishment. Ellen had directed that toward becoming a famous adventurer, but this direction made sense.

It was just like how Hunter Ellen seemed to find great joy in learning how to hunt and shoot a bow. That reminded her of another thing that had been on her mind, though.

"One thing I haven't figured out…" Ellen frowned.

"I have no idea where to even start putting a roof on these things. I mean, I know how to do sealing with pitch and all the stuff we did while helping out when we were little, but I'm pretty sure you need to do more than just lay some boards on some beams and hammer them on. I know just enough about carpentry to know I know nothing about carpentry." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Builder Ellen's snickering was good-natured, but still irritated Ellen a little. How did her other self know all that? It had only been two weeks since they diverged!

"What I'm saying is, you can't become an apprentice carpenter in two weeks," she said aloud.

"You don't think it's a little weird how you can just… walk up and do that when I don't have the first clue where to start?" Another voice broke into the conversation.

"I have a theory about that." Actually it was the same voice, different body. Hunter Ellen strode lazily around the edge of the ruined house, stumbling once. She glanced down, frowned, and kicked something aside.

"We really have to do something about all this grass. I'm not sure how to cut it down to manageable size without a goat or something, but we're going to need to clear out more of these saplings and shrugs if we're staying long-term."

"Shrubs," Ellen corrected.

"Huh?"

"Shrubs," she said again.

"You said shrugs. I think we're going to need our shrugs." Builder Ellen giggled.

"Shush, both of you." Hunter Ellen grumbled, shaking her head.

"How did I ever think I'm funny?" Ellen cleared her throat.

"Anyway, you were saying about your theory? You've spent a lot of time thinking about our situation, I bet you have a better idea than the rest of us." Hunter Ellen leaned her bow against the wall and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, I started noticing it when I saw how I was learning how to prepare pelts really fast. I thought I'd need someone to teach me, and I probably should get someone to show me some tricks, but it came easily. Other things I needed to do, like trying to draw a map of the area, didn't come as easily though. I think I figured out why." The hunter held up a finger.

"How long did it take us—or anyone, for that matter—to get to Level 6 before this all started to happen?" Ellen shrugged.

"I don't know exactly. About… five, six years I'd say? We didn't get as many first time bonuses, or have banked experience, so we had to do it the hard way." The other two nodded. Of course they did. They all had the same memories of doing this, so Ellen was just stating out loud what they were all thinking. She knew that Hunter Ellen had a point to make though, and wanted all three to be following the same thought process.

"Exactly," Hunter Ellen said.

"But I did it in a few days. Builder Ellen here did it in a few hours. I think it isn't just that we're jumping up the levels fast, but the System is compressing everything. When Builder Ellen did all that in the attic, she ran through five years of work in a few hours, and almost all of it was crafting items and figuring out how to take them apart." Builder Ellen clapped her hands together.

"Right! I get it! So as far as the System goes, I didn't become an Artisan in a few hours… I spent years in an apprenticeship!" Hunter Ellen smiled back.

"Yes. And once you go through all your banked experience, you're learning at a normal rate. I've already gone through all mine, so when I'm trying to set traps now, it's kind of hard. But because I spent a lot of my banked experience working on pelts and hides, it's like I've been learning it since I was a kid. If Adventurer Ellen here tried to learn the same thing, she'd really struggle with it I think." The theory made Ellen frown and rub her chin, trying to find any holes in the logic.

That would account for Builder Ellen and Hunter Ellen's sudden talent in what they did… but what had she done with hers? Was her experience more generalized? Though Fighter had been top of the list… she had practiced with her spear whenever she'd had a chance during the journey.

"I think I get it," Ellen said out loud.

"So Builder Ellen really can build us some roofs?" This had Builder Ellen hastening to correct.

"I can build some simple roofs, but rushing years of apprenticeship doesn't make me a roofer. Besides, even if we cut down some of these trees, we couldn't use them right away. We'll have to borrow an axe or something and trade some fresh logs for seasoned and cut lumber, and drag it all the way up here. It'll be a lot of work."

"We could just float it down the river from the mill," Ellen pointed out.

"Though I guess that's going against the current, so maybe not…"

"Clearly we need Riverboat Ellen." Hunter Ellen's dry quip was followed by a shake of her head as she grabbed her bow.

"Anyway, that's not what I came here to tell you about. I found something while I was charting the forest. Pretty sure it wasn't there before. Get your stuff. Builder Ellen, you can come too if you want, it's up to you." Builder Ellen scowled.

"Well now I'm curious. You can't just say that and expect me to stay. Just don't get me killed again, all right?" Ellen gave her duplicate a frown.

"Actually, we really need to talk to you and Village Ellen about that. You um… saved my life. Don't be so casual about getting killed." She shivered, remembering the burial of her other self's body. Yet… hadn't Village Ellen done just that to Ellen's own 'predecessor' before? She didn't want to get used to that.

"I what?" The other Ellen blinked a few times.

"She's right," Hunter Ellen confirmed with a nod.

"I'm sorry I called you—or old Village Ellen—timid. When we needed her, she's the one that came through."

"Maybe you haven't given up on adventuring as much as you think." Ellen smiled to the flustered carpenter-in-the-making. Hunter Ellen waved both of them over.

"Come on, daylight's wasting. I want to show you this and get back before sundown, so we can cook dinner without burning it." Builder Ellen sighed.

"Can you add some more seasonings to give it more flavor than last time? No offense, it's nice that you learned how to cook it, but it could use a little salt." That got a dismissive shrug from Hunter Ellen.

"Don't ask me about it. We don't have much. Next time we have some money get more salt."

"It's kind of expensive in the village," Ellen mumbled, her cheeks burning. She'd been chastised for forgetting that in her spending spree at Merriweather more than once. It really was a stupid mistake, so she couldn't even defend herself.

"Don't worry about it." Hunter Ellen started trudging toward the trees again, presuming the other two would follow. She glanced over her shoulder and grinned.

"I think we may have solved our money trouble for a while."