Casual far Ming

by Taylor and Laura

Farmer

13. Book 13

Chapter One: First Day of Summer

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM.]

[Error: No actions are available, due to a class change from Farmer to Warrior.]

[Daniel's Almanac: 1st Day of Summer! Alright, y'all, just assume that from here on out, I'm going to say that it's dry, because that fact isn't going to change for a long time. Unless it does, which would be wonderful! Now, the real question is if anyone is listening to this, which... Sure seems like people are getting out of here just about as fast as possible. I'll sure miss y'all!]

Jason sighed deeply as he rolled out of bed. His feet hit the floor with a dull thunk, and he stood up. All around him, the air felt dry, and he slowly walked up to the window to look across the area.

His farmstead, the farmstead he had been living on for fifteen years now, it was dead. Everything. The prairie, stretching out as far as the eye could see, was nothing but dead grass. His field was a parched layer of dirt that couldn't have grown a weed. His windmill spun listlessly, squeaking in the wind as the pump tried in vain to bring up some water. It was a sad state of affairs, and he slowly crossed his arms.

"You okay?" Tess walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Yeah." Jason's voice was quiet. He slowly turned away, and gazed deep into Tess's eyes. They were brilliant and green, as always, and he smiled. "I don't like it, but I think I've made my peace with what has to happen."

"We're still going to be together, Jason." Tess smiled back at him. "And Richard is coming with us, which will be someone else you know."

"I know." Jason nodded, and drew himself up. "Well... We're losing money as long as we're just standing around." His voice caught in his throat, and he sighed. "Let's go get packed."

His footsteps felt hollow as he dressed and walked out into the hall and down the stairs. As he entered the kitchen, he found Rachel and Fern standing there, smiles upon their face. Fern, his eldest, was twelve, almost thirteen years old, while Rachel was practically eleven. His twins, two years old, ran into the room and threw their arms around his legs. He sighed and bent down to pick up Baby Jason and Baby Tess, hugging them tightly.

"Oh, you have no idea how much I love you." He whispered softly. Slowly, he looked up at his daughters, and flashed a smile. Fern smiled as well, though he could tell that she was in pain. Leaving the farm was going to be hard for her, and the burn mark down the right side of her face certainly wasn't pleasant. Rachel was a bit more calm, but he could see that she was struggling, too. "Alright! Well, we've got a lot of time on the road together, so let's get it started with a good meal, shall we?"

"I think that's a great idea." Fern beamed, then slowly turned to the living room. "In fact... It's already ready for you."

Jason frowned, then turned and stepped into the living room. His jaw dropped, and behind him, Tess let out a little cry of joy and sadness.

The room was filled with just about everyone from the community. Richard was there, along with Obadiah and Paulina, Daniel and Viola, and of course, all their kids. Jason felt a lump in his throat, and Daniel drew himself up.

"Well, little farmer, I suppose this is..." He choked, and he looked down at the ground. "Good..."

"Jason, Tess, we just want you to know how much we love you, and that we know how hard this is for you." Viola smiled softly. "You were a lot of the reason we came back to Summer Shandy, and... the place won't be the same without you."

"And we might be following you soon enough, anyway." Obadiah spoke up. "Once there are no citizens, there won't be any need for a constable, or a Guildmaster."

"True." Jason shook his head. "You really think it'll come to that?"

"Hard to tell." Obadiah shrugged. "This drought almost certainly isn't natural, but at this point, we don't have a clue what's causing it. Unless we can find it, the damage could be irreversible."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Jason murmured, then shrugged. "Well, you're here. I assume no one wants to stand around moping, so let's eat!"

"Sounds like something my father would say." Obadiah smiled. "Let's feast!"

Plates were quickly brought out, and piled high with sausages, eggs, vegetables... Just about everything the family wasn't going to be able to take on the road with them. Jason ate and ate, sighing deeply when he became convinced that he couldn't take another bite without bursting all over the floor. Tess and Viola took away the dishes to the kitchen to clean, and Richard clapped his hands.

"Alright, then! Let's get this place cleaned out!"

"You're helping us pack?" Jason asked, incredulous.

"Of course!" Obadiah smiled. "That's a big job, and it's not

something that you should do by yourself, I'd say."

"I'm sure not going to turn down the help." Jason smiled, and felt a

deep sense of gratitude settle in his heart. Suddenly, though, something shot through him. "Wait! I haven't had a chance to buy a wagon yet."

"Ahh, I've got one!" Richard waved his hand dismissively. "I don't need very much. The Lazy-H has officially sold, and I've got my few suitcases tucked away in it. The rest is for you!"

"Alright, then." Jason slowly looked around at the old house, and his mind began running calculations. "How many inventory slots does it have?"

"100, holding up to 1,000 pounds." Richard answered.

"Ten pounds per inventory slot." Jason whistled. "We're going to have to be picky."

"I'll go start packing clothes." Fern offered.

"And I'll get food!" Rachel beamed.

"Perfect!" Jason nodded. "Fern, focus on the nicer clothes. Rachel,

get the things that will last longest. Dried meats, flour, things like that." "Got it!"

As everyone scrambled, Jason turned and nodded up to his office.

"I went through my office last night and piled up everything I need. It's on the main desk, mostly just some odd paperwork and deeds and such. I'd love to be able to fit at least some of my books in, but that'll depend on whether we have the space."

Obadiah and Richard tromped off to start grabbing those things, while Paulina went into the kitchen to help Tess start sorting silverware. Jason moved to follow, but paused as something flickered on the front

porch. He turned in that direction, and found Milligan standing there, leaning heavily upon a cane, with Master Dominic standing just next to him.

"Howdy, boss." Milligan held out a hand, which Jason happily shook. Milligan's grasp was weak, which made Jason sad. "Heard you're taking off."

"I think I heard you're doing the same." Jason felt a lump rising in his throat.

"Well, thanks to you and that Monstertrap tea, I'm leaving on my own two feet and not in a box." Milligan pointed out. "For that, I'm not going to complain one bit. I'm still pretty weak, but I'll get stronger."

"I'm glad to hear it." Jason nodded to Master Benedict. "Where are you headed?"

"There's an old fortress on the Eastern Isles." Master Benedict answered. "It has vast gardens that are just ripe for Milligan's particular brand of magic. He'll do well, there."

"Well, I hope you know I'll sure miss you." Jason smiled softly. "And I, you. Your whole family." Milligan's mouth twitched. "You're part of that family." Jason reached out and gripped

Milligan's shoulders. "You were more than a hired man. You'll always hold a special place in our hearts."

"And you in mine." Milligan slowly stepped back. "Make sure to write to me! Don't leave me hanging."

"Of course." Jason nodded. "The same goes for you."

They shared a single, remaining glance, and Milligan turned to Master Dominic. The mage raised his staff, and both of them vanished with a blast of light. Jason looked down at the spot for a few moments longer, then turned back into the house. His heart ached, but there was nothing he could do.

The farm was dead.

It was time to move on.

As he walked back into the house, people began to carry things out.

The furniture stayed. The fancy glassware stayed. The fancy sets of armor that Jason's uncle had collected, had to stay. Most of his books stayed. Most of their blankets and pillows stayed. All they took were their clothes, enough tools to repair anything they needed, and enough food to make the trip up to Illumitir. They ate a light lunch, then kept working. Finally, about

dinnertime, the wagon was packed, and Jason walked out onto the porch to look it over.

It was a massive wagon, a Conestoga style, with big hoops and a tarp stretched over the top. The wagon bed was filled with boxes containing all their goods, while two oxen were hitched to the front.

"Thank you, everyone, for your help." Jason nodded to everyone in turn as they began to file out of the house. "I really can't say enough."

"Anything for a friend." Obadiah paused as Daniel and Viola started back into town. "Are you guys heading out tonight, or will you leave in the morning?"

"We're going to head up to the inn in Summer Shandy, then depart tomorrow morning." Jason sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ahh. This is so weird. We've hardly ever even taken vacations in the last few years, and now I'm leaving Summer Shandy behind."

"You'll take a bit of us with you when you go." Obadiah clapped Jason on the shoulder. "You know you will."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make this any easier." Jason turned to look back at the farm.

"What are you going to do about this?" Obadiah gestured at the farmstead. "You're aware, of course, that if you maintain possession of it, but don't reside in the property for a period of five years, the deed will revert back to the township."

"Yeah, I know." Jason shook his head. "I actually... I have that worked out, too."

At that moment, another figure emerged from the dust, coming from the direction of the old mages academy. Jason turned to face him, and squared his shoulders as Alfie, Alfredus Hunter, walked up from the dust.

"You're off, then?" Alfie asked quietly.

"I am." Jason nodded slowly. He held out his hand, which Alfie shook firmly. "I'm sorry I was such a grouch this last year."

"Ahh. I deserved it." Alfie shrugged. "You're sure you want to give the place to me?"

"You said you wanted it." Jason answered. "I told you we'd be more than willing to let you ride up to Illumitir with us."

"I know, I know." Alfie kicked at the dust. "I'm just not much of a city person. I know I'm not going to get much out of the farm, but as long as I can pay property taxes and feed myself, I suppose I don't need much."

"Then it's all yours." Jason nodded. "Keep it warm for us, will you?"

Alfie smiled and chuckled. "You'll probably come back to find it just as bad as when you found it."

"Then I'll have another lovely challenge ahead of me." Jason sighed, then turned to the road. "I need to get going, but..." A lump rose in his throat once more, and he nodded. "Thanks, Alfie. Thanks for giving me this dump. It's been the best thing to happen to me."

Alfie gave a bow at the waist, then turned and walked up into the home. With that, Jason helped his family up into the wagon, then took the reins of the oxen. Richard dropped down next to him, while Tess settled into the back with the children.

They were leaving everything behind, making a new start of things once more. Jason didn't have the faintest idea what they would be facing, but... He knew that, together, they would face it well enough.

Chapter Two: The Road To Illumitir

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Date: 4th Day of Summer]

Jason's eyes flickered open, and he found himself looking at the underside of the wagon. A sharp rock was lodged in his back, and he groaned and slowly rolled out from underneath the vehicle. A fire crackled off to one side, and he slowly rose and staggered over to it. Richard was already there, poking at the flames as he slowly built it up to cook breakfast.

"Morning." Richard grunted as he lifted a pot from the fire and poured some coffee for his son-in-law. "How'd you sleep last night?"

"Terrible." Jason chuckled and rubbed the small of his back, which was quite sore. "You?"

"Not great. I've gotten soft, too used to a bed." Richard chuckled and shook his head. "I wish we could have hit Brookside last night, and I don't think we're altogether too far away, but you know how that goes."

"Yeah." Jason nodded as Richard grabbed a frying pan and held it over the flame. The previous night, they had been pushing hard to get to the next town, but as darkness set, they had been forced to pull to a stop as the oxen slowed and refused to move any further. "I miss the horses."

"Yeah, but we just don't have the resources to feed them now." Richard nodded. "I miss mine, too, but that's the nature of things. They'll be well fed at their new home, and hopefully we'll be able to pick up some new ones in Illumitir, once we get there."

Jason nodded quietly, and stared into the flames. Behind him, something crackled, and Fern walked up and sat down, leaning her head upon his shoulder.

"Morning, dad."

"And how did my lovely mage daughter sleep last night?" Jason put his arm around her and pulled her close.

"Wonderful!" Fern yawned and stretched, then shrugged. "Now, I also put a levitation effect on my blanket so I wasn't touching the ground, but..."

"Now that's the way to do it!" Richard laughed.

"What's the way to do what?" Tess poked her head out from under the wagon as well.

"Fern here was cheating!"

"Was not!"

Jason smiled as the campsite began to come to life, and he turned

his attention to the road ahead.

Breakfast took the better part of an hour, as none of them were in

any particular hurry to leave. Finally, they packed everything up, and everyone climbed back into the wagon. Jason took up the reins once more, and their oxen lumbered onward.

All around them, the trees grew thick; a mixture of pines, oaks, maples and hackberries. Green grass grew up around the bases of the trees, while squirrels and birds darted overhead. It was really quite wonderful, a far cry from the parched and barren landscape that they had just left.

The road grew hilly as they moved northward, hilly and rocky. The wagon bounced back and forth, but the oxen were steadfast, and after about an hour of travel, they came down a particularly large hill to the village of Brookside.

Brookside was, rather like its name, built on the shores of a small brook. The waters babbled over smooth stones, and ran right through the middle of town. Small, elegant bridges led across the waterway, while cute, pristine homes and storefronts looked out. A few people waved at them, and Jason waved back. He considered just driving straight through, but pulled up in front of the general store as they came to the structure, which was the only two-story building that he could see in the town.

"Whoa, there." Jason pulled the wagon to a stop, then handed the reins to Richard.

"Something the matter?" Tess leaned forward. "Shouldn't we keep going?"

"I just think it'd be good to ask a few questions." Jason shrugged. "I'll just be a second."

Richard nodded. "Just holler if you run into any trouble."

Jason flashed a sloppy salute, then hopped down and walked through the front door of the shop. A bell jingled as he entered, and the shopkeeper looked up in surprise.

"Morning, stranger!" The man was older, with a drooping mustache and grey hair. "You passing through, or staying awhile?"

"Just passing through." Jason walked up to the counter and leaned against the wood. "You wouldn't have any candies, would you? I've got four kids in the wagon, and I'm sure they'd appreciate the treat."

"'Course. What type do you want?" The man turned and gestured at a small wall. "I've got peppermints, lemon candies, toffee, a bit of chocolate..."

"Peppermints. I'll take a quarter-pound." Jason smiled as the man grabbed a bag and started to pour them out. "We're passing through, up from Summer Shandy."

"Ahh. Terrible thing, from what I hear." The man turned back around. "We've had a lot of folks coming up this way from down there. A few of them have settled down in the area, but most have gone on up to Illumitir."

"That's where we're shooting, too." Jason nodded. "Frankly, I'd buy a farm in the area if I could afford it, but last year's failures burnt through most of our savings."

"I'm afraid all the farms in the area are happily owned." The man returned to the counter. "That'll be ten credits. Anyway, you could buy a new lot for a reasonable price, but then you'd have to clear the trees off, and build a house, and-"

"And that's just not in the budget." Jason grimaced, then paid for the candies and nodded. "What can you tell me about the road further north of here?"

"Well, you've got about a day's travel from here to Winter Stone." The man thought for a moment. "If you wind up moving slow, there's a cave called 'Traveler's Haven' about three-quarters of the way there. It's a nice place, and there are usually a handful of folks camped out there. Every now and again bandits will hit the place up, but the constable up in Winter Stone does a good job keeping them cleaned up."

"I appreciate the tip." Jason smiled and turned to leave, but was stopped.

"Mmm, one more thing!" The man called out. "Make sure to ask about Blueberry Crossing when you leave Winter Stone. It's a river that flows between Winter Stone and Illumitir. The road forks a bunch of times when you get close to it. Some of the crossings are good all year long, other

crossings get flooded out, and at least one of them has a toll. Make sure you check to see which is which."

"Once more, I appreciate it."

"Have a safe drive, and enjoy the mints!"

Jason nodded and quickly walked back out to the wagon. As he

climbed up, he passed the bag back to Tess, and the girls squealed. "Thank you, daddy!"

"Anything for my kids." Jason took the reins back from Richard, and a moment later, they rumbled off once again. He kept his head high as they slowly moved through the town, and soon passed out the far side. "How's everyone holding up?"

"Right as rain." Tess answered. "I'm good." Fern called forward. "Me, too!"

"Too!"

"Oo!"

Jason smiled, and with that, onward they went.

The area just around Brookside was heavily forested, and as they

went along, the trees only grew thicker and thicker. The path began to slope steadily upward, which only made the oxen work harder and harder, and all around them, the trees began to change from the broad-leafed plants that they knew, to a forest of almost entirely pines and junipers. It was quite lovely, and the whole thing smelled of pine sap. Jason sighed deeply.

The road continued to wind upward, until it came to the top of a plateau. There, it leveled out again, and the trees became more patchy. Large meadows opened up amidst the pines, filled with swishing grasses and wildflowers. They often saw deer darting back and forth, along with rabbits and other such creatures. When they passed by a small lake, Jason looked into its depths and found that he could see trout and other fish darting about beneath the clear waters. A few frogs croaked at him, and a fisherman on the far shore waved. Jason waved back, and onward they continued.

They were on top of the plateau for the better part of the day, until, as the sun started to set, then descended once more. The trees became thicker and darker once more, pressing so close together that the sun rarely reached the ground. The oxen were sure-footed, but taking a wagon down a slope was a lot harder than going up, and several times, Jason found the

wagon skidding on loose stones and gravel. Still, though, they never capsized or slid more than a few feet, which was a blessing. As the sun touched the horizon, and Richard lit several lanterns to hang from the front of the wagon, Jason caught sight of a small campfire flickering off in the trees, and noticed a sign pinned to a tree just next to a small path.

"Traveler's Haven." Jason read. "This is it."

"Good." Rachel moaned. "I think I'm wagon-sick."

"Still?" Tess murmured. "I'll have to get you some more of that

bitterroot."

"Oh, no. I think I'd rather just be sick."

Jason smiled, and in the distance, he saw people moving around the

fire. They were traveling slow, but they were traveling, and would soon be in Illumitir. He didn't know what they would find there, but he was happy enough with their trip so far.

He only hoped that their journey, once they arrived in Illumitir, would be just as pleasant.

Chapter Three: Arrival In The City

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Date: 6th Day of Summer]

Jason felt himself jerk awake, and he slowly sat up. Something skittered in the corner of the small room where they had put up for the night, and he frowned.

"Don't worry, dad! I kept the rats out of the clothes." Rachel spoke up. She was sitting in a chair in the corner, leaning upon her mage staff. It had a soft glow, and Jason smiled.

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Nope." Rachel shook her head. "I just figured I'd sleep in the wagon today."

"Well, you're certainly welcome to do so." Jason shrugged and climbed gingerly out of bed. He had several fresh bug bites on his arms that he suspected came from fleas or bedbugs, and he made a mental note to warn people away from the small, roadside inn. "That said, we should be getting into Illumitir today, so..."

Rachel lit up. "We are! Yes! It's been so long since I've seen it."

"Right about a year." Tess stirred and slowly climbed out of bed. "It's been longer since your father has seen it."

"Really?"

"Yup." Jason shook his head. "It's been... So many years." He was quiet, then nodded. "Let's get moving. I'd rather not stay here any longer than necessary."

They all agreed, and woke up Fern, who was curled up on a mat in the corner of the room. The twins were missing, as was Richard, and they quickly packed up their clothes and made their way outside. There, Richard had both twins in the wagon, fast asleep on a bed of blankets, while he munched on a cold biscuit.

"Sorry. They were still awake, and I didn't want to bother you guys, so I just brought them out here."

"I'm not complaining at all." Jason climbed up onto the wagon bench and accepted a biscuit from his father-in-law. "Let's get on the road."

He cast one last look at the Flea Basket Inn, which he thought was rather aptly named, and took up the reins."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Richard climbed up as well. Tess and the girls quickly joined them, and with that, they rumbled off down the road. As the sun rose over the landscape, Jason sighed deeply.

They had left the trees behind as soon as they passed through Winter Stone, and had entered a rocky prairie not unlike the one just south of Summer Shandy. It was more hilly, but had the same limestone boulders that he was used to seeing. There were few farms here, but many ranches, and there was almost always at least some sort of a residence within view of the road. Vast pastures stretched this way and that, and dozens of side roads wound off to destinations unknown. Wildflowers grew in abundance, and Jason sighed deeply.

"And there it is." Richard pointed ahead, over the rolling hills. "Right there, on the horizon."

Jason squinted. He could just see a shadow there, and he felt his heart give a leap.

Illumitir.

His previous home, and now, it seemed... His home once again.

As they passed down the roads, it grew closer and closer, until they

finally came to the top of a particularly large hill that allowed them a more full view. Illumitir, for lack of a better word, was huge. A massive defensive wall, fifty feet tall, stretched across the landscape for miles upon miles upon miles. Inside, from where they stood, Jason could see enormous stone structures standing tall. Some skyscrapers rose a height of almost a hundred feet, though most of the buildings were more short and squat. Some of them had great domes of metal, some of them were formed into hexagons and pyramids, and still others were a more basic, square shape. What wonders the city held, Jason couldn't even begin to fathom. He sighed deeply, and they slowly rumbled down the hill toward the city gates.

Spreading out around the wall, stretching across the countryside even to the top of that very hill, were hundreds (if not thousands) of other houses. There were small farms, there were businesses, a few inns, bakeries, and all sorts of other things. It was a suburb of the city proper, a place where you could enjoy the benefits of the city without actually living inside of it. As they rumbled down, a great many people waved and beckoned to him, though they were mostly the shopkeepers, making Jason suspect that

their interest was more financial than welcoming. In any case, he waved back, but kept on moving. The sun crawled through the sky as they approached... And then, with that, they entered the city.

They reached the main gates of Illumitir at noon, straight up, and Jason whistled. The gates were made of bronze plated over thick wooden beams, and could only be opened via a massive crank that looked to take at least three guards to move. A full continent of guards stood at those gates, staring out at the countryside as if expecting trouble. Catching sight of Jason, a man with a feather in his hat (and a rather large scroll in his pocket) walked up to them, and Jason pulled to a halt.

"Good morning, citizen!" The man beamed. Jason raised an eyebrow. The man looked rather... Slimy. Almost like a snake that had taken on human skin. "Are you visiting, or are you planning on staying awhile?"

"Those two things aren't exactly mutually exclusive." Richard leaned forward and crossed his arms. "What's it matter to you?"

"I am with the Tax Guild of Illumitir." The man puffed himself up. "I'm afraid that there's been a tax levied against all those who seek refuge in Illumitir from the drought down south."

"A tax?" Jason exclaimed.

"Why yes! If there wasn't, our poor city would be flooded, and we might well sink right along with the lot of you."

Jason scowled. "I didn't see us taxing you when everyone fled south just a few years ago."

"It is not my place to create the laws, only to enforce them." The man glanced over the wagon. "Now, let's see... For someone seeking permanent residence, we're looking at a fifteen percent tax of the appraised value of all goods being brought into the city..."

"What?" Jason yelped.

"Ahh, make that sixteen. The extra percent is for being impudent." The man drew out his scroll, then glanced at the wagon. "I appraise this wagon at one thousand credits, which results in a tax of..."

"Now just wait a minute." Richard snapped.

"Two thousand credits." The man continued to scratch on his notes. "That comes up to about... If we round a few numbers... Four hundred credits."

Jason sighed. Four hundred credits just to enter the city? He opened up his inventory and looked with despair at his pocketbook. He had about a thousand credits left, and had planned to use most of that to buy a new house.

"You know what I think?" Richard slowly climbed down from his wagon, making the tax man take a step back. "I think you're taking advantage of people. I think you're nothing but a slimy, no-good-"

"I can raise that tax to five hundred credits, if you like." The man raised an eyebrow. "And, if you assault me, or attempt to bypass me, I have a number of soldiers ready to assist. You can, of course, turn around and leave, which will be no great bother to use, but..." He shrugged. "That leaves you out in the cold."

"What choice do we have?" Tess leaned forward. "Look, just do it. I'll be able to make that money back with a couple of dungeon runs."

Jason sighed, then nodded. "Fine. Do it."

A moment later, four hundred credits were transferred out of his account, and the tax man stepped back.

"Enjoy your stay! Stay as long as you like, but please do remember that we're not going to take kindly to beggars."

"Prick." Richard muttered as they rumbled off down the street. "I ought to-"

"Dad, we'll be alright." Tess put a hand on his arm. "We made it over one hurdle." She smiled, and slowly looked up. "Let's just focus on making the best of this."

Richard nodded, and Jason did his best to focus on the world around them. As they moved onward, he... Well, he had to admit that he was in awe.

The city had grown since the last time he had been there. The main road into town was a broad one, and had a great many people moving in both directions. Vendors peddled their wares, most of which was food, at broad stalls that lined the streets, while all sorts of people meandered back and forth. Some of them wore tunics, some wore long robes, a few wore togas. Some wore no hats, a few wore western-style hats, some had turbans or wide-brimmed hats or even simple caps. It was quite the display, and Jason found himself hardly able to take his eyes off it all.

"Where are we heading?" Fern poked her head forward. "Is there somewhere in particular we're going?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Jason nodded, and pointed down the road. "Illumitir is divided into districts. There were fifteen of them when I left to move down to Summer Shandy. We're going to be heading for the Allbright District. You'll be fine, you did well last year when you stayed with family. Anyway, each district has a local law enforcement office, kinda like the constable's office, where we'll be able to put things in order."

"Hmm." Rachel frowned. "That's cool! Will we have a great big house?"

Jason laughed, and shook his head. "No, I'm quite certain that we won't."

Rachel seemed disappointed by that, but Jason couldn't help it. The Allbright District was located near the front part of town, just behind the Market District. As they passed through the small gates into Allbright, Jason felt a sense of home pass over him once more. The buildings here were broad, and while they were built up closely together, they had good space and open rooms. White curtains blew from the open windows, and women called to one another from their respective homes as if chatting across a table instead of a busy street. No one really paid any attention to the small family, but Jason wouldn't have expected them to. A few minutes later, he pulled up in front of the large and squat building that was marked as Enforcement, and he climbed down.

"I'll just be a minute." He waved to his family. "Just wait right here, and I'll have a house for us in no time!"

Tess didn't look convinced, but he smiled at her anyway, then walked up toward the building. How hard could it be, after all? He had lived here once before, he could certainly do it again.

All it would take was a few questions.

Chapter Four: The House on Ash Street

[Date: 6th Day of Summer. Time: 4:00 p.m.]

Jason smiled as he reached the front of the line in the Law Enforcement division of the Allbright District. The woman at the desk looked exhausted, but still put on a smile as Jason doffed his hat.

"Howdy, ma'am."

"Well, you're a polite one." She flashed a small smile. "Moving here from out of town?"

"That about sums it up." Jason nodded. "What can you give me?"

"Unfortunately, not much." The woman sighed. "Since the news about the increasing drought broke, people have been showing up in droves, and that's just the tail end of almost a full year of immigration. I'm afraid you'll find that house prices have soared, and there's just not much to find, anyway."

Jason's heart began to beat a bit faster. "Please, I have a family." His voice caught in his throat. "They charged me 400 credits just to enter the city, which I-"

"Look, I'm not saying I can't find you something." The woman smiled, which made Jason feel a bit better. "I'm just saying that it might not be the mansion you were dreaming of. Now, how much money do you have?"

Jason cleared his throat. "600 Credits, though we need some of that for food, and-"

"600?" The woman turned a bit pale. "That's it?"

"Our farm was wrecked by the drought." Jason sighed. "We don't have anything left. We're planning on selling the wagon and oxen, but we can't do that until-"

"I get it, I get it." The woman reached over and flicked her wrist, and an interface appeared in front of her. Jason couldn't see what it was, as it was rather blurred for him, but he knew that she could see it well enough.

"Look, I'll be honest. Allbright isn't going to be the place for you. Not that you wouldn't fit in, but even the broom closets are selling for almost 2,000 credits. To get something for a family, you're looking at 10,000 and higher."

Jason sighed and looked down at the counter, then nodded and forced his head back up.

"Right. Well, can you access any other parts of the city?"

"Yes. Ordinarily, you would have had to actually go to that division, but given the increased demand, we've been allowed to access other districts directly." The woman flicked through the interface. "Now, you said 600 credits. If you had a payment plan, could you go any higher?"

"Maybe." Jason frowned. "My wife is a warrior, she used to make a living dungeon-delving."

"Yeah, just about everyone coming into the city is trying to make a go at dungeon-delving. Not much money to be had there, unless you're really good." The woman frowned. "Now... Alright. If you look over in the Goblin District, you could get a good, four-bedroom place for 500."

Jason shuddered. "Goblin District is all gangs. I grew up here, I should know."

"Ahh. Then..." The woman scrolled a bit further. "Here we go. How do you feel about Northwall?"

"I'd rather not, but if that's the only place available, I'll make it work." Jason grimaced. "What do you have?"

"Alright... There's... Well, there's still not much. I can get you a three-bedroom place for 500 down, and then 150 a month for the next six months."

Jason frowned. "I don't like it. If we miss a payment..."

"They'll repossess it, and you'll be on the street." The woman confirmed. "Alright, then. Give me the deal that you'd be willing to pay."

"Less than 600 would be great. That aside, 400 or less down payment, and 100 or less per month." Jason answered. He knew it was a long shot, but he had to give it a whirl. "Check Southwall, too."

"Alright. Northwall, I've got a few places." The woman nodded slowly. "Mostly two-bedrooms, one three-bedroom. Now, down in Southwall... It actually looks like we have a proper four-bedroom place. Down payment of 400 even, with... It would be a 150 per month for ten months, so it's a bit more, but I really think that's the best you're going to get."

Jason thought for a long moment, and kicked at the ground. "Is it a good place?"

"Can you fix things up?"

"I feel like that's all I've done in my life." Jason chuckled.

"Then it'll be great." The woman nodded. "I can send you the

address to go look it over, if you like?"

"Nah." Jason puffed out his cheeks. "If this is it, we've got to do it,

or I risk my family sleeping on the streets." He gave a nod. "Lock us in."

A moment later, he was down to 200 credits, and the woman

nodded.

"There you go! 1578 Ash Street is now, officially, yours. The lock

will be keyed to you as soon as you put your hand on this acceptance plate." Jason nodded, reached out, and placed his palm on a small stone.

There was a brief flash of light, and the woman smiled. "Enjoy your home."

Jason tipped his hat to her, then turned and walked away. As he walked back out to the wagon and climbed up onto the box, Richard glanced at him in confusion.

"That sure took you awhile."

"Dad, I'm hungry." Rachel called up from behind.

"Me, too!" Baby Jason chimed in. "Hungwy!"

"We'll get food on the way." Jason snapped the reins and started

rumbling along. "I'm afraid there's been a slight change of plans."

"We do have a house, right?" Tess asked. "Is it paid in full?"

"Not paid in full, no." Jason sighed. "I wish, but we'll have it paid

off inside of a year, as long as we stay on top of things."

"Good thing I brought all my gear, then." Tess murmured. "I wonder

if the old dungeons still have the same tricks they once did?"

"I'll help, too." Richard nodded. "I'm sure the influx of warriors into the city has made the pickings a bit more slim, but the two of us

together ought to be able to make ends meet."

"And what will I be doing?" Jason glanced at the two of them. "Are

we going to just become a warrior family, where I stay and watch the house while the two of you go out and work?"

"Would that be the worst thing in the world?" Tess countered.

Jason didn't say anything for a long moment. If that was what they had to do, that was what they would have to do, but... He liked working. He

liked being the one to provide for the family. He didn't begrudge Tess the opportunity, certainly, but...

The conversation was forced to wait as the sun began to set, and lanterns were lit across the city. As the vendors began to pack it in, Jason drew the cart to a halt and bought some overpriced... Well, he wasn't sure exactly what they were called. It was chicken meat (he thought) grilled with a number of different vegetables and then packed into a hollow roll. It was quite good, if a bit spicy, and no one complained as they continued to rumble onward toward their new home.

Unfortunately, the Southwall district was quite a distance away, and they were forced to take a long route through the city. They moved much slower than out in the country, so the journey of a mere mile and a half took them almost two hours. When they finally rumbled onto Ash Street, the sun had set, and all Jason's kids were sleeping (or nearly so) in the back. Jason kept his eyes on the house numbers as the drew down the block, and Richard sighed.

The homes here were packed together. It was all one building, essentially, with doors spaced out every fifty feet or so. Each home seemed to be about three stories tall and one room wide, though Jason couldn't tell how deep they went. Finally, they came to 1578, and Jason breathed a sigh of relief.

At least... Until he noticed the cobwebs in the window.

"Now this doesn't look good." Jason muttered as he swung down from the wagon and slowly walked up to the door. In the dim light, he couldn't see much, and he reached out and grabbed the doorknob.

[Error: Door is locked, and may only be opened with a key, or a Lock-picking skill 5.]

[Key Recognized.] [Welcome: Jason Hunter]

The door unlocked with a small buzz, and Jason slowly pushed it open and stepped inside. He felt around for the gas switch, and quickly turned up the lightning. As small, pale lamps began to glow through the living room, he felt his heart lurch slightly.

It was... Bad, to say the least. The living room had a wooden floor, which was cracked and splintered and showed several scratch marks. The

wallpaper was tattered and torn and dirty, and the air had a musty sort of smell. At the back of the living room, an arched doorway led into a small kitchen, where beady eyes peered out of the darkness. To Jason's right, a flight of stairs led upward to the next story, while beneath the stairs, a cracked and broken door seemed to open down into a basement below.

"Well, I have to say that I've seen better places in dungeons." Richard commented. "No, really! There was this haunted house dungeon I saw once that had a setup almost exactly like this, and-"

"I really don't need to hear things like that right now." Jason muttered. He slowly started walking up the stairs, listening to the loud creak with every footfall. As he reached the top, he found a small landing, which opened into two rooms. Toward the front of the house was a single bedroom, barren, with similar aesthetics to the room below. Toward the back of the house seemed to be the master bedroom, along with a small bathroom. A bed still stood there, though the rips and claw marks made Jason suspect that it wasn't going to be ideal for actually sleeping upon. A ladder led further upward, and Jason frowned and slowly climbed up.

The ladder led through a small trap door into the third story, where the peaked roof seemed to cut off about half of the space. There, the house was again split into two, with a small bedroom toward the front of the house and another toward the rear. These were entirely barren, and with a few missing shingles that he could see, he imagined that they weren't going to be habitable at all until he put some work into it.

"How do things look?" Tess asked as Jason came back down.

"Not great, but we'll make it work." Jason murmured. "For tonight, I think we just put everyone down here. Get our stuff inside, and spread out some blankets."

"I'll go see if I can find someone to sell the oxen to." Richard offered.

"At this time of night?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "Nothing's going to be open."

"True, but we don't exactly have a stable to put them in, and if we leave them on the street, they'll have been stolen by morning." Richard commented. "I'll find a tavern or something. You just trust me, and I'll be back as quick as I can."

Jason nodded, and Richard slipped back out into the darkness. With that, Jason set to work. They hauled in blankets, then carried their sleeping

children inside.

It was far from the house that they had owned out in the country,

but... That was the way things went, sometimes. For the time being, they just needed to stick to the course, and they would make it through.

Maybe it would be painful. Maybe it would be unpleasant. If so, they would face it all together, the way they had done through the long years out in Summer Shandy.

One way or another, they would make their lives normal once again.

Chapter Five: Sacrifice

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Date: 7th Day of Summer]

"Morning, honey." Tess called down to Jason as he slowly stirred and rose up.

"You're up early." Jason yawned and stretched.

"And you went to bed early." Richard laughed. "I wasn't gone for more than fifteen minutes, and by the time I got back, you were out. Tess and I stayed up and talked for a bit, I'll admit, but you passed out."

Jason chuckled, then glanced down at his children. They were just starting to stir, but weren't awake yet. Jason slowly turned to look at his wife and father-in-law, who were both already suited up in their full armor.

Both of them had brilliant steel armor, the finest that they had been able to buy before they left the circuit. Once, both of them had owned flashier sets, but they were adamant that these had been the sets that you really wanted to be wearing in a pinch. Their weapons gleamed, and Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Did you stay up all night polishing your gear?"

"Not all of it, but... Yeah." Tess shrugged. "We need to get an early start. Dad got fifty credits for the wagon, but that still doesn't leave us with much. We need to get working if we're going to manage to make a living at this."

"I'm not blaming you. Just making sure that you're going to be able to take care of yourself." Jason yawned and stood up. Tess nodded toward the kitchen, and he slowly walked into the room. There, a pan sizzled on the rusty old stove, filling the air with the smell of bacon and eggs.

"Well, we'll be off." Tess smiled and held out her arms. Jason gave her a hug, and she sighed. "I'm sure we'll be able to make the house payments, the only question is how much leeway we'll have. At this point, we have about 200 credits, which we can always use for the first month's payment if we have to. That gives us wiggle room to start buying things to fix this place up."

"And I'll get to work on it as soon as the kids wake up." Jason smiled and gave her a kiss. "Which dungeon are you off to?"

"We're going to hit up the Illumitir Classic." Richard answered. "It's a shorter dungeon, we ought to be able to clear it by noon today, if we can get inside it in time. That'll tell us how much about dungeon-delving has changed, and how much has stayed the same. Once we have a better idea of that, we'll go from there. I'm thinking about the Serpentine Caves, out on the north side of town, but that one can be a bit on the longer side if you get lost."

"I'll have to take your word for it." Jason chuckled. "Just make sure you're home tonight, alright? Keep an eye out for each other."

"Will do." Tess flashed a salute at him, then giggled and gave him another kiss. Jason watched the two of them head out, and he sighed deeply.

"Alright, Jason. You've got work to do. No lagging around."

He made his way into the kitchen, where he took the breakfast off the stovetop. It took him a minute of searching through their inventory before he found their plates, but by the time the kids woke up, he had a steaming breakfast sitting on the floor. They all smiled as they sat down to eat (particularly the twins, who thought it was immensely fun to eat on the floor instead of the table). Rachel and Fern looked about the place with confusion and concern, and Jason smiled.

"I know it's not what we're used to, but I also know that we'll make it work."

"I know we will, dad." Rachel frowned. "I just don't see exactly how. This place is a royal mess!"

"Well, with your mom and grandpa out in the dungeons, that gives us plenty of time to get to work ourselves." Jason climbed to his feet. "Now, your job is to watch the twins. Is that clear? I don't know how much around here might be dangerous, so they need a close eye until we get things shorn up a bit."

"Got it!" Fern flashed a thumbs-up. "You can count on us."

"Good." Jason puffed out his cheeks. "Right now, my plan is to start working on the kitchen and living room first, but I need to check out the basement before we do that."

"You haven't checked the basement?" Rachel jumped top her feet. "Eew! What if there's a monster or something down there?"

"Or a dungeon?" Fern asked. "I've heard stories about finding dungeons in basements!"

"There's no dungeon in the basement." Jason laughed as he walked over to the door and slowly pulled it open. The stairwell down was dark and ominous, and he paused. "That said, just in case, keep the twins back."

"I'll come with you." Fern offered, holding out her staff. It began to glow with light, and Jason nodded.

"Fair enough."

The two of them quickly slipped inside and pulled the door shut, even as Rachel squealed something about how gross it was. Cobwebs stuck to Jason's face, and he grimaced, then slowly started down the rickety stairs by the light of Fern's staff.

The stairs were short, and they soon came to the bottom. As Jason looked about through the basement, his eyes widened slightly. The floor plan was the same size as the rest of the house, stretching across the entire property. A few wooden beams stood here and there, holding the rest of the house aloft, and he whistled slightly. It wasn't the size, or the lightning, or giant monsters that made him so surprised.

It was the furniture.

The whole basement was full of furniture, from tables to chairs to bedstands. It all showed elegant craftsmanship, as if it had been produced by a master, and didn't seem to have been affected by the mold, at least not much. It was all dusty, and some of it was scraped up, but none of it was rotten.

"What is this?" Jason whispered, running his finger across the top of the closest table.

"I'm sensing a powerful enchantment." Fern frowned. "I can't tell exactly what it is, but it seems like some sort of a preservation enchantment."

"That would make sense." Jason nodded slowly. "Who made this?"

"I can sense... Someone. I can't tell exactly who, but I think it was a man. An older man." Fern closed her eyes. "This place has been abandoned for... Years, now."

"But it just now came up for sale?" Jason shook his head. "That doesn't sound right."

"Right or not, it seems to be the case." Fern shrugged. "I'm getting a bit of an echo from a few days ago. Someone else was here. They came

down and looked at everything, and then... Then they left. My guess is that it was whoever owned this place beforehand. Maybe they inherited it or something, or had forgotten about it, or... But I don't think the person who came down here was the same person who built all this stuff."

"You'd know better than me." Jason stroked his chin in thought. "This is fascinating. We might not have to go without furniture for so long, at least not as long."

"You want me to help you haul it up?"

Jason thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, not yet. Let's get the upper part of the house cleaned, and then we'll haul it all up."

"Sounds good!"

With that, Jason and Fern walked back up to the main level, and Rachel breathed a sigh of relief.

"You guys didn't get eaten by a giant spider!"

"Or a giant snake, or a giant lizard, or anything else." Jason crossed his arms as he thought through the next plan of attack. "Alright, Rachel, you're in charge of the twins. Play with them, watch them, levitate them around the room, I don't really care, just so long as you're keeping them out of harm's way. Fern, you're going to help me start on the kitchen." He strode into the room, where he glanced around the area. The pantry door hung ajar, and everything inside was covered in mouse droppings and dust. The stove was a rusty mess, to be certain, and he whistled softly. "I'm going to run down to the corner store for some soap. I'll be right back."

