This Used To Be About Dungeons полностью

“Oh, ay,” said Hannah. “Soft, gentle girls who want someone strong and burly, those are the sorts I seem to attract. But I like strong and burly myself, even, or especially, in a woman.”

“Sounds complicated,” said Mizuki. “And kind of exhausting.”

“Do you not have a type?” asked Hannah.

“Boys?” asked Mizuki.

“But what sort of boy, is what I’m askin’,” said Hannah. “Tall? Short? Quiet? Gruff?”

“I’ve dated them all,” said Mizuki, shrugging. “Usually I kind of… find something to appreciate? Someone shows me attention, and my mind highlights every good thing about them. I fall in love easily, I guess.”

“And out of love just as fast?” asked Hannah, arching an eyebrow.

“I don’t know,” said Mizuki. “Mostly it just seems to go wrong.”

They arrived in the proper main street of Pucklechurch, and Mizuki was thankful there was cause to change the topic.

They went into the blacksmith’s and were greeted by a giant of man. He had to have been at least six and a half feet tall. His arms were like big hairy hams. He was hairy all over, in fact, red hair that covered his forearms, long hair tied back in a knot, and a surprisingly young face hidden behind a short but thick beard. He had eyebrows like two fuzzy caterpillars, and when he saw the two girls, the eyebrows shot up like they had been startled and wanted to escape.

“Hannah,” he said, and it was like his breath caught in his lungs for the last part of her name.

“Micah,” said Hannah with a nod. It wasn’t frosty, exactly, but it was missing some of the warmth that Hannah normally exuded. “You know Mizuki?”

“Ay,” he said, glancing at Mizuki only briefly before fixing his gaze on Hannah again. Saying they knew each other was putting it a bit strong, in Mizuki’s opinion, though they did know each other well enough to know each other’s name. Micah was hard to miss, the second tallest person in Pucklechurch beside the cleric of Xuphin. Mizuki had never paid him all that much attention, in part because he hadn’t grown up in Pucklechurch. Like Hannah, he wasn’t local, and the accent placed him as being from Cairbre or around those parts, same as her. His hair was a darker shade of red though.

“We’re lookin’ for armor,” said Hannah. “We’ve got a dungeon party put together and need protection. I’d like a helm and chest piece for myself, and for Mizuki, a helm as well, maybe more. We’re hopin’ that you have somethin’ that can be fitted to us, because we’ll be goin’ out soon enough.”

“Ay,” he said slowly. “The master is out today, but I can find somethin’ for ye. Can ye give me a mo’ to go in back? And… I’d need to take measurements.” His accent wasn’t quite the same as Hannah’s, both thicker and with something different to it, and while they probably were both from Cairbre, maybe they were from different parts.

“Measurements are fine,” said Hannah. Again, it wasn’t as though she was being chilly with him, but there wasn’t any warmth, not like she usually had, and more than that, some of the boisterousness that Mizuki had come to expect was gone too.

Micah disappeared into the back of the shop. Mizuki got closer to Hannah. “Some history I should know about?”

“He’s sweet on me,” said Hannah with a wave of her hand.

“And… not your type?” asked Mizuki. She frowned a bit, because he seemed like exactly what Hannah had described as her type, big, burly, and strong enough to rip either of them in half.

“He wants to get married and put some babies in me,” said Hannah, sighing slightly.

“Oh,” said Mizuki. “That’s a gross thing for a guy to say to you.”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “He didn’t say it, not in so many words, but—” She closed her mouth as Micah came back, and Mizuki hoped that he hadn’t heard any of that.

Micah laid two breastplates on the counter, front and back pieces held together by leather straps. One of them was almost certainly a henling, or at least Mizuki hoped that it was, since it had filigree on the front. Dungeon stuff sometimes ended up in local shops. Something like armor or weapons, which were basically only used by dungeoneers, could sit there for ages.

“I’ll need to measure ye,” said Micah, holding up a marked tape measure. “Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry for it,” said Hannah. “It’s your job. Just tell me how to stand.”

Mizuki watched, not saying anything, while this went on. He started at the side, measuring from the top of her hip to her armpit, then around her neck, then her arms, which were quite thick, and finally, with large, timid hands, began to measure around her stomach and her bust.

“Micah,” said Hannah with a sigh. “Touchin’ people is a part of my job too, and if I were timid about it, there’d be problems. Now, what I don’t want is ill-fittin’ armor, not when I’ll be fightin’ monsters in it and travelin’ while wearin’ it.”

“Sorry,” said Micah. He went back to it, blushing but much more firm, and Mizuki kept her comments to herself.