After breakfast, Rei came up to him. He’d changed into pants and was smiling because of it

“Jin… um… thank you. Don’t blame Shin and Seiichiro too much, they were just worried. They thought you might have found a way for us to get back and didn’t tell us first. If I get anything for your class let me know?”

After growing up with two brothers, Jin didn’t know why he wasn’t stronger against Shin and Seiichiro. He’d also seriously considered abandoning his own plan and simply figuring things out with Acshellis on their own. Feeling like he was seeing his younger brother, he nearly reached out to ruffle Rei’s hair, but held himself back and instead shifted his weight embarrassedly

“Don’t make a big deal out of it. We’re all in this together”

“I suppose… but…”

“Enough. They were free. It’s fine”

“Okay. Still, let me know?”

“For now it’s fine to sell things. I’ll let you know if I need anything”

“Okay. It’s so nice wearing pants again”

“That’s good. You ready to head out?”

“Yeah… we’re not going to get covered in blood again, right?”

“With Shin and Seiichiro as party leaders it’s entirely possible”

Leaving the guild space, they returned to the Bounty Board. Acshellis was waiting patiently

“Fellow travellers! We meet again”

Shin ignored him

“Oi! Jin, how do we tell what quest is what? Where’s this dungeon quest?”

Joining Shin in front of the Bounty Board, Jin skimmed through the listings until he actually found a dungeon quest

“There’s one here to collect spider eggs. The dungeon is a bit of a walk from here”

“I don’t care about that. What’s it like in there?”

“There’s three bosses and mobs of spiders. It’s a level 30 dungeon”

“Can we do it?”

Jin on his own could solo it. The loot from memory would be useless, yet that wasn’t his problem

“Yeah. Accept it”

“Alright, I accept, Bloodied Silk for a Princess. Now show us how to get there”

It seemed the top little idiot remembered what he’d been told. The quest appearing in Jin’s quest log. It was a five man dungeon, so he didn’t know if that would apply to their party or not. If it did then he needed to find a way to be inside… Spider venom would make a great substance to test.

Being left out, Seiichiro walked up to them

“How far away is it? Do we have to walk all day? Isn’t there anything closer?”

There was, but he wasn’t about to share that. There was a whole player vs player area too that the 5 little idiots also didn’t need to know about. Instead of answering truthfully, he misdirected 

“It’s fine. Actually, we can try summoning mounts and see if that works. We won’t have to walk if it does”

“We couldn’t have done that yesterday? Why are you telling us this now?”

Because their characters had yet to develop the need to go the bathroom? Because they still weren’t truly in synch with the game? Because he was too busy with his husband to be bothered? Jin shrugged

“I didn’t think about it until I saw my inventory. We can’t summon them in the city, so we can try once we’re outside the gate”

“Do you even know where to go?”

“Yeah. I know the location of most of these places”

“Then you better not get us lost. I wonder what mounts we have? I hope it’s something cool!”

“We’ll find out what we all have when we get there. Let’s go before someone else accepts the quest and we can’t turn it in”

Leading the 5 little idiots, and his husband, outside the northern gate of Silverledge, Jin hoped their mounts would work. He was feeling rather petty and wanted to show off. Yuto and Haruto had latched themselves to Acshellis’s side and were asking him all sorts of questions. Caught at the front of the group, he couldn’t drop back and run interference.

When they’d gone a good 20 metres or so from the front gate, Jin opened his inventory and scrolled through until he found his best mount. Clicking on it, it was grey. Pressing it half a dozen times, it still wouldn’t summon

“Jin?”

Ugh. He’d “promised” mounts and couldn’t deliver

“They’re not working. We mustn’t have spent enough time for them to work”

Seiichiro rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, his tail flicking in clear annoyance

“Can you do anything right?”

“How was I supposed to know when we only left the city yesterday?”

Seiichiro wouldn’t be dissuaded 

“You, NPC, can you summon mounts? You can use magic, can’t you?”

Acshellis bowed

“I can indeed. It’s within my skills, traveller”

“Good, hurry up and summon us mounts. It’s so stupid that we have to walk”

Jin had a sinking feeling, but he wasn’t in his husband’s head and didn’t know what he had planned. Standing back, Acshellis waved his hand. 7 dark shadows with blood red eyes forming before them. Seiichiro stepping back

“What the hell are those?!”

Acshellis bowed again

“Shadow hounds. Summoned for your travels”

“You expect us to ride them?”

The 5 little idiots all seemed terrified. Jin’s pettiness showing again as he stepped towards them

“How fast can they go?”

“200 times the foot of man. They are all loyal black wolves”

Jin wanted to laugh. Seiichiro was a wolfman, and had pissed his husband off. This was his form of petty and Jin goddamn loved it he sincerely hoped they would unlock their mounts soon only for the 5 little idiots to all have stubby little horse mounts. Approaching the wolf closest, he placed his hand on its head. The red eyes that turned towards him were pretty terrifying, but after a moment it lowered. Climbing on the back, he found himself seated firmly as the shadow wolf stood back up. He could lean any which way and he didn’t fall off.

Yuto blurted out

“What are you doing?! What if it attacks you? What if it eats you!?”

Jin shrugged

“It seems fine. It’s either this or we walk everywhere. I trust Ace, he is an NPC and we haven’t enraged him. I suggest we go. We don’t know how much magic this guy has”

Seeing he seemed to like him now, Rei shook as he walked up to a wolf, it lowering its stance allowing him on. Squeaking as the beast rose, Rei grabbed its fur then laughed

“This is so cool”

If he and Rei could do it, then the others could. Shin claiming the wolf at the front and Seiichiro the one slightly behind. Scowling at the lot of them, Shin acted like he wasn’t scared

“What are you waiting for? They’re just some wolves. You can stay here and wait if you’re that scared”

Haruto, Yuto, and then finally Acshellis mounted up. Acshellis explaining

“Kick your heels and they’ll start walking. Tug their fur the way you want to go”

Seeing they were mounted up, Jin kicked his heels, immediately jolting in the invisible saddle. This was so freaking cool! The 5 little idiots were so lucky he was so kind. He could lead them anywhere and they’d never know. Alas, he’d save that particular trap for when the time was right.