"Got it!" Fern beamed. "I'll start dusting things! I can use my staff to make sure the dust from the mice and stuff doesn't go through the whole house."

"That would be amazing." Jason confirmed. "Thanks!"

With that, he strode out of the house, closed the door firmly behind him, and strode down the street. The cobbles flew by under his feet, and he sighed deeply.

The Southwall District had been somewhat shunned when he had been growing up, largely because of the lower-income families that lived there, but... As he looked about, it really wasn't all that bad. The streets were broad, and there were plenty of lampposts for night, and as he turned the corner, he found a bustling marketplace, full of people and vendors and stores. It was a nice place, and it was where they were going to make their home.

One way or another, they were going to make it... And that was a fact that Jason was going to fight for with every last ounce of breath that he had.

Chapter Six: Unexpected Discoveries

[Date: 14th Day of Summer. Time: 5:00 p.m.]

"Alright, girls, let's get this taken care of." Jason grimaced as he finished splashing water onto the wall of the living room. "Fern, keep the mold down. Rachel, grab this with me."

Rachel nodded, and he and his daughter both gripped a corner of the wallpaper. Carefully, they began to peel it back, much to the delight of the twins (who had been placed in high chairs, far from the action.

Peeling back the paper revealed a wooden surface speckled with years of mold. As soon as it hit the air, puffs of dead spores exploded into the air, and Fern waved her staff. A brilliant red light pulsed through the air, burning away the specks before they could make anyone sick. It also burned the wall slightly, as well, but Jason was more than willing to allow for such a thing. Besides, it gave the house a nice, rustic sort of feel to it. In any case, it was the best way to get rid of the mold, so that was what they were going to do.

"And there we go!" Jason finished peeling off the paper, and he and Rachel carefully carried it over to the waste basket by the front door. They very carefully stuffed it down inside, with Fern continuing to burn away any dust that puffed up from it. After a few moments, it was no longer visible, and Jason stepped back in satisfaction. "Perfect!"

He put his hands behind his back and turned to view the living room. All told, it was still a long way from being done, but now, a week into things, they were making good strides. The kitchen had been cleaned and organized, and the stove was functional once more. The floor was still a bit cracked in the kitchen, but that was a lesser concern. Now, they were systematically going through the house and stripping it down, and would begin reworking it from there. They had a few more strips of wallpaper in the living room to go, and then they would be moving upward.

"We're not done yet!" Fern commented, and pointed her staff at the next section. "Let's keep going! I'd like to have this done by the time Mom and Grandpa get back."

"Oh, you would?" Jason raised an eyebrow, laughing slightly. She was sounding more and more like him every day. "Alright, then! Let's get to it."

He splashed a bit more water onto the wall, and he and Rachel quickly tucked in. About twenty minutes later, they were just pulling down the last bit of it as the door swung open, and Tess and Richard walked back inside.

"Honey, I'm home!" Tess called out loudly. "And I brought food!"

"Yum!" Rachel beamed, making the wallpaper shift a bit in her hands.

"Hey! No celebrating until this is put away." Jason bit his lip as Fern waved her staff, burning away a cloud formed by Rachel's movement. "Careful, now... Careful..."

They soon had the chunk of moldy paper stuffed into the bin, and Fern gave her staff a twirl. There was a brilliant blast of magic, and the contents were incinerated in a great blast of heat and energy. Jason held up a fist, which Rachel bumped with the knob of her staff.

"And that's how we get things done around here."

"Well... You haven't burned the house down yet, so I suppose I'll congratulate you on your efforts." Tess murmured, then walked toward the kitchen table. She had a bag in each hand, and quickly set it down. "Let's go!"

A few moments later, the whole family sat down to a lovely meal. It was eastern, Jason could tell that much from the sticky rice and the seasonings, as well as the sweet sauce poured over the top. Tess was apparently quite fond of the stuff, and had purchased it more than once.

"And what's the occasion?" Jason asked around a mouthful of the food.

"Two things." Richard answered, chewing on his own food. "First, it's been a week since we arrived, and we haven't been kicked out yet, so that's positive!"

"And, second, we saved the life of a guy down in the dungeons, so he gave us some free food from his restaurant as a thank-you."

"A chef in the dungeons?" Jason laughed. "That doesn't sound right."

"It's been a big business for awhile now." Tess answered. "There are ingredients you can only get down in the dungeons. Certain mushrooms,

some spices, and anything that comes from monsters. He was hunting for Wild Truffles, which are a fungus-type mushroom that tastes simply excellent when you grill it properly, but got pinned down by a wyrm."

"Well, you should go save him every day." Jason commented.

"He actually has his restaurant just down the street." Tess nodded down the road. "He told me that if we ever need a meal, he'll give us a discount, and he'd also be more than willing to buy ingredients off of us if we find them."

"An extra source of income." Richard nodded. "We decided to parse out some details, and we'll be meeting with him tomorrow morning."

"Not that I dislike the idea, but..." Jason frowned. "Are we really that desperate for money that we're running dungeon ingredients for a restaurant? I thought you guys were the best of the best of the best, back in the day."

"I was top 1%." Richard answered with a shrug. "The really good guys were leagues above me, and even above Daniel."

Tess nodded. "And I was top 5%. In any case, a lot has changed in the fifteen years... No, the twenty years that I've been off the active circuit. Dungeon layouts have changed, monster patterns have changed, there's a lot that's different."

"See, it used to be that dungeons were just a slog." Richard waved a fork around. "You'd dive down inside, and maybe it was as bit boring, but that wasn't why you were there. You were there to kill monsters, over and over again, and there were plenty of them to dispatch. Nowadays, everything's all pretty and aesthetic, and the monsters can be killed just by looking at them, and there's so much lore."

"And puzzles." Tess rolled her eyes. "You have no idea how many times we've come to a locked door, only to have to go spin statues around and things. It's all..."

"Modern warriors have no attention span." Richard stabbed at the air. "That's the problem! They can't be expected to commit to the slog, so everything's thirty times as long, but it's flashy."

"Does that affect the pay?" Jason frowned.

"Take a look." Tess opened her inventory and pulled out a few coins. "Seventy credits. That was our combined haul for the day."

"Not terrible." Jason frowned.

"Yeah, but we still need beds. With having to put away so much money for the payments..." Tess sighed. "I know we'll make it work, but most beds are running several hundred credits as-is, and we still need-"

"We'll make it through." Jason smiled.

"I know. I think I'm just frustrated." Tess shrugged. "When I was growing up, and even more so when dad was growing up, warriors were an elite class of citizen. We were respected, we were admired. Now, and I think this largely has to do with the twin droughts that have hit over the last few years, there are loads more people doing it. The higher-level dungeons, the ones where we could really make some money? They're still there, and some of those have higher payouts than ever, but in order to get in, you have to be able to pay an entry fee."

"An entry fee?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"It's to keep out the rabble, so the experienced warriors can still feel like they're the only ones in any given dungeon." Tess sighed. "At one point, I might have liked such a thing, if only so I wasn't always having to go save people who were in way over their heads. Now? Some of them cost over a million credits just to enter."

Jason frowned. "I'm sorry you hate it so much." After a moment, he shrugged. "You know... I could always go in the dungeons, too, if you wanted."

Tess snorted, and Richard frowned.

"Why do you want to go in the dungeons so badly?" Richard asked, turning to him. "You've mentioned it several times. Why expose yourself to the harm? Tess and I will complain about it all day long, but at the end of the day, that's all we're doing. You're the guy who would stand a good chance of getting pinned down."

"I know." Jason sighed, then shrugged. "I don't know. I just want to feel like I'm doing something."

"Then how about this?" Tess offered. "Tomorrow, I'll stay and work on cleaning up the house. You can go out with Richard into the dungeons. Take your guns and get them upgraded on the way, you should be able to get a first-time discount, and then he'll take you through an easier dungeon. On the way, you can pick up some ingredients for Chang."

"Are you sure?" Richard glanced at her.

"Dad, this is hard on everyone." Tess reached out and ruffled Fern's hair, making her daughter grin. "I haven't really had a chance to see the

kids in ages, it would be good for me to get to spend some time with them, and I can't really expect to vent my frustrations by going into the dungeons and killing monsters while denying Jason that very satisfaction."

"Fair enough." Richard shrugged, then clapped Jason on the shoulder. "Better get a good night's sleep, then! Tomorrow will be intense."

Jason smiled, and the talk turned to the different projects that they had been accomplishing around the house. After dinner was over, Jason and Richard washed the dishes while Fern used her magic to entertain Tess and the twins. Finally, the children went upstairs to go to bed (still on mats of blankets, which was the best they had been able to put together yet), and Tess slowly wrapped Jason in a hug.

"Well, you two seem to have things wrapped up around here." Richard smiled and walked up to the door. "I'm heading down to the tavern to see if I can't learn anything else that might help us. Odd jobs that need done, that sort of thing. Somehow..." He paused, then glanced back at Tess and Jason. "Somehow, I'm getting the feeling that dungeon-delving isn't going to be viable long-term."

"I'm starting to think the same thing." Tess murmured. "I just don't know what other option we have. We're not skilled enough to start up a restaurant, which is how a lot of the newbies in town are making ends meet. Vendor stalls, that sort of thing. None of us are that skilled as craftsmen, at least not enough to make a go of things. Jason here isn't bad as a repairman, but I don't think he'd be able to stand out above all the other repairmen in the city."

"We'll figure it out." Jason smiled and put a hand on Tess's shoulder.

Richard nodded, and with that, he slipped out into the city. As the door slammed shut, Tess puffed out her cheeks, then turned to Jason.

"What was your cleaning plan for tomorrow?"

Jason gestured vaguely about the living room. "The wallpaper is finally down, so my plan was to start hauling up a bit more of the furniture from below, some of the odd things that might fit a living room better. After that, I was going to move up to the bedrooms and start in there. Strip the walls, get the mold out, that sort of thing. If you wind up finding any spare wood, we need to patch up the shingles on the roof before we get a storm."

"Sounds like a plan." Tess nodded, then slowly walked over to the kitchen table, which Jason had pulled up from the basement only a day or

two earlier. "I wish we knew more about the guy who made these."

"Me, too." Jason shrugged. He bent down, and gestured at a small brand on the leg of the table, up near the flat upper surface. "Rachel noticed these, earlier today. It looks like a trademark, something the old craftsman

used to stamp his work."

Tess frowned and crouched down as well. "It's the letter Z,

surrounded by a circle?"

Jason nodded. "Honestly, it looks to me like a cattle brand, but I

haven't had time to check if Circle-Z is registered anywhere."

"Not that it's terribly important to do so, but I'll see if I can learn anything." Tess smiled at him. After a moment, she drew him into an embrace, and he sighed in contentment. "For now, though... It's been a long

week, and I just want to enjoy it with you."

Jason smiled, and he gave her a kiss. "I'd like nothing more.

Chapter Seven: The Hog Farm

[Date: 15th Day of Summer. Time: 9:00 a.m.]

"Bye, Tess!" Jason called as he slowly stepped out onto the front porch of the house. "Bye, kiddos! See you all tonight!"

"Unless you get eaten by a dragon!" Rachel called out.

"I'm not going to get eaten by a dragon." Jason grinned and shook his head.

"Yeah! I'm not taking him into any dungeon that has monsters more dangerous than slimes." Richard called back.

They gave each other a few more parting remarks, Jason gave Tess a kiss, and with that, he and Richard walked off. As they made their way through the streets and turned down the market road, Richard glanced down at Jason.

"For what it's worth, I get it."

"Get what?" Jason looked up, frowning.

"Wanting to provide for your family." Richard shrugged. "You do a

good job of letting Tess have her freedom, of doing what she does best, but I know how much it must have been eating at you to stay home for the last week."

"I don't know if eating is the right word, but..." Jason shrugged. "As long as I've been married to Tess, I've been the one farming, providing. It's been an adjustment to be the one fixing the house. Don't get me wrong, I've fixed things up plenty of times before."

"Oh, I know, I know." Richard smiled. "I'm just saying that I understand, and that's why I'm taking you with me." He gestured ahead, at a small shop with a handful of unfamiliar runes written over the entrance. "Right here!"

He led the way through the door, and a bell jingled merrily.

"We're still closed! Open for lunch!"

"Chang?" Richard called out. "Just following up on yesterday's

merriment!"

The back door of the main floor of the restaurant flew open, and a young man came walking out. He had short, black hair, and a smile that stretched from ear to ear. His skin was an olive color, and he held out a hand.

"Richard! And this is..."

"Jason." Jason shook Chang's hand. "Tess's husband."

"Ahh! Very good to meet you both!" Chang beamed widely. "I was

hoping you'd come by this morning. I have a list, if you're truly up for it." "Frankly, it'll pay better than just killing bosses." Richard commented wryly. "You know what? There was a time when I went through the Great Ice Dungeon, just north of here. Solo. Walked out with the Silver Fang of Nathaldra and a few great scars. Now? I couldn't buy my way in there unless I was already just about the greatest warrior to ever walk the

streets."

"I hear much the same thing from my customers." Chang walked to

the back and ducked through the door, then emerged with a small notepad. He tore off the top sheet and passed it across to them. "For what it's worth, if you ever do manage to get into the Great Ice Dungeons, the Ice Mushrooms on the seventh floor are among the greatest delicacies of this city, and if you could bring me one, I'd pay handsomely."

"I'll keep that in mind, the next time I rob a bank." Richard looked over the note. "Let's see... The Green Meadow Dungeon... The Bark Dungeon... The Blue Lighting Dungeon?"

"Those are the three." Chang nodded. "And please don't feel beholden to get everything! I'll be happy with a single ingredient. I can turn a profit on any of it for these prices, but I'm no warrior, and all the big-shot warriors who typically do ingredient contracting charge me so much that I wouldn't be able to make money unless I had at least four stars, certified by the Restaurant Guild."

"We'll see what we can do." Richard smiled. "Catch you around!"

With that, Richard turned and walked out the door, and Jason followed. The older warrior quickly struck off through the streets, angling toward the city's Dungeon District. It was the heart of the city, and not a place that Jason had gone often when he was growing up.

"Alright, here." Richard frowned in thought. "You'll need to register with the city, and then you'll need to visit the equipment shop. Shouldn't

take long at either place, and then we'll head over to Green Meadow, I'd say."

"Is it one of the easier dungeons in the city?" Jason asked, with a small smile on his face.

"Depends on your definition of easy." Richard smiled. "Let's just say that you'll be seeing a bit of action, after all. Now let's get moving!"

He and Jason quickly made their way through the city and into the Dungeon District. Located at the exact center of the city, just behind the King's District, it was encircled by a wall almost a thick as the outer wall of the city. Inside, there were only a few buildings, most of which served as the entrance to assorted dungeons. The few that did serve a different purpose were Guild Headquarters, as well as various weapon shops.

Richard quickly took Jason to the Guild Headquarters, which was easily the largest building in the district. Jason felt a sense of awe as he walked up to the desk, where a man wearing a full set of plate armor swiped at his screen.

"Registering as a new warrior?"

Jason nodded, and quickly answered a great many questions, most of which, in his opinion, had very little to do with fighting or dungeon business. Soon enough, though, he was registered, and headed out toward the weapon shops.

"How many stores are there that just sell weapons?" Jason gaped as he looked at a strip mall filled with nothing but such stores.

"Dozens throughout the city." Richard smiled. "Here, you've got one for each type of weapon. Daggers, swords, light weapons, heavy weapons, ranged weapons, and so on."

"And I'll be heading for ranged?"

"Actually, no." Richard shook his head. "You'll be doing explosive. You have your sword, right?"

Jason nodded, and drew it out of his inventory. "It's not the fanciest sword in the world, but it'll work."

"Hmm." Richard frowned as he took the weapon from Jason's hand. "Let me go take this to the sword store, I'll get a couple cheap upgrades for it. Trust me, you'll need them. Just head on into the explosive store, and they'll get you taken care of."

"Many thanks." Jason nodded to his father-in-law, then headed toward the explosive store. As he walked inside, a bell jingled (he was

getting quite tired of such bells), and a young man at the counter sat bolt upright.

"Morning! What can I do for you?"

"I have a free upgrade for registering as a warrior?" Jason shrugged. "I was told to come here."

"You're just registering?" The attendant raised an eyebrow. "Didn't think they were letting old geezers into the dungeons these days."

Jason opened his mouth to reply, then sighed. The attendant was probably only about five years older than Fern, which did make Jason his elder by a decent margin. "Can you do it, or not?" He pulled a small piece of paper out of his inventory. "I have a voucher."

"Yeah, I can do it." The man nodded. "What weapon do you want to upgrade?"

"This one." Jason pulled his blunderbuss out of his inventory. At that, the attendant's eyes nearly popped from his head.

"That's a blunderbuss from ancient Illis!"

"It was pulled from the old Winter Shandy dungeon." Jason smiled as he laid it on the counter. "It's been quite the useful tool, for sure."

"Now that's something you don't see often, for sure." The attendant whistled softly. He slowly picked the weapon up, then gazed down the barrel. "Do you have any idea how much this is worth?"

"I don't reckon it would be more than half a dozen credits." Jason shrugged.

"Ahh, you're way off. You could sell this thing in the right auction house for a hundred thousand credits. Maybe more."

Jason's jaw dropped. "You're kidding!"

"Nah. I'd offer you five hundred for it right now, if you were interested." The attendant chuckled. "Not that you would benefit from a deal like that, but I sure would. I'd also be willing to trade you a better weapon for it."

"Better?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Sure. This thing is a collectable, but it's not going to be useful in the dungeon." The man shrugged, then turned to the back wall. "I'd easily trade you a ten-shot, lever action hunting rifle for this thing, and you could probably talk me into a few upgrades for it, too."

Jason whistled softly, and his mind raced. He liked the blunderbuss. It was one of the few items that he had kept as a memento from Summer

Shandy, and didn't like the idea of getting rid of it. That said, they could use the money. That said...

"In that case, why don't I take it back?" Jason held out his hand, and the man reluctantly gave it back over to him. "How about this?" He pulled out his pistol, one that Jeremiah had given him as a present years earlier.

"Mmm. Nice." The man picked it up, though he lacked the same enthusiasm as before. "Yeah, I can do this. Let's see... This is a single shot? With this voucher, I can either upgrade you to a three-shot, or I can add in a resonance chamber that will increase the power of the single shot by a good amount."

Jason opened his mouth, but the man beat him to a decision.

"That said, if you promise me you won't go sell the blunderbuss anywhere else, I'll give you both upgrades."

"Both?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Both. I'm not even going to say you have to sell it to me, just asking that you don't go sell it anywhere else. I'll treat you fair, whenever you're ready."

Jason thought for a moment, then nodded. "Deal."

A moment later, he walked out into the district once more, just as Richard was walking up. The older warrior handed Jason his sword back, and Jason took hold of the hilt. It was a bit heavier than before, and seemed to have been sharpened.

"That'll serve you well." Richard nodded with a smile. "Now... Let's get to it.

Chapter Eight: First Dungeon Dive

[Date: 15th Day of Summer. Time: 11:00 a.m.]

"Almost here." Richard murmured as he and Jason made their way down the long flight of stairs into the Green Meadow Dungeon. The line of warriors waiting to get inside was quite long, though in front of them, there were only half a dozen more. Several guards stood at the entrance of the dark cave, blocking the way. They allowed one group at a time to enter, about every two minutes. "You know what I've been telling you?"

"Stay close to you, watch out for traps, and shoot anything that isn't wearing armor." Jason answered.

"That about sums it up. This'll be a pretty easy one, but there are still some surprises." Richard pulled the note out of his pocket. "We need to find... A Green Truffle, the bark of a Maplesap Tree, and he'd sure appreciate it if we could scrape some moss off the blue cobbles."

"Got it." Jason nodded. "You know where all that is?"

"If the layout hasn't changed since the last time I was in here, I ought to have a pretty good idea, yeah."

Jason drew in a deep breath, fidgeting slightly as they moved on down the stairs. Finally, they reached the bottom, and stood before the guards. One of them watched a small interface, which Jason couldn't read. Someone on the interface blinked green, and they nodded.

"Go forth, for the glory of Illumitir!"

Richard nodded, and he and Jason walked forward. Jason gritted his teeth as they passed into the darkened cave, and for a moment, they passed into darkness.

And then... Something began to glow in front of him.

As they passed through a small archway, they found themselves in a small cave room, with a darkened exit on the far side. Green crystals glowed softly, bathing the area in a pale light, while a fungus grew on the floor like grass. It wasn't hard to see where the dungeon had received its name. Almost immediately, a loud hiss echoed through air, and Jason drew his pistol.

"Save your bullets. Opening chambers are usually just to get you hooked." Richard murmured. "Watch closely. And... There!"

He pointed off to his left, and Jason spun as a massive centipede came snarling out of a large hole. It reared up onto its hind legs and gnashed its pincers. All told, the thing had to be five feet long, and was as thick as Jason's arm. He gulped, then slashed out with his sword.

Screeeeeee!

The blade cut clean through the insect, and it collapsed on the ground, dead. Jason smiled and slowly lowered his sword, only to hear a loud skittering noise fill the air.

"What's-"

Half a dozen of the creatures suddenly emerged, shrieking and striking at him. Jason gulped and stabbed at the closest one, and did manage to pierce it through the back of the head. It flopped to the ground, but a second one jumped forward and bit him on the ankle. It hurt, quite a lot, and he waved his sword wildly as he tried to cut through it. It fell dead after a few seconds, and Jason let out a sigh of relief.

"There we go! That's..."

A second one jumped from behind and dug its sharp legs into his back, and began crawling up around his shoulders. He glanced at Richard, who was dancing back and forth, slashing at the monsters as fast as he could. Jason gritted his teeth, then backed up, slamming into the wall. The giant insect burst like a water balloon, showering him in guts. It stank, and he grimaced, but it was dead, and that was the important part. Richard killed the last one, and he waved at Jason.

"Good work! Now come on, we need to keep moving before the next group comes in."

Jason nodded and followed quickly, and they stepped through the darkened doorway. Once more, they passed through a small tunnel, only to emerge into a much larger room.

This part of the dungeon was probably the size of the Summer Shandy town square (which, all things considered, wasn't massive). It truly looked like a meadow, and had dozens of bug-type monsters swarming around through the grass. Giant bees buzzed over the grass, while more centipedes, giant ants, and other such things rumbled around through the foliage.

"Alright. The truffle will be located in that side room, right over there." Richard pointed across the meadow. "The tree bark is off to your left, that little mass of roots right there. Lastly, the moss is... There!" He pointed to Jason's right, where a small wall stood at odds with the otherwise smooth nature of the cave wall. "Which do you want to get?"

Across the way, another group of three warriors appeared from a side door, hacking their way through the bugs. They waved at Richard and Jason, then flashed through the room's exit.

"I'll get the truffle."

"Go for it!"

Richard turned and ran for the wall, and Jason charged ahead. Bugs

spun toward him, snarling and flashing their mandibles, and he gripped his sword. A centipede reared up, and he slashed his blade clean through it, dropping the thing to the ground. A bee came zooming down, stinger aimed right at him. Jason swung his sword up at the thing, but had the angle slightly off, so he wasn't able to actually kill it. That said, the blow did knock the bee off-balance, and it slammed into his shoulder as it came crashing to the ground. To make matters even better, the bee hit a large ant as it slammed into the ground, taking out the pesky creature before it could take Jason out.

With that, Jason charged into the side room, which was lit by flickering torches instead of glowing crystals. Something hissed softly, and he glanced back and forth as he tried to identify the source.

"You were foolissssssssssssssssh to come here!"

A snake rose up from the grass, flicking its tongue out, back and forth. It eyed Jason hungrily, and he gulped. The monster was large enough to swallow him in a single gulp, he was quite certain of that, with a mouth that was a good two feet wide and a body that was just as thick. He couldn't tell how long it was, but he didn't suspect that it would matter. Long fangs flashed in its mouth as it opened wide, and Jason drew his pistol.

Bam!

The first shot hit the snake in the back of the mouth and punched out the back of its head. The snake was knocked backward, and the health bar over its head lowered by about half. Jason scowled.

"What do you mean? That should have killed it!"

The snake hissed and shook its head, as if to clear the cobwebs out, and Jason fired twice more.

Bam! Bam!

Both shots impacted cleanly, and the snake flopped backward, dead before it hit the ground.

[Notice: Mini-Boss defeated!]

[XP Awarded: 100]

[Notice: First Mini-Boss defeat of your career!] [Xtra XP Awarded: 50]

There were a few other notifications, but Jason ignored them. Instead, he glanced around the area, and noticed a small alcove in the wall not far away. He quickly ran over and peered inside, where he found a small patch of dirt. Frowning, he opened his inventory and drew out a shovel, then carefully started to dig. After only a few second, he exposed the truffle, which was green and bulbous. A smile came over his face, and he quickly dug it up and tucked it into his inventory. With that, he reloaded the pistol, stuck it back into his holster, and ducked out.

"I'm good over here!" Richard called as he effortlessly cut a large bee out of the air. "You?"

"Yup!" Jason called back.

"Good! Then let's keep moving. We get rewarded based on time to completion."

Jason nodded, and he ran back across the field, crushing several other monsters on the way. A new group slipped into the meadow just as they were running out, and he waved, just to pass along the gesture.

And, with that, they entered the long tunnel leading to the boss chamber.

Jason frowned as they came running up to a set of stone doors. Richard tried the handles, but found them locked.

[Notice: A boss battle is in progress. Please wait. This will not affect your completion time.]

Jason nodded slowly, and leaned against the wall. Richard joined him, and smiled.

"How are you liking your first dungeon?"

"Not too shabby." Jason nodded. "I can see why you guys like it so much."

"There's really nothing else quite like it." Richard frowned. "The thrill of the fight, the glory of combat and victory, it's-"

"It's the same thing on the farm." Jason nodded. "It's slower, but you're fighting against the elements. You're winning against the seasons, and collecting the benefits."

"Trust me. I was on a ranch, not a farm, but I was out with you in Summer Shandy for years. I know exactly what you mean." Richard seemed like he was going to say more, but the doors of the boss chamber unlocked with a loud clunk, and he stood a bit more upright. "Shall we?"

"Let's do this." Jason nodded firmly.

With that, he and Richard walked up to the doors and pulled it open. This chamber was more or less the same size as the other one, but was more domed. A loud buzzing noise filled the air almost instantly, and only grew louder as the door slammed back shut. Jason drew his pistol, and Richard prepared himself.

[Boss Entering: Enraged Wasp King]

With a rustle, a massive, ten-foot-long wasp climbed down from a hole in the ceiling and began to flap its wings. It took to flight, and for a moment, buzzed back and forth over the two of them. Jason gulped as he looked at the massive stinger, the thick abdomen, and he pointed his pistol at the thing.

"Don't shoot yet." Richard murmured. "They're immune for the first few seconds, while they're showboating. Just a moment... Just a moment longer... and... Now!"

The wasp dove down toward them, and Jason fired. His bullet went wide, flashing over the top of the wasp and bouncing off the ceiling. The wasp hit him a breath later, knocking him back into the doors. The stone shuddered under the blast, and Jason groaned and snatched at his sword.

The wasp didn't give him any quarter, and stabbed at him with the stinger. Jason narrowly dodged once, then twice. The third strike, though, grazed his leg, and he yelped in pain.

"Stay away from him!" Richard grabbed the creature by one of the wings, spun, and slung it into the far wall. The wasp buzzed loudly and slowly peeled itself away, then turned back to look at the two of them. Jason quickly lined up his next shot, and squeezed the trigger.

Blam!

The shot hit the wasp directly between the eyes, blasting a great smear of blood across the back wall. That, of course, made Jason frown in confusion. For starters, it had only lowered the health of the creature by about a quarter. Secondly, insects didn't have blood like that! At least... That's what he thought. Thirdly... did it have to be so gory?

He was given no chance to process any of it as the wasp flashed back toward him. Richard snarled and swung his sword, and Jason lined up one last shot. The sword tore through the wasp, dealing a lot of damage, but the monster just kept coming. Closer, closer...

Close range.

Jason squeezed the trigger and closed his eyes, feeling the report of the gun in his hand.

Blam!

An instant later, the body of the wasp hit him, smashing him back into the doors again, and he fell to the ground.

Chapter Nine: A Tough Decision

[Date: 15th Day of Summer. Time: 7:00 p.m.]

"Hey, Chang!" Richard and Jason walked into Chang's restaurant, covered in bug guts and slime, but otherwise alive and fine. "We're here!"

A few late diners looked over and scooted their chairs away from the disgusting hunters, and Chang poked his head out of the back.

"Ahh, perfect! Could you step into that side room, right over there?"

Jason nodded, and he and Richard quickly made their way through a small door into a storage room. It was full of boxes, which, glancing at the open ones, seemed mostly full of noodles and rice and such things. There were two doors, one leading to the main restaurant, the other leading to the kitchen. Chang stepped in from the kitchen a second later, wiping his hands off on his apron, and smiling.

"Sorry about that! Customers get grossed out if they see warriors, fresh out of the dungeons, selling me things in either the main seating area or in the kitchen." Chang shrugged. "Here, though, it's fine. Marketing is everything."

"I'll have to take your word for it." Jason chuckled in amazement. "Well, we managed to get everything on your list."

"Everything? I suppose that explains why you're so late." Chang glanced at the two of them. "Did you get anything to eat?"

"Nah." Richard shook his head. "We ate some lunch on the go, but we were trying to stay focused, and—"

"Well, then wait right here." Chang turned around and vanished through the kitchen door, appearing an instant later with two large bags. "It's no imposition, I promise. I had someone come in and order this, only to get called away. I think they were a guard and had to go deal with a prisoner or something, I'm not sure exactly. Anyway, I legally can't re-sell it, so... It's yours if you want it. Otherwise I have to throw it away."

"Many thanks." Jason smiled, then opened his inventory and drew out the bag. "This ought to be everything you need."

"Thank you, so much." Chang opened up the bag and scanned through it, then nodded. "Perfect! Fifty credits, as initially stated."

He paid the two of them, and Jason smiled. "If you ever need anything else, just let us know."

"I won't have any work for you tomorrow, but come back in... three days? Three days, and I'll be ready for more!"

They made a few more parting remarks, and with that, Jason and Richard struck back out. Soon, they came back to their home, and slowly mounted the stairs and walked inside. Tess looked up and beamed as Jason passed the food across to her, and Fern waved her staff to start levitating plates and silverware onto the table.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're home." Tess kissed Jason on the cheek. "I was so worried about you! Did you get hurt?"

"Nah." Richard clapped Jason on the shoulder. "I was there to watch him the whole time."

"And I didn't need your help all the time." Jason rolled his eyes. "You'll remember that I did kill that mini-boss all by myself."

Richard frowned, and suddenly turned white. "The snake in the Green Meadows."

"Yeah! Piece of cake." Jason shrugged.

"I totally forgot that thing was in there." Richard sighed, even as Tess whacked him upside the head. "Well... All's well that ends well? Jason also got his first boss kill, the wasp at the end of the Green Meadow Dungeon."

"Nicely done!" Tess smiled. "We'll make a warrior out of you yet, now, why don't you go get cleaned up, and I'll get food onto the table."

Jason nodded, and quickly walked upstairs to the bathroom. Several minutes later, he had changed into a new set of clothes, and everyone sat down around the table to enjoy the food. Jason tucked into the noodles and rice, devouring every last bit of it, and Tess chuckled.

"Well, you'll be happy to know that we've made some good progress today." Tess smiled and leaned forward. "We stripped the wallpaper down from the upstairs rooms, though we haven't gotten all the way to the attic rooms. I also made some inquiries regarding our furniture, and I think we might have actually stumbled onto a bit of a treasure trove."

"Really?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well, I talked to one of our neighbors. There's an old lady named Ann, down at 1576, and she told me that the guy who once lived here was a famous old furniture maker." Tess leaned forward with a smile. "His furniture would sell for tens of thousands of credits apiece, sometimes more. When he passed away, the house fell into disrepair, and since then, existing pieces of his work have been selling for insane amounts of money."

"So we can take this stuff, sell it, and turn a nice profit." Jason answered with a smile.

"Or, at the least, we should be able to work a deal." Tess nodded. "I'm hesitant to just go and sell it all. News moves fast, and if people suddenly find out that we sold a ton of vintage furniture for a small fortune, that's not going to go well for us."

"True." Jason frowned. "Then what do we do?"

"Well, there's a furniture outlet not too far from here. Maybe a twenty-minute walk, from what I can tell." Tess shrugged. "I'm thinking about heading over there tomorrow to see if we can work a deal. Maybe we give them the collection, at least most of it, in exchange for beds and chairs and other things we need."

"I like it." Richard nodded. "That way, anyone who sees it will think we're just cleaning out old junk and exchanging it for better stuff."

"Exactly." Tess confirmed. "I don't like walking around, being sneaky like that, but sometimes I just don't see that we have a choice."

"Why's that?" Fern perked up. She handed Baby Tess a small piece of chicken, then turned back to her mother. "Are we in danger?"

"No." Tess shook her head, then sighed. "It's... complicated. Out in Summer Shandy, if someone came into a small fortune, everyone else would have been happy for them. The person with the fortune probably would have thrown a party or something to celebrate, really contributed to the festivals or something, and that would have been that. Here, I imagine that most people would be happy, and wouldn't say a word or do anything, but..."

"There are a lot more people in the city." Richard nodded. "For starters, that means that you're a lot more likely to run into someone who's a bad sort. To continue, people who are a bad sort feel a lot better about doing bad things, since it's easier to hide in a city of a hundred thousand people than it is in a city of fifty."

"So we just have to be careful." Jason nodded. "It certainly doesn't mean we're in danger, it just means that we have to keep a close watch."

Fern frowned, then poked at her food. "I think I liked it better in Summer Shandy."

"I could go outside a lot more." Rachel spoke up. "Here, I can't go outside at all, unless we're walking to the market. There aren't even any parks or anything!"

"I know." Jason sighed. "I know. I wish there was a better option, I wish we could have stayed on the farm, but..." A smile came over his face. "This isn't a bad place. We can make a living here. Maybe it's not as glorious as the place we came from, maybe it isn't quite the same, but we're going to make it just the same."

"Do you think you'll be heading back into the dungeons?" Tess asked Jason, glancing at him with a bit of worry in her eyes.

"That depends on whether or not your dad will let me." Jason grinned, then shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. I'd sure like to, but I also know that's sorta your thing, and I don't want to encroach on that. Maybe..." A small smile came over his face. "Maybe I can do Chang's runs? That way, you get to go do the more dangerous stuff, and I get to go dungeon-delving to find all sorts of cool plants and foods."

"That works well for me." Tess nodded. "Richard?"

Richard thought for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I reckon that works well for me."

They sat in silence for a moment longer, and Rachel smiled. "I made a pet rat today."

"A pet rat?" Jason exclaimed. "How'd you tame a rat? Are we allowing this?"

"No, dad. I made a pet rat!" Rachel giggled. "Fern and I used our magic to make some dust bunnies chase mommy! You should have heard her scream!"

Jason had to laugh at that, even as Tess mock-scowled at their daughters. It was a lovely time, even if it was hard. They were together as a family, and at the end of the day, that was something he couldn't complain about. How would things go from here? There was only one way to find out, and that was going to involve sticking to the course, no matter what came.

For the time being, they were committed, and he was determined to carve out a new home for them in Illumitir.

Chapter Ten: Last Day of Summer

[Date: 91st Day of Summer. Time: 9:00 a.m.]

"Here you go!" Jason tossed a few biscuits to Tess and she and Richard walked toward the front door. "Don't forget to stop for lunch!"

"Don't worry about us!" Tess rolled her eyes. "We know how to fight, remember?"

"Yeah, but you're taking on the Great Fire Dungeon today." Jason pointed out. "That one can take quite awhile to get through, and I don't want you realizing that you're hungry right when you get to the boss chamber. Don't forget, I'm a veteran of the dungeons now, too."

Richard snorted. "I think I liked it better when he was just a farmer." "Don't say that! So does he!"

Jason chuckled, and watched as his wife and father-in-law made

their way out into the street. Fern and Rachel started playing with the twins, while Jason turned and started tidying up after breakfast.

"So what's the plan for today?" Fern asked as Jason put the dishes into the sink. "I'm bored, always being stuck around the house."

"I know." Jason smiled and started running the water. "I do think your mother is planning on getting some homeschool materials again, just as soon as we can afford it."

"School? Yay!" Baby Jason started jumping up and down. "Want do school!"

Jason laughed at that, and he slowly started scrubbing things down. "For today, though, I think we can find something for you to do. We're going to decorate the house!"

"Decorate the house?" Rachel levitated Baby Tess up into the air, eliciting a great many shrieks of delight. "Why?"

"Because today is the day of the Summer Festival back in Summer Shandy, and while we can't have quite the same shindig as before, I'm not going to let the opportunity pass." Jason answered with a nod. "Once I get these dishes done, I'm going to head out into the city for a few minutes,

alright? I just need to get some supplies for the party, and I need to make a visit to someone."

"Sounds good." Fern frowned. "Dad? If we still can't afford homeschool supplies, why can we afford party supplies?"

Jason shrugged. "For starters, the homeschool books cost tens of thousands of credits, and the party supplies only cost a few dozen. Secondly, there's something called morale. That's a measure of how content people are, and I want to make sure we can raise your mother's morale just as much as possible. She'll be sad she's missing it."

"Dad? Are you missing it?"

Jason paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

"Is there anything we can do?" Fern asked.

"Help me put together the best Summer Festival, albeit one away

from Summer Shandy, that's ever been thrown." Jason smiled. "Like I said, I have some things to go run and do, but I'll be back!"

Jason finished washing the dishes, kissed his kids goodbye, and then left the house (making sure to lock it firmly on his way out). He quickly walked down to the market, where he began perusing the assorted goods. He couldn't afford much, but...

"How much for this pie?" He nodded to an older woman who had a whole booth of hot, steaming pies. "The apple one?"

"Ten credits." The woman smiled softly. "Special occasion?" "Kinda." Jason nodded back to her. "I sure appreciate it."

"If you really want to set the occasion, you should run down to my

partner's booth." The woman gestured down the row. "She's the one at the end selling flowers. They can be a bit pricy, but they're well worth it."

"I don't know if I can make that work for the time being." Jason sighed and took the pie, transferring the money to her as he did so. "But this will be well-enjoyed back at home."

The woman smiled and nodded, and with that, Jason struck off down the street. He carefully placed the pie in his inventory, then turned his mind toward the far harder part of his task.

Finding people.

There were a handful of people that they knew who lived in Illumitir. That said, due to the massive size of the city, combined with the terrible nature of the mail system, they hadn't yet been able to meet up with any of them. Jason aimed to change that, though. He quickly made his way

back toward the Allbright District, where, as far as he knew, his parents were still living.

He hadn't seen his parents in person in ages. They had come down to Summer Shandy in his third year there, but that had been a less-than- pleasant experience. They had officially reconciled, and they still exchanged letters regularly, but things had never quite been the same since then. Now, Jason aimed to change that.

He took a public carriage across town, which allowed him to move significantly faster than walking. Even still, it was a good thirty minutes before he came back to Allbright. As he climbed down, he made a mental note to get out before the traffic got bad, or it would be another two-hour trip across town again. Quickly, he struck out down old, familiar roads that he knew from his childhood. The shops were different, the homes were a little different, but... All things considered, it was like stepping back in time, and it made his heart full of longing.

He still remembered exactly where his boyhood home was located. Front Street, House 13964. As he approached the building, a small smile came across his face, and he squared his shoulders and marched up to the door. He lifted his hand to knock, then paused, then drew a deep breath and knocked again.

"Coming!" A familiar voice called out. A moment later, the door swung open, and Jason found himself face-to-face with his mother. "Can I help you?"

"I imagine so." Jason shrugged. "The question is whether or not you can help yourself. I have an excellent life insurance policy I'm selling, and I was hoping you could—"

His mother rolled her eyes and started to swing the door shut, but he leaned forward and placed his foot in the doorframe. She frowned, and he grinned.

"Mom, I'm kidding."

"Mom?" She blinked a few times, and suddenly put her hand over her mouth. "Jason Hunter! It is you! I wondered what had happened to you when I stopped getting mail from down south, but I'd hoped that it was that constable of yours mucking things up again."

"I did send a letter telling you we were coming." Jason held up a finger. "Then I sent several more once I got here, but we've been so busy I haven't been able to follow up in person until now."

"Well, you just get right in here!" His mother snapped. "Where's that wife of yours? Or your kids? I haven't seen... Well, I've never met the twins, and—"

"I actually need to get going. I left the kids alone while I came over here, so I've got to get back to them." Jason apologized. "I just wanted to let you know that we're having a bit of a party tonight, and we wanted to invite you."

"Well, count us in! What's your address?"

