Chapter 16

(Kodori)

I honestly wondered why the heck they were bothering. I mean, over the last week or so, when ever I left home, I could hear the townspeople, adventurer or otherwise, say things like 'She's the one who beat the King', or 'She beat Ottar, even though she's level five'. There was no chance these guys didn't know who I was.

Yet, here they were, obviously spoiling for a bit of mischief.

So... why? I mean, aside from maybe trying to kidnap my children? But with my reputation as 'the demon fox'...

Aha.

"Ara... you must be new in town." I shook my head, "Well, I don't suppose you would hurry up? I have so much to do today, and I'd rather not be late. Being a mother is quite demanding, and if I'm not home by lunch..."

"Smoke!" The single word of command, and not from the one who started the laughter, gave me another clue.

They had a plan.

And that plan apparently involved smoke. A LOT of smoke. There was a couple of clinks, then an unnatural gust of wind, then myself, Weine, and the mobile crib, were covered by a thick grey smoke. This was really good stuff too. What little light there was getting through the smoke made the roiling cloud look like a living ball of cotton candy. If I didn't have other ways to sense things, it would almost seem like I was hallucinating.

But, this was smoke you used to evade monsters. And I was not a monster.

Weine 'eeped' as my tails picked her up. With a quick motion, I moved her, myself and the mobile crib closer to the nearest wall. My ears and tails picked up several sounds of motion, and a couple of arrows 'fzz'ing my way, but we had moved out of the line of fire.

"Be a dear and get them inside." I said to Weine, applying my fist to the door I'd moved us next to, shattering the lock and latch with ease.

I had to admit, these guys were at least reasonably professional. My voice and the broken door had given away my position, and I had to use my tails and forearms to catch or swat aside a half dozen arrows. Time for my first trick.

"Oh... That kind of stings." I said, grunting like I had just pulled an arrow out of me.

My ears turned towards the first sound I heard, a laugh. I then judged distance, angle, wind speed, and jumped in that direction. In an instant, I was clear of the smoke with the surprised face of an archer coming up fast. I landed next to him, put a hand on his shoulder, another on his bow, and said, "Dear me... playing with such dangerous toys... on a rooftop no less."

I then snapped his bow like a pencil, and tossed him off the rooftop, adding a little spin just to make landing a little more difficult. He made a comical 'AHHHH' before thumping into the ground, rolling once, and hitting the wall of the building across from me.

"Shh, or you'll wake the children." I said.

Then I had to start dodging magic blasts. They weren't using any fire at all, which was good, since there was a lot of wood in these buildings, but there were certainly a lot of OTHER things. Raw magic, lightning, killer icicles... It was kind of boring really. So, after dodging a blast of lightning, catching an icicle, and throwing it in the way of a purple ball of... something. I jumped towards the closest person with a wand, and had him join the guy on the ground floor.

I entered the building after I had cleared the rooftops, had a brief six on one rumble with a collection of swords, daggers and a spear, and then made sure to give the guy who had laughed a Karate Chop of Justice (version 1.5, since he was at least level three).

Behind me, there was a groaning, moaning, crying pile of bodies and broken weapons. I probably hadn't broken too many bones, and they would all make a full recovery with a good night's sleep. Asia would have been proud of me for sure. In front of me however...

Were two very nervous looking thugs, Weine, and my mobile crib. Weine had put herself and the pram into a corner, while the thugs stood between us.

"One step closer, and I set them on fire!" One said, holding up a test tube with a red liquid in it.

Weine made a little distressed noise, but was playing her part and keeping herself in front of the 'children'. I looked at the two of them, and held my hands out in front of me, "Where did you get such a dangerous thing I wonder?" I asked no one in particular, my tails swishing a little in irritation, "If you did something like that, I would have to do such awful things to you." I looked around, still playing the 'vacant' look, "And all these things in here would burn too... It would certainly make someone very upset." Mostly wood and metal in here, along with a bunch of crates. Typical storage stuff.

"You're gonna let us go." The guy with the alchemist's fire said, "And just for insurance..." Ne nodded to the other one, who took a step towards Weine.

And froze. Behind me, my agitated tails started to growl. A low, rumbling growl that was just at the low end of 'natural' hearing, that could be felt in the chest more than heard with the ears.

