Maki has more art! Go see! She's super adorable...

Oh, it's that time of year again, where I take a 'vacation'. See you all on the 5th of March. (unless the world ends or something).

Chapter 23

Lelei and I finished our food, and my little guide put a few copper on the table for payment. "Where next?" She asked.

"Does the JSDF deal with all the medicine here? Or is there an actual herbalist?" I asked, walking out of the tavern and giving Giselle a polite nod as I passed her.

"With them here, there has been no need for a local apothecary." She shook her head, "And while I do know a little myself, I doubt it would be enough for you to recreate your own medicine."

"A shame. But you're right. I'd need my own lab, some reasonable equipment..."

"Oh look, she's pouting again."

"I can sympathize." Lelei said, "I would rather be working with Mr. Fels, but I won't disobey Itami."

"Why is that?" I asked, genuinely curious, "I can tell he is more than he lets on, so I'm not trying to insult him."

She thought a moment, "He is helpful. And has never once demanded anything past what was needed to get something done." She replied after a moment, "And has supported me, and the others, when we needed it."

"A good leader. A shame his act of being lazy only gets him more work to do."

"The reward for hard work, is more hard work." I nodded, "Do you have any suggestions?"

Lelei thought a moment, then gave Hagane's head a pat, "Turn that way."

We did a ninety degree turn, and it was apparent that we were heading 'out of town'. To be honest... it looked like a giant open field. But that was only at first glance. Now, I will note that the soil around here was kind of bad. I'd noticed it on our drives in the Humvee, but very little grew in this area here, near the main road heading towards Italica. "What... Oh. This is the battlefield, isn't it?"

She looked up at me, "Yes. When the Empire tried to reclaim Alnus Hill, this is where they died." Zero Sugar Lelei said it as emotionless as ever. "The JSDF only bothered to clean it of corpses, and didn't stop any families who came to reclaim weapons or armour from the fallen. But, before that, we were allowed to scavenge for something else."

"We?"

"The original founding of this town was from refugees of a Flame Dragon. The JSDF knew they would need a way to sustain themselves past that of simple needs they could provide."

"Money." I said.

"Yes. Among the fallen troops were ground dragon riders. Without knowing their value, the JSDF essentially told us to 'go nuts' as it were, and gather what ever we pleased." We continued walking over the mostly barren field. It had been smoothed down by treaded vehicles, or maybe actual tractors, and all that grew here was a very short fuzzy moss and a few scrubby patches of grass. "The field has been mostly picked clean, but occasionally the children who play here find bits of dragon scale, or armour fragments. The merchants in Italica pay well for one, and the smith in town gives a copper coin or two for the other."

I looked over the vast field, spotting a small group of children playing... soccer? Yup, soccer. Way over there but otherwise... it was just a big open field.

"I heard the base keeps razor wire on the walls to keep the wyverns off. Any chance I could see one of those?" I already knew the other use I could put a dragon scale to, since I've worked with the Orario version before, and remembered the report Akeno had shown me after this battle happened a couple years ago.

"Their scales are softer, and I am not sure Giselle would let you near her friends." We paced around a little, eyes on the ground, "Considering you have advertised yourselves as monster slayers."

"I don't go killing other people's pets. I mean, sure, I'll boop their nose to get them to stop biting me..."

"It's true. She is very good with animals that think they are dominant. She has quite the collection back home, including an Amazon."

I gave Hagane a raised eyebrow, "I'm going to tell her you said that."

"And? Am I wrong?"

"Well... no."

"Ah. There's one." Lelei, while adorable, seemed immune to 'adult themed' banter. Instead, she pointed the end of her staff at something that looked like a rounded chip of stone resting in the dirt.

On closer inspection, it was actually the edge of a shattered scale. I could even make out a perfectly round semi-circle on the broken edge where a bullet had hit it. The fragment was only as large as my finger, but it was very light, like dry bone. Sadly, when I tried to bend it, it snapped like dried bone too.

"No good... It's been exposed too long..." I looked at the inner edge where it had broken off from the rest of the scale, and noted that the buried part still had a bit of a glimmer to it. "We'll skip this for now I think." I put the bits in my pouch, an idea forming for later.

"We can ask Giselle." Lelei said, "The worst she can do is say no. Possibly with too much volume." Then with a headpat for her mount, "Back to town please."

