That second bit of art I mentioned? Just posted it yesterday. :)

Chapter 33

So, I told him almost everything.

Starting slowly, over a take out box of deep fried breaded... chicken equivalent, yeah, call it that... I gave the old man a top down view of Orario. General history as I knew it, with the Dungeon the Children, and the Gods. How the Gods, through their Familia, shaped the world. General economy, Familia dynamics, general politics, the five top Familia, a very general description on how Falna and levels worked...

Of course, I couldn't help but keep a few things to myself. Like me being the strongest in Orario. Or how I'd been a major factor in the recent modernization and reorganizing of education. No. That was not important.

Well okay, it was. But you know, mysterious Kitsune stuff.

Of course, I made sure to stress a few things. Overemphasize them even. Like how we treated criminals, or how 'beating the crap out of an intruder' was lawful. I could foresee all kinds of huge problems if the pencil pushers from Earth were to try and occupy Orario like they did the Special Region. Sure, Orario would do far far better against a modern military than the Empire did. But the loss of adventurers would mean the dungeon would win.

And I could already see some pencil pushing nut-scratching bureaucrat saying 'it is very regrettable we can no longer help the people of Orario' and leave our world in ruin because they didn't get to set up a strip mining operation or something.

Information saves time effort and lives. Another one of my dungeon rules.

"Delilah and Akira coming in!" The door opened and the two of them entered, "Oh! You were the one who took the last order of fried bird!" She said after a quick sniff of the air, pointing an accusing finger at Soichiro and me.

The old man clicked the recorder off and gave it the same sealed envelope treatment, locking eyes with Akira, "We can put it on our expense account." He said, "Kodori-san was just answering a few questions for us, but she insisted I buy her dinner first."

"Surprising. The rest of your party has been..." Akira gave me a raised eyebrow.

"Evasive? Uncooperative? That's out of habit." I smiled, "It's all on that recording."

"Yes, she knows what it is, though they're still at the 'wax and needle' phase of sound recording." Soichiro said, handing over the two envelopes to Akira as he wheeled closer, "There is a lot to go over on those."

"I'll get on it then." Akira nodded, "Speaking of business, your companion Ryuu has returned to Fort Alnus. Lord Duran will be here, so long as nothing goes wrong, tomorrow before noon. There may be a small caravan from Italica as well some time after noon, but it will be escorted by the Rose Knights."

"Good to know." I nodded, looking at Delilah, "Yes you may."

She'd been slowly getting closer to my tails, while still staying by Akira's side. At my go-ahead, she reached out for one, only to have another volunteer. Of course, my tails were jealous of the attention, and it didn't take long for her to suddenly looked like she was wearing a fur coat, "Eep?"

The two men chuckled, "What I'm most interested in are these 'magic stone'." Akira said, "I'm not a scientist, and will probably have no understanding of magic. But from what you've told Mari, and what little I've learned from Lelei, it's very important in your world."

"What does it take to advance, as a society?" I asked.

"Huh?" The three of them blinked.

"It needs work. Simple enough right? The farmer tills soil, the smith hammers metal, the worker builds houses. Work."

They were apparently expecting something more extravagant for an answer, but nodded in understanding. "Ah, so these 'magic stone' represent work?" Soichiro asked.

"No... Ah, they can provide work." Akira nodded, "Like an ox to pull a plow, or a waterwheel to move machinery. Similar to electricity."

I chuckled to myself. These two must have been city boys. "We have those as well. Power from water, wind, animal, fire. But the magic stone, if you know what you're doing, can provide them all in some form or another. Light for lamps. Furnaces for cooking and smithing. Catalysts for our potions. All kinds of applications, and all of them take a little of the burden away from 'the people'. And because of their nature, they leave nothing behind when they are used up. No ash, no smoke."

"Clean, nearly infinite energy..." Akira's eyes lit up.

"We do not let magic stone out of Orario in it's raw form. Ever." I said firmly, "It is far too easily abused as well, so the guild keeps tight control over it."

"Aww." Delilah pouted as my tails left her alone, "But, why not share?" She moved over a step to stand behind Akira's wheelchair again.