Jason gave it to her, then quickly struck out down the street once more. His next destination was in the district just adjacent to Allbright, which was known as Juniper. It was a more spread-out district, where wealthier people tended to live. Houses often had small yards on their rooftops, and were made of smoother stone. As Jason strode down those streets, he was reminded of the jealousy that he had experienced as a child. Growing up in Allbright, he had been far better off than most in the city, but somehow, that hadn't stopped him from being jealous of the people who lived in fancier homes.

In any case, it took him about fifteen minutes to get to a small home (for that area) that was decorated with horseshoes and cattle brands. Jason smiled and knocked on the door, and stood back as a shuffling noise came from within.

"Just a minute! If yer a tax collector, I'll blow you to—" The door swung open, and Jason found himself staring at Jeremiah, who blinked a few times, then grinned.

"Jason! I'd heard that you'd become a no-good sellout, but I'd hoped that I read the letter wrong."

"Nope. You're looking at a no-good sellout." Jason shrugged with a smile. "Now, if you'd be interested, that sellout is having a Summer Festival at 1578 Ash Street."

"What all do you have?" Jeremiah asked, though Jason could see from the smile on his face that he was going to say yes.

"Right now, pie. And probably some food from the Eastern Isles." Jason shrugged.

"My doctor says I can't have pie." Jeremiah scowled.

"Is your doctor going to be at the party?"

A small smile spread across Jeremiah's face. "No, he's not. I'll have

the missus cook up some mashed potatoes, and some corn, and maybe a

pumpkin puree, if you're up for it."

"Absolutely." Jason smiled. "I wouldn't turn it down for the world." "Then I'll see you tonight!"

Jason waved to Jeremiah, then turned and walked away, striding

down the street once more. He had a bit of a spring in his step, and he sighed deeply. This was turning out well, indeed.

And that just meant that there was one more person to ask.

It took him another twenty minutes to ride across town, where he came back to the market street. This time, he made his way to Chang's Restaurant (which, he had learned, was named "Jade Hog"). As he stepped inside, the telltale bell jingled, and Chang poked his head out of the back.

"Jason! What can I do for you?" He folded his hands behind his back. "We don't open for dinner for another two hours, and I thought I mentioned I don't need any more deliveries until next week."

"Yeah, I know all that." Jason nodded. "I just wanted to... To invite you over to our house for a party tonight."

"A party?" Chang's eyes lit up. "What's the reason? Not that you really need a reason, but you know what I mean."

"Just something we did down in Summer Shandy, where I came from." Jason shrugged, and thought for a moment. "They were called festivals, there were four of them every year. Illumitir doesn't have any, so we're going to do one ourselves."

"Hmm. I do have to say, it sounds like fun." Chang beamed. "Count me in. What time?"

"Ahh... What time do you close tonight?"

"I close at 9:00, but I have some staff now who can close out." Chang shrugged.

"Then... 7:00?"

"I'll be there!" Chang beamed. "Thanks, Jason! You have no idea how happy I am that I was almost eaten by that wyrm!"

Jason laughed, and with that, he turned and walked back out of the restaurant. Soon, he arrived back at the house, and unlocked it with a flourish.

"Hi, dad!" Rachel called out. She had her staff raised, and a look of concentration upon her face. Small bursts of light erupted from the staff, all brightly colored, and stuck to the walls up near the meeting point of the wall and the ceiling. "I'm just getting things... prepared."

"Me, too." Fern walked out from the upper landing, and slid down the stair railing to the ground floor. "I think I have everything picked up."

"Well, I have a pie." Jason pulled the pie out of his inventory and set it on the table. "I also have some company coming."

"Company? Yes!" Fern grinned and danced in a circle. "I've been missing people."

"I know." Jason smiled and glanced around. "Where are the twins?"

"Up in their bedroom. They went down for a nap right before you got here." Rachel leaned upon her staff, then sighed. "Thanks, dad. Thanks for putting this on."

"Don't thank me yet." Jason smiled and patted her on the hand. "Let's get through tonight first. Then, we'll see how much fun everyone had, deal?"

Rachel grinned from ear to ear, and gave a nod.

Chapter Eleven: First Day Of Autumn

[Date: 1st Day of Autumn. Time: 6:00 a.m.]

Jason blinked sleep out of his eyes as his alarm went off, and he slowly sat up and shook the cobwebs out of his head. Autmn? It had always been fall before. Still, they had stayed up late the night before, laughing and chatting late into the evening. Jeremiah and his wife had come with far more food than Jeremiah had initially promised. Chang had brought along a good bit of food as well, and Jason's mother had brought a cheesecake. When Tess and Richard had arrived, it turned out that they had bought a cake to surprise Jason with, and... it had been a lovely time.

Now, though, it was a new day, and that meant that Jason had to actually get about his business.

"Morning, Jason." Tess called over to him from their wardrobe. Jason sighed, then slowly rolled out of their bed. He did have to admit, it was nice to have a new bed. Frankly, all their furniture was quite nice, the owner of the furniture store had been overjoyed to find a set of Circle-Z woodwork.

"Morning." Jason yawned. "You're off to the dungeons again?"

"Yup." Tess nodded. "Richard and I have been putting aside some money, and I think we have enough to pay the entry fee to the Diamond Dragon Dungeon."

"That's just north of the city, right?" Jason asked, frowning in thought.

"Yeah. We'll be gone all day, won't be back until late, but that's why it's an affordable price." Tess sighed. "Thanks for watching everything, Jason. Don't worry, you'll be able to go back into the dungeon too, here soon."

"I know." Jason sighed and changed into a tunic. He rather missed changing into overalls, but what could he do? There wasn't much of a need for them in town, to be certain. "I just keep wondering if there's something else we could be doing. You yourself have said that dungeon-delving isn't likely to be sustainable."

"Well, feel free to start looking." Tess shrugged. "I'd say that we have our feet underneath us well enough. See if you can find any jobs that look appealing to you."

Jason nodded slowly, then smiled. "Problem is, I've worked for myself for so long that working for any other boss doesn't sound terribly appealing."

"Well, if you can find a way to work for yourself, know that I'll happily support you." Tess smiled and waved at him. "Well, I've got to be off! Kiss the girls for me."

Jason nodded, and followed Tess out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Richard was waiting by the front door, but the girls and the twins were still passed out. Jason waved to the two warriors, then started cooking some eggs on the stove. He was just about to finish them up when he heard a sharp knock on the door.

"Wonder who that is?" He turned down the flame under the eggs, then walked over to the door and pulled it open. On the other side stood a man in a crisp suit, with a blue feather in his hat that proclaimed him as a member of the Treasury.

"Good morning, and a pleasant start to Autumn." The man bowed, doffing his hat as he did so.

"To you as well." Jason nodded with a smile. "Now, let's see... You're here for the monthly payment on the house?"

"Yes. One hundred and fifty credits." The man confirmed.

"Alright. Give me one moment..." Jason opened up his inventory and spent a moment scrolling. They had about two hundred credits in their account, after Tess and Richard had pulled the money to head up to the dungeon. Hopefully it would be full again that night, but it was hard to know for sure. "Here we go. One fifty."

"Pleasure." The man took the change, then bowed again and walked away. Jason watched him go, then raised a hand.

"Excuse me?"

"Hmm?" The treasury man turned around. "What can I help you with?"

"I was just wondering if you knew where a guy could find a job around here." Jason asked.

"Now that's an interesting question." The man slowly walked back over to him. "Local Enforcement Offices always have bulletin boards that

places can use to advertise, but those are usually the sorts of places you don't want to work at. You know bookwork at all?"

Jason laughed. "I'm more of a hands-on guy."

"Too bad. We have some openings in the Treasure Guild, and trust me, that's a place that'll pay you well." The man shrugged. "The assorted construction guilds, there are three or four of them, are always hiring. Some of them are better than others, mostly it varies by the project, and a lot of the different restaurants are always looking for new waiters. If you're wanting to make a go of things by yourself, I'm afraid you may have a hard time of it."

Jason nodded slowly. "I was afraid of that."

"I'm not saying don't do it, but I would caution you." The man confirmed. "I've seen a whole lot of you farmers coming up into the city. Most of you are about to go crazy from being cooped up all the time, and I can't blame you for it, and you're looking for any way to get back to what you know best. Along with that, I'd say... Over half of them, if I had to guess, have wound up going bankrupt and been evicted."

"Really?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Mmhm. I don't know what the official numbers are, but I'm collecting payments on a whole lot of houses in the city." The man confirmed. "Over half of the houses that I'm visiting, personally, have gone belly-up. Once you hit that point, you're left to try to find refuge in the suburbs, which is no fun for anyone. A few of them have managed to recover, but a lot of them have wound up living with relatives."

"Great." Jason rubbed his jaw. He didn't quite know what to say to that, and nodded. "Well, thanks anyway. I sure appreciate it."

The man doffed his hat and turned to walk away once more. Suddenly, though, he paused, then turned and came back.

"I'm going to regret saying this, I know I will, but I have this nagging feeling that I should mention it." The man sighed. "Are you at all familiar with the Mountain District?"

Jason nodded slowly. "It's just next to this district, right? A smidge toward the city's core?"

"That's right." The man confirmed. "Generally a more well-to-do area, but nothing extraordinary. Most of the residents work in the service industry of some form. There are loads of inns, hotels, restaurants, theaters,

that sort of thing. A lot of them cater to the transient warrior population, but there's a good market for other sorts of travelers."

"Yeah, I remember from when I was a kid." Jason thought back on it. "There was an art museum we used to visit quite a bit."

"Yeah! It's still there. Well..." The man shrugged. "There's an old inn that I just helped repossess last week. It's a wreck, the previous owners really let the place fall apart, so I don't know how we're going to sell it. It's been on the market that whole time, and everyone who's walked through the doors has turned their noses up at it. If we can't sell by the end of the season, I think we'll have to tear it down and rebuild, but that's going to put a bee in a lot of bonnets."

"What are you saying?" Jason frowned.

"What I'm saying is that if you were interested in it, I'm sure we could work some sort of deal." The man pulled a card out of his pocket, then scribbled an address onto the back of it. "I can't give it away for free, but even selling it at a net loss is going to be better than having the Construction Guild, the Commerce Guild, the Tourism Guild, the Restaurant Guild, and half a zillion others breathing down our backs. Go take a look at it, and if you're interested, come have a chat with me. We'll see what we can do."

"I'll give it a whirl." Jason smiled. "Thanks."

As the man walked off into the distance, Jason turned back to the interior of the house. A sleepy-looking Fern was just stepping onto the top of the stairs, and she blinked a few times, trying to clear the sleep from her eyes.

"Alright, girls!" Jason beamed as he shut the door. "I have a plan for

Chapter Twelve: An Offer

[Date: 3rd Day of Autumn. Time: 11:00 a.m.]

"We're thinking about buying this?" Fern screwed up her nose as they slowly walked up to the corner of 53rd Street and Maple Ave. Smack in the heart of the Mountain District, 53rd sloped sharply upward to Jason's right, while Maple wrapped around the side of the rather unique landform that gave the area its name. The old, broken inn (which was standing upright when compared with level ground) almost seemed to lean from the slope. People wandered back and forth, up and down the street, mostly warriors looking about for things to keep themselves busy between dungeons.

"Yup." Jason let his eyes wander over the inn. "It's... It's beautiful."

It was certainly something. Made of wood instead of stone, it was four stories tall, and had a base area about the size of Paulina's store. The windows were mostly cracked and broken, while the paint had long ago peeled away. The steps were broken, the door hung at a slant, it was... Really quite bad.

"Beautiful? Dad, you've gone bonkers." Rachel shook her head.

"Maybe so, maybe so, but your mother is off in the dungeons, which means I can at least go look at it." Jason smiled and slowly walked up the stairs.

"Can we go inside?" Fern asked. She was holding Baby Jason in her arms, and gripped him tighter as the toddler tried to slip down to walk across the broken floor himself.

"I don't know why not." Jason smiled, then grabbed the door and swung it open. As he stepped inside, the smell of dust filled the air, and he coughed slightly. Fern, Rachel (who was holding Baby Tess) and, of course, the twins, quickly slipped inside, and with that, Jason started looking around.

The place was a wreck, that was for sure. A small desk sat just by the entrance, while, behind the desk, a large wall was covered in hooks that would certainly house the keys for all the assorted rooms. Past the desk, to

the left, a hallway opened up to the ground-floor rooms. Right down the middle, a staircase led upward to the second floor, and off to the right, Jason found himself looking at a large dining area. The tables and chairs were in remarkable condition, while the door leading to the kitchen hung at a slight angle.

The floor trembled underneath of him as he slowly walked across the dining area, glancing over everything. He let his fingers trail across one of the tables, then lifted them to find a thick layer of dust staring back at him. He wiped it off on his clothes, then knocked on the top of the table a couple of times.

"These are good and solid."

"Maybe they're Circle-Z." Rachel commented wryly.

Jason frowned as he started to turn away, then turned back and knelt

down. Sure enough, he almost instantly located the telltale brand, and he nodded.

"They are." He breathed softly, slowly standing back up. "Interesting."

"Why is that interesting?" Fern asked. "From what mom told me, Circle-Z was a really common brand throughout the city. I'd guess that just about every business worth its salt had one or two items from the brand."

"Probably true." Jason nodded slowly. "What it means is that this stuff isn't going to be replaced. Or, another possibility is that we could sell it. I'd hate to part with it all, but if we bought this place, turned around, and had a Circle-Z Sale, we could probably raise the funds to put the rest of this together."

"A possibility." Rachel nodded slowly. "I think you'd be better off keeping it. Make it your thing."

"Thing?" Jason turned to her.

"Yeah! Every restaurant in the city has a thing, at least the ones that actually do well, do." Rachel nodded. "Haven't you noticed? They'll be themed, or they'll be a certain color, or a certain style of decoration, or something like that."

"Hmm." Jason nodded slowly. "I hadn't thought about that. A thing. We need a thing." He crossed his arms behind his back, and pushed his way into the kitchen. To his surprise, it actually wasn't nearly as bad as he might have thought. The kitchen back at their home had certainly been far worse,

that was for sure. There was some rust that would need cleaned up, and a bit of mold that would need scoured, but that was really all there was to it.

"Hello?" A voice echoed near the front of the inn. "Is someone in here?"

"We are!" Jason called, then walked back out into the dining area. A man in a flowing, green tunic, not unlike Jason's (although more fancy) had just walked inside, and he looked at Jason in confusion. He had a thick goatee that came down to a point, and eyes that were sharp and piercing. "Sorry, I just spoke to someone from the Treasury Guild this morning who pointed me in this direction."

"No need to apologize. I own the tavern next door, I was asked to keep an eye on the place." He answered, holding out his hand. Jason shook it, and the man smiled. "Name's David. We have problems with people sneaking up in here and doing things outside the boundaries of the law, if you get my meaning." He glanced at Rachel and Fern, not wanting to say more for their young ears, then shrugged. "Or they just want to be stupid and try to rouse the old ghost. Anyway, are you looking at buying this old place?"

"Thinking about it." Jason frowned. "Ghost? What old ghost?"

"Just a tale." David crossed his arms. "The previous owner became convinced that a ghost was haunting this place. That's why he let the inn fall apart. It was really sad, actually. Prior to that, he was an upstanding businessman. He ran a tight joint, had the best Portswain-style food you ever did eat, and was just a nice old guy. Then, one day, a couple warriors got into a fight and stabbed each other in their room. They both died, and were found a few days later. Nasty business. He soon started saying that one of them was haunting the inn, and that's when everything just fell apart."

"One of them?" Fern grinned.

"Ahh, and you're one for ghost stories, I see!" David turned and nodded. "Well, he wasn't sure which one, but in his mind, one of the warriors attacked the other, and the second one defended himself. They both died from their injures, which left the question: Who did it to who? No one knows, and since they were both dead, the police didn't really care. Anyway, the ghost of the one who was attacked, and wrongly killed, is still here. Allegedly."

Jason chuckled. "Now that's quite a story. The Haunted Inn!"

"I'd tell you to go for it, but three other inns, right here in Mountain District, are using that exact same gimmick." David laughed. "Look, if you do wind up buying this place, take my advice. Don't try to make it gimmicky, just be yourself. Everything else will fall into place."

"Can you show me around?" Jason asked.

"'Course! This way are the first-floor rooms." David led him around, past the desk, and into the hallway. "These are the smallest rooms, and usually the cheapest. One bed apiece, a small dresser. Sometimes people rent them for more than one night, but most of the time, they're emergency rooms when people can't find space elsewhere. And back here..." He pointed to a door at the end of the hall. "That leads down to the basement. You're welcome to go down and look, but the gas has been turned off, so you'd better have a light with you. It's mostly just old junk that would need cleaning out, though you might find the odd antique buried in it. He was once quite a collector of old stuff, but sold off just about everything over the last few years."

"You mind me asking a question?" Jason asked, glancing over at David. "Why haven't you bought this place?"

David laughed. "The only thing I do with my hands is count money. I'm smart enough to know that if you could put a bunch of elbow grease into this place, you'd be able to turn a profit. That said, if you had to hire someone else to put their elbow grease into this place, you'll be chasing profits for decades. It's going to take a whole lotta work to get up and running, that's for sure." David grimaced. "And even once you do get it fixed up, you'll need staff, probably a dozen or more. Cooks, good ones, are hard to come by in this city. They all want to work for themselves, not for hotels, and I can't say that I blame them. Then, you've got to keep repairing the place when warriors tear it all apart, and..." He shrugged. "Not my cup of tea, but I was a good friend of Jonathan, so now that he's gone, the least I can do is keep a watch over his estate."

Jason puffed out his cheeks, then nodded. "Can you show me the upper floors?"

"For sure! The second and third floors are you average rooms. Nothing extraordinary about them, but nothing terrible, either." David started up the stairs. "Then, you have the fourth floor. Those are the suits. There are four of them, and if you can get them fixed up, they're nice. I stayed in one, once, with my wife, and it was spectacular."

Jason nodded with a smile as he slowly walked up the stairs, enjoying the tour. It certainly had potential... The only question was whether or not Tess would agree.

Later that evening, he got his answer.

"You want to what?" Tess almost snorted water across the table. She wound up choking for several seconds, and Richard whacked her on the back. When she had finally recovered herself, she stared at Jason in horror. "You want to buy an inn?"

"Why not?" Jason shrugged. "We'd be our own bosses again, and I can handle fixing the place. I've been patching this place up, so as long as you and Richard can keep pulling a profit from the dungeons, we shouldn't have any problems making it through until we can open for business."

"Jason, I just want to point something out to you." Tess held up a finger. "You know nothing about running an inn."

"How hard can it be?" Jason crossed his arms. "You just stand behind a desk and hand people keys when they give you money."

"Oh, come on. You know it's more than that." Tess sighed and shook her head. "I don't think it's a good idea. I mean, what would we do with this place? There's no way we could afford both properties at the same time."

"No, but I imagine we could sell this place and move into the inn." Jason shrugged. "we could fix up one of the suits for our own personal use, at least for the time being."

"Jason, I don't like it." Tess shook her head. "There's too much risk."

"And you going into the dungeons isn't a risk?" Jason snapped. "I go into the dungeons just to try and keep my head about me. It's a good way to blow off steam, and I have to say, it's nice enough, but it's also dangerous. I'm going nuts being stuck in here, and you always going and fighting for a living isn't really all that much better."

"I'm earning money." Tess crossed her arms. "We spent a thousand credits to get into the Diamond Dragon Dungeon, and earned fifteen hundred back."

"And what are you going to do with that money?" Jason snapped. "Turn around and invest it back in the dungeons again?"

"We're heading to the Northern Wyrm Dungeon tomorrow." Tess nodded. "It'll be even more—"

"So you're just going to work your way higher and higher up the ladder until you wind up getting maimed or killed." Jason scowled. "You, yourself, have said that you don't think dungeon-delving is—"

"I still think it's better than opening an inn!" Tess shook her head. "And what do we do about staff?"

"We hire."

"And a cook? From the story you just told me, David said that good cooks are almost impossible to find."

Jason sighed. "Look, I'm just saying that it's an option. Outside of that, unless we can go find a farm somewhere, I don't see any other good option."

"Keep looking." Tess crossed her arms. "And that's final."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "And here, I thought we were a team." "We are." Tess didn't flinch away. "And sometimes, one member of

a team has to tell the other that something isn't going to work. If you go down, we go down, too."

"That stays true for our current path." Jason crossed his arms. "Tess, please."

He lowered his voice, and suddenly realized that everyone at the table was looking at them. Fern and Rachel looked scared, the twins looked hungry (since the others had stopped feeding them), and Richard looked awkward.

"And this is why parents don't often live with their married children." Richard pushed his chair back and slowly stood up. "I'll... Ahh... I'll be in my loft. Girls? Why don't you come with me. I learned a really cool game today, and I think you'll like it."

"I don't mean to make everyone run from the table." Tess stood up. "Everyone else, keep eating. I'll be in my room."

With that, she stalked off, and Jason sighed. He didn't say a word, but slowly stabbed another bite of food and lifted it to his mouth. He felt miserable, to be certain, but what else could he do? He wasn't going to go against Tess, but...

But he was going nuts being stuck in the house all the time. He needed to find some sort of an outlet, which meant... well... He was just going to have to keep coming up with arguments to convince Tess it was a good idea.

Chapter Thirteen: Ultimatum

[Date: 9th Day of Autumn. Time: 9:15 a.m.]

"Morning, Chang! Just us." Richard called out as he and Jason walked through the front door of the Jade Hog.

"Ahh! Good morning!" Change came out of the back, a smile on his face. "Let's see... How long of a list do you want today?"

"The more you give us, the more we can bring back." Richard answered. "As always, if you wind up making the list too long, we'll just not bring back all of it."

"I'll do my best not to do that." Chang held out a list. "Here you go. The top of the list is the most important. There's a traditional fall dish that uses a sauce that can only truly be made with nuts from particular dungeons. I know the Red Leaf Dungeon has some of them, though I can't speak for any others. They're not uncommon, I just know that's a place where they can be found."

"I'll check it out." Richard smiled and folded the list. "Many thanks, as usual."

"Right back at you." Chang turned back, then glanced at Jason. "How have you been? It's been a few weeks. Well, maybe just one week. Since the party, anyway. Hope you've been alright."

"I've been okay." Jason nodded. "We'll have this back to you."

"Just okay?" Chang shook his head. "No! No, just okay is never good. Here, have a dumpling, and tell me what's going on."

"Just a bit of a lover's spat." Richard shook his head as Chang passed over several small dumplings. "Trust me, I've been stuck inside it for the last week, and it's not something you want to get in the middle of."

"Oh, really? I've had those before! Never with a wife, I'll admit." Chang crossed his arms. "Talk! That's the best way to get these things out."

Richard groaned, but Jason simply sighed.

"I want to be working for myself again. I found an opportunity, the best chance we're going to get to own our own business in this city, but Tess thinks it's too risky."

"Women are good about gauging risk." Chang pointed out. "Ask yourself: How risky was it to date you? That'll give you a good idea of how much they're willing to risk in anything else."

Richard burst out laughing, and Jason rolled his eyes.

"What? I'm serious. Now, what's this business proposal?" Chang pressed. "I'm an uninterested third party. Tell me what it is, and I'll tell you whether or not it's a good idea."

Jason shrugged. "I want to buy an old inn, and open it up for business again."

"Terrible idea! If you do that, you won't be able to keep getting ingredients for me." Chang grinned. "Totally disinterested opinion, right there for you."

Richard laughed again, and Jason rolled his eyes.

"Wait!" Chang held up a hand. "Does this inn have a kitchen?" "Yes." Jason nodded.

"Are you, by any chance, looking for an expert chef?"

"I would be." Jason nodded, feeling a smile grow across his face. "Perfect! Then I think it's an excellent idea, and you can't go wrong.

Provided, of course, that the inn gets to be the official home of the Jade Hog." Chang held up a finger. "And, of course, I would still need to be my own boss. Rent the space, you see. Another totally disinterested opinion."

Richard leaned forward. "Have you been up to Mountain District?"

"Yeah! I caught a show up there just..." Chang suddenly went pale. "Wait. You want to buy that place! No, sir. One final disinterested opinion: Run. Haunted places are nothing to mess with."

"You believe in ghosts?" Jason snorted.

"Hey. Do you know absolutely everything there is to know about our reality? They fight ghosts in the dungeons all the time."

"Yeah, system-generated ghosts." Jason pointed out.

"And it was a warrior who was killed." Chang shrugged. "Who knows what sort of skill or contagion or something he might have picked up?"

"Fair enough." Jason frowned. "I just... I don't know."

"Look, I get it." Chang sighed. "I used to work in a fry kitchen over on the other side of Illumitir. When I was able to save up enough to buy my own place, it was a dream come true! So I totally understand, but... Don't jump at the first opportunity you see just because it's there."

"Did you?" Jason countered.

"Duh."

"And have you regretted it?"

"Not in the slightest!" Chang declared. Richard shot him a look, and

Chang stuttered. "I mean... Of course. The shades are all the wrong color, and the floor plan? Bleh! I totally bought a lemon here. Probably have to sell out and go back to that fry kitchen. Which wouldn't have happened if I had just listened to the people around me."

"Chang!" One of Chang's workers stepped in. "Sorry to bother you, but we just got the news that our rating came back! We're officially certified as three stars by the Restaurant Guild, as of this morning! We're on the way up!"

Chang sighed, and Jason scowled at him.

"Look, the one thing I do know is that it's not worth making cracks in the home. I'm not married, so if I go belly up and end up on the streets, who cares? No one else. No kids, no wife, no one of consequence. That said, I remember my own parents fighting, and it was not something that I enjoyed." Chang shrugged and started to walk back into the kitchen. "I've got to go polish some stars to put on the front window. You do whatever you need to do, but keep in mind that a happy wife means a happy life!"

Jason sighed as he slowly walked back out onto the street. Richard glanced over at him, and the older warrior gave a small nod.

"He's right, you know."

"And you'd know." Jason scowled at him. "You listened to your wife and gave Tess up for adoption."

"That's not exactly how it went, but..." Richard sighed. "Yes. That said, we're not talking about children. We're talking about a business venture."

"I know, I just—"

"Jason?" Richard turned and put a hand on Jason's shoulder. "I'll speak with Tess, I promise, but please know that arguing about it isn't the way that things are going to be solved. Let's say that you go ahead and convince her to start this business venture. If you're divided, every single issue, every single bump, it's all going to drive wedge after wedge after wedge between the two of you. That's not fair for your kids, and it's not fair to Tess."

"So what do I do?" Jason crossed his arms.

"Go crazy." Richard flashed a small smile. He slowly turned and started walking down the street once more. "Not that I'm a great expert on the subject, as my many failures will attest to, but one thing I do know is that, down in the dungeons, I had to be ready to take a bullet for my wife at any moment. I had to be ready to stand in the way of dragon claws, boulders, lava, anything that might have harmed her. You don't have the flashy job of warrior, but you do have a chance to take that attack for her. Find a good job, a steady job, and even if you hate it, you'll still be providing for your family. Tess can leave the dungeons and stay with the kids, and it'll all be for the best."

Jason puffed out his cheeks. "I don't like it."

"I know." Richard nodded forward. "Well, we're almost to the dungeon ground. Which one of these dungeons do you want to do first?"

Jason thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "Can you handle the list by yourself?"

"In my sleep." Richard nodded. "Why?"

"Because I'm going to go check on some things." Jason let out a long breath. He looked down longingly at his pistol and sword, then slowly put them back into his inventory. "I'll see you at home tonight?"

"Deal." Richard smiled. "I think you're making the right decision." "You don't know what I'm doing." Jason countered.

"No, but I can see your eyes, and I can see that you hate it, so I'm

going to assume that it's the right one." Richard turned to walk away. "Catch you this evening!"

Jason watched his father-in-law walking off, then slowly turned and looked around. He found the Enforcement office only a couple blocks away, and quickly walked over to them. As he knocked on the door and stepped up inside, he found a mostly-empty waiting room, with clerks mostly looking bored.

"Looking for help, or for a job?" One of them called out to him. "Job." He called back.

"You one of those drought-fleers?"

Jason chuckled. "I hate to put it like that, but yeah."

"Then you'd better look over there." The man pointed off to Jason's left. "All sorts of available positions, mostly with an agricultural bend. Some of them require travel, only a few are manual labor, but those are the ones we've put together that you guys seem to be the most interested in.

There are more jobs on that wall, right there." He pointed to another location, then went back to looking at his interface. Jason nodded, then approached the wall. Quickly, he started to scan through things, looking over the assorted jobs.

"Let's see here..." He murmured. "Street sweeping... Whitewashing... Carriage Mending..."

His eyes swept over the list, which was, indeed, quite extensive. Most were jobs in the service and construction industry, either repairing, cleaning, fixing, or tearing down things around the city. He did have to admit that the thought of knocking down buildings was a fun one, though the practical side of him told him that it was less likely to involve cannons and explosives and more likely to involve pickaxes, a great deal of caution, and loads of paperwork if anything went wrong.

"Come on, come on." He whispered. "Anything on a farm?"

It took him a minute, but he did soon find a few jobs listed on farms outside the city. There were only three: A vegetable garden, a pumpkin patch (how exactly someone earned a living with nothing but a pumpkin patch, Jason didn't know), and a hog farm. Jason bit his lip, then selected those three and walked up to the counter.

"Could you possibly tell me the availability of these?"

The man looked up and squinted, then nodded.

"Yeah, for sure! The vegetable one got filled this morning. Sorry,

meant to take it down, just been busy. Ahh... The pumpkin patch one... That looks open to me. Want to apply?"

"Yes." Jason nodded.

"Great! Do you have a resume with you?"

Jason paused. "A what?"

The man sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's a document that tells what

you're good at doing. Helps them know if you're a good match or not. For example, this says that they're looking for..." His voice trailed off, and he scratched the back of his neck. "Hmm. Probably should have looked at that closer. Right here, it says that the pumpkin patch is only looking for teenagers, preferably females, to assist as guides. They're looking for people with a public relation background, not an agricultural one. I should probably move that."

Jason groaned, then slowly looked down at the last add.

"Hilda's Hogs." He bit his lip. "And... what... Is this one good?"

"Ahh... Yup! And hey, it looks like they don't require a resume!" The man smiled. "Do you want me to schedule an interview for you?"

"Yes." Jason nodded. "As early as possible."

"Tomorrow?"

"Do it."

A few minutes later, Jason slowly walked out the door. He had an

interview... For a hog farm. It wasn't what he wanted, but it was good enough, he supposed. He had a family to support, and if this was the way he did it... Then it was a blow he would just have to take.

Chapter Fourteen: Adapting To Change

[Date: 10th Day of Autumn. Time: 10:00 a.m.]

Jason paused as he slowly approached the entrance of the hog farm. A bright sign over the entrance announced it as "Hilda's Hogs," while berry bushes planted next to the lane made it appear rather bright and lovely. Of course... Jason couldn't actually see any of the hogs. There were a number of large buildings scattered about the property, which was located in the suburbs just outside the city, but he didn't see a single pig anywhere. Each of the odd buildings was long and narrow, nothing like a barn that he was used to seeing, and seemed to be entirely enclosed. It was so odd, but then... Illumitir was just a bit odd, so what could he do?

Squaring his shoulders, he marched up the lane toward the small office building located near the entrance. It was plain and painted white, and only a small sign next to the door gave him any indication that it was the rancher's house. He marched up the steps and carefully knocked, and a moment later, the door swung open.

"Well, come right in! You must be Jason Hunter!" The woman answering the door was likely Hilda, he decided. She was a rather large woman, not fat, but certainly heavyset. Red hair hung in a thick ponytail down her back, while she wore a rough tunic splattered with dirt. It certainly seemed like she was no stranger to work, which was a good thing, as far as Jason was concerned.

"That's me." Jason smiled and stepped inside. Hilda quickly stepped around behind a small desk and sat down, and Jason took his seat opposite of her. "It's good to meet you."

"Good to meet you, Jason. I'm always on the lookout for new workers, especially ones that look like they'll stick around for awhile."

Warning bells began to ring in the back of Jason's mind. "Do people often not stick around here for long?"

Hilda shrugged. "Oh, you know how people are. Hog farming isn't like your soft, easy dirt farming. Have you ever done any of that? Pathetically easy, practically soft living like the rich folks in the upper districts of the city."

Jason puffed out his cheeks. "That's how I used to make my living, actually."

"Dirt farming!" Hilda laughed. "Well, I sure am sorry, then. Don't take things too personal around here. Lots of folk say lots of stuff, and you just have to roll with it. You cool with that?"

"I don't know that I have a choice." Jason forced a smile, even as his stomach churned. "Now, you were saying?"

"Oh! Right. Anyway, it's just a hard job." Hilda shrugged. "You get a lot of kids looking for their first job who think they can come work a few quick hours here and there, get to see some cute little pigs, and then run at the first signs of trouble. Then, you have the ones who snuck into Illumitir from other areas. You've got to have papers if you're coming from Portswain, you know, and a lot of folks don't bother. Now, those guys have families to take care of, and when the law starts sniffing, they'll run! Gone in the blink of an eye. 'Cause of all that, it's hard to find people who'll actually stick around. You look like a guy who will, though."

"I've got a family." Jason admitted, and slowly folded his arms. "My wife and I had a barn. Actually, it was the famous one that Johan built, if you've heard of it."

Hilda frowned, then suddenly blinked in surprise. "You're that Jason Hunter? I never thought I'd see the day when Jason Hunter, owner of Johan's Barn, walked through my door looking for a job. You've got to tell me all about that barn. I need sketches, descriptions, everything."

"I'll get it for you." Jason laughed, despite himself. "Anyway, I was just saying that I've worked with hogs before. I'll admit that they're not my favorite animal in the world, but I'm not unfamiliar with them. In any case, farming's all I've done for the last fifteen years of my life, and prior to that I was just in school and things, so... I need to be on a farm. One way or another."

"Well, then, you've come to the right place." Hilda nodded. "You're hired."

"Just like that?" Jason slowly stood up.

"Well, if you turn out to be bad at it, I'll just fire you. Don't worry, you'll get paid for the time you were here. Pay comes up to 10 credits per hour. I'd ordinarily schedule you for eight hours a day, but I might ask you to work longer, here and there." Hilda answered a bit more nonchalantly than Jason might have liked. "Now, you might have done hobby pigs, but are you familiar at all with good, mean old production hogs?"

"Not one bit."

Hilda nodded, then rose and poked her head out a back door. She whistled sharply, and a huge, burly man stalked over. He looked rather like what Jason imagined most criminals might look like, covered in scars and tattoos, and he wore a shirt with the sleeves cut off. How... Immodest.

"Hey! Lardo, this is Jason. Jason, this is Lardo, he's my manager."

"Got some new meat?" Lardo chuckled. His voice was deep, but he seemed kind enough at first glance. "Hey! You worked with hogs before?"

"I'm told that I'm in for a treat." Jason chuckled.

"Treat! That's a word for it." Lardo shook his head. "Alright, then! Let's show you the ropes."

He turned and walked out, and Jason followed. The door slammed shut behind him, and Lardo crossed his arms.

"Alright, Jason, here's the deal. To get started on the farm, you've got to know the pecking order. You don't get that down, you don't float here. Got it?"

"Got it." Jason nodded. "Fire away."

"At the top is Hilda. She makes the rules. She doesn't follow many of them. Never call her out on it if you want to keep your job, and never break one if you want to keep your limbs." Lardo chuckled. "Second is me. I follow the rules that I know are important, and I break the ones I know are just to keep people in line. You can ask me why I'm doing something if you truly want to learn the job, otherwise keep your trap shut. On down the line, you have seniority based on how long you've been working here. For you, just assume everyone has seniority. If someone gets hired after you, then great! Now you have someone to boss around. Get it?"

"I think so." Jason frowned.

"Perfect. Now..." Lardo turned to the barns. "There are five barns on the property. They're labeled one through five, starting near the office and running counter-clockwise. Barns one and two are for little pigs. Barns three, four, and five are for big pigs. Got it?"

"Got it." Jason nodded.

"Perfect. Now, production hogs are extremely sensitive to disease. When you go to work for the day, you never, ever enter a barn number lower than one you've already been in. Once you set foot in Barn 2, Barn 1 is entirely off-limits until the next morning." Lardo crossed his arms. "That's the one and only rule Hilda will never break, so it's one you'd never break either. If a city inspector saw someone violate it, we'd get shut down before you could say oops. Understand?"

"Yes." Jason confirmed.

"Perfect! Then we'll wrap things up. I just came from Barn 3, so that's where we'll start."

Lardo quickly led the way back up to Barn 3, which stood at the top of the property. It stank terribly as they approached, and Jason wrinkled his nose. As Lardo pulled the door open and let Jason step inside, he quickly found out why.

The barn was... in a word... Disgusting. There was a single alley, hardly wide enough for a person to walk down, that ran the length of the barn. On either side were long pens of pigs, crammed to the gills with enormous, slobbery hogs. Each one had to have been a good 200 pounds, and many had long tusks poking up from their lower jaws. Feeding troughs were placed in the fences between their pens, so they only needed half as many troughs as pens. Long tubes ran the length of the barn, dumping feed straight into said feeders, a system almost identical to the one in Jason's own barn.

And, of course, everything was covered in dung. The floor, the fences, the walls, and the pigs themselves.

The floor, oddly enough, was made of slats, and as Jason looked down, he thought he saw water below. He frowned slightly, and Lardo nodded.

"So, that's what the new recruits do, mostly. Pigs eat a lot, and here in Illumitir, we don't have the space to run them in the pastures. All that waste has to go somewhere, so it goes down below. I know it doesn't look like it, but trust me, most of it does wind up going down in there!"

"So I'm going to be cleaning?" Jason turned to him, amazed (and a bit horrified).

"When we don't need you cleaning, you'll be doing odd jobs. Today, you'll follow me, and I'll show you around." Lardo answered.

"Now, tomorrow we have a load-out. Pigs get run up onto the wagons and shipped out, which takes place about 4:00 in the morning. They're leaving from Barn 4. You'll start there, cleaning out the empty pens. It takes one person about a day's work to finish scrubbing... Oh, I'd say about four pens. There are sixteen pens per barn, so four days of cleaning for each barn."

"Got it." Jason nodded slowly. "I'll get it done."

"Great! Because that's how long you'll have." Lardo clapped a hand on his shoulder. "As soon as you get one barn clean, we move little pigs from one of the smaller barns up into their place, and you get to cleaning their old pens. About the time you finish that, we'll load out another of the larger barns, and the process continues. We've got a tight operation here. Pigs grow from piglets to full hogs in twenty days, and fatten up in another thirty. Ten-day rotations, that's what we're on. It's crazy, and there's never a break, but it's good work and consistent pay, if you can stick with it."

"Do I get days off?" Jason asked, hoping for a bit.

"Pick one! Most folks take Sunday, but we've got a few folks that chose other days here and there." Lardo started making his way down the rows of pens, glancing into them. "Now, every now and again we might have to call you for a load out, or beg you to do something else. If that happens, just give it your best, and watch out for those tusks."

As if in response to his words, a particularly large hog charged the bars of the pen and slammed into the metal, sending a resounding crash through the air. Jason jumped, and Lardo chuckled.

"They can sense weakness, you know. Never let them see it."

Jason sighed as he looked across the hogs, then squared his shoulders.

He had a family to feed. If this was how he did it, then... So be it.

Chapter Fifteen: Minor Changes

[Date: 25th Day of Autumn. Time: 1:00 p.m.]

"Put your back into it, Hunter!" Hilda called out as she stalked through the barn. "There, that's it! Scrape! Scrub! Get 'er clean!"

Jason gritted his teeth as he pushed down with the scraper, desperately chiseling away at the layers of caked pig dung that had been building up over the previous several weeks. He had never liked pigs, and now... well... It was no exaggeration to say that he was growing to absolutely detest them. The dung was caked on so thick and so hard that it was difficult to say what was wood and what was manure. He raised the scraper and began angrily whacking the dung with it, sending chips flying.

"Whoa, there." Lardo walked in through the barn, just in time to see the fit of rage. "That's how you break things."

Jason sighed, then wiped dung off his face and slowly rose. "I know, I know. Sorry, just getting frustrated."

"It's a lot. Honestly, you've stuck with it longer than most folks do." Lardo chuckled. "Grab that brush."

Jason turned to a bucket of soap suds nearby. He pulled a long brush out of it, and went back to scrubbing the softer layers of dung, pushing it down through the slats of the floor into the miasma below.

"There. Spend a few minutes on that, take a breather, and then you can get back to the granite stuff." Lardo smiled. "If you need more force, grab the hammer and chisel from the end of the barn. That scraper's delicate, and if it does break, it explodes into little slivers. I once saw a real nice worker, a tribal guy from the western mountains, who lost an eye when he lost his temper and splintered the thing. I'd sure hate to see something similar happen to you."