"Why not ask where they are found in the wild? If they even are anymore. Maybe those 'Rose Knights' know where a stable of them are?" Hagane sounded a little offended, but he was a dragon, and dragons were not pets.

"That would mean a trip to the Empire's capitol." Lelei said, "And that would mean dealing with-"

As we got to the edge of the town's road we'd originally walked off of, a loud... greasy... voice interrupted Lelei. "Ah! Lelei-chan. I see you are walking with one of the JSDF's new guests?"

Tall (actually a shade taller than I was) with a top cut of black hair, he instantly started setting off alarms in my head. It wasn't because I felt he was dangerous, just that he was... greasy. Like Hermes. His clothes, a well worn denim button up shirt, tough suspenders and rugged boots told me he was familiar with rough terrain and hard work. But his glasses, pocket notebook, pen and sharp eyes told me he wasn't a local either.

He looked at me, looking at him, and said, "Komurazaki Kazunari, Journalist and reporter from the other side of the Gate." He didn't offer his hand, or bow, but instead took the notebook from his breast pocket and said, "I heard you and a few others were part of the recent effort to clean up the insects we've had around here since the failed opening of the Gate?"

My face remained neutral, but internally I was rubbing my hands together with glee. Who better to practise my mysterious Kitsune stuff, than someone asking questions?

"That's right." I paused, just to make sure I was right with my guess and asked, "Lelei? He knows about that?"

"He was there." She said without emotion, "Sadly, he survived as well." No emotion, but wow...

"So harsh Lelei-chan." He said, "But yes, I was there. Who better to record what happened? I don't think anyone was expecting what did happen though." He shook his head, and actually sounded upset when he said, "A tragic loss. But then to my surprise, they tried again."

I put my hand on Lelei's shoulder before she could reply, "We actually knocked. Lelei was kind enough to open the door for us."

He looked surprised, "You mean there really is another world on the other side of the Gate now? How interesting! Would you mind answering more questions then?"

I shrugged, and let Lelei's shoulder go. She sighed, dismounted, and did her best to ignore him while giving Hagane's body a closer look. "Will you pay me for my time?"

He did a double take, "What?"

"You are taking time out of my day, while trying to accomplish something. If I submit to your questions, I am helping you, and thus should be given something for my time." I smiled, "My friend would like something too I think."

Hagane knew his cue, "Yes, I think I would."

He clearly wasn't expecting a surprise guest to his little show, but he stayed professional, "Sure sure." He clicked his pen a couple times, then put it to the notepad, unmoving for the moment, "Who else came through the Gate with you? I've met one already, Ryuu, but she told me quite firmly she was busy."

"She doesn't enjoy having her work interrupted." I nodded, "Six people. Myself, Hagane, my little sister Maki, my friend Aisha, and a JSDF named Roku."

He did a little scribbling on the notepad, "Oh? You brought back one of the missing scouts?" Scribble scribble, "What was his condition?"

"For someone who is a normal human? Quite good I'd think. He survived several days alone, survived capture, and ran back towards the Gate with us." I crossed my arms and nodded, "If the rest of the JSDF are trained like he was, they would do passably in my world."

"Passably, you say? Is your world a hostile one?"

"You say that you were there when the Gate was opened in my world. While I am not personally familiar with all that lives in the jungle it opened up in, unless you were blind you could answer that for yourself, I think."

My half insult seemed to offend him, but he didn't rile, instead replying with, "You say you aren't familiar with the monsters who came through, yet you know of them? Did your world try and attack us then?"

Ahhh, this is why he was giving my that greasy feeling. He was trying to twist my words back on me. "Monsters do three things when I am near them. Run, fight or die. The first two only delay the last." I made sure to give him a nice smile, with my foxy canines showing, "No, those monsters were likely lured through the Gate by the JSDF when they did the smart thing, and ran away. Roku told me he was cut off from the Gate, and while he couldn't run towards the help of his fellows, he instead ran towards civilization."

More scribbling, "And what are you doing here now?"

"In my world, my title is 'Adventurer'. We kill monsters, fix problems, and look for things to do. My friends and I are doing all three at once here."

"The giant mosquitoes, yes. I was dismayed that the JSDF would need help for something like that..." More scribbles.

"Why? From what they've told me, they are not something they've seen before. Where I'm from, when you don't know something, you ask. When you can't deal with a problem, you find help." This time I managed a good Akeno smile, "Is your world different? Is there some kind of stigma attached to looking for help?"