(Weine)

When the second man started towards me, I felt that I could, maybe, if I could get my hands on his wrist, do that thing Lord Takemikazuchi had shown me. But then Kodori did that thing... Where her tails and body start to glow, and you can see shapes moving in the spaces between the fur and tails. First it was a growl. It sounded a lot like the one Lido's friend the Hellhound did when you got too close to her dinner. Then there were fox heads moving between her tails, their faces scrunched up in a snarl, gold and silver teeth glinting like clean cutlery after dishes were done. I'd seen her do this before, though, she was showing the children, and the foxes were playing, not angry like this...

(Kodori)

"If you take another step," I said, the 'snarling madness' among my tails getting brighter, meaner, sparking with electricity (though this was actually just static... tails would need brushing later...) "I may have to make an example out of you."

I had their undivided attention now, and I could suddenly smell the sharp scent of ammonia in the air.

"Oh dear, I think one of my children just made a mess..." I sighed, taking a step forward.

Instead of what I had hoped would happen, that being the man dropping his hands and getting the hell out of my way. He forced his way through the fear with a yell, and made to throw the vial.

But, his moment of bravery was cut off suddenly as I took a second step forward, applying a Karate Chop of Justice (1.5) and snatching the vial out of his hand in the same motion. His friend, the origin of the sudden smell, fainted, eyes rolling upwards and dropping to the floor like a stringless puppet.

"Oh dear... seems I have to leave a message for whomever owns this space... Oh well, least I can do is clean the garbage off the floor." I said cheerfully as my tails settled down, and I gave Weine a pat on the head, "You were very brave." I then had to give her a proper hug (one handed since I didn't want the red vial anywhere near her) "Shall we go see if they've gotten to the surface yet? Maybe see if we can't find a Ganesha patrol and tell them about the mess outside?"

Weine gave me one more squeeze then let go, "Are they...?"

"No no. They will be very sore later, but they'll hopefully learn their lesson." I gave her one last headpat, then put that vial away into a padded potion loop in my coat. On the way out, my two gold tails picked up the fallen thugs, dragging them along the ground by their ankles so I could add them to the pile outside.

We had only just reached the end of the street when a pair of Ganesha Familia came jogging around the corner. Like a great many of Ganesha's Familia, they had lightly tanned skin and wore a similar style of clothing to the God himself. Armed with spear and dagger, they saw me, paused with a mild look of shock, then one of them said, "Ah, the Demon Fox. We saw some smoke, and came right away, is there a problem?"

"Well..." I started, "I ran into a few... ruffians on my trip towards the Hephaestus glass makers. They wanted to disturb my children's nap time, so, I left them in a neat pile just a little way down this street here." I smiled my best Akeno smile, "There is a warehouse with a broken door as well. Please, find out who owns it, and bill the Hestia Familia for the damage."

They looked a little stunned at my easy summation of what had happened, then ran past me, "Yes Ma'am, we'll do that!"

"Such nice gentlemen." I said, hugging Weine with my tails to keep her out of the way, before letting her go and continuing on the way to our warehouse.

(Hestia)

"Ah, Miach." Takemikazuchi said as Miach, looking a little less calm than usual, sat next to him, "Something amiss?"

"Not... exactly?" He started.

"We have a level three from the Modi Familia." Royman started, "A lady by the name of Rana."

Someone shouted out, "Is it that cute little elf from the East? The one with the brown hair and a bow?"

"What troubles you, Miach?" Astraea asked across Takemikazuchi's shoulders.

"Squeaky!" Someone shouted, "For a level three she's very skittish, and makes the cutest noises!"

"I'd have joined you yesterday, but, under Kodori's advisement, I talked with the other small alchemist Familia." Miach scratched his chin, "And, I seem to have all their support."

"Oh?" Hephaestus mused, "Ah, I see, she's trying to get you all together, so you can outproduce that monster Familia of Dain Cecht. Smart."

"How about Mouser?!" Someone called out, "If she squeaks, and is so cute, it's perfect!"

There were a few cheers.

"Yes that exactly." Miach said, "She said that if we get each of our little Familia to make only part of what is needed, instead of the entire thing all at once, we only have to have our best alchemist put the final item together."

"Yeah, she ran that idea past me too." Hephaestus said, "Called it something like an 'assembly line'."

"Mouser it is then! Hope she isn't too upset." Royman said with a smile, writing something down, "Next we have... Edgar from the Dellingr Familia, also level three!"

An older looking God with long hair and beard the colour of brushed copper spoke up, "Please be kind? He lost his vice captain in the recent troubles."

"Well, now we have the Little Rookie, Bell Cranell, from Hestia Familia." Royman said, dragging Hestia's attention back to the nicknaming.

