Chapter 54

I was pacing. Unlike most times I did this, I was only kind of lost in thought. Hestia was still sitting in a chair, holding one of my tails (and giving it the comforting pats it loved), I was still pacing the two steps/turn pattern I'd (jokingly) worn into the floor in the last manor.

But this time, I was moving much slower, and all but two of the children were pacing with me. It was really cute, stomping their little feet after me and my tails, occasionally stopping or 'thump'ing onto their little rears, before one of my tails went to help them up so they could keep flailing their feet at the floor to run after me.

Haruhime was watching of course, and hiding her mouth behind her sleeve to cover up her giggles, while her other hand gave Kei and Chie (the ones not participating in the 'catch the tails' game) headpats as they napped on her lap.

What was I thinking about? Only the third most important room in the Manor. The Kitchen. (The first being where ever my children were, and the second being where my wife was.)

"So... you want to make the kitchen all... fancy right? But why? It's really good as it is. The new ovens work amazing." Hestia said, "Even I can use most of them, since they were built for shorter people this time around."

Yes, Apollo Familia's cook was taller than Hestia. Not a hard thing to be, but she had to use a stool almost everywhere in the old kitchen. Since Weine was our bread maker, we had a flat 'pizza' oven made just for her. Hestia, being a reasonable bread maker herself, was able to use this oven without any help as well, since the two of them were about the same height.

"If we had a way to more accurately control the temperature in the ovens, we could make things without needing to guess at all. We could cook meats safely one hundred percent of the time. We wouldn't burn bread that was just a little too far to one side. I also plan on putting together a fridge."

Of course, that got a 'huh' look from both of them.

"Think of a bookshelf that you can chill things on. A bigger version of the iced cream maker. But also a much smaller version of our new cold storage room." I explained, "They're super handy, and almost every home has one, where I'm from."

Hestia grinned with pride, "It's going to be another big seller, isn't it? Hephaestus can't keep up with orders for the ice making box. And we're seeing a little bit of that profit too, right?"

"We are." I nodded, "Kind of."

"Ko-san is having Hephaestus-sama hold that money towards this 'rail road' project." Haruhime said, "What did you say? Money is the biggest obstacle to a project?"

"That's right." I nodded, pausing my pacing, (reluctantly) taking my tail back from Hestia, and then doing a backwards walk around our nice new couches, the children stomping after me, "Once there is a reasonable amount of money built up, we can start commissioning people to get the work done." I stopped once I'd done a single trip around the couch, and sat down on the floor, flopping down onto my back and letting the children swarm over me, "Oh no, I am being tickled!"

"Teaching them how to work together?" Welf entered the room, a bit of paper (on a thin bit of bamboo board, held in place by a little spring, yes, a clip board), "I heard 'money' and 'work' so I came over to see what you were talkin' about."

Yes, the children were taking turns grabbing my tails and nibbling my hands, nose, ears and making all kinds of giggling noises. I think this was my new happy place.

"How much work is it? To make one of these 'rail ways'?" Hestia asked.

"I'm no expert." Welf said, since I was busy being nom-ed on, "But on paper it's... kind of staggering. You've visited Miss Demeter, right?" Hestia nodded, "Imagine plowing one of those fields, from here to say, the mines up north. Twice, since you have to dig fairly deep." He set the clipboard down so he could 'hand talk' as well, "Then, you flatten that down at the bottom, like we did with the pool. Add a layer of stone and sand, like we did with the gardens." He paused, and Hestia and Haruhime nodded, showing they were still following, "Then you put gravel over that. And finally your cobble stone on top."

"ecept insed uf cobbleeeeeenomnomnom!" I sat up slowly, after nibbling my way free from the little hands pulling at my face and lips, "Instead of cobblestone, we lay down 'ties'. Planks of wood, that we then put rails on." I gathered up children, hugging them all close for a moment before letting them all go to explore, or fall asleep on my legs and tails. "The sand and gravel will stop the path from washing away, the ties will keep the rails exactly the same distance apart from end to end, and the rails will keep the train from ever touching the ground."

"You want to do that, from here to the mountains?" Hestia's eyes went wide, "That would take... forever! How long did it take, where you're from?"

I tried to remember the numbers, my words coming a bit slowly as I took my best guess from what amounted to basically forgotten history lessons. "Five years to build something that went roughly... five million zelch long." I didn't know the word for 'kilometre' or if there was even a word for it, but that was 5000km.

The three of them looked at me with wide eyes, "That must have taken a lot of people..." Welf mumbled after a moment.

