Before I begin...

Now, I know I have gotten a few comments on 'leaving people in the dark' about stuff, then explaining what happened in either an 'after action' report, or someone explaining it to someone else (usually before they have a sudden case of short). Some like it, some don't. That's okay, (puts on sunglasses) that's just my style, dood!

But, for the upcoming section, that just won't do. I mean, sure, we could have it just focus on Kodori, and all her subtle avoidance of the incoming troubles. But then you won't see things like 'what happens in the dungeon'.

By the way, I've ALSO gotten comments about that. 'Do more dungeon stuff!' 'It's got 'dungeon' in the name but you never go there!' Well, I'll give it a shot. (ahem) In the books, there is only one really 'big' plot point, and it is basically ALL dungeon. Since Kodori is grounded, she can't really be there. So I kinda have to do this, or it will end up being, "Bell and the rest came back! But he's in the hospital!" And that would be no fun for anyone.

Oh, Merry Christmas. :)

Chapter 13

"Fine fine... I'll just hide." Gros grumbled, "I thought I was supposed to be guarding your gate. You know... like gargoyle from your books."

Gros knew the plan, but in true 'curmudgeonly old man' fashion, was complaining about it at the last moment.

"Considering what might happen if you started to eat unwanted guests... No, you will still be guarding, but just these ones here." I motioned to the collection of phoenix(?), their alert eyes following my hand, brightly coloured crests on top of their heads perking up like a cockatiel. "Delly will talk to them before we leave, and they will keep hidden. Now... If someone does enter your home here... well, that's their fault for being really stupid." I gave his beak a light rub, "Oh, and I already have a new load of sand on the way here."

To my surprise he actually leaned a little into my hand, "Very well... I'll try to restrain myself. But that only takes care of them, and myself."

"We will be here too." Shinkage said, Hagane padding along side her as only a car sized adamant cat could." She looked up to me, "She has also lent me a few of her foxes. It is odd, but I can at least watch through their eyes."

"There are also a few other surprises around the house, just in case, and Weine is inside too, and will make sure the right people know when something happens." I said, "And I'll have an Occulus with me. They are faster working than my Tarot. Oh, Gros, was there anything you wanted from Lido? I might be meeting with them today. If not, it will be tomorrow."

"Hrum... Could you leave their half of the Occulus with me? I wouldn't mind chatting with them." Gros then realized he was still getting a pat on the beak, and moved his head away, "Meanwhile, I will get myself buried..." He slunk off towards his nice big white sand pit, "And you better not make a mess anywhere you shouldn't!"

"Woo..." They all replied at once, flapping their stubby wings at him.

"You sure you got this?" I asked Shinkage, one hand on her shoulder, the other on Hagane's head.

"If your strength when we first met was one of the best here, we should be fine, so long as they don't decide to set too many fires. Only so much we can do." Hagane rumbled, "If things become too heated, we will signal Ganesha's guards."

"Thank you." I said seriously, looking over my shoulder at everyone else, who were looking eager to be away now that they were all ready, "Lord Takemikazuchi? Are the orphans all set?"

"Yes. The escort from Ganesha is within sight." He said, looking around the corner outside the gate, "I'll make sure they have everything, and we can be off."

I nodded, and went over to the gate as well, "Here we go everyone. Time to reintroduce ourselves to the city."

Of course, to get to the dungeon, or rather, Babel, you had to use one of the four main roads leading to it. Our Alliance wasn't the biggest, even with three Familia. We weren't the best, still being a D rank Familia (or a C rank, if I officially stepped out of Hiatus). But we were well known. My own accomplishments aside, our alliance had done its best to help everyone.

It wasn't just dungeon work, where we would support anyone who we saw struggling. Helping smaller parties deal with monsters, by keeping more monsters away from them, or guarding their fallen if need be, or even having Lilly show a rookie supporter the best, fastest and cleanest way to fish out a magic stone.

Our alliance had a hand in everything. House building after crisis. Doing odd jobs with Ganesha Familia. Offering our services for minor repair (this was how I learned to fix cast iron cookware, oh, and shoe horses). Finding lost pets (even Weine helped with this one, since she loved animals as much as people). Carrying messages, materials or even elderly citizens from place to place. We did everything.

A day in the dungeon did not mean a day off. And the people knew it. And while yes, my return had been a little... messy... and we weren't getting nearly as much attention as say, Loki Familia when they were about to do some kind of deep dive into the dungeon. People were still pointing, saying our names, and generally waving happily as we went by.