She wasn't one to wander the city, and she didn't meet a lot of other adventurers outside the alliance. So for the most part, the Nicknaming was just an excuse to have a little nap. But, not only had she been too nervous about being the centre of attention yesterday, and likely again later, she actually did have some of her Familia level recently.

To be fair, Bell hadn't actually levelled recently, but it had been a while since he'd gotten a new name. Kodori on the other hand... Well, it was almost certain someone was going to mention her. She even had a list of names she suspected she would get! How she managed to think that far ahead, she could only guess...

"It's been a couple years now..." "He's gotten even more handsome..." "Still looks like a rabbit though!" were some of the comments from around the room, "Heard he was doing all kinds of work during the defence!" "Yeah! Running around like crazy, being everywhere at once."

Hestia smiled, since yes, they were complimenting him. He had gained the development ability 'escape', and while Bell thought it was a bit of a cowardly ability, he had used it to its full advantage. It made him much faster, and he was already very fast, but only when he was running away from something. But, it was perfect for getting messages from the front lines of combat.

"How about Rabbit's Foot!" Someone called out, "Yeah! That's perfect!" There was a little cheer, and Royman called out, "Okay okay, I've written it down." He wrote it with a little flourish, then said, "And now, Kodori Haruhime, also of Hestia Familia, and recently level six." Everyone knew exactly who she was, except maybe the new gods in the city, but well, Royman was just being professional.

Freya was the first to speak over the whispers of the other gods as they talked with the ones next to them. Her voice was cold and sure, as if she were passing a sentence on a criminal.

"Usurper."

And the room went crazy. Some laughed, others cried 'nay', others still agreed. But even as the ones who agreed seemed to be gaining ground, and volume, there was one voice who hadn't said a thing. Hestia, as well as Hephaestus, Takemikazuchi, Astraea and even Miach, were looking at the back of one of sheets of paper. This one had a little red mark in the top corner, and with a resigned look, Hestia was trailing her finger down the page until it stopped at a single word. Usurper, with a little black square next to it. Above and under that, were other names with a similar black mark next to it, like 'Tyrant', 'Subjugator' and 'Taskmaster'. There were a couple others with black marks, like Naked Fox, but Hestia had actually added the black mark on that one.

And as Hestia and the little Alliance looked at the page, more and more eyes turned, and by the time she had flipped over the page with the black mark, the room had fallen silent. But before she read what was there, Hestia looked over to Freya, and asked, "Is that what you really think?"

For the first time since this all started, Freya looked like she held all the cards, "I am surprised that no one else seems to think so." She looked across to Dain Cecht, and a few others got a glance as well, "Only some of you seem to realize just how dangerous she is."

She had everyone's attention now, and the few whispers that arose were quickly silenced by others. Freya continued, the cool smile she usually wore firmly back in place as she continued, "She returns the dungeon fragments with strange magic. Talks across the world with queer artifice. Has somehow managed to convince the top Familia in the city that these new 'inventions' of hers are good for us. Has seemingly helped everyone 'for free'... And when she finally does return, she, a level five, somehow manages to defeat Ottar, my level seven!" There were more murmurs, these not silenced, but also not getting louder. "Tell me Hestia? How is it that she is so powerful? What special power does she have that other children do not? Do the ones she brought back with her have a similar power?" She looked around the room, "What will be the REAL cost of all these new ideas of hers?"

Hestia looked down at the sheet, the calming hand of Takemikazuchi on her shoulder, the warmth of Hephaestus's shoulder against hers as she leaned over to look at the paper with her. It still took courage. Even Kodori had said this would be where the real 'cost' of (politely) telling Freya where she could stick her politics.

"The real cost of all this. Of all the new ideas, the support, calling in Rakia for aid... The only cost, the only price..." She looked up from the page and said in her best angry voice, (the same angry voice that told you that you were sleeping on the floor for what ever it was you just did), "Is to keep you, Freya, away from My Familia, and Kodori's children! You want something that IS NOT yours, you want to treat my Familia and my child's children like -things- you can OWN?! NO!" She was off script now, but was certainly in the spirit of what was written, "You want to know how she got all these other Familia together? They're tired of YOU, and your OH SO MIGHTY level SEVEN! Sitting on top of Babel like you OWN Orario! NO! You do NOT own Orario. You to NOT own Bell or Kodori, or anyone else! And you especially DO NOT own her children!" She huffed, catching her breath a moment before sitting down, "The only price Kodori has asked, of anyone working with us, the Hestia Alliance, is to make sure that you stay away from what is not yours."