Something made my tails twitch, but... I couldn't tell what it was. It was the same feeling I had back in the Tavern. Intense scrutiny that didn't quite feel like blood lust.

"Well, in my world," He seemed to be getting tired of me saying that to him, "When the best soldiers can't handle a problem, we wonder why we're paying them."

"Then I feel truly sorry for your world. When the citizens have so little trust in their protectors, everyone suffers. Adventurers are the shield against the wild things of the world, while the citizens are the hands that keep the city running. Without us, the people die. Without the people, we can't focus on the monsters."

He 'humphed' then brushed the topic aside, "So now that you've dealt with the bugs, you're just sight seeing?"

"No. I'm adventuring."

"Heh."

"I'm taking in the sights of another world! I have not seen much, I'll admit, but it is as familiar, as it is alien. Of course, since I don't want to be a freeloader, I am looking for things to do that might bring in some coin." I made a wide motion with my hand, as if to say 'all these things are COOL!' without actually saying it.

"Like answering silly questions." And every comedy act needs a straight man.

I think my efforts to confuse him were working, because he nodded, closed the notebook, and said, "I think I've wasted enough of your time then." He started to turn, "Maybe if I see your companions, they'll answer a few questions too?"

"Maybe." I nodded, "But I think you're forgetting something." I made sure to exude a little of my 'Kodori is angry' aura, "You said you would compensate us for our time."

As if to emphasize that, Hagane opened his mouth as wide as it would go, then snapped it shut with an unforgiving metallic noise. Lelei, who would have made a great straight man, said with her usual tone, "Impressive bite."

In a near panic now, he quickly fished about in a pocket and put two copper coins into my other hand. "H-here you go..."

I let his shoulder go and just waved as he all but fell over himself to get away. "You enjoyed that." Lelei said.

"I did." I nodded.

"I'm more impressed that you managed to change your personality with every sentence."

Yes, I wanted to keep him guessing. Was I helpful? Rude? Sassy? Violent? Philosophic?

"He will probably report you as 'unstable'. Like Rory." Lelei said, "Shall we go talk to Giselle now?"

"Sure." And with that, Lelei hopped back onto Hagane's back, and as we left I felt that weird scrutiny slide off me again.

After a very confused, "You want to... meet with one of my wyvern?" from Giselle, and me replying with, "Yes. And yes I'm sure." We found ourselves back in that same field again.

"I haven't worked many jobs before, but I'm really glad the JSDF have this thing called a 'paid break'. Sadly, it doesn't pay for my lunch. Just the time it might take to eat it." Giselle pouted, rubbing her belly.

"It's because of your stomach that you are working there at all, Miss Giselle." Lelei said. While Giselle suddenly looked like Lelei had shot her with an arrow, the mini-mage turned to me, "Of the two, Rory is stronger, more reliable, smarter, and better liked by the people." Poor Giselle twitched with every word, "But I like Giselle better. She doesn't have the same sense of superiority that Rory has." And she topped it off with a, "There there." For the dragon-newt Apostle, giving her a headpat since sitting on Hagane made her tall enough.

"You're so mean Lelei." Giselle was basically crying at this point, but accepted the headpats like some poor child who just scraped their knee.

"I feel a strange relation to her. Not unlike that of Tannin or his Kin." Hagane said, tilting his head so he could fill one side of his vision with the dragon-newt in a maid dress.

Lelei and Giselle stopped their little comedy act, "Wait, related?" Giselle looked down at Hagane, "But..." And of course gave him a headpat. "Oh... OH! Hey... you're not supposed to be... Well..."

"Problem? Rory seems to have one with me."

"Well..." Giselle glanced at me.

"Speak your mind. I'm curious." I encouraged.

"My Goddess is Hardy. And her domain is the Underworld. As such, I'm supposed to hunt down things that have escaped." Giselle explained, crouching carefully so she wouldn't get dirt on her uniform, "But not only were you never a... resident... I guess it would be? You're not from this world anyhow." Of course, being this low to the ground meant more headpats for Hagane. "Heehee... I know something Rory doesn't!"

"Hmm. Well, technically, I have been to the underworld. Just not this one." Lelei and Giselle did the exact same head tilt, "What? Different world, different underworld. Nothing surprising about that."

The two of them nodded, and Giselle stood with a final pat on Hagane's metal head, "No matter what that Rory says, I approve of you. Of course, even if you are a dragon with a metal body, you are still a dragon, and my approval is really just words."