"I appreciate the tip." Jason continued to scrub, and Lardo thunked toward the door at the other end. A moment later, he was gone, and Jason was left alone once more.

Most of the time, he worked alone. Other people popped in and out, but since he was always working in the barns where there weren't any pigs,

there was no real need for anyone to enter unless they were trying to take a secret smoke break, or to check up on him. It was a solitary job, and one that was making his heart heavy.

Of course... He had been solitary before. Out on the prairie, he often enough rode across the fields with no one to talk to for hours at a time, but at least he had been able to see things. He could feel the wind upon his face, feel the sunlight on his skin, smell the flowers, and more. Now, all he could feel was manure, all he could see was manure, and all he could smell was... much of the same.

"Come on, Jason. If all you do is put yourself through this, if all you do is focus on the bad, then your mind will turn into the same as all this." Jason shoved the brush back into the bucket, then walked down to the end of the barn and grabbed the hammer and chisel. Returning, he knelt down and began to work quickly and methodically, slamming his way through great layers of the grime. A few slivers of the hardened gunk sliced his cheek, but most of it fell down between the slats, landing with sickening splashes below. "Think of your daughters. Think of Milligan. Think of Richard and Tess."

He did his best, and his mind wandered back to Summer Shandy, to his home and the barn, and to his lush fields. For a moment, he started to feel sad... And then, with all his might, he turned his mind away from the darkness.

"No. Summer Shandy was happy, and I'm going to keep it that way." Jason closed his eyes for a moment, and a smile came across his face. "Why don't I imagine how Daniel would have cleaned this mess up?"

That much, at least, was easy. Daniel would have done any number of things! He might have thrown a cannonball at the floor, cleaning up the manure, but also smashing a hole clean through the floor (or the walls). He might have simply grabbed the floor and ripped it up, or swung his sword to generate some sort of effect that blasted it all off in a single blow! The thought made Jason laughed, and he decided to pursue the line of thought.

Hmm... Jeremiah would almost certainly have gone and purchased some sort of questionably legal chemical that would have burned the manure right away. It might have caused the next batch of pigs to grow extra legs or wings or something, but it would have gotten the job done! Richard and Tess would have just buckled down and gotten the job done, though their skills and strength would have made it a far faster job. Who

else was there? Milligan could have bred a plant to do the cleaning for him... Hank would have hired someone else to do the job (or just ignored it until it was impossible to get any more pigs into the barn because the manure had grown so thick). Johan would have built a better system.

A smile came over his face, and he sighed in contentment. Suddenly, he blinked as he realized that he had come to the end of the pen, and he slowly stood up. Of the four pens he had been slated to clean that day, he had one left. Each pen required cleaning the feed trough, the floor, the walls, and the fence. The floor was the hardest and took the longest, and, being lower than the others, had to be done last. Jason drew in a deep breath, then started in on the fence, scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing.

"Your name is Mr. Jason, correct? Do you know something?"

The voice came from just down the barn, and Jason glanced over sharply to see a man leaning against a wooden beam. He was a slender man who looked to have been in more than a few fights over the years. Jason had seen him working around the farm now and again, but didn't know his name. The man pulled out a small pipe and started to load it, and Jason raised his eyebrow.

"What I do know is that smoking in the barns is against regulation, and the last guy that Lardo caught got sent packing."

"Yeah, that guy was smoking in the barn while there were still pigs in it, when an inspector was in the area." The man shrugged and struck a match. "No inspector, no pigs, no Lardo. Besides, he's already been in this barn, so he can't come back in."

"Just know I warned you." Jason chuckled and went back to scrubbing.

"Understood." The man let out a cloud of smoke, then chuckled. "Anyway, what I was saying is that I've never seen someone scrubbing pens with a smile on their face. Usually they're just clocking their time until enough people above them get fired that they can move up to a better job."

"Honestly?" Jason gritted his teeth as he started scrubbing at a knot in the wood. "I hate pigs. I'd rather clean pens then deal with them any day."

"Then that makes you twice as much of an enigma to me." The man held out his hand. Jason glanced pointedly at his own, rather disgusting hands, but the man insisted anyway. "Name's Desmond. I've been here almost two years now, and you're something different."

"I've had a lot of people tell me that over the years." Jason went back to scrubbing. "Yet here I am, scrubbing pig pens."

"You have a family?"

Jason nodded. "Four kids, my wife, and then my father-in-law lives with us, too."

"Hmm." Desmond raised an eyebrow. "A woman who's good enough for a man who can scrub pigs pens while smiling, must truly be amazing."

"She's the reason why I can smile here." Jason chuckled and shook his head. "Ahh... She's something else. Now she loves pigs."

"Do tell." Desmond smiled warmly and took another draw on his pipe.

"Back down south, we had a few of them. In wintertime..." Jason chuckled. "There was the one time, a couple years back, when one of them escaped the barn. Smashed right through a panel of wood, which was quite a feat considering the quality of my barn, and spent all night running around in the snow. When we woke up in the morning, the thing was frozen and half-dead on our doorstep. I figured I knew what I was making for dinner that night, but not Tess."

"She saved it?" Desmond raised an eyebrow.

"She did. Brought it inside, warmed it up, and gave it a bed. The thing didn't move all day." Jason shook his head. "And then, that night, it finally perked up. Came back to life. I get woken up, at midnight, to hear the worst squealing you ever did hear! It's crashing around our living room, smashing everything. I think for sure I know what I'm making for dinner, but once again, Tess makes me calm it down, wrap it up in a blanket, and carry it back out to the barn."

Desmond shook his head as he finished his pipe and tucked it back into his shirt. "Well, thank you for that, Mr. Jason. It will keep a smile on my face while I go get beaten up in Barn 5 for the rest of the afternoon."

"Glad I can help!"

Jason shook his head as Desmond walked out of the barn and vanished into the distance. A moment later, Lardo poked his head into the other end of the barn and sniffed. He couldn't set foot inside, but he could smell the smoke, and his eyes narrowed. Jason waved at him, and he nodded back before he vanished. Jason chuckled at the close call, then slowly returned to his scrubbing.

If he could put a smile on someone's face in this place, then... well... Even if it was disgusting, and he hated every second of it, he supposed that it was worth it.

Perhaps he could bring a bit of Summer Shandy joy to Illumitir, after all.

Chapter Sixteen: Suprising Visitor

[Date: 36th Day of Autumn. Time: 7:00 p.m.]

Jason winced as he slowly walked down the street. His bones ached, and all around him, people gave him a wide berth. He stank, and he knew it, but there wasn't much to be done about that. A moment later, he arrived at their front door, and carefully knocked.

"Mom! Daddy's home!" Fern called from the other side. She swung the door inward, and Jason smiled and slowly walked up and into the house. As was the usual, a large blanket was spread across the floor, and he quickly stepped onto the middle of it and held out his arms. Fern quickly raised her staff, and Rachel came running up from the other side.

"Me, too!"

"Careful now." Jason raised a manure-covered eyebrow. "I still want to have hair when this is all done."

"Don't worry, daddy!" Rachel laughed. "That won't happen! Probably."

Jason scowled at her, and both of their staves began to glow. A warm air whipped up around him, and he held his breath.

It was a simple routine that they had developed. Since all Jason did every day was scrub pens, his return home was always one that overwhelmed the nostrils of everyone else. As a result, Tess always made sure that the shower was open for him, while the two girls stripped most of the gunk off him at the door. The wind whirled faster and faster, forming a vortex that sucked the majority of the manure crust, as well as the dirt that had accumulated in his hair, up and into the air. Within seconds, a large ball of dust hovered in the air above his head, and he smiled and staggered out toward the stairs.

"I'll catch you in a few!"

Fifteen minutes later, Jason had showered and changed clothes, the ball of pig dust had been removed and cast into the alley behind their house (what their neighbors thought about it, Jason didn't have a clue), and they

all sat down at the table. The twins were already in bed by that time, and Rachel held her stomach dramatically.

"I'm so hungry!"

"You didn't have to wait for me." Jason commented.

"Ahh, yes we did." Tess countered as she set out the last of the food.

It was something odd, a number of flat, circular pieces of bread that could be folded around a variety of meats, beans, and vegetables. Tess grabbed one of them and started heaping it with lettuce, onions, and peppers, while the girls mostly put on cheese. Jason selected meat and beans, and sighed in contentment as he bit into the meal. "I hope you like it. It's a new recipe."

"It's delicious." Jason nodded. "Where's it come from?"

"Portswain, I think." Tess shrugged. "Or thereabouts. I dunno." She laughed. "Seems like the only food I can't find in Illumitir is food from this area! All the traditional food from Summer Shandy is too boring, I guess. Not that I mind food from the east or the north or the south or whatever, but like... Seriously, I can't find a vendor anywhere that will just sell me the stuff for a good old pot roast, or fried chicken, or anything like that."

"Well, it's good, and it's keeping our bellies full, so I'm not going to complain all that hard." Jason nodded his head forcefully. "Thank you, Tess."

"Why don't you tell us all about your day, daddy?" Rachel looked over at him.

"Oh, you know. I scrubbed pig pens. Nothing too interesting." Jason chuckled. "I was working on cleaning out the pens for the smaller pigs today. They're easier, since the food the piglets eat is a bit more palatable to them, I'd say, but it's also a lot more goopy."

"Please, I'm eating beans right now." Richard snorted.

"Really? The warrior who's told me about disemboweling cave trolls is grossed out by pig poop?" Jason laughed.

"Hey, I wasn't eating when I killed that thing." Richard held up a finger.

"Well, why don't you tell me all about your day?" Jason asked.

"It was so much fun!" Fern bounced up and down. "Mommy took us to a park!"

"A park?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "Where at?"

"There's a really nice one over in the Dungeon District." Tess smiled. "It's set up like a little dungeon. It's not a dungeon at all, but it has a

sand pit that looks like a snake trap, and it has walls you can climb over, and these wooden monsters you can pretend to fight, and there were some slides and swings and things like that."

"Yeah! It was great!" Rachel grinned. "And even better, mommy thinks she can start teaching us school again!"

"Really?" Jason spun to Tess in amazement. "How? I thought books were going to be way too expensive, even on my new salary."

"They were, except that I found a homeschool group in the area." Tess paused for a moment as she finished chewing a bite of food. "I'd heard about it the last time I was in Illumitir, but at the time I didn't bother joining since I wasn't planning on staying here long. There's a coalition of homeschool parents across the city, they share and swap books and things, it's really nice. The wealthier folks want to buy everything new anyway, and then they sell it at a discount to the less wealthy folks, and then they sell it at a larger discount to the next level down, and so on. I asked some questions, and we'll be able to get pretty much everything I need for next to nothing. Even better, they do periodic meet-ups, both to allow the kids to meet and play, and to allow the parents to discuss teaching methods and all sorts of other things like that. It's quite well-known and respected in the city, and even though it isn't exclusive or anything, kids who come out the other side of it are often given preferential treatment in job placement because it's just known to be that good."

"Wow." Jason smiled at her. "I'm glad you found that. You've been itching to get back into things."

"Yeah." Tess smiled back. "I have been."

"Hey." Rachel elbowed Fern in the side. "Mom and Dad are going to get gross and lovely. Let's leave!"

Both girls excused themselves and ran off, and Jason laughed. He looked after them for a moment, then sighed.

"I feel like they're starting to act like kids again."

"Sending them off to the mage academy... It was good, and necessary in a lot of ways, but it made them both feel like they had to grow up a lot faster than either of them were ready to do." Tess agreed. "When we moved here, they were ready to help out with everything, and they did so well, but... Now that you've taken this job, and I can get back to just being a mom, they're really settling into it well."

"Then I'm glad I could do it." Jason reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. Richard turned rather red, then nodded and rose.

"I'll be in my loft if you need me."

He quickly walked off, and Jason leaned back into his chair. He tapped the arms of his chair, and Tess frowned.

"I know you hate the job."

"Ahh, I don't hate it." Jason shook his head.

"Detest?"

Jason laughed.

"Revile?"

"Ahh..." Jason searched for the right word. "I... find it to be

undesirable."

"Well, I'm glad you're at it." Tess gave his hand a squeeze. "Just

know that I'll go right back to the dungeons if you want time with the kids instead."

"No, you're the one who needs to do it. I like being around the kids all the time, but I was just going nuts when I was the one watching them." Jason shook his head. "In an ideal world, I could work in a place where we could all be together most of the time. Given that that's not an option, I'll settle for being the one to make sure that you can do what needs to be done. You did all their homeschool back on the farm. You're the one who can actually get all the dust off the countertops."

"Well, just know that I appreciate your sacrifice, and that it's doing a lot of good for the rest of us." Tess gasped as Rachel jumped off the upper landing, only for Fern to catch her with a pulse of energy, slowly levitating her down to the floor. "Can I be honest about something?"

"Of course."

"When I was going back into those dungeons... It was terrifying." Tess shook her head. "There was a time when it was exciting. It was the thrill of the fight, never knowing if you were going to come back out alive or not. This time, it was just awful. It wasn't my own life on the line, it was our kids, it was you, it was... It was too much. I was doing it because that was the only way we could make money at the time, but I don't miss it at all, and I'll never enter another dungeon again, if that's a possibility."

"Well, some of the guys I've talked to have been at the hog farm for years and years, so the job security's good." Jason shrugged and took a sip

of his water. "The pay isn't amazing, but if we save up for a few years, we might be able to afford a place in a better part of town."

"My thought, too." Tess nodded. She leaned over and gave him a kiss, then slowly stood up. "I just wanted you to know that you really are my hero."

"I've known that for awhile now." Jason flashed an ornery sort of grin at her, then struck a pose. "That's why you married me, isn't it?"

"Of course." Tess started to walk away. "And as my hero, you'll do the dishes?"

She laughed as Jason scowled at her, then turned around and came back. Together, the two of them started to put the dishes in the sink. Tess started washing, while Jason took charge of clearing and wiping the table, and then swept the floor.

It wasn't the life he wanted, that was for sure, but his family was happy, and that was the important part. He was able to see them in the evening when he came home, and he got lots of hugs and kisses in the morning before he left. As far as he was concerned, that was more than most people got, so he wasn't going to complain too loudly.

He did, though, wish that the job had a slightly smaller stink.

Chapter Seventeen: Observations

[Date: 41st Day of Autumn. Time: 12:00 p.m.]

"Lunchtime!" Hilda poked her head into Barn 1, where Jason was working. She looked around and nodded in approval. "You're really getting good at this, Hunter."

Jason slowly stood up and stretched, trying to work the kinks out of his back. "It's not all that different from what I used to do."

"Really?"

"Yup. Once the drought hit, I had to plow through dirt that was harder than this crust." Jason shucked his tools into the bucket to soak them, then wiped off his hands and followed Hilda out into the yard. All around, most of the workers were making their way down to the main building for lunch. Carefully, they filed inside, then made their way back out onto the lawn and sat down in patches of grass underneath the sunny sky. It was a nice day out, and Jason found a place to sit down with Desmond, who he was getting to know more and more and more. To his great surprise, Hilda joined them, plopping down a large, greasy-looking bag.

"Mind if I sit with you fellows?"

Jason shrugged and shook his head. "Not at all."

Desmond glanced over at Jason. "She likes to do this from time to

time. Keeps an eye on us, and lets her see better how we're functioning." "And you, mister analyst, ought to go get a job at one of those big accounting firms in the city." Hilda jabbed a finger at Desmond, then glanced at Jason. "Guy knows everything that happens on this farm. I know

he's taking smoke breaks every day, but I can't ever catch him."

"If you truly knew it, you'd be able to catch me." Desmond sighed and leaned back onto the grass, then opened up his lunchbox and pulled out several burritos. Jason could smell the spices in them, and it made his nose burn from even such a distance. He didn't have the faintest idea how the man could stomach it, but... Each to his own. Jason opened up his own bag and pulled out some rice and dumplings from the Jade Hog, and Hilda

pulled out a chunk of cold fried chicken.

"Now that's something I'd love to get my hands on again." Jason commented as he popped one of the dumplings in his mouth. "My wife can find chicken, and she can find oil, but she says she can't find a proper breading anywhere. It's been driving her crazy."

"Oh, you should have mentioned that ages ago!" Hilda waved her hand. "There's a market over in... Allbright, I think it is. Just went in a few years ago. It sells all sorts of stuff like this. Gravy mixes, bacon, sausage, all the comforts of the countryside."

Jason's stomach rumbled, and he smiled. "I'll keep that in mind." They sat in silence for a moment, and Hilda nodded to Jason.

"So, tell me Jason, how exactly did you get the famed Johan to build

you a barn?"

"Well, he wasn't famous at the time." Jason puffed out his cheeks.

"Actually, he was a lot like I am, right now." He started to recap the events that had led up to the construction of the massive barn, starting with the Illumitir drought and the stream of refugees. "I was just talking with him, I think I offered him an apple from my tree or something, and he mentioned building a barn, so I told him I'd feed him as long as he was working on it. Not a great deal, and I didn't really figure he'd take it, but he thought it sounded better than heading straight down to Portswain."

"Hmm." Hilda frowned. "Interesting. Well, he sure used it to his advantage. Half the countryside could see that barn when they came back to Illumitir, and he won some of the best building contracts in the city. All us ranchers saw pictures and drawings of the barn, and I don't think I have to tell you that I sure had a lot of envy going there. Mmm, that was a good barn, so big and red and classic. These barns? Most people just turn their noses up at them, and say they'll never eat a hog that comes out of one of those."

Jason chuckled. "In fairness, I'd never seen a barn like this before I moved here. It's a bit of a shock if you're not expecting it."

"I suppose so." Hilda chuckled. "Did I ever tell either of you about the time that our neighbors down the road tried to put in a real barn?"

Jason shook his head. "For starters, I can't say that we've really talked all that much since I was hired."

"And for seconds, I don't seek out such conversation." Desmond finished up his burrito and lay flat on the grass. "I watch. I observe." He waggled his fingers about in the air, and Jason laughed.

Hilda snorted, then glanced over at Jason. "Anyway, just down the road, it was the Circle-Z ranch. They ran cattle, similar barns to this, and they decided that they were going to go ahead and convert to a traditional barn in order to attract customers. I think they were going for the tourism route, trying to make the farm attractive to visitors. Maybe put in rides or attractions or something, I was never quite sure what their full plan was. Anyway, they dumped their entire fortune into revamping their farm, but when it was done, it failed a city inspection."

"Why was that?" Jason asked.

"Too much pollution." Desmond answered for Hilda. "Air pollution, for one. Poop stinks, and even if some people think it's gross, they'd rather have it locked away where they can't smell it."

"Also runoff." Hilda confirmed. "If any fecal matter has a chance of being washed into the street during a rainstorm, the inspection will fail. The Circle-Z had been hoping to do something to combat it, I can't remember their plan exactly, but it failed, and they were shut down."

"Circle-Z." Jason frowned. "That name sounds familiar."

"Ahh, you've probably seen the brand around." Hilda waved her hand dismissively. "The owner went into the furniture business. He had that huge barn and nothing to do it with, so he just started building stuff, and... Someone sure liked it, 'cause it made him famous."

"Mmm! That's it." Jason nodded. "We had a bunch of it in our house when we moved it. I actually sold it all to afford to buy... Not better, but more useful furniture. You can't sleep on a coffee table."

"I've got a bit of it myself. Most folks do, these days." Hilda sighed. "Sure was a bummer when he died. He was a real nice fellow. I'll have to go visit his grave again, one of these days."

"In my culture, it is customary to go visit the graves of deceased relatives on the 60th day of Fall." Desmond spoke up.

"No one asked you." Hilda commented. After a moment, she sighed and climbed back to her feet. "Well, I've got to be off. Back to work in fifteen, or you'll have to log the break so I can adjust your pay."

As Hilda walked off, Desmond chuckled and shook his head.

"She's a piece of work, isn't she? Pretends to be so friendly."

"She seems plenty nice to me." Jason commented.

"Ahh, just wait until you're on the wrong side of her. Even for a

little thing, you'll feel it. I've seen men who worked here for six years get

thrown out because of one mistake." Desmond shook his head.

"So why are you here, then?" Jason asked.

"Because, when I see these pigs, I think: Hmm. Perhaps being

married to my wife is not so bad after all. And then I go home and forget it, and must come to work again in the morning to remind myself."

Jason laughed and shook his head. "That's terrible."

Desmond lifted an eyebrow. "You have not met my wife." After a moment, he laughed as well. "I'm kidding, of course. My wife is lovely. The sweet Dulcinea, fairest maiden of them all, I would put her up against your Tess anytime."

"And I think you're full of it." Jason slowly climbed back to his feet.

"You work with manure more than me, so I suppose I shall defer to the expert." Desmond slowly stood up as well. "Ooh. Those beans are not sitting well with me. Tell me, though. When Hilda mentioned the Circle-Z, I saw something in your eyes. Determination. It was a fire that I have not seen in you. I see it in many of the other men, men of desperation and passion. There is something you want, something you feel you cannot have."

"You really are observant, aren't you?" Jason grimaced. "There's this old, dilapidated inn I wanted to buy. It would have been tough, but I think we could have fixed it up and turned it into something amazing. It's a far cry from my beloved dirt farming, but it would have been... Interesting."

"Hmm." Desmond folded his arms. "The haunted one in the Mountain District?"

"That's the one."

"I was just there last night." Desmond smiled. "Three men came at me to steal away my lovely Dulcinea! I had to fight them all, and without a weapon to my name! I won't dare tell you how it ended. And, of course, the inn is still for sale."

"Really?" Jason felt his heart begin to beat just a bit faster. He forced it to slow down again, and sighed. "No. I can't."

"Never say never, Mr. Jason. We rarely know what's in store for us, and I have a feeling that there are still many great things coming for you." Desmond started to walk away. "Now get back to work! You don't want to get a pay dock, or Tess will have your hide!"

Jason shook his head, then turned back to Barn 1. Indeed, there was still a great deal of cleaning to get done, and he was eager to get home for the evening. As he walked back inside and started scrubbing again, he felt a strange sense of sadness fall over him once more. As per usual, he tried to drive it back, but it fought him this time.

The inn... It just seemed like such a good idea. It seemed like such a sure way to make things work, to walk the line between what they needed and what they wanted. Maybe... If it was still available... just maybe it was time to broach the subject with Tess again.

Chapter Eighteen: Revelations

[Date: 47th Day of Autumn. Time: 6:00 p.m.]

The sun slowly set over Illumitir, vanishing behind the buildings long before it touched the horizon. Jason reached out and held Tess's hand as they wound their way through the mostly-empty streets, making their way back from the Allbright District, where they had spent the entire day with Jason's family. Richard carried both twins, who were fast asleep in his arms, while the older girls walked along, skipping here and there and making mischief with their magic.

"Hey!" Tess snapped at Fern. "You can't levitate other people's pets!" She waved at an old lady whose cat was just drifting down into her lap. "Sorry, ma'am!"

Rachel twirled her staff through her hands, and a fireball exploded upward, arced high into the sky, then came down and exploded against the cobblestones. Jason flinched, grateful that no one had been close, and he held out his hands.

"Give me those."

It took a minute to convince both girls to hand him the staves, at which point, he stuck them in his inventory. It was none too soon, as a police officer came riding by on horseback a moment later, glancing back and forth with no small amount of suspicion. Jason waved, and he scowled, then rode off.

"Ahh, this was a lovely day." Tess sighed and stretched. "Make sure to write your parents to tell them how much we enjoyed it."

"I will, if I have time." Jason murmured. "Can you buy me some stationary when you buy groceries for the week?"

"Of course." Tess nodded.

"Ahh, I'll pick up some when I go into the dungeons tomorrow." Richard waved his hand.

"Dungeons?" Jason glanced sharply at him.

"Oh, not the big ones." Richard looked defensive. "Chang caught me at the market yesterday and read me the riot act for suddenly stopping

his deliveries. Asked how all of you were doing, by the way."

Jason shook his head. "I haven't seen Chang in... Feels like ages." "Mmm. I know he misses seeing you. I think he was hoping the inn

deal would go through, even if he did think it was haunted." Richard chuckled. "I had to tell him that the wife shut that down."

"The wife did no such thing." Tess crossed her arms and scowled. "Logic and reason did."

Jason and Richard looked knowingly at one another, and Tess shook her head.

"There's no winning with you two! I thought we talked about this."

"We did, we did." Richard laughed and shook his head. "I just figured I'd pick at you a little. Anyway, I'm going to go help out Chang with some things. Probably go down about once a week from here on out, not really for the pay, just to help a friend."

Jason nodded quietly, but his jaw was tight. As they neared the entrance to Mountain District, he paused, then turned and nodded up the street.

"Do you mind if we walk this way, instead?"

Tess sighed, and Richard gulped.

"Girls? We're going to walk home a different way, give mommy and

daddy some time to themselves."

With that, Richard led the children off in one direction, leaving

Jason and Tess to slowly turn and walk up the street toward the old inn. As they went along, Tess sighed and shook her head.

"I don't really know why we're doing this, Jason."

"I just..."

"Jason, this is a bad idea." Tess looked over at him. "I know you

hate your job, and you hate pigs, and it's gross, but we have a life. I know it sounds like I'm being selfish, like I just want to be comfortable and I don't care beyond that, but that's not it."

"Then what is?" Jason regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Tess flinched, and he sighed. "I'm sorry, I—"

"No, that's how you obviously feel." Tess turned to him. "Look at it this way. Right now, our kids have a life. Our kids have friends, they have school to do again, they have a grandfather who's there to spoil them and love on them, and they have a father that they can see as a constant figure standing up and doing what's right, even when it's hard."

"Do they?" Jason snapped. "I'm never home anymore."

"Most people never get the chance for their husbands and fathers to work from home!" Tess snapped right back. "The vast majority of the world says goodbye to the husband at the beginning of the day, and hello, goodnight the moment they get back home. I'm sorry that we were an exception to that for quite awhile, and I truly am sorry that that's over now."

"I just..." Jason sighed as they came within sight of the old inn. There it was... Huge and strong, and just waiting for someone to come along. "Maybe it doesn't have to be over."

"What makes you think that you're going to be any good at this?" Tess asked, stabbing her hand at the inn. "You've never run an inn in your life! Did you ever speak to Viola about how difficult it was?"

"No." Jason shook his head.

"Do you know how to cook?"

"No, I would get Chang." Jason countered. "Richard said himself

that Chang was wanting the opportunity."

"What about hiring employees? You've never had to actually

interview people before. You've never had to tell people that you just can't afford to take them onto your crew." Tess continued. "You've never had to fill out the leagues of paperwork that this would take. You've never had to figure out how to handle reservations, or figure out how to properly accommodate that many guests. How do you predict when people will come and when they won't? What do you do if someone wrecks a room? What do you do if—"

"Look, I don't know." Jason spun to her and crossed his arms. "I don't know any of these answers. I just know..." He let his shoulders slump. "Look, I'll work at the hog farm for the rest of my life if it means that my family is taken care of, but right now, I'm only seeing them for a few minutes in the morning, a few minutes in the evening, and then on Sundays. Even today, though, the Sundays are all about doing as much as we can manage since we don't do anything the rest of the week. I'm exhausted, and bright and early tomorrow, I have to go right back to Barn 5 to start scraping pens again. I honestly don't know how I'm going to do it."

Tess sighed and shook her head. "I just don't see this as being the answer. I'm sorry, Jason, I'm just afraid that you're looking for an opportunity that doesn't exist. If this was really a good deal, someone else would have bought it by now."

"So then..." Jason shook his head. "By that logic, a good deal is never going to happen, because logically, by the time it gets to me, someone else will have already done it."

"That's not what I mean." Tess countered. "I just—"

"Do you honestly want me working at the hog farm for the rest of my life?" Jason asked. "Is that what you really, truly want?"

"No." Tess snapped. Jason paused, and Tess took a step toward him. "Jason Hunter, I'll have you know that I've been keeping my eyes and ears open all day, every day, for anything else that might help you, but for the time being, I just haven't come across it."

Jason sighed, then nodded. "How's the drought doing down south? I haven't heard in ages."

Tess pursed her lips, then sighed. "Getting worse. At the beginning of Summer, it increased from a Level 3 to a Level 4 drought. At the beginning of fall, from what Daniel wrote to me, it increased to a Level 5. If it hits Level 6, it'll become a certified Wasteland."

"What does that mean?" Jason murmured.

"Nothing good." Tess shook her head. "Wastelands become a permanent fixture of the landscape. I mean, prairies are permanent parts of the landscape, too, but that's what I'm trying to say. It no longer becomes how you break the drought, it becomes how you move the prairie. Or the wasteland. Or the desert, or Badlands, or whatever it winds up being classified as the drought continues to worsen."

"And they still have no idea what's causing it?" Jason asked.

Tess shook her head. "Daniel and Obadiah have already sent off their families. They're back up here, actually. The two of them are going to stay down there, trying to solve things, until it hits Level 8. If that happens, they're pulling up stakes and getting out of there before they get in more serious trouble."

"Probably wise." Jason puffed out his cheeks. That meant that getting back to the farm was nigh-impossible. He cast one long look at the inn, then slowly turned away.

"Mr. Jason! Is that you?"

Jason spun as Desmond came sauntering down the darkening street, a broad smile on his face. He wore a dapper black suit, and held out his hand. Jason shook it, then turned to Tess.

"Tess, this is Desmond. Desmond, the lovely Tess."

"Ah, señora! Jason has spoken most highly of you." Desmond shook Tess's hand, and Jason raised an eyebrow.

"And where's your lovely Dulcinea?"

"Down with the cold, I'm afraid. Hopefully up and about again tomorrow." Desmond folded his hands behind his back. "Now, it seems like you two are arguing about this here inn?"

Tess snorted. "Have you been eavesdropping?"

"Watching lovers fight with one another is half the entertainment of the Mountain District. If you come here and do such things, know that it's for an audience." Desmond answered. "Now, señora Tess, is there anything that would convince you that making such a grand, elegant purchase was a good idea?"

Tess raised an eyebrow. "No."

"Good, good. Mr. Jason," Desmond spun around. "Is there anything that would convince you that buying this haunted pile of disease and rot is a bad idea?"

"No." Jason shook his head.

"Then it would seem that we are at an impasse! My work here is done, and I'll see you at work in the morning." Desmond clapped Jason on the shoulder and started to walk off, then paused and turned around. "Just know, both of you, that you really are a lovely couple. Not as lovely as myself and my Dulcinea, of course, but I would hate to see something like this come between you. Especially since it is just a few old boards."

With that, Desmond turned and strode away for good, and Jason frowned. Tess looked after him, then shook her head and chuckled.

"He has some personality."

"He does." Jason shook his head, then set his jaw. Desmond was right. It was just a few old boards, and he was letting it get in the way of his relationship with Tess. He was letting it get the better of his relationship with his family. He had a duty, and it wasn't to run an inn, it was to raise a family. One way or another, he was going to do it.

And this time, he wasn't going to complain. He only had to stomach it out for a few more weeks, and the bank would destroy the property. Then it would be out of sight, out of mind, and he could move on.

That was the way it had to be, and he was happy enough with it. He only hoped that he could last for those few months.

Chapter Nineteen: The Inn

[Date: 83rd Day of Autumn. Time: 4:00 a.m.]

"Rise and shine!" Hilda called down as Jason trudged up to the buildings. "You don't look properly awake yet!"

"I'm used to getting up early, but this is a little ridiculous." Jason shook his head. "Why am I helping with load-outs again? I don't mean to complain, I'm just confused. I'm the scrubbing guy."

"You were the scrubbing guy. You know how the pecking order works around here." Hilda scowled at him. She looked tired, too, and that made Jason nervous. "I thought Desmond told you! He was supposed to. Where is he anyway?" She glanced around, then back to Jason. "A bunch of the guys from up North just quit two days ago, and that's left me without a crew. You're getting moved up. I've got some newbies to clean the pens."

"But I don't—"

"If you don't, you can walk. Fact of the matter is that you know the job better than fresh meat, so until I get someone else trained, you're going to get yourself up into that barn and do your job." Hilda snapped. "Get yourself to Barn 3, and do it now."

"Yes, ma'am." Jason sighed and stomped off. He knew he was crankier than usual, but one of the few things that made the job bearable was the fact that he still got hugs from his daughters before work. That morning, he had been forced to rise long before they did, which greatly annoyed him.

In any case, as he reached Barn 3 and pulled open the door, he found it to be a hive of activity. Lardo stomped back and forth, while a few other workers darted this way and that, looking the pigs over. The area was lit by a few lanterns, but the light was low at best. Lardo slowly counted up the pigs in one of the closest pens, then nodded to Jason.

"This your first load-out?"

"Yup." Jason confirmed. "What am I in for? I only found out about this last night, as I was leaving."

"Then you're in for a treat! Leastways, if you like Portswain chili peppers as treats." Lardo laughed. "These are three parts insanity, three parts chaos, three parts pure dungeon mayhem. Since you're learning the ropes, head out into the yard and tell the wagon which barn we're loading out of. Once he's in position, open up the door, and then get around here and come inside."

"Got it." Jason nodded. He turned and walked back out the door, and folded his hands behind his back. It was still dark, which allowed him to see the lanterns of a few large wagons rumbling down and out of the city. Within a few minutes, they had pulled up and into the yard, and the lead driver waved at Jason.

"Which Barn?"

"Three!"

The driver flashed a thumbs-up, and started angling for a small

working chute that extended out the side of the barn. His horses knew the task well, and seemed to do half the work for him. Jason walked over to the door, which opened into said chute, and waited. Something massive crashed into it from the other side, and he gulped.

It took a few minutes for the wagon to back itself into place. When it was ready, the driver flashed a thumbs-up, and Jason flipped the latch and pulled the door open.

Blam!

The door was ripped clean out of his hand as a massive hog, one that must have been close to three hundred pounds, came tearing out. Spittle flew from its jowls, and it flashed up and onto the wagon, where it slammed into the wood on the far side. Something splintered, but the hog stopped, and behind it, a whole lot more hogs came along.

"Suey!" A large worker, another displaced farmer, came stomping through the chute behind the horde of pigs. He held a large, flat, board, which could be used to steer the pigs. At least, in theory. It could also be used to separate fighting pigs, or just whack them if such became necessary. Jason watched them for a moment, then ran around to the side of the barn. He grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, only to hear a loud squeeeeeeeee from the other side.

He gulped as a runty sort of boar came charging down the aisle, straight for him. He desperately slammed the door back shut, but it wasn't quite fast enough, and it slammed into the door and managed to get a snout

out. Jason gritted his teeth and threw every ounce of his strength into holding the door in place, even as the hog managed to hook a hoof over the edge of the doorframe, then a second.

"Ahh, I've gotcha!" Lardo muttered from the other side of the door. The hog suddenly squealed and vanished, and Jason quickly opened the door and stepped back up inside just in time to see Lardo chuck the pig into one of the pens. It vanished amidst the swirling bodies, and Lardo snorted. "Good catch. Lotta folks would have just let him go. Alright, time for work!"

"What do I do?" Jason asked.

"See those guys?" Lardo pointed at several men who were handling the gates. "They'll open up the pens. When they get one open, you hop inside and clear it out. Chase the pigs down onto the wagons, don't push them if someone's telling you to stop, and don't take it personal if someone cusses you out. Lots of heat starts flying on load-out mornings."

Jason could see that. As more and more hogs were run out of the barn and onto the wagons, the remaining ones churned about, squealing and throwing themselves against the fences and gates in excitement. The men had to yell louder than the pigs could squeal, which only added to the din, and then the crash of metal gates made things all the worse. It was truly deafening, and Jason wished he had earmuffs. Then, it was time to get to work, and he followed Lardo into the thick of things.

They walked down to a full pen of pigs, the next one in line, and the gate was thrown open. Lardo jumped inside, and motioned for Jason to follow. Jason quickly hopped the gate, only to come down right in the path of a particularly large hog.

"No! Not right there! Get... Here!" Lardo snapped. "Now!"

His tone was becoming far more fierce, and Jason nodded and scampered to the side.

"Well, don't just stand there! Make them move!"

Jason waved his arms, but the pigs really didn't seem to be doing anything. One of them spun, hitting his legs with its rump. Another ran at him, head-butting him into the wall, while another started chewing on his leg. He kicked the pig in the face, which made it squeal and back up, and he drew a deep breath.

"Alright, move!"

"That's something!" Lardo called back. He reached down, slapped a hog across the face, and sent it scrambling for the door. "Just get them out of here!"

A massive boar jumped at Lardo and bit him on the arm. Lardo's face went white, and he punched the creature free before slinging it off toward the alley. A kick from the gateman sent it scrambling on its way. Jason almost asked if he was alright, but before he could, another hog same scrambling over and bit Jason on the knee. It felt like his limb had just caught on fire, and he gasped in pain.

"Ahh, just hit it!" Lardo pushed through the horde of pigs and whacked the thing on the side of its neck. It let go of Jason and backed up. "Come on! Either pull yourself together, or get out of here." Lardo snarled and waved his arms, driving the rest of the pigs out, then jerked his thumb at the next pen. "You get this one, I'll follow these down."

Jason puffed out his cheeks, but nodded. The gateman threw open the gate, and a few of the more adventurous pigs ran out. Jason watched for a moment, then drew in a deep breath, ran forward, and jumped into the pen.

It was like jumping into an avalanche. The hogs surged back and forth, beating at his legs and shins, squealing and chomping and raging about. Several of the boars tried to gore him with their tusks, a few of the others simply did their best to body-slam him into the walls. It was brutal, but he held on as best he could, waved his arms and danced about and yelled until the pen was clear. As he stumbled free, beaten and bruised, the gateman slung it shut, then chuckled and slapped Jason on the shoulder.

"I don't know what you were doing there, exactly, but that was just about the funniest little dance I ever did see. You should do it for a talent show, sometime." He started to walk off, then glanced back over his shoulder. "Just don't do it here again."

Jason snorted, then flexed his arms. Slowly, they began to work their way through the barn, pen by pen, sending all the pigs onto the long train of wagons. As the last one went squealing up onto the last wagon, and the gate was slammed shut, Lardo nodded and turned around.

"Good work, men! A fine day's work. Go through the barn, make sure nothing was missed, and then we'll start resetting."

Jason nodded to him, then slipped back into the barn. Lardo followed him, and clapped a hand on his shoulder as they started to walk

through the darkened interior. "How'd I do?"

"Honestly? Terrible. A half-dead chicken hawk could have done better." Lardo muttered. "That said, no one's any good on their first time. Can you still walk?"

"Seems like it."

"Then you'll live, and you'll get better." Lardo sighed as they neared the pens on the far end. "Alright, start looking around for damages. Check the feed troughs, check the feed delivery system, check the fences, look for anything the hogs might have broken that will need replacing before the next horde of pigs comes in here."

"Got it." Jason sighed. Thankfully, he had grown familiar enough with the equipment, via his rather extensive recent history cleaning it, to know what was supposed to look a certain way. With a start, he realized that the organization of the farm really did make sense, in an odd sort of way. Slowly, he made his way to the very last pen, grabbed a lantern off a hook, and held it forward so he could see things better.

And that was when he saw the hog they had missed.

It was one of the largest pigs he had ever seen. Black as coal, it had perfectly blended in with the shadows. Beady eyes peered out at him over thick tusks, and it let out a snort as Jason stared it down.

"Lardo!" Jason called out. "We've got a problem!"

The pig slowly pulled itself to its feet, snorted, and started stamping its feet.

"A big one!" Jason instinctively drew his pistol and pointed it at the head of the monster.

"No guns!" Lardo called out as he came running over. "Put that away, and jump over the fence to your left. Do it now."

Jason nodded, then quickly put his pistol back into his inventory. The hog chose that moment to charge forward, and Jason scrambled for safety. He braced himself against the top rung of the fence and swung himself up, felt the hot breath of the hog...

Squelch!

The sound of a hog tusk piercing his own flesh was not something that Jason had ever expected to hear. Pain unlike anything he had ever felt before flowed freely through him, and he screamed as he was dragged back down to the ground. A massive hoof slammed into his face, and he felt

himself dragged along the floor for several feet until the hog came to a stop and yanked backward, mercifully freeing Jason's leg from his tusk. He groaned and slumped to the ground, and the hog thundered onward. A moment later, he heard a sharp squeal, and Lardo ran up next to him.

"Are you alive?"

"At least for now." Jason slowly looked down at his leg, and felt faint. "Ooh, that's a lot of blood."

"Yeah it is." Lardo ground his teeth together. "Alright, Hunter, hang in there. Let's get you down to the office.

Chapter Twenty: Last Day of Autumn

[Date: 91st Day of Autumn. Time: 6:00 a.m.]

The alarm went off in Jason's ear, and he waved his hand to dismiss the notification. Slowly, he groaned and sat up, and Tess pushed him back down into bed.