Freya had remained quiet during Hestia's quite out of character rant, but her face had certainly not been still. Irritation, anger, fury, then an icy calm as Hestia said the last part, "Her children would never have been born without me. If anything she ow-"

Hestia spoke over her, holding up a red marked page, "The terms negotiated for the vial of your blood had been fulfilled." Hestia said wearily, "What you are suggesting is like a blacksmith charging the owner of a sword they made, for every monster they kill with it." And with a negligent flip of her hand, she dropped the sheet down onto the others.

There was a moment of silence, with Ouranos and Royman sharing a brief look with each other, before the room went wild with shouting, cheers, swearing, and other such noise. It seemed the Nicknaming would need to be put off until after lunch.

(The Hearthstone Manor)

"Hurm." Gros, still buried in his nice sand pit, just in case someone wanted to accuse Hestia's pet 'monster' of eating an intruder, was looking over a chess board. Across from him, sat Shinkage.

And on top of Gros's head was Sir Skitters.

"That's a knight... right? Move it over... yes, like that." Gros said, not nodding, since that would upset Sir Skitter's balance as he carefully hooked the top of a silver knight and moved it, "I will admit, I was wrong." Gros added.

Shinkage moved a copper pawn forward, threatening the knight, "Hm, about what?"

"This is far more interesting than I gave it credit for." Gros said, "I think..."

Shinkage looked up at Sir Skitters, "No helping."

The big spider looked offended Shinkage would even suggest he was helping poor Gros, who only just barely knew the rules, keep up with Shinkage. Of course, that didn't change the fact he WAS helping, but only by moving the piece Gros wanted moved, to the best spot it could be moved.

A clawtip emerged from the sand, and very carefully scratched under his beak, "The bishop moves along the same colour, right? How about... Yeah, move it there." Gros's claw went back under the sand, "How are the children? I'll admit, I kind of like them. Much easier to tolerate compared to Xenos children."

Shinkage closed an eye and 'looked' through the eyes of a fox who was in the living room. "Napping, or trying to chew on Fen-chan." A pause, "Hm, I will have to put the game on hold a moment, 'duty' is calling." She stood up, and gave Sir Skitters 'the squint eye', "I've will remember where those are."

Sir Skitters, again, looked offended, but waved as Shinkage walked back into the house.

This was, -personally- the first time Shinkage had changed diapers. Now, while she'd been Ddraig, the eternal passenger, she'd had many hosts who had had children. It wasn't 'new' to her. But now that she had a body of her own, it was 'personal'.

Aside from the smell, it wasn't really a problem. She'd lived through all kinds of 'mess' before, and it was nothing compared to say, a week old battlefield in the summer, that even the crows were avoiding. But thoughts of lives past, made her think of the current situation a little more.

It had been very quiet today. The children were all behaving. No one had tried breaking in. The guards patrolling the streets around the Hearthstone Manor were ones even she had seen before, and she was even getting along with Gros AND the birds. It was setting off all kinds of silent alarms in her head, but without something to point at, she couldn't really do anything about it.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Shinkage mumbled, looking down at the clean (and giggling happily) child on the changing table, "Let's hope your mother... or father? I'm still trying to figure out who is whos."

The child didn't seem to mind, and cling to Shinkage happily as she carried them back to the living room. "Fen-chan." Shinkage greeted, "Here, all clean."

Fen-chan gave Shinkage a silly fox smile and poked the child a few times with a ghostly wet nose as they crawled towards him.

"Keep up the good work." Shinkage said, "And my ankle is not for biting." She pointed to another child who had just gotten hold of her (not frilly) dress, and was about to bite her foot.

(Kodori)

I entered our warehouse with Weine, the mobile crib basically making 'prerecorded' baby noises as we travelled. We'd taken a little bit of a detour, mostly to make sure we weren't being followed. Sure, our warehouse was better secured than most others, and had the Ganesha Familia emblem on the door. But we still didn't want to advertise that it was really owned by Hestia Familia. I mean, unless the walls and door were made of metre thick steel, it wasn't going to keep out a determined adventurer.

As I closed the door behind us, I spotted Maki's face and ears peeking around a corner near the back of the warehouse. As warehouses go, it was pretty standard. Four walls, shelves, boxes, only one point of entry, etc etc. What made it different was that there was a small wall about two thirds down the length of the building, and half way across. This hid the tunnel that led into the dungeon, or rather, into Knossos.

