"WHERE'S ANDY?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Silver Hounds had burst into the Peltra adventuring guild. The five Silver class adventurers looked around the main room. Everyone froze at the arrival of the strongest team operating in the area. A bunch of people turned to look at Andy who had taken over a corner of the main room. He was sitting there with his portable medical shop working on someone who was in a reclining chair, his mouth wide open. Andy stopped working on the man's tooth and looked up, "I'm a little busy."

 

The leader, Otto, a large burly man over seven feet tall, with an exposed chest covered in tattoos, stomped over to loom over Andy, "This cannot wait." He abruptly grabbed Andy in a bear hug, lifted him off the ground, and spun around with him, "WE KILLED THE PYROHYDRA!"

 

Andy let out an 'ACK' as they spun him around. When Otto put Andy back down, he staggered a bit as the room tilted about, "Really? The acid capsules worked?"

 

The rest of the team had caught up. Ludvik, A thin and lanky boy who was a rogue type. Byrnhildur, a muscle mommy large enough to give Otto a run for his money. Soldis, a rather serious and dour-looking man wearing full plate armor covered in holy symbols. And finally, Hanna, the smallest of the group, was dressed in the robes and wide pointy hat of a wizard.

 

Soldis slapped Otto on the back, "He is working on a patient! Stop being rude!"

 

Everyone started to murmur and ask questions. The majority of them were along the lines of, 'The eighth-floor boss monster is finally dead?'

 

Otto raised his hands and got the room's attention, "Yes! Yes! We finally slayed the boss of the eighth floor and the path to the ninth now lays open!" Otto paused as the room cheered, then continued, "And it is all thanks to Andy!"

 

Andy blushed and waved the compliment off, "No no no. I just gave you some advice and the right equipment. You did all the work." Andy pushed Otto toward the front desk, "Go claim your quest. I got to fix this guy's tooth."

 

Otto allowed himself to be moved, but waggled a finger at Andy, "I'm going to buy you a drink and this time I'm going to make you drink it."

 

Andy shook his head, "You know my religion forbids it." He waved Otto away, "SHOO! I got work to do!" He turned back to his patient, "Now then, Yes. I think I can save the tooth. I'm going to have to numb you up, drill out the infection, then give you a filling, but I got just the stuff. Should only take a few minutes." He gave the patient a small flask to drink from. He waited a minute then flicked the man in the gums, "Feel that?" The man shook his head. Andy nodded then pointed into the man's mouth, "{Light} {Cantrip: Drill}"

 

Andy took a deep breath, "This might sting a little."

 

 

---

 

 

Twenty minutes later, Andy was in the bar with the Silver Hounds getting laughed at for being a milk drinker in a good-natured way. The whole team was in good spirits as they celebrated another milestone in the town's history. For years the nearby dungeon had only been explored down to the fifth level. But now, in just six weeks, they had managed to kill the boss monsters on three levels and had gained access to the ninth.

 

"I wish you could come with us to the new level, my Alchemist Friend." Otto slapped Andy on the back, "You should go with some adventurers and gain a few levels. Why with your expertise, I bet we wouldn't have to scout the ninth level. We could just blaze through it and go straight after the dungeon master itself!"

 

Andy held up his hands, "No way." He shook his head energetically, "I'm done with dungeons and adventuring. It is the life of a humble alchemist shop owner for me."

 

Byrnhildur let out a roar of a belly laugh, "HA! HUMBLE HE SAYS!" She pounded her fist on the table, "You are the wisest man I know. If you were not so small, I would take you to my bed. Alas, I am afraid I may break you!" She gave him a sideways glance and a smirk, "However, You are rather skilled at healing magic, I hear."

 

Andy went pale with wide eyes and froze. Everyone in the room burst out laughing and Byrn shook her head, "I am sorry to tease you. I just love the way your face looks when I offend you." She punched him lightly in the shoulder, "Your god is a strange one, but I respect your beliefs."

 

Andy nodded and shrugged, "It's fine, it's fine. I'm just the type who believes that you should only be with your one true love. I get the whole, 'you never know when you might die, so enjoy life while you can'... thing." He lifted his milk and took a sip, "But I'm living the slow life and quite happy with my little shop."