"We need no one's approval." And the two of them did their own versions of a 'WAHAHA!'.

"Speaking of dragons..." I started.

"Oh! They don't live on base unless we have something planned. So I had to call a couple. Now, I have to warn you, they can be a little... nippy... around strangers." Giselle said as she looked up, "Aha, these one's have already eaten, so at least you won't look like food to them."

"I'm not worried about that." I smiled.

"Ah, if only I were lighter... I have wing envy again."

A pair of wyvern touched down near us and let out a grumpy sounding 'rrrraawwwwwwwwK!' noise. My first impression of them was... really impressed. They were tough looking, with large wingspans and lots of aerodynamic features that made them look as if evolution did a little backtracking. Birds as we know them evolved from lizards, and while I had no doubt these did too, instead of growing feathers for warmth, they grew scales for protection and moisture retention.

They had a long body as well, with long tail that had only a minimal looking nub on the end for balance and combat. This one also had a kind of 'shell beak' similar to a parrot's, the end of it meant for ripping at flesh, while its powerful hind claws and less developed but still sturdy looking forelegs held its prey down.

"She's doing that thing again." Hagane warned, "You better tell them to behave themselves."

"What thing? Why?" Giselle asked.

"Adventurers kill monsters." Lelei said.

Before Giselle started panicking, I quickly defended myself, "Hey! I'm not going to kill someone's friend for parts."

"Parts?! You-"

"Just a loose scale or two, nothing permanent." I assured, walking up to the two wyvern, "No need to be nervous..."

Of course, asking any animal not to be nervous to something dangerous was... well, hopeful at best. Thankfully, these two just acted a bit shy, instead of aggressive. Eventually though, they got curious enough to let me pat their nose once or twice. Once 'negotiations' with them started, Giselle managed to get them to do a few tricks for me. Opening their wings, rolling over, wiggling about to scratch their own backs while Giselle gave them a belly rub (like some kind of pet), and finally things started to come loose.

"So you just wanted a few scales?" Giselle asked as she gave the two wyvern a pat on the nose and apparently told them to just... have a nap or something. After all that activity, they just curled up around each other and grumbled to a halt.

"And to see what the local monsters are like. These are a little thin for armour, but... hmm... It does explain how they can fly." Welf's lessons were paying off, and while I was almost as good a smith as he was, my ability to just 'figure out' materials was far behind still. While impressive, a wyvern's wingspan wouldn't let them fly on their own, let alone with a rider. But holding one of their scales in my hand, I could tell it had a little magic in it.

"Lady Kodori is an enchanter, as well as metal smith." Lelei explained as we walked back to the tavern, "Her and her party are trying to raise money to purchase a large sum of precious metal."

"You mean... I could be selling dragon scales to pay off my debts?" Giselle looked shocked.

"I am surprised you haven't thought of that, after two years of working here." Lelei deadpanned.

"So now that you have a handful of scales, what will you do?" Hagane asked, "Aside from look like you want to eat one."

I had one close to my face while my still immature eyes were trying to see into it's hidden attributes. "Well, because they are cast off, I think they have less power than say, a fresh one. But!" I looked to Giselle before she could panic, "They were nice monsters, so I'll make do. No promises if I find one in the wild someplace and it tries to bite me."

"Well, that's okay then." Giselle nodded, "Well, I know what I'm gonna do on my day off..."

Lelei and I watched her go back into the tavern, and heard someone instantly start yelling at her, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! IT'S LUNCH HOUR!"

"Glad I don't work there." I said, getting a nod from Lelei, "You know..." I rubbed one of the teardrop shaped scales between my thumb and index finger, "I don't really know what to do with one of these, past 'melt it down and mix it with metal'." Not exactly the truth, but close.

"Hmm?"

"Well, when that happens, I ask an expert. Like Fels."

"Really? Disobeying orders?"

Lelei, being the smart person she was, shook her head, "Itami told me to follow her around. If it just happens to put us back on the base, it can't be helped."

"Even I want to keep you now." I smiled, "Let's get back. We have a couple hours I think until dinner, and the others should be getting back soon too, hopefully."

Now, as the foremost enchanter of Orario, with eight hundred years of experience, it was no surprise that Fels could (and did) give me some pointers on how to use those scales. Right next to me however, was Lelei, writing things down as well, soaking things up as we got in a remote learning session.