"Ask the bakery in Italica." I said, "Healing potions aren't the only way to use a magic stone. But it can only be processed once. That's what we allow out of Orario."

Akira was about to say something, but my long forgotten radio crackled to life, "This is the Bouncer, looking for Kodori. Are you on this channel?"

"That's the front gate." Soichiro said.

I unhooked it from my belt, "I am here."

There was a quiet 'here you go', then "Oh hey! You might want to come back to base. Aisha almost... Well, you know that bow you made?"

"Maki? Sure. Just finishing up here." I stood up, "Amazons and their toys." I sighed.

"Since I'm here, I'll use one of the AV rooms." Akira said, "Don't sleep in tomorrow, Kodori-san."

The short story, when I got to the archery range and made my way past a bunch of JSDF, was 'no one was hurt, but now there is a hole in the outer wall'.

This however was among comments of, 'We shouldn't need a bomb shelter wall behind an archery range', and 'we're lucky no body was patrolling on the outside wall' and my favourite, "I don't think I'm getting that arrow back. But the bow works great!"

Yao and Tuka were still somewhat slack jawed at what had happened. But to be fair, it seemed Aisha had shot a single arrow and put it through a fortified concrete wall two hundred metres past the target. "You know, I should have thought of that." I sighed, "Be careful with that!" I pointed at one of the JSDF officers who had confiscated the bow and was trying to draw it.

Being made of a leaf spring that was made to support the back end of a fully loaded Humvee before I treated it to be usable and properly springy, it wasn't surprising he that he couldn't draw it very far.

"First its explosive arrows, then its... what do you even class that as? Railgun?" The drill seargent was scratching his head, "And what's this tip made of?" He had one of Aisha's arrows and was poking at the tip.

"That's a bodkin point, made for piercing armour." I said, "I made it from properly processed land dragon scale."

All eyes on me, including one of the engineering staff who had just arrived, "Wait what?"

"Found it!" Someone called out from WAY OVER THERE, who was now jogging in our direction, "Trench patrol found it and passed it back through the hole it made."

The fletching was gone of course, and the shaft was scratched all over, but the tip was just fine. "Oh, hey I might get it back after all." Aisha grinned.

"Shame you'll have to practise someplace else." Yao nodded, "Though... how did you work the dragon scale like that? It's not bent or chipped..."

"That smith in town knows how." I said, "But he might not be very good at it yet." I got a few looks of disappointment, but shrugged, "Support local businesses." Then to those of my party who were here, "Early morning tomorrow."

We started to leave the scene, but Aisha paused, "Can I get that back? Thank you. That too." She then put her hands on the ends of the bow, and braced it against her chest. With a grunt, she bent the bow without putting tension on the string and one of the ends slipped off, "There. Wait up Fox!"

We spent part of bath time going over what we did during the day, and the time before bed making sure we were all up to speed. Our three Mages reported a 'reasonably sure' chance they knew what they were doing, and shouldn't have too much trouble setting up a large scale test site once we had the materials we needed. It would be the last step before we opened the Gate up and stepped through to perform the ritual over in the Jungle.

I was actually curious what the JSDF would think of 'teleportation magic'. If it was something they could eventually bring to Earth, well, who knows? It might make Amazon look like a joke. Then again, the ritual needed gold, and power. So Amazon Shipping was safe for now.

Then there was what the other Apostles would think. Sure, Rory had been quite firmly told to knock it off. And Giselle was far more likeable and less insane. But if the Apostles were all about 'limiting innovation' well... Teleportation magic was pretty innovative.

What would Orario think? Fels said the Dungeon would make it difficult or impossible to send things 'away' from it, but what about bringing it closer, or 'sideways', or even in other places far away from the dungeon where it couldn't interfere?

"boop." Aisha poked my nose, "you're thinking too hard and my legs are cold now." She mumbled.

"sorry." I mumbled back, waiting for her to get comfortable again before telling my tails to stop thinking and play dead.