 

Ludvik snapped his fingers, "That reminds me. That oil sprayer thing? The one you told me to load with antivenom and to activate if I'm injured?" He reached out to grab Andy by the shoulder and squeezed, "You saved my life. I fumbled the trap on the last door, I pulled the cord and it helped counteract the poisonous mist I took to my face."

 

Soldis nodded, "Indeed. I fully expected Lud to have gone blind. How did you know?"

 

Andy shrugged, "It just seems the typical type of trap that gets used that deep. Certain types of traps just show up on certain levels. There's a lot of randomness, but if you study the patterns enough, it starts to rhyme, ya know?"

 

Otto was about to say something when someone called out from the doorway, "ANDY!" Everyone stopped to look. It was the one-legged, one-eyed old man who was the adventurer guild master, Karl. Karl pointed at Andy, pointed toward the front desk, then turned and started walking off.

 

Andy quirked an eyebrow, then turned to the Silver Hounds, "Not sure what's up. We'll finish celebrating later." He got up to leave. The Silver Hounds just nodded and waved him off, although Andy could have sworn he caught a knowing smirk from Otto.

 

Andy saw Karl waiting in his office way behind the front desk. Andy walked around to enter the backroom, "Guild master? Something wrong?"

 

Karl was sitting behind piles of paperwork while pointing at the chair in front of his desk, "Close the door. Have a seat." Andy nodded and did just that. He sat there, nervously returning Karl's gaze. Eventually, Karl spoke up, "You've been here about six weeks now. I thought you were trying to get home."

 

Andy shrugged, "Sometimes the universe tries to tell you things. I'm accepting that the universe has been telling me to not be an adventurer."

 

Karl nodded, "So, you thinking of staying here? Not planning on leaving town?" He reached into his desk and pulled out a scroll. He put it on the desk.

 

Andy raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"

 

Karl tapped the rolled-up parchment, "Teleport scroll. The guys around here took up a collection. They wanted to help you get home." He paused then added, "However, everyone also wanted me to ask if you wanted to stay."

 

Andy blinked, "Excuse me?"

 

"You know, Andy, since you came here, in the past five weeks we haven't lost a single adventurer. That's a record around here." Karl shrugged, "Yeah, it's partially due to luck, but a good part of it has been your encyclopedia-like knowledge of monsters, your advice on how to advance a class for the best outcome, spell synergy..." He thought for a bit, "Everything, really." Karl leaned forward, "But the fact is, this isn't your home. So, if you want to get home, everyone chipped in."

 

Andy picked up the scroll and looked at it, "You got me a way to get home, but you want me to stay?"

 

Karl nodded, "I'd go so far as to offer you a job as the deputy guild master."

 

"Excuse me?" Andy looked shocked, "I'm only third level."

 

"Aye, you'll never make it to guild master, but deputy guild master doesn't need levels, he needs wisdom, knowledge, and to be willing to give good advice." Karl took a deep breath, "The town could use someone like you."

 

Andy put the scroll down, "I... need to think about this."

 

Now it was Karl's turn to look surprised, "I expected you to just jump at the chance to go home. It means a lot, that you are thinking about staying." Karl stood up and offered him a handshake, "I hope you'll stay, but no hard feelings if you leave."

 

Andy stood up to shake Karl's hand, "Hold onto that scroll. I'll let you know by tomorrow." Karl nodded back in return. Andy turned and walked out. As he opened the door, he saw that everyone had filtered out of the bar and were standing in the guildhall lobby.

 

Otto was front and center holding a mug that he held up, "Hey, you gonna have a drink with us before you go?"

 

Andy looked choked up. He cleared his throat a few times then said, "I... have to think about this."

 

Everyone in the group looked a little confused. Soldis stepped out of the crowd, "We thought you'd be happier to be going home."

 

"Truth?" Andy looked around, "I don't want to go." Everyone looked surprised by this as Andrew continued, "But I can't... just make that choice without thinking about the consequences."

 

Otto walked over to clap Andy on the shoulder, "For what it's worth, we'd all like you to stay. You've been a solid, stand-up guy. Take your time to make up your mind. We're not trying to get rid of you, but you don't have to hang around here if you got to go."