"Lots of people, equipment, and planning. And it all needed money." I said, "We've already got a road of sorts to the mines up north, heaps of gravel and stone we can clean out of there for the rail beds... Metal will be the biggest obstacle. Wood too... But, one problem at a time."

Then one of the children sneezed, and being a child, it was messy and required immediate containment, else it would get everywhere. Also being a child, they saw me coming towards them with a cloth, and started running.


That evening, as part of the 'setting everything up' efforts in my new lab, I finally got HIDA-lite's new power rig set up. As with all modern battery powered devices, the little phone needed charging every few days, even with HIDA mucking about in her own code to optimize 'idle' power consumption.

Throughout the construction, we had to rebuild the 'lightning' spell card charger. But also in such a way that it could be taken apart and stored out of sight. Yes, she was still mostly top secret. Shinkage, took on that responsibility, since she stayed here to sleep on our valuables while everyone else 'lived' off site. Of course she complained about it, but we all knew she liked talking to HIDA-lite.

So, with the new and improved (really just minor refinements) rig set up, I plugged in the charger wire.

The snake and apple logo popped up, the phone vibrated for a quarter second, and... "Oh! I'm getting power again!" The mock 3D avatar of HIDA hovered onto the screen, and I set the phone into a stand so she could look at something other than the ceiling. "Ah! Hey Boss. Everything done then?" She waved cheerfully at me.

"Almost. I mean, the Manor inside and out is done. The pool will be done in a day or two. The outer wall is just waiting for the paint to dry, and our front gate is once again in place. Most of what's left is just putting things exactly where we want them, and dusting occasionally." I smiled, picked up the phone, and carefully did a couple of 180 turns (so I wouldn't twist the wire, yes paranoid, no I can't replace it). "And this is the new lab."

"ohhhhh, you did the roof thing too! I was worried about the limit on materials, but it looks fine!"

"We'll see how well we did the waterproofing is when it rains next, but yes. Now all I need is a good telescope and get some astrology charts. But that's a later thing." I set her down again, giving the touch screen a brush with my finger to give the AI a headpat.

"Oh? What's going on? Another big project? A second tower of Babel? Superhighway? A rocket ship?"

"Easy easy. No. I was going to call Rias and them. It's been a while and this is the first real chance I've had to call. I figured, since its been a while, you'd like to say hello." I moved her and the stand over to the Occulus booth.

"That would be awesome! I mean, sure, when I'm without power I'm basically in stasis, but I still miss papa. And big sister! I wonder if he's shared her design with anyone yet... he might be living in a new castle now..."

"We'll find out. I don't think the school year is out yet... but if it is, they'd be in the underworld... Hope Akeno keeps the card handy."

I went over to a bookshelf, one that held what little the city had for 'scientific' literature. Sure, the city as a whole could read and write, and even do reasonably well with math. But the dungeon was so prominent on everyone's mind that the 'higher' sciences were mostly unknown. If it didn't effect them directly, they didn't really learn about it. And if it did, they would learn, sure, but not many of those people wrote it down.

On that most precious shelf, was an adamant box. And in that box, with a 'simple' lock that was about five hundred years ahead of its time here in Orario, (bought from a hardware store for about 50,000 Yen), was Akeno's Tarot. Yes, it might sound a little strange, keeping a memento locked up tight like this. But she was special to me, and even if I could make another memory stone of her when ever I wanted...

What we shared was only known by the both of us. Haruhime knew, and permitted it to happen, but she didn't know how far we took it, nor would she ask. Her support kept me together enough to see me home, and that was worth what ever impropriety that went on between us. But it didn't mean I should just leave her Tarot leaning on a shelf someplace like a photo of an ex-lover.

"Boss?" HIDA-lite called me back from my musing.

"Yeah, lemme just set this here..." I put the box down and sat back at the booth again. I then held the Tarot by the borders, careful not to obscure the picture with my fingertips, and let my eyes focus on the background, my workshop while on Earth, as Akeno's picture did a little twirl in place, showing off her Miko outfit as her long hair spiralled around her body. "Akeno."

A pause, the card's surface slowly dropping in temperature, a sheen of frost forming over the surface.

"Akeno." I said again, the vision inside the card elongating as the tunnel between worlds extended.

The frosty feeling started to change to one of slowly gathering heat, telling me she wasn't using the magic array at the manor. It would be a short call it seemed. "Ko... Ko-san?" The image wobbled and changed.

