Chapter 109 – More Problems

(Ikarus) "What the hell has gone on here?"

(Petra) "*Sigh*, we haven't even been gone three weeks"

"Orangey's and sis's favourite place has been destroyed"

"Uh huh, what's happened?"

The inn! It might as well be the end of the world, it's completely devastated and destroyed...we've just arrived back at the settlement to find that inn we've always been staying at is in complete rubble... what bastard decided to do such an evil act!? This is beyond terrible! It's strangely the only building in this place like such, is someone now targeting us or am I being paranoid?

It seems that out of us concerned looking four though, Petra might have an idea who the culprit may be. It would've been nice if my dragon family were still in town to help sniff them out but Petra's already sensed that they've left and it appears she's sensing something else now... she's like a sniffer dog but I really don't want to compare Petra to something like that.

"Ikarus... I've got an idea on who's done this, it would be a strange coincidence if it wasn't her"

"Who did this then older sis?"

"Uh huh, who?"

"You'll recognize them in a second, *sigh*... follow me"

Following Petra after being questioned by Zeki and Ariza, we make our ways back into the town market and find a very noticeable pink person speaking with Marcus and the old inn owner. She must be the culprit, why else would she be here and talking with them?

"That fucking Penelope bitch did this to our beloved inn!?"

"You want to attack her orangey? I'll back you up if we're doing this"

As much as I like Zeki's suggestion to attack the extremely pink gender swapped Penelope, that's not exactly going to work, is it? Pretty sure she was in the seven hundreds last status check way back at the Magi guild as well; it would give a load of EXP but it may destroy the island in the process. Also, I should probably try and calm it otherwise I'll blow a fuse, I actually am pretty pissed right now, I really liked that place.

"You and Ariza can leave if you want, there's no chance this will turn nasty Zeki"

"Yeah, Petra's right, you two will just be bored dealing with this sort of stuff if we're apparently going to resolve it peacefully"

Is Petra one hundred percent sure about that though? She liked that place just as much as I and like that, it's gone. I guess Marcus might've had a similar feeling when Petra burnt down the town hall... we really need to build a new place, hopefully everything can start to move forward when the empire's ship moves into port but that's planned to be on the same day the dwarven ships arrive as well. We're maybe a week and a half from that but it could take longer depending on how the waves and wind are.

"But all your stuff was in that place sis! You must've left something valuable in there!"

(Petra) "*Sigh*... we're not fighting her Zeki, end of"

Is Zeki seriously trying to convince us to start a fight? Both of us wouldn't have lost anything important other than a toothbrush or two in that place, everything else always get stored away since it just seems a little risky to leave stuff lying about... I understand the irony seeing that all the silver is still in the warehouse. That's fineee though...

Thinking about it, I'm pretty sure there were more guards around there, I guess Marcus has already sorted that problem out for now until we build a vault or a treasury. I swear the second the ship carrying the bronzes and coppers arrive, there's going to be new buildings being built all around the place. That was one of the council meeting topics remembering it, I really should stop drifting off through them and pay attention more since I really don't pay much attention to all the mundane number stuff and end up forgetting anything interesting. That being said, I do still kinda focus through it but there's just too many numbers, the damn numbers...

"Erk, I'm leaving then, follow me brother from those two... who are clearly taking the boring route through life"

"Uh... fine then? I guess I'll just keep you company Zeki"

Both those two leave us just before we're about to head over to the discussing three on one of the many benches around the area, I kinda feel like we just forced Ariza on Zeki but it's honestly for her sake as well. This type of thing they tend to go pretty mute on... except Zeki and his moaning, he's actually pretty vocal to strangers when it comes to a good moan.

Anyways, heading over to Marcus, Penelope and the old inn keeper who I still have no idea what his name is, the first to notice us is the excessive Penelope who I once punched for pinching my cheek. Like that last time, she's dressed in an over-the-top pink dress with matching pink hair.

"Ah, you two have finally arrived!... I'm so terribly sorry what happened to the building..."

She actually knees down on the cobbled floor being that apologetic, is she trying to beg for forgiveness or something? I get that she's always been a little excessive but she's like a level seven hundred and-... was it two?

'Status?'