"Jason, I told you to turn off that stupid alarm. You need to rest."

"I've been resting for the last... I dunno. Week." Jason groaned and sat up again. He swung his legs off the side of the bed, grimacing as pain flickered around. His leg was wrapped in thick bandages, through which a greenish puss could be seen oozing. "Besides, my wrappings need changing."

Tess sighed, but allowed him to climb to his feet and stagger to the door. He didn't bother changing out of his bedclothes as he walked out onto the landing and gingerly crept down to the living room. There, he nearly collapsed in his favorite chair, reached down and started unwrapping his bandages.

It was just high enough on his leg that he could change things himself. As he finished unwrapping it, a stench rose in the air, and he gulped. The wound was a mass of black flesh that just wasn't healing. It was horrid, it was disgusting, and it was painful. He had been out of work ever since, which had been quite the strain. The only upside had been the time that Lardo hand-delivered a large portion of hog meat to their front door. There was no need to ask which pig that had come from. Jason did have to say that biting into it had been quite satisfying. That said, he was growing worried about being able to get back into work.

"Here, daddy." Fern came running up with a new set of bandages. She carefully gathered up the old ones as he peeled them off, and Jason slid the new ones into place. Before he could wrap it together, though, she pointed her staff at the wound and cast a bit of magic, cleaning out some of the puss and burning away some of the dead skin. There was a hole almost an inch in diameter there, and an affected area the size of a handprint. Jason nodded and waited patiently until she was done. The whole thing hurt so

badly that he couldn't actually feel anything she was doing. Once the wound was wrapped back up, he rose and hobbled over to the table, just as Richard started placing a healthy meal of biscuits and gravy down.

Knock-knock-knock.

"I'll get that!" Tess called out. She was just coming down the stairs, clad in one of her finest dresses. As she opened the front door, she smiled and backed up. "Chang! Come inside!"

"Happy feast day!" Chang called out as he walked inside. "Feast? Festival? I don't remember, but it's the last day of Autumn, so I thought I would bring a gift for the recovering wounded!"

Jason snorted and shook his head. "I'm just saying, I fought and killed a mini-boss all by myself, and then I helped kill a boss, and what takes me down? A hog."

"Why do you think I chose the Jade Hog as the name of my restaurant?" Chang shrugged. "Anyone who's worked with them knows them to be fiercer than dragons!"

"Tastier, too." Richard commented. "Sausage, Chang?"

"Nah. Just ate." Chang shook his head. "In the package, you'll find some traditional sweet pastries from my homeland, along with some herbs that ought to help with the infection. I picked them up at the market last night, so they should still be fresh. Just pack the wound, and it'll be alright."

Knock-knock-knock.

"Coming!" Tess called.

"Come in? But of course." Desmond strode up and into the house with a flourish. "Ahh, the humble home of Jason, wounded veteran of the pork industry."

"And to what do we owe the pleasure?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Well, the second-place-loveliness Tess told me that today was a bit of a holiday for your people, so I decided to bring you a gift." Desmond opened his inventory and pulled out a bag of candy. "Traditional treats! I didn't make them, I could burn water, but I do like them."

"Mmm. What are these?" Chang intercepted the package before it could hit the table. "I'm always interested in learning about the food of other cultures. Jason's favorite foods involve copious amounts of oil and fats."

"Both of which, I'll remind you, can be easily preserved for long journeys, thus making them a likely staple of the early pioneers who settled Southern Illis." Desmond held up a finger.

"Now you're a history buff?" Jason snorted.

"I am a buff of many things. History among them, yes." Desmond nodded. "Now, I also brought some herbs, which I believe may—"

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Chang gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth, dropping the now-open bag of candy onto the table. Jason leaned over and took a sniff, and smiled when he recognized chili powder, and a lot of it. When Chang finished gasping (and drinking three glasses of water that Tess quickly provided), he glanced in horror at Desmond.

"What kind of monster are you?"

"The sort who likes his food strong and his women beautiful. Well, one woman. Singular." Desmond bowed at the waist. "I imagine that your food relies primarily on honey and salt, whereas we have very little of such things down in Portswain."

Chang frowned after a moment, and he took a step away from the candy. "I don't think I'm going to be able to taste anything for a week. Getting my recipes right is going to be impossible today."

"I could come and assist."

"Set foot in my restaurant, and I'll put a hit on your head." Chang lifted a finger to point at Desmond.

"My apologies." Desmond bowed. "In any case, I should be going. Lots of work to do, and lots of paperwork to fill out. Jason, are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Jason frowned.

"Well, to go buy the old inn before the bank destroys it! Hasn't your wife told you?"

Jason felt a flash of confusion and hope in his heart, and he spun to Tess. "What's he talking about?"

Tess turned rather red, and Desmond sighed dramatically. Chang, meanwhile, glanced between the two of them as if he was also confused.

"Mommy's buying you the inn!" Fern squealed, unable to contain herself. "We've been waiting to tell you for a week!"

"Wait, what?" Chang gaped. "And you didn't tell me?"

"We didn't want to get anyone's hopes up until we had a firm deal on paper." Tess smiled and glanced between all of them. "After Jason got hurt, I..." She sighed, then nodded to Desmond. "It was something you

said. It wasn't worth a few old boards. Well, I figured that Jason getting his leg torn open wasn't worth a few old boards, so I started asking some questions."

"And that is where I, your dearest friend, come in." Desmond bowed low, then straightened back up. "I happened to run into her at the office, and proposed the idea of buying the property together. Co-owners. I'll admit that the thought makes me nervous, there are a great many things that can go wrong... But for you or Dulcinea, I would do anything."

"And unfortunately, there's just no way we can do it without going in together." Tess nodded. "They came down to a stupidly low price, but just couldn't drop it any more. Desmond was able to make up the difference. We'll own sixty percent, he'll own forty."

"Which means that you can safely order me around, just like I know you want to do." Desmond smiled. "And we'll be putting a clause in the contract so you can buy me out if necessary."

"I..." Jason felt a lump rising in his throat. "I don't know what to say."

"I do." Chang held up a hand. Jason glanced at him, and the chef leaned forward. "Right now is about the time you say: Hey Chang! I could really use a cook."

Jason laughed, then nodded. "Hey Chang! I could really use a cook."

"Then I would be happy to assist!" Chang beamed. "We can work up an exact contract, but this is a dream!"

Desmond frowned and elbowed Chang in the side. "Hey! This is big business, play hard to get! Turn him down, tell him you'll come back tomorrow."

"But I want it." Chang stared at him.

"Right, but you can get a much better deal if Jason here thinks he might lose you." Desmond put an arm around Chang's shoulder (which seemed to make the chef feel a bit uncomfortable). "Just trust me. Play along."

Jason laughed, and he leaned back in his chair. He turned his attention back to the biscuits and gravy, and slowly tucked in while everyone laughed and chatted around him.

So... It was actually happening. It was finally happening! He had given up all hope, and now...

"Hey!" Tess broke into his thoughts. "Real fast, we're going to need a name. We also need to get on the road, they want the paperwork signed by noon."

"A name?" Chang frowned.

"Yeah. They need it for official stuff. We can always go in and file a change later, but they need something to put in the initial documents."

"Just make sure it sounds good alongside the Jade Hog." Chang commented.

"How about the Hog Pen?" Desmond held up his hands. "Home of the Jade Hog!"

"No." Tess shook her head. "Not a chance."

"Then how about... Hotel Hog?" Desmond continued talking as they all walked toward the door. "Desmond and Hunter Inn. Hmm. Hunter Inn. That has some potential for advertising. The inn you've been hunting for! I like it."

"How about Summer Shandy?" Jason murmured as he grabbed his crutch, which he still needed for long distances. "The Summer Shandy?"

There was a long pause, and Desmond nodded. "I like it! At least for now, until we change it to Dulcinea's Delights or something else."

Tess smiled and took his hand as they walked down onto the street. The girls started to run around them, while Richard came along behind with the twins, holding their hands as they skipped down the cobbles.

"I like the name."

Jason nodded, then smiled at her. "Thank you."

"No, thank you, for being willing to do anything." Tess sighed

deeply, and nodded down the street. "Let's go make these old boards turn into something worthwhile.

Chapter Twenty-One: First Day of Winter

[Date: 1st Day of Winter. Time: 8:00 a.m.]

A cold wind howled down the street as Jason, Tess, and Desmond met in front of the Summer Shandy. Jason slowly turned and looked up at the towering edifice, at the peeled paint, the broken windows, and the cracked steps.

"According to the agreement, we have two seasons to get this place open for business, or we risk fines." Tess murmured. "Do you think we can do it?"

Jason puffed out his cheeks. "I think we can do it in one."

"Now that's the spirit!" Desmond clapped his hands. "Unrealistic goals, all the while you're going to be sitting there like a cripple while the rest of us do the hard lifting."

"That's not what I'm doing!" Jason scowled.

"I know, I know. Just giving you a hard time." Desmond shook his head. "If only the lovely Dulcinea could be here. She would love to see us all in action."

"And where exactly is this Dulcinea?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

Desmond sighed deeply. "I'm afraid that she's down for the moment with the flu, but will recover soon."

Jason shook his head. He was beginning to suspect that Dulcinea was little more than one of Desmond's many little jokes, but it was hard to know for sure. In any case, they had a great deal of work to do, and that meant that they needed to get to it. Slowly, he mounted the stairs, marching up to the front door, and pulled it open.

"Alright, then." Jason grimaced as they all walked inside. "We need a checklist."

"Got it." Tess pulled out a notepad, walked over to the table, and plopped it down. A puff of dust exploded up into the air, and she sat down and took out a pen. "What's the plan?"

"Everything!" Desmond waved his hands. "We need to—"

"Not the time to joke right now." Jason pointed out.

Desmond closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded. "Too true.

Focus, focus, focus. Alright." He slowly walked over to Tess, then opened his eyes again. "Apologies, Señora Tess. It would seem to me that we need to focus on the interior first. As soon as we start on the outside, people will want to see the inside, which will be disappointing if there's nothing to see. On the other hand, flip it around, and we'll have a nice surprise for them as soon as they see us working."

"Got it." Tess nodded. "So then, we—"

"First, we need to go through and get everything bad out. Broken furniture, old keys, old carpet, pictures, anything damaged. Once it's stripped down, we start at the top and work down. Strip the walls, put up new paper or paint. New carpet. New lights." Desmond folded his hands behind his back as he paced. "The kitchen will need to be entirely redone, but that'll largely be under Chang's direction. Then, once the inside has been sorted out, we'll start work on the outside, offer tours and sneak peeks, and that'll be how things go."

Jason nodded in approval as Tess scribbled it down. "Perfect. That sounds good to—"

"Ahh, but we're not done yet." Desmond countered. "We'll also need to go secure a line of credit from the bank. I presume you thought about how we'd be paying for the supplies to fix this up?"

"We have a little bit saved." Jason sighed. "I was hoping to use that, or..." He glanced over at the Circle-Z furniture. "I was kinda considering selling all that stuff. Based on what the ones in our home sold for, it would be enough to cover the lion's share of the costs."

Desmond's eyes suddenly twinkled, and he walked over and knelt down next to one of the tables. A whistle escaped his lips, and he shook his head.

"If I had known that all of this was in here, I'd have bought it myself." He laughed. "Ahh, this is a gold mine! Alright, then. Let me think on this for a moment." He stroked his chin. "Having genuine Circle-Z furniture might be a solid draw for customers."

"Is it really that popular?" Jason asked. "And—"

"Shh. Master at work." Desmond closed his eyes and held up a finger, then shook his head. "It's going to take me a bit longer to figure all

of this out for sure. For the time being, what we need to do is get started on that first bit. Stick everything into the building's inventory, and I'll order a dumpster transferred here first thing next week." He flashed a small smile. "I know a guy who can do it for a fraction of the price. I also know a few guys from the hog farm who'd be willing to come here and work for a whole lot cheaper than you could pay any professional crew, and they'll do just as good a job."

"I'll keep that in mind." Jason nodded. "Thanks."

"Great! Tess, you start at the top. I'm going to head down into the basement to see what there is to find down there. Jason, you start with the desk and the office, see what you can dredge up. Anything cool has likely been stolen or eaten by mice, but you never know."

"Got it." Jason slowly hobbled toward the front desk. The office of the building was tucked away just behind it, hidden away into the corner closest to the intersection. It was the perfect place: The manager could sit there, observing just about everything that passed into or out of the building, but he was so nondescript that most people were liable to miss him altogether.

In any case, Jason started with the desk, slipping around the back and slowly sitting down in the dusty chair. It squeaked underneath of him, and he rested his crutch against the desk and started looking everything over. There were a few dry inkwells, some old quills, and a handful of notepads with some odd notations, but that was really it. He slowly reached out and started pulling open the different drawers, frowning as he looked them over.

The top drawer simply held stationary. Several old sheets of paper, blotting paper, some wax for sealing letters, and other odds and ends. The second drawer held a large number of old keys, while the third drawer was a mixture of buttons, knives, a few potion bottles, and other such things. A lost and found, maybe? The final drawer, at the very bottom, held a number of files. Jason pulled a few of them out, but as he flipped through them, he found them to be a set of records for long-term guests who had been staying at the time that the inn had closed. He frowned, then slid the drawer back shut and started looking through the rest of it. In the end, he found a handful of old letters that hadn't been delivered, some odd office supplies, and a few hair ties, but that was about it. The front desk had been fairly well cleaned up, and that much, at least, was nice.

With that, he slowly climbed to his feet and hobbled over to the office itself. There, he pulled out a key that he had received from the Treasury Guild, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. A great deal of dust had settled here, and he whistled. This room, at least, hadn't been entered since the hotel had closed, that much he was sure of.

The desk was made of oak, and was really quite elegant. When it was properly cleaned, it was going to look amazing. The walls held an assortment of paintings and sketches, showing a northern landscape. There were great mountainous slopes, snow-covered fields, wide patches of yellow daisies, and a few pictures of white-furred animals and birds. It was really quite lovely, and Jason felt his heart swell up within him. He stepped up and glanced the paintings over, only to have his jaw drop as he noticed a small, Circle-Z symbol scrawled onto the lower, right-hand corner of each one. Interesting.

After gawking at the paintings, he sat down behind the desk and started opening up those drawers, along with the drawers of a large filing cabinet. The cabinet was fairly boring, containing the records of everyone who had stayed at the inn from opening day until closing. He knew the records were highly classified, and were technically the property of the city. He was allowed to look through them, but couldn't share them at all. The desk proved a bit more interesting, but largely contained items matching the things he had found in the front desk. He was getting a bit bored when he reached the bottom drawer, and pulled it open to find a letter from David Bluerobe.

"David?" Jason frowned. The man who had showed up the first time Jason came to the property had been named David. Curiosity overcame him, and as the letter was open, he went ahead and picked it up. Carefully, he unfolded the dusty page, and started to read.

"Xav, you've got to cut this out. I get that you're scared, but it's nothing to worry about, I promise. I've had the ghost squad come in three times, I can't keep bringing them back! If you keep bugging me about this, I... and I hate to do this, but... I'm going to have to file with the city. The place is falling apart, and you're starting to bother my clients. Please, Xav, we've been friends for a long time, don't let this tear things apart."

Jason frowned, and slowly put the page back down. Interesting. So the city hadn't just come in and shut the place down on a whim. They had been called there by no one other than David. Sure, it looked like David had

been trying other things, but it wasn't quite the same story that David had told the first time. It made Jason nervous, that was for sure...

Just what sort of neighbor were they dealing

Chapter Twenty-Two: Cleaning House

[Date: 6th Day of Winter. Time: 9:00 a.m.]

"Good morning, my friend!" Desmond beamed as he and Jason walked through the frigid air toward the front door of the Summer Shandy. "And how are you doing after a wonderfully refreshing Sunday?"

"Well enough." Jason shivered. "You know, back in Summer Shandy, we had an almanac that would give us an idea what the weather was going to be like. Here, you just step out the front door."

"The element of surprise! It's quite nice." Desmond glanced around. "Your beloved Tess has abandoned you?"

"Rachel has a stomach bug, and Fern is feeling like it might be hitting her next." Jason shrugged. "She decided to stay home and help them. Richard is doing an ingredient run for Chang, but he'll be here later this afternoon."

"Perfect! Then let us get to work."

The two men clomped up and into the building, which... Inside, it wasn't really all that much warmer than outside, though it was out of the wind.

"We need to get this fireplace cleaned out." Jason muttered. He walked over and glanced up the inside of the chimney, which was a mass of dust and debris.

"I know a guy for that." Desmond answered. "He can be here tomorrow, I'm sure, and we'll have heat soon after that."

"And, thankfully, we have plenty of stuff to burn." Jason chuckled. "We won't need to buy firewood."

"Burn any of this furniture, and you'll be looking at a fine from the police steeper than the streets in Mountain District." Desmond answered, pulling tools out of his inventory and setting them out on one of the tables. "Regulations."

"Pfft." Jason scowled. "Can't you do anything in the city?" "Nope! Speaking of which, dumpster should be here by noon."

Jason nodded, then slowly walked toward the stairs, putting what weight as he could on his leg. He was healing rapidly, and he credited a lot of it to getting up and about. His blood was flowing now, and that surely had to help things. Together, he and Desmond made their way up the flights of stairs to the fourth floor, which was where they had decided to start working. After all, if they were going to be carrying construction equipment back and forth, it made sense to start working the furthest from the front door.

Thankfully, the work was actually coming along quite well. As Jason reached the top floor, he slowly looked about. There were six suits there, and each of them had been stripped all the way down to the basics. Beds had been taken out, bed stands and dressers (which were all Circle-Z) had been moved down to the dining room area, and the bathrooms had been scrubbed spotless.

"Alright! Today, we're going to start getting this place back in working order." Desmond clapped his hands. "Do you want to strip carpet, or do you want to start cleaning light sockets, glass and windows to get the lighting back in order?"

Jason winced. "I don't know that I'm good enough to work on carpet yet."

"Then leave it to me! Desmond, the great carpet-stripper!" Desmond walked toward the last suit, and flashed a smile. "I bet I can get it taken up before you can get the lights done."

"You're on."

Jason followed him, and they quickly got to work. Desmond pulled a knife out of his inventory and began to work on the carpet, cutting at the corner of the room to slowly start peeling it up. Jason, meanwhile, went into the (extravagantly large) bathroom, grabbed a bucket that had been left there the day before, filled it with some water, dropped in a bar of soap, and grabbed a rag. With that, he walked back out into the main room and carefully started wiping down the window, which had grown so dusty that the light almost seemed pale through it. Within seconds, the room seemed to brighten, and Desmond beamed.

"Wonderful!"

As Jason finished, he laughed, then turned to the light fixtures. The gas was still turned off, and would be until they could get the pipes redone in the basement, but Jason wanted to make sure the light fixtures were all in

working order prior to that, anyway. Each of the suits had four fittings, two in each room, and he unscrewed the glass covers and carefully placed them in the bucket.

"And here we go." Desmond frowned as he peeled back about a quarter of the floor. It was moving faster now, and Jason started to wonder if the man wouldn't actually beat him. "Carpet installers always put the most glue around the edges, and then leave the middle without anything solid. It does terrible things for the life of the carpet, but it does wonders for getting it up."

Jason laughed and shook his head. "You know that how?"

"I used to be one." Desmond glanced up with a smile. "And, most importantly, it would seem that we have some good hardwood floors here underneath the carpet."

"Why is that a good thing?"

"Because it means that we don't have to put down more carpet if we don't want to." Desmond answered with a shrug. "There are benefits to having carpet. It's more comfy for the warriors involved, and it's quieter, which a lot of people like. Plus, you can't scuff carpet, and you can scuff wood floors. That said, it's a lot more expensive, it's way harder to clean, and when it does tear, a simple patch job isn't going to be enough."

"You're the expert." Jason shrugged. He finished washing the glasses, then carefully screwed them back into place. With that, he started inspecting the fixtures themselves. They all looked in order, nothing loose or rusted out, which was good. "Sounds like you'd lean toward just doing hardwood?"

"That'd be my suggestion." Desmond confirmed. "It'll take us about an hour per room with a sheet of sandpaper, as opposed to a good three or four hours per room with rolls and rolls of carpet."

Desmond started to work faster, peeling up the carpet, until he had finished the whole room. With a flourish, he shoved the roll into the inventory of the inn, then slowly straightened up.

"Next room, boss!"

Jason nodded, and they slowly walked to the next one. In such a manner, they started working their way through the upper story of the building, chatting idly as they went along. It wasn't hard work at all, and it really made it feel like they were actually getting something done, instead of just hauling things out. They had to take a lunch break around room 5,

and then got back into it. When the sixth room was done, they did the hall, and Desmond nodded.

"Perfect. Now we just need to go through the rest of the inn and do this exact same thing."

"The other stories have slightly large floor plans." Jason frowned in thought. "You think we can get it all done in two days?"

"Only one way to find out." Desmond waved his hand at the walls. "Once all that's up, we'll start working on the walls. We're going to need to repaint, and we'll want to save sanding the floor until we know how much paint we're also going to need to sand off."

"Got it." Jason chuckled. "You really do know your way around this construction, refurbishing business, don't you?"

Desmond only shrugged. "Without papers, you take what jobs you can get. I've worked in just about every field you can imagine. I've worked on the top of great buildings, I've delved into dungeons. I actually worked for your famous Johan a few years back."

"Really?" Jason laughed as Desmond knelt down and started stripping the carpet from the stairs. He helped by wiping the windows there, along with the lamps hanging on the wall, just like they had done above.

"Yup! I only met him once or twice, right at the beginning and at the end, but he seemed nice enough. It was when he was building that really big new dungeon, just north of town."

"Mmm." Jason nodded. "I've heard of it. Johan was telling me about it when he came down to Summer Shandy to help build our family dungeon."

They reached the bottom of the stairs shortly thereafter, and Jason let out a long sigh. The floor wasn't that much larger, but it was certainly bigger, and there were twenty rooms to worry about instead of six. He started forward, and Desmond followed as they worked their way to the end of the hall and ducked into Room 10.

"And now we start getting to the harder parts." Desmond knelt down and gritted his teeth as he started working up the carpet yet again. "Lots of smaller corners. Less room for error, and more room for mistakes. Let's get to it."

Jason nodded, and slowly walked up to the window. As he started to wipe it down, he glanced out at the street, just in time to see a massive wagon being pulled up to the inn by a team of horses.

"Hey! Dumpster's here."

"Perfect! You go down and handle them, and then come back up." Desmond grunted as he worked on peeling up a particularly stubborn piece of the carpet. "I'll still be here. Probably."

Jason chuckled, then turned and made his way out. He soon arrived down at the street, walking out the front door just as another man came walking up.

"Ahh! Mr. Jason, I presume?"

"That'd be me." Jason shook his hand. "Or just Jason, if you prefer." "Unless we become brothers, which is biologically unlikely, it will

be Mr. Jason." The man smiled. "Now, where do you want this thing?" "There's an alley around back." Jason walked around the side of the inn. On the eastern side of the building, jutting almost as steeply upward as the main street itself, was a narrow path between the assorted buildings that stood in that part of the city. "If you tuck it in here, right up close to my

building, I think there will be just enough room for others to get through." "You got it."

A few minutes later, the wagon had been deposited, and the man waved.

"I'll be back for it in a week! If you still need it after that time, just give me a holler. I have another house scheduled for that time, so there would be a gap in coverage, but I can work it so there isn't much of one."

"Much appreciated." Jason nodded. "How much can this thing hold?"

"More than you'd think! One thousand inventory slots, up to twice as many pounds."

"I think we'll use every inch of it." Jason waved as the man walked off, leading his team of horses, and he slowly walked up to the wagon. "Alright... Initiate transfer between Summer Shandy Inn and dumpster wagon."

[Transfer Loaded]

With a flicker, an interface appeared, showing the inn's inventory on one side of the screen, and the wagon's inventory on the other. Jason whistled, then nodded and started swiping things from one side to the other.

There went the inventory slot with all the beds, then went all the carpet that Desmond had pulled up thus far. Wood scraps, broken furniture, a pile of old weapons and scrap that they had found underneath the beds, and more.

When he was done, the wagon was almost half-full, and Jason chuckled. He slowly turned and walked back up toward the door once more. It was a bit chaotic, but they were making good progress. If he had

anything to say about it, they would open on time, and that was just a fact. It had to be. After all... If he failed, he didn't have the faintest idea

what he would do.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Basement Secrets

[Date: 10th Day of Winter. Time: 9:00 p.m.]

"Ouch!" Jason yelped as he whacked his head on a rusty pipe that ran through the dark and dismal basement of the inn. "Watch your head."

"I'll do my best." Richard muttered from just next to him. "I'm taller than you, remember?"

Jason gritted his teeth, and wished that they had another lantern. Already, every single spare lantern they owned had been strung up through the basement of the structure, and that was far from enough. That said, they were out of time to get more, as the city gas inspector was coming the next morning to see about turning the gas back on. If they passed, they would start really moving forward with their upgrades. If they failed the inspection, it would be a full season before he would be able to come again.

"Alright, Mr. Jason!" Desmond called from down the hall. "I'm tapping on a pipe! Can you tell which one it is?"

A faint ding echoed through the air, and Jason looked about. He reached up and touched two of the pipes, and a moment later, felt one of them give a small thump.

"Got it!" Jason called out.

"Good! That's the one that comes straight from the upstairs, that's definitely the gas line. Focus on that one."

Jason nodded, pointed it out to Richard, and turned his attention to following that particular pipe. Water pipes, sewage pipes, and all sorts of other pipes swirled about, and he slowly began walking down the room, following it through the mess. A few moments later, he reached the wall, where it fit into a metal bracket.

"Here we are!" He called out. "We're going to have to replace this coupling, I'm sure of it. No way this passes."

"Mmm. Yup, you're right." Desmond poked his head into the room, which had been dubbed the Entry room due to the fact that every single

utility pipe entered the building at that location. "Alright, then! I'll go get the parts, you two start working on disconnecting it?"

"Works for me." Jason nodded. He held out his hand, and Richard passed him a crescent wrench. "Let's get to it."

"I'll start checking the pipe for leaks." Richard offered.

"Sounds good." Jason grunted as he started trying to twist the bolts away. They had long ago rusted quite badly, and hardly budged as he tugged at them. "Come... on!"

As Richard and Desmond both walked off, Jason glanced around nervously, then went back to his work. The basement of the inn was a rather dark and dismal place, all things considered. It was about half the size of the overhead floor plan, pushed to the back, and really consisted of four rooms connected by a single hallway. There was the Entry room, of course. Then, there was the room underneath the kitchen, which held a handful of odd appliances that looked to Jason to be extensions for the cooking devices above. There was a large boiler, some sort of a smoker, and some other things, all of which connected to the kitchen itself. Third, there was a general storage room, which they had emptied of a wide variety of very moldy items. Finally, there was a room that looked to have served as some sort of a vault, though it was empty now. The door was made of steel and had a non-functional lock, and inside, the walls, ceiling, and floor were made of concrete. There were a few old cardboard boxes scattered about, along with a bit of loose change, but nothing serious had been left behind. Jason had been a bit bummed to learn that it had been emptied, but even if something had been left, there had been enough looting and illegal activity in the time since the business closed that there certainly wouldn't have been anything left behind anyway.

It took Jason the better part of ten minutes to get the bracket free. As he slowly lifted it down from the wall, the two pipes, one coming out of the wall, and one hanging in the air, seemed to stare at each other. Both were quite rusty, but seemed to be in good enough shape. Jason grabbed one of the lanterns and held it up to the opening, confirming that there were no spiderwebs or anything hidden inside. If there had been, it would have been evidence of a leak somewhere. Satisfied that they were clean, he hung the lantern back up, and Desmond appeared again a moment later.

"And here you go." He passed the new coupling across. It looked almost identical to the previous one, save for the fact that it was a good bit

shinier. "You need any help getting it back on, or do you have it?"

"I think I've got it." Jason bit his lip as he slowly lifted it into place. "Let's see here... Careful..." He snapped it into place, then nodded. "Got

it."

"Good! I'll be down the hall again if you need me. We still need to

go get all the gas valves turned to the 'off' setting for tomorrow morning, which is going to take a good hour in and of itself." Desmond yawned. "If it's alright with you, I think I'll sleep here tonight. We need to be here at 7:00, and at this point, I don't know that I'll wake up in time."

"I'm fine by it." Jason nodded and slowly started tightening bolts. "Let's just get this taken care of."

Desmond walked off, and Jason gritted his teeth. Despite the lack of rust, the bolts were almost as hard to twist back on as they had been to get off. Sweat beaded on his brow after only a few minutes, and he gasped in relief as he got the first one put back in place. He let go of the coupling and stepped backward, then crossed his arms.

"Alright. One down. Two to go." He shook his head in amazement. "I get that they don't want these things coming apart, but you'd think that they would make them a little easier to work on, you know?"

A small scuff echoed on the floor behind him, and he sighed. "Richard, would you mind coming here and helping me with this next bit?"

There was a pause, and another scuff. Jason scowled, then turned around.

"Richard, I—"

In that moment, he froze. Standing in the doorway... No, just beyond the doorway, was a man. He was younger, wearing light armor equipped with a handful of trophies. A sword hung at his side, while he wore a helmet that didn't conceal his face. As soon as his eyes locked with Jason's, he turned and darted to the left, in the opposite direction as the stairs. Jason gaped, then charged after him.

"Hey! Stop!"

He burst into the hall and spun in that direction, but saw only wall. The flickering light of the lanterns played across the bricks, and Jason felt his heart beginning to hammer in his chest.

"What is it?" Richard poked his head out of the kitchen room. "Everything okay?"

"I don't... know." Jason drew in a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. "Did you see anyone, just now?"

"No."

"Hear anyone?"

"No." Richard raised an eyebrow. "Are you feeling alright, Jason?

You look like you just saw a—" His eyes went wide, and he slowly shook his head. "No. No. Are you serious?"

"Jason saw the ghost?" Desmond came bounding down the stairs. "Really?"

"I don't know what I saw." Jason let out a long breath. "I saw a person in the hall." He described him as best he could, then pointed down at the wall. "He ran that way. I followed, and... Then he was gone."

"Well, that's nothing but solid stone." Desmond walked over and slapped the bricks. "See? No hollow wall behind, so it wasn't a person. Must have been a ghost after all. Spooky!"

Jason snorted and shook his head in amazement, but Richard looked a bit more concerned.

"This isn't something to joke about. I've seen ghosts in the dungeons, and they're terrible to take down."

"Ahh, look. If it is a ghost that escaped the dungeons, it's not going to be looking for trouble, since it can't respawn outside the dungeon." Desmond pointed out. "If it was just a person, he ran from Jason. That's proof enough he's not looking for trouble."

"You seem to be hunting it." Jason scowled at Desmond.

"Ahh, lighten up." Desmond chuckled, though Jason thought he could see some fear behind his eyes, too. "I was just saying..."

"Are you still going to sleep here tonight?" Jason countered, a small smile coming to his lips.

Desmond froze, and he drew in a deep breath.

"Yes, I am." He nodded forcefully. "Now, we don't have long until morning. We should get to work. I'd like to get to sleep for at least a few hours before the inspector gets here."

Jason nodded, unable to disagree, and he walked back to his work. Richard came with him, and though neither of them spoke, both kept glancing over their shoulders at all times.

He had seen something, that was a simple fact. He didn't know what he had seen, if it had been a person or a ghost or an illusion. Maybe it had

just been a hallucination from when he whacked his head. He didn't really have a clue, except to say that, if there was something there... well... The previous owner had gone crazy and been forced out.

All he could do was hope, desperately, that the same thing wouldn't happen to him.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Cracking Fire

[Date: 18th Day of Winter. Time: 9:00 a.m.]

"And here you are!" Jason spread his arms as they walked in through the front door. Outside, a fierce wind howled down the streets, keeping most people home, but inside, it was actually quite pleasant. A fire crackled in the hearth, which opened into the tavern area, while the gas lights flickered wonderfully after being successfully approved by the city. Of course, the area that it was actually illuminating was still a disaster, with the carpet stripped up and a good bit of the wallpaper down, but they were working on it. "The future home of the Jade Hog!"

"Ahh! I love it already." Chang slowly walked into the room and crossed his arms. His eyes swept across the tables, then at the kitchen. "I've already seen it once, but you're sure that I'll be good to move in?"

Jason held out his hand, and quickly led the way to the kitchen proper. As they stepped inside, Chang whistled. It had three stoves sitting side-by-side, each with four burners, for a total of twelve flames that could be brought to bear at any given moment. The top half of the smoker poked up through the far end, while there was also a chamber that Jason had learned was used for frying, a large spice rack, several stacked ovens, and countless other utensils.

"It's all yours. I know you're only available on Saturdays for the time being, so give us a list of things that need done, and we can work on it throughout the week." Jason nodded.

"Will do." Chang crossed his arms in thought. "The biggest issue is going to be the fact that this is set up for southern foods, not eastern. Some of it's universal. The stoves, the ovens, but..." He gestured at the smoker. "A classic staple of Portswain food, it's not something I'll ever use. On the flip side, though, I'm going to need a dedicated rice station."

"Get us a list, and I'll see what Desmond can dig up." Jason nodded. "He's surprisingly good at finding odds and ends throughout the city. He knows who to ask about pert near everything."

"Sounds good." Chang nodded and pulled a notepad out of his pocket, then grinned. "And don't worry! As soon as I get a list made, I'm going to dive in and start cleaning, I'm not leaving it all to you. And I'll be doing it every Saturday until you open."

"What will you do with the current Jade Hog?" Desmond asked, poking his head in through the door.

"My current manager is going to be taking it over full time." Chang answered. "We're turning it into a proper franchise. If this opening goes well, this will become the main hub, and I'll see about opening another one, just to cement things. We'll have to see, though. Lots of chances for things to go really well, and lots of chances for things to fall flat on their faces."

"You can say that again." Jason murmured, then stepped out of the room. "Just holler if you need anything! We're painting upstairs."

Chang called something back, but Jason didn't quite hear what it was, and in any case, it didn't sound terribly urgent. He and Desmond quickly mounted the stairs to the suits, and there, they pulled out cans and buckets of paint. The previous day, they had coated everything in a thick primer, and now, they were ready to start slapping down actual layers of paint itself.

"Make sure you don't go too thick." Desmond dipped his brush in a can of blue paint and slowly applied it to the wall. "Nice and slow, that's how you win. Don't go too thin, either, or you'll have to go back. Better to go too thin than too thick, though."

"Is there anything you haven't done?" Jason laughed as he dipped his own brush in the paint, and they slowly started working together. "Now, refresh my memory again why we're using blue paint? I thought for sure we'd want something brighter."

"Simple. Dark colors cover up dirt." Desmond answered. "If you have a white wall, it won't matter how much you scrub it, you'll always miss a bit, and guests are sure to see it. Dark walls? They'll never notice. Blue is a natural color, it makes you think of the sky and water, and thus, dark blue."

"I still think red might have been nice." Jason sighed as they continued to paint.

"Red is the color of blood. It makes people angry." Desmond shook his head. "Paint the rooms red, and you'll become known as the inn where

you go to get murdered. We're doing blue, with gold trim. A hint of sunlight, a glimmer of royalty. You'll never go wrong."

"I suppose." Jason shook his head. "I just—"

"Daddy!"

Jason turned around to see Fern running into the room, a smile on

her face. Jason carefully gave her a hug, taking care to avoid getting paint on her dress. "And what might you be doing today?"

"We're helping you! Mommy gave us a day off school, so we're going to come have some fun!"

"Only your girls would think that renovating an inn is fun." Desmond shook his head, though he had a smile on his face. "Can you paint?"

"Can I?" Fern grinned. She drew her staff out of her inventory, and Jason's eyes went wide. He quickly dodged out of the way, and she thrust the staff forward. Light flared, and a large blob of paint slowly floated up and into the air. Desmond turned around and let out a shriek, and Fern gave a sharp flick of her staff.

The ball flew forward and hit the wall with a dull splat, though it didn't simply explode. Instead, it flowed smoothly over the walls, spreading out perfectly, until it covered a full wall and a half. As it came to its limits, Fern lowered her staff, then wiped her brow.

"Whew! That's all I have in me."

"Well, let me know the next time you find a bit more!" Desmond gaped. "I'll paint with you any day!"

Fern giggled, then jumped slightly as Tess called from below.

"Fern! Didn't I tell you to put on your paint smocks before going up and joining your father?"

"Oops! Gotta go." Fern turned and scampered away, and Jason laughed. He moved down the wall, then started painting once more. Desmond, meanwhile, simply laughed and shook his head.

"You have a lovely family, Mr. Jason. I hope that Dulcinea and I can be so favored when we have children of our own."

"How exactly did you meet this Dulcinea?" Jason asked, with a small smile on his face.

"Ahh! You'll never guess!" Desmond waved his hands as he worked in the opposite direction as Jason. "It was the summer, down in Portswain. I was a strapping young lad, she a fair maiden. I was working a job on a

fishing boat, my first real job, and had just come back into port when... There she was! Our eyes locked from afar, as she stood there in her brilliant red dress, hair pulled back tight, hands on her hips. I climbed out of the boat and stumbled up to her, awestruck, and asked her to accompany me to dinner that night."

"And what did she say?"

"A flat no. Her boyfriend was working on the same boat as myself." Desmond put his hand over his head. "I was crushed! Alas! The love of my life, torn from me in such an instant! I turned to find him looking at me, hatred in his black eyes, and I knew then that I would have to kill him. Perhaps not in that moment, but sometime."

"And then you fought him... Two weeks later?" Chang poked his head in through the door, raising an eyebrow. "It was in the middle of a storm, you had just entered a hacienda owned by her uncle, though you didn't know that at the time, and he challenged you to a duel?"

"Do not tell my story before I..." Desmond frowned. "How do you know that?"

"Everyone who's seen the play 'Love in Summer' knows it." Chang shrugged. "It's one of the most popular plays right now."

"How dare the playwrights steal my story?" Desmond demanded. "Who stole it from who?" Jason chuckled.

"You accuse me of pilfering the story of my love, the greatest story

ever told between a man and a woman, from a play told on the fetid stages of Illumitir? Pah! The things that pass for entertainment in this city." Desmond shook his head, then turned around. "If I was going to do that, I would have taken the plot of 'Desert Wings,' the greatest opera ever penned. Ahh! What love! What romance! But alas, my story is my own, mine and Dulcinea's."

"Mmkay." Chang raised an eyebrow, then waved at Jason. "Hey, can you come look at something real fast?"

"Yeah, be right down." Jason wiped off his brush, then set it aside and walked out of the room.

"How'd you like me to accuse you of stealing your story from a dime store novel?" Desmond muttered as Jason strode down the stairs. "It would hurt! It would wound you!"

Jason and Chang laughed as they reached the bottom of the stairs, and Chang put a hand to his head.

"Is he really the co-owner of this place?" Chang asked quietly as they walked toward the kitchen.

"He is." Jason nodded. "He's a little overdramatic sometimes, but he's good. We wouldn't have gotten half this far in this much time without him, and it would have cost three times as much. He has connections, and he's obviously willing to put in the hard work."

"Then I'll try to put up with his... nature. And his fire candies." Chang winced. "Please tell me that he doesn't bring any of those things around here. Ever."

"Haven't seen a one." Jason chuckled. He nodded to Chang as they walked into the kitchen. "Now what's up? You seem off, like something happened."

"I just found something, and it has me wondering some things." Chang answered. He spread his arms and slowly turned, gesturing at everything. "What do you see here?"

"A fairly standard kitchen." Jason shrugged. He pointed to either end, where swinging doors allowed for quick entry and exit, as well as the small window that opened between the kitchen and the dining area. "Everything's set up for restaurant flow, efficiency, so on and so forth."

"That's what I thought, too. And then..." Chang walked over to the sink, which was located on the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, not far from the window. "And then, I found this." He pointed to a small section of the wood that was a bit off-color, and slowly gave it a tap. Springs hidden away in the wood made it pop out, and Jason frowned and leaned forward.

"What's this? Secret compartment?"

"No. A secret chute." Chang frowned. "You drop something in here, and it falls down to the room in the basement with all the kitchen stuff. There's a little mark on the wall just below it. You'd never notice the scrapes if you weren't looking for it, but it seems to me like there was some sort of collection basket that they could hang up and then take down at leisure."

"Why would that be necessary?" Jason leaned forward. "That seems so odd."

"Look at the placement." Chang answered. He stepped up to the sink, then reached out and tapped the small countertop located in the window. "My guess is that the waiter writes down and places the orders

here. Whoever's standing at this station grabs them, reads them, and conveys the orders to the assorted cooks. Right? Then..." He mimed dropping something down the chute. "It looks like you're just going back to work. If you had a good sleight of hand skill, no one would ever notice you were dropping something in there."

"Dropping what?" Jason scratched his head.