"Ah you're here!" Maki called out, "Pretty sneaky getting Lido to get us back up here."

Delly came around the corner next, fixing me with the meanest look I'd ever seen on her, "Did you mean to scare our two newest friends half to death? Or did you forget?"

Lido's voice came from around the corner, "Aww, now I kinda feel bad." He laughed, obviously not feeling bad at all.

"Don't worry Lido-san." Momiji said, "You are forgiven."

"Unless you do it again!" Kaede grumbled.

Weine and I got around the divider wall, and with a breeze and a flutter of cloth, Weine zipped over to Lido and wrapped her arms around his scaly armoured form. "Lido!"

"AH! Little Weine!" hugs, headpats, both done carefully, "Are you getting taller?" He put her down and squinted at her really hard.

"A little? Maybe?" She looked up at him, "I'll never be as tall as you though!"

"Good!" He applied another headpat, "It would be harder to do this." He then looked at me and the crib, "Oh? Did you... no?" He sniffed the air in a very lizardlike fashion.

"Nope. Things to do, and there will be noise, had already BEEN noise, where they need to be done." I flipped the fabric top off the crib, revealing that all I had inside were a collection of ghostly foxes, and a rectangle box with metal sides, a mini-fridge. "Hopefully, no one tried our home again. But, I already drew out some... ruffians."

Momiji and Kaede blinked in shock, while Delly and Maki laughed, "They must be new in town." Maki said, "You weren't too rough were you?"

"Bruises mostly, lots of broken weapons, and maybe a broken arm." I shrugged, but put a hand on Weine's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "She saved the day though, getting in the way at the last moment, so they didn't actually see what was in here." I flipped the cover back over, "Lido, thank you very much for bringing them back up."

"No problem!" He smiled, and let me tell you, he had LOTS of teeth, "I'll try not to scare them next time." He gave Momiji and Kaede a pat on the shoulder, and to my surprise, and pleasure, neither of them shied from the touch, "Hm?"

Weine clung to his arm for a moment, "Um... Can I visit?"

Lido looked to me, and I made a 'go ahead' motion with my hand, "No problem!" He said, "They'd all love to see you, and not through the Occulus." Weine clung to his arm and he lifted her up like a parent doing a bicep curl with their kid hanging on, "I'll keep her safe while she's down there."

"If we need her to come home, we'll call. Otherwise, have fun Weine." I grinned, "I'll try and make an ice box for them too."

"Ice box?"

"OH! You'd love it!" Weine said excitedly as Lido opened up a heavy trap door and started down the steps, "You add milk, and fruit and some other things and you mix it all up..." Her voice trailed off and I closed the trap door, "Well, shall we go? It's getting close to lunch time, and I don't want to be late."

Aside from making sure the street outside was clear, so no one would see me exit a building in the middle of the warehouse area with four people I didn't have walking with me before entering the area... It was really like any other walk. On the way, I told them quietly, and briefly, what I was doing with an empty baby carriage, walking around in the artisan quarter.

Momiji summed it up perfectly by asking, "So you are diverting attention from home, while you check to see if the Hephaestus Familia has made what you asked?"

"And making sure you all get home safe. Or at the very least, to my home, where we will have a little lunch break, and I go out to do a few other things. Busy busy." I smiled, still feeling the Akeno smile on my face. Best Miko, bad influence. "Are those your winnings for your trip?" I motioned to Kaede's hip, where a pair of respectable leather bags hung.

"Yeah!" She grinned, "It was a lot of fun with you guys!"

After a very brief cautioning that 'the dungeon shouldn't be too fun', the four of them (yes ma'am) told me of their adventure. Just something to pass time while we walked along the main path through the almost shanty town the Artisan's Quarter was. I was here for something kind of specific, and since I'd never met this particular person before, I had no idea what to expect. All Hephaestus had told me was 'she's really good at this kind of thing' and then Tsubaki saying, 'It will be done by the time you get there.'

Strong endorsement to say the least, so, I trusted their words and was now making my visit.

"I think we're here." I said, looking down at a bit of paper, then left and right at a couple of other workshops. One was a stone cutter, with a few nice statues sitting by the door, and the other smelled like an alchemist, or at the very least a brewer, with white smoke and odd smells emanating off the little house. In front of us and between the two was a plain, square, grey brick house. It had no windows, but it did have a couple of open flaps near the simple peaked roof for ventilation. Okay, so they didn't like sunlight, but weren't stupid enough to work in a sealed box.

