Like a fire the question about the history of his weapon consumed Roland's mind. Images lightened up and fell into darkness directly afterwards.
His youth, as a farmer's boy. The days hunting with his father and then the fire, the day which changed everything. The hunter who saved him, days of solitude, his mother in the kitchen and many many more memories lit up. He was shortly hypnotised by all the different emotions he went through until he could finally filters the memories which led to this weapon.

"You know..." He said as he was being drawn back in his past.

"It all started with a crossbow"

A faint smile appeared on Roland's face as images flashed behind his eyes.
" My stepfather, Red, was was a giant of a man and one of the best hunters I have ever seen. He was really kind. He had this friend Gaia, my stepfather was mute and Gaia was speaking for four,what an odd combo they were but best friends. I was still young and going through a difficult phase that time. Gaia was visiting Red and they got into anargument, imagine how one says nothing and just gestures with his hands and the other is yelling atleast 20 words per second."

Roland giggled and didn't payed much attention to the weapon or Elysia in any kind anymore, he was completely wrapped up in his memeory.

"Anyways I tried to eavesdrop and just then Gaia stormed out of the door, giving me a crossbow and yelled that we would go hunting. Red just shrugged and came with us. It was a Yian Kutku and I doubt that it was the normal prey for Red and Gaia, they seemed too experienced, I even bet they picked it just for me. For show you know. They told me to just stay still and watch and I did. I could barely follow their speed and perfectly matched attacks, I was so caught up in the moment that I accidentally shot the crossbow. The arrow hit Red in the ass. You wouldn't believe how funny a mute guy looks when he is swearing from the bottom of his lungs. As a gift Gaia modified the crossbow as a melee weapon, well probably to annoy my stepdad and later on, after my own first successful hunt of a Velocidrome Red turned it into a gunlance. This is still my first weapon, even thou I doubt any material from the old crossbow still resides in it"

It is rare that Roland would open up so easily and like he just realised that himself he nearly jumped up,packed his gunlance into his room and excused himself to look after the bones he seemingly forgot.

@CloseEnough @MonsieurShade @Gravislayer

Elysia snorted as Jacque made a sexual joke, coughing as his words had surprised her into swallowing incorrectly. A few thumps on her chest and she raised an eyebrow at Jacque. "Didn't think you were the type for sexual innuendos. I really shouldn't judge by appearances."

And then Elysia turned and listened to Roland. She watched as his eyes grew misty and he daydreamed about his past. And then she snorted in amusement as she heard about him shooting someone in the ass with a crossbow. Before she could say anything, the man had taken his Gunlance and retreated to his room.

As soon as the Gunlance wasn't pointed at her anymore, the anger and fear melted off of Elysia. She bent down to retrieve the armor she'd set down. "I'm taking this to the forge. You can come with if you like. You could also stay here. Just make sure you are good to go for tonight. You owe us all a round of drinks if i remember correctly. Or.. maybe it was me who owed everyone a drink."

Shrugging, Elysia moved towards down the hallway and towards the forge, keeping the armor high above her shoulder as she sauntered out the door.

The forge was a welcome sight. The place Elysia had spent most of her childhood. The familair scent of the forge fire drifted over her nose, and the soothingly rhythmic sound of the hammer against metal. She closed her eyes, for a moment all of her tension melted off of her body. As if she was actually at peace with the world for a moment.

"Can i help you?" the blacksmith's voice jolted her out of her trance and back into reality.

Elysia hefted the armor onto the workbench in front of her and the blacksmith, her eyes boring holes in his skull. "I need this armor repaired." She commented.

The Blacksmith raised an eyebrow as he surveyed the Armor, grumbling slightly as he flipped it over in his hands. "Fine. leave it here with me, with 1,500 Zenny and i will have it done in two days."

Elysia stared at the Blacksmith blankly. "Are you kidding?"

The blacksmith waved her off dismissively. "Listen, sweetheart... there are things a delicate little flower such as yourself doesn't understand.. like the finer points of Blacksmithing. It takes money to buy things to repair the armor, and it takes time to make sure the job is well done."

Elysia just smiled in his direction, venom seeping through her voice as she spoke. "I'm not a delicate little flower, Dickweed. I know exactly how much your materials cost.. and i know exactly how long it should take to fix basic Velociprey armor with a dent of this size. You should be able to knock it out easily before tomorrow morning, and it should only cost 900 Zenny for your goods and services."

The Blacksmith turned a shade of pink as he glanced back at Elysia. "Listen lady... i don't know what you've heard but-"

Elysia slammed her fists violently into the wooden table before her with a loud cracking sound. "You are hammering out a dent. At the most, all you are going to need is maybe a scrap of Velociprey hide.. or some iron. If you need me to hold your hand through the process I would be more than happy to do so." She slid her Zenny onto the table. "And if you refuse to make what i ask for the price i have stated, I will just conveniently let everyone know how much you are ripping them off."