She way laying down on a bed, most of her face covered by rumpled sheets and pillow. Her eyes, just barely visible, were squinted slightly, and her hair was undone and covering most of what the bed wasn't. Behind her, I saw a shadowy shape, another person laying in bed with her.

"I'm sorry I woke you." I said quietly, knowing that those close to the Tarot could hear, even more so if they were touching.

"mmm, must have gotten our times turned around..." She mumbled, slowly moving and shifting, sitting up and dragging a little of the blanket with her, "It's summer vacation, so we're all in the underworld."

While she did take the blanket with her, she wasn't doing a good job at covering up, at all. "Thought so. It's been a while, and I have... a lot of things to tell you." I smiled, "Issei?"

She smiled a sleepy version of her usual smile, "The President is... too delicate to put up much resistance. Fu-fu... So its been easier to share him, instead of trying to steal him away. She's on the other side of him."

"I'll have to talk to Yubelluna too. But another time. Can you make a quick there and back to get the Occulus and its amplifier? Not right this second, but soon?"

"Of course, Ko-sama." She teased, "Gasper-chan has been wanting to speak with you as well, and there are a few other little things going on that you might like to know." She yawned delicately.

"nyaa?" quiet and breathy, I knew that nyaa anywhere.

"Koneko too?" I asked.

Another shadow moved along the bed towards Akeno, flopping in her lap a moment later like some kind of cat made of smoke, "Oh, you know, she will curl up anywhere where she's welcome." Her free hand caressed the neko-shou's ears, "And she's always welcome to bed with us."

"nyaa... hello sensei... sleepy..." And Koneko started making tiny mouse noises as she fell asleep again.

"That's adorable." I nodded, "A little earlier tomorrow then?"

"That would be delightful. I'll gather as many of us as I can." Akeno gave me her best smile, before the view swirled, and then went dark.

"Aww..." HIDA-lite pouted, "But they're all still alive. That's good right? I mean... not many people can make backups like I can..."

"Alive and getting along it seems." I nodded, "Looked like your reunion with Gasper will have to wait just a little longer."

"yeah..." She sounded sad, but just like her model Delly, she perked right up again, "Hey! Since you have a new lab and everything, wanna do some science stuff?"

"Yes I would. After dinner though. If you want something to do in the mean time, I have some mathmagic stuff that I wouldn't mind figured out."


The next day went about as smooth as any other day, before all the stuff happened. I made sure to tell everyone at breakfast about my plans for the evening. There were more than a few people interested in sitting in on the 'call', and this would be an chance to get people to meet, however distantly.

So, I spent the day being domestic. Playing with the children, giving the recently returned orphans a tour of the new Manor, making cookies for them, building a shopping list for things we still needed (like towels, lots of towels), playing with Sir Skitters (no, still couldn't beat him at chess), making sure Jiru was enjoying his new windowsill -and- getting along with the micro-rabbits and their not quite so micro mom...

"You're in a good mood." Shinkage's voice pulled me from what was an almost hypnotically good day, "Is this what you were aiming for?"

"You mean finally getting home and being able to just live a good life?"

"For all your talk of how dangerous the dungeon was, I'm a little surprised you are simply relaxing." She said, "Oh, hello to you too."

Sounding like an old man didn't stop her from being a curious child magnet, and being a dragon in the body of a girl didn't stop her from being gentle. I watched for a moment as she and a couple of my children walked over to her and started pawing at her nice non-frilly dress. "The adventurers of the city keep the dungeon monsters down. While it was wounded, it just made a lot more monsters." I knelt down so I could join in on the fun, hands and tails helping them dance around us.

"This must be what a day off looks like then." She smiled just a tiny bit, "I've been thinking about going into the dungeon."

"Oh?" I was a little surprised, "Bored?"

"Curious." She countered, "I've done some exploring of the city, fought and defended our home, made friends and enemies, and read almost all of the books we own... It's time to do something new."

Already low to the ground, I just sat on the nice polished Terrazzo floor, "Hmm. Even the ones we just got?"

"A good deal of them were replacements."

"Fair. Well, it's true we don't really need you here to guard the place. Have I thanked you for all the hard work you did?"

"Twice. You're welcome." She apparently wasn't as interesting as I was, and I found myself the centre of attention for the children. That was fine, and she contented herself to randomly pet tiny twitchy fox ears as the children played among my tails. "I'm quite happy here, despite all the troubles surrounding you."

"Good to know." I nodded, "Hagane and Dullahan going with you too?"