In front, were Bell, Aisha and Mikoto. All in freshly cleaned (not polished) armour, expertly made by Welf or myself. It was mostly made of adamant too, a left over from the Dix incident. Following in a sort of diamond pattern, Welf and Lilly on one side, Ouka and Chigusa on the other. As uncomfortable as he kept saying it was, Welf still wore his 'half ashigaru' armour almost like it was a plain shirt, and now that Chigusa had a shield properly sized for her, she looked more professional, and less like a 'shield with legs'.

In the middle was myself, pushing our collection of curious children, eyes and ears twitching and looking every which way. Next to me, Haruhime, the real centre of the party. Asuka, Delly and Maki were behind us, following our three Gods. Hestia was almost invisible, being directly behind me, but the way she was gripping one of my tails... well she was nervous enough as it was.

My stop however came first, and I had to (gently) reclaim my tail, give Haruhime a little hug (since we were in public), then bow to the three Gods.

They all waved as I stood in place, letting them recollect into formation as they departed. My stop?

The Hostess of Fertility.

(Dungeon team)

The Alliance progressed, minus Kodori and the children, down the main street towards the grand fountain.

"So, are the baby bunny and fox going to show?" Aisha asked Bell, "It might be a bit troublesome, with four grass green rookies on our team."

"I agree." Mikoto said with her usual blunt honesty. "I will add however, that Momiji-chan and Kaede-chan work well together. And that Delly-chan and Maki-chan have experience, but not in the dungeon."

Bell nodded, then added his own thoughts, "I don't want to put them in too much danger. But if they can't handle it, I'll get them to return to the surface. Mr. Ouka and Miss Chigusa have already volunteered, in case that happens."

The two, vice captain and senior adventurer nodded.

"But... They should be meeting us near the fountain." Bell finished, "Ah, there they are."

Momiji and Kaede were waiting there already, the mini-miko standing at something close to attention, while Kaede was waving energetically as they approached. Both of them, in addition to their usual weapons and 'armour', had added some pouches and the like around their hips, the bog standard in basic adventurer gear.

"HEYYYY GUYS!" Kaede called out, "See? Told you we wouldn't miss them."

"You just wanted another ten minutes sleep." Momiji grumbled, before bowing to Bell and the others, "Thank you again for allowing us this opportunity."

"We think you're ready to at least try to work with us." Aisha said, "But we already have a plan to get you back to the surface if you aren't."

The straightforward reply to their enthusiasm shocked them a little, but they both nodded, "We'll do our best." They said together.

"Good." Mikoto replied, "It is all we can ask. Remember to follow orders without question."

Bell added hastily, "At least until you are sure enough to offer suggestions or alternatives."

That said, they continued towards Babel, with the two rookies joining the others behind the three leaders. "Oh good." Maki said as they fell into step again, "Thought you two might have missed it."

"Oh? Didn't want to be the only two rookies here?" Kaede teased.

"Nah. Just a little nervous. I mean, big sister told us all about the dungeon. And she was always so... serious about it. She taught us about it, held combat drills that mimicked the inside, and we even fought monsters from it while we recovered the stolen bits from the dungeon..."

"But." Delly continued, "Those were all outdoors, or in controlled environments." A pause, "I was also shorter, and I've never liked being in caves."

"Well!" Kaede grinned, "You can stand behind us if you need to!"

Ouka, listening in, laughed, "Because you'll be standing behind us."

"Bah, don't worry." Welf gave Ouka a friendly punch on the shoulder, "You'll all have something to do. If you need a break, or have to fall back, or whatever, let us know. We look out for each other, and only when we all get home, do we call it a win."

The four rookies looked at the two of them, and said in perfect unison, "We'll be counting on you, sempai!"

This of course made most of Takemikazuchi Familia laugh, while Welf kind of just stammered out a 'well of course'.

Behind them, the three Gods were smiling, "It's good they get along." Takemikazuchi said.

"I don't suppose we can go in with them?" Hestia asked, "I'd rather risk a fine than go to this Donatis..."

"That won't do." Astraea gave Hestia a Karate Chop of Justice, "After all the work and study that went into the notes you have, you should be ashamed for thinking that."

"I know... bleh."

It wasn't long before they all got to the tower. The city was almost in full swing at this point, with other adventurer parties and Gods gathering into the tower for the dungeon or Donatis. The city was finally ready to get back to its feet after three seasons of siege, and people were in high spirits again.

Mostly.