[Name: Penelope | Species: Human | Level: 702]

[Health 10,000/10,000]

[Stamina 29,333/30,000]

[Magicka 30,000/30,000]

'Yeah, I was right'

"...One of my guild members was supposed to get in contact with you regarding a pressing issue but that idiot got impatient and decided to burn down the inn you were staying at. I've already supplied suitable compensation and tried to make reparations for the whole thing so hopefully you can forgive the guild"

(Innkeeper) "It's honestly not that bad, the coin you've given me could build a place twice as big and I could even afford to hire kitchen staff this time around"

(Marcus) "You can probably get off the floor Miss Penelope"

By the looks of it, the innkeeper is more than happy with the bag of coins given and Marcus just seems more focused getting the kneeling woman off her knees. Both me and Petra must clearly look a little confounded, Petra even brings out her facepalm and sighing combo that could work as fighting finisher... that sounds incredibly stupid, would look it but might just work... I really am weird.

"*Sigh*... can see why these types of things annoy you Ikarus, at least everything is already sorted this time I guess"

"Yes! I also made sure to dish out a suitable punishment, that member is now in pieces at the bottom of the ocean! Stupid bastard, what idiot decides to burn down a building due to impatience? I'm honestly feeling a little sorry for the fish who are now feeding off him!"

Wait... how did she even know where we were? Forget asking that, I already know it'll probably be some stupid magic bullshit reason that I'm not able to do, I'd also like to know why she's even here but we'll get round to that in a second.

I'm also a little pissed off that she already punished the culprit though, I wanted to do that... oh well, at least everything's already solved apparently, even if we need to find a different bed tonight. I'm surprisingly annoyed more at that than if someone were to get hurt or killed in that fire, it's the little things that can be the most annoying I guess... I'm definitely not also irritated because that was the first bed me and Petra actually did something on...

"Why are you here then Penelope? What reason did you need to find and contact us this far away from the guild?"

Before I get the chance, the other half of our lovebird due asks the question we both were thinking.

"Well... tehe, there was kinda an accident at the Spire and the top of the tower may have blown up... Actually, I'm massively underplaying it, the entire place is just a shit-stained island collapsed piled on top of that old dungeon... it's still strange that the islands remain floating above the lake though... I'm getting sidetracked, I heard a rumour floating around that my good and old friend Petra and her lover Ikarus had settled down somewhere so I've come to ask if you'll allow the rest of the Magi guild residence over here!"

I know a brilliant idea, let's invite a group of lazy explosive idiotic mages into our town and see what happens? I guess having this man turned woman's protection would be ideal for when we're away but that could easily backfire. I'm also not going to question how she knows about us as well; she must have sources or there must an information guild in this world or something similar, getting information like that basically half way across the world can't be easy.

"Heh, why would we invite such a risk into a place especially when you've just blown up your last?"

Ah, I'll just allow Petra to speak, they are kinda old friends and it's always nice to see her being talkative from time to time. It's a history thing I guess.

"Oh come on! Don't be like that Petra, what are old friends for?..."

Penelope tries to put her arm around Petra like a bro or something similar and instantly finds an elbow to the stomach, I'm honestly just a little speechless just watching this right now, this person really doesn't care in the slightest.

"Ouch... okay, I deserved that... I can guarantee nothing like that would happen here! There's a reason why forbidden magic is forbidden, the person also responsible for that lies died in the water as well! Although, I'm pretty sure he internally combusted before the tower collapsed... that really wasn't fun cleaning all the dust and bits of his bowels off climbing out of the ruins!"

Okay, Miss Penelope may be a little more explicit when it comes to gore than I ever realized, we really didn't need to know that... even if the same exact thing happens when I use aspect on weaker enemies. The thing is, I know it's risky and could be a terrible idea but having a group of mages setting up shop here could provide more benefit that outweighs the risk.

"Oi Petra, I'm not saying it's a perfect idea but it would be nice knowing we've got powerful people sticking around for when we're not here"

In this world, there's two major guilds and the rest are considerably smaller and less known about. The two major ones conveniently enough are the Magi and the Adventuring guild, the Magi is obviously known the housing the strongest but laziest mages on the planet and the Adventuring guild should also be pretty obvious what they do, it's what you'd expect with the whole do quests to rank up type of thing that's so boring and cliché. There's been no point interacting with them so far but from the sounds of it, the adventures have a headquarters in nearly every city around the continent, the complete opposite to the isolationist Magi guild.

