The Gamer Chapter 1347 – The Country Gal Resilience (Patreon)

Hailey downed the healing potion John had pushed in her hand. It really was fortunate that this part of the countryside had more tires per square kilometre than people. Similarly it was fortunate that Delicia had insisted he take a few of her ‘Big Bratty Milker’s Health Potions’ with him. They healed a great total of 100 HP. A laughable amount for John, who had almost 7000 health in total. For Hailey and her mundane body, he might as well have poured pure vitality down her throat.

The ugly scrapes on elbows, knees and palms disappeared, leaving behind only the blood that was lost and the stains of tears and vomit on her face and bra. For once, John was not even tempted to stare. All he noticed was the intensity of the difference between her tanned arms and face and her rather pale body. Instead, he reached into his inventory and retrieved one of the steamed towels he always kept around. “Thank you,” Hailey croaked and started cleaning herself.

“This is partly my fault,” he said and got up. Taking the two steps back to the car, he pulled her shirt out of the entanglement and handed it over to Hailey. The country gal stared a whole five seconds at it, before it registered that it being in his hands meant she wasn’t wearing it.

“Oh.” That was the entirety of her reaction. Under normal circumstances, John guessed she’d have had more to say. The worst of the terror was over and the pain had faded, yet the shock must have still sat pretty deep in her bones. It would have been weirder if it didn’t. It was already admirable that she calmly put her shirt back and then just sat there.

Minutes passed, with only John moving. He shut down the car engine, made sure Eliana was as alright as she could be and handed Hailey some water to help refresh the fluids she had lost. After she had downed half the bottle and cleaned herself properly, only some redness in her eyes pointed at what had transpired.

“That was terrifyin’,” she said suddenly, emotion sneaking back into her voice. “The hell was that?”

“I think she should tell you herself,” the Gamer suggested carefully. He would have fully understood if Hailey developed a deep-seated fear of Eliana because of this. That was the worst case among every dimension. Primarily because he did not want Eliana to be feared by anyone. Primitively, because that eliminated any chance Hailey was going to be part of his harem.

However, the resilience of the country gal pulled through again. “Alright, purddy man, help me up.”

‘Man?’ the Gamer noted the change in vocabulary. This was not the place to comment on it. Taking the hand Hailey extended, he first got her into the car, then circled around and entered from the other side. Eliana was already stammering out her apology by the time he opened the door.

“-ing sorry, really, I’m… we’re… my head is a fucking mess and…”

“Girl, I need you to be calm so whatever just happened does not happen again, so take a breather.”

“How… I should take a brea- The fuck are you so calm for?!”

“The J-man has my back.”

“The… hehe…hahaha… AHAHAHAHAAA!” Eliana started laughing wildly, as if she had never heard anything more ludicrous in her life. Whether Hailey was just making a joke or completely seriously put her faith in Christ, her words had diffused the situation amicably. When John sat down between them, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Alright, give her the rundown on what you are,” John requested from the blood mage, when she started to calm down.

And she did. The tale took a bit and the words “I’m the goddess of genocide,” created a whole lot more questions than they answered. It was a lengthy explanation, from where Eliana came from, who she had been, who she was, and all the connected bits. “So that’s it, I’m a fucked up mess,” she ended it, “and this shithead here trusts me with firearms, the absolute idiot.”

“I don’t think you having guns makes any difference,” the Gamer told her.

“Constitution is clear on these things: right to bear arms shall not be infringed.” Hailey turned the key in the ignition and the engine came back to life.

“I’m not a fucking American.”

“You are people,” Hailey responded and shrugged. “State ain’t the one giving you the right to bear arms, it can only take that away.” She put her foot on the gas. “And that’s why Europe was, is, and will be a tyrannical hellhole.”

There was a bit of seriousness to that cheeky statement and John loved it. Now, he actually had no hard opinion on the matter of guns and the way the European states handled (or not handled) them. He just adored how unapologetically American this blonde was.

Eliana remained silently in her worn-down car seat. Her expression was blank. In her eyes reflected a strange joy at what the country gal had said. “You really are fucking something.”

“I ain’t fuckin’ anythin’,” Hailey responded without missing a beat. This time, both Eliana and John laughed. Hailey joined in after a little bit, giggling at their amusement more than her own pun. “I’ll stop with the puns if you stop with the innuendos, Eliana.”

“I’ll try,” Eliana agreed. In the middle distance, a farmstead came into view. The first thing they spotted was the sun-bleached, barely legible sign at the edge of the property saying ‘Brook’s Farm’.

The smooth road was replaced with the crunching sound of gravel, then the car came to a stop. John and Eliana grabbed the high-calibre hunting rifles they had brought along and followed Hailey out of the car.