The morning, while we waited for Duran to arrive, was spent helping Lelei, Cato and Arpeggio. Since the airfield wasn't in use right now, we'd been given permission to draw (not carve!) the magic circles needed. They were one quarter scale to what we would need for the Gate, and would need the gold wire and focusing crystals...

But, with Itami's help and the Commander's permission, we made it into a 'live fire' exercise. Bags of sand, dirt, small rocks, and other such things were strewn around the 'work site'. Our mission, was to clear the area, smooth it out, then draw the diagrams needed. The engineering Corp came along with spools of wire, to simulate the gold wire we'd need to lay down, while those who were scheduled to drill all day were part of the 'clean up and make dirty' crew, who would bag all the stuff we cleaned up, then dump it again once we'd finished laying down the wire and diagrams again.

We were quite tired after six hours of that. But while we didn't have monsters attacking us, we had a general idea on how long it would take the mages (including Ryuu and Tuka) to use magic to clear away the dirt and debris, then have Yao, Lelei and Cato lay down the ritual components and circle drawings.

It would be up to anyone else who came through to distract the monsters so they could all work.

We had just finished up yet another practice run, when my ears picked up a thin noise a good distance away. Like a horn maybe? Maki heard it too, and a moment later Itami's radio clicked on, "Outpost one to Base. Lord Duran's caravan is here. Repeat, Lord Duran's caravan is here. ETA to town, twenty minutes."

Itami unhooked his radio from its spot on his collar, "Copy that. We'll go out and meet him in the Field."

"Copy. Be advised. The caravan consists of light and heavy cavalry. Fifty one heads, four wagons total."

"Understood. Base out." Itami put his radio back in place, "Quite the procession."

"So... twenty horses, twenty riders, Duran on his own mount... wagon drivers, some foot soldiers..." Maki was counting on her hands, "Wow."

"Gold is precious here." Yao said, "Though I do understand your view on it."

"Say... why don't any of you have earrings or the like?" Tuka asked, getting close to Aisha and doing one of those cute 'lean left lean right' things while looking up at her.

"What? You think I need to look even better?" Aisha grinned, plunking her hand down on Tuka's head and laughing, "Some use adornments, I use achievements!"

I almost missed it when Shino (who had also been helping, and sounded like she wanted to cross over too) said, "Wish that worked for me..."

"Itami Sir! We'll handle the cleanup." One of the others said, "Don't keep Duran-san waiting."

"Lets go then. Lelei?"

"One moment."

"We'll handle it." Arpeggio said, nudging her towards Itami.

One quick jog to the Motor pool later, and we were on the way down the Fortress slope into town. Itami and Company had joined as well, and this included Rory this time. She couldn't make eye contact with me, but she also didn't have her silly weapon with her. Also of note, was she had managed to find a spare outfit. Maybe she had a stash of them someplace?

This did however make the back of the poor Humvee rather crowded, stupid tails... On a slightly more positive note, Tuka volunteered her seat to Aisha, and sat next to me. I think she just wanted to see if my tails were as fluffy as they looked, and after a moment of driving she was basically lost in them someplace. Having a cheerful elf fawning over my tails was better than a grumpy Aisha complaining about her nice butt not fitting into the seats.

"Oh... I see what he meant by 'heavy cavalry'." Maki said as she looked out the window by her head, "Look at the size of those things!"

Lord Duran had halted his procession in the 'Killing Field' just outside of town. Ten horses with riders. Four wagons with one horse each and three guards. Then seven 'Land Dragons', plus rider. And one without a rider.

Fifty one heads.

As for the dragons. They were indeed quite large. But they could still be ridden by a soldier without any special equipment. Indeed, it looked like they were simply Wyvern who never grew wings and instead just developed thicker hides. That extra bulk however made them look meaner, and they had no need of the metal barding that the horses wore. Their bodies were a bit longer too, the tail and neck providing extra 'weapons' in close combat for sure. They also walked on four legs, but their hind legs were larger their slightly weaker looking front legs could easily maul anyone who got underfoot.

They also had a permanent 'You are food' face, with their bony beaks and tooth filled maws.

We had driven up to a 'respectful distance' from the caravan and started to unpack ourselves from the Humvee. I was out first, and deposited Tuka next to me, and closed the back hatch when everyone was clear.