Ah, there's definitely an Information guild as well but there's less known about that since it's not a major one, they probably prefer to work in the shadows. The main point I was trying to make before I got into all that lore, having a group of permanent mages who never leave their living region and definitely would defend from any invaders is too good an opportunity to turn down... even if a building may end up in rubble every now and then.

As soon as I say that, Marcus butts in before Petra has a chance to respond, not in a rude way but he still does it regardless.

"Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you two this, there was a message sent by the mine master, something about another problem may have come up that needs help with"

Sighhh, this is going to happen every time we return, isn't it? I don't even need moan out load, everyone can already see my frustration.

"Heh, it's fine Ikarus, we can split up and handle differ-"

"NO!..."

I've got to cut Petra off; I'm not missing another vampire massacre while I'm out nuking bandits. We're doing shit together if she's going to get the cool stuff and besides... If I see her under the influence of another succubus, it will just put me in the mood again and frankly, I'd rather we keep that sort of thing to be quite rare. Saviour it like a rare delicacy or something, I've got to keep the clinginess and romance in check after all, even if doing stuff together is kinda going against the point.

"...Ahem, what I meant to say Petra is we'll do stuff together otherwise something like what happened last time might happen again, just being cautious, that's all"

"Heh, right... that's definitely not you being clingy, isn't that right Ikarus?"

Urgh, don't call me out like that! You're the same Petra but I need to word it better since being flustered in front of others is a skill Petra needs to calm using on me.

"Well... I'm not exactly going to deny that's not a possib-... Ah, we've got no time for these shenanigans right now! Miss Penelope, you're welcome to stay as long as you don't burn shit down. Marcus and... innkeeper? Just go abouts doing whatever it is you were doing since we're heading to the mine next"

Tsundere and take control of the situation Ikarus combining clearly gets a light chuckle from Petra there, no time for cute romantic shit in the middle of a conversation between five people, time and a place for all that and besides, we do that type of lovey dovey stuff when alone anyways... damn, I really am clingy though.

As for everyone else, I just get a few confirmation smiles as well, we've got to go fly over to the mine if there's a problem so we'll have a proper chat another time. Penelope will have to find a temporary place to stay before moving the mages in, Marcus probably has some more politician crap to do and for the inn owner, have a bath in the bag of coins he's received I presume?

'Sighhh, let's get some stuff done then...'

__________

"Ah, both you two have finally returned, how was the trip to the capital?"

The progress down here back in the mine is honestly astounding, you should see the complicated scaffolding, the deep and long mineshafts, the makeshift shack that's now been made into a proper living quarters in the arena shaped cave. The place looks like different, my bird brain cannot find the words to fully describe it in detail, it actually looks like a completed mine now.

At the moment, everyone except Jaxon appears to be working, everyone else must be in the shafts or on the surface presumably.

"No point making small talk kid, what was the message you gave to Marcus?"

I guess I'm being a little like Petra right now just getting to the point, there was a stage I was really blunt and always wanted to get straight to the point but I guess I've changed back a little right now. It makes sense, we have just returned and doing work when you want to relax can make you impatient.

"It's nothing major or anything too worrying, just one of the workers had a slight accident and lost one of his legs so we might need another worker. Could also be a good idea to hire even more just to help keep up the mining flow, can never have enough able bodies down here"

"Yeah, everyone keeps calling me stumpy now, it's pissing me off"

Off appearing behind a door in that makeshift shack underground is one of those talkative workers who just so happens to be standing with a wooden leg just like a pirate! All he needs is a curved sword and a hook and he's set... Regardless, the scrawny brown haired mine master Jaxon really doesn't seem too fussed about someone losing a leg though.

"Heh, you understand a worker losing a limb is pretty important Jaxon?"

"Yeah, Petra's right, how did this even happen?"

They both seriously just shrug it off in sync! I guess he can still kinda work but imagine going through that experience, losing a leg in this type of era. Sure, I did leave some healents over here in case someone got hurt again so the risk of infection was zero but still! My leg break hurt well enough...

