I Was Born The Unloved Twin

As much as Grampa teases, I"m sure he"s telling the truth. The two long lost relatives are getting along well, as vastly different as their personalities are.

But hey Gable and Grampa are the absolute best friends and look at their opposite personalities. How funny, Lukas could be like their secret lovechild with both their traits. Now that"s a horrifying yet hilarious mental picture.

Anyways the first stop is Vincent!

I feel like I"m neglecting the scrawny young necromancer. Didn"t I say I"d be his patron and jumpstart his career and research? So far I"ve only been hinting at some cheats and recipes, speeding up research he or time would have figured out eventually. Now with actual money I can become a legitimate patron.

Research is expensive, I don"t know the specifics but research and such works are always expensive. It"s not like I can pay the guy in soap forever, though he does appreciate them. As expected from my memories of his future self, he likes to keep himself and his material as clean as possible.

I make my way to where he"s usually set up his station.

"Hey there brat, here to get another lesson on b.u.t.t whooping?"

"Good morning Ms. Tamera! Not today, in Vincent inside his lab as usual?"

"Huh, Vinny might be out grabbing some books or something, don"t remember where though. He should be back before the sun gets too hot knowing him."

"That"s alright then, could I just leave this with you then? It"s for his research and well, yeah."

Tamera nods with a grimace but takes the basket I prepared beforehand with no issue. Sometimes the materials the necromancer works with it a little....unsavory. I don"t mind but it"s probably because I haven"t seen the worse of them like Tamera no doubt has. Rumor has it she once crushed and burned a package of his because it was a brood of hatching spider-like insects.

My basket is safe though, it"s just plain soap and some dried herbs I ordered on his behalf. There"s a few coins in there this time as well, not too much but a nice subsidy.

"There"s some more of the "exfoliating" soap for you too Tamera, this one is oatmeal so tell me how it works out."

"Aww gee thanks brat. Seriously, is it really okay to keep taking this stuff? I asked around and that kind of bars you gave me last time could sell for a pretty penny. "

"Yes it"s fine! It"s not like I give them to everyone so please just tell me how they work for you!"

"Haha if you say so, I say the second to last one worked best for getting dried blood out."

I may be using as much of "my" people as possible as test subjects. It"s good to have diversity. By the way, Tamera has healthy thick skin while Vincent is an oily combination teenager.

Before I had money all I had was soap. That and my skincare, they"re literally my only a.s.set in stock Not unless I start charging for pizza and bread. So skincare and food are all I have to raise favors with people, yes just like an old school dating sim game. Just give people stuff and slowly get my likability up. It"s no way to really make friends but it sure doesn"t hurt, besides it"s not like I"m wooing anyone.

"By the way Ms Tamera, do you have any idea where Amar went off to today? Grampa gave us a package from Lukas."

She ponders for a moment before pointing to a large building to the west.

"Good timing then. Kid should be getting his final supplies done and checked with, scouting raid leaves by tonight."

"What? Tonight?"

That"s the first I heard of it. Why so soon and why head out at night?

Tamera sees the confusion on my face and clarifies with what she knows.

"Yeah to account for the time difference. They"re not being stingy with this scouting raid and are using a portal to transport the team most the way there. Sweet right? Saves a good couple months of traveling. That way though they"ll get there and start setting camp up by noon there. They gotta work fast since I hear it gets as hot as a Grambbler"s a.s.s-"

"Language Tamera!"

"Oh hey Vinny, when did you get back."

"For G.o.d"s sake in front Rosalia?"

"Hey wait a fuc-"

"Nope. "

I"d watch and join in on their banter but I now have a package to deliver and the clock is ticking. If it"s really as hot as something"s a.s.shole where they"re going then a cooling ice stone would definitely be useful.

No real guarantee how good but hey it"s the thought that matters.

The warehouse building is bustling but orderly as people check over and grab last minute things they need. It takes me a few rows of wandering but I catch a familiar child with three other people looking over inventory stock. Since the abacus is out I a.s.sume they"re counting and calculating.

Wait why are they making a kid count and do math? Doesn"t this mission, even if it"s just scouting, a little more important for a child"s play.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Oh c.r.a.p! s.h.i.+t kid you scared us, coming out of nowhere."

"That"s the Lord Commander"s kid"s kid to you."

"So, she still scared the c.r.a.p outta us."

"Hi Rosalia!"