"DISMOUNT!" Lord Duran, in a rather impressive suit of red metal armour very carefully got off his own dragon. The beast wasn't insensitive to its rider's needs either, basically laying itself flat to the ground so Duran only had to kind of... slide off sideways onto his good leg and swing his other leg over carefully. It wasn't graceful, but I could easily imagine him in his prime on a battlefield.

The other riders all followed suit, but the wagon drivers and the guards on them didn't. To be expected, since I could already guess what was in them.

Duran was flanked by a pair of heavily armoured guards as he walked towards us, a nice cane under his good hand to help him along. I will admit, his armour was over built. But at least it didn't have silly pauldrons or fancy gold trim or anything like that. It left nothing uncovered and he could still scratch the top of his head.

Also of note were the other dragon riders. They were all 'Big Men'. Taller, wider of shoulder and hip than the ones riding the horses. Then again, the dragons were themselves a bit broader of back than a horse, and a person of smaller stature wouldn't find it a very comfortable ride at all.

Itami led discussion, "Lord Duran, didn't expect to see you in armour. It looks good on you." Polite greeting, mild surprise, compliment. Textbook diplomacy.

"I'll admit, it's a bit uncomfortable in places, and heavier than I remember." Duran laughed, using his fake hand to pat his metal clad gut, "But after the show your guests put on, I couldn't help myself!" He looked behind him, at his caravan, then ahead, past Itami, to me and my party, "I don't know if you'll consider it a fair deal, but I brought something extra for you."

Being involved directly in the 'conversation' gave me permission to step forward. "Lord Duran. I have to agree with Itami, that does look good on you." I took my place behind and to the left of Itami, "No problems?" I motioned to my face.

"Aside from wondering if I'm dreaming when I wake up in the morning? Not at all!" He grinned. He looked back at the four wagons, "Forward!"

Now the guards dismounted from the wagons, while the driver tapped the reins to urge the horses forward.

"As you can guess, this isn't just food we're bringing." Duran laughed, hop-hobbling around, then shuffling towards the wagons, "Hold!" Then over his shoulder (that his armour allowed him to see over, because whoever designed it wasn't an idiot) "Come look."

We all stepped closer to the lead wagon, and one of the guards pulled back the heavy cloth sheet over the loaded bed. "Wow... That's a LOT of gold." Itami couldn't help himself with the comment.

Because yes, it was a lot of gold. Cups, cutlery, various jewellery, even some clothing with gold thread. Also among the pile were things with gold 'bits' on it. Like an old breastplate with gold trim, or an iron and gold bracelet. Ornamental, but still carrying the gold we needed. The other thing to note, were the gems, silver, and other such non-gold shiny stuff.

In modern day, this would amount to a fantastic sum of money. And he had three other wagons! Wait...

"Ah, you've noticed. It's why we have the odd dragon here too." The last wagon didn't have treasure, but a half dozen lumpy protrusions sticking up from under the blanket, "She didn't want to leave them, so we just brought her with us." Duran laughed, "Come here you! Yes, you are a good girl."

The riderless dragon stomped over and accepted a rough pat on her bony beak/nose. "This is incredible. I didn't expect this to show up so soon." I said, putting a hand on Duran's shoulder as the dragon threatened to unbalance him with its well hidden enthusiasm for a nosepat.

"Okay shoo." Duran said, and to my surprise the dragon backed off and went statue still. "Well, I worked out a little bit of a deal with the other nobles. I'd turn out my pockets, so to speak, and they'd offer what they can to me. I'd accept the money, and pay them for what they sell to me. To be fair, a lot of this was just cluttering up the castle anyhow. Like this! Look at this! It's so old that the gold is the only thing holding colour anymore! A bare wall would look nicer, even if my wife disagrees."

'This' looked to be an old banner with lots of gold threading woven into it. But if he didn't care about the fabric (that was faded and brittle with age and dirt) salvaging the gold would be easy. The rest however...