"Money?" Chang shrugged. "Secret orders? Substances that Illumitir wants to control?"

Jason chuckled a bit at the thought of a secret, black-market agricultural chemical hub being run by Jeremiah. It was totally something he would have done. Still, though, it left a great many questions, to be certain.

"It would make more sense to me that it was money." Jason answered after a moment. "Money and maybe orders for whatever they were selling. Money and orders get dropped down the chute, and then someone else below receives it and makes the delivery while they're eating. Or, alternatively, takes it to their room."

"Hmm." Chang crossed his arms. "I don't know. I just thought you ought to be in the loop."

"No, I appreciate it. I'll let Desmond know, too." Jason scratched his head. "I might mention it to City police, too. If we've stumbled onto something, it'll be better to come clean about it now than to wait, and get pegged in the same crime if it ever does come to light."

"My thoughts exactly." Chang waved. "Don't lose this place, Jason! I really do want to work here!"

Jason chuckled, and nodded as he turned and walked away. The discovery was concerning, but it wasn't the end of the world, as far as he was concerned. They just needed to make sure they handled everything properly.

And, for that moment, it meant that they needed to show the right people.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Letterhead

[Date: 20th Day of Winter. Time: 12:00 p.m.]

"Thank you for coming, inspector." Jason held the door open as a trench-coat-clad man slowly walked up and into the building. A police officer came along behind, backup in case of trouble, and the man nodded. He was shorter, with a thin beard, and keen eyes.

"Of course. When you came by the station two days ago, it raised a lot of eyebrows." The inspector held out a hand, which Jason shook. "Call me Chase. I've been in the study of illicit substance sale for some time now, and this place..." He sighed as he walked into the room. "Unfortunately, inns are a hotbed for it, given the constant flow of people in and out. Almost every single inn in the city has come across my desk at one point or another. I remember this one, it was a particularly odd case."

"How so?" Jason asked.

"Because most of the time, people are wanting... Experiences." Chase sighed and gestured vaguely. "Magical fungi, that sort of thing. Things that make you feel like you're as strong as a dungeon warrior, when in reality you couldn't lift your mother's couch to help her move across town. At this place, though, the charge was trade in illegal weapons."

"Weapons?" Jason's mouth went dry. "Well... Come here."

He led the way into the kitchen, where Chang had managed to get a bit more cleanup done the previous Saturday. He reached out and popped open the hidden chute, and Chase leaned forward and raised a bushy eyebrow.

"Now that's something you don't see every day." His eyes swept to the order window, then back to the opening. "Brilliant design. I've seen some good setups in my time, but this one just might take the cake. They were obviously working at it for a long time."

Jason nodded, and Chase stomped on the floor.

"Can we go down?"

Jason quickly led the way, and the trio made their way down to the

room below the kitchen. Jason lit a few lanterns to show the way, and Chase

slowly walked in and looked around. His eyes seemed to sweep everything, and he reached up and tapped some of the pipes.

"What's been turned on so far?"

"We have gas." Jason answered. "No water yet. It'll be awhile before we get things up to code there, we'll working on getting the bathrooms in order once we finish painting."

"Mmm." Chase soon found the wall below the chute, and touched the telltale scrape marks. When he finished, he backed up, held out his hands, and began miming passing boxes here and there around the room. "Stand in that corner, Jason."

Jason moved over to the corner, and the man nodded and went back to work, then had Jason move to a few other places. When he was done, he sighed.

"I can't tell any more without doing some tests, but from what I can tell, this place probably was built for the weapon trade."

"What sort of weapons were being dealt with?" Jason asked, confused.

"Primarily crystals and potions." Chase answered. "That was the rumor, anyway. There are old, legacy dungeons across the world, dungeons that should have been closed a long time ago, but that get left open for one reason or another. They drop off the face of the earth, until someone comes along and trips over the right tree stump, you know?"

Jason nodded. "I actually had one of those on my old property, down in Summer Shandy."

"Mmm! I remember hearing about that! There were a handful of dungeon core shards that made their way up this direction, courtesy of that little event." Chase sighed. "Anyway, there are old weapons and things that have been banned by modern conventions. Certain types of dark magic that were once available to dungeon warriors, or highly explosive crystals, or weapons that had a higher-than-usual chance of injuring teammates, that sort of thing. It's a real sticky business, and that's been the focus on my time as an investigator. This place came across my desk, as I said, a few years ago, but despite numerous plants, we were never able to prove anything." Chase bit his lip, then placed himself in the middle of the room again. "When you're standing right here... Imagine that you're a stack of crates. There's room for you right there, and right there, and right there. Potions, crystals, scrolls. Those are the three main types of things we deal

with. Then... these pipes that have been strung obnoxiously through the air..." Chase pointed up at them. "It's a perfect place to hang things from."

Jason nodded slowly. "What do we do now that you suspect it?"

"First, we need to run some tests. I'll have my office come down, they'll take some scans of the walls, scrape residue, that sort of thing. That'll let us get a good idea for the quantity of goods that were stored here, if any." Chase stroked his chin. "And then... Assuming that comes back well... I'd like to look for any secret entrances and exits."

A flash of inspiration came to Jason, and he walked out into the hall and pointed down at the wall. "Try that way. There's been a rumor of a ghost here for some time, and I saw something once, but..."

Chase frowned, then slowly walked out into the hall and looked at the wall. He walked up and tapped on it a few times, from the floor to the ceiling, then tapped on the walls on either side.

"Solid as a rock. There's no false walls."

Jason sighed and shook his head. "I sure hope I'm not going crazy, t —"

Donk, donk, donk.

Chase stomped on the floor a few times, and a smile came across his face. "But there is a false floor. Officer?"

Jason stepped back as the officer walked over to him, and the inspector knelt down and started feeling around on the floor. For a few long moments, nothing happened. Then, with a pop, the floor bounced up rather like the little opening in the kitchen had done. Chase lifted it to reveal a tunnel, and held out the lantern.

"Now there's a sight for sore eyes." Chase whispered. "Care for an excursion, Jason?"

"Ahh..." Jason had absolutely no desire to jump down into the dark tunnel. "Can I carry my pistol?"

"Has it been registered with the city?" Chase slide down inside. "No... Is that a thing?"

"I'll bring the paperwork tomorrow. Until then, only pull it if your

life depends on it, because otherwise, the court proceedings will make you wish you'd just died." The officer glanced over his shoulder with a smile, then slid inside as well. Jason groaned, then slowly walked forward and jumped down into the pit.

It was a rather comfortable tunnel, all things considered. It was almost as tall as the hallway itself, though it was quite narrow, and the walls were starting to cave slightly inward. Chase led the way, pushing ahead through the darkness, and Jason followed along behind.

"You sure couldn't have moved much freight through here." Jason commented.

"No, but with condensed inventories, which are also illegal, you can fit a lot into a single person's inventory." Chase muttered from up ahead. "Alright... We're almost to the end. Here we go! Any bets on where it leads out?"

"I'm guessing the alley behind the shop." Jason posited.

"Mmm. I'm guessing the tavern next door." Chase shook his head. He reached up and pushed a wooden door open. "Surprise, surprise!"

In the distance, Jason heard something clatter. "Hey! Who's in there?"

The officer motioned for Jason to stay back, and he and the inspector quickly climbed up. A moment later, there was a sharp cry.

"Police! Don't move! You're under arrest for—"

Shing!

Blam!

Fooom!

Jason ran for the opening, and looked up as the officer staggered

back, blood dripping down his arm, while Chase scowled at a closing door. He had a smoking gun in his hand, but didn't pursue.

"I got a good look at him." Chase muttered. "And I'm in no shape to be chasing down criminals. I'll head down to the station and file a report with the sketch artist."

Jason frowned as he climbed up, finding himself in a small storage room. There were half a dozen crates strewn around the area, and as he glanced inside, he found them full of... Surprise, surprise... Potions, crystals, and scrolls.

"So this was how they were being brought in." Jason murmured.

"And they're still in business!" Chase laughed. "Ahh, this'll score us quite the bust back at the station. Might even put us down in the history books."

Jason chuckled and shook his head, then paused. "Wait! Ahh... One question. What do I do if they try to get back into my building?"

"I'll have my team seal up the entrance. When we arrest the owner of this business, it should put an end to the whole operation." Chase shrugged. "You did good, Mr. Hunter! I ought to..." His voice suddenly trailed off, and he blinked a few times. "Hunter. From Summer Shandy, you said?"

Jason nodded slowly. "You know my name?"

"I... No. No, must've just sounded familiar." Chase nodded to the officer. "He'll see you back home. I've got to get down to the station."

A few minutes later, Jason was being taken out through the front of David's business and out onto the street. He glanced around, and slowly made the walk back toward the Summer Shandy Inn. It was good to have that mystery solved, but in many ways, more mysteries had just been opened. Jason was nervous, that was for sure.

He only hoped that the whole business was, indeed, over.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Renovations

[Date: 30th Day of Winter. Time: 9:00 a.m.]

Jason winced as he stepped through the front door of the inn and found several pieces of mail on the floor. His leg still didn't like him to bend over, but he was saved from the trouble when Fern darted forward and scooped it up.

"Ahh, many thanks." Jason smiled as she handed it to him. "Now, what do we have here?"

Slowly, he started shuffling through the letters as Fern watched. There was a bill from the Natural Gas Guild, some estimates for different renovation jobs that were just a bit above Jason and Desmond's skills, a proposed menu that Chang had sent over, and then...

Jason frowned as he found one last envelope, no postage, that had apparently just been slipped in through the slot. It was addressed to him, in somewhat familiar handwriting, and he slowly handed the other letters to Fern and slit it open. Carefully, he pulled out a single sheet of paper.

"Jason, you don't know what you're walking into. Tell the inspector to give up the hunt for me, or you will regret it. David."

Jason licked his lips, then sighed and stuck the letter in his inventory. Fern looked at him quizzically, but she didn't say anything, which he appreciated.

"Come on, let's get the rest of this put in my office." He patted her on the shoulder and led her into the room, which was slowly growing quite the stack of letters. She put the new ones on the top of the stack, then whirled around.

"So what do we get to do today?" Rachel burst through the doors after Fern, following along a bit further behind. "You said you had a surprise for us today?"

"A surprise?" Desmond came stomping down the stairs, covered with splatters of blue paint. "I've been here for two hours now, and I didn't get a surprise."

Jason laughed, then shrugged. "Hey, Desmond. How are things today?"

"As good as can be! Just working. Slaving away while you take time with your precious family. I, alas, have such a dedication to our business as to be forced to leave my sweet Dulcinea behind, longing for my return."

Jason snorted and shook his head. "Desmond, we talked about this yesterday, remember?"

"I know, I'm just giving you a hard time." Desmond clapped Jason on the shoulder. "Go have fun with the kids! I hope Tess gets to feeling better."

Jason grimaced. "Me, too."

Both girls had, fortunately, recovered from the stomach bug that they had picked up. Tess, the previous afternoon, had started to come down with it, and had sent Richard to the inn to ask if Jason could take the next day off. Jason had agreed (after Desmond had said it was alright), and had started looking for things to do with the girls.

"Well, if she doesn't, and things get really bad and you wind up a widower, know that you can't have Dulcinea." Desmond laughed as he grabbed some cans of paint and started back up the stairs. "By the way! Just another few days and we'll be done with Floor 3! That only leaves 2 and 1, and then we'll be done! I estimate... Two weeks, at most."

"Sounds good to me!" Jason waved as he started back out the door. "Come on, girls! Let's get going."

Rachel and Fern frowned, but nodded and followed. As they struck out into the city, Jason shivered, pulling his coat tightly around him. The girls clung close as the wind blew louder, howling across the tops of the buildings, and a few splatters of snow stung against their faces. The sky was still mostly clear, though the skyline didn't exactly allow Jason to see the horizon to see if there were clouds on the way.

They quickly made their way through the city, toward the north, until they came to the Flower District. It was one of the smallest districts, only comprising a few city blocks, though they were among the densest blocks in the entire city. There was almost no residential space, though. All of it, instead, was composed of art studios.

"We're looking for Building... 12-J." Jason murmured. "Here we go... Block 9... Block 10..."

"There!" Fern pointed across the street. "12! And there's 12-J!"

Jason nodded. The "buildings" were essentially all sandwiched together so tightly that there was no distinguishing one from the next, and they rose up to what seemed like a height of dozens of stories. A small, wooden door stood at the entrance, and Fern quickly pulled it open. Jason stepped inside, revealing a narrow hallway with half a dozen more doors, and a staircase that wound sharply upward. He began climbing, and the girls followed along once more. They quickly rose all the way to the fifth level, where they got off and walked down to the third door. There, Jason felt a smile come across his face at the sight of the Circle-Z brand burned boldly into the wood. He reached out and knocked, then stood back to wait.

"Coming!" A voice called from the other side. "Just... one moment..."

The door was pulled open a moment later to reveal a young woman, maybe twenty years old, with brilliant red hair wearing a paint smock. She blinked a few times, then stepped back and held out her hand.

"Come in." She motioned for them to enter. "Please! Have you come about my work?"

"I have, yes." Jason nodded. He slowly stepped in past her, and looked around the area. The single room looked like a single, extensive paint canvas. Dozens, if not hundreds, of paintings hung on the wall or were stacked in piles. A workspace sat near the back of the room, where a half- finished portrait of a man in a top hat was being put together. "So you're Emilia? Granddaughter of the original Circle-Z owner?"

"Yes." She blushed. "I don't have a bit of skill making furniture, but I can paint! Ever since I started selling my work a year or two ago, people keep coming here wanting to buy chairs." She winced. "Sorry to disappoint, if that was your plan."

"Not at all, actually." Jason opened up his inventory and pulled out one of the paintings he had found in his office. "You painted this?"

Emilia lit up. "Yeah, I remember that one! Some rich guy, owned an inn. He was from the northern mountains. I was going door-to-door, and he agreed to buy a few to support me. It was more of a pity buy than anything else, but I'll take what I can get, you know?" She giggled. "Since then, I'm doing a lot better."

"How much better?" Jason asked, hoping that he wasn't prying too much.

"Well... I'm not starving, so that's good." Emilia shrugged with a sad sort of smile. "My mother left town when my grandfather passed away. She let me stay to try to sell my art, but if it doesn't start working out soon, she's asking that I leave and come join her."

"Do you live here alone?" Fern asked, staring at Emilia in awe.

"No!" Emilia laughed. "I live with my cousin. She's older, has a few kids, and is letting me crash on their couch. I rent the studio here, but that's mostly because of my grandpa's name." She sighed, then looked up. "So what can I do for you?"

"Well, as it so happens, I just bought that inn." Jason shrugged and put the picture back into his inventory. "We're in the process of getting it fixed back up, and we're working on establishing the theme."

"And... you need artwork?" Emilia seemed to swell with excitement.

"We do." Jason nodded.

"What kind of artwork?" Emilia ran to her desk and spent a few moments pushing things around before she found an empty sheet of paper. She sat down and pulled out a pen, licked it, performed a test scribble, and looked up at him. "I'm ready!"

Jason flashed a small smile. Originally, he had wanted to turn the inn into a full Summer Shandy experience. Pictures of the prairie, that sort of thing, but...

"We're going for a worldwide experience." Jason answered. "Or at least a continent-wide experience. You do excellent landscapes, so that's what we want. For the dining room, which is called the Jade Hog, we want scenes of the eastern isles. For the rest of the inn, we're going to break it up by floor. The top floor will be the northern lands, like what you've already done. The third floor will be southern, the Portswain area. Second floor will be way out west, the wilderness lands out there. Lower floor will be the coast, out toward the east, but not quite all the way."

"Alright... Anything else?"

"I need one more, for my office, of the town of Summer Shandy." Jason answered. "It's my home, though most people would find it a bit plain, I think."

"Got it." Emilia nodded. "Do you mind if I come by the place, so you can show me exactly how many pieces of artwork you need? It'll be hard to give a proper estimate without it."

"Of course." Jason confirmed. "I will say that we're a bit limited on funds, though we'll pay you everything you're worth."

"But of course." Emilia started to write down something else, then paused. "You're just restarting this business?"

"That's right!" Rachel grinned. "And we're helping!"

"I bet you are." Emilia smiled warmly at Rachel, then bit her lip. "Do you mind if... If I propose a business deal?"

Jason chuckled. "You, Chang, Desmond, seems like everyone wants a piece of this inn! What are you thinking?"

"If you'll let me set up a table in the tavern where I can sell my artwork, I'll do the whole thing for free."

Jason's jaw dropped. "That's it?"

"Right now, I'm struggling with visibility." Emilia sighed. "This studio is hard to find, and I haven't been able to get my work into any of the major galleries. Sure, some rich people have bought my stuff, but rich people have loads of artwork in their houses, so guests aren't usually going to pick out mine to ask more details, you know?"

"Mmm. Yeah, I suppose that makes sense." Jason frowned in thought. "I mean, it's a no-brainer to me. Chang's the one with control over the tavern, so if for some reason he disagrees, we'll get you set up in the hall right outside it or something."

Emilia winced. "In the tavern is the deal. That's where people will be relaxing, chatting. Even a foot outside, and it'll lower my visibility."

"You drive a hard bargain." Jason smiled. He held out his hand, and Emilia shook it. "Come on by... Can you make it on the 32nd? That's when Chang will next come by, you can work with him on the exact placement."

"I'll be there!" Emilia smiled. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you!"

A few minutes later, Jason and the girls walked back out into the cold once more. Fern grimaced, and Jason smiled.

"Those were pretty, weren't they?"

"They were!" Rachel danced around him. "Those will be fun to see around the place!"

"I think so, too." Jason nodded. "Now, let's keep moving! I'd like to go see the Dungeon Museum today, as something else fun to do."

"Yay! Museums!" Fern and Rachel ran off down the street, and Jason laughed. All told, it was a good day. A bit of business taken care of,

and now, it was time to just go have some fun with his kids. What could be better than

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Grand OPening

[Date: 53rd Day of Winter. Time: 10:00 a.m.]

"Come on in!" Jason beamed as a large crate was slowly carried up and into the front door of the inn. "Careful!"

"I'm being careful." The delivery man assured them. "Just... Here you go!" He set the crate down on the floor, then straightened up. "Whew! You guys are really making a lot of good progress in here."

Jason looked around, and nodded slowly in agreement. The lamps were burning brightly, and all the walls had been painted. Most of the floors had been sandpapered down, and the bathrooms had mostly been finished. There was still some fractured woodwork that needed tidied up, and they had to get new furniture inside, but it was coming along well.

"Ahh! Are they okay?" Emilia flew up the stairs and into the inn, followed closely by Fern and Rachel. She popped the lid off the crate and looked down inside, where almost three dozen paintings had been carefully arranged. Long strips of protective film ran between them, making sure that no paint chipped off in transit. "Whew! They're okay."

"And we get to help put them up, right?" Rachel beamed.

"Yup!" Emilia reached inside and pulled out a large, two-foot by three-foot piece that would go on the wall of one of the suits. It depicted a mountain with a glimmering display of dancing lights in the sky overhead, and Jason whistled. "Alright! Rachel, you take this one, and head upstairs. Fern, you get that one, and I'll get..."

Jason smiled and stepped back, then turned and walked into the kitchen area. There, something sizzled loudly as Chang worked in the kitchen, testing all his new equipment. All the old stuff that couldn't be used had been switched out, and all the grime carefully scrubbed away.

"How's it going?" Jason poked his head inside as Chang danced back and forth. A platter of green beans sizzled on the stovetop, while it smelled like dumplings were baking in the oven.

"Great! Just trying to see how many people I'll need to run this place." Chang frowned in concentration. "These two stovetops and these two ovens can be run by the same person... And..."

Jason beamed. "As long as you're figuring it out."

"Right you are, boss." Chang flashed him a thumbs-up before turning back to his work. "Catch you at lunchtime! You'll all feast! Except Desmond. I have something planned for him."

Jason frowned, but shook his head and stepped out into the tavern area once more. There, all the furniture had been carefully arranged where they wanted it, with the walls painted a lovely green. A large table had been set up prominently in one corner, which was where Emilia would be displaying her artwork. It was an excellent location from what Jason could tell, and Emilia had seemed pleased with it. Chang, for his part, had been quite pleased at the idea, provided that at least some of the work on the table matched the general aesthetic of the area.

From there, Jason slowly made his way up the stairs, standing to the side as the trio of girls dashed back and forth, here and there. He soon found Desmond on the second floor, in the hall, down on the ground working on a bit of the molding.

"You alright?" Jason asked.

"Yeah." Desmond grunted. "Just... Someone in the past took a tack, one of those scattered weapons used to slow down monsters in the dungeons, and nailed it into this baseboard. It's not much, but if the final inspector catches it, we're toast."

"You think he would see something like that?" Jason knelt down, where Desmond was working to pry the little sliver of metal free. "We've been working on this place for how long now, and haven't seen it?"

Desmond grunted. "Inspectors look for all the little things. When you've been over the place with a finer comb than the inspector will use, then you know you're safe. I'd rather not take any chances." He glanced over at Jason. "How's the furniture looking?"

"I contacted Charlie's Chairs and Sally's Sofas." Jason answered. "They'll both be here early next week to give us an estimate. Neither are going to be cheap."

"I wish I knew a guy, but that's one area I just don't." Desmond shook his head, then jerked a thumb down the hall. "I don't suppose any of her relatives happen to still be good at the family trade?"

"Somehow, I don't think it would be polite to ask." Jason chuckled to himself. "I also imagine she would have said something if they were."

"Probably true." Desmond grunted, then sighed. "Can you run downstairs and snatch me my pliers? I left them sitting out when I was helping pull the smoker out of the kitchen room. Should have stuck them in the inn's inventory, but you know how you forget things sometimes?"

Jason laughed and slowly stood up. "Be right back."

He quickly made his way down through the inn once more, stepped aside to allow another procession of paintings through, and slipped down into the basement. There, though he was rapidly becoming familiar enough with the area to make his way along by touch, he went ahead and lit a lantern, then slowly walked down to the kitchen room.

There, as he stepped inside, he found the pile of old kitchen supplies (which they planned to have hauled off by the end of the next week), and Desmond's pliers sitting right on top. Jason snatched them up, turned around...

And felt his heart stop.

Standing there, in the doorway, was a figure once more. It was a warrior, about Jason's size and age, wearing a simple leather armor. That said... There was something about the man that was terribly familiar. He was covered in burns, and seemed to list to one side. That said, his eyes... They were filled with a fiery hatred, and seemed to punch straight through Jason. Then, with a flicker, he simply vanished into thin air, as if he'd never been there.

Jason braced for an attack, as he knew cloaking devices and spells to be common enough, but felt only a wash of cold air. A moment later, it was gone, and he shuddered. When he'd recovered his senses, he very carefully ran as fast as absolutely possible to leave the room far before.

As he came pounding back up into the light, Desmond met him at the bottom of the stairs, and raised an eyebrow.

"I knew you were older than me, but I didn't know sending you down there would be quite such an exercise." He held out his hand, taking the pliers from Jason's nerveless fingers. "Come on! I've got some pipe fittings I need you to start tightening. As soon as furniture is in the house next week, we need to be entirely focused on the outside, so it's go-go-go!"

Jason nodded and followed, and for the rest of that morning, helped Desmond with all sorts of odd jobs around the area. By the time that lunch

came around, he knew intellectually that his stomach was growling, but he could hardly get himself to actually feel hungry. He still seemed in shock, but as Chang rang a large dinner bell and called them all in to the tavern, he came well enough. Tess was there, having apparently just gotten in with Richard and the twins, and she smiled and waved Jason over to her table. Desmond sat down at a nearby table with Chang and Richard, while the three girls took a third table. Jason helped get the twins situated in their booster seats, and Tess leaned over and lowered her voice.

"Jason? You alright?"

"I... I don't know." Jason whispered. "I'm either seeing things, or we're in danger."

"How so?"

"I just saw a ghost in the basement again." Jason murmured. "He looked at me, and then vanished. He didn't turn and run, he just disappeared."

"Cloaking spell?"

"Maybe." Jason sighed and shook his head. "But... Tess? That wasn't the worst part of it."

"What was?" Tess asked quietly.

"The worst part was who he was. I haven't seen him in years, I'd honestly forgotten all about him, but there he was." Jason shuddered. "It was..." A small chuckle came over him, and he shook his head. "You won't believe it, but it was Leonard."

"Leonard?" Tess paused in thought for a moment. "That sounds familiar."

"It should. You dated him for awhile."

Tess's eyes snapped wide open. "The Leonard who teamed up with the Dungeon Guild to try and destroy the entire city?"

"Who we subsequently blew up and then kinda healed, just enough to send him on his way." Jason sighed and nodded slowly. "I haven't seen him since he left town with his parents, it must have been the second year I was in Summer Shandy."

"So what's he doing here?" Tess snapped.

"You don't think I'm crazy?" Jason asked.

"You're a lot of things." Tess patted his hand. "Crazy isn't one of

them. If you say you saw him... Then you saw him. It leaves a lot of questions in my mind, to be sure. Are we safe? Are our kids safe?" She

glanced at the two older girls, then over at the twins, then back to Jason. "You saw something that looked like him. Was it him, himself? Was it an illusion being cast by someone else? If the latter, how did they know about him? If the former, is this just a coincidence, or is he following us?"

"Trust me, that's what I've been thinking about, too." Jason shrugged. "The simple fact of the matter is that I just don't know. I don't have a clue what might be happening, I don't—"

"Lunch is served!" Chang swept through the room, depositing plates in front of everyone. The platters contained chicken drizzled with a sweet sauce, dumplings, and green beans. When everyone had been served, Chang sat down at a his own table. Jason slowly started to eat, mulling over everything, when Chang let out a scream.

"Ahhhhh! How did you... Ahh! Milk!"

He jumped to his feet and ran off into the kitchen, and Desmond shrugged. "I guess the food on our two plates got switched. Funny how that happens."

Jason snorted despite himself, and the rest of the room laughed. Still, though, the levity was short-lived. Jason had many, many questions, and few of them revolved around the specifics of what they were facing. He needed to know that his family was safe, and that was paramount. Everything else was secondary to that... And, with someone as crazy as Leonard on the loose, there was simply no way of knowing whether or not the family would, indeed, be safe ever again.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Unexpected Alliance

[Date: 60th Day of Winter. Time: 1:00 p.m.]

"And here we are." Jason crossed his arms as he looked up at the towering edifice of the Summer Shandy Inn. The interior now looked quite fine, but the outside was still the old, saggy thing that Jason had seen when he first started poking around. Desmond nodded, and thumped the large crate sitting on the sidewalk. With a flash, dozens of cans of paint and other utensils appeared, scattered around.

"Well, don't just stand there!" Desmond called out. "Let's all get to work!"

All around, a small team of folks that Desmond had put together quickly grabbed their supplies and started toward the inn. A few of them grabbed ladders, to work on painting the siding around the upper stories. Others made their way toward the large, homestyle porch. A few others started touching up the baseboards, windowsills, and other structures around the lower parts of the inn within reach.

"Alright, then. Let's get to it." Jason bent down to grab a can, but Desmond held up a hand.

"Sorry, partner, but this is our work. You just sit back and watch the masters at work."

Jason scowled. "I can paint!"

"Yeah... My experience with you is that no, you can't." Desmond flashed an apologetic smile. "I had to redo quite a few areas that you went over inside the building. You stand right here and answer questions, alright? Be a walking billboard."

Jason sighed, but nodded. He stuck his hands deep in his coat pockets and shivered as a cold wind gusted down the street, dancing this way and that. It cut through his jacket with ease, but he weathered it well enough. He had a job to do, and wasn't going to let a little bit of cold weather get in the way.

"Whoa!" A warrior walking by, a man who had a broad battle axe slung across his shoulders, turned to stare at the inn. "Are you guys actually getting this thing up and running again? I've been hearing some rumors, but never guessed they were actually true!"

"They're true." Jason confirmed. "The goal is to open on the last day of winter."

"Last day of winter? How about that? I might have to get some of my buddies to come and check you out." The warrior started on his way again. "It'll be fun to stay in a haunted inn!"

Jason sighed as the man slowly vanished. He turned his attention back to the building, and tapped his foot against the pavement. A few moments later, though, a woman with a few small children bustled past, only to stop and stare as well.

"You're getting this place up and running again?" The woman smiled at Jason. "Oh, I have so many fond memories of this place. It's actually where I met my husband."

"Well, if you'd like to come along for an anniversary, we have the finest food in the city from the Eastern Isles, and our beds are all-new." Jason answered with a smile. "Everything's new, save for a few pieces of Circle-Z furniture that we saved."

The woman smiled and shook her head in amazement, then frowned. "I do have one small concern. What have you done to address the ghost situation?"

"I assure you, we have experts who have looked into it, and who are quite certain that there remains no undead presence in the building which would affect the safety of guests."

"Good." The woman nodded, though she seemed to pause. "Still... Makes a mother mighty nervous, I hope you know." With that, she walked off, and Jason sighed and shook his head. Oh, well. You couldn't win them all.

He continued to stand there as the painting crew worked, and he did have to admit that he likely would have been in the way. They were fast, wherever they worked, and they did their job well. The painters on the ladders scampered up and down so fast you could hardly see them, and the ones on the porch and down low were a simple blur. Jason whistled as he watched them, then turned as another figure in a brown trench coat approached.

"Inspector Chase." Jason nodded to the man.

"Jason Hunter." Chase held out a hand, which Jason shook. "How goes it?"

"Well enough." Jason confirmed. "We have an inspector coming here in just a couple more weeks. He'll give us final approval or denial, and we hope to be open by the Winter Festival."

"The what?" Chase blinked a few times.

"Sorry. The last day of winter." Jason sighed. "Where I came from, we had a big festival on the last day of each season."

"Pfft. The things people will celebrate these days." Chase shook his head, then crossed his arms. "Well, I just came to see how you were getting along. The Treasury department is eager to make sure that they don't wind up with the property again, and I have to say that I'm interested myself in the prosperity, or lack thereof, of this property. It's been an interesting one for us these last few years, ever since it started to go downhill."

Chase started to walk off, continuing in the same direction he had been going when he first showed up, and Jason held up a hand.

"Wait! Just for a second."

"Mmm?" Chase turned around and raised an eyebrow. "What's up?" "I was just wondering if you had any more details on the case?"

Jason asked. "The ghost one?"

Chase laughed and crossed his arms. "Don't tell me you're actually

believing in that old yarn, are you?"

"You heard what I told you when we spoke a few days ago." Jason

pressed. "I saw Leonard in there."

Chase sighed and folded his hands. "You think you saw Leonard in

there."

"I know I saw Leonard in there." Jason pressed. "Look, you ought to

know that coincidences are nearly impossible things. Either it was him, which means he's stalking me, or it wasn't, which means that someone else knows enough about my life to be able to create something that they knew would shake me up."

"It likely wasn't him." Chase crossed his arms tightly. "There would have been no reason for him to be down there. We blocked up the tunnel, and checked for more, so there wouldn't have been any point in his going down there."

"Except to scare me." Jason muttered.

"Look. Leonard Scarred, as he's known to us, isn't exactly a low- profile criminal." Chase countered. "After he got back here to Illumitir from his little excursion down in the belly of the world, he was a nightmare. Went on a terror spree, all in the name of ridding the word of anyone like you. He killed a dozen people, maybe more, stole tens of thousands of credits from the bank, it was bad. He was serial killer number one on the Illumitir criminal lists for something like two years. When he was finally taken down, he was taken to Deep Dungeon Twelve, which is the deepest, most secure prison in the entire land. Trust me, he hasn't come out of it yet."

"How do you know?" Jason demanded.

"Because, as soon as you reported it to me, I went and checked. Personally." Chase sighed. "I was one of the people who helped take him down. It was the case that convinced me to transfer from homicide to commerce crime. Trust me when I say that I'm very confident it wasn't him, unless he has a twin walking around with the exact same burn marks."

Jason sighed and nodded. "I just..."

"I know it's scary. Trust me, he tried to kill me, too. He succeeded in killing a lot of other people." Chase started to walk away, then paused. "By the way, what exactly did you do to him?"

"Married his girlfriend."

Chase turned slightly white. "Ahh... Hmm. I see the issue."

"Look, if you say he's locked up, I'll believe you." Jason waved as

Chase started to walk off once more. "And hey, when we open up, there'll be a table waiting for you, alright?"

"I'll be here!"

As Chase walked off into the distance, Jason squared his shoulders and turned back to the house. He had work to do, and wasn't going to let a ghost from the past spoil it.

In any case, work on the house was progressing well. It was into the afternoon now, and the men Desmond had hired were good workers. Jason watched them closely as they went along, until, as the sun started to set in the sky, they started packing up their gear. Desmond came back over to Jason, along with the foreman of the crew.

"My friend here was wondering if he could store his items in the inn's inventory."

"I'm okay with that." Jason nodded. "Have they been paid for the day's work?"

Desmond shook his head, then turned to the man. They spoke for a few moments in a rapid burst of language that Jason didn't understand, then turned back to him.

"They'd rather not be paid until the work is done. They're honest workers, and want to make sure that they deliver properly."

"Then we'll see you... not tomorrow, but Monday."

"Sounds good." Desmond turned and said a few more words to the foreman, and with that, the workers began placing their items in the inventory of the building. "He did point some things out to me that we need to work on. Shouldn't take long."

"What are we looking at?" Jason asked.

Desmond pointed up at the porch, and quickly led Jason up onto the small structure. There, he walked over to a corner, where the porch railing was pulling away slightly from one of the supports.

"Here, for starters. If we don't get this fixed, we're going to regret it." Desmond glanced up at the ceiling overhead. "Now, importantly, we're not going to want to just hammer these back in. It's likely caused from stress from the porch settling, which means, ideally, we'll actually go in underneath and shore up some of the foundation stones."

Jason whistled. "Alright. I can do that."

"Good. Then..." Desmond led Jason around the side of the house, and pointed up at the windows on the southern face. "Right here, a lot of these window frames are starting to crack around the glass. The workers will paint over them if we desire it, but they'd feel more comfortable if we could actually go in and replace some of the frames and sills altogether."

"That doesn't sound like a little thing." Jason scowled.

"A day's work." Desmond shrugged. "Then, last but not least, some of the shingles on the roof are going to need replaced. Not immediately, but they're showing signs of wear, and it'll be a credit to us if we get them patched before guests start showing up."

Jason sighed and kicked at the ground. "We've about burnt through our budget. You've kept our costs down to a manageable level, and without you we'd never have gotten half the work done on this place that's needed done, but I don't know how much more we have in us."

"You leave it to me." Desmond put a hand on Jason's shoulder. "I have a bit more of a nest egg I can dip into, and I have a feeling that I'll be making it back."

"I can't ask you to do that." Jason murmured.

"No? Like Johan couldn't ask you for a place to stay for a few months, along with a grand jewel to stick on his resume?" Desmond raised an eyebrow. "Like Milligan couldn't ask you for room and board and a place nice and tucked away from humanity? Like the town of Summer Shandy couldn't ask you to destroy your entire crop for the sake of helping prevent an incursion of monsters?"

"Oh, come on." Jason scowled. "That's not fair."

"Neither are any of the things that you've done, over and over, for anyone who's needed help." Desmond smiled. "Now, just trust me, and let me work it all out."

"Alright." Jason sighed and shook his head. "Thank you."

"But of course." Desmond beamed, and raised his fist to the sky. "Thirty more days, Jason, and this place will be open for business once

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Leonard

[Date: 76th Day of Winter. Time: 10:00 a.m.]

"Alright, folks, I think that's a wrap." Jason clapped his hands as he slowly walked through the inn. The floor beneath his feet had a rather lovely clop to it, and all around him, Emilia's artwork shone with beauty and wonder. Fern and Rachel darted from room to room, checking on the bedsheets and blankets to ensure that everything was in order. Things had gone just a smidge faster than Jason had expected, and now, it was time for the inspection. "Downstairs! I want everyone lined up, ready for duty!"

Jason quickly walked down the stairs, arriving at the front door a moment later. He was dressed in his finest tunic, and nervously folded his hands behind his back. This was it! This was where they either sunk or swum. If they failed the inspection, it would be another season before they had a chance to make another attempt. Tess stepped up next to him, and beside her stood Fern and Rachel. Desmond took his place next to the girls, while Chang stood (albeit at a short distance) just on the other side of Desmond. There they were... waiting.

Only seconds later, the boards outside the door squeaked, and with a jingle, the inspector opened the door and stepped inside. He was an older man, with a handlebar mustache and a trench coat not unlike the one that Chase wore. Of course, the two men were very different types of inspectors, but it was still quite interesting to see the similarities.

"Good morning." The inspector held out his hand, which Jason shook. "My name is Inspector Mallory. I'll be in charge of looking things over, thank you for being here. Are all of you staff?"

Jason shook his head. "This is my wife, Tess, and my two oldest children. They've been helping us get everything ready, but they won't be working here once we open." He quickly turned to the other men. "This is Desmond, who will work as my master of ceremonies, essentially, while Chang will serve as the chef. He owns his own business, which is already certified with the city, and which will be operating as a..." He frowned as he tried to remember the legal phrase. "He's renting the kitchen from us."

"Ahh. Perfect, perfect." Inspector Mallory nodded and stroked his chin. He pulled out a clipboard and scribbled a few notes, then folded it underneath his armpit. "Well, let's begin with the kitchen, then. I'm sure you're aware that regulations for inn kitchens are slightly different from those of freestanding restaurants?"

"Yes, and I believe we meet everything." Chang confirmed. "This way, please."

Jason and the others held back while the inspector and Chang walked off toward the kitchen, and Jason glanced over at them.

"You're doing great." He nodded with a smile. "Do you remember what you have to say?"

"Yep!" Fern grinned. "It's been entirely cleaned of rats, and—"

"No. Not cleaned from rats, we are confident that rodents do not have a presence on the premise." Jason corrected. "If we say it's been cleaned, it makes it sound like we had an infestation at one point, which we actually never had. Which..." He frowned. "Really is a bit surprising. Rodents are typically pretty quick on the draw when people move out. Whatever the case, I'm not complaining."

"You'll get it." Tess smiled and put her hand on Fern's shoulder. "I'm sure it'll all be fine."

Thump-thump-thump.

Footsteps pounded on the steps outside, and Jason turned and frowned. A moment later, David burst in through the door, gasping and panting, and Jason took a step back.

"What's going on?" Jason demanded. "David? You... I haven't seen you since..."

David was a mess, that was for sure. He didn't look like he had shaved in months, and his clothes were in tatters. His eyes were wild, but... at that exact moment, more than the crazed look, Jason was taken in by the fear.

"He's after me." David grabbed Jason's tunic. "He's after me, and he's going to kill me. This wasn't supposed to happen! I had no idea you'd be able to discover the operation. I had no idea the new cook would actually be upstanding, I figured we'd just approach him, or even just his staff, once everything opened, and we'd get things running again, and... But now it's all shut down, and he's furious! Says he's going to kill all of us."

"Who?" Jason snapped.

A moment later, the door burst open again, and Chase strode inside with two guards. They grabbed David by the arms, pulling them tightly behind his back, and David began thrashing about.

"You don't understand!" He snapped. "You can't just lock me away!"

"And why not?" Chase demanded, stepping around in front of him.

"Because he'll kill me!" David snapped. "In a jail cell, there's nowhere to run! Nowhere to hide! He's furious, and he'll kill me!"

Inspector Mallory poked his head around the corner from the kitchen. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." Jason sighed. "Just a bit of old business that keeps coming back to haunt me. More literally than I'd like."

Inspector Mallory frowned, but nodded and vanished again. Jason turned his attention back to David, who looked more terrified than ever.

"David?" Jason paused. "Do you, by any chance, mean Leonard?"

"Yeah! Yes. He was my partner." David sighed. "He... he was the warrior who killed the other warrior. Did it in cold blood, too. When my old friend tried to confront him about it, he threatened him, told him that the same thing would happen to him unless Leonard got cut in on the weapon deal. I don't know how he knew about it, I don't know how he knew what we were doing here, but he did, and he killed someone, in that room down the hall, just to have a body to wave around to show how serious he was."

Inspector Chase scowled. "Leonard Scarred is in prison."

"That's what I said when he approached me." David grimaced. "And that's actually part of the problem. His body is in prison. He managed to get his hands on some sort of high-level skill that allows him to cast his mind outside the prison. He had doppelgängers across the city, he'll activate them when he needs to, and they become him, for all intents and purposes. When he's done, he pulls his mind back into prison, and they revert back to... Whatever he wants them to be. Chairs. Tables. Carpets. Buckets of paint."

"Great." Chase bit his lip. "Will you testify to this in court?"

"You won't be able to keep me alive that long."

"Well, suppose we can. Suppose I can get you in court this

afternoon."

David licked his lips. "Can I get a deal?"

