Miranda was true to her word. As soon as breakfast was over, she went out to head to the old meat processing building to remove the giant that she had mentioned earlier, telling Joseph not to head out there until she declared it safe.

"It's not just the fact that these creatures are large and powerful, they also have the mold from the megamycete in their bodies." The Priestess warned her Godson. "If you so much as get scratched by them, you will be infected. I've had Donna working on a vaccine for you, but until then, you are not to approach any lycan of any kind whatsoever."

Joseph nodded in understanding. This sounded serious, and he needed to be extra careful about it.

Once Miranda had left, the family went off to do their own separate things, with Joseph and Cassandra getting into their karate gear to head to the armory and begin the brunette's katana lessons. The coffee had done its trick to nursing her hangover, so Joseph felt comfortable enough to start teaching her.

Once they arrived with their blades in hand, Joseph took on a serious face and turned to his girlfriend.

"Listen to me very carefully. You have done a great job so far with learning hand to hand, but this is going to be nothing like that. Katanas are serious weapons and it's very easy to get yourself or someone else hurt, or worse. So no matter what happens or what you may think, you do exactly what I tell you at all times. Do you understand?"

Cassandra nodded. She understood completely as she had seen first hand what these weapons were capable of.

"I do. I'll be careful." She said.

"Good. Now, unsheathe your blade like I instructed you on the way here."

He wasn't being her boyfriend at this point, he was in full teacher mode now, and Cassandra obeyed immediately, taking a few steps back and unsheathing her katana with her body in the position she had been told to be in.

Joseph mirrored the brunette and repeated the same posture and motion as he brought out his sword as well. He then got into a basic stance, holding the blade in front of him at his waist and instructing Cassandra to do the same, which she did.

He then proceeded to teach her the basic strikes and blocks to use in a fight, but had her do it very slowly so she could get a good feel for her weapon. There was no messing around with this so Joseph wanted to do this as slowly and carefully as possible.

Once the brunette got comfortable with the blocks and swings she had been taught, he approached her and ordered her to block, but again, he did it really slowly. He repeated this process with her practicing her striking as well. She seemed to be laser focused the whole time.

After about a half hour, they stopped.

"That was good. Just remember your footwork. Like hand to hand, it's critical for using a katana. You may put your blade away. Do what I do."

He backed up and got into the same position as when he first took his sword out and carefully put it back in the sheath. Cassandra mirrored his movements. Finally, he seemed to relax and gave her a smile.

"You did good. I'm sorry if I seemed tense and serious. I wanted to make sure you were comfortable with handling your katana and were careful in doing so."

His girlfriend chuckled and shook her head.

"You're good. I'd rather have you be that way honestly. I was kind of nervous doing all of that."

"Understandable too. Just remember to always be careful, no matter how comfortable or skilled you get with it."

"Even with bears?" She teased.

Joseph sighed.

"Yes. Even with bears."

The brunette giggled, but their training session was interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by Sarah entering the room.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt. Mother Miranda sent me to inform you that Otto's Mill is safe to enter now."

"Oh, awesome. Thank you Sarah." Joseph said and then turned to Cassandra.

"You want to come with me to check it out?"

The brunette shrugged.

"Why not? I've got nothing else to do."

….

It didn't take long for Miranda to lead Joseph and Cassandra to the old meat processing building as it was just a short walk away from the castle. Sarah and a few other maids were tagging along too, as they offered to help with the renovations, which the trio gladly accepted. They would need all the help they could get.

When they arrived, Joseph could see why Elena suggested Otto's Mill, as it looked to be the perfect size and structure for what he was looking for. It was a two story building with a smaller, one story section on its right. There was also a balcony that stood along with the rest of the building above a stream, which would be perfect to have canoes and kayaks in the future. The wood looked to be in decent shape too, but it was clear that some parts needed to be worked on.

Off to the far end of the steam was the body of a huge, humanoid creature that was at least ten feet tall and was extremely muscular. No doubt the giant Miranda was talking about.

I see now why she didn't want me to be around it. Joseph thought.

As they took the sight in, Miranda broke the silence.

"It's going to need quite a bit of work, but it will be perfect for us. The first thing we should do is remove all of the meat in there and give it a good cleaning." Miranda said.

Cassandra nodded.

"Good idea. It wouldn't be good for business if this place stunk like a farm all the time. Might as well get started."

"Now without us, you're not!" A voice behind the group shouted.

They turned around to see Heisenberg walking up to them with about twenty villagers behind him. They all had wheel barrels, shovels, hammers, and other supplies. One of the villagers, a young man in his early twenties, made Sarah turn away and blush, something Joseph and Cassandra noticed.

"Vampy told me you guys were going to renovate Otto's Mill. So I asked around the village if anyone was willing to help, and these guys volunteered."

"Oh, that is fantastic!" Miranda said. "Thank you all so much for coming!"

