Chapter 43: The Chosen Hero
Ariel’s view
There were two tests that caught my attention when I was reviewing them. Both tests had the same answers, as if it was the same person answering each. Turned out to be a pair of identical twins. Karen and Carol. The answer they gave that made me pay more attention to them than I otherwise would’ve, was when they answered why they wanted to be the hero, with: “To escape my arranged marriage, and help my sister escape hers.”
While I do want to help them, they do still need to perform well if I’m going to select one of them as the hero. So I watched them a lot, to see if they had what I thought was needed.
...
Karen and Carol’s room (a bit in the past)
“Is it just me, or is the quality of this stuff better than anything we've seen before?”
“Definitely better than anything I've seen. If the nobles understood what they were missing out on, I'm sure they'd demand immediate access.”
“Do you think Ariel will let us keep the clothes when this is over?”
“If she does, she's crazy. Anyone that actually tries to leave town in these clothes is gonna get attacked for sure.”
“The attackers would probably lose if we get to keep the patches too.”
“That would only work in the short term.”
“Yeah, there are some terrible people who'd find a way to make people surrender the items.”
“What about the patches? Do we need to worry about getting attacked for them too?”
“This is something we should talk with her about. These patches and these clothes and all this furniture... it's all a much bigger deal than she probably realizes.”
“How would she not know? Is it because she's a spirit?”
“We need to observe her and see what we can learn. She seems easy to read, and her power is amazing.”
“It could be dangerous for everyone if she's too naive.”
(later...)
“I can’t believe she actually gave us permission to run the auction and purchases.”
“Is she gullible, or just trusting us?”
“Maybe it’s another test.”
“She did ask us to figure out an appropriate price to offer up front.”
“Definitely important to make an up front offer so people understand just how much money is at stake.”
“Yeah, if they take the clothes home without knowing, it could be bad.”
(after the auction that takes place the day after the tournament...)
“I can’t believe it, we’re rich!”
“The outfits sold for hundreds of gold each!”
“Even with our take being only 1/5th it’s over a thousand gold for each of us!”
“With this much money, there’s no way mom can force us to marry someone now!”
“We got two years worth of income.”
“Without the expenses! Actual profits each year for our store are only a little over a hundred gold.”
*knock knock*
“Huh?”
“Who’d be here now?”
Karen opens the door to see an Ariel on the other side.
Ariel:
“I’ve come to ask if the two of you would be the hero.”
Carol:
“Two? You mean both of us?”
Karen:
“Isn’t the hero supposed to be one person?”
Ariel:
“I don’t see why it can’t be two. The both of you work together pretty well too.”
Karen & Carol:
“This is the best day ever!”
