Standing Up

Yren said another uncomfortable goodbye to Inna who offered to walk him home, along with a bath with promises of more after. Yren politely declined and practically ran out of the house.

"What is wrong with all of these women?!" Yren grumbled to himself as he walked home.

Yren didn't quite understand why women were starting to plague his life now. Finishing at the top of his class had got him noticed with the girls, but now women were offering themselves left and right.

Using both hands, Yren ruffled his hair as he walked in frustration, but it wasn't all bad. Ginny was really cute, but Kimora was going to be a thorn in his side to start.

The poor girl despised herself, and her weakness, and that was going to be hard to break. Yren had a plan, but that would all depend on his father.

"Yren!" Ginny called to Yren as he walked past the open Guild Hall.

Yren snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see Ginny coming from behind the bar. Yren smiled and forgot about his troubles for a moment, mostly.

"Hey! Got your sister home, but the Mayor asked to talk to me for a bit. Then I talked your sister into coming out to do some training after we are done in the Dungeon. I don't think she is ready for that yet." Yren explained.

Ginny's eyes lit up and a beautiful smile spread across her face as she stepped forward to give Yren a hug. He just stood there in shock, and Ginny jumped back as soon as she realized where they were.

"Umm, do you want to have a talk in the back room? I have to give you the, umm, reward," Ginny asked shyly as some of the Adventurers started to become loud and rowdy.

Yren nodded with a small smile, and the two went back to the waiting room Yren was starting to get used to. Once inside, Ginny produced a small bag of coins.

Yren looked at the small bag, and was a bit disappointed, but didn't let it show. He had assumed that the goods would have been worth much more than a small bag of coins.

"This is your reward for the goods, there are ten solid gold pieces in here. If you want I can break some of them into one hundred Gold Rings so you can get an easier change. I am going to be honest, I have never seen this many solid gold pieces in one place… Yren? Are you okay?!" Ginny asked suddenly as she looked over at Yren while explaining his reward.

"Wha… How is there so much gold there?!" Yren asked, nearly foaming at the mouth.

"Well the Orc items were worth one SGP, but the other items from the ants were very rare items used in making potions and Alchemic Enchantments. We are a major supplier, thanks to your father, but he always took them to mother because of their value," Ginny explained.

"...what did you just say?"

Ginny looked over at Yren and jumped back with a squeak as she saw him. Yren's head was bowed and he was clenching both his fists, shaking.

"Did you just say my father has been the major supplier for this item that has great value?!" Yren asked in a dangerous voice, and for the first time, Ginny was a bit scared of him.

"Umm… Yes?" Ginny replied slowly.

"Okay! Sorry to scare you! This just means that I am going to beat the crap out of my old man when I get home! So, I have one more favor to ask!" Yren said, completely changing gears, back to bright and smiling.

Inside was a fountain of rage that was about to boil over. His father was the target.

"Uh," Ginny said uneasily, but she was starting to feel light-headed; today had been a long day for her as well.

Yren picked up on this right away, and offered her his hand with a smile, saying "Come, let's sit down for a minute. You look tired, and I probably didn't help, sorry again."

"No, it's fine. I am used to being around strong people, but that face was scary. Why are you so mad at your father, if you don't mind me asking?" Ginny asked Yren after they sat down.

"It's fine. The old fart has just made us live like poor people our entire life. We don't have enough for this, and we don't have enough for that! Now I find out that the rat bastard has been hiding a fortune, one that I was never told about!" Yren declared clenching his fists again, but not like before.

"I guess I can see how that is frustrating, but I think your father probably had a good reason, right?" Ginny asked, and Yren clicked his tongue.

"Don't worry about it! Let's talk about your sister for a minute. You seemed pretty excited that she was going to be training with me," Yren said, pushing Ginny's comment aside about his father.

The man had shirked his duties most of Yren's younger years, and that was why he had learned so much from Goranth. For a while, it bugged him that his dad spent time with Siegfried, but then Yren had seen how much they clashed and understood.

"Oh! Yes! My sister is, umm, you know…." Ginny said, trailing off, and Yren grinned.

"Yup, I know what you mean, but after talking with the Mayor, I got a better idea of why she is like that," Yren said as he thought drifted back to Clyde's comments.

"Wow, I am really impressed! We all have been trying to figure it out-" Ginny started to say with excitement, but both of us jumped as the door banged open.

"Ha! I knew you had it in you, boy! Haha! Ginny, go check on the bar and patrons. When I am done here you can have the day off!" Rephilia declared with an obnoxious laugh as she barged into the room.

"Day off? You know I am off in an hour, right?! And I don't know if I should leave you in a room with him!" Ginny said with surprising tenacity, making her mother stop her advance.