"As strong as I am, I am still very short." She sighed, "Maybe I'll grow, maybe I won't. But I can only carry so much on a back as small as mine."

I hmm'ed for a moment, getting a few ideas, "Well, we can put together some travelling gear for you three. Speaking of... How do you even interact with Dullahan? It's literally a hollow suit of armour."

"The metal you made it of, and the crystals you used to mimic Issei's armour. That, and it is a hollow suit of armour." She managed to get the attention of Yuki, and without hesitation Shinkage picked her up and held her, uncaring about the sudden onslaught of curious hands trying to paw at her face. "You laced the suit with so many enchantments, it's almost the same as when I moved Hagane about." She shrugged, "Since it lacks proper eyes, I have to actually pay more attention to how it moves, but with Hagane and myself able to watch it..."

I found myself getting a little lost in the explanation, "So, so long as you or Hagane can see what it's doing, you can move it like it actually had eyes?"

"I can also see a little through the crystals. But that gives me a headache."

"Huh... Well, okay. I could make a helmet for it, so it actually has eyes..." I mused for a moment, "How eager are you to make the trip? I'd rather you didn't go without at least a little party time. You know, with people who've been in there before."

"I likely have eternity." She shrugged, "Hmm, I seem to be stuck with this one now." Yuki had fallen asleep on her, despite her babbling siblings still trying to capture my tails or stick fingers up my nose.

"We'll get you prepared properly. The children will miss you if you don't return." I reached over and gave Shinkage's shoulder a pat, "Let's see if we can get them down for a nap. Then we can draw up some ideas for gear."


After a day of being lazily productive (the kind of day I was finally starting to get more of), people started to return for the evening. A brief chat with Welf got him all kinds of excited, since it meant more time in the shop making something new and interesting. A little talk with Maki and Delly about bringing Shinkage into the dungeon got them excited as well. Shinkage didn't really interact with anyone, but it certainly wasn't because people didn't like her, so her wanting to get involved was a welcome surprise.

The biggest challenge for the evening was how to make the little occulus, who's 'screen' was less than the size of your palm, project in such a way that everyone could see it. We had the space (our new 'living room' was a big place), we had the seats (lots of comfy chairs and couches), and we had magic (Delly and HIDA-lite).

So, using one of our spare occulus pairs, we did some experimenting. If this were, say, an actual video call, we could have the screen on a wall or something (we had lots of empty wall space still), while the occulus watched us. But, the Occulus was camera and screen in one. And we could project the picture, but then no one would be facing it...

However, HIDA did a little mathmagic crunching, and Delly made it possible. Using a 'shield' spell, combined with a 'lens' effect (making the 'shield' visible in the air) we could project the picture both ways... Kinda. After a moment of looking at it a few different ways, I facepalmed, and summoned a big sheet of black cloth. I 'hooked' it over the top of the shield 'screen', and put the other end behind the occulus.

Yes, we'd just made an OPT (Occulus Projection Tube) Television, about three metres tall, and four across.

Of course, Hestia made a comment that had me holding the bridge of my nose, "Wow... This is pretty neat. Everyone should have one!"


So, after a moment of holding Akeno's card (with Haruhime holding my hand) and calling her name (together), we all got arranged on the chairs and couches, and waited for a moment.

And then, the Occulus to another world lit up, and we got a really big view of Rias's nose. "Oh! Wow... You're all there?"

Everyone but Maki, Delly Ryuu and I flinched at the SUPER HUGE face, but then relaxed as she backed up to reveal her entire peerage, along with Sona (but not her peerage), Sirzechs and Grayfia (but sadly no Milicas... I missed the little guy), and to my surprise, Lady Phoenix (looking amazing in a blue/red/gold dress).

"Ah, it seems they figured something out as well." Sirzechs said in his usual casually dignified way, "Well done little Gasper."

Gasper, sitting next to Koneko, looked super nervous for a second, but managed a, "Thank you sir..." Without stuttering even a little.

"We've been wondering if you were ever going to call." Issei said, keeping to form with his usual 'skipping the formalities' thing.

"I know I know. I never call, I never write. And it's always the end of the world when I do." I said, getting more than a few smiles from both worlds, "We've been really busy, and we've literally just gotten the place back together." I made a one armed (since the other was around Haruhime's shoulders) gesture at our new living room. "Good evening to you all. Now, I'm not sure how this looks over there, but starting at this end here..." I pointed to Lilly, who waved in her usual childish/cheerful/completely fake way.