"How would you like to deal with the rest? I see silver, bronze, copper, iron..." I propped up the beaten up old breastplate with gold trim, then a ring with a nice looking ruby set into it, "Gems too."

"I was hoping you could at least salvage some of that. The deal is for gold after all." Duran gave me a smile. He was testing me, to see if I'd honour the words of a contract.

"Challenge accepted, Lord Duran. Itami? I don't suppose you can find a way to get extra hands down here?"

"I can ask. What are you thinking you'll need?"

The Volralden's little smithy would have ABSOLUTELY no hope in having enough space for this kind of work. I wasn't expecting, though I really should have been, to do the extra work here. You know, just have a bunch of random gold things get delivered, pry off any gems, then toss gold thing into crucible. Pour melted gold into our wire extruding contraption (medieval wire-o-matic) and go!

Nope. Instead, we had one station document the items (noting things other than gold that were present), and the material that would -likely- be recovered, or lost from it (like that old banner, no hope for the fabric, while that breastplate would have iron left over).

Next, a station where anyone with strong delicate hands would pry jewellery apart. Lelei was sure to check the gems, and did in fact select a few that would be needed for the magic circle. I'll note, that while yes the world was 'primitive' they knew how to make a pretty stone look even better with proper polishing and cutting.

Once the non-metal bits were taken off, the next station would apply a hammer and chisel (or Hagane's powerful bite) to them to break them down into manageable parts. Smaller bits melted faster, so things like that breastplate were smashed apart.

The process for the other stations took long enough that by the time we started getting a pile of 'ready to melt' things together, we had several clay lined furnaces dug into the ground, with crucible pots ready to go. Itami had managed to get a dozen volunteers, as well as a few of the local militia over here with shovels and materials, and with the Volralden and I directing, got them made in record time.

Also of note, though not important, just 'of note'. The Girls (Itami's and a few others) set up a spot between station one and two to try on some of the jewellery. Just for fun. And yes, I suffered through a little adornment of my own. I was told polished bronze was more my thing than gold. While Rory was more polished copper to go with her eyes and red frills.

And it was just as we were getting the coal together to start the buried furnaces that the second caravan showed up.

Pina and a full dozen of her Rose Knights were surrounding a pair of wagons. Aside from the drivers (who I noted were older men in full plate armour) Giselle was laying atop a bunch of large eggs that were packed into the back of one of the wagons.

There were a few moments of 'formal polite greetings' between Duran, Pina and Itami, but then it devolved into a friendly gathering of 'what's going on' and 'can I help'. Figuring this would be a good spot to stop for refreshment, we had a bit of a picnic, the food happily provided (at a mild discount) from the locals in town.

Giselle, always a sucker for food, actually pulled me aside before everyone had settled in for a break.

So my little band of adventurers, plus large metal cat, followed her towards the wagons. "You're in high spirits it seems." Maki said, "Oh, hello?"

The 'mama dragon' had followed along, and had brushed past Maki to give Giselle a friendly nudge with its mean looking beaked face.

"Well, I think I did really well here. I even made some money!" She reached up with one arm and got the mama dragon's head to rest on her shoulder, "Yes you are a good girl, come to see the eggs too? Of course you are." She gave its beak a pat like it was some kind of big puppy.

"Oh? Doing what?" Aisha asked, weaving to the side to avoid a happy dragon tail.

"Well, we generally don't get involved in business with 'people'. I mean, they have short lives and it can get annoying when they worship you. Not my thing really." She sighed, "But when I arrived with the eggs you found, and Pina started to make noise about trading them, I had people practically falling over themselves to trade."

"Wild eggs are that valuable?" I asked.

"Even more when the mom is a fire breather." Giselle nodded, "Now, I've saved you a male and female from your original clutch. But got two for one on the rest! Look!" She took the heavy cloth off the back of one cart, revealing a bunch of chest sized eggs. "But while I was making sure they were good, a few of the Empire breeders were asking if I could check their stables. You know, just to check the eggs and see what ones were good, and what ones weren't." She gave a leather pouch at her side a pat, "They even paid me!"

The mama dragon had rested her head on the edge of the wagon, and was... I dunno... pouting at the eggs? "What is this one doing?" Ryuu asked.