"It doesn't look like much." Maki mumbled, "But from what you describe, and what I've seen, this all looks like it could be replaced in a day..."

Kaede was sniffing the air, "Not a brewer, or baker, or candlestick maker."

"Are they sleeping?" Momiji asked, "I hear nothing from inside."

"Easiest way to check." Delly said, bringing her little hand down on to the door a few times, "Owie..."

There was a thump from inside, then another, then the door shook like someone had run into it from the other side. Then with a grunt, the latch on the door turned, and the door opened.

She was a Palum of 'average' height (so like... a metre at best), with a slender almost underfed figure, short messy brown hair and wearing heavy cloth overalls, a t-shirt and a pair of really thick glasses. She adjusted her glasses, rubbed her nose, and looked up, and up, and up, until she was looking at my face. She had to shield her eyes from the sun, but finally she seemed to focus her (comically huge looking) blue eyes at me.

And her first words were, "Weren't you supposed to be here tomorrow?" Like Lilly, her voice didn't quite match the child-like size, "Wait..." She took off her glasses, scrubbed her bare forearm over her eyes, then put them back on, "OH! No, that was today!"

"Good that the message got through." I nodded, crouching down so I didn't start feeling a sympathetic neck cramp, "Kodori Haruhime." I offered my hand, "Master...?"

She looked at my hand, paused, then said modestly, "I'm hardly more than 'good' at a skill most don't bother with..." She shook my hand, her grip respectful, "Odds, is what people call me in the Familia." At my raised eyebrow, she added, "It's short for 'Odds and ends', since I make a lot of random things that no one else cares to usually. Want a hundred nails? A dozen door hinges? Those little latches you put on a window? That's what I do."

"That can't be all, if you were the one they got to do this." I said, not standing yet, "And those all sound like apprentice tasks."

"Do smiths have interns?" Delly asked Maki quietly.

"Well yeah." Maki shrugged.

"They are." Odds said with a shrug, "But since I don't really have the leverage to use a hammer like everyone else with long arms, doing all the little work kind of stuck." She smiled though, "But you're right, that's not all I do. Um... I don't really have a lot of space in here. Your Familia members?"

"This is Maki, and Delly, both from the Hestia Alliance. These two are Momiji and Kaede, working with us and from Soma Familia." I introduced them, "Mind staying out here a moment?" I asked.

"We'll watch the kids." Maki lied easily, so the others only had to nod.

I nodded, stood, went to the mobile crib, and reached inside. I made sure to act like I was giving out random pokes and pets, and to play back a few happy noises, but I took out the metal box, then returned to the door, "Shall we?"

"Ah good, you brought the test model." She turned and waved me inside, "You wouldn't believe how many people don't bring measurements, or miscount how many nails they need..."

The inside of the shop was... cramped. It didn't help that I was a very tall person compared to the occupant, but I was certainly not the only one at fault. Shelves with all kinds of random things on them ranging from bits of string to short bits of wire. It wasn't -messy- but however she sorted things seemed to be random. The floor wasn't much better, and I had to edge my way around a stack of sand fulled buckets to get to the 'workshop'.

Imagine a forge, alchemist's lab, tailor and painter's studio. Then, compress it down into a single large two metre long, one meter deep workbench, and a bunch of shelves. True, it had all been scaled down her her size, but it was very very cramped.

"I know that look." She said, looking up at me with a frown.

"Your efficiency with space is astounding." I said, "But, yes, it's very cramped."

"Well, making all kinds of bits and bobs for people isn't exactly the most profitable. Its the rare 'special project' that pays the big money, and well... You're the second 'special project' I've had so far." She sighed, "Anyhow... Lemme just..."

With a bit of a sweep, she made space on the workbench for my metal box, then from the clutter on the desk, she picked up... a thing. It was a flat, square of metal, with bits of wire around the edge, a rectangular slot in the middle, and a little cup with for small wire prongs sticking out of it, like an empty spot for a gemstone on a ring.

"So, I made it, but... what's it for?" She asked, "I was only given the design."

"Just a moment." I smiled, "It's perfect, but I forgot something." I walked back outside and opened the door, "Hey?"

"Ya Boss? Problem?" Delly asked.

"Not really. But, I don't suppose you can spare a magic stone? At least this big?" I made a 'this big' gesture about as big as the last bit of my thumb.

"Oh, um..." Kaede carefully opened up one of the leather bags, peeked inside, and took out a magic stone. She tossed it my way with a, "Here you go."

