I Built This City Chapter 66: Chapter 66

Read chapter 66 of I Built This City by ThePudding on NovelPedia.

Village Ellen Ellen didn’t hear everything that went on in her inn, but the Briar Thorns didn’t need to know that. She could hear them well enough if she was on the same floor and there wasn’t a huge crowd, so for now she could pretend she could listen in whenever. She wondered to herself if she should have tipped her hand so early and revealed she could hear them, but since they already knew there were multiple Ellens and hadn’t made a fuss, it made sense to bring them into the secret sooner rather than later. She hoped. “We probably have two to three days before more people start showing up,” the older man was saying. Although “older” was a little hard to justify, since he couldn’t have been past forty. In comparison to the three youths that were barely older than Ellen, he was old though. “I’m a little tired, I don’t know if I can hop right into the dungeon tomorrow morning,” one of the young men said. The sandy-haired youth was a little gangly, surprising Ellen. Even the mages she’d met, like Miriam, always seemed to have a certain level of fitness. Just how new were these kids? Ellen thought to herself. Aloud, she gave a warm smile to them. “You don’t need to worry. My sister is still handling the details, but I’m sure she’s put you into the afternoon slot. Have a nice breakfast, maybe get some training in, and then head into the dungeon.” The older man frowned at her, but Ellen knew what he was about to say and wagged her finger at him. “Don’t argue. I tried to be an adventurer once, I do know what I’m talking about. My sister kept on with it, but I didn’t. You push them too hard, they’ll stumble. Go too easy on them, they won’t be prepared.” Ellen was just making the advice up as she went along, of course. She felt bad for the exhausted kid, that’s all. The older man’s scowl told her he wasn’t buying it, so she kept her smile on and did a small pivot. “But you should learn from this!” She turned to the scrawny guy who had complained. “You need to build up your Endurance, it sounds like. Adventuring involves a lot of walking, you know. And bad weather! Don’t neglect that!” She gathered the empty plates and hurried back toward the kitchen, humming to herself. She couldn’t pay attention to everything at once, even if she could hear everything being said, but she wasn’t too worried about the Briar Thorns. She overheard the discussion resume at the table with the new adventurers and their mentor very clearly. “See? You’re so green even the tavern wench is lecturing ya!” The older man slapped his hand on the table. “Derek, listen to what she says. You’re going to need to build up your Endurance. And let that be another lesson, boys. Never take even the simplest villager for granted. You never know what someone’s past might be!” “I mean, she literally looks just like the other one who handles the appointments,” another mumbled. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out she wasn’t just a serving girl.” “Quiet.” Ellen suppressed a giggle. She really should have picked up Gambler’s Face or something… maybe next time. It wasn’t offered every Perk selection for her, but maybe an Acting Skill Enhancer would help? She knew she would get two Perk picks before the next Skill Enhancer, so Gambler’s Face was more likely. Level 14 was a long way away though, and she wasn’t in a hurry for another huge event to give her a massive amount of experience. Anything that would do that she was unlikely to survive. She’d only beaten the werewolf through a combination of luck and surprise. Next time, she might die… and unlike her sister-selves, Ellen was none too sure what would happen if she duplicated as a lycanthrope. Ellen shook her head. When had she started to think of the duplication as the norm? “Are you all right there, Ellen?” She jerked her head up to see Tobias, the owner of the Treetop Inn, staring at her in concern. The older man glanced down at her hands where she clutched one of the plates so tightly, her knuckles were turning white. With