It is only when he opens the pantry, rife with expectations of premade meals to get his energy back, that he understands how out of depth he truly is. There are a multitude of ingredients staring him in the face, and the disappointment has him sinking to his knees in despair. He has no idea how to cook, and attempting to will the System into existence proves unsuccessful as it remains suspiciously silent. It's gracious 'help' from earlier seems not to extend to such things.
So you can give me shoddy instruction manuals, but when it comes to recipe books, you clam up!?
Digging through the pantry for anything that he could eat on its own, his hand brushes against some aged meat. Jerky, premade jerky. An entire bag by the looks of it. Rejoicing, he grabs the bag and pulls out a few pieces to munch on, putting the rest back for later. Right, this is the wake-up call; he should really learn how to cook. Apparently, all it takes to be responsible is getting kidnapped and trapped in some weird Tower.
After finishing the jerky, Gabriel debated with himself on whether or not to head back. Investigating with the others sounded like a pain, and he'd rather rest. Exhaustion made his eyes heavy and limbs weak. But what it really came down to was information. With no information, he was more at risk of potentially dying. Well, that settled it then; he could rest later.
What have I gotten myself into, Alexi?
Sighing, he pushed his way through the door and stalked across the street toward Dahlia's place to meet with the other Players. They were waiting outside; the only ones missing were Joseph and Cassidy. Did he really take that long to finish the jerky? Maybe he was lost in his head for longer than he thought.
"Did dinner take a while?" Dahlia asks, trying to make conversation.
"Apparently, it did, I don't know how, everyone finished before me when I only ate a few pieces of jerky," He grumbles.
"You only ate jerky? Did you not have any ingredients in your pantry? Mine was fully stocked." Dahlia tilts her head at him, but before he can answer, Joseph arrives, looking a bit sheepish when he notices the group staring at him.
"Uhm, I'm sorry for how I acted before. I was a bit anxious, I guess. And hungry. And, well, sorry." He mumbles, his face flushing red in embarrassment.
"See! I told you we just needed some food." Marcella claps him on the back, and some of the tension in the group lifts when Joseph smiles back at her. Then Cassidy arrives, apologetic for being late, but the rest of the Players wave her off. Gabriel rubs his hands together for warmth, his breath coming out as puffs in the air. Whatever they were planning on doing, he wanted it to be over and done with soon.
Once everyone arrived, they began the discussion.
"We should split into two groups, divide and conquer. One group investigates the epidemic, the other, the Night Merchant." Maria proposes.
"How do we decide who goes where?" Stephen questions.
"We could draw lots," Dahlia replies.
"Or do rock, paper, scissors," Charles adds.
"No. Two team leaders, I'll be one. You be the other." Katherine interrupts, lightly grabbing Maria's arm and placing her at the front of the group.
"I'll take you." Katherine first points to Stephen, who obediently follows her instructions and moves next to her. It felt like he was back in gym class, being picked for dodgeball. It was one of his standout memories of elementary school due to getting slammed in the face and having his loose tooth knocked out.
"Right then, I'll take you." Maria points toward Cassidy, and after a moment of hesitation, she scurries over and stands slightly behind Maria. One by one, everyone gets picked, and the final teams are Maria with Cassidy, Marcella, and Dahlia, whereas Katherine has taken Gabriel, Charles, Joseph, and Stephen.
"We have more people, so we'll investigate the Night Merchant. Good?" Katherine turns her piercing gaze toward Maria, who nods almost nervously, an emotion one would normally think is completely absent in her.
"Good. Let's go." Katherine motions, and everyone in her group lines up behind her in a line. The first thought that crossed his mind was that of ducklings following closely behind the mother. It was kind of embarrassing, so he tried to swing around the side. One glare from Katherine is all it takes for him to scurry back in line.
It doesn't take much searching for them to find the Night Merchant. At night, the village is lit up by lanterns placed at intervals, and most areas are untouched by noise. So, hearing an excess of it in one area is all they need to be led to a bright area filled with a group of villagers. It looked to be a tiny market, with a few tables scattered around where people could buy from. The Night Merchant is easy enough to identify. He's wearing a gaudy outfit, a purple cape with a tophat, and is enthusiastically explaining his wares in a booming voice that has Gabriel wincing at the volume.