It still showed on some adventurers, the wear on their equipment, the grim determination to make up for lost time earning money, scars that no one could heal properly at the time because potions or healers were overtaxed... For some it wasn't 'high spirits' it was 'revenge' that gave them their energy. The dungeon did its best, but it wasn't enough to stop them.

"This is where we part ways." Takemikazuchi said calmly, making sure to give each of his Familia (and Mikoto, still not switched back from Hestia Familia) a pat on the shoulder for encouragement, "Do us proud, but return to us."

"Oh, I think I'm getting a little misty..." Astraea sniffed, "I haven't watched a new member to my Familia go into the dungeon in years..."

Delly held Astraea's hand and gave it a pat, "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it, maybe even before this meeting of yours is done."

"Bell!" Hestia pointed at the 'little rookie', "Make sure you come back!" She sighed, "I'll need some cheering up after this."

"Yes Lady Hestia." He smiled, "I'll make sure to come back safe. With everyone. And we'll tell you all about it."

Hestia smiled, "Good!" Then grumbled, looking at the lineup for the elevator that would take them to the 'grand meeting hall' where the Donatis was usually held, "Let's get in line..."

(Kodori)

The timing was just right, and I had arrived just as the last bit of the 'breakfast crowd' left, satisfied smiles on their faces. I waved politely as they noticed me, then my children, and either hurried to get out of my way, or waved to the children, THEN got out of my way.

"Nya?" Arnya, the tawny haired cat girl was at the door to greet me, and got as far as saying 'nya' before I gave her a hug, wrapping her up in my arms and tails.

"Well well, finally decided to stop by." Mia Grande, or 'Mama Mia', or even just 'Mama', grumbled her good natured grumble, "She's on the clock, put her back down."

"But I missed her!" I said, putting the stunned girl down. She was still in shock just long enough for me to give one of her ears a pat, before she snapped back into awareness.

"It was like a sea of fluffy..." She said, before she swatted at my hand, "Nyack! Not the ears!"

"Its good to see you." I said, dusting off her shoulder with a hand, "Everyone doing dishes or what? I brought them with me today."

"m-ow?" Someone in the big crib/carriage said.

Across the room, where the 'food window' was that the kitchen would place ready plates of food on, Chloe, Lunoire and after a moment Ryuu, peeked through. Mia however pointed her ladle at the window and said, "One at a time! And those dishes better get done on time!"

With Arnya already there, she was the first to introduce herself to the children. Now, I'd always known Arnya to be a mildly excitable girl, who could get distracted by the smallest things, yet, when needed, become so focused on something she would miss everything else. At first, she didn't know what to do. With seven (five of who were looking at her with twitchy ears and blinking eyes, while the other two had found a corner to nap in) children in front of her, she kind of... froze in place.

"What... do I do? I want to pet their ears, but... can I?" She whispered.

"Be gentle." I said, "Be careful though, they're getting old enough to bite everything they can get a hand on."

It took a moment, but she braved a hand towards Toshi. He, and the others, followed her hand with their eyes, and when it got in range, curious hands started to grab for it. "They're so... tiny and soft." She said, "Oh, yeah, and those are little teeth aren't they..." As Yuki ferociously gummed her thumb.

They all took turns (except Ryuu, who was not only still grounded, but already well acquainted with them and their little teeth and ears). Mia, the big softy who pretended she wasn't, was last, actually picking up Kei, who was the first one, out of all the children, and through all their visitors, to make the 'I want up' motion with their arms. Mia, much faster than her large size would suggest, also caught Kei before they fell on their butt, since that motion meant they weren't holding the edge of the crib.

"You, are going to be trouble. I can tell." She said seriously, "And my nose is not where fingers go." She added.

"oop." Kei replied with a half formed smile and giggle.

"See her, Kei? This is my mama." I explained, "She is a wonderful person, no matter what people say."

"If I weren't holding your child..." Mia squinted at me.

"She also pretends she doesn't like being a grandma." I added fearlessly, "But we all know better."

Kei looked at me, then at Mia, who was trying (and failing) to make a grumpy face at me, and made the 'I want you now' motion, holding out their hands to me. "Here you go then. Strange features on that one." Mia said, "But still, very cute, has your nose too. At least... your nose before you broke it."

"oop!" Kei agreed, flailing a hand at my nose.

"Eh, I can only set it so many times before it just doesn't quite do it right." I shrugged, "Say, where's Syr?" I realized she was missing, and it was past the 'second shift' start time for her.

"She occasionally takes days off." Mia shrugged, looking back towards the kitchen, "Except she tells me days in advance!"

