The World Which Is

Chapter 44

"What...is that?" I point to the mound of green in the distance that seems too uniform to be natural. Of course, with the system 'natural' doesn't have the meaning the old folks tend to associate with it anymore. But still, straight lines aren't something I expect to see unless people of some sort are involved.

"I don't know," Brandon says, after studying it. He grins. "Wanna go explore it and find out?"

"Do we really want to waste time with pointless endeavors?" Helen asks, irritated.

Silver peers at it. "I'm okay with going to see."

It's about midday. We've been walking since sunrise without a debuff. Seems that a bedroll on ground with nothing poking into us and comfortable weather is enough to avoid a 'didn't sleep well' debuff. It's not enough to give us a 'good night's rest' buff, but that okay.

Brandon hasn't commented or even smirked about what happened at the lake, and I'm glad. This...freedom people seem to express in the wilderness is taking serious getting used to. Silver and Helen seem to be more like me about that. Or at least, they left for the lake dressed, returned in different clothing and were talking jovially the entire time.

None of that, 'me avoiding looking at Brandon to keep from blushing at the memory,' for them.

Clothing dried by a fire isn't comfortable. It's stiff, and it itches. On that, Helen agrees with me, because when she took hers off the rack Brandon made, she looked disgusted at the idea of putting it on. Fortunately for her, she had options. I was basically out of them. I'd spent my time scrubbing everything I own. And for about an hour after we set out, I was itching.

The trek was odd in that Brandon kept his mouth shut for pretty much all of it. As soon as Helen noticed he was ignoring her, she doubled down on the barbs. He gave me a number of 'do I really have to put up with this' looks. And I get it. I'd talk with her, but it isn't like I know her.

Okay, it isn't like I know Brandon either, but we've shared two fights and...I'm just more comfortable around him because of that.

The thing is, when he isn't looking annoyed at her behavior, her mounting frustration at his silence makes him grin, and I think it's encouraging him to continue.

It's utterly childish, but it tends to mean she stops after a few tries, and we have quiet for a few treens of minutes before Brandon says something about what's around us, or gives advice of how to proceed, and she used that as her cue to try to get his goat again.

Brandon grins. "Majority rule. Off we go." He wears an expectant expression until we're close enough I make out gaps in the wall of green leaves. And it does look more like a wall than the side of a mound. Flat going up to a 'roof' with a series of peaks along it.

"Okay, not a ruin," Brandon says.

"Should it be?" I ask.

"It could have been. Many of the old settlement that didn't survive the system's arrival turned into ruins. Like Hamilton."

"But haven't all of those been found?" Silver asks.

"Nothing's been 'all found'," he replies, making the air-quotes. "And even if a ruin has been found before, it can still be your first time there. Which means a newly discovered ruin for me and Dennis's quest. Sure, the bonus for being the first one to discoverer the ruin is nice, but at this point, I don't expect to be the one doing that."

He walks to the corner of the structure, keeping his distance. Then he heads closer when we round it.

"Is that wise?" Helen asks, but without snark. Brandon doesn't answer. He grabs a handful of leaves and pulls, revealing a door-like opening.