The Grocery Market

"There are a lot of daily quests in Frefington, but most of them are extermination quests. We can't risk getting into fights yet, so we need runner quests. Thankfully, one area in particular has a lot of those."

"And where would that be?" you ask.

"The mini-mart!"

"...?" You can do little more than stare at her in confusion. Mienna just grins and leads the way back out of the alleys.

Rather then returning to the main square and all the stalls there, you find her leading you further into the city. As you come out of the last alley and into a public square, you find yourself at another market area. Stores and stalls surround you.

"Heroes don't come here often; just in the morning to start their quests, and in the evening to finish them. Mostly just the NHC's come here to buy their food. You see, this small market is meant just for groceries. There's the butcher; that's my favorite fruit stand; and for dry goods, there's a WalShop branch right over there. They get shipments from the Capital; twice a week Heroes can do that as an escort quest."

"It's all food? Then why don't heroes ever come here? Do heroes not have to eat?"

"Weeelllll... It's not like we don't eat. It's more like... we never eat groceries. No bonus from it, see. Skilled chefs' meals give temporary buffs, so we just eat out. And we don't have to eat all that often; once a day is enough to ward off the Starvation penalty. I hear NHC's have to eat a lot more. So buying produce and making their own meals reduces the cost."

Mienna leads your band to the first stall she mentioned: the butcher. "Mr. Patterson! Do you have any work we can help you with today?"

The man being addressed looks up from the slab of meat he's carving. "Hm? Who's this now?"

"Just some heroes looking for a quest! Do you have some?"

"A quest?" he echoes in surprise. The man isn't a hulk; rather, he seems pretty thin except for his well-built arms. It seems he sells much more meat than he eats himself. He plants his powerful hands on his table and leans over to get a close look at the small girl mounted on a wolf. "You sure you're big enough for that, lass? You look pretty young. If I give you work and you get hurt, what would your mother do to me?"

"Oh, don't worry," you chime in. "Mienna's pretty tough. And I'll be here to help them, too, if they need it."

Patterson straightens up suddenly. "Ah, sorry. Didn't realize you were there, miss. You're her mother?"

"Indeed I am."

"Then would you be the one looking for work?"

"Goodness, no. Mienna wants to work herself. The others, too; they all need something to keep them busy. If you have any errands that wouldn't bring them out of the safety of the city, perhaps..."

"Oh? Oh! Of course! In fact, I was just preparing some packages for delivery. If your wards would take them to the customers, I could offer a small reward for their services."

"Perfect!" Mienna shouts. She holds out her hands eagerly. "I'll take the first one, and Doffson the second. We'll go with Verita to drop them off. Mama, go with Skoll to deliver that last one."

Mr. Patterson hands the three young ones their respective packages, each with a name and address printed on it. Mienna helps Doffson up onto Verita's back with his package, then hustles off. That leaves you alone with Skoll and a fine, strong-looking butcher. With arms like that, there's no doubt he would be able to hold you tightly, even lift you in the air and stab into you from below, entirely-

"Mama. Meat goes bad."

"Hm? Oh. Right! Right." Skoll begins to skitter away, holding her package carefully. You follow after her. "You, um, know where to go, right?"

"Got directions. Didn't hear?"

"Haha. Sorry. I was... thinking about something else."

"Think Mr. has Mrs. Patterson."

"Huh?" Your jaw drops.

"Has Mrs. Doesn't need Mama."

"Oh." You walk in silence for awhile, following the small wolf-girl. "How can you tell?" you finally have to ask.

"Pants. Smell like kids."

"Kids have a smell?"

"Mm."

Huh. Live and learn.