There are tables set up in a semi-circle, filled to the brim with different objects one might find in a pawn shop. Everything from a suspicious potion to necklaces laced with gemstones. The Night Merchant is standing directly in the middle as the villagers crowd around, grabbing items to discuss with each other. Whispers of gossip trickle into his ears, some talking about the wares, others about the Night Merchant himself, and how handsome he is. Another group is muttering darkly, talking about things like running the Night Merchant out of town. But that group is the minority.
"What do we do now?" Joseph asks, looking around nervously.
"We split up. You," Katherine points at Joseph, "Go with him." She points at Stephen now, "Talk with the villagers, get their opinions." She ushers them off. It was honestly kind of impressive. She was ordering grown adults around like they were children, and it was working. It was something to aspire to.
"I'll talk to the Night Merchant with Charles, you go look at the other wares." Katherine orders, grabbing Charles by the wrist and leading him toward the Night Merchant. The other man is only able to let out an "Oh dearie." Before being dragged off. Right, so everyone else got an accountability buddy while he was left all alone. Maybe it'd be better this way; nobody was there to order him around. But then he'd have to do all the talking. Ugh, this was annoying. Sighing, he went to one of the tables with the least amount of villagers surrounding it.
His eyes raked over the table as he took in the sight of the various wares. This table seemed to hold most of the weirder items, things that people wouldn't normally buy unless they were into the occult or macabre. Out of all the items, the one he was drawn to was a mysterious clay statue shaped like a person, its mouth agape in a haunting scream as its hands clutched at its head. Holding it up and slowly turning it over in his hands, he appraised the item, but before he could look at it for very long, someone rushed up to the other end of the table, slightly out of breath.
"Are you looking to buy?" It was a kid, maybe a teenager. With long ginger hair tied in a ponytail and piercing blue eyes. He was wearing a red vest over a black shirt with black suspenders. He must be the assistant that was mentioned.
"Hmm, maybe. Do you know about some of these things?" He pries. The young man nods eagerly and begins to explain the origins of a few of the items on the table.
"...and that statue you're holding is the one I find most interesting. The person who originally had it claimed it came from some ancient temple. The man then died of mysterious causes, so it's been said the statue is haunted. But, uhm, we've never had any problems, so it's probably fine!" The young assistant quickly adds, a worried smile on his face as he tries to damage control.
"Interesting, so are you his assistant?" Gabriel nods his head in the direction of the Night Merchant, and the young assistant follows his gaze for a second before turning back.
"Ah, yes." For a second, there's a flicker of something darker in his expression, but it's gone the next instant.
"What's your name? I'm Gabriel." He reaches his hand out, hoping that being friendly may get him the information he wants.
"Oh, I'm Jens." The young assistant introduces himself, grabbing Gabriel's hand and shaking it.
"You seem pretty young. What made you decide to assist the Night Merchant?" Jens' face darkens again, and there's a beat of tense silence.
"T-that, ahem, my parents died when I was pretty young. He took me in and raised me; I help him out of gratitude." There was definitely more to the story, but the kid had a troubled look on his face. If he pushed it, then the kid might close himself off even more; besides, he wasn't in the mood for a drawn-out conversation. So he filed away what he learned to bring it up later.
"I think I'll buy this statue then. How much is it?" Luckily, he still had his coin purse with him; he had been putting money in it all day, so he should have enough.
"T-that, it's, uhm…y-you know, you probably shouldn't buy anything." He blinks at the sudden change of tone. His hands unconsciously clutch at the statue as he narrows his eyes at Jens.
"...And why is that?" He presses, keeping his barely contained resentment in check. This wasn't the first time he had been denied service; the only thing keeping him from lashing out was the knowledge that he was considered a villager by the others.
"It's just not a good idea. Trust me." And before he could respond, the statue was snatched out of his hands, and Jens ran off. Standing there for a second, he watches helplessly as Jens ducks out of sight and into a caravan sitting slightly off to the side.
Right, well, that just happened. Lifting his hands, he rubs tiredly at his eyes. It was too late for this; he didn't want to think about that entire interaction at all. There would be a chance to discuss things tomorrow. Taking a second to look for the others, he saw that Joseph and Stephen were still talking to the villager. Katherine and Charles, as well, were still engaged with the Night Merchant. There was no way he was waiting for them to finish. Slipping past the crowd, he made his way to the edges before finally bursting out, hurriedly escaping to the comfort and safety of the home that was now his to get some rest. Whatever deductions that could be made would have to wait till the next day.