 

Andy stared at the hand on his shoulder, then slowly around the room. He tried to say something, but the lump in his throat made it impossible to speak. The fact he looked so choked up got a fair number of the female adventurers to get misty-eyed. Soldis stepped up to pull Andy away from Otto and redirect him out the front door.

 

"Don't make a big deal out of this. We're just paying you back for helping everyone out." Soldis pushed Andy toward the front door, "If you got to go think, then go think. And don't worry about us." He looked away, avoiding Andy's eyes as he continued, "It's not like we can't survive without a third-level sage."

 

Andy staggered to a stop after being shoved, looking back. He eventually smirked and closed his eyes as he nodded in reply, "Of course." He cleared his throat, "I'll have an answer tomorrow."

 

 

 

With that, he turned to walk away.

 

 

---

 

 

"Welcome Home!"

 

 

 

 

 

Andy stepped into Andy's Apothecary to be greeted by Mir who was behind the counter. Andy would periodically work on-site at the Adventurer's Guild Hall. While he was away, Mir would watch the shop. One might be worried that a small pixie-like creature might invite trouble, but the fact was she was still very powerful and could easily kick the ass of most of the adventurers in town. There was exactly one incident in the past six weeks, and that was resolved via a midnight dig and an impromptu lime pit.

 

"Good to be home! Any sales today?"

 

"That kid Sven came by, then his mother came looking for him." Mir gestured to the end of the counter, "She left a basket of bread." There were many other baskets and various foodstuffs piled up next to the indicated basket, "Along with a few other women who came by and kept dropping off food." She quirked her head to the side, "Something is going on."

 

Andy took off his coat, locked up the front door, and turned around the sign from OPEN to 'CLOSED - But if there is an emergency, yell your head off'. Andy tried to keep himself available, being one of the few dedicated healers in town.

 

"The guys at the hall bought me a teleport scroll so we can get home."

 

Mir blinked, "Wait... Teleport scrolls are illegal."

 

Andy shook his head, "No. They are illegal without government approval. The guild master has a permit." He walked over to fall heavily into the chair behind the desk, "And after they told me they bought it, the guild master offered me a job."

 

"Huh?" Mir fluttered over to land next to Andy, "They want to get rid of you, but they also offered you a job?"

 

Andy shook his head, "No. They want me to stay, but they are good enough friends to let me go. So they bought the scroll to give me a choice."

 

"You can't take it. You technically don't have a home to go to."

 

"I know, but the truth is, even if I had somewhere to go, I don't want to."

 

"So... you took the job?"

 

Andy shook his head, "Not yet. I told them I needed to think about it. Don't want to seem too eager." He leaned back to stare at the ceiling.

 

Mir sat on the edge of the counter, letting her legs dangle, "So... is this a good thing?"

 

"Andrew can never come back here if I take that job. It's Deputy Guild Master. He'll never be able to step back into my life."

 

"YOUR... life."

 

Andy looked up with a quirked eyebrow.

 

"It is... your life. We're here to live OUR lives, remember?" Mir smiled, "Honestly? Don't worry about it. Just... do what you want." She tilted her head to the side, "So... what do you want?"

 

Andy took a deep breath, let it out very slowly, then leaned forward to get eye-to-eye with Mir, "They're my friends. I'm happy here." He took another breath and let it out just as slowly, "I'm taking the job."

 

Mir grinned even wider, "Good." She slapped her knee, "Tomorrow. Tonight, you promised to illusion up another episode of Buffy."

 

Andy pulled away with a chuckle, "I find it odd I just have to see the episode once and the illusion fills in anything I forgot." He frowned, "You'd think I'd have forgotten a few episodes. I wonder how that whole, I have half my original's memories thing works. Maybe it only applies to character sheet things, or maybe it only refers to experience points, not actual knowledge."

 

Mir rolled her eyes, "Stop overthinking this. That's what you told me, remember?"

 

Andy nodded as he stood up, "Yeah. That's what I said." He jogged his head towards the stairs, "You get things ready, I'll pop some corn."

 

Mir fluttered closer to gently caress Andy's cheek, "Don't take too long." Then flew up to the second floor. Andy touched his cheek and watched her leave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andy, lost in thought, stared for quite a while.