YM778.TV Chapter 76: Spiffy
Henry very easily slipped into an exercise routine despite the absence of a Daily Quest from the System. He did pushups, situps, and even stretches before topping it up with as many hours of meditation as he could manage.
He was completely lost in his serenity and feeling elated as his Perception spread from his body when he heard knocks at his door that pulled him out of it.
He walked to the door and pulled it open to reveal Charles and Triss waiting patiently for him.
"Come on," Triss said with her usual smile, "Let\'s go."
"You didn\'t forget, did you?" Charles said with a more neutral expression.
"Huh?" Henry let out and blinked as the memory of what he agreed to yesterday came rushing back to mind,
"No, no, I didn\'t forget. Give me a chance to get dressed."
As he spoke, Henry made an almost negligible gesture at his chest still bare from the day before. Triss caught the gesture and she was far more inclined to stare. She might have stared longer had Henry not withdrawn into his room and closed the door gently.
Henry got himself cleaned up and looked through his trunk of clothes before pausing as he raised a brow.
"Awkward," he mumbled.
Besides the one that had been burned to ashes yesterday, every other shirt or Jacket Henry had had bullet holes in them from the gunfights, claw strikes, gun stabs, and other attacks he had suffered.
Only now did it dawn on him just how fast he had gone through the already limited supply of clothes he had so he pulled open his door and poked out his head at Triss and Charles who were there, still waiting.
"Um, Charles?" Henry called.
"What is it?"
"Could I get a shirt from you? All of mine appear to have been damaged," Henry said.
Triss laughed,
"You ran out of clothes?" She asked, sounding like she found it hilarious.
"I never really had that many, actually," Henry said honestly.
Charles was smiling but he nodded,
"Yes, I think can help you out."
Charles left and five minutes later, he returned dragging a trunk with him that he laid at Henry\'s doorstep,
"Here. This should be enough."
Henry stepped out of his room and pulled open the trunk. Jackets, shirts, suspenders, pants, a few hats, a couple of gun belts, and some coats.
They looked to be of better quality than any he had worn already in this world and as good as any he had ever worn in his past life. But he could have sworn he recognized some of them as well. He had seen them on someone in the Gang even if they were now cleaned and neatly arranged in the trunk.
Henry looked up at Charles,
"These are Tony\'s," he said.
"They WERE Tony\'s," Charles said, "Now they\'re yours. Much better use than wasting away in his room."
"But— You were closer to him," Henry said, "If anyone should keep them, it should be you."
Charles chuckled as he shook his head,
"Nah, I have more than enough. You should have them."
"Thank you," Henry said with heartfelt gratitude.
Charles looked embarrassed by the genuineness in Henry\'s tone for a second and then cleared his throat,
"Oh stop that. We don\'t even know if they\'ll fit. You\'ve grown a lot this past few weeks, after all."
With no one currently paying her any heed, Triss nodded as Charles mentioned Henry\'s growth; He had gone from his scrawny but no doubt-cute form to a more manly, lean physique topped with abs that seemed especially indented against his skin.
"They\'ll fit," Henry said with certainty before adding with as much genuineness as before,
"Thank you."
He dragged the trunk into his room and closed the door to afford himself some privacy.
The big pro was that Tony had a sense of style fitting for a Gunslinger that the old Henry had lacked.
Picking out a set of pants, a shirt, and a fairly thin coat (that reached just a few inches past his knees) to wear over it all, Henry was all dressed in a few minutes. He topped it all off with a black hat with a steel buckle, put his guns in his holsters, and walked out of his room.
"Spiffy," Triss said with an appreciative nod and a smile as she folded her arms beneath her breasts.
"Please," Henry said in objection with a slight roll of his eyes but he didn\'t really mind.
Charles led the way out of the Mansion and to the horses. As they walked, they all saw the newbies either walking around holding their heads, squinting at the sunlight shining above, or just wincing at every sound that happened to hit their ears wrong.
"Idiots," Charles called them. He didn\'t think the events of yesterday were anything to celebrate. Triss agreed with him.
Henry, on the other hand, understood the newbies had no idea what yesterday was all about. They had no idea it was all a prelude to a much more dangerous operation just as they had no idea Angus only recruited them to use them.
Casting his eyes across the courtyard, Henry raised a brow in surprise when he saw Good ol\' Joe looking and acting quite chirper.
"Lightweights!" Joe said while roaring in laughter as he patted one of the newbies on the back. Despite their hungover states, he insisted on directing them to various tasks. One of which was getting rid of the liquor bottles from last night\'s celebrations.
The newbies looked at Joe with expressions of distaste mixed with admiration. Henry didn\'t doubt they\'d soon be asking him for tips for getting rid of a Hangover and he didn\'t doubt Joe would reply with "Years and Years of experience" which was likely accurate.
"So, where are we going?" Henry asked as he walked over to Nyx and gave her neck a few affectionate pats,
"Somewhere in town?"
Triss shook her head as she secured her saddle on the back of the third horse she had had to tame in the past few weeks due to a couple of unfortunate accidents,
"I don\'t think so," she said,
"New Freudein is a little town so there are very few places around with high-powered explosives whether for sale or for steal."
Charles nodded as he led his horse out of the Hadron Mansion Stables and got into the saddle,
"Triss is right. There\'s a Mine not too far from here. The owner has explosives transported there on a regular for the miners to use. We\'ll head over and \'persuade\' them to hand some of them over.
Shouldn\'t be too difficult."
"Shouldn\'t be," Triss said and then her lips morphed into a sad smile,
"But with our luck, who knows?"
"True," Charles said with a chuckle, "We have had shitty luck so far."
Henry opened his mouth to give his input —Mostly on the fact that their negativity could be jinxing their chances at having things go smoothly for the first time in a long time— when he received alerts from the System;
[Grand Quest Updated!]
[You have received a Main Quest]
[You have received a Sub Quest]
Without his prompting, both notifications unfolded into descriptions;
[Sub Quest: Preparations.
Quest Condition: Join Charles and Triss to acquire the materials needed for the Manor Job.
Reward: 300 Exp]
[Main Quest: The Manor Job.
Angus Dionisio has nursed his most ambitious robbery attempt yet. A strike directly into the abode of Maude Aleric, Lord of the Black Manor, and as a Member of the Dionisio Gang, you are \'Honor bound\' to be involved.
Quest Condition: Survive Angus Dionisio\'s audacious and daring robbery attempt at the Black Manor.
Reward: 1500 Exp]
[Good luck!]