"Oh, she's an 'old mother'. Too old for that kind of thing now." This was followed by a pat on the side of the big dragon head, "But they make great den watchers. But if she's here... ohhhhh." She looked away from us, and to the wagons Duran had parked in the middle of the sleeping land dragons his party had rode in on.

"A gift from Lord Duran." I smiled, "He was quite thankful for his restored eyesight."

"Well, just keep the Wyvern away from the Land Dragons. Not that they won't get along, but they'll either make mules, or mutants." Giselle explained, "I mean, sure, a mule will still work for you, but won't have children. And the mutants... well they don't live long usually."

"I understand. I'll make sure to pass that along to Lord Ganesha." I nodded, giving Giselle a well deserved headpat, "Going to tell your boss at the tavern the good news?"

It took a moment for Giselle to stop her tail from swishing happily, but she nodded and ducked away from my hand, "Actually, I was thinking of giving her half. I kinda like working there. But if I pay off my debt, she'll be short handed! She hates that."

"Very thoughtful of you." I nodded. "Speaking of, want to join us for food now?"

"Of course!" She gave the Mama dragon another pat, "Be good." And covered up the eggs again.

"What do you even do with the bad eggs?" Maki asked.

"Depends on how bad they are. Fertilizer is a good one. But if they aren't mated, they're really just huge chicken eggs. Though, the 'chicken' is much tougher to deal with." Giselle laughed.

When the JSDF did a 'shift change' we got a fresh set of Volun-tolds to join us, while the returning group escorted the eggs (and mama dragon) up to Alnus. We'd gotten quite the batch of souvenirs for home and I was quite pleased. Duran, while impressive in his armour, had taken it off at some point and was helping document stuff at the first station. He also got a visit from Mari, who gave him a dirty look for overworking himself, but a pat on the head for being a good patient and keeping up with his physiotherapy well enough to actually put the heavy plate on and not hurt himself.

By the end of the 'useful daylight', we had about half the metals processed. Thanks to the engineering team once again, we had some more modern metals to help with processing. This let us re-use our furnaces, and with some spare empty wire spools, we actually got started on the wire making as well.

"Lelei? Your thoughts?" I asked as she came by. I was pouring out one of the cast iron pots, the inside filled with molten bronze and gold. It would need to be kept at a high temperature on a large metal sheet (thanks to the engineering team for providing the plate of old tank armour) so the heavier gold would settle to the bottom, but that was okay.

"If we don't lose too much in the process of making the wire, we will have enough." She said, "And we have enough gems to serve as the secondary focus points as well."

"Hows Arpeggio doing?" Pouring done, I set the little cauldron down and got an iron scraper, moving it over the top of the liquid metal in the pan to help settle it faster.

"She's having no issue separating the metals apart after you and the others do this to them." She motioned with her hand, "Given the right job, she is quite reliable."

"Be sure to tell her so. She looks up to you, so to speak."

Lelei gave me one of those tiny micro-pouts at the joke about her height, but nodded. "All that is left is to test the 'send' and 'receive' circles in a clean environment, and we make the trip."

"Excited?"

"I am looking forward to the challenge." She nodded.

"Speaking of, I'll have to get together with Itami and figure out who is going. It's going to be VERY hot over there, and we have to try and keep the killing to a minimum. The entire reason we noticed the Gate was there at all was the sudden lack of large monsters."

"You will want to talk with Tuka. She is able to put people to sleep with her spirit magic." She watched me closely as I lifted up the metal pan and set it aside to cool. If I'd done things right, I would have a bread loaf sized metal block of mostly separated gold and bronze, with a thin layer of 'alloy' between them.

"Sounds like tomorrow will be the last of the practice then, and the day after the actual op." I nodded, "Hm, suppose it's too late to get another ingot poured..." I noted the dim sunset, then used the tongs to lift up the ingot pan and dunk it into the nearest water bucket. Inside the bucket, I heard a clear 'snap!' "Ah, that's a sign for sure."