Amar waves from the stacked boxes he"s sitting on, undisturbed. I can see the ledger in front of him and confirm that yes he really is doing the math on whatever it is.

"May I borrow Amar for a moment, I know you"re leaving soon but Lukas sent a package."

"Oh nice, how is his apprentices.h.i.+p going?"

"I"m not sure but hear from grampa it"s going well."

"Nice nice, an apprentices.h.i.+p away will do the kid good. Go ahead and see what you got Amar. Just be back to check if dunceface here made any mistakes."

"Hey!"

"Okay, thank you. I"ll be back."

The crew of men I don"t know the names of bicker but get back to work while Amar quickly neatened up his s.p.a.ce and hops down the boxes like a certain cat in boots. I lead us outside to the side where it"s less stuffy but still private enough for me to pull out the package from my s.p.a.ce.

"Were they really making you do their math?" I question.

"Well, just the checking part. Sometimes Gorden makes mistakes so I catch them and redo it."

"But aren"t you like- " Too young I mean, hypocritical of me I know.

"It"s okay, I just count really fast!"

Okay whatever, he says it so casually that I just let it go. Sure make the dopey 5-year-old do inventory, nothing weird here in this place of monsters.

I pull out the two packages with a flourish, excited to finally be opening it.

"Ta da!"

"Wah so pretty, is it really from Lukas and sir Gable?"

"That"s what grampa told me, anyways we open them at the same time ok. On my count - 1 -2- and 3!"

And I"m off. Initially, after untying the twine I wanted to just rip into the package but I saw how nice and neat Amar was trying to open up his package and stalled myself. It would be a waste to ruin Gable"s pretty pressed herbs and decoration.

Inside my box, I saw a fat letter addressed to me in Gable"s elegant script and stored that back away for later. The messy scrawling note was more likely than not from Lukas. It was short and explained basically what grampa had told me about getting his first ice stones forged and charged. That was interesting, I didn"t know they could be forged or made.

The small stone was polished smooth with a braided leather string hooking through it so that it sat like a pendant. It wasn"t only cold to the touch but let out a refres.h.i.+ng air. In my box, there was also a nice crochet pair of little sandals, probably done by Gable himself, and some dried candied fruit. Everything was lined in bunches of nice smelling herbs and on the bottom, perhaps out of spite from a certain someone there was a pair of socks

Amar"s package was also similarly lined and packaged with herbs but his was larger and thus filled with more items. He also received a dark leather corded necklace but with a slightly larger and bulkier ice stone. Putting it on instantly relieved one of the approaching summer heat and the stuffiness of the warehouse air.

Not bad Lukas, not bad at all. I think I understand a lot better why charged these rocks is such a big deal.

There was also a share of the same candied fruit but there"s where the similarities ended.

Inside his pack was an interesting pair of goggles with a s.h.i.+mmery coating over the eyes and a tin of some sort of medicinal smelling salve. In addition, there was also an appropriately kid-sized and probably enchanted hooded cloak in a dark green that Gable typically wore.

As that sort of girl, I am glad to note that the cloak has b.u.t.tons and lots of inner pockets. Very nice.

Out of the same spite, I"m sure, socks were also included in Amar"s very full box.

"Is this embroidered?" Amar asked, waving out the nicely made cloak.

It looks tighter and far more durable than my own handmade weatherproof bear cloak. The st.i.tching flowed subtly in a darker green the weaves around the hem like a lush climbing vine. Definitely Gable"s handiwork.

"I think it is, I"m sure it"s enchanted with something good. Either way you"ll definitely keep cool with this and the stone, the goggles are pretty neat too."

"Huh, yeah it will be really good in the dessert. It"s thick enough for night time too! Supplies are tight out there and I can save on getting some clothes with this. I keep telling them armor isn"t a good idea above ground."

"It isn"t?"

"Nah, the armor we use gets really hot. I think the bigger guys are going to faint from heat before getting attacked or injured by anything."

"Are they not listening to you?"

"In some things yeah, guess they don"t believe me enough. That"s okay. It should be fine to buy the clothes there if they decide they need them. There should be a market or a trade road along the way."

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"There are? The chefs would love those."

"Yeah, I hope we can stop by some."

Suddenly I remember that Amar is leaving on a raid mission this very day and I didn"t prepare him anything of a going away gift.

Well s.h.i.+t.

Obviously, I can"t beat this Gable+Lukas care package, especially on such short notice. Who knows what Gable decked this s.h.i.+t out to do?