Thus, it was no surprise when we managed to come up with an interesting idea or two. For example, with my focus on 'making things easier' back home...

"Huh." I said, giving the scale I'd just enchanted a nudge.

Using one of the scales, its inherent 'flying' magic, my iron chisel and a little etchwork, I'd made it levitate at a fixed height off the table. Similar to say, an air hockey puck, it slid through the air smoothly at my little push. To keep it from falling, I was of course giving it a little of my own mana, but even with magic you could never get something for nothing.

"This is similar to how I power my staff for flight." Lelei said, putting a 100 yen eraser on top of the scale. "How much can it support I wonder..." The scale wobbled for a moment as the object upset its balance, but it righted itself and continued hovering.

Fels, who was of course listening/watching his two eager pupils rubbed his chin, "I am not sure. But with that as a foundation... What sort of application were you thinking of, Lady Kodori?"

"If I fix the distance from scale to ground, it won't be useful for flight, but if I could expand the size and increase the capacity, we could have a new way to move heavy loads around. Maybe a new train engine! But... I'd need a lot more scales, and well, I don't want to spend that much time on it while I'm busy here."

"And Lelei? What have you discovered?" Fels asked, nodding at my answer.

While I'd managed a constant 'scale to ground' enchantment, she of course managed something better. She had one of the scales orbiting around her like a little satellite. "I have no control over it, aside that of it staying within my proximity... But I can think of many uses for such a thing."

Looking at it, I could too. She'd basically just invented a 'floating shield'. Sure, it was only a single scale, about as big as my hand, but if some kind of control could be enforced, its durability increased, and some way to make sure it didn't just fly off into the sunset when you hit it hard enough... Good grief...

"I can imagine the piece of mind that would bring, being able to protect yourself while leaving your hands free." Fels nodded, "Now, as much fun as I've been having teaching you, how does your quest go? I know it has been less than a day, but do you have an idea on how to gather the materials?"

"Well, if I'm careful about it, I could do something similar to what I've done in Orario." I didn't say what exactly, but it was Fels, and I knew he'd catch on, "I went to the smithy in the nearest town, and was paid a good sum for showing him something new that he could do with what limited technology they have here."

"Ah." Fels nodded, "You do not often peddle goods, but secrets. Far more valuable in the right hands."

"I am sure a little of this could be sold to the researchers at the Magic Academy in Rondel. Sadly, they are underfunded, but perhaps with enough interest, we could hire a geomancer or the like to help us find the materials we need."

"A sound idea." Fels nodded, "Now, if I remember correctly, you still need to eat. If the time here is any indication, you should go about that. I have to oversee some work at the Ruins, and should not delay."

Lelei and I nodded, pocketing our little projects while I put the rest of the scales in a pouch. "I wonder how the others did. Anyhow. Good night Fels, I'll call sometime soon."

"Be sure to contact home as well." And his projection vanished from the room.

"Well, let's go get dinner then." I said to Lelei, "No pouting. You must eat, or people will never stop giving you headpats."

We found Maki already in the Mess, chatting animatedly with a couple of JSDF. They were probably scouts, since they still had bits of... oh... what were they called... Ghillie suits? Yeah, that's it. They still had bits of 'fake moss' all over them. To my surprise, Roku was with them too.

I kept an ear turned towards them as Lelei and I got into line for some chow, and by the time we'd joined them I'd gotten the general idea. "A successful hunt then?" I asked as I sat down across from Maki.

"You bet!" She grinned. "It will be on tomorrow's menu for sure!"

I looked to the others, "What exactly were you hunting? Roku?"

"Ma'am." He gave me a nod, "Well, around here, things are a bit wild. Mountains have these big... cat things. Forests have all kinds of giant insects, birds, some sort of ape thing, wolves. And the plains, well, until those mosquitoes came along, you'd get the occasional..." I could already tell he was going to say 'ostrich' but since I wasn't from Earth (so far as he knew) I'd have 'no idea'. "It's a bird that doesn't fly, but has these really nasty claws."

He made his fingers into 'Veloceraptor' claws. "Well, if they weren't all killed, they'll come back."

"Good!" One of the others said, "They were tasty!"

"But what we got today was something the locals call a 'gorilgant'." Roku continued.

"Looked kinda like a Silverback." Maki explained, "Except smaller, brown fur, and a lizard tail."

"Smaller?" One of the JSDF scoffed, "You have things like that back where you're from?"