It took a little while to get everyone introduced, give a little explanation of who was who/job description, and just go through the paces of opening up a 'mass meeting'. Almost literally like a pair of offices getting into a big video call.

Then there was the 'odd one out', Lady Phoenix, who I was going to call tomorrow, but decided to show up now. Her version of my dealings with Riser's peerage (and Riser himself) was a little more colourful than my own, and ended with a very polite, very firm 'you better call them soon'. It was the tone of voice I myself used when I was about to move heaven and earth to accomplish something. It must be a baby apocalypse over there...

Still not sorry.

We went over some recent events on both sides. Obviously the siege of the Manor (total wreck, but we won), how our dimensional refugees were doing (awesome/good/meh it's home), how my children were doing (wave to the nice people, what good children you are!) and just how the recovery was going (I forgot to tell Demeter about watermelons, and they got THIS BIG before she asked!).

On their side, it had been filled with ups and downs as well. They touched on it before to me, but they mentioned Gasper being actual royalty, but because he was reincarnated he had to forfeit his castle. But, it went to his best friend (before he was killed and reborn), Valerie, a full blooded vampire. Someone teased him about a possible romance, but then he vanished back into his box and pouted.

Koneko was still Koneko, and said her sister (reluctantly) said hello from wherever she was.

Sona and Rias, now done their third and final year of school (though Rias had done so by correspondence) were planning on building Sona's school. It would be a little while before it would actually start, but with Sona's determination, it would.

On that topic, Rossweisse was already going to teach there. Her offer to teach the Gremory soldiers magic was instead changed to 'at Sona's school'. Since it would be for anyone, that meant anyone from the Gremory lands as well.

Kiba was just as cool and collected as usual, and was training as hard as ever when he could. He'd actually started to dabble in actual blade smithing, since I'd left the workshop empty. "It's much harder than I'm used to, but quite satisfying... when things don't warp after quenching, chip when you sharpen them, or shatter after a couple of swings..." Still an amateur, but an honest one.

Xenovia seemed just as much of an oddball as always, but she was still happy to see me and my friends. She also made sure to say hello to Maki, Delly and Shinkage. And to relay that Irina said hello, but couldn't attend.

Rias was looking like a proud expectant mother, and seemed delighted to see all of the mini-hime's being held by random people over on our side of the call. We of course offered to keep her card handy, in case she needed some advice. She wasn't going to skip collage, but was still going to work through correspondence.

Asia looked... much different. She'd apparently had a growth spurt, not just up, but also out. She'd finally started growing the 'charms' she had been so jealous of in the baths. Of course, I only commented on the 'getting taller' part, and she managed her usual shy smile and clung to Issei's arm, now able to do -most- of a vanishing act with his elbow.

Akeno... Her expression was hard to read. As usual, she had her 'amused at the world' smile, but... that was odd to see during such a meeting. I hoped she wasn't feeling lonely again. Haruhime seemed to pick up on it, and we made sure to point out Akeno though, and make sure all the children waved at her. That seemed to help, but I resolved to call her personally later, just to remind her I still cared.

Sirzechs, with Grayfia looking like she wanted to sigh the entire time, regaled us with how -dull- and -boring- and -normal- everything was without me stirring up all kinds of trouble. He did however, thank me (again) for the armour, and Delly for the cloak. It was just as warm and comfortable as advertised and was serving him well still.

Grayfia's only words were, "Young Lord Milicas sends his greetings, but it was almost his bed time before the scheduled call." Followed by a smile and a perfect maid curtsy.

Then there was Issei.


Finally being given the microphone (so to speak), Issei's first words were, "Wow Sensei." He smiled in that humble way he had, "Even relaxing at home, I can tell how strong you all are. So this is your family, huh?"

I wished mightily to be able to ruffle his hair, but had to do so by proxy, "Akeno?"

Best Miko I didn't deserve needed no explanation, and she reached over to muss his hair.

"You're right, he does sound like Bell." Welf muttered, "So you're the guy she got the armour idea from?"

"Not exactly?" He said, "At first, she gave me the idea, but then copied what I came up with... kinda?"

I nodded, because yes, that was pretty much how it happened. Sure, I knew what I was doing, but seeing a literal living example, along with Vali's armour, gave me all kinds of inspiration. "I just taught him how I've been taught here. Imagine your results, and accept no outcome but success. But don't be afraid to ask for help."

Issei did the exact same thing Bell did, scratching the back of his head with a little nervous laugh, "Well, we all helped each other, right? I'm just glad you were able to get home at the end of all that. Did you..."

