71 Chapter 71 Gotta Catch Em All (1/2)
”Ok,” he said, blowing out a breath of air while he thought furiously. ”I need water pouches, six to be exact. Four with water and two with oil.”
”Are caribou stomach pouches alright?” asked Stella, as they started handing some over.
”Yes, what about the charcoal dust?” he asked, looking over the pouches curiously.
”I have thirty pouches. This appears to be blubber, is that all right?”
”It burns, so yeah. We need a tent, no two blankets I think will work.” He was thinking faster than he could keep up with.
'System, I want to get reduced consumption for 2 points, please.'
(CONFIRM?)
'Confirm.'
(YOU HAVE 22 LIFE POINTS REMAINING.)
Nodding to himself, he turned to Stella.
”Alright, then let's go.”
He turned to his guards.
”Remain here, until I return.”
They all saluted him and he and Stella left the valley.
As they walked along in the cold, he reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the two heat stones.
”Here you go.”
She looked at him, taking it curiously.
”I know that you get cold at night sometimes.”
”How do you know that?” she asked embarra.s.sed.
He gave her a look, and enjoyed being the look giver.
”It's either the stone, or we snuggle. It's going to get a lot colder. You probably stab people in your dreams, and I don't really want to be stabbed. Plus, you have a horrible sleeping position. I'm surprised you've never fallen out of bed.”
She blushed. It was really cute.
”I've never fallen out of anything, not even a tree,” she mumbled, putting the rock in her pocket.
They walked for a while, then Joseph turned to her again.
”I'm kind of glad it's just the two of us, without having to worry about everyone else.”
”You're the one who wanted to be a king.”
”Yea, and I'm going to need some good people to handle the little stuff.”
”The more power you give away, the less happy you will be with the decisions others make for you.”
”True, but I can't make every decision in the entire kingdom. I do know that I don't want to have n.o.bles. Look at what they've done to this kingdom.”
”You just need to keep the position from being hereditary. You should make them be evaluated every year to see if they are slipping in order to keep their job. Of course, if you find them doing something wrong, they lose the position immediately.”
”That's not a bad idea.”
”What are you going to do about the poor? There's always the poor.”