"They're usually twice as tall as a man, and as the name suggests, have silver fur." I said, "Did you use any of your fancy weapons?"

The others paused, as if to consider telling me about those 'fancy weapons', but Roku again played diplomat, "Actually no. Since we are cut off from supply, we're doing our best to hunt with as little expenditure as possible. So most of us have been taking archery lessons from Tuka-chan. And Yao-san when she has time."

The others nodded, "Shame they haven't really figured out crossbows here." Another said.

Lelei and I glanced at each other, nodded, then looked back to the JSDF, "Well, tell me how it went down then."

Like any good tavern story, Roku and The Boys of Scout Squad Four, told a fascinating tale of how they were petitioned by the locals to stop a wild beast that could carry off their livestock. How they stalked the beast for hours, set up traps, then did an impressive taunt, bait and snare on it, before finally giving Maki the opening she needed to stab the creature in the ear. One of the Scouts even did a sad little death cry as it flopped to the ground, ded. (Yes, Maki said it exactly that way. Not 'dead', but ded.)

Being prepared for this kind of thing ahead of time, meant they even skinned and butchered the thing right there in the forest! It was then sold to the village that requested their help. The pay wasn't huge or anything, but after Lelei's brief explanation of 'money' earlier, it amounted to about a month's pay for your average worker here in this world, and that was just Maki's share.

"Say..." Maki started after the entire mess hall cheered for their victory over the 'savage monster' of the forest. "Where's Aisha and Ryuu?"

"Last I heard, Ryuu was in the town clinic. She's probably making the doctor there very bored." I said, "As for Aisha... I'm not sure."

"I'm right here Fox." Aisha stepped into the mess hall, her one size fits all overall covered in dirt and smelling like sweat, "I wasn't joking when I said 'dig a road'."

The people in the mess hall fell silent as the Amazon walked between the tables and plopped her rear down next to me. She almost didn't wait for the scout who had been beside me to move! Before she could say anything though, Tuka stepped into the Mess hall with a, "You should wash off before you eat!"

"Too late, I've sat down." Aisha laughed.

Tuka did the 'angry kitten' thing rather well as she stomped over and stood across from Aisha, "You are impossible, you know that?" She looked at me, "You should really talk to her about her manners!"

So, to try and placate the angry kitten, I looked to Aisha. And in my best mother voice I asked, "What did you do?"

"Well, remember that road building we passed a couple days ago? I went there." She said, leaning on my shoulder, "Pretty simple stuff. I mean, pick up shovel, dig in one direction, repeat until you get bored."

"She kept breaking the shovels!" Tuka said, "Even after we told her not to be so rough with them!"

"Not my fault this world has sub par equipment!" Aisha shot back before putting her head back on my shoulder, "Well, after the sixth or seventh shovel, I look at the big machine they have helping us. The yellow one with the big scoop on the end of its arm and the big oval wheels."

"You broke that too!" Tuka pointed.

"She broke a back-hoe?" Someone asked.

"I did not!" Aisha hugged me, "She's being mean!"

I leaned my head a little to the side so I could turn it and give Aisha a look. "You're not fooling anyone."

"Works for your kids. Anyhow." She sat up straight, "I figured out how to take the end off. Wasn't hard, I mean, you use a similar system for some of the stuff with Odds. Male and female connections, big metal pins for hinges and stuff." She couldn't resist making the (in)appropriate motion with her fingers, "So I pulled the pin out of the scoop, and just used that instead. The person using it was eating, so it wasn't even in use!"

Silence.

Then a bit of chatter..."Wait..." "So she used the bucket on the back-hoe... as a shovel?" "By hand?" "She another apostle?"

Aisha of course ignored them, since it was story time. "It took a little getting used to, but I just moved dirt around like that. Much faster than that machine. So much wasted movement." She then made fun of said machine by moving her arms like it would, just like a child would while playing make-believe. "Rrrr grrr rumble crunchcrunch grrr..."

Maki of course was trying not to giggle herself off the bench, while I sighed and applied a headpat to my Amazon. "Well, if you're going back there tomorrow, I'll see if I can make you a shovel you won't break just by picking it up."

"I'm only going back there if you can help me. Using that scoop thing was awkward." She realized something, "Speaking of, here." And she flopped down a pair of gold coins next to my half eaten tray of food, "The '4-man' said since I'd done almost a weeks work for an entire team, by myself, I get a bit extra." She grinned while I put that away, "And are you going to eat that?"