"Yes." I said, locking eyes with him, "No doubt Hades grumbled about it anyhow, but it was off his property."

He nodded, "Well, when he didn't come back, it made cleaning up the mess easier."

Sirzechs spoke up then, "Thanks to your efforts in trying to keep people informed, we managed to contain and clean up almost everything that was spawned from the dungeon fragments." He smiled, "What's left is now trivial to deal with, but we will still be careful."

"It is good to see she was never lax in her duties against the dungeon, even in another world." Takemikazuchi said, "Hmm, I think I may have to change." He looked to Tatsuko, "No matter, it is getting late." He stood, holding the little girl close to keep the mess contained to himself.

"It is getting late, isn't it?" Hestia said, yawning suddenly, "Sorry... Suddenly noticing the time."

That was a signal for everyone to start breaking off from the call, standing up and getting back to what ever it was they were going to do for the rest of the evening. Finally, with a grunt only a hugely (yet still elegantly) pregnant woman could make, Issei and Rias left the 'picture', leaving only Akeno, myself, Haruhime, Ryuu, Maki and Delly (who needed to be here to sustain the illusion magic) sitting down.

"It's good to see you together." Akeno said, "And that you're all doing well over there."

"This place is almost like living in Kyoto." Maki said, "Just put a monster spawning death pit close by and it's basically the same. We even have a Kitsune." She gave one of my ears a scroofle.

"Are you doing well, Akeno?" Ryuu asked, "Have you reconciled with your father?"

She didn't frown, or even stop smiling, but she sounded a little sad, "We visited mother recently. I'm still a little upset with him, but... He's at least here now, even with the usual problems we have."

"He just doesn't know what to do with a daughter." Delly said, "Full marks for trying though! Oh, does he still have that face?" She made her best 'grumpy angel' face, "All the time?"

"No." Akeno laughed quietly behind her hand, "He's learned to smile, even when Issei is around me, or rather, I'm around him."

"Have any new problems?" I asked, "Is the shrine still okay?"

"Well, we did have to rescue Gasper's friend, and Azazel-san has been dropping hints at a big rating game idea... And Vali was... very upset when you vanished with his grandfather."

"Not sorry." I said with a frown, "And if he could see past his ego, he'd know why and get over it." Haruhime gave my arm a squeeze, no doubt because I sounded (and was) a little angry.

"But the shrine is okay. I'm sure your guardians, and Sachiko miss you very much." She smiled, a real smile this time, "It was good to see you again, and taking a little time off too. You as well, Ha-san."

"And I you, No-chan." Haruhime said, "Thank you again, for putting up with my wife." She smiled, "Maybe next time we can talk alone? I am not above a little gossip, if you aren't."

"Someone has to tell embarrassing stories about her." Akeno replied, "I will keep your card handy." And she moved forward, a little cloth in her hand. "Good night, my friends."

"Good night." We all replied, Sir Skitters dashing behind the black sheet I'd made and dropping the leather cloth over it, then doing a victory dance.

"That was kind of refreshing." Maki grinned, "Good to see the old gang." She yawned and stretched.

Delly just yawned, "Urg... And we have an early day tomorrow too... Maybe I'll just sleep here..." She held out her arms, and Sir Skitters zipped over to her, happy to be used as a teddy bear.

"Now now, you can at least make it to your room." Haruhime admonished, "Ryuu-san?"

"I have tomorrow off. Do you have a guest room?"

"Lots of them." I nodded, "You can even put a name on one and keep it if you want." I was about to stand, but my lap, as well as Haruhime's was covered in sleeping children, "Heh, love it when they're quiet... It's on the way."


The next few days was basically just more 'settling in'. I felt a little bad, considering everyone else was out making money, including Haruhime, while I stayed home. I wasn't idle, I mean, I cooked, I cleaned, I moved things around, did a little work in the smithy when we needed things made or fixed, cared for the children, and made sure our 'permanent guests' (Gros, Weine, the birds and Shinkage) were entertained.

But, I also did some work on making another helmet for Dullahan...


"Just because you cannot use weapons, doesn't mean I can't." Shinkage said, holding what was basically a 'face plate' for the new head of the black suit of armour.

"Sharp stuff on armour is great and all, but on the head? It just gets caught on stuff and means more stuff to hit and rattle your head around when it does." I sighed, taking the mostly smooth plate back.

If you've ever seen transformers, (the older ones) and seen Optimus Prime's face... well, imagine that mouth plate of his, except for the entire face. The ridge in the middle gave it a bit more strength against impact, and the slightly rounded 'cheeks' would help deflect anything that came its way. The Ha-steel 'eyes' were ready to be set into it as well, but Shinkage had chosen that moment to comment.