"Thank you." I caught it and returned inside, inching around the clutter and getting back to the workshop, "Okay. Forgot that we'd need a power source."

"Aha, thought so." Odds said with a smile, "This isn't a lamp though?"

"No no. Something that's almost as useful. See, this here opens at the bottom." I flipped over the metal box, and took the bottom off. It was basically just a tray for the thing Odds had made. "We put your little device here. Wrap the wires around these pegs here..." I paused my explanation as I did so, then continued, "These pegs are a different metal than the rest of the box."

"Copper, and not iron right?"

"Yeah. Carries better than iron." I gave the box itself a tap with a knuckle, "This is actually a copper box in an iron box, and the space between is filled with sawdust." I reached into my coat and took out a metal card, and had make a mental note to give this palum a little extra when it slid into the rectangular slot perfectly.

"If you were going to make a crucible, you'd want iron on the inside... But you know that." She scratched her chin, "Copper is better for moving heat around, but melts before iron..."

"Ah, you are only... three quarters right." I smiled, setting the magic stone into the 'gem' slot on the thing. "Copper moves 'temperature' better than iron. Hot, or cold." I counted to ten, took a deep breath, held it for a moment, opened the top of the metal box, revealing a reasonably large space inside, big enough to store the commonly used size of milk jugs or the like. Then let my breath out slowly into the box.

Fog. Warm breath met rapidly cooling metal, and a thin layer of frost formed inside the box.

Odds blinked in surprise, looking up at me, then back to the box, "You... how... but..."

"The magic stone ovens are a very common thing. But, instead of using that energy for heat, I change it to cold. This compact little thing is called... An ice box." Mathmagic powered by a magic stone, conducted through the walls of a metal box. "If I did my part right, if I filled it with water, it would take about two hours to turn it into a solid block of ice."

"And... it wouldn't be magical ice either..." She did a little excited hop up and down, "Oh, this is amazing! Please tell me you want more of these?"

I could practically see the Valis signs in her big eyes when she looked up to me, "I want more of these." I held up a hand, "But, you must stick to the contract."

"Of course!" She nodded rapidly, holding her glasses in place while she did so, "Oh, to be able to work on something -significant- for once!"

"I will however ask Lady Hephaestus to add a little extra to your pay. I didn't even need to file a single thing down so it fit." I smiled, "If this pans out, I suspect you'll earn a different nickname."

"Thank you for the opportunity." She grinned, the smile reminding me of the half dozen times I'd seen Lilly really smile, "Please, let me know if you want anything else made? So long as it doesn't need a lot of hammering, I'm sure I can do it!"

"Sounds good." I nodded, picking up the ice box, noting that the iron was only a little cool to the touch, "Stay safe, and remember to eat."

"Oh right... knew I forgot something..."

(The Dungeon Party)

They'd been fighting their way around the dungeon since the Rookie team had left for the surface. Their first 'stop' was the pantry they had cleaned out. For the most part, it was to make sure that there wasn't another nest they might have missed. It was really just 'Bell making sure', so that some other party that came after them didn't run into a swarm of flying swords or something. Since no one would stop Bell from being Bell, and it was another chance to maybe spot a rare monster, like one of those special butterflies that Nazza used for the Dual Potion she'd invented, they went along with it.

After that though (and packing a couple of those butterfly wings away), they started to descend in earnest. With a pair of level fours (Aisha and Bell) leading the way with a well coordinated team behind them, they made fast, mostly safe, work of the monsters. After nearly a year of fighting almost non stop in a dungeon gone insane, this was almost... relaxing.

Almost. It was still the dungeon after all. But even after the last push to get to a safe(r) spot, a floor above the 'decent' area of the waterfall, everyone was still smiling. This is how it should be, tiring, but not -frantic-.

"I'm sure someone will wave a finger at me or something." Welf grinned, helping Lilly unpack a small magic stone stove so they could maybe get a warm meal before going further, "But this feels easy."

Just because he said someone would, Asuka did indeed wave a finger at him, "Considering how things were a little while ago? It does. But we are also that much more experienced for it."

"Working with the rookies makes me feel like we did a little brushing up too." Aisha nodded seriously, but then smiled and gave Haruhime's head a pat, carefully avoiding her ears, "Reminded me of the few fun times we had, before."

"Except this time, I am not hiding." Haruhime smiled, the expression bright, but there was a bit of steel in her voice. No longer was she the timid supporter, but a contributing member of the party.

She always had been a contributing member, but her voice told them she really FELT like she was.