That evening, after getting cleaned up and back into our room, we did a little counting, and recounting of our day.

Ryuu, who had spent almost all of it (except lunch, which the little Pooka did indeed remind her about) in the clinic. The pay wasn't the best, but this was a 'free' service done for the town on behalf of the JSDF. She was paid as much as the doctor for a week's work, and a little bonus besides. She was tired from the constant mana use, but she'd done her job a little too well. The clinic was basically empty of people who didn't have a 'prior complication', like say, a missing limb or some kind of sickness. So unless someone got hurt, she basically worked herself out of a job.

Aisha spent her day digging a road. No surprise she was really good at it compared to a Citizen. She could go back, and while it was well paying, it was boring. She'd never run out of work though, but if she continued to go, the Citizens might rebel, since she was taking work away from them. We wouldn't have had this problem in Orario, where 'bored adventurers' did a lot of the heavy work. She also had a sore back, but I was working on that now.

Maki had gone on a bounty hunt. Reasonable pay, but long hours. Inefficient, but not without merit. She was just doing a little weapon maintenance.

Hagane had deigned to grace that reporter with a few words. Amusing, but not well paying.

And I'd sold some secrets. By far the most profitable use of time. But too much of that might bring these 'apostles' down on us. I didn't really mind. But if they were like Rory, then 'collateral damage' would happen. I hate it when that happens.

"So... I here's an idea." I said as I used my elbow to work out a knot in Aisha's back, "Lelei mentioned a place called Rondel. It's supposed to be a city where magic is studied, and they have all kinds of people interested in learning all kinds of things."

"Oh come on. Be original." Aisha teased, "Ohhh, a little lower..."

"What? It's how she brought almost all of Orario on our side." Maki laughed.

"Well, not just that." I chuckled, "They might have some people inclined towards earth magic. That kind of magic might just find our materials for us. I mean, we have an expert digger here already."

"I thought foxes like to dig." Aisha teased.

"There is another benefit as well." Ryuu said, "Adventurers are normally limited with what magic they can learn. Until recently, you could only have three spells linked to your falna. I have two. My Luminous Wind, and Noah Heal. But I've pushed Luminous Wind into new paths."

"Yeah, we've seen you use it to speed up, fly short distances, sharpen your sword, fling out razor sharp wind blades..." Maki nodded.

"I leaned to do what Riveria has done. She knows three spells, but is able to layer them, or empower them, making it seem like she has nine instead of three." Ryuu nodded, "But then there's you, and Kodori." She said to Maki. "You've both started with a spell, like all 'Renard' of our world do. But you've brought something else as well."

"What I think Ears is trying to say, is this Rondel place might be a good chance to expand. You use that weird drawing stuff on your sword, or use your mask to amplify your stealth spell. But I've seen you warp and change what should just be a single purpose spell, even if they're just attached to your sword." Aisha looked over to Maki, "Maybe even I can learn something. Gotta say, Hell Khaos seems really boring when compared to you guys."

"You will lose your next fight with someone, unless you learn something new." Hagane said, "I will admit, I am limited by this body, since it cannot grow on its own. But that doesn't stop me from thinking on ways to improve."

"Okay, so we go to Rondel. Then what?" Maki asked, "We teach them a bunch of things from Orario?"

"Nothing stimulates creativity, like a fresh perspective."

"If we can get the attention of a couple of people, maybe get a sponsor, maybe work with the JSDF on their own resource hunting for back home..." I mused.

Then someone knocked on the door. "Hey! Maki! Don't tell me you forgot!" It was Shino.

"Oh right, we were supposed to do a little sparring." Maki nodded, "Any suggestions? I mean, aside from 'we don't have healing potions to spare' and 'don't kill her'?"

"Treat it like a morning spar." Ryuu said, standing up, "I'll admit, I am curious."

I got up as well, "Coming?" I asked Aisha.

"Sure lemme... aw, really? Sigh... Guess I'll just stay here then." Since yes, I did just give her a backrub. "Put a blanket over me or something."

NOTES!

Next time, we'll start with a bit of combat, and maybe another field trip!

And yes... I know... The website is broken and isn't showing the vote! I'm sorry. I'll accept votes in PM's or comments. Still a little time before things get rolling too fast for me to change the timing. :)

Party on, and see you in eight days. Daeore on Ko-fi for art and donations, and on Inkitt, if you want to read my actual book. :) party on.