"Sorry, Mama." Ryuu voice replied from inside the kitchen.

"A shame." I nodded, "But now that I've introduced you all, to them." I gave Kei a kiss on the nose, then put them back with the others, "I was wondering if I could do a little business."

"Oh? Ryuu mentioned you might want to start a little project here." Mia nodded, "Something about... eye's cream?"

"Iced, cream." I corrected, "Yes. As soon as Welf and I build a proper freezer..."

(The home team)

For the next hour or so, nothing really happened. Gros hid under his nice white sand pit, his smooth stone head exposed just enough to allow him to open an eye occasionally, to peek at the world around him. Shinkage was enjoying the shade of a tree (the only tree that had been left standing in front of the manor), leaning her back against Hagane while reading a book. Wiene was working on her bread recipe, since she had asked to visit the Ganesha Zoo tomorrow instead of today, and thought of having a small picnic with the Lamia and her quartet of adopted children.

Shinkage, one eye closed as she read, sighed quietly, one of the four little foxes Kodori had lent to her spotting someone as they slipped over the back wall, nearest the pool and peach orchard. Dressed in a patchwork of leather armour, they were at least quiet, but not hard to spot at all in the almost noon sunlight.

Setting a bookmark, she gave Hagane a pat on the head, and the metal cat got up, stretched (even though he never needed to) and trotted towards the rear of the building. Through the eyes of the fox, she watched the intruder apply a slim dagger to the changing room/water shed of the pool, and pried open the latch of the first door marked 'water'.

Then the second person arrived. This one hopped over the wall nearest the workshop. Again, this one wore a collection of leather armour, and was just as quiet, but still easy to spot. Despite this person making for the workshop door, Shinkage didn't move, but instead told the fox inside the workshop to put a paw over a mathmagic tarot Kodori had put behind the door, and wait.

The third, forth, fifth and sixth arrived at the front gate. These all looked like your typical thug, with clubs and knives, functional but cheap armour, and unkempt hair.

With a sigh, Shinkage got up, set her book down, dusted her rear off with a couple of pats, and picked up her padao. They hadn't actually entered yet, but seemed to be waiting for her. "See? What I tell you? This'll be easy." One said.

The best dressed (though that wasn't saying much, he at least had a full set of well worn leather armour, and a sword that wasn't dull) thug nodded, "Seems so. Just a little girl here."

"If you step onto the property." Shinkage started, her childish voice at odds with the steep level of boredom she was projecting, "I will have to remove you."

"Oooo, the little girl with a pointy stick is threatening me!" one of them said, making the others laugh, "What'cha gonna do? Cry when we give you a spanking?"

Hagane made it to the change room/water shed by the pool, and quite calmly pawed open the unlatched door. It was easy to deduce what someone might want to do in here. By design, the 'master valve' for the water in the building had been put here once the pool had been built. There was another in the manor itself, but that was part of the structure before the pool had been installed. If someone wanted to say, start a fire, then turning off the water here would slow down any attempt to put it out from inside the Manor.

Shinkage caught the man in the very act of turning the big valve wheel, and in his usual bored tone, said, "I would ask that you turn the water back on, before I remove you from the property."

The man paused his work, half turned, saw Hagane, turned back, paused, then turned around completely, "What... the hell are you?"

"I am your conscience. I am telling you that you should undo what you've done, and leave."

Instead of listening, like a smart person would when confronted with a giant metal cat, he pulled out a short sword, and lunged forward, aiming a quick heavy slash at Hagane's forehead. With an equally fast motion, Hagane's head turned, the hydraulic jaw opened, caught the blade, then clamped shut, shattering the weapon into fragments.

"As your conscience, I think you don't deserve to have me around." Hagane said as the intruder looked at the stub of his blade in disbelief. Before he could do much else, there was a hollow metallic noise as Hagane reared up and bonked him on the head. "Suppose I'll have to ask Weine to turn the water back on." He rumbled to himself, carefully opening his jaw and biting down on the man's belt, dragging him out of the water shed, uncaring of his prisoner as he bumped into the walls, over the slightly raised marble spacer that separated the inside from the outside.

It seemed to be going to plan for the one trying to get into the workshop. He had been told that the workshop building here would have all of the monster loot and rare materials, and if there was anywhere to loot before they set the place on fire, this would be it.

The lock on the door was a good one, but nothing a slim dagger and a file couldn't get past. For such a small, yet oddly well off Familia, their security was pretty lax. His Familia would at least bar the door from the inside, or install a really good lock that wasn't so easy to pick for anyone with a shred of skill at skulduggery.

