Accounting On The White Rose

The ship wasn't that large, so the layout was pretty simple. The main deck was open, save for the cabin at the back that was a single large bedroom. Most of that was taken up by the single large bed in front of the windows facing to the rear of the vessel. There was a table fixed to the floor and some storage chests as well. To either side outside the doors, stairs led to a raised section above the cabin that had the steering wheel, or whatever you called it. Look I've been on plenty of ships, even worlds that were entirely water, so it wasn't like I didn't know my way about. I just didn't care to bother with all the 'proper' names of shit that boaties get all serious about, okay?

Below deck was a large holding area, and the stairs down were plenty big enough for Merida's horse. The redhead spent a good part of our first day down with him, making sure he was okay, I guess. Elsa apparently actually knew her way around a sailing vessel, so she was up top doing the actual steering, which I didn't expect was all that hard, as we were just going downriver. Hilde was up there helping with the mermaid's horn in case we needed a breeze.

Mal had stuck around long enough to help us set up the ship before flying back to Germonia. The cats were sure that between them they could carry someone while teleporting, so if I really needed her they could fetch the dragon woman back, but even with Trace Defense bringing her with into the desert was a really bad idea. There was some powerful, nasty stuff asleep out in the desert, and I was not risking waking it up when feeling Maleficent, the big bad herself, walk by. Kat and Anna were both lying in a patch of sunlight on deck, visible from the hammock I was lazing in. Poor Ruby was in the cabin lying down, apparently her stomach didn't like boats any more than it did flying. Cass was trying to take care of her.

That left poor Rapunzel to run around deck following Elsa's orders. Which mostly consisted of adjusting the set of the sail via tightening or loosening certain ropes. She seemed to actually be having a lot of fun though, so I left her to it. I could have had the cats bring in Snow or Ella to help out, but the bed was cramped enough as is.

Thinking about what might be hiding out there in the sands past the narrow band of green along the shore, and on Trace Defense, I'd brought my Company device with me while kicking back. Looking at my account, I'd managed to accumulate a whopping one hundred and forty-two credits recently. It had been a while since I'd spent any, but damn, they had piled up from Princesses and rebates and other stuff. Now they were burning a hole in my proverbial pocket. But what to spend them on exactly?

Now that I had Dragon heritage, Treasure Hoard was seriously tempting. The three to seven days the jewelry took to bind was a real pain at times. Treasure Hoard would let me bind someone in just five minutes, after I bit them and drank some blood. And it only cost twenty credits, a steal for a whole new and very effective Binding. The only problem is that it required I have Dragon Scale first. Becoming an even stronger dragon wasn't a bad thing in itself, but it cost a huge ninety-five credits on its own! Did I really want to sink one hundred and fifteen of my purse on just two things?

That would still leave me with nearly thirty-some odd credits to throw around though, and that wasn't a bad thing, but maybe I needed to take a look at defenses first. I'd picked up a good number of waifus at this point, many of which had abilities that brought some prices down. I might be able to pick up some things dirt cheap because of rebates, possibly even free.

I had Body and Wild defenses at immunity already, and I'd get Environmental from Dragon Scale. I also had Stress at immunity. I could pick up the first level of Addiction Defense at a very slight discount, probably from Kat, but I didn't see the need. The first level of Mind Defense would only cost five credits! That was a very nice discount for something that could prove to be invaluable, and considering Jafar absolutely dabbled in mind control, I went ahead and bought it.

No discount on Possession Defense, but that was such a niche concern, I wasn't bothered. I already had the first level of Drain Defense, which I'd gotten for free, but I would only get a slight discount on immunity. Pass for now. Almost half off for Fate Defense, which was really nice, but even half would cost enough to take me past the little I had spare. Not much of a discount on the second level of Creature Defense, but I wasn't concerned about animal attacks at this point.

Polymorph Defense was in the same boat as Fate, and I didn't have the requirements for Wyldscape anyways. Corruption Defense could be really useful, but it cost way too much with only a slight discount. Information Defense was tempting, but scouters were pretty rare, and I already had Mind Defense. The second level for Trace Defense was what I had really wanted to look at, but it was very much way too damn expensive. I'd just have to keep relying on resistance. Destiny and Paradox Defense were also way too much. Looks like Mind Defense was all I was grabbing here today.

Looking over at Talents, I was briefly tempted by Talent Sharing for Martial Talent. Giving all my waifus the ability to rapidly gain combat skills like myself could be super useful in the long term. Only my main combatants didn't need it. Ruby and Merida were already fighters. Cassandra was a warrior with even deadlier magic powers. Maleficent was a fucking dragon... Maybe eventually, I did still have a dream of Cinderella laying waste like a queen in power armor. Dragon Scale would also be giving me Soul Talent, which was the only one that was really interesting at this point. Psychic might have been if I'd any waifus with mental abilities to learn from, but magic would do.

Hmmm, I was eligible to buy Sweet Home now, which would double the size of my extra-dimensional apartment, making it an actual house sitting on a small plot of land. Twenty credits, but the apartment was so crowded now, and with me out on the road picking up even more... I shrugged and bought it. Hopefully, if anyone went outside they wouldn't be bothered at seeing the land just end past the two-hectare border.

With that, I swapped back to Heritages before I could change my mind and quickly bought Dragon Scale and Treasure Horde. I had two credits left... Oh well. Merida was worth another five, thanks to overachiever, when she was captured. And maybe I'd try for Jasmine after all. Plus Eden was worth a huge chunk at her tier. After that, well, I should be getting a nice amount when setting up for world two. Maybe I'd even get a hint with the world name on spending it. Or just wait until in world to see my next main quest. Expanding on Mastermind to start with a lair could also be a really good idea.

"How long are we gonna bea float'en about then?"

I looked up into the sparkling green eyes of my newest companion. "I believe Hilde estimated a week of simply riding the current, but Elsa seems to be making great use of the wind." And the mermaid's horn. "So possibly quite a bit less than that. Bored already?"

She grinned. "Fuk no. I'm hav'en a right blast. Tha flight, tha falls, and now riding about on a real sailing ship! I just wanted to knew."

I put the device away in my pocket, then pulled her down to join me in the hammock. "I've no idea what lies along the river until we get to Agrabah, we could be assaulted by pirates or a giant river crocodile. Best to relax while we can."

She didn't pull back or try to wiggle free, but snuggled up against me instead. "Oh aye? I like tha sound o' that."

Well well. Maybe Merida wanted to play with her fiance a bit. A little bit of slap and tickle? Maybe even a love bite?

Having Merida captured before nightfall might be best if I was going to squeeze everyone into that bed.