Beatris would not say she slept well.
After all, a brand-new person she had frankly never met before was now in their camp.
But she would not call it bad sleep either.
What did not help the sleeping situation was the entire group being woken up by Aiden yelping before there came a sound like he had fallen off a table and onto the floor.
Everyone sat up to try and look around.
However, they found that the ground had become oddly puffy and bouncy, with a consistency not unlike fancy pillows.
Yet the strangest part, to Beatris, was that it did in fact seem to be fancy pillows.
Beatris stared at the strange structure made entirely out of pillows that somehow covered almost thirty feet of ground.
"Oooooooooohhhhh, Bea," Mira called, "you have got to try laying down on these without the sleeping bag. It's so warm."
Beatris turned and saw her three angelic contractors lying on the pillows, each with an expression of pure bliss on their faces.
Turning toward the others, Beatris saw Jax and Thalia exit their sleeping bags and take a step toward Aiden.
Their expressions subtly shifted.
Thalia shook whatever it was off and left the edge where Aiden was standing outside his sleeping bag with a confused look on his face, having fallen a short distance off the pillow platform.
Jax, however, seemed to be pulled down like he was under intense gravity.
His entire body strained as a look of effort was slowly overtaken by an expression of bliss.
Then he sprawled out on the pillows.
Selene and Beatris exchanged a worried look from within their sleeping bags.
Everyone heard rustling and turned toward where some of the pillows had formed a simple room.
From within the room came a squawk of alarm.
Liora flew out of the doorway, followed by Whinry, who was wearing what looked to be pink polka-dot pajamas.
"What are you all yelling about so early in the morning?" Whinry asked with a casual yawn.
"Well, for starters," Liora said, floating overhead as she saw Beatris and Selene actively avoiding stepping off their sleeping bags, "where did all these pillows come from?"
Everyone minus Jax turned toward Whinry.
Whinry raised an eyebrow before turning back toward the small pillow building.
She mumbled something.
A sudden plume of feathers rose around everyone.
Then, in place of pillows, everyone was standing on grass.
Jax and the angels let out sounds ranging from outrage to depression and longing, their comfort replaced by the cold reality of the fall morning.
Whinry turned around, holding what looked to be a small square pillow with an embroidery of a fortress on it.
"It's an item I got from my bag," Whinry said. "Lets me make a killer pillow fort on command."
Beatris walked over, curiosity on her face, while everyone else simply shrugged and began going about their morning.
If their lives were simpler, Beatris might have been worried.
But they had an alchemist with an engine in his chest, a wolf who was slowly going insane, a puppeteer who talked to herself when she thought nobody was looking, and a mutant who could grow to twenty feet tall.
At this point, a sudden pillow fort item did not seem all that crazy.
Everyone began moving around camp.
Aiden checked fuel and maps.
Jax was in charge of getting water for the day.
Selene prepared lunch.
Thalia put the sleeping bags away.
Liora checked the road conditions ahead.
And Beatris was in charge of making sure the firepit was returned to how they had found it.
This might have been harder for the others, but she was surprisingly good at it since one of her contracts was nature-based, allowing her a surprisingly efficient way to clean up the soot and ash left behind.
Yet she found herself distracted by Whinry, who seemed to be waltzing around between different people as if she were bored and trying to find something to do.
Beatris was just glad she was not the only one distracted.
The group seemed unsure what to do with the rambunctious girl.
They did not know her class.
Her plans.
Or anything, really.
She had talked to Liora and had been following her ever since, which could be seen as either a lost person hoping they could take her to town, or someone trying to take advantage of them.
As everyone returned from their tasks and began the morning huddle to discuss the day's plans, Beatris could not help but notice Whinry trying to nose her way in occasionally.
"Okay," Aiden said, looking at the map, "so from the map, we're going to continue across the coastline for at least another week. We can stop in two days here to refuel and maybe get a new quest in town."
"Sounds good to me," Jax said. "What about the rest of you?"
"Sounds great," Whinry said as she began making her way toward the trailer. "Let's get going."
"Now hold on," Jax said, stepping in front of Whinry. "What are you doing?"
"Hopping on the trailer so we can get moving. Why?"
"Because you're not part of our team. You literally just showed up yesterday."
Whinry gasped.
"Liora, are you going to let them talk to me this way?"
"Yes," Liora said, "because you quite literally showed up just yesterday."
"Et tu, Liora? Et tu?" Whinry asked with what must have been puppy-dog eyes, as they were called.
Liora rolled her eyes.
"Fine, fine," Whinry said. "How about I at least pay you to take me to town, then?"
That made everyone perk up slightly.
Aiden nodded and crossed his arms.
"All right. How much are you paying?"
Whinry broke into a sly smile as she reached into her pocket and pulled out what seemed to be a simple golden-colored bag with five bright red gemstones around the seam.
In the time it took for everyone to look at the bag, she had somehow done a costume change and was now wearing a showman's coat and a fake mustache.
"This here," Whinry declared, "is the state-of-the-art Bag of Magical Item Mass Production, better known as the B.M.I.M.P."
She held the bag up like she was presenting the greatest treasure in the world.
"It contains wonders, capable of producing ninety-nine different items and making five each day. You never know what you're going to get."
She swept one arm out dramatically.
"For the small fee of taking me back to town, I will give you not two, not five, but ten whole magic items from the bag."
Everyone's eyes went wide.
Magic items, no matter how simple, could have wondrous effects that could save someone in a variety of situations.
For this reason, they sold for hundreds of gold at minimum.
So to be offered ten for the small price of transportation for two days was such a good deal that it was practically a scam.
Which meant one of two things.
Whinry had no idea how valuable the magic items she was giving away were, probably being an overly sheltered noble girl.
Or it was not as good a deal as it seemed.
"Do you mind if we get an e-example item from the bag," Selene asked, "so we know what kinds of things we may get?"
"My good lady," Whinry said, "I would be worried if you didn't simply reach a hand within and see what marvelous prize awaits you."
Selene cautiously reached inside.
To her surprise, she seemed to be able to reach up to the shoulder within the bag, despite the bag being no larger than her hand.
She fumbled around inside it for a moment before pulling out what seemed to be a simple silver ring.
On cue, the system helpfully chimed in.
Party member Selene has found an item: Ring of Invisibility Detection (E).
Ring of Invisibility Detection (E)
This ring will glow red when within fifteen feet of a creature or object that is invisible.
Was it situational?
Yes.
But it was not a scam.
It was a full magic item.
"Whinry," Aiden said as everyone lined up to grab an item, "you've got yourself a deal."
Party member Aiden has found an item: Scroll of Epic Summoning (E).
Party member Thalia has found an item: Precision Training Goggles (E).
Party member Liora has found an item: Wand of Chirping Echo (E).
You have found an item: Bag of Exchange (E).