"The deal is that you stay alive." Chase snarled. "The weapons traded through this room have killed countless people. I ought to just throw you out onto the street and let Leonard have his way with you, except that I'd like to put him into an even deeper pit, one that you can't escape without the help of a necromancer. You help me, and I'll make sure it happens."

David closed his eyes, then nodded. A few moments later, Chase had whisked him out the door, and Jason let out a long breath.

"And... done." Inspector Mallory walked back into the room, with Chang right on his heels. "Everything looks good there! I always start with the kitchen because, if there are problems, that's usually where they pop up. That said, you all seem to have done quite well, and I don't foresee any other issues. Shall we get looking?"

"Right this way." Desmond nodded, who had recovered from the invasion rather well. Better, Jason thought, than he could ever had hoped to do himself. "If you'll come down this hall, I'd like to show you the economy rooms. These are also often a place where oversight can happen, due to their cheaper nature, and I'd just like to show you myself the pride that we have poured into making sure that everything's in order."

"You are going to make an excellent master of this place." The inspector chuckled as he walked off down the hall. "Trust me."

As they walked off again, Tess turned to Jason, eyes wide with fear. "Did you hear that?"

"Who's Leonard?" Fern asked.

"One of mommy's old boyfriends." Rachel grinned.

"Really?" Fern beamed. Suddenly, she frowned. "When do I get to have a boyfriend?"

"Never." Jason muttered. "And when you get one anyone, you'd better run him past me, first. If your mother could wind up dating a crazy, psychotic murderer, you could, too."

"Now that's a little unfair!" Tess snapped. "I did only date him because you'd turned me down."

"Let's not play the blame game." Jason held up a hand and turned away, though he had a smile on his face. A bit of levity never hurt anything. "Come on. Let's get this inspection over with."

The rest of the inspection took the better part of two hours. They went through each room inch by inch. Each room, each bathroom, each bed, each window, each light fixture. Inspector Mallory kept careful notes as

they went along, from the bottom floor to the suits, and down into the basement after that. Finally, as they were wrapping things up, the inspector walked back up to the desk at the front of the building and folded his arms.

"It'll take me some time to put together a full report. All of this will have to be peer-reviewed by the official brass back at the office, but I can say, with a bit of certainty, that I don't see anything here that causes me any concern."

"You think we're good to go?" A smile came across Jason's face.

"I really do." The inspector gave a nod, and held out his hand. "Congratulations, Jason. You'll have the final results in just a few days. Until then, hang tight, don't start buying beer to celebrate yet, but... Breathe a sigh of relief. The hard part is over."

Jason did, indeed, let out a sigh of relief that he hadn't realized he had been holding in. Desmond dramatically put a hand over his chest and slumped back against the wall.

"Ahh! My beloved Dulcinea will be so pleased to learn that I helped the great Jason Hunter in his quest!"

Jason simply rolled his eyes. "And will we get to see this sweet Dulcinea at the grand opening?"

"Alas, likely not. She's been forced to travel back home to Portswain to help her ailing mother, though I hope for her return soon."

"Right." Inspector Mallory bowed his head. "Well, until we meet again. I hope that isn't for some time, at least not on official business, but... Good day."

With that, the inspector turned and walked out the door, and Jason smiled. He high-fived Tess, Desmond, and Chang, and slowly folded his hands behind his back.

Leonard was going down, and the inn was opening up. All things considered, he really couldn't imagine how things could possibly be better.

Chapter Thirty: Last Day of Winter

[Date: 91st Day of Winter. Time: 11:00 a.m.]

"Alright." Jason let out a long breath. "Are you ready for this?"

"Are you ready for this?" Tess brushed a bit of dust off Jason's tunic. "You've been looking forward to this for ages now, and here we are."

"Here we are." Jason confirmed. He slowly looked over at Desmond, who stood behind the counter. A few maids, who had been hired on Desmond's recommendation, stood a bit further down the hall, mostly just waiting to be needed. In the kitchen, Jason could hear Chang chatting with some of his hired men, which he had brought on from the other Jade Hog location. "Let's do this."

Slowly, he stepped up to the door and took hold of the sign. For ages now, it had announced that they were Closed. Now, with a feeling of joy, he turned the sign to Open, and pulled the door open.

A small line of people stood on the stairs, smiling and looking up at him eagerly. As he stepped back and out of the way, they started up, pressing inside.

"Welcome, welcome!" Desmond cried out. "If you're just here for lunch, you'll find the best Eastern Isle food on the continent right through that door! If you want a room, I'm your guy!" He turned to Jason. "Quick! Into your office."

Jason nodded and turned, stepping into the office.

"Great! And if you want to speak to the owner, he's in his office doing official, owner-y stuff. Paperwork and all that boring mumbo-jumbo. What's that? You'd like a room? Well, perfect! Matilda will carry your bags along, what sort of room are you looking for?"

Jason smiled and pulled the door closed, then slowly sat down in his chair. From there, through the small glass window on the door itself, he could see people slowly filing inside. There were a lot of them, and a warm glow filled his heart. That said, he did have paperwork to do, and he slowly started pulling out documents and spreading them across his desk.

For starters, he needed to finalize the employment documents, getting them put in order. He had hired half a dozen people, three for the day, two for the evening, and one for the night shift. All were trustworthy and had a long list of recommendations, and he soon had their items filed away. After that, he reviewed the documents ordering the arrangements between himself, Desmond, and Chang.

Chang was the easiest, working on a fixed rent paid per month. It was really that simple, no commissions were paid on any of the orders that he received. Desmond, though, split the Net profits from the hotel, 60-40, with Jason. It had all been formalized some time earlier, but hadn't actually been filed, and that was the important part. There was also a small contract stipulating the agreement between the inn and Emilia, though it was nothing extraordinary.

That done, Jason started working on filing some other documents. He had the letter from the inspector allowing them to open for business, an assortment of certificates, and other such things. Suddenly, though, a sharp knock came on the door, and he looked up to find an old, grizzled face peering inside.

"Jeremiah!" Jason practically jumped to his feet, and ran to pull it open. "How are you?"

"Better than you, I'd say!" Jeremiah laughed. "Ahh, I never thought I'd see the day when Jason Hunter took a job running an inn. I ought to make some joke about Viola or something, but I can't quite figure out how to make it click."

"Marrying Daniel?" Jason chuckled.

"Yeah! Yeah." Jeremiah shook his head and stuck his unlit pipe in his mouth. "I can't eat your food 'cause my doctor says it's bad for me, and my wife is actually running around close enough to keep an eye on me, but... We'd like a room for tonight, if'n that's alright."

"More than alright." Jason beamed. "Desmond is right around the corner, he'll get you fixed up."

"Yeah, but he says you're charging a hundred credits a night." Jeremiah scowled. "That can't be right."

"It actually is." Jason nodded.

"A hundred credits?" Jeremiah scowled. "That's more than I spent on my last two inns combined."

"Yes, dear." Jeremiah's wife, Delilah, walked up to him and patted his wrist. "You'll also recall the rat that woke you up when it jumped on your face? You don't exactly have the best taste in inns."

"Or rats." Jeremiah scowled. "The thing went in my mouth. Tasted just awful. Anyway, Jason, I'm happy for you! Hope this all works out well for you."

Jason smiled as Jeremiah walked off, and he slowly let out a long breath. "Yeah." He murmured. "Me, too."

He leaned against the door frame, and watched as the last of the line walked inside. It was lovely, seeing all the faces. Desmond quickly checked in a young lady, then checked in Jeremiah and Delilah, and then sat down in his chair to start scribbling on some notes. Jason walked around, and he glanced up.

"Alright, boss. We've got people staying in rooms... 101, 112, 215, and 406."

"Really?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "Someone sprung for one of the suits?"

"I'm pretty sure the guy who booked it is a reviewer. We'll want to make sure we give him extra treatment, but not in a manner that's so obvious we know he's special. Do that, and we'll look like we're sucking up for a positive review."

"But we are." Jason frowned. "And he'll know it."

"Yes, but we can't be obvious about it. It's a delicate balance, one you only learn with plenty of time and experience." Desmond clapped his hands. "Well, I'd say that everything's progressing well. Nothing to do now but sit back and relax."

"Ahh!"

A scream echoed from down the hall, and Jason frowned. It didn't sound like it had come from room 101, which left 112. He bolted down the hall, only to see a woman staggering backward out of the room, eyes wide.

"What is it?" Jason asked.

"The... There was a man in here!" She looked flabbergasted. "When I walked in, he transformed into... It'll sound crazy, but he turned into that table right there!"

Jason scowled as he looked at the small table. It looked like an ordinary table, and was even in the same place where he remembered leaving it several weeks earlier. That said, they did know that Leonard had,

at least at one time, been able to spread doppelgängers throughout the city. It was hard to know what he had been able to accomplish, and what he hadn't.

"You're sure it was this table?"

"I'm positive." The woman nodded. "It wasn't... It wasn't the ghost, was it?"

"No." Jason sighed. "We've been having some issues with a prankster. It's not a person, just a magical manipulative that was swapped out with one of our real items. Desmond?"

Desmond nodded, and he quickly helped Jason pick up the table and carry it out.

"We'll have a new one in your room shortly."

The woman waved back, and Jason quickly moved the table out through the front door. From there, they carried it around and into the alley, where he set it up against the wall.

"What do you think?" Desmond murmured.

"If it is a doppelgänger, there will be no way of knowing." Jason muttered. "The things change from their non-magical state into the form of a person, or animal, or other thing, as the case may be. If it is one, we'll just smash it to bits. If not..."

"We're just destroying furniture." Desmond nodded slowly. "What do you think? You seem hesitant."

"Let's just say that I'm skeptical that a woman would walk into a room, one that you assigned randomly, and find him mucking about." Jason shrugged. "Possible? Yes, certainly. Assuming David's story is true, I'd expect there to be at least one of the things here in the inn, but do I think it could have been found so quickly?"

"Whatever did happen with him?" Desmond asked. "I never heard."

"I don't know for sure. I spoke to Chase once about it, some time ago." Jason's voice was quiet. "Apparently, they're tied up in court. David is under strict lock and key. It's basically solitary confinement, but it's keeping him safe, so I think he's happy enough with it. In any case..."

"I think we leave it, at least for now." Desmond answered. "I think someone's probably looking for an excuse to make us look bad. Maybe the woman was contacted or threatened by Leonard, maybe not. Maybe she did see something. Maybe a news reporter is just trying to make us nervous."

"Whatever the case, it means that someone has it in for us." Jason scowled, drumming his fingers on the wooden surface. He transferred it to the inn's inventory, then turned and walked back up toward the inn. He had a business to run, and he wasn't about to let some crazy warrior from his past get in the way of that. Leonard was just going to have to shove off, and go find someone else to bother.

Jason, for his part, wasn't going to have it any other way.

Chapter Thirty-One: First Day of Spring

[Date: 1st Day of Spring. Time: 6:00 a.m.]

"Good morning!" Jason stretched as his alarm went off. He dismissed the prompt, and sprang out of bed as Tess smiled and stretched just next to him.

"Good morning, my love." She smiled warmly at him. "Are you happy with the way things are going so far at the inn?"

"Ahh... Yeah!" Jason laughed. "By the time I left to come home last night, we had booked almost ten rooms! Ten, on an opening night! That's more than enough to cover operating expenses. Chang was saying that he's never seen profits so high, and will consider giving me a bonus for all the business. Oh, and Emilia sold every single painting that she had on her little display."

"Keep in mind that this was opening day." Tess cautioned him. "It might die down."

"I know, I know." Jason waved his hand dismissively. "I just... Thank you, Tess. Thank you for letting me do this."

"Did I really have a choice?" She raised an eyebrow, though she had a smile on her face.

"Not one bit!" Jason laughed and started dancing a bit, then rushed to his wardrobe to change. "Well, I've got to be off. Are you and the girls coming by?"

"Just as soon as we finish up with our homeschool, that's the plan." Tess confirmed. "We'll see you there!"

Jason smiled, changed, and jogged down the stairs. There, Fern had breakfast on the stove, while Rachel was busily getting the twins into their high chairs. Richard was just coming down from his loft as well, and they all made their way over to sit down at the table.

"Morning, dad!" Fern set a plate of biscuits and gravy in front of him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling... Great." Jason smiled as he tucked into his food. "I get to make a living on my own again... Well, not completely on my own, but you get what I mean. You guys get to come along and see me, this is just about the best thing I could imagine."

"When do we get to move to the inn?" Rachel asked.

"We're not going to move to the inn." Jason shook his head. "Just imagine that you went to stay there, and all of a sudden, two crazy girls came running down the hall because that was their home?"

"That would be silly!" Rachel screwed up her nose.

"I thought so, too." Jason grinned. He tucked into his food, and groaned with delight. "Mmm, these are good! What did you do differently?"

"It's a recipe I found from that store over in Allbright." Fern answered. "It substitutes lard for butter, and adds in cheese. It's the traditional way of making biscuits in... It's basically the province between Summer Shandy and the ocean, about fifty or sixty miles east of where we lived. So it's close to what we knew, but not quite the same."

"Well, I love it." Jason finished it off, then smiled and stood. "Alright, give me some kisses!"

A few minutes later, Jason was out the door, a smile on his face. A few people gave him odd looks as he strolled down the street, but he didn't care. He was happy, and if people knew it, that was just fine by him. Soon, he came striding up the stairs of the inn, and marched through the front door.

"Morning, boss." Elinor, the girl in charge of the night shift, was just finishing her shift. "How are you doing?"

"Well enough." Jason nodded and moved to stand around behind the counter. "You can go."

"Thanks!" She beamed and stood up. "By the way, I haven't seen Desmond this morning. He didn't leave here until after midnight, but he said he planned to be back here around 7:00."

"Meh. If he's a little late, he's certainly earned it." Jason shrugged. "Thanks for letting me know."

"I'll see you again tonight!"

Elinor quickly swept down and out of the inn, and Jason leaned back in his chair. The restaurant was still closed, and wouldn't open until closer

to lunch. A few of the room doors started to open, and one by one, people began filing out and down to the desk.

"Good morning! I hope you enjoyed your stay." Jason stood up as two warriors walked up to the desk. "Which room were you in?"

"205." The slightly taller one answered. "Didn't see no ghosts."

"Sorry." Jason apologized. "I'm afraid the house ghost isn't always the most cooperative. He doesn't like having his chain jerked about, you know how that is."

"Ahh. I see." The man nodded and held up a hand. "Just thought I'd let you know. You know, if you were banking on people seeing it or something."

Jason laughed. "Nope, not at all." He started filling out some paperwork, and nodded. "There you go! Have a great day."

The warriors nodded and slipped out, and Jason quickly tucked the form into a small file holder marked "Needs Cleaned." It would let the maids know which rooms needed done once they arrived, a system devised by Desmond. Next, the woman who had (allegedly) seen the doppelgänger walked up and checked out. She was a bit less friendly, but didn't seem terribly bothered, which Jason took as a good sign. Soon, she was gone as well, and Jeremiah and Delilah walked up.

"Alright." Jeremiah frowned and crossed his arms. "I've got a long list of complaints."

"The room was lovely." Delilah smiled and patted the desk as Jason started filling out the paperwork to check them out.

"I didn't say the complaints had to do with the room." Jeremiah leaned forward conspiratorially. "See, I have this wife who—" Delilah rolled her eyes and slapped him upside the head, and he yelped dramatically. "See! You saw that, right? Abuse! Abuse!"

Jason shook his head as the two of them made their way out the door. "Tell your friends!"

"I don't have friends!"

Jason laughed again, and they were gone. With that, he sat back down, continuing to mind the desk. Suddenly, the door swung open, and a man in a long trench coat stepped inside.

"Chase!" Jason stood up. "I was hoping I'd be able to talk to you again. What's the update?"

"As a professional, I'm required to give you all the updates that I can." Chase sighed deeply. "As a proud individual, I hate telling you anything that isn't good news."

"That bad?" Jason winced.

"Just about the worst news that you could get." Chase scowled. "The judge has determined that there isn't enough evidence to link the doppelgängers to Leonard. There's every possibility that some other sorcerer or warrior is using the things to pretend to be Leonard, that we can't risk executing an innocent person. I argued that he's not innocent any way you slice it, but at the end of the day, he dodged capital punishment last time, and he'll dodge it again unless we manage to pin more on him."

Jason scowled and shook his head. "I just don't understand."

"I don't, either. No one else would have the grudge that he does." Chase scratched his head. "Unless you've managed to tick off someone else you'd like me to know about?"

"Honestly, after we dealt with him, things were pretty smooth sailing in Summer Shandy." Jason shrugged. "There was a bit of drama surrounding Tess's father, but he lives with us now, so that obviously turned out well. Honestly, once Tess gave birth to Fern, things really stayed fairly smooth up until we had to leave town."

"Hmm. Then I, at least, will stick with our working theory." Chase shook his head. "The one thing I will say in favor of it being someone else: At least in theory, the dungeon where he's being kept should be entirely sealed off. The rooms suppress all skills, all of them, and lower stats to the level of an infant. He shouldn't have the ability to reach past his own cage."

"What about his parents?" Jason asked. "In Summer Shandy, they were half the problem."

"They were his first victims." Chase sighed. "I'm sorry, I really wish I could give you more. Anyway, I just thought you ought to know."

"Yeah. Thanks." Jason murmured.

Chase turned, waved, and walked out. With that, Jason leaned back in his chair, thoughtful. He tried to keep his mind turned to the task at hand, but it was far from the easiest thing he had ever done. His mind just kept turning back to Leonard. If the man really was able to do something, what would he do next? Would he attack? Would he continue to lurk in the shadows, making appearances here and there? Or... was there truly someone else in the equation. He couldn't think of anyone else who it might

have been, but then again, it was entirely possibly that he had forgotten someone.

In any case, the rest of the morning went by quickly. The maids showed up at 9:00, took the papers, and started working on cleaning out the rooms. Chang showed up at 10:00 with two of his crew, waved at Jason, and went in to start preparing the kitchen. Emilia showed up at 11, with a handful of new paintings in tow. She arranged them carefully, then sat down in a chair just next to the table to be available for questions. Around the same time, people began to trickle through the doors, some people asking for rooms, other people asking for food, and a few of them asking for both.

It was around 1:00 when Tess and the girls came walking inside, beaming from ear to ear. Richard was along just behind, holding the twins on his hips, though they wriggled down and went running off the moment that they were inside.

"And there you are!" Jason smiled and rose from his chair. "And how was school today?"

"It was great!" Rachel grinned. "We started learning all about the sky!"

"Yeah!" Fern added. "And how everything goes around the Earth, not the other way around."

"Good girl." Jason grinned right back at her. From what Tess had told him, there were some oddball "scientists" in some of the larger cities pushing pseudo-theories about the Earth moving through space right along with everything else, and some of the schools had even accepted it as fact, but until more research could be done, Jason and Tess had decided not to teach such nonsense. "Are you learning your constellations?"

"I'm trying." Rachel scowled. "They just look like dots to me."

"You know something?" Jason leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Me, too." They shared a chuckle, and Jason straightened up. "Well, you know where my office is! I can come play with you as soon as Desmond gets here."

"You haven't seen Desmond yet?" Tess asked.

"Yes, he has!" Desmond burst through the door, breathless. "Right here, boss, reporting for duty. Sorry. Crazy night."

Jason raised an eyebrow. Desmond indeed had several cuts down the side of his face, and even his hands looked beat up. "Everything okay? You run into Leonard or something?"

Desmond's face twitched, and he drew in a deep breath. "No. No, of course not. Twas nothing but an honor fight for the lovely Dulcinea. There were five of them!"

"Really?" Fern seemed to swoon. "A battle to the death, over the one you love?"

"How romantic!" Rachel leaned against the desk. "Tell me more!"

"Alright! You push too hard! It is a horrid tale, full of deception and tragedy, but I will tell it to you nonetheless!" Desmond winked at Jason, and a strange feeling filled the pit of Jason's stomach. Somehow, he just had a feeling that Desmond had run into one of the Leonard-clone-things... And if that was the case, it didn't really matter who was the one sending them.

They were trouble, and one way or another, they were going to have to come up with a solution.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Warning

[Date: 10th Day of Spring. Time: 6:00 p.m.]

"Evening, boss." Desmond walked through the front door of the inn, and Jason slowly rose from behind the desk. "How goes it?"

"Pretty busy." Jason answered. He glanced over at Fern with a smile. They were playing a game of chess on the desk, off to one side, whenever Jason wasn't engaged with the customers. Jason was getting creamed because he could only pay partial attention, but it was a lot of fun. "I've booked almost a dozen more rooms tonight, and the dining room is filling up."

"And the night is still young." Desmond stepped around the desk and frowned down at the chessboard. "Are you whites or blacks?"

"I'm whites!" Fern grinned. "And I'm about to beat him."

"Mmm? You are? Let's see..." Desmond reached out and moved Jason's bishop sideways three spaces. "Your move."

"Alright..." Fern raised an eyebrow. "You're letting me take him? If you insist!" She slid her rook forward, easily capturing the bishop. Desmond acted instantly, moving his queen forward into a space that had previously been threatened by the rook.

"Check."

Fern scowled, then moved her king backward one space.

"Check." Desmond slid his second bishop into attack position. With

little choice, Fern backed up once more.

"And... Checkmate." Desmond followed up with his rook, sealing

the deal. "It's never over until it's over. Don't forget that."

Fern stuck out her lip, then looked up at Jason.

"Dad, can I please eat here and then stay with you until you leave

for the evening?"

"I'm going to be here pretty late." Jason sighed. "I'm not sure that's

a good idea."

"Please?" Fern batted her eyes at him. "Tomorrow's not a school

day, so we can sleep in late."

"And you do have tomorrow off." Desmond pointed out. "That's why you're working late tonight."

Jason sighed and nodded. Over the inn's first week, it had proven to be so successful that they had been forced to hire more staff. Even as he sat there, several maids bustled back and forth, helping some of the new guests get settled in. Jason was taking the whole weekend off from working on the inn, which was going to be a first since the time they had made the purchase in the first place.

"Alright, then!" Jason smiled and nodded. "Go run to my office and write your mother a note telling her about it, or she'll be worried sick."

"Yes, dad!"

Fern ran off, and Desmond chuckled. "She's a persuasive one." "You're the one who helped her win half her argument!" Jason

protested.

"Sometimes, being good at persuading people means pulling

arguments from others." Desmond pointed out. "Now go get started on your paperwork, so you can get home to your family faster."

"Yes, sir." Jason chuckled and flashed a mock salute, then turned and walked into the office. There, he sat down at the desk and started working on filing away a small handful of things. Fern ran up and perched next to him.

"What are you doing?"

"Essentially, taxes." Jason murmured. "It's kinda complicated, but the government requires me to fill these things out telling them how much money we make."

"Why do they care?"

"Excellent question." Jason muttered. "But, even though I've only been here a week, that's what I've got to be doing."

Fern nodded, then walked over and sat down in the corner of the office. She pulled several items out of her inventory, including a notebook and her pens, along with her staff. To Jason's amusement, she began using magic to make the pens dance across the page. She seemed to be writing a story (or at least a diary entry) while also drawing in illustrations, which was cute, if nothing else.

The time quickly wore on. It grew dark outside, and Jason turned up the light from the gas lamps. The steady scritch of their two pens filled the air, and Jason felt a smile growing on his face.

And then, suddenly, a loud thump shook the floor.

Jason frowned, only for a second one to echo as well. Desmond flashed past the window and ran down the hall, and Jason jumped to his feet. He ran out, then glanced over at the now-empty desk.

"Fern, can you watch the front desk?"

"You got it, dad!" Fern ran out and dashed around the corner, sitting down in the chair. With that, Jason ran down the hall after Desmond, where the noise of shouting grew louder and louder.

"...told you, that was my—"

"No, it wasn't! Lousy—"

"I'll have you know that—"

"Wretched scum!"

Desmond stopped just outside the entrance of room 106, a worried

look on his face. Jason stepped past him and started pounding on the door. "Hotel management! Open—"

Shing!

The blade of a sword punched straight through the wood, poking out

a good six inches, only to be ripped back inside. Jason scowled, then reached out and grabbed the door handle. It was locked, and Desmond turned to run.

"I'll call for the police!"

"There might not be time for that." Jason gritted his teeth. He took a step back, then lunged forward, kicking at the door.

Any hope of smashing through it in a single blow was dashed by his rather pathetic strength stat. It was higher than it had once been, but... Still, it was nothing extraordinary. The door shook under the blow, and Jason scowled. He tried again, then drew out his pistol (which had been registered with the city) and fired at the lock. The blast knocked the door open, and he stepped inside and raised the weapon.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Both warriors in the room put their hands up and stepped back away from each other. Jason glanced back and forth between the two of them, a bit uncertain what to do. One was tall and thin, dressed in the robes of a mage. The other was enormous, shaped like a tank, and was obviously more than capable of driving the sword through the door. The room all around them was an absolute disaster, with splintered furniture right alongside torn paintings and smashed ceramics. "Put that thing away!"

"Fighting in the rooms was clearly stipulated as against regulations." Jason lowered the weapon, but didn't do anything more. "I want to know what's going on here?"

"This little slime stole some loot from me!" The mage snapped. "I went down into the dungeon and killed the Slimy Snake of Slithering Sands, and got its fang as a reward, and he just took it from me!"

"And I say that he sold it to me, fair and square, and is now accusing me of lying! Little cheat." The warrior huffed.

"Well, I'm not a judge, jury, or an executioner." Jason growled. "That said, you've just cost me a couple thousand credits. Get this place cleaned up, or I'll give the last one a whirl."

The mage gulped, and slowly looked about. He didn't think the man was actually afraid of Jason, given that both warriors were obviously quite high-leveled. That said, it was quite possible that the man had a record with police, and didn't want to get involved in anything else.

"Or, let me sweeten the deal." Jason raised an eyebrow. "Use your magic to fix all of this, really clean it up, and I'll make sure that the officials don't ask you any questions. Deal? Particularly since I don't know that snake fangs are on a list of officially tradable items."

The mage's face darkened. "What are you saying?"

"Only that I know what used to go down in this inn." Jason glowered. "I won't press any charges, but I do want everyone to know that this location will not be used for such activities again. Not now. Not ever."

The mage huffed, but nodded. "Fine. It'll all be cleaned up."

Jason turned and walked back out, and the mage raised his staff. Jason kept a close eye on him as the broken lamps were fused back together and put back in place. Ripped blankets were mended, and everything was put back in order. The stab mark on the door was even healed up, and Jason gave a nod. With that, the tank slammed the door shut, and Jason turned to walk back to the front of the inn.

Desmond burst inside a moment later, two city guards flanking him. He was out of breath, and Jason sighed and shook his head.

"Nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Desmond's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "They sounded like they were going to tear the place apart!"

"The issue has been resolved." Jason simply shrugged. "That's the long and the short of it. There's no need for any official presence."

The guards shrugged, but since it was late at night, they didn't complain, and were soon back out onto the street. Desmond frowned, then pulled Jason into the office. Fern glanced at them, but remained watching the desk.

"What was that for?" Desmond hissed. "I knew those two were going to be trouble when I first walked in here."

"And your instincts were right on point. If either of them come back here, ever again, make sure they get turned away." Jason murmured quietly, looking out through the window of his office. Just as he suspected, the mage slipped out a moment later, glanced left and right, and walked quickly and shadily toward the front of the building. "I think they were expecting the old business to still be going."

Desmond's eyes opened wider. "I didn't even think about that. What were they trading?"

"Some sort of snake fang. I don't know." Jason sighed. "Frankly, even the story they gave me was a lie. My guess is that they brought it here intending on a quick profit, and when they realized they couldn't sell it, they started fighting over who got to keep it." Down the hall, the tank emerged as well, glanced left and right, and slowly marched down and away.

"That would make sense." Desmond crossed his arms. "The question then becomes... Just who else is coming here for that same purpose, and only getting a great experience instead of a great weapon?"

"I don't know." Jason tapped his chin. "It almost makes me wonder, though, if we could use it to our advantage."

"How so?"

"Well, Leonard is still on the loose. Ever since he beat you up, he's been on the DL, but that could change." Jason glanced at Desmond, rather hoping that his friend would deny the accusation, but no such luck presented itself. "What if we use this to try and flush him out? Get him on our turf? Or, at the very least, find someone who might know something about him?"

"I think if we're going to try anything like that, we need to bring in the inspector." Desmond scratched the back of his neck. "That's walking into some dangerous territory. Sting operations are nothing to sniff at, and often wind up with dead people on all sides."

"Trust me, I know." Jason sighed. "Problem is, I'm afraid that this operation ends with dead people anyway. Might as well try to get ahead of things."

"I suppose you're right." Desmond put his head into his hands. "Oh, my sweet Dulcinea will kill me if she finds out!"

Jason nodded grimly. "Then we'd better hope that her chosen method of executing people is somewhat less painful than the methods Leonard will use if he catches us, first.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Tightened Security

[Date: 15th Day of Spring. Time: 6:00 p.m.]

"Alright, Jason, I think we're good." Chase folded his hands behind his back, looking out through the small window of Jason's office. "This is a risky thing you're doing."

"That's why we came to you before just doing it ourselves." Jason answered. "I just... I need answers. Tess needs answers. Our family needs to be safe."

"I'm not saying that it's not the right thing. Only that it's risky." Chase walked over and sat down in Jason's chair, then started fiddling with his weapons. He pulled two pistols out of their holsters and laid them across the table, then drew out a small handful of daggers and a short sword. It was amazing how many weapons he had managed to cram onto his body, and Jason had never once noticed. "Where's your family?"

"Everyone's back at home. Tess has the front door locked, and she and Richard are watching the windows." Jason answered. "They're both trained warriors, they'll be able to handle anything that comes their way."

"Good. This will probably invite retribution. I don't know if anything will come tonight, but it'll be sooner rather than later, I imagine." Chase sighed. "Alright. You know the drill. Get out there, be sociable, and wait for contact."

Jason bowed his head, then walked out into the hall. Desmond was already behind the desk, happily inviting more people inside, while the maids bustled about, keeping the place neat and tidy. Jason squared his shoulders, then slowly walked into the Jade Hog.

The dining area really was quite lovely. The walls were painted green, a contrast to the blue of the rest of the inn, with paintings depicting pyramidal mountains, farms built in layers upon the steep slopes, and buildings with sweeping rooftops and paper-thin walls. It was an exotic

culture to be certain, and it made Jason's head swim. Chang waved at him through the small order window, and the waiter walked over.

"Ahh, master Jason! You'd like a table?"

"Yes." Jason nodded. "Thank you. Somewhere I can admire the artwork."

The waiter quickly took Jason over to a corner where he was out of the way, and handed him a menu. It was all for show, of course. The waiter had been briefed, and of course, Chang had been in on the whole thing. Jason held up the menu and pretended to look it over, then, when the waiter returned, ordered a bowl of sticky rice with something called... Well, it was a form of chicken, and that was good enough for him. The waiter bowed and walked away, and Jason sat back to wait.

He spent his time looking at the walls, allowing his eyes to sweep over the magnificent portraits there. One in particular showed a farmer, up to his waist in the water of a rice paddy. Mud was splattered upon his face, but he had a smile crinkling his cheeks. It was a lovely picture, and was easily Jason's favorite. There was no machinery, no fancy gear or gadgets, just a man and a pole (likely with something attached to the end, though it was hard to say what, since it was under the water). Jason sighed deeply as he looked it over, then frowned as he caught sight of something more... Interesting.

A man had just slipped a crumpled note to the waiter.

It was so quick and smooth that it might not have been noticed at all, except that Jason had been looking for it. The man was a warrior, an older one, who looked to have taken a few too many beatings in his time. The waiter bowed his head, then nodded over at Jason's table. The warrior frowned, then slowly rose and walked over to sit down next to Jason.

"I hear you are the owner of this establishment." He spoke slowly and particularly. "I am told that you can help me."

"I own this place, yes." Jason smiled. "I can always help you get a soft bed and some rest for the night!"

"That is not what I mean. I am told that you have... Magic." The man's eyes flickered. "Magic that can make me strong again. This bum leg of mine... I cannot fight. If I cannot fight, I am nothing. Can you help me?"

"Possibly." Jason nodded. "Head down the hall, there's a door at the end. It leads down into the basement. That's where we keep the good stuff."

The man smiled, then slowly rose and staggered away. Jason almost felt bad for the fellow, since, after all, there were several policemen down below who would cuff him and question him about what he was trying to buy. In this case, though, Jason didn't think it likely that the man would give them anything important. He was just some poor fellow who was looking for a leg up in the wrong place.

Jason sat there almost half an hour more, slowly munching away at his dinner, before he saw the waiter point another man over in his direction. This man was much younger, and wore a neatly-trimmed beard. His eyes were so dark they were almost black, and Jason shuddered. There was something about him that just screamed trouble, and he hoped that Chase was watching. A few moments later, the man was sitting down across from Jason, and Jason folded his hands.

"How can I help you?"

"You can... explain something to me." The man sighed and placed his hands above the table, clearly indicating that he wasn't a threat. "You can explain to me how you intend to catch anyone other than useless bums in this little operation of yours."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." Jason continued to eat.

"Look. If you want me to be honest, I ran a lot of weapons through this place, back when it was under the previous management." The man shrugged. "No, it's true! The police have a file on me. It's this thick..." He held up his hands about six inches apart. "And they've never once been able to lock me away. So, you do the math."

Jason sighed. "What do you want?"

"Actually, I'd like to know what you want. I've been coming here, off and on, since this place opened. I wanted to see if you'd get things up and running again, if you were just oblivious, or if you'd be trying to shut it down. Now, I have my answer." The man frowned. "Only thing I can't figure out is why you're going through all this trouble. If you were actually trying to catch the weapon runners behind it, you'd set things up exactly the same way they used to be. You've changed things, which tells me that you're looking for something different. Maybe you just wanted it to appear like it was under new management, or maybe..." His eyes opened wider. "You're looking for information on a specific person."

"Leonard Scarred." Jason whispered softly.

"Whoa, now! That's a heavy name to just be chucking about." The man laughed and shook his head. "You're only looking for information on the city's most notorious killer, the greatest and most powerful killer to walk the streets in generations! Just a little thing, nothing major."

"Tell me what you know." Jason held his voice level.

"Why? Because you have cops around this place?" The man chuckled and shook his head. "No, no. That's not how I play. I already told you, they have nothing on me. Well, nothing enough."

Jason shook his head. "No, you're going to tell me what I want to know because my family is currently being threatened by this Leonard character. I'm getting desperate, and if you don't tell me what I need to know, I'm liable to try and extract it manually. Something tells me that the police aren't likely to apprehend me for getting rid of a problem for them."

The man's face turned slightly white, and he slowly leaned forward. "You have a gun?"

"It's under the table, right now." Jason pulled back the hammer, making a distinctive click.

"For a hick, you'd run well with any of the big-time criminals right up here. You'll do well in this city." The man shook his head, and seemed to regret putting his hands above the table. "Here's the deal. Leonard kept a low profile after his initial run of murders. My guess is that you already know how he's projecting his mind outside the prison, or at least the basics of it. The longer answer is that he paid a guard to lower the suppression field around his cell, giving him the boost to reach the doppelgängers around the city. He got in contact with the underground weapon market... Oh, must have been two years ago. I don't know how exactly he learned about us, just that he did. For awhile, he just helped us run weapons. It was mighty handy having a fellow who could vanish and reappear just about anywhere, I'll have you know that."

"So then what happened?" Jason asked, grinding his teeth together.

"The short answer is that he learned about a scroll. It was a powerful scroll, one that could plunge an entire region into an unstoppable drought." The man shrugged. "I don't know why he wanted it, but he did. Only problem was that it was owned by the guy who owned this place before you."

Pieces slowly began to click in Jason's head. "And that's when he went crazy."

"Exactly. Killed another warrior just down the hall there, and then started haunting the place. He would pop up here and there, scared the poor guy out of his wits. The whole place fell apart, until, finally, he gave in. Handed Leonard the scroll and lit out of town like he was on fire." The man chuckled softly. "At that point, Leonard stepped into his place as the owner of this establishment. He kept running weapons with David, but always seemed to have some sort of plan running in the back of his mind. The rest of us could never quite figure out what it was, just that he was nuts."

Jason's jaw slowly set. "He cursed my home. He's the one who plunged Summer Shandy into a drought."

"Huh! You must have really offended him. Not many criminals I know who would have done something that intense." The man sighed and slowly rose to his feet. He brushed off his hands, and Jason saw metal flash underneath his pressed suit. "Anyway, I hope that answers your questions. I'll withdraw all my operations from your business, so you shouldn't see any more of me. If you do encounter me elsewhere, know that our interaction won't have been forgotten."

With that, the man turned and walked quickly away, vanishing through the front door. Almost instantly, Chase poked his head out through Jason's office door, and Jason held up a hand. They were good.

They hadn't gotten the information that Jason had wanted, but they had hopefully gotten enough. Now... All they had to do was figure out what to do with it.

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Operation

[Date: 25th Day of Spring. Time: 3:00 p.m.]

Jason stretched and leaned back in his chair as he signed the final document for the day. As he slowly stood up, Desmond poked his head in through the door.

"Hey, Mr. Jason, we have a large family that's coming down here on vacation from the northern mountains. They were hoping to get two rooms right next to each other, but we've sold everything out."

Jason frowned, then stood up and walked out and around to the front of the desk. He knew what Desmond was driving at, they had already done it a couple times, but it made things look more official when one of them went and grabbed the other one from the office. There, a mom and a dad stood there with half a dozen kids racing around them, jumping up and down and bouncing off the walls. Jason smiled, then held out his hand.

"Jason Hunter, owner of this establishment."

"Name's Jeff." The father answered. He shook Jason's hand, and shrugged. "I really hate to pry like this, I know you're busy, but we really do need two rooms that are right next to each other. Any further apart, and... Kids can be kids, you know?"

"I have four of them myself." Jason smiled. "Trust me, I know. Let me see..." He bent down and looked at a sheet of paper where Desmond kept track of which people were staying in each rooms. "Ordinarily, two rooms, on the upper floors, would be three hundred credits. Now, a suit room, which would be large enough for you, would be four hundred per night. If you're willing, I could cut that down to three-fifty."

The father frowned. "And you're sure there aren't any rooms next to each other anywhere else?"

"I'm really sorry." Jason apologized. "I can't show you the names because of client confidentiality, but you're welcome to go knock on doors if you want. As spring is coming around, we're really getting quite the tourism boom."

The father nodded slowly, then stroked his chin. "Can you go down to three hundred on the suits?"

"Three-forty."

"Three-ten."

"Three-thirty."

"Three-twenty-five."

Jason held out his hand, and the man shook it. "Deal. Desmond,

why don't you put them up in... Suit 4?"

Desmond nodded, and quickly began retrieving the paperwork. The

father smiled and bowed his head, and Jason smiled back. He turned to walk away, then slipped around the desk and made his way into the Jade Hog, where Tess and the kids were sitting around a table, working on school. The twins were mostly playing with some blocks of a variety of shapes and colors, while the older girls looked to be working on a history project. Rachel looked up and beamed as Jason walked over to them.

"Daddy!" She jumped up and ran around the table to give him a hug. "Are you done working?"

"I am, yes." Jason smiled. "All done working, and ready to come play with you, if you're done enough with school."

Fern pouted. "I still have to finish writing this essay."

"In fairness, I told you to do it earlier this week." Tess pointed out. "It's not my fault that you decided to push it off to the last minute."

"Then it looks like I get some Daddy-Rachel time!" Jason swept up Rachel in his arms, then carried her over to a nearby table and set her down in one of the chairs. "Now what should we do?"

"Chess?" Rachel asked.

"Ahh, you'll beat me." Jason sat down across from her, but pulled his chess set out of his inventory and set it on the table. It was nothing terribly fancy, just a simple wood-carved set, but it was nice enough. They began setting all the pieces in place, and Jason folded his hands. "Now... Who gets to go first?"

"White! And that's me!" Rachel smiled, then reached out and jumped one of her horses out onto the front of her line.

"Mmm. Bad idea." Jason pushed one of his pawns forward, allowing his white bishop to go free. "You're going down."

"No, you're going down!" Rachel taunted him, bringing out her second horse.

Jason grinned, and the two of them launched into a dizzying display. Truth be told, they were fairly evenly matched. Jason was better about starting the game, taking a number of her early pieces, but she was better as the game went on, moving her longer-range pieces back and forth with ease. Soon, they were down to just a few pieces each, and Jason folded his hands in thought.

"Now this looks like something worth watching." A grizzled old warrior, one who had checked into the inn a few days earlier, chuckled and leaned against the wall. "Who do you think's going to win?"

"My money's on the girl." Another warrior, almost as grizzled, but a bit leaner, walked up as well. "Maybe the old man, but I reckon he's getting slow in his old age."