The property was almost as simple as John’s. There was a big clearing and surrounding woodland, as was the norm around these parts. In terms of structures, there was an old house that looked about a dozen years younger than the post-WW2 one the Gamer owned. It was of sturdier make, broader, but only with a single storey. A large barn stood about two dozen metres away, a semi-modern and cheap one, more steel sheet and concrete than wood, with several patches done to cover holes rusted into the exterior. It would have been borderline useless half the year in a colder climate, but in the hot south one could get away with it until a snowstorm freakishly blew through. On the plus side, it would be cheap to reconstruct.

Out in the pasture was an interesting mixture of areas. A fence surrounded the entire area, but it was wooden, old, and broken at several points. Inside were rusted metal gates and modern, portable electric fence posts. The former contained the cows, the latter the chickens. Both had shelter of their own and were doing as livestock did: lazily chewing food and walking around in circles. They had plenty of space, although that seemed to be in part because there was simply no money for more than the limited chattel that the farm owned.

“HAILEY!” The growly shout was immediately followed by an old man stumbling out of the house.

Hailey’s father did not look like he was sixty. He looked like he was eighty. The trenches in his weather-tanned face were deep, his back hunched, and he clearly struggled walking in a straight line. After a couple of metres, John could already see the sweat forming on his forehead. His hair was at medium length and still full, the only thing impressive about his age. His deep green eyes were hazy from the exhaustion.

“Paw!” his daughter shouted back with concern, running over. John followed at a slow pace, not wanting to intrude too much. Still, he overheard what she said next. “Why’re you leavin’ the house without your walker?”

“Can’t greet guests lookin’ weak, can I?” the old man stubbornly responded. John could respect the pride, but he also saw how desperately he grabbed onto Hailey once she was close enough.

The Gamer’s eyes wandered to the house, where a second figure appeared. Hailey’s mother was doing little better than her husband. She, too, seemed to have aged before her time. Her hair had faded from dirty blonde to grey and white, her face was taxed from the years of hard labour, her back bent.

Often forgotten for modern people was that children made for cheap assisting labour. Lots of farm chores were as simple as they were exhausting. A pair of farmers with only one child had a lot of work for a long time. When they weren’t successful enough to hire helpers, that amounted to many hours under the merciless sun. Hailey must have done everything she could have to take the burden off them, but she was only one girl.

‘She would have had to marry just for convenience in the next few years,’ the Gamer thought about what Hailey had said previously, looking at the decaying farmstead. Scaling this operation down any further would have made it unsustainable, but it was also unsustainable for one person. Just seeing this farm for the first time, John spotted half a dozen issues that needed addressing immediately. The patchwork of a wooden fence. The improvised electrical wiring (definitely not up to code). The outdated water pump. The rust around the cow fences. The pile of metal scrap by the barn. That was just what he saw.

It was questionable what was closer to collapse: the farm or its owner. Guided by his daughter, he slowly walked towards John. The Gamer walked as quickly as he could without appearing patronizing. Wordlessly, the old man extended his hand. “Firm handshake,” he commented, after they had exchanged the physical greeting. John had not put any force behind his grip at all. His voice sounded like he had been a chain smoker for two decades, but there was not a whiff of tobacco on him. “Cid.”

John’s first impulse was that the farm owner had slurred the word ‘sit’. Luckily, his mind deciphered the actual meaning before there was a pause. “John Newman,” he introduced himself, then let Eliana step forwards. The old man took her hand too without hesitation.

“Eliana,” she introduced herself.

“Glad my grease monkey daughter found some competent help.” Cid looked at John specifically as he said that. Giving Eliana a second glance, he asked, “You sure you can fire that thing?”

“I can take worse,” the small girl promised with a large grin. “Way… worse.”

John could only imagine what manner of cusses and sexual jokes had been meant to fill that pause. His attention wandered to Hailey’s mother, who still stood by the door of her house. Only when Cid waved his arm did she come walking out. It was surprising how submissive a woman she seemed to be, given how Hailey had turned out. ‘The interesting paths of circumstance and innate differences.’

“Introduce yourself to our guests,” Cid said to his wife.

“Melina,” she drawled, her voice resembling that of her daughter closely, just older and a bit tired. When her husband put an arm around her waist, she smiled. “Good to see our daughter managed to find some help. I hear ya moved into the area recently?”

“I acquired a nearby lot as a vacation property,” the Gamer told the truth. “I’m staying the month and then coming back every now and again.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. Been forever since our li’l girl talked about someone with any kind of interest.”

Hailey just rolled her eyes and softly shook her head. On one hand, John could sustain himself on the embarrassment of attractive women alone. On the other hand, her confidence was sexy. “Entertain an ol’ man, I don’t know how you younglin’s do things anymore. I don’t see a ring on either of you?” Cid cut straight to the chase. The level of precision was that of an old man worried for his daughter and eager for grandkids. A dangerous combination for a man that had something to hide.

“We’re not married, no, but I don’t do things like other people.” John kept it nice and vague and smiled disarmingly. “Eliana here is my woman, that much is for certain.”

“Yeah!” the pretty little psycho supported and hugged his side.