"Of course, Mother Miranda." One man with a red beard said as he tipped his hat. "We want this village to get better too, so we'd be happy to help."

The Priestess gave a warm smile, as did Joseph and Cassandra. It was nice to see that there were villagers that wanted to work with them and help them.

"Alright then." Joseph said. "Let's start giving this place a face lift!"

….

The building turned out to be quite a mess on the inside. The floors and walls had bloodstains and bones from slaughtered animals on them, and the smaller, one story section turned out to be where all the meat was stored. Surprisingly, it was pretty well kept and not rotten, but it was clear the giant never cleaned the place, or least not often.

The smell was the worst part. It was that farm animal smell mixed with the smell of decay, and it made everyone cough and gag. Even Cassandra was having a hard time keeping her breakfast down. So the first order of business was for everyone to remove the meat and bones from the building with haste. The wheel barrels helped a lot with that, although they would probably be burned when this was over.

They then proceeded to put them all into a small pile to allow crows and buzzards to eat it. Cassandra was nervous this might attract wild animals like bears, but Miranda assured her that bears would never venture directly into the village, no matter what they smelled.

Once the meat and bones were removed, the smell became a lot more manageable. So the team got to work on cleaning up the blood stains in the building. Any flooring that they couldn't remove blood stains from was removed and brought outside as well. They would be replaced later.

Everyone was in a rhythm by this point, and things were getting done ahead of schedule. So Joseph and Cassandra paused cleaning the spot they were working on and made their way over to Sarah.

"Thank you for helping us out Sarah. You and your coworkers are making things a lot easier for us." Joseph said.

The maid turned to him and smiled.

"You're welcome Joseph! I'm happy to see that this place is finally being put to good use. I think Papa will love it once it's finished."

Cassandra snickered.

"Oh my god. If this goes well, he might love it so much, he'll never leave." She joked, causing Sarah and her boyfriend to laugh.

Joseph then looked around mischievously before leaning in and whispering to Sarah.

"So Sarah, who was that guy you were looking at earlier?"

The maid then froze as her face became bright red.

"I…uhh…I don't know what you're talking about."

Cassandra giggled before leaning in as well.

"You're a terrible liar Sarah. Come on, spill it. We won't tell anyone. Pinky swear"

Sarah put her stuff down and sighed.

"Alright, you got me. His name is Peter, and he works now at the station Leonard and Elena used to work at. I've talked to him every time I go to the market to get supplies and…I guess I have a crush on him, but I've been just too afraid to tell him."

Joseph smiled and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know what you mean. I was beyond nervous to admit my feelings to Cassie. Hell, Bela had to pretty much lock us in the same room to get us to talk."

His girlfriend chuckled as she remembered.

"Oh yeah. It was super awkward, but I'm glad she did it. Sometimes, people just need a proper push to admit their feelings for someone. I can help with that."

She then turned to Joseph.

"Babe, why don't you head back to the spot we were working on by the stairs. I'll meet you there. I'm just gonna tell Peter Sarah needs help so he can come over here."

Now the maid's face was as red as a tomato.

"No! Cassandra, don't!"

But the brunette was already off. Sarah then turned to Joseph.

"Joseph, stop her! Please!"

He just laughed and put his hands up.

"Sorry, Sarah. I know better than to go against what Cassie says." He said as he walked away.

He then made his way back to the spot he and Cassandra had been working on and resumed cleaning it. About a minute later, the brunette joined him. Joseph looked back to see Peter working with Sarah, talking to her. The maid was clearly nervous, but trying to keep her composure as she talked to him as well.

"I don't know why, but that stuff is always funny, but heartwarming to watch." Joseph said.

His girlfriend nodded in agreement.

"For sure. Who do you think had the best reaction to being given that push by the way? Aside from us of course."

"Definitely Bela. It was hilarious to watch the normally well composed oldest daughter be turned onto a stuttering idiot in a second."

Cassandra laughed.

"Oh my god, yes! I wish I had a camera when it happened! The look on her face was priceless!"

Now Joseph was laughing.

The rest of the cleaning went pretty smoothly. The building was mostly clean now and the next step, according to Heisenberg, was to repair and reinforce the walls and supports, but that could wait until tomorrow. Everyone had put in a hard day's work and they deserved a good rest.

As Joseph and Cassandra's group walked back to the castle, Joseph spoke up.

"Man, I'm hungry. I guess working that hard will do that to you."

Sarah chuckled.

"It certainly does. At least now, we can all relax and have a nice lunch now."

"Yes, but only after you all clean up." Miranda said. "Preferably without Alcina seeing how filthy you all are. Though I feel that's impossible."

The group stopped and looked at their dirty and blood stained clothes before laughing among each other. It would definitely take some time to clean themselves, and they could only imagine how much of a heart attack The Countess would have upon seeing them enter the castle the way they were.

Long story short, she needed a drink of wine when she did.