"Oh, thermal shock." Lelei said as I waited for the water to stop bubbling before I fished out the shattered iron pan I was using to make ingots.

"Was hoping it would last longer. Shame on me for rushing."

"Why not use magic? I've seen you do it."

"Magic is just using a different energy to do the work. Besides..." I waved the Volralden smith over, "Sorry broke the last one."

"Rushing too much. Shame on you." He said, accepting the bits of broken iron, "I'll make this again tomorrow." A pause, "Oh, good pour though." He then accepted the 'loaf' of bronze and gold, "Makes me nervous, having so much gold in my shop."

"We'll have it guarded." Lelei said up to the big wolf-man, "Thank you."

"I've learned a lot from her. Least I can do." He gave my shoulder a pat and lumbered off with his armful of metal bits.

"See? I want to show them it can be done without magic. Anyhow, lemme just bank this fire properly, and we can enjoy a bath."

As promised, guards were left at the smithy, things were taken up to the Fort, and most of the extra people were either sent home (Duran's guards) or stayed in town for the night (the Rose Knights). Almost all the metal we weren't using was packed into a Humvee that would take Duran home tomorrow. But he had insisted on staying, since he wanted to see what all this gold would but used for.

Also of note, Arpeggio paid Duran. It wasn't something as simple as money, but rather a very fancy looking bit of paper that said 'money is hereby owed to Lord Duran on behalf of Apreggio La Lelena, to be put against the grant bequeathed to her etc etc etc'. Very fancy and stuff, but it meant you didn't actually need to carry all that cash with you.

Just before my party and I put our hands on the doorknob of the Bath House, I was given salute then a short message to visit the commander 'at nearest convenience'. I then told him politely that 'my nearest convenience' would be after I got a day's worth of dirt off me, but I would skip my bath out of respect for our host. This got a chuckle, a nod, and a salute.

While under the showers though, "Fox, we may have a problem."

"Oh?" I turned an ear towards Aisha while I scrubbed shampoo through my hair.

"So, we get the silly magic building moved. This will leave us in the Jungle."

"Yeah."

"Even at a good run, that's over ten days back to Orario." A pause, "Here lemme."

Her hands replaced mine to scrub my hair, and I got to washing the rest of myself while she did my back. "Sad, but unavoidable."

"We'll also have civilians, at least, by our standard. Magic munchkin or not, Lelei's still just a human. And being able to fly isn't exactly safer either. That isn't counting Cato, who's got a bad hip, or any of the JSDF who will probably want to stick around their 'special assets?' they called them?"

"It's just an official way to say 'specialist'. Maki commented from someplace behind me.

"They won't be able to get a Humvee through that jungle either." Ryuu commented.

"I have a feeling that's part of what the commander wants to talk about. We can also send people back through the Gate before we activate the circle. Only Lelei really needs to be there for sure, since she's the one driving the magic."

"Think they'll let her stay on our side alone with us?" Maki asked, "I mean, maybe, but doubtful. She's already so curious about our world. But she's also the key to them getting back to their world, since she's the only one with the skill to unlock the Gate at all. They're going to want to make sure she's safe, and I don't think 'our word for it' will do."

"I'll try and negotiate." I sighed, "Lemme get your back, then go enjoy your bath."

Since I hadn't had time to brush out my coat, I was wearing my 'formal dress' to the meeting. Hagane, in his silent supportive way, was stalking beside me as I went to the Command Bunker. A greeting, a careful negotiation of the doorway, and a short walk down a couple of hallways found us inside the meeting room. Of course the Commander was there, but so was Itami, along with Mari and Akira. Delilah wasn't there, but I could smell her faintly in the room.

"How did you manage to get in?" Itami asked Hagane as he sat like a good catto next to me as I wiggled my rear into the less than comfortable chair across from the big rectangle table.

"Carefully." Hagane said.

"You'll pardon me having my second here." I smiled, "He's my voice of reason when I need one."

"That's fine." The commander nodded, "I'll get to the point, since all this activity has made me late for dinner." He smiled, "How long until you're ready?"

"Tomorrow will be the last of the material processing, and Lelei will want to do a couple of tests with her magic. My specialist has gotten it working on 'my' side, but Lelei wants to be sure it works on this one too."