What to do, what to do, I ponder over the inventory I have on hand or well, in my bag.

Again I am a useless sort of child with only soap, snacks, and knickknacks in there. Nothing that can actually be of use in camping or anything really. I take another once over at the kid in front of me and a.s.sess.

While I know he cleans up regularly since I"ve started throwing soap at people, he"s always a little dirty again from some activity or something. Today it"s from storage dust and the black smeared ink on his little hands. At least the shampoo bars are working well and his short curls are clean and fluffier than ever, even in the rising humidity.

Like a cartoon character I typically only see him in one to three old outfits on rotation. Those old clothes seem like an odd combo of modified hand me downs, hanging off his wiry frame. Here in the camp, grampa"s people won"t mistreat you but Amar is too skinny for a boy his age.

It all makes me wonder about who is even watching over the minors in this place? Is that even an issue here? It should be!

I organize the only thing I really do have, money. Leaving most of the coins in my s.p.a.ce I pull out the drawstring sack mother gave me earlier. It"s a st.u.r.dy thing made of some more than decent quality material and would do someone else more good than it would me. Inside I leave a couple of child-sized handfuls of coins remaining and stuff to fit some soap and a jar of cold cream as well.

It"s dry out in the desert, right?

"Don"t be so stingy then, take this."

Amar makes a little yelp of surprise since I pulled the purse out of nowhere. His eyes widen when he looks inside after hearing the jingle of the coins. This is only a mere fraction of what mother gave me but I"m pretty sure this is the same expression I made when she presented the full cash bag to me yesterday. Shocked and a little miffed at rich people.

"Wait! I can"t take this, this your money." at first he"s nervous but then he tries to shake the bag back at me to my firm refusal.

"What is my name?"

"Huh?"

"Answer me! What is my name?"

"That"s silly Rosalia, you know your own name. Unless you don"t but then t-"

"Now what is my last name?" I interrupt before he goes into another ramble. He looks at me carefully, trying to figure out the trick to my question.

"Um... Ventrella? The same as the Lord Commander."

"That"s right! I am Rosalia Therese Ventrella, first in her name! Something like money is no issue for me!"

I boast in my naturally haughty little voice, the kind that was perfectly suited for a future otome game villainess. It"s funny how my natural voice is so different than my sisters, I thought we were supposed to be identical twins? Well, I guess I could perfectly imitate her voice in the future if I wanted to, but naaaaaaaahhhh.

It"s not exactly a lie with my family"s name and not heeding something as trivial as money, but it"s such lies. I really do need money on a personal level. Please, I want to stockpile a h.e.l.l lot for the future. That"s why I"m working so hard now to set the research and foundations to my business.

But I think I can afford to spare a couple of coins right now, I even invested money in other sources, didn"t I? At this point in time, it won"t be too difficult to get access to my family funds.

"But-"

"Stop complaining and take it! Lukas gave you something so here"s mine. You better go buy some more clothes and tons of cinnamon goodies and all sorts of nice stuff when you need to, got it? I better not see you dressed in this same old thing when you get back! "

Since he"s trying to hand back the bag I take it and plop it right down into his package box. It"s a little embarra.s.sing compared to Gables and Luka"s nice things, like giving someone a gift card on their birthday or Christmas.

Since it"s a s.h.i.+tty gift card equivilent I might as well make it a $100 value gift card, or well cards. I prefer more personal well thought out gifts but who can so no to cas.h.!.+ I loved birthday and Holiday money!

The kid in front of me still looks hesitant but finally lets it go when he looks at the purse sitting innocently in Gable"s present package. Smart, it"s a battle he can"t reasonably win against me.

"Alright Rosalia. Thank you for the presents!" he gives a bashful smile and that"s that, I win.

Hopefully, the brat takes better care of himself out there. He"s a nice kid but he doesn"t have an overly powerful long lost uncle out there watching out for him like a certain someone else. Fighting!

Amar quietly stares at the stuff then packs the items neatly back into the box, even folding the wrapping paper and twine to take with him. Not wasteful at all. He seems to make up his mind about something and bounces back even more cheerful than ever.

"Thank you! I"ll be sure to bring back something amazing for you guys!"

"Uh yeah, you better get me some sweet souvenirs." I scoff.

In fact, can you take the chefs out shopping with you? Marketplace? Trade roads? What kind of trades and merchandise are there? Seriously go get me some spices and stuff! Bring me back presents!