The Blacksmith stared at Elysia, noting the knowledge in her eyes. The way she was staring at his forge.. the way her hands were calluced in just the right places. She was no stranger to working a forge. His eyes darkened slightly. "Detestable woman." he grunted, sliding the Zenny into his hands. "Fine." He'd been charging an inflated price for his goods to everyone in the village, because he was the only Blacksmith. A couple hundred Zenny more per job, and he was living like a king. This woman, whoever she was.. was going to be a major pain in his ass. He immediatly took the armor to the forge and started to get down to business, grumbling as he moved.

Elysia just beamed as he worked on the armor, and made her way back to the rooms, looking much better now that she'd vented most of her aggression into the thick wooden table.

She couldn't help but laugh at the comment from Jacque. The look on Elysia's face all the more worth it when she turned to see the woman having a coughing fit and hitting her chest to calm herself once more. "Easy their my friend. I worry, one that makes jokes like that will find himself in a situation that could end in a world of hurt."

Still she couldn't help but notice the uneasiness in the smaller woman. Even when Roland began to speak of the tale of his weapon. One that Reema listened to with undivided attention. A small smile appearing on her features when she heard the fondness of his memories. Such an interesting idea of arguments, she could picture it. Whoever the two that helped Roland get his weapon seem to be the best to have started him. Kind people who did not take themselves too seriously but knew when to work together when needed.
"The heart will stay the same, you know, I might have to do that. I don't think I could bring myself to part with the beast that caused me to start hunting."

Yet before she could even finish her words Roland was gone. Gathering his weapon and rushing to his room like a child who was in trouble. "I fear I may have said too much..." It was a new place with new rules. They all came from different places, did she do something wrong? Shrugging her shoulders she sighed. Can't dwell on it for too long, after all it would only breed ill thoughts.

Instead she stood, stretching her lips as her back began to crack. One, two, only to start sounding like a small drum for a few moments. "Guess they caused me to lock up. I'll be working if anyone needs me," Patting Jacque on the shoulder as she left she opened the door to her room. Rummaging through her bag to find a leather bound folder. Untie the threads to open it's secrets it began to show intricate designs of monsters.
Grazing, mother's with their young, beats in flight or heads bobbing through the ocean waves. Every new thing she saw on a hunt she would document on paper with nothing but a bit of charcoal.
And so, brining out a slightly torn blank sheet she cleaned off the desk, bringing to work.

Jacque smiled mirthfully at the reactions he'd received from the small jest, "I'm more of a 'terrible pun' kind of guy honestly, but the lewd humor has its uses.". Momentarily glad to have distracted his fellow hunters from any tensions that might have been mounting Jacque turned his attention to Roland as he reminisced about the days gone by. He couldn't help but laugh thunderously, shoulders and braids bouncing up and down with each note of laughter as he imagined the sight of a mute man reacting to receiving an arrow in his asscheek, and by his own son no less.

He would find his laughter cut short as Roland packed away his belongings and rushed out hurriedly. The nearly omnipresent grin that Jacque wore disappeared as concern etched his face as he considered following after his comrade. He ultimately decided against it, after all, while he may have been the sort to wear his heart on his sleeve and speak freely about anything on his mind, he was beginning to understand that not everyone was so open and trusting. For now he'd give Roland his space.

Jacque shook his head a bit at Elysia's offer for him to tag along, his reasoning being that he was in desperate need of a bath and a change of clothing, and after she and Reema left him to his own devices he proceeded to do just that. He popped into his room, making a mental note to visit a taxidermist or ask one of the others for pointers on stuffing a trophy when he was done bathing as he passed by the Great Jaggi head sitting next to his doorway. After rummaging through his belongings Jacque came away with a small rectangular item wrapped in wax paper; bar of homemade soap that had been given to him by his mentor's wife. He unwrapped it, smilingly softly as the pleasant scent mixture of dried tropical berry and cactus flowers hit his nose. Jacque peeked into his trunk, spotting five more identically wrapped bars, each one made by his former mentor's wife using fat from the monsters that he'd personally taken down.

His soap and a change of clothing in hand, Jacque stepped out of his room once more and, after poking his head outside long enough to ask the receptionist where the bathroom and towels were located, trudged back down the hall. The bathroom was simple, much like the rest of the building. Not that Jacque minded really, he enjoyed simple. He washed himself as quickly as he could without wetting the stitched on his hand or causing himself further pain or injury, trying to waste as little time as possible in case someone else felt the pressing need to relieve themselves of the sweat of today's labor.

The process of drying off and getting dressed was a fair bit slower as Jacque got a good eyeful of how his wounds were faring after the doctor's visit. The swelling and redness of the flesh around the stitches in his hand had disappeared, he could spot some bruising around the area but there were thankfully no signs of infection. His shoulder and right pectoral had swelled a bit since the visit, and the difference between his normal skin color and the darkness of the bruising was striking. The dark red welts that showcased where the Jaggi had clamped down on him only served to add to the shocking contrast. An experimental roll of his shoulder told Jacque that he'd need at least a day or two of rest before he was back in suitable condition to even consider going on a solo hunt.

He traced the outline of the teeth marks, sucking in a sharp breath at the sensitivity of his flesh before he slipped on his shirt and exited the bathroom, "Bathroom's free if anyone fancies not smelling like a Congalala tonight!".