"I'm told it happened when they were chopping down a large tree, somehow it landed forcing the axe to cleanly slice the lower part of it off? That's if you want to buy their crap, wouldn't surprise me if they were throwing axes at each other while on break. That guy was always a walking corpse anyway"

"Hey! I haven't died or anything, it's just a slight limp now if you ignore the stump, I can still use a pickaxe but I've now gone off trees a little. There's no chance I'm dragging a large log back here anymore"

Jaxon really has no compassion for the miner with the wooden leg, it would be cool if we could build prosthetics but such a thing would probably be something suited for the dwarfs. That's actually not a bad idea, we have a dwarf...

"So to summarize... we need to hire more workers then? That's really the main problem?"

No major problems over here this time around and it's not exactly like we're going to sack the worker for losing a leg, are we? If we were in the modern would, he'd be suing us for an unsafe workplace right now but it's not exactly like he still can't be of some help around here... also, might give him some compensation just for the pain he received just more as a thank you for not refusing to work but keep it secretive though. Don't want other workers thinking losing a limb will give them a bonus or anything stupid like that, I can sometimes be nice even if my morality seems to be getting worse these days.

"Yup Ikarus, everyone will also need this month's salary soon but we all know you're good for it especially when the ships next come into port"

Ah, looks like Jaxon was thinking about pay day too, we're going to base it around when ships come into port for obvious reasons, then a sizable portion will go out. Of course, I could just pay them now from storage but it's good to set a routine and I'll fuck up the economy if we don't balance out the coins first.

"If that's everything then... don't forget to ask for more food when needed... Petra, what else did we need to do today?"

"Heh, still loads Ikarus, haven't got a meeting fortunately but we won't be stopping for a while going place to place"

"Ah, make sure you take back as much gold as you can as well, we could keep using the boats but your secret way that no one... not a single worker has seen works a hell of a lot quicker"

Yeah... can't be forgetting our duties and all that, things are always more hectic when we first arrive back at home so to speak. Oh well, at least we can relax later at the inn-... I hate my life sometimes.

As for what Jaxon finished with, I'm guessing a worker or two has seen me flying in bird form while transporting the ore? Obviously, bad things will happen if they decide to release that information to anyone outside the mine but I'm actually not that fussed about it anymore, I can see the settlement finding out about it someday but I'd rather still keep the phoenix thing secretive for a while longer if possible.

It could also be that they might just think I have a big fluffy orange chubby pet hanging around but seriously doubt that, I'm pretty sure all that secretive non-disclosure stuff about my species kinda gave me away.

As we're leaving, a quick thought has come to mind, that dryad really pisses me off at times.

"Petra... you don't think that dryad has screwed us over again, right?"

She still hasn't returned with our freaking cup! Or chalice, or whatever the holy grail is, I want my immortality Goddamn it! The dryad already said it doesn't do that but still, she's just full of lies, deceit and perversion towards goblins... and Zeki of course.

"Heh, seriously doubt that, she always shared the same type as intelligence as Zeki so it's probably just misplaced"

I like how Petra refuses to just come out and call them both stupid, I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but I'm definitely not as bad as those two. At least the dryad has the odd piece of information like about phoenix birth but still, they do say people who aren't smart enough to learn end up teaching. That's not a dig at anyone particular but come on! The dryad has easily a thousand plus more years of experience then me and is there actually much difference? At least I've got time to slowly become more intelligent and the best person alongside me as well.

"Let's just get on with it then, shall we? Care to take a ride up on this bird's back?"

Now outside the mine, I'm just trying to put a little humour in this never-ending flying, it always gets a smile out of her even if I'm unsure if she even finds it funny or not.

"Heh, always Ikarus, although..."

It's a tease, I can already tell something good's coming...

"...You're starting to get awfully clingy right now, you know? It's almost as if you love me or something, am I thinking that right?"

Urgh, I know what she's doing, she's trying to get me to stutter saying the love thing again, it won't work this time!

"Must you evil woman? You already know this bird's heart is reserved for just one"

I'd like to try playing her game time to time but talking like an idiot is always the best course of action for me.

"Heh, well how will I know if it's true if the words are left unspoken?"

Devilish woman who's corrupted my heart, I get that the line is brilliant to hear but I'm always the one saying it now! She always goes in for a kiss straight after...

"Fineee! I love ya, alright? Can we g-"

Okay... I knew that was coming but still, I guess we can make time for a quick kiss... or a make out then...