Bell smiled, as did the others, but then he asked, "Miss Aisha? How do we proceed from here?"

"Well, what is your goal?" She asked, "Did you want to explore? Find a floor boss? Make a map? Since my previous accomplishments don't count, we have all the options. But, I won't answer questions that are too vague." She grinned.

"It is good to help with answers, but not so much if you simply answer for us." Mikoto nodded.

Bell would never ask what he knew Kodori would ask: 'What would you suggest', and just have Aisha skip to the end. So, he thought about it, "We have a strong party, good supplies, only a couple of minor injuries, and we haven't used much magic, or the magic sword."

"Yeah. After lunch, we'll feel like we just got into the tower." Ouka said, "Well, except for needing a bath."

"The bottom of the waterfall." Bell said slowly, "If we encounter the floor boss, do you think we have the tools to handle it Miss Aisha?"

Aisha considered, "Probably. I'm the only one here who's even seen it, so if it IS there, we need to take a break someplace so I can explain a few things, you know, past what Eina might have told you." She nodded, "Yeah, unless the dungeon has rearranged itself, we should be able to spot it, if it's there at all, well before it can see us."

"I think..." Haruhime started, drawing all eyes to her, "We should see the last stone Ko-san brought home."

"Heh, maybe pour a little booze onto it." Welf chuckled.

"You brought alcohol?" Mikoto glared.

"You aren't sharing?" Aisha glared.

"It's just some old stuff I had laying about, mostly for cleaning cuts, but well, if we don't use it for that..." Welf edged away from the two women.

The 'safe(r)' spot they set camp in, as said before, was a floor above the 'spiral slope' of the start of the waterfall. It was basically a single room that 'felt' almost like a safe area, outside of the dungeon, but still attached, like the Xenos caves or even Knossos. It was a commonly used spot, so it was no surprise when another pair of adventurers entered the Alliance's camp site.

It was however, very surprising to see what condition they were in. Out of breath, bleeding from dozens of wounds, holding broken swords, wearing armour that was practically falling off of them... They practically fell onto their faces with relief when they saw the Alliance calmly having lunch and doing a little equipment check.

The first to speak had the look of a 'Tall Dwarf' with the same wide shoulders and rectangular face (like Mia Grand), except being a man, he had a proud black beard that was braided down the middle almost to his belt. "Thank the Gods! You've got to help us! Help my Familia!"

Before anyone could ask, the second one, a cat person, also with black hair, but missing his left ear and his right arm above the elbow, who's only remaining armament (since he tossed aside the broken sword) was a coiled up red whip, spoke up, "A monster, all made of moss... Ambushed us! Broke through the walls from another room!" He coughed, gripping his chest with his only hand until the fit passed, "Before we knew what was happening, two of us were swept off the descent, and the monsters we were already fighting started butchering us in the confusion."

Like any reasonable adventurers, the Alliance basically dropped everything (unless they had something on their spoon, then they ate that before dropping everything) and went to help the two wounded. Bell and Aisha went to the only entrance of the big circular room and stood guard. Haruhime and Chigusa went to the wounded and offered potions and bandages, while everyone else made ready to form ranks and be ready for combat.

"Moss monster..." Aisha thought out loud, "Really tall, made of moss, strong, but cowardly. They can make more of themselves, but they don't have magic stone, so they're just decoys to help it get away."

Bell nodded, while the others made sure to listen in. "Thank you." The dwarf said to Haruhime, "We'd never seen one like that though. This one looked like it rolled around in a lumber yard or something... had bits of wood and stone buried in it."

"We were fighting other things as well." The cat man said, "There were some harpy, and a small swarm of ignazu, but even a few blue crabs had come up the ramp as well."

"Let's hope your party survived the landing and found a safe spot." Aisha said bluntly, "Seems we're going a little sooner than we wanted, eh Bell?"

"We will do our best." He said, looking back, "Are we ready? Are you two following us or staying here?"

"We can't really fight in the shape we're in, but we can at least make sure you get to where we were." The dwarf said, "Can I borrow a sword?"

NOTES!

For those who know... something seems to be a bit different, doesn't it?

For those who don't, nothing to see here, hope to see you in five days. :)

Anyhow, more and more happening in the city, some excitement, broken limbs, booped noses, and a few harsh lessons. More to come, and I hope you'll join me as I get there.

Oh... IT IS NOT HAPPENING YET, but, when I do go into the next cross over... Should I provide a list of worlds? Or, do what I did last time, and let people vote freely?

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?'