"Heh." He laughed as the lock turned, the door unlatched, and the well oiled hinges swung the door inward. "Huh?"

"Yip!" A small black fox said, its tail flailing around happily at the sight of him.

"Really?" He snorted, getting one foot inside the 'quiet' half of the workshop, before his vision turned blue, and his ears heard the cracking of ice.

The ghostly black fox continued its happy tail wagging, curling up to keep watch on the man, its front paws over a metal Tarot with a weird angular design on it.

No longer needing to stall to give the thugs her full attention, Shinkage shrugged, and in that same bored tone said, "You are interrupting my reading time. Can we get on with it?"

"I feel kind of bad." One laughed, opening the gate, and taking a step onto the property, "I don't mind a bit of dirty work, but I suppose, if you have to teach a kid some manners..."

"Yeah, this one doesn't even have falna! What were they thinking, leaving her here alone?" A second said, also stepping onto the brick walkway.

"What do you think? How long before she cries?" The third stepped forward, slapping his palm with the back of his other hand.

"Maybe she'll hold out until we set the place on fire?" The fourth laughed.

Shinkage held her ground until they were within reach of her padao. Then, with a long sweeping wind up, turning fully around and putting her little hands on the very end of the weapon for as much speed as she could get, she brought the weapon down lengthwise against the lead thug.

Sure, he tried to block it with a laugh and a raised forearm. I mean, the attack was 'fast', but still telegraphed so widely, it might as well have been sent by what passed for a postal service in this world.

However, the weapon was heavier than it looked, being made of something close to petrified wood. Shinkage, for all her tiny adorable size, was much MUCH stronger than she looked, and the three things combined, the velocity, solidity and strength behind it, gave the weapon a great deal of power.

The forearm under the man's leather bracer snapped like a twig, while the rest of him was smashed to the ground as if some giant hand gave him a High-Five and went for his forehead instead. He was already unconscious as he bounced off the hard cobble of the front walk, and skid to a halt behind his three friends.

There was a moment of silence, then the first to recover pulled out a dagger, "You bitch!" He lashed out with it, catching Shinkage on the shoulder and drawing it across her body under the opposite arm.

Without reacting to the slash, Shinkage spun around, her hands adjusting along the haft of her padao, and with a solid 'whump', caught the man in the gut. She wasn't done, making her first actual sound of the encounter, grunting as she finished her spin, and sent the man back, off his feet, over his downed friend, off the corner of the wall next to the gate, and back onto the street.

The third and forth both charged forward, the two of them slashing at her. She managed to stop one of them from hitting her, but took another long cut along the length of her forearm, all but cutting off her nice arm sock.

Her reply to this was to kick one of them in the shin, the bone cracking, before she let go of her weapon and applied her tiny fist to the groin of the forth man, folding him over like a hinge and dropping him groaning to the ground.

With two of them screaming in pain, and the other two unconscious, she had just gotten them all in a little pile just off the property when Hagane trotted up to the gate, the one from the water room still hanging by the belt in his jaw, his face covered in dirt as it was dragged along the ground. "Weine is turning the water back on. But we might have trouble with the last one."

"Sigh..." Shinkage gave Hagane's head a pat, before looking down at herself, one breast exposed, her nice dress ruined, yet neither of the cuts had even broken her skin. "We will come up with something. And I suppose we should signal those Ganesha people... we have some riff raff blocking our front gate." She poked herself, "I wonder if this will bruise?"

(Kodori)

I could tell the city was watching me as I strolled, alone, with my seven children. I'd put the simple cloth shade over them, to keep the mid day sun off them, but otherwise, they were either napping or peering over the edge of the crib, watching me, my tails, or the city as we moved through it.

And while I knew the 'people' would watch, wonder, and stare at me, I felt no hostility. Fear maybe, curiosity certainly, but the 'danger' I was expecting was nowhere to be seen, felt or heard.

On the one hand, I was relieved. I would spare no effort to defend my children from anything that might threaten them. Sure, I might have to do an awful lot of paperwork, and probably pay reparations to any Familia members I might hurt, or kill... But I knew what I was risking when I left the manor.

On the other hand though, that meant that if 'trouble' was around, it would be after my Familia and friends. To be perfectly honest, if I were to 'attack' someone like me, it would be by hurting those around me. But, I had to trust them to be able to take care of themselves.

It wasn't quite lunch time, for either me, the children, or the dungeon team, and I wanted to be at the Blue Pharmacy before the children started to complain about being hungry.