"As curious as she is, she's quite thoughtful." Mari nodded.

I nodded back, "She is. A delight to work with as well. But the day after tomorrow is when we'll be ready 'material' wise. I hardly need to be making wire all day though, and was hoping to talk with Itami about how we'll keep people alive on the other side while the ritual is set up."

The Commander nodded, frowning, "Yes. Are you absolutely sure you need Lelei?"

My guess was spot on it seemed, "Yes. Our expert needs to be on the receiving end of the ritual, and as much as I know about magic, what Lelei is doing is well beyond my knowledge."

He nodded, still frowning, "I'm sure you know why I'm asking."

"Of course. Without her, you can't close, or open the Gate again. And you don't want the world to end since the Gate isn't meant to be open for long periods." I smiled, "I might not know how to do it myself, but I ask lots of questions. Like you, I want nothing to do with this 'apocrypha'. We've had a half dozen near cataclysmic events in the last thousand years already, thank you."

My grim humour didn't even make the Commander's lips twitch, "You see why I'm reluctant to let her cross over into a world we know is hostile."

"I do. But I am also willing... no, I am insisting that we get a little help as well. I've been thinking, and asking, about the special talent around Itami, and would like to spend some time with them tomorrow to plan an effective strategy." I nodded, "Aside from Lelei, everyone else can go back through the Gate once the ritual circle is set up. But with the extra hands we'll have an easier, and safer time setting it up."

"Agreed."

Akira spoke up, "A concern. Have you thought about what comes next? If this goes to plan, the Gate will be open, and in a different place. You will be over a week out from that place as well. What sort of reception can we expect?"

"I'll be sending someone from my team back through the Gate. She'll lead the way through and introduce people. And if things go wrong, she'll be my key to talking with you guys again, to sort out a 'plan B'."

"We were surprised you have a way to talk between worlds." Akira nodded, "Can anyone use it?"

"It needs magic to power, but otherwise yes." I nodded, "They'll know how to do it, but we've already taught Cato and Arpeggio as well. Cato might complain, but he won't be staying in the jungle after the ritual."

"Hm..." He fell silent, considering something else.

"Is there anything we can do to ready those who make the trip over?" Mari asked, "Medicine? Do you have any diseases that come from the Jungle? Roku-san was fine but said you gave him something?"

I hadn't thought of that, but nodded slowly after a moment's thought, "I think my party might have enough on hand to keep who ever comes with us a dose. It was a potion we called 'cure all'. Just a general 'get well' medicine, but it works on almost everything that isn't outright lethal." I smiled, "It's also something we have a 'weaker' form of, that doesn't need magic stone."

It felt good to have Mari sparkle at me.

"Very well. Can you think of anything else we need to cover?" The Commander asked.

"Have Sage Cato learn how to lock and unlock the Gate." Hagane, silent and statue still until that moment made everyone blink in surprise. "They have taken a lot of notes, but there is no harm in making sure he can undo what his student has done, should the worst happen."

"We'll do our best to keep it from happening." I said seriously, "But he's right."

"I'll talk to her." Itami said.

"Right. We'll be running drills tomorrow while final prep is made. Dismissed."

"You sure you want to come with us?" I asked Itami as he walked with me towards the dorms. "You're pretty reliable from what I've heard, but this is literally in the middle of where those other monsters came from."

"Eh, well..." He scratched the back of his head, "I can't just not go."

"Heh. Sounds familiar."

"It does, doesn't it?" I gave Hagane's head a pat.

"You going right to sleep then? We've got another movie night tonight."

"If it's the second part to the first one, I'll go."

"Should be. Last time we didn't show the second in the series it started a brawl." Itami laughed nervously, "Kodori-san?"

"I'll pass. I'll leave the door unlocked."

"Thank you."

NOTES!

Two 'in world' days before the shift! But five more days before you get to read it! You're still awesome for reading though.

Daeore on Ko-fi for art (and my donation cup if you wanted to donate).

Daeore on Inkitt for my actual book, Were Too?