Chương 54: Helmet Tea

Petra moved beneath the blanket while I was waiting for the water to boil. She drew one knee up, stopped, and carefully straightened it again. I kept the vessel over the fire. Waking appeared to require several attempts, and interfering would probably make it take longer.

"Look at ye," Mimir murmured from his stone.

"Keeping a fire, preparing breakfast. Another morning and ye'll be complaining about the price of bread."

"I am boiling water."

"Aye. For someone else. Allow an old head his astonishment." The water was still cloudy. I had let the sediment settle before pouring it, though some had followed into the vessel despite my efforts. A small brown particle circled near the edge. I watched it complete another turn before taking out the helmet. I had stored it with the armour from floor two. It emerged from Wormhole clean enough to reflect the fire along its rim, and I turned it over to check that the inside would hold what I intended to pour.

There was a shallow dent near the crown. That would make setting it down inconvenient. Mimir followed the movement with his eyes.

"Tell me that's for your head."

"It is a helmet."

"Then we agree on its customary purpose." I poured the boiled water into it. A little ran down the outside and struck the ground beside my boot.

"By the cups of the undrowned saints, lad. Is it clean?"

"Everything stored within Wormhole is disinfected. Faecal matter, microbes. It removes them."

"A comforting subject over breakfast."

"You asked." He considered the helmet while I set it between two stones to keep it upright.

"Useful place to keep food, then."

"That depends on what you expect from the food."

"Generally, to eat it of course!"

"The nutrients are almost entirely depleted. It can come back looking much the same, but it offers very little nourishment. Sometimes it is no longer worth eating at all." Mimir's mouth remained slightly open. I checked the water.

"I do not need regular meals. Potions keep me going. Food is rarely worth the storage space."

"So when ye carry provisions for your new companion… how ye planning on doing it lad?"

"They'll carry it themselves." I say.

"God forbid not even a snack." I nodded. He closed his eyes for a moment, and sighed while I went back to examining the dent in the helmet. It was deeper on one side than the other.

"That explains a few complaints," he said. Humans required arrangements that consumed an unreasonable amount of time. Feeding them was only part of it. They also needed to sleep, and they became less useful if the sleep was interrupted, and apparently there were differences between resting on stone and resting on stone with a thin piece of cloth over it. I looked toward the high windows above our shelter. Sunlight had reached the upper wall. We had spent a full night here.

By now I could have been challenging the next floor. Petra shifted again, rubbing her face against the edge of the blanket. I left the water where it was. Her pouch lay beside the pack. I had found the tea leaves while looking through the supplies earlier, and there were enough for a modest serving if I avoided wasting them. I measured them between my fingers before dropping them into the hot water. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Mimir opened one eye.

"Those hers?"

"Yes."

"Planning to tell her ye've inspected her belongings?"

"I am using them for her."

"Aye. That defence has served many a thief right up to the gallows." The leaves began to open. I moved the helmet farther from the fire and waited, watching the colour deepen. Too long would make it bitter. I remembered that much particularly well. Petra pushed herself upright as I picked it up. Her hair had caught beneath the strap of her pack, and she freed it with a small, irritated tug before looking toward me. I was already standing in front of her. She jolted backward, knocking her elbow against the stone.

I stopped with the helmet held out. Mimir laughed.

"Easy, lass. He's brought tea. The expression came with him." Petra put a hand over her mouth. Her eyes moved from my face to the helmet, then back again.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"You were just there."

"I walked."

"Aye," Mimir said, still laughing.

"A lesser terror when announced." I lowered the helmet slightly.

"Do you want this?"

"Yes. Thank you." She took it with both hands, testing the warmth before settling it on her lap. For a moment she looked down into it without speaking.

"It's clean," I said. Mimir made a strangled noise behind me.

"I wasn't going to ask," Petra replied.

"Good. He's a detailed answer prepared, and I'd spare ye hearing it." She looked past me at him. One corner of her mouth lifted. I returned to my place beside the fire. Petra blew across the water and took a cautious sip. Her shoulders lowered as she swallowed, and she raised the helmet again before speaking.

"This is my favourite."

"I used the leaves in your pouch."

"I know. But how did you know how long to leave them?" I looked at the helmet. I had enough armour stored away to outfit myself several times, and this was what I had finally found useful.

"I read about it." That was a lie. I had listened to her complain about oversteeped tea in another run. She had been more insistent about it than about several injuries I considered much more deserving of attention. Petra took another sip.

"Well, you remembered properly." Mimir looked at me. I concentrated on moving a stick that did not need moving.

"You could wear the rest," Petra said.

"The rest of what?"

"The armour. I assume the helmet had some."

"It did." She glanced at my bandaged arm.

"It might help." Mana Circulation could reinforce the body without requiring plates strapped over every joint. I had preferred that for long enough that putting armour on now seemed an admission I was reluctant to make. The bandage complicated the argument, so I avoided looking at it.

"It takes time to equip." Petra rested the helmet against her knees.

"So did the tea."

"A costly habit, kindness," Mimir observed.

"Best stamp it out before he acquires a spoon." She laughed into the helmet and had to lower it quickly. I watched a little tea spill over the rim.

"Careful. There was not much." That made her laugh again. I could not determine what I had contributed, but she managed to keep the rest inside. When she finished, she held the helmet between her palms for warmth and looked toward the opening.

"Are we heading for the settlements?"

"Which settlements?"

"The goblins. On sixteen." I looked up. She continued before I answered.

"The first paths are manageable. Seventeen was worse. There's a huge orc near the settlement there. We stayed away from it."

"You have been through both?"

"Yes." I had heard her describe parts of her route before. I had not heard this version, and the difference was enough to make me leave the fire alone.

"Through the settlements themselves?"

"Some of them. We completed what we needed and moved on." Mimir watched me while Petra adjusted the blanket around her legs.

"What did you need?" I asked.

"The subquests." She said it as though that should have settled the matter. I waited, and she looked toward Mimir before continuing.

"We didn't have to fight every goblin. There were tasks. Once those were finished, we could clear the floor."

"Which tasks?"

"Recovering supplies was one. There was something we had to take between the settlements, too. I'd have to check the exact wording."

"Did you fight the orc?"

"No. I just said we stayed away from it." I leaned forward.

"And the floor still cleared?"

"Yes." The helmet shifted in her hands. I reached out to steady it before she tipped the remaining tea into her blanket, then withdrew my hand. She studied me over the rim.

"The floors reset," she said.

"I know the same work might need doing again."

"I know they reset."

"I wasn't suggesting we could walk through without doing anything."

"That was not what I meant." She waited for me to explain. I had too many questions arranged badly, and asking all of them would make it difficult to return to the simple, competent impression I had been attempting to maintain. Her party had taken a route through the goblins, completed selected objectives, and left the largest threat alone. She had described it without any qualification about forcing a gate or surviving until something stopped pursuing them.

I had several clear memories of that orc, and none involved leaving it alone...

"Could you show me the subquests you completed?" Petra nodded slowly.

"If they're still in the record."

"Check." I said.

"Now?"

"When you finish the tea." She looked into the helmet. There was scarcely a mouthful left, but she drank it with care while I considered the settlements again. A smile began before I had settled on what to ask next. Mimir's eyes narrowed.

"Lad." I looked at him.

"Whatever has pleased ye, explain it before we stand up."

"I am thinking."

"Aye. I can see the damage beginning."