"Oh, hey Fox." Nazza greeted as I rolled into the shop, "Oh, you brought them with you?" She waved her 'real' hand at the ones looking towards her voice, "Hello there."

"Afternoon Nazza." I waved back, "I don't suppose I can hide in your back room for about an hour? Maybe have a bit of a chat?"

"I suppose." She nodded, "I'll have to keep an eye out for customers, though, it's been a bit of a slow morning."

"Cassandra and Daphne out?" I asked, following her to the back of the shop, rolling the stroller in through a door that was just barely wide enough for it.

The 'back room' was much like any other shop in 'modern day'. Shelves and the like lined the walls, each of them holding some kind of material, extra stock, or some kind of cleaning supply or spare bit of equipment. They really were doing much better than before, if they actually had this much 'spare stuff'. Maybe Miach really wasn't giving out free potions anymore?

Nazza got into the room around me, and cleared a little more space, found me a stool, and then leaned on the door to keep watch on the store before answering, "Nah, they both went into the dungeon today. Cassandra wanted to go, and so Daphne went with her."

"I wonder if they'll meet up with Bell and the rest." I mused, "Would be a big team." I hung my Fenrir Coat up on the first thing I could, and undid the straps on my vest, "So... I am going to go ahead and assume Dain Cecht isn't going to join us."

She looked back at me, eyes wide, "Even though they are much bigger than us?"

It was no surprise she guessed the direction this was going right away, "Yes. I've already written up a letter for Lady Hephaestus, saying we'll only need one set of equipment. Things will be a little slower, going forward, but, once things pick up, you'll have enough money to expand again." I looked at my children, and asked, "Who's hungry?" A silly question for seven growing children of course.

Nazza glanced back at me, as I used my newfound ability to create/change my clothing to allow for easier feeding of my children, then glanced away quickly, "Well... I dunno what to say... Though, that sample package you gave him. What will happen when he runs out?"

"Well," I had to hold back a sigh as the first hungry mouth started to relive the pressure, "Consider it free advertising for you." I laughed quietly, "Once he sells that nicely dyed cloth, or gemstones, or the other things from that box, the people will want to know where to get more. I'm sure the rumour will spread, and your humble little pharmacy will get mentioned."

"Pretty sly..." She mumbled, "But what's to stop any of his Familia from figuring out how to make those things? I know you keep saying my skills are wonderful, but I'm really not all that special." She held her silver hand with her fleshy one, "I'm the only one with the mixing skill here."

"Some of the things needed to make those dyes, or the gems, and even a couple of the tools, need specific things that you can't just 'find' laying around. Tomorrow, I'll be visiting the Hephaestus Familia in the tower, and speaking with Tsubaki about the equipment I need built." The first child fed, I asked, "Hey, wanna hold her?"

She looked at me, then down to her false arm, "I don't know..."

"Don't be shy, just don't let her nibble on anything you don't want drool on." I smiled as she carefully accepted the happily fed bundle, and let her little hands explore her face, "This is Nazza, I said, pointing at her for the rest of the children, "She's a nice person who taught me all kinds of things, like how to make that paste, so your gums don't hurt." I then plucked the next child from the crib and got to feeding.

"So... This new equipment... what exactly is it for?" Nazza asked, her posture and face relaxing a little as she got used to the feeling of holding the small bundle.

"Some of it is for refining. Like a way to separate the stuff you need from plants or animal bits faster, and with higher purity." I played with tiny ears while suffering(?) a nibble or two, "It's much like you do it already, except more efficient, and you don't actually have to be hunched over your gear while you do things like scrape dust off moth wings or the like.

"That does sound handy... My dual potions have a lot of 'dust scraping' involved, and it really slows things down." She looked back to the front of the store, then to the child in her arms, "I kind of want to tease you."

The reply was a flailed arm, and an "oop." from the child.

"Beat me to it."

I switched children again, but not before rubbing noses, and continued, "The next one is a sort of pressure chamber. Once set up, you need only add the right ingredients, heat, and a bit of time, and you can grow those gems."

She blinked at me, "Grow?"

"Yes. Gems are... hrm, okay." I took a breath, "Gems are kind of like glass. Except they are made by the natural forces underground. If you melt sand, you can make glass. But it won't be very clear."

"No, you need white sand, a melted mix of salt and fruit juice and bleached powdered bone or powdered limestone. But even then, its difficult, and expensive." She said.

I nodded, smiling at the 'primitive' way of saying 'silica sand', 'sodium oxide' (derived from salt and ascorbic acid (vitamin C)), and calcium oxide.