"You aren't wearing it again, so why worry about the 'user' getting hurt inside?" She asked.

"Fair point, sure. But at that point I might as well just make a new suit from the ground up, and make it a proper golem body."

"Like mine?"

"Yeah. I built your body with the lack of 'squishy bits' in mind. Reinforced ball joints, sliding plates to mimic muscle and give structure, inflexible ribs under that to hold it together... Considering what we were dealing with over there, I built you to be able to take punishment." I explained, "What you're doing here with my old suit... it's meant to have someone in it."

"Like an insect shell then?" Shinkage asked.

"Yeah. Can't move without the squishy bits. But that's part of what holds it together as well. I mean, look here." I motioned to where it had taken a spear right through the abdominal plates, "If there was a person in this, the plates and mesh underneath would have been aligned properly, and it would have deflected the strike out, instead of in."

"Ah, the 'breasts plate' argument."

"No argument to be had." I rubbed a hand over Hagane's back, "Extra ridges and the like need to be planned, or a weapon can get caught on them, and soak up the force of the strike, instead of deflecting it." I bushed my hand backwards over the ridges, letting my fingertips tug gently at the plates on Hagane's back on the way to demonstrate the 'getting caught' part.

Shinkage seemed to be a little disappointed, but nodded, "Should I discard the idea then?"

In my best Welf impression I said, "Who do you think yer talking to?" I grinned, "You want to go into the dungeon? Fine. You want to take Dullahan with you? Sure. But if you want better equipment? That's my job. Go with them tomorrow, and I'll start on a new suit, just for you. A two legged golem body, so you can use that nice sword staff you acquired properly."

"And when you are out of the dungeon, it can reach the top shelf for you." Hagane said, the mirth clear even with his artificial voice.

"How do we make sure it works the same? This one has many familiar parts in it, similar to the first 'Hagane' body." She gave Hagane a Karate chop of Justice for making fun of her(self?), but then applied a headpat, "Considering the inability for certain magics to work here, most of those enchantments don't even function."

"Yet, you can still put power through them, and make the armour move." She nodded and I hmm'ed, "Well, I can build little things just as well as big things. Give me a few days, and I'll make some dolls or something, use different styles and materials."

"Very well. Until then, I'll still need to be able to see through Dullahan." She nodded.


Shinkage's first trip into the dungeon was almost aborted before it started. You might ask: What could possibly stop a super powered mini-dragon-loli, her equally super powered adamant nightmare cat companion, and the scary as hell hollow suit of armour with a million valis weapon (a souvenir from the Siege of the Manor)?

Paperwork. What else?

Eina just happened to see the rookie team walking by with the three new people coming along with them. Armed and sporting Palum sized adventuring gear, it was obvious Shinkage intended to go into the dungeon. This of course got Eina's PROFESSIONAL BURNING SOUL fired up, and she 'Ahem'ed at them.

Noticing that everyone but her was now frozen in place by the SHEER MAGNITUDE of how serious that Ahem was, Shinkage stopped to see what was wrong.

She (and the rookie team) then had to suffer through a lecture, while Shinkage filled out the correct paperwork. No one was allowed into the dungeon without doing the paperwork first. It just wasn't done. This isn't to be confused with people sneaking into the dungeon, but you weren't allowed to exchange your magic stone without proper ID. So, one way or another, the Guild would catch you.

After that however, things apparently went rather well. Hagane and the Dullihan were basically monster-proof in the upper floors, and Shinkage was an overpowered mini-dragon-loli. At the end of the day though...


"It was strange." She said, as we sat in the workshop that evening.

Welf and I were giving Hagane and Dullihan a bit of an inspection, making sure nothing was going to come loose, or tightening up straps so they wouldn't come loose the next time she went into the dungeon.

"What was?" I asked, getting one of the new files, so I could sharpen Hagane's serrated tail fins, "Try to hit less bone." I gave him a tap on the hip.

"It's the only thing my tails slows down for." He grumbled.

"You must understand, I am still rather new to having... sensation. I understand now your description of 'the walls having eyes' though. It felt a little familiar as well. Like the home of someone I know."

"Brr. I know the Xenos do it, but I don't think I'd want to build a home there. Crazy respect for those guys living on the eighteenth though." Welf said, "Hmm, gonna need to replace this strap here..." He got up and went over to our new (and much better organized) leather/hide shelves.