“Hmmm,” Cid hummed with simultaneous appreciation and disappointment. In his mind, this must have meant that his daughter did not have the opportunity to start a relationship with the Gamer. He was absolutely wrong, of course, but he could be forgiven for thinking his daughter would not engage in any kind of harem. “Anyhoo, thank you for comin’ out ‘ere.”

“Yeah, you leave this business to us and go sit back down,” Hailey insisted, walking her father back towards the house. “You wait right there, John. I’ll be back in a sec’.”

“Take your time,” John said and waved Cid goodbye.

“First impression of the walking corpse?” Eliana asked quietly, when they were effectively alone.

“Pretty much exactly what I expected. An old man with health issues, stubborn pride, some old-timey views and a bit of wit,” the Gamer summarized. “Nothing impressive, nothing to laugh at. Just the kind of person you’d find out here, in this situation. What did you think?”

“Same fucking thing, really. Had to bite my stupid ass tongue to not start laughing when he asked me if I could use the rifle though.”

“To be fair, you’re currently small and quite vulnerable.”

“Want to exploit that…?” Eliana asked. The novelty of this being a possibility had worn off for John. For Eliana the additional excitement had stabilized at a point. For both of them the answer to the question was ‘Yes’. There was no world in which John did not want to pin her down right where they were and hammer her into the dirt.

“Not right now,” was the outward answer. “Back home.”

“Fucking morals and shit,” Eliana grumbled, just as Hailey came back out.

“Sorray about that. Paw-paw is a stubborn ol’ man,” she apologized.

“All good,” the Gamer assured her. He contemplated matters for a few seconds. Then he spotted Melina in the living room window. When their gazes crossed, she waved. “Alright, where do we go?” he asked, wanting to put some distance between him and their ears.

“Direction ain’t matterin’ much, I don’t have fresh tracks. Typically they come from that general direction,” Hailey drawled and gestured to their right.

John gestured for her to lead the way, then followed in her footsteps. Once they were removed a fair bit from the area, he asked a simple question with wide-reaching consequences. “Do you want me to heal your parents?”

Instantly, Hailey came to a halt. Her head turned slowly, as if she couldn’t quite grasp what she had just heard. “That’s possible?” she asked, in her voice swinging that she had contemplated and discarded the possibility. “I guessed that… with the barrier and all that….”

“There’s two ways to do this,” John informed her. “One is to introduce them to the Abyss. I doubt that’s possible in the state his body is. It’d take a couple of years of martial art practice and dedicated guidance for a mundane to get an inkling of mana – unless they have any latent talents. I detected none and I’m fairly accurate when it comes to these things.” Lorelei would have granted absolute clarity on the subject. “The easier way to do this is to affect them in subtle ways they won’t notice. Gaia only punishes Abyssals if the existence of magic is revealed to mundanes. In other words-“

“-If I could mix their water with healing potions, then that’d fix them?” Hailey interrupted, understandably excited.

“General healing potions only replenish vitality, they don’t fix underlying causes,” John elaborated. “If your dad has lung cancer, then the healing potion will only prolong his life. Still, I will leave you with some, and if that doesn’t have an immediate effect, I’m sure that Delicia ca-“

The Gamer was suddenly tackled to the ground. Pressing him into the floor, Hailey grabbed his face. With the mundanization of his physical ability re-engaged, he did not have the speed to stop her from kissing him before it was already happening. The soft, pink lips of the straddling blonde pressed on his.

She tasted slightly salty and sweet. Her hair smelled of hay and the metallic fumes that came from welding. The front of her trucker hat scraped against his temple. An irritation easily ignored by the insistence of her hands on his cheeks and the way she sat on his hips. The kiss lasted until a certain thing poked against her thigh.

“Not as far as I wanted to take that,” Hailey said jokingly, her face wildly red. “Would love to tell ya that was my first.”

“I… Hailey, I need you to understand that my help isn’t tied to-“

“I know,” she shut him up with her sexy drawl right there. “I know what I did.” She straightened up. Obviously, she looked gorgeous, straddling him like that, her hips hovering just above the bulge in his pants. She was a bit dirty, yes, but her curves were beyond delicious and from this low angle the size of her breasts was especially pronounced. His large cock threatened to pop past the waistband. “If Paw-paw was watchin’, I’ll deal with that later.”

“So what the fuck exactly was that?” Eliana asked, while Hailey climbed off John. “Reward kiss or harem joining kiss?”

“I don’t know, probably the former,” Hailey responded and looked down at the Gamer. “Ya getting up, purddy man?”

“One moment,” the Gamer stated. He was still floored and could not prevent himself from taking this moment to stare at her ass in all of its denim-clad glory. The seam was digging between the twin hills of her near-perfect bubble butt. He was one huge step closer to seeing it in all of its nude glory. Not the goal of being her helper here, but he would be damned if he denied himself the chance.

“Ever the starer,” Hailey playfully mocked him and turned her ass away.

He was not there yet.