"This device mimics the heat and pressure, but only holds what you put in. You just add the right amount of ingredients, and a few days later, you get a gem. There are other ways, but this one makes the larger gems most people want to use for wands and other magic focus." I looked around the shelves, wondering if I could give her a little demonstration of a different kind of crystal making. "Is that pickling salt there?" I pointed to a fairly large clay pot with a drawing of a pickle on the side.

"That? Yeah." She looked down at the child in her arms, "Hm, sleeping." She looked into the store, then came over and carefully put the child down among her siblings, "We make a lot of the stuff, but it smells a bit funny, and its pretty simple. We sell a lot of it during harvests."

I nodded, "Well, here's an experiment you can do, to give you a low quality example of what these do." I looked down, noting that my current occupant had fallen asleep in the middle of his meal, "Get a reasonably sized glass container, maybe twice your usual cup of morning tea." I put him down next to the other sleeping children, and lifted out one of the others, "Yes it's your turn... no need to pout." I then continued, "Boil some water in it, about say, three quarters full. Wait until the water cools just enough to feel uncomfortable to the touch, then put in as much of that salt as you can, stirring it until it will no longer dissolve."

She was nodding along at she watched the store, "Sounds like a condensate..."

"Not quite, but, the last bit is most important. If you find a speck of salt in your jar there that you can pick out with your fingers, put that in last. If not, a small bit of pumice or rough stone."

"That's it?"

"Well no. Then, you put it on a shelf someplace, uncovered and out of the way, and ignore it for a week. Make sure it stays reasonably warm in the shop."

"Oh! Not a condensate, but a concentrate!" She smiled, "A week?"

"Or two, maybe three. You'll see results after a day or so, but well... I'll leave it a surprise."

There was a few moments of silence, then, "I doubt Dain Cecht Familia will take this quietly."

"That's fine. They don't have to. I mean, I'd like it if they did, but well, if it was a perfect world..." I sighed, "Once you know how to use the new machines, you'll be able to produce everything I brought back. Without them though, it would take far far longer, even if they could figure out what was in them exactly." I laughed quietly, "And even then, Demeter Familia would need to agree to grow some of the things for them, and well, they won't, since I told them not to."

"Thank you, Fox, for helping us." She said, "Really, I mean... When you paid the Familia's debt, I think that was the first time Lord Miach slept soundly since I got this... Me too, now that I think about it."

"The top of this particular hill is just for you, Nazza. Miach Familia supported us when we were just starting, continued to do so as we grew, and sure, you charged us for it, taught us how to be a little more self sufficient, by selling the recipes to a lot of the things we need. No, if anything, we owe you this opportunity. Without you and your 'tiny little Familia' well, I'd have had to deal with some other alchemist, and probably wouldn't have done nearly as well."

"Still... I mean..." She sighed, "Some of that was just me feeling a bit guilty for cheating you two..."

I shrugged (carefully, since I didn't want to be bitten, or be pouted at for disturbing a meal), "You kept your promise to deal fairly with us, and have done so. So, in return for your best customer service, you get to join us. It might take a lifetime, maybe more than that, but I will make sure my children have a bright future. And since I rather like this place, I'll try to include the rest of the world while I'm at it."

We shared a little laugh, but then the little bell over the shop door rang, "I'll be back." Nazza said, "Welcome, can I help you?"

(Dungeon team, about twenty minutes after entering, floor 5)

Bell saw it as his job to educate the rookies of the big dungeon team. Since they were such a large force, they basically smashed their way down to the first floor with enough space to spread out a little, before he started his lecture. Before that though, he had told the four level ones, to just keep in the middle, watch, and basically not do anything.

"Okay. So what do you think so far, Miss Maki, Miss Delly?" Bell asked as they got themselves to the bottom of the fifth floor stairs, the single largest 'room' on the floor.

"Aside from being in a cave that feels like the walls are watching me? Exactly as she said." Delly shivered a little, her wings buzzing for a half second before her 'cape' covered them again, "A little warmer than expected though.

"Yeah, this is exactly what she described." Maki nodded, "Not going to complain, since she also told us about a lot of the 'dirty tricks' the dungeon would play."

"Heh, yup, she really didn't spare the details." Aisha said with a grin, "Good. Always expect the dirty tricks. You get used to the walls having eyes though, eventually."

"Oh? How did you get used to it?" Kaede asked.

"I worked in the Red Light district. Walls had eyes there too." She winked at Kaede, making her blush right to the tips of her long ears.