"Ah, you haven't told him?" Shinkage asked.

"Hadn't thought about it. But also... not sure how they'd take it." I replied.

"Tell me what?" He asked, a bit of Orc hide in his hand, "I don't think you could surprise me if you tried. I mean, you've been putting together all kinds of crazy stuff..." He picked up a tool and made ready to cut some new straps.

I shrugged at Shinkage, and she said flatly, "I'm related to the black dragon."

The leather knife went through the thick wood table like it was made of butter, and Welf kind of short circuited for a moment, his jaw hanging open, his head tilted slightly. A moment later he managed a "WHAT?"

"Cousin, I think. Or Aunt, if you consider who this body was for in the first place..." Shinkage mused.

I laughed, then gave Welf a little shake, "The really short explanation. As near as we can figure, the Black Dragon was thrown out of where I'm from. He was much much bigger then, and mortally wounded, and his body became the dungeon."

"He was very very powerful." Shinkage continued, "And power like that doesn't just vanish."

"We think that the 'black dragon' in this world is just... what was left of the original, and the dungeon is just... shed skin, more or less." Hagane added.

Welf sat there in shock. So, I got up, went to a nearby cabinet and got his bottle of 'finished a project' booze. It was breaking tradition (hence the name of the bottle) but I popped the cork and poured him a shot. Without even looking, he took the little glass, downed it, accepted a refill, downed that too, then said, "That's... But... You're so... tiny!" And a third, before he handed the shot glass back to me. "So you're saying the last 'great monster' is smaller than you used to be... or something?"

"Much much smaller. If the dungeon here was capped by the Gods, then think of it like... The great dragon war, between Ddraig, Albion, and the Nameless black, though we thought 'Legion' was a good name... The gods of my world stepped in to stop them from fighting. Ddraig and Albion became sacred Gear, while Legion was literally removed from reality." Shinkage explained.

"Except that much power, even weakened, couldn't just be 'erased' so it had to go someplace. And well, it was here." I pointed in the direction of the tower. "Half dead, with only the most basic of awareness, it is just feeding off the power in the land to keep spawning monsters."

"That however is just our best theory."

"Gimme the glass back." Welf said, "Wow... Who... who else have you told?"

"Just Fels." I said, "As basically the oldest, and smartest 'mortal' in the world, and the one who actually got me home, I figured he should know. Even to him, it makes 'sense' but we can't really prove it decisively."

"Yeah... I'll just. Hm, guess you'll have to make that strap. I'm gonna go get some air."

He left, though he still gave my shoulder a pat like he always did on the way out of the shop. Shinkage, Hagane and I just shrugged at each other, and got back to the previous topic. "Any other problems?" I asked.

"Not really. Dullahan's new face works as intended. If you really are going to try replacing it with a true golem body, please make it the same height?"

"Sure. I'll have a half dozen metal dolls ready for you tomorrow. Which ever one you can move best, is the material set I'll use for the new suit."


The next morning went as usual. Weine loved the new modified oven (the first major improvement on the way to a 'magic kitchen'), and everyone loved the bread she made. Everyone did their usual 'today I'm going to...' thing, and we all got divided up for the usual things we adventurers did.

Well, except me, and thankfully, Haruhime. She'd gone to get a little exercise in the dungeon the last few days, and I missed her. Sure, we still slept together, but having her nearby just made everything better.

But then something odd happened around lunchtime, and no, it wasn't a full moon.


"Ko-san." I heard, making me blink and look to my left at Haruhime, who had her mouth full of salad.

Knowing she would never talk with her mouth full, I got out of the chair gave as many headpats as I could to the children (who were actually sorta, kinda eating on their own, though it was VERY messy). "Akeno is calling me." I said as I left the room.

Random contact between worlds was a little awkward, so we basically agreed to 'hold off calling' until after dinner. That was the usual 'free time until bed' part of the day for both groups. To call now meant something important happened.

"Ko-san?" Again I heard Akeno's voice, but I was almost to the Lab.

A moment or two later, I had her Tarot in hand, and was looking down, past her picture, at the background behind it. Seconds later, the still image came to life, and she was standing there (in miniature) in front of me, "Akeno?"

"Ah! Something happened! Um..." She paused, "I don't mean to assume but... Is your world invading ours right now?"


NOTES!

Yes, this is how we start the lead in! I will not be answering questions about -exactly- what's going on until the next chapter. :) But no, the Crossover isn't just yet. So it will still be under this title.

Party on, and see you in 5 days.