"Aisha-san, no teasing them." One of Haruhime's tails flicked against the Amazon's leg, "Oh, sorry."

Aisha laughed it off, while Bell recovered with his best (not nearly as good as the original) Ahem. "Did you four want to try taking point for a little while?" Bell asked, "We'll be right behind you, just in case."

"Yeah, if we don't let you do something, you'll never learn." Ouka nodded, "Hm, I think I hear something down the hall."

Most of them turned to listen, and after a moment both Bell and Aisha said, "Goblins."

The four rookies looked at each other, nodded, then Kaede said, "I'll take point."

"I will support." Momiji added.

"Well keep the flanks clear." Maki said while Delly nodded.

"Lilly wonders who the real veterans are." She laughed quietly.

"We'll keep close." Bell nodded.

Yes, it was goblins. No, they stood exactly no chance. Now, to be fair, goblins were the most basic of basic monsters. But, even though they were about the size of a young child, they had the strength of a full grown man, and more teeth in their big round heads than most natural wild animals. They liked to spawn by the dozen in most cases, and could overwhelm a solo adventurer if they were careless.

Kaede entered the room first, drawing her blade and calling out a simple "Hey ugly!" It was a little less than a dozen of them, and with those two words she got all their attentions.

But, as she continued into the room, Momiji stepped forward, waving her Oonusa wand, making her friend glow slightly. Behind her, Delly and Maki stepped into the room. With a pointed finger and a single word (Zap!) Delly took the head clean off one of the goblins near the far edge of the mob, while Maki looked down the length of her sheathed sword, and fired off a small shard of ice from the crystal on the end, putting it through the chest of another goblin. Delly managed another Zap, while Maki downed two more. This left Kaede to face what was left, a half dozen. But instead of charging in, she crippled one with a slash of her katana, leaving the lead goblin legless at the knee, then backed up a step, forcing the rest to either run around the fallen monster, or fall over it at is flailed around in pain.

Now unable to take a safe shot, Maki drew her own blade, and joined the Bunny Hume. It wasn't perfect, but the two of them alternated between defence and attack, and if they couldn't make a clean kill, they crippled the monster instead and moved away from it, before engaging the others. Because yes, a monster would fight until it died, even if all it had was one working arm and some teeth.

"Miss Kaede? Are you okay? Miss Maki?" Bell asked as Lilly and Chigusa cleaned up the kills.

Kaede had a small bruise on her leg, but was uninjured otherwise, while Maki looked perfectly fine. "One of them kicked me before I could step back." She said.

"My magic saved her a cut." Momiji said, "Normally, it acts much like leather armour, reducing anything she can't avoid to blunt force, if anything at all."

"Well, I'd give that at least an eight." Welf said, "I mean, sure, it's just goblins."

Bell, Mikoto and even Aisha nodded, "You would think they'd been working together for a while already, even though its their first trip in with each other." Aisha gave Maki and Delly a pat on the shoulder.

"More of big sister's training." Maki grinned, "We did a lot of small team exercises back home, and they weren't always balanced. Had to improvise and just... get along with whoever you were with." Delly nodded as well.

"So, you have three magic types here." Ouka asked, "How are you feeling? Tired? Blurry vision?"

"My blessing costs nothing, until my ward takes an injury." Momiji explained.

"I could do that three or four more times, before I would have to use just the sword for a while." Maki said, "I was only using a little power at a time, since you know, 'just goblins'."

"My magic is pretty easy to use, but well, I have to be careful of people wearing metal..." Delly frowned, "Kind of appropriate, since I couldn't actually touch iron, until recently."

"Ko-san once said that falna had a sense of humour." Haruhime said quietly, "Shall we continue? I think they have proven to be at least a little reliable."

The veteran adventures all nodded to each other, "I suggest they handle stragglers." Mikoto said firmly, "Agreed?"

"Yes, that sounds good." Bell nodded, "Just be sure to follow instructions, and you should be fine."

"Yes captain." The four rookies said.

"Good, let's work our way to the tenth, and see how they deal with 'big' monsters." Aisha grinned.

NOTES!

Merry whatever you call it!

Hope your day off finds you well, and that you enjoyed the way I'm going to write the next big part of the story. Not too disconnected I hope? Clear enough? Good on details?

Anyhow, party on, party SAFE, and have a good holiday. See you all in five days.

Daeore on Ko-fi, if you want to toss a coin to your writer.

Daeore on Inkitt, if you want to read my book 'Were Too?'