Jason laughed at that, and raised a finger to point at him. "Hey, now. I'll have you know that I'm just as sharp as I've ever—"

"Check!"

Jason sighed and turned his attention back to the board. "Well, I can still beat your sister."

The two old warriors howled with laughter, and a few moments later, Jason had been roundly defeated. As he crossed his arms and scowled, the heftier one waved him aside.

"Alright, alright. Let me try my skills against this lovely lady."

Rachel blushed, but quickly began resetting the board. "You're going to be good, I bet."

"Ahh, not all that much." The man reached out and picked up one of the pawns. "See this guy? That's been me. I've been the guy on the front line of the conflict ever since I put on the armor. Now my partner?" He nodded to the other man. "He's the one who watches the whole of the conflict, tells people where to go. He'd be able to checkmate you in three moves."

"Four." The man shook his head. "Don't exaggerate."

Jason chuckled as the game began. "So what's your story?"

"Ahh, nothing all that interesting." The lankier man smiled. "We

were partners back in the day, fought our way through some of the toughest dungeons that the province had to offer. I had his back, and he had mine. Then both of us got married and settled down. Now, we're just... I don't know. Reliving the old days."

"At least as much as we can." The man playing chess frowned, then pushed his rook forward. "These new dungeons could be done by your kids, and I mean the little ones."

Jason chuckled. "I was doing some ingredient runs earlier, a few months ago, and I took out a mini-boss by myself. I figure if I can do that, they have to be scaled pretty easy."

"Yeah, they're pretty pathetic." The lanky warrior shook his head, then grinned. "You know what? We ought to tell them about the Deepest, Darkest Dungeon of Dastardly Doom."

"Ahh, now there's a story!" The second man didn't look away from the game. "It's been closed now, at least formally, but you can still find the old entrance out west of the city if you know where to look. There wasn't a monster in the whole dungeon that wasn't A-ranked or higher, and all the bosses were at least SS."

Jason whistled. "And you made it through."

"Nah, but we didn't die, either." The lanky warrior grinned. "We made it about a quarter of the way down, and then slipped. Now, this dungeon went straight down, I mean... Almost no path, you just sorta had to climb down it like a spider, while you were fighting monsters. He fell first, and I fell a moment later since we'd thought to tie ourselves together. Fell down through about half the remaining dungeon before we caught on a ledge. Still had a thousand feet below us, and all of a sudden, we were surrounded by more monsters than you could shake a stick at."

"Whoa!" Fern looked over from the other table, with wide eyes. "How'd you get out alive?"

"Teleporter crystal!" The other man smiled. He pushed his horse forward. "Check." Rachel responded by capturing the horse, and the man scowled. "I couldn't teleport us out of the dungeon, but I was able to get us high enough that we could crawl back out. We were embarrassed, but we were alive, and with a mortality rate of something like 90%, we figured we'd done pretty well."

"Why'd you go into it if it had such a high mortality rate?" Jason gaped.

"I dunno. We were stupid kids, and both had girls we wanted to impress." The lanky warrior laughed. "And, in fairness, we married them, so... Was it really all that bad of a thing?"

Jason could only laugh and shake his head, and he pointed a finger at Rachel and Fern. "No ideas."

"Come on, dad." Fern pouted. "Everyone knows that guys do stupid things to impress girls, but girls have to put themselves in danger to impress guys. The damsel in distress?" She swooned in her chair, then straightened back up with a grin.

"And why did I let someone else school you for two years?" Tess muttered. "In my day, I just beat up the guys I thought were cute."

"Is that why you fight with daddy so much?" Rachel asked, though she had a smile on her face.

Tess mock-scowled at her, while the warriors howled with laughter. Jason sighed deeply as he leaned back in his chair, only for the father with his six kids to come walking into the room.

"I do apologize, but I thought I saw some games of chess being played? I have a few sets of my own, and my kids would love the interaction."

"The more the merrier!" Jason grinned. He waved at the tables, then gestured at the dark kitchen. "We just need to make sure we're out of here by 5, that's when the Hog opens."

"Got it." The man waved his children in, then walked over to lean against the wall next to the lanky warrior. "You know, I actually considered being a warrior, once. Glad I didn't do it."

"What do you do now?" Jason asked.

"Oh, nothing interesting. I work in exports." The man shrugged. "There are loads of fur trappers and companies throughout the northern mountains. Some of the furs they trap are legal to sell across the borders, some of them are legal with modifications, and some are illegal. I work at a company that processes everything being shipped across the country, making sure that deliveries get to the right places, and so on."

"Interesting!" Jason chuckled. "What kinds of furs do you work with?"

"Mostly varmints. Raccoons, opossums, coyotes. Some deer and bear and larger things. Oh, and of course, pelts that come from the dungeons. There are a few species of furry dragons, and so on."

Jason smiled as the man continued to talk. In a lot of ways, his new inn was becoming a lot like the town square of Summer Shandy itself, a place where you could come and meet people and just... live.

He didn't want it any other way... And he desperately hoped that nothing would ever be able to threaten it.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Do This, Not That

[Date: 37th Day of Spring. Time: 1:00 p.m.]

"An excellent lunch, as always." Jason smiled as he finished up with the meal that Chang had provided.

"And you're an excellent customer, as always." Chang smiled and flashed a salute. "I wish I could have given you a little more, but—"

"I'm not complaining!" Jason laughed and shook his head. "I'll catch you around."

Jason slowly stood up from the table. Often, he packed a lunch from home or Tess would bring him lunch. When that failed, though, he would stop over at the Hog to see what leftovers Chang had sitting around. There were always a few scraps that, for one reason or another, he hadn't been able to sell. Sometimes customers sent food back, or sometimes it was damaged in a way that made it illegal to give to customers. There was never anything wrong with the food, but regulations were regulations. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with giving them to a friend, which Jason appreciated.

In any case, as he walked back toward his desk, the front door swung open. A bellboy named Frank stood up to greet the newcomer, but sat down as Chase walked inside instead of a new customer. He doffed his hat, and Jason waved.

"When you come around unannounced, it's usually not good news." Jason grimaced. "What's the word?"

"Nothing good, I'm afraid." Chase sighed. "Would you mind walking with me? Somewhere private?"

Jason frowned, but gave a nod. "Sure. Ahh... How does the basement sound?"

"Works for me."

Jason turned and waved at Chang, then slowly walked back down the hall toward the basement door. Chase followed closely, and they quickly made their way down the stairs and into the rooms below. Jason turned the

lanterns as brightly as they could go, and leaned against the wall as Chase leaned against the other wall.

"What do we know?" Jason finally asked. "You said it was bad?"

"Yes, indeed." Chase nodded slowly. "I've been working on Leonard as much as I can. David has been very cooperative, but there have been some hangups. We followed the lead that the weapon runner gave us, and managed to get the suppression field back in place, but it seems to have been a temporary measure. Somehow, it got lowered again, when I went back to check on him a second time."

"You think he's paying off multiple guards?" Jason frowned.

"Maybe." Chase confirmed. "The simple fact is that I don't know. That said, we intercepted something. It was being passed through the underbelly of the city, an advertisement for an execution."

"A public one?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Public enough." Chase nodded. "It's to take place in an underground arena, one that we've been struggling to locate despite years of work."

"And who's the target?" Jason asked, fearful to ask.

"You." Chase pulled a piece of paper out of his inventory and handed it across. Jason found himself looking at a passable drawing of... Himself. Below it were the words: Gore! Blood! Pain! Screaming! All the torture you could ever want! Come see the glorious execution of Jason Hunter!

It had a date of the 50th of Spring, and Jason frowned.

"So he's about to make his move."

"That's what we think." Chase sighed. "Keep yourself safe, Jason.

Watch your back, and don't take any chances. If something looks suspicious, it probably is."

"Got it." Jason shook his head in amazement. "This is insane."

"Oh, trust me, I know." Chase clapped Jason on the shoulder. "We're going to get this guy, don't you worry. I just want to make sure that you're being safe up until that point."

Jason nodded with a smile, and Chase turned around and started to walk up the stairs. Jason moved to follow... But found his feet stuck firmly in place.

At that exact moment, icy fingers seemed to crawl up his back, wrapping around his throat. He tried to scream, but nothing came out. At

the top of the stairs, Chase walked through the door and vanished. The moment the door fell shut, a dark voice echoed in his ears.

"Well, well, well. Jason Hunter."

"Leonard." Jason hissed. It was the only word he could say, and only at a very minuscule volume. "What do you want from me?"

"You took away my life." With a flicker, Leonard appeared in front of Jason, staring at him with beady, pained eyes. "You took away my family. You're living the life that was rightfully mine. You're living with my wife, with my children."

"You're crazy." Jason was allowed to speak a few more words. "Leonard, you tried to destroy the town! You were—"

"Stop." Leonard raised a hand, and Jason lost the ability to speak once more. "You don't... You don't know what you're saying."

With that, he started to pace back and forth, folding his hands behind his back. The air around Jason became colder and colder, and finally, Leonard spun back to face him.

"Alright, Jason, here's the deal. It's not a big deal, it's not complicated. You're going to show up to that execution, and you're going to do it willingly, and without police."

"Why?" Jason hissed.

"Because if you don't, I will take away everything you know, everything you love." Leonard drew a small dagger and held it up to Jason's throat. "Your daughters? The twins? Tess? Richard? Or how about all the others from Summer Shandy, the friendships that I should have known? They'll all be dead, unless you sacrifice yourself. I made Summer Shandy into a desert, and I can make a desert here, too."

"You wouldn't dare." Jason snapped.

"I would!" Leonard snarled. "Don't tell me what I would and wouldn't dare to do. You blew me up, you left me for dead, and then you cast me out into the world. I had to watch, from afar, as you took every last bit of what should have been mine."

"You didn't have to keep tabs on me." Jason shrugged. "You could have just gone and had your own life."

"Really? You think any girl would have looked twice at this mug?" Leonard gestured at his burned face. "You're crazy, Jason."

"Objectively, I'm not the crazy one, here." Jason shook his head. "Please, Leonard, don't do this."

"I can, and I will." Leonard scowled. "Head to the Dungeon District. Go down into the Green Meadow Dungeon. In the room with the mini- boss? There's a little crystal tucked away in the wall. Pink. Touch it, and it'll open into a catacomb that'll lead you right to the arena. Don't be late, because you know I can do what I threaten."

Jason gritted his teeth.

"Oh, and one more thing." Leonard started to walk away, then paused and turned back. "If you do wind up trying to renege on our little date, I just want you to know what you'll be up against. Anyone who goes missing will be taken down into the Great Fire Dungeon, to the Kiln of Creation. Ask Tess and Richard, or really anyone, about it. They'll tell you."

The door above opened up, and Chase and Chang came pounding down the stairs. Leonard turned to look at them, Chase drew a short sword, but Chang pulled out something that looked like a submachine gun. He raised the weapon and fired, and a torrent of bullets tore through Leonard in the blink of an eye. Wood splinters exploded across Jason as the doppelgänger was torn apart, and with a loud crash, a wooden chair clattered to the floor. Jason let out a sigh of relief as the influence of the thing faded away, and he slowly forced himself upright again.

"Are you okay?" Chase asked, pulling Jason away from the wall and looking him over. "I'm so sorry. There was something... I was sure you were right behind me!"

"Some sort of magic, it compelled you on." Jason shook his head. "Leonard is good, for sure."

Chase sighed. "What did he say?"

"That if I don't show up to the execution, voluntarily, a lot of people were going to die." Jason muttered. "He told me how to get there."

"I'll need that information." Chase pulled out a notebook. "I know he threatened you, but if you give in—"

"Trust me, I'm well aware what will happen. He won't be content torturing and killing me." Jason muttered. "He'll come for everyone anyway. Everyone whom he feels did him wrong, or should belong to him instead."

Chase's pen scratched across the paper so fast that Jason could hardly keep it straight. "Did he give you anything else?"

"The Kiln of Creation." Jason nodded. "He said it was a chamber in the Great Fire Dungeon. That's where he said he would take anyone who

happened to disappear."

Chase froze, then slowly looked up to meet Jason's eyes. "You're

sure he said that?"

"Yeah." Jason nodded. "Why?"

"Because that's one of the most notorious chambers in all of

Illumitir right now." Chase rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't keep track of the dungeons all that much, but that particular chamber has a 0% survival rate, when tracked over the last five years."

"Really?" Jason blinked in surprise. "That low?"

"Yes." Chase confirmed. "There have been a few warriors who have poked their heads inside, just to see what's going on, and several of them have described seeing a person in there, running around. Our best working theory was that a warrior had gone rogue and decided to claim it for his home, but given how dangerous the dungeon is, we haven't been able to work up a proper team to investigate or confront anything. Now... If the rogue warrior is actually Leonard..."

"Or a doppelgänger." Jason pointed out.

"But what if..." Chase blinked as he stroked his chin. "What if the Leonard we have in prison is a doppelgänger? What if he's been hiding out in the dungeons the whole time? It would explain how he's able to manipulate the skill suppression field, it would..."

"What are you going to do?" Jason asked.

Chase glanced at Jason, then sighed and folded his hands behind his back. "I can't say. Classified."

Jason nodded slowly, then squared his shoulders. "Keep us safe. If that date comes around, and we don't have answers, I honestly don't know what I'll do."

"I'll keep you safe." Chase nodded. "I promise."

With that, he turned and walked out, and Jason watched him go. He nodded in thanks to Chang, who finally put away the gun.

"Oh, and one more thing." Chase appeared once more. "If you don't have a license for that thing, get one immediately. It saved a life, and you're obviously responsible, but seriously, you can do ten years for possession of that thing."

"You've got it." Chang grinned.

Jason sighed as Chase vanished again. He had been attacked in his own hotel, and had only been saved because Leonard was crazy, and wanted

to torture him.

"What can I do?" Chase asked as Jason started walking shakily

toward the stairs.

Jason let out a long breath, then nodded in his direction. "If you see

any furniture that's been moved even an inch from where it's supposed to be, shoot it.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Gathering Allies

[Date: 38th Day of Spring. Time: 6:00 a.m.]

Jason yawned and dismissed his alarm as he rolled out of bed. Next to him, Tess groaned and slowly sat up, then shook her head.

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Not much." Jason shook his head slowly. "Every time anything in the house moved, I just... I..." He sighed and lowered his head, and Tess patted him on the arm.

"Don't worry. I dated Leonard for a bit, remember? He's got a cool trick with this whole doppelgänger schtick, but his stats aren't high, and any magical duplicate he's created will simply mirror his own stats. I could take him in my sleep. So could Richard. We're going to keep the kids next to us at all times, never let them out of our sight, and so on. It's going to be alright."

Jason nodded, though he didn't really feel it in his heart. "I'm just worried."

"I know." Tess smiled. "I mean, don't get me wrong. If someone threatened you, I'd be terrified, too. Thing is—this guy is nuts. He's not sitting there, scheming and making plans. All he's doing is reacting. Reacting to his own fear and hatred, reacting to any impulse that happens to come his way. This will all blow over." Tess slowly started to stand up, then pointed a finger at him. "And whatever happens, you're not to go to that thing on the 50th."

"Don't worry, I'm not that crazy." Jason shook his head. "I'm just nervous. I can't imagine putting everyone around me in harm's way, you know?"

"Yeah. Trust me, I get it." Tess murmured, then slowly rose. "You know, if you want, I'm sure we could call in a few favors."

"What sort of favors?" Jason asked.

"The sort that bring weapons and muscle along with them." Tess answered. "I'm sure Daniel owes us for something, and even if he didn't, he'd come. Then you have Obadiah, and Jeremiah, and—"

"I can't get anyone else involved." Jason shook his head. "I just can't. I don't want anyone else suffering because of me."

"You're not going to be making them suffer." Tess smiled. "They'd be happy to come help."

"No." Jason shook his head adamantly.

"Alright." Tess raised her hands defensively. "I'm just saying, it's an option, and you do have to admit that you'd feel a lot better with Daniel looking over your shoulder."

"Probably so." Jason admitted. "I... No."

He walked over to their wardrobe and pulled on his clothing for the day, then squared his shoulders and turned around. Tess sighed and climbed to her feet, then changed as well. With that, they headed out into the home, where a sizzling breakfast was just being prepared.

A few minutes later, they sat down at the table to a healthy platter of bacon, sausage, and pancakes. It was lovely, and Jason smiled softly as he looked over the faces of his family. He glanced over at Tess, who gave a small nod.

"Girls?" Jason leaned forward, speaking quietly. "I need to have a talk with you."

Rachel and Fern glanced at each other. Meanwhile, Baby Tess stuffed a piece of bacon up Baby Jason's nose.

"What's going on, dad?" Rachel asked. "Are we in danger?"

"Possibly." Jason nodded with a sigh. "Until further notice, you're never to be out of sight of mommy or Richard. Is that clear? If you're out in public, you're to be in front of them, not behind."

"Got it." Rachel nodded.

"I suppose." Fern rolled her eyes. "Are you sure that's necessary?" "For the moment, yes." Jason nodded.

"Is it about Mommy's crazy boyfriend?" Rachel leaned forward,

grinning.

"Yes, it is." Tess leaned forward, stabbing a piece of sausage with a

fork. "And, it's about the crazed warrior that my crazy boyfriend sorta made angry."

Jason realized that she was labeling him as the crazy boyfriend, and scowled. That said, the girls laughed wildly, and the moment of levity briefly brought a rather lovely bit of joy to the room.

Knock-knock-knock.

Jason jumped to his feet, his hand falling to his pistol. Tess stood up and placed a hand on his wrist, then slowly walked over to the door. When she pulled it open, Desmond and Chang stepped inside. Both of them wielded submachine guns, which they held across their chests.

"What exactly are you doing?" Jason asked, shaking his head in amazement as he climbed to his feet.

"Serving as escort duty!" Desmond saluted. "I'm fairly certain I saw a chest of drawers assembling an army of rocking chairs, brooms, and pitchforks just outside the city limits."

"And all joking aside, we're just here to help a friend." Chang assured him. "Don't worry, we have permits for the guns."

"Well, you do." Desmond snorted.

Chang turned a little white, but he kept a firm face. "And we won't have them pulled out in public. Just thought you might want the assistance, and Desmond thought it would be funny to walk inside showing a full force of arms."

"Yeah, and now you've shown Leonard exactly what he's up against." Tess scowled, whacking Desmond upside the head. "The whole point of keeping people safe is to keep your methods secret. Even if you have the most powerful weapons in the world, there are ways to sneak around things if you have enough time to study, and Leonard has been doing plenty of that."

"Guys!" Jason protested. "I'm alright."

"No, you're not, but I do appreciate the vote of confidence." Desmond walked up to Jason clapped a hand onto his shoulder. "Look, do I need to sign a document saying that I do this entirely of my own free will? I'm under no coercion, so on and so forth?"

"Yeah!" Chang added. "You're not going to be held liable if we get injured..."

"Pfft. Speak for yourself." Desmond raised an eyebrow. "If I get stabbed protecting him, I'm milking it for a year's supply of free meals."

Chang opened his mouth, then closed it again. He wasn't used to being the jokester, and apparently didn't like it when Desmond upstaged his one attempt to do so. Still, though, it did bring a smile to Jason's face, and he sighed.

"I suppose we can handle a year's worth of free meals if you get injured on the job."

"Great!" Desmond grinned. "Let's go look for some trouble!"

Jason didn't think that was such a good idea, but they soon struck off for the inn, and he had to admit that it was more than a little terrifying. Desmond and Chang kept their weapons in their inventory, set to quick- release if needed. Tess and Richard stayed home with the kids, not wanting to risk taking them out and about. Jason could hardly blame them for that, though he wasn't really sure if it would be practical to keep them locked up for the better part of a month. He sighed and balled his hands into fists. The girls had already been through so much. First, they had been separated from him for a full year, then they had gone off to the mage academy, and now this? It was a lot for anyone, let alone tweenage girls who were more than ready to begin their transition to adulthood. Jason just wanted to get settled into the inn, so he could enjoy it with them as much as possible.

In any case, they soon arrived at the inn, and trooped up the stairs and inside. There, the night crew was just tidying up, and gladly switched out. Desmond took his position at the front desk, while Chang nudged Jason and quietly pulled him aside.

"Look, I... I don't want to push or pry or anything, but I do have some connections that I could pull if you need me to do so."

"What sort of connections?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "Illegal ones?"

"No, no!" Chang shook his head. "Just... my family back in the east is somewhat... Powerful. We have people who work for us who are good at what they do, and who have very particular skill sets."

"I feel like I've heard that line before." Jason shook his head. "Look, I don't want to cause any trouble for anyone."

"If you change your mind, please do let me know. I'd hate to see anything happen to those girls." Chang shook his head, then walked away. Jason watched him go, then sighed deeply and walked to his office. As he stepped inside, Desmond saluted at him, and he flashed a smile back. With that, he walked in and dropped into his chair behind his desk, and slowly leaned back.

"You cannot escape me."

The voice echoed in his ears, and he jumped up. With a crackle, lightning flowed across his chair, and it slowly began to transform. Jason's pistol was in his hand before he knew what was happening, and he pointed and fired through the body of the thing. It withered back into a chair within

a split second, leaving him standing there, pointing his smoking pistol at a chair that now sported an odd hole through the back. Desmond appeared in the doorway a moment later, and Jason gave him a nod. Desmond nodded back, and with that, Jason turned his attention back to the desk. He shakily sat down again... Only for a piece of paper to begin to flow with magic.

"Jason." The words formed in what seemed to be some sort of magic ink. "Jason, you're a fool if you think that you can protect them. You can't. I told you what you have to do, now make sure you—"

Jason snatched up a letter opener and stabbed the page. It let out a shriek and flopped around for a moment before lying still. Ink burbled up from the stab wound like blood, and Jason sighed deeply.

The impudent little twerp was having far too much fun, as far as Jason was concerned. What was even more annoying was the fact that Jason truly didn't know if he would be able to fend the crazed warrior off. All he could do was keep his family close, and hope, desperately, that Chase would be able to find a way to the bottom of things before it was too late.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Into The Fire

[Date: 45th Day of Spring. Time: 6:00 a.m.]

Jason jumped slightly as the alarm went off. He had drifted off to sleep... Well, he frankly didn't know when it had happened, just that at four o'clock, he had still been wide awake, so... Two hours of sleep? Maybe less? He groaned and slowly rolled out of bed, then climbed to his feet.

"I'm sorry if I kept you awake." Jason murmured as he stumbled over to the wardrobe. "Just... I couldn't sleep. Nightmares, and those were when my eyes were open." He shook his head in amazement. "I don't know. Maybe I should go ahead and call in the cavalry. I don't want to bother anyone, but the date is getting closer, and I don't know when or if Leonard is going to make a move."

Jason had pulled on his clothes before he realized that Tess wasn't responding. Horror flowed through him, and he turned and bolted to her side. His hands felt across the bed, confirming the fact that she wasn't there. Pure and utter horror flooded his veins, and he ran to the bedroom door and threw it wide open.

A sigh of relief filled him as he stepped out to find the sound of bacon crackling on the stove. Fern and Rachel danced back and forth around the living room, levitating each other and the twins around the room. As Jason walked down, he found Tess in the kitchen, happily cooking up a lovely breakfast of waffles and chicken. She started setting things out, and looked up.

"You okay? I thought I heard a scream up there."

"Yeah." Jason murmured and slowly sat down. "Sorry. I just woke up and saw you weren't there, and—"

"And you were afraid that Leonard captured us." Tess smiled softly. "I'm so sorry, Jason." She wrapped her arms around his shoulder. "He's really got you wound up, doesn't he?"

"He's everywhere." Jason muttered. "I'm seeing him across the town. Shops, the inns, coming out of dungeons, he's just taunting me. He's watching me, laughing at me, and I don't have a clue what to do about it."

Tess could only shrug. "The only thing you can do is stay the course. Don't let it bother you."

Jason drew in a deep breath, and she smiled softly.

"Look, I'm going to take the kids out to a park today."

"You're what?" Jason snapped around. "Please tell me you're—" "Jason, they've been cooped up for ages." Tess shrugged. "They're

going crazy, and Leonard isn't going to try anything. I've alerted Chase, and he's on board with the project."

"He's going to use you guys as bait in a trap."

"Something like that." Tess shrugged with a small smile. "Please, Jason, you have to understand. It'll be alright."

"It had better be." Jason muttered. "If you go and get yourselves captured or killed, I'll kill you myself."

Tess flashed a small smile. "I think I'll take that risk."

They continued to talk for a few minutes, and the kids came running over to eat their breakfast. When they were all done, Richard came down from his loft, and helped get everyone ready. Together, they all walked out the door, and Jason squared his shoulders.

Thankfully, no attack came, but he couldn't keep his eyes from roaming around the area. Every shadow, every noise, every dark alley, it all caught his attention. Were they being watched? Was someone keeping tabs on them? He knew Leonard had eyes everywhere, but just how extensive was that everywhere? There was very little way of knowing for sure, and it made him absolutely terrified.

The group of them walked together until they reached the Mountain District. There, Tess and Richard took the kids onward toward the Flower District, which was where they would spend their day. Jason gave Tess one last hug, kiss, and admonition to be careful, and with that, he turned and walked up toward the inn. A few moments later, he slipped inside, and Desmond waved at him.

"You're running late this morning, Mr. Jason. Everything alright?"

"That depends on how you call it." Jason sighed, then shrugged. "Tess is just trying to give the girls a normal life again. I can hardly blame her for that."

"No, not rightly." Desmond agreed. "I'm very sorry things are so hard for you. You know, I think I found a solution for you."

"Really?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. See, I was thinking that we could re-open that little weapon business that ran through here." Desmond shrugged. "Then, all we have to do is wait until we've sold a super powerful weapon, and bam! We kill him with it."

Jason blinked a few times, then shook his head. "That's a terrible idea."

"Hey, it's your family. I know if my sweet Dulcinea was being threatened, I would stop at nothing to ensure her safety!"

Jason rolled his eyes and walked back toward his office, then paused and leaned against the wall. "Try telling Tess that she needs protection for anything. Trust me, it's not the most pleasant thing in the world."

"I will have to defer to you in that regard." Desmond waved Jason onward. "Now go! As the owner of this establishment, it is your job to handle the copious amounts of paperwork that come through, and my job to greet the stunning and wonderful people who come through." He stood and bowed as a young couple walked past him, making their way out and into the lovely spring weather.

"I'm getting." Jason sighed and shook his head, then paused. "Can I run something past you?"

"You can try! I should warn you, I'm very fast." Desmond turned around.

"I'd like to do something for the final day of spring." Jason sighed and crossed his arms. "At this point, this inn is known for a lot of things, but... even if we can't do every festival, I'd like to do something for the spring festival."

"I think it to be an excellent idea!" Desmond nodded firmly. "Frankly, I've been surprised that you haven't asked already. I'll start putting together some ideas, since, after all, I'm the head of the party committee, and I'll get back to you when I'm ready with the budget. Don't worry, I won't ask for two much. How does a hundred thousand credits sound?"

"Like you're trying to skim me." Jason chuckled and walked on into his office. "You have a thousand, tops."

"Ten! Thousand, I mean."

Jason laughed and shook his head, then closed the door behind him. He greatly enjoyed Desmond's company, but there were times when he just needed to focus. Slowly, he let his gaze wander to the enormous stack of

paperwork waiting on him, grabbed the top folder off the thing, and started in.

It was slow work, filled with signatures and massive blocks of text that he was forced to read. The time passed slowly, but he hardly noticed it. On and on he went, until, finally, a rap came on the door, and someone swung it open and stepped inside. Jason frowned, not looking up from his work.

"Be with you in a minute." He murmured. "Just need to fill out—" "Take all the time you need."

It was Leonard's voice, and Jason instantly felt his blood run cold.

He looked up to find the scarred man standing there, mocking him, sneering down at him. Jason grabbed out his pistol, but Leonard only laughed.

"What's that going to do?" Leonard taunted him.

"Make it so I don't have to look at your ugly face." Jason snarled. "Well, you can certainly feel free, but I wouldn't suggest it."

Leonard shrugged and spread his arms wide. "If you kill me, I can't tell you what you need to know."

"And what do I need to know?" Jason gritted his teeth together. "The fact that I have your family."

Jason's world started to spin, and he grabbed the edge of his desk

for support. Leonard, standing before him, simply snorted and mocked him. "That's right! You're a free man, now! I mean, they're not dead, so

you're not that free, but—"

Jason jumped over his desk, scattering papers, and grabbed Leonard

by the throat. A moment later, Jason had slammed him up against the wall, and jammed the pistol into his chin.

"Jason, that won't hurt me, and it will make it look to your guests like you're just as crazy as the last guy."

"You just kidnapped my family." Jason snarled softly. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you."

"You know good and well why." Leonard shrugged. "Here's the deal. Do anything, and you'll regret it. You know where your family is. No one else can touch them, so you know they're safe. Well, ish. Safe-ish. Anyway, if you go off to that little party like I told you to do, when you get there, I'll bring them by to say goodbye to you. You'll get to see them again, you'll get to have your peace. Hire someone, anyone, to come after

me, and I promise you, even if you do come out of it alive, you'll never see them again."

Jason gritted his teeth, then turned around and placed his hands on his desk.

"You know, I really hope you agree to come to me. I'd hate to see those little kids dying in your place. I'll do it, of course, but those torture racks? They're nasty, and I'd hate to have to put a two-year-old kid across it."

Fury flowed through Jason's body, and he snatched up a letter opener. Before Leonard could move, Jason had spun and stabbed it deep into the man's neck. Blood spurted down, followed by sap. With a crackle, it collapsed into a footstool, and Jason sighed and drew it back out.

For a moment, he simply stood there, then slowly pushed himself back and staggered out into the hall. Desmond looked up at him, and Jason set his jaw.

"He has my family."

Desmond turned white as a sheet. "Where? The Great Fire Dungeon?"

Jason gave a single nod. "Assuming he stuck with where he told me earlier. He's not the type to lie, just the type to taunt, so I tend to believe him."

"Then we know how to get him." Desmond slowly stood up.

"No." Jason held up a hand. "I have to do this alone." He squared his shoulders. "I have to go in alone.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Never Alone

[Date: 45th Day of Spring. Time: 10:00 a.m.]

"You have to go in alone?" Desmond shook his head. "No, Mr. Jason. I understand that you have some experience in such things, but I can't let you do that."

"You're not letting me. I'm just going." Jason turned and walked out the door. "Hold my mail."

He heard Desmond calling out behind him, but he paid it little mind. With that, fury brimming in his veins, he struck out for the Dungeon District. He knew that Leonard would be expecting a reaction, but he had a feeling that Leonard would be expecting him to head down to the execution room straightaway. After all... What business did Jason Hunter have diving into a dungeon?

Thankfully, Leonard had underestimated him once before, and now, he would do it again.

"Jason!" Chase came jogging through the streets, and came running up behind him. "Jason, there you are! We just got word..." His voice trailed off, and he walked alongside Jason. "You know."

"Leonard told me himself." Jason gritted his teeth. "I'm going in."

"Look, I don't think that's a good idea." Chase held up his hands, but Jason turned around.

"I can do it. I..." Jason sighed. "I've actually already reserved a dungeon guide. I've been afraid of this for some time now. He won't enter the kiln, but he'll get me down there."

"Jason, you're not a warrior." Chase protested. "At least let me call for backup."

"No." Jason shook his head. "I'm not having anyone else die because of me."

Desmond jogged up a moment later. He clapped a hand onto Chase's shoulder, and shook his head. "It's no use. He won't listen to reason."

"He won't?" Chase glanced over at Desmond.

"Nope." Desmond shrugged. "We're just going to have to let him go?"

"What are you doing?" Jason's eyes narrowed.

"Doing? Nothing." Desmond waved his hand. "Now... Off with you! Go save your family. If you don't want us, you don't want us, and that's just the reality."

Jason sighed. Part of him did want to call in help, but...

"Good." He nodded. "Get yourselves to safety. If you don't hear from me again, assume I'm dead."

With that, he started off down the street once more. He had a plan, and he had the means to execute it.

He only hoped that his family would get free as a result.

In any event, thirty minutes later, he stood on the doorstep of Dungeon Guides Inc, the most trusted Guide service for the more intense dungeons of the city. Thirty minutes after that, he and a particularly burly warrior were making their way down into the bowels of the city, into the depths of the Great Fire Dungeon. The air grew hot around them, while the cave they were inside sloped straight down.

"Alright!" The burly warrior called out. He had to speak loudly, due to the general crackle of flame from below. "Here's the deal! This dungeon is rated Red, which means that, under your contract, I don't get penalized if you're injured or die. Everything you'll see in this dungeon is between B and S-rank. Get too close, it'll kill you. If you see red air, that's air that's been Superheated, which, of course, will kill you. If the ground looks like it'll collapse beneath you, it probably will. Stay close to me, but not so close that I can't swing my sword. Got it?"

"Got it." Jason nodded firmly.

"Good!" The warrior confirmed. They were nearing the entrance, where several guards stood at the ready. The warrior paid the entry fee, and they waved him inside. "Let's go!"

Jason followed the warrior closely as they charged down into the depths of the dungeon. The path widened, and they ran into a brief, dark corridor. Then, a fiery glow emerged from the far end, and they ran out into the largest dungeon that Jason had ever seen.

The cavern was hundreds of feet wide and thousands long. Frankly, he couldn't tell just how long it was, since it curved off to the right and out of sight. The floor of the cavern was covered in a thick layer of bubbling

lava, while small bridges and pathways led out across the thing to side chambers and small islands. Here and there, Jason could see warriors fighting with an assortment of monsters, but none of them were close.

"This way!" The warrior ran toward a small path that wound along the side of the lava. It was so narrow that Jason would have missed it if it hadn't been pointed out, and he imagined that most people were probably in the same boat. "It's a bit of a jog, so I hope you ate a good breakfast!"

Jason gritted his teeth, but nodded and charged after him. Suddenly, the air around Jason began to flicker red, and he put on a burst of speed. An instant later, flame itself seemed to leap through the air as it became superheated, and he gasped in surprise and a bit of pain.

Onward they pushed, down the trail. There were few monsters, mostly fire lizards and things that popped out of the magma without warning. The warrior reacted instantly in all cases, cutting them down without a moment's hesitation. Onward they pushed, sometimes going down so close to the lava that it was hard to breathe, sometimes rising up so high above it that the drop made Jason dizzy. Still though, he kept pushing forward, and eventually, they came to a small entrance marked by an archway. Runes over the top of the thing gave it a name, though Jason couldn't read runic letters.

"And here you are." The warrior nodded toward the entrance.

"What's inside?" Jason leaned forward, peering through the arch. He could see another lake of fire, along with an enormous pedestal that rose out of the middle.

"The name really tells you a lot. The Kiln of Creation." The warrior shrugged. "It's a focusing chamber. You can take raw materials collected throughout the world and place them into a basket on the top of a pedestal. The heat, when activated, forges them into gemstones. It's not the easiest way to get gemstones in the world, but it's up there."

Jason nodded slowly, then squinted. He thought he could see a cage on the top of the pedestal, though he couldn't be sure. There was no sign of Leonard, though that meant very little.

"Look..." The warrior sighed. "I don't know why you want to go in there, but I really can't advise against it enough. No one has come out of there alive in years. No one. S-ranked warriors have perished. Whatever's hiding in there will eat you up."

Jason slowly drew himself upright, and shrugged. "I have to do this. My wife and kids are in there."

"Mmm." The warrior frowned. "Then... I wish you the best of luck. I have a wife and child myself, or I'd come in with you."

"Better for me to have the element of surprise, anyway." Jason let out a long breath, then slowly slipped through archway and into the Kiln of Creation.

The air grew hotter almost instantly. It was nearly unbearable, and Jason gasped in pain. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth, and slowly walked forward. Not that he could have done any differently, as a translucent barrier appeared over the entrance, preventing him from leaving. The path he was on began winding down toward the magma, but was slightly hidden behind several spires of stone that erupted from the path sides, which kept him at least a bit concealed. After a few moments, the path opened up, leading down toward the magma, and to a path that led across the boiling stone to the pedestal itself.

Keeping close to the stone spires, Jason began to creep forward, staying low and holding a hand on his pistol. He had no way of knowing if he was being watched, but knew that his one and only chance was to make it without being seen. Carefully, he glanced left and right, looking for any trouble, then darted forward and dashed down toward the path.

Foom!

A great eruption of magma burst upward from the pool, and a long, spindly arm erupted from the stone and grabbed down onto the path. A second one followed suit, and a spidery figure slowly emerged. It was humanoid, but long and drawn out, and Jason drew up short.

It shook its head back and forth, then slowly started staggering up the path toward him, moving with a slow, uneven gait. More figures followed, and Jason drew his pistol and pointed it at the first one. He lined up a shot on the head, and slowly squeezed the trigger.

Blam!

The shot hit the monster squarely, and a blast of gore exploded out the backside of its head. The health bar of the thing dropped a tiny degree, and Jason gulped.

"Oh, come on." He muttered. "I thought Leonard would be the only monster in here."

A great laugh rang out through the air, and Leonard's voice seemed to explode upward from the very stones themselves.

"Jason! I do have to admit, this is something I didn't expect. You've come to rescue your little family?"

Jason gritted his teeth. "And I'll do it, too."

"How? You have no XP, your health is pathetic, and your base attack is almost non-existent!" Leonard laughed maniacally. "You see those things in front of you? They're called Lavawalkers. They spawn endlessly. The only way you defeat them is by killing them faster than they can emerge from the lava. You fight your way down through them, and then jump onto the walkway, and then things get really crazy." Leonard sighed. "You know, I was really looking forward to flaying you alive, but this? This might be even better. Your lovely family can watch from above, watch while you flounder and fail, and then... And then they'll be next."

The lava began to ripple and rumble, and Leonard sighed.

"Mmm, I probably should have mentioned that walking into the chamber triggers the kiln. You've got thirty minutes before the focusing device goes critical. Of course, your family is trapped on top of it. That's where I built my cage. So... Even if you do get through, you have thirty minutes to get to the top of this thing, or you'll find nothing but diamonds when you get there."

Jason felt horror flow through his veins. He had triggered the chamber? Then... He would die, and then his family would die, and that would be the end of things. He looked up to the top of the pedestal, but couldn't quite see anything from his vantage point. Slowly, avoiding the lavawalkers, he started moving backward, forced up the path.

He had screwed up, big time. He should have accepted help, he just... He hadn't wanted anyone else getting involved in his fight. As he reached the top of the path, he looked up toward the peak of the pedestal. There, he could just see four figures clustered there, looking up at him. The twins might have been there too, but it was hard to say. He gritted his teeth, and slowly lifted his hand to wave.

"addy!"

The voice was faint, and he strained his ears.

"ove you!"

"I love you, too!" Jason called back. "And..." He glanced at the

lavawalkers, which were getting terribly close. "It's not over yet! Don't

give up hope!"

"Hope?" A hand came down on Jason's shoulder, and Desmond

slowly emerged from the portal. "What do you know about hope?"

Jason felt a great wave of relief wash over him, and he shook his

head. "You're here?"

"I am." Desmond nodded. He opened up his inventory, drew out one

of the submachine guns, pointed it at the closest lavawalker, and squeezed down on the trigger. Blood and gore rained down across the path, and the monster slowly toppled backward. "And... I should probably tell you something."

"What's that?" Jason could hardly dare to breathe.

"Well..." Desmond shrugged, then grabbed Jason by the shoulder and slowly pulled him away from the entrance. "I brought backup.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Final Adventure

[Date: 45th Day of Spring. Time: 12:00 p.m.]

With a flash, Chang stepped through the portal, followed by Chase. Chang had his weapon out, while Chase sported a rifle that looked rather overpowered. A smile spread across Jason's face, and they all three raised their weapons and opened fire. A hail of gunfire knocked down half a dozen of the monsters as they slowly approached, but more were on the way. Jason glanced at his friends, grateful to have them... And then, with a flicker, more figures came through.

"Heard you were in a pickle." Obadiah appeared, tall and strong, suited up in his black Guildmaster armor. "Tess wrote me a letter about a week back, told me I needed to get up here straightaway. Since Summer Shandy is basically a ghost town now, I figured I could get away."

Jason couldn't keep a smile from his face. "I owe you one."

"Little farmer!" Daniel was next, stumbling through the barrier and bouncing slightly on his heels. "Sorry I'm late. The barrier is only letting people through one at a time. Dramatic, I'm sure, but terribly slow." He drew out his sword, and his eyes set. "Now where's my sister?"

"Up there." Jason pointed. "She's got... Probably twenty-seven minutes until this place goes critical."

"Piece of cake." Daniel folded his hands together, then cracked his knuckles. Doing so launched a shockwave that blasted the next three lavawalkers into dust. "Shall we?"

"Wait just a second." Obadiah held up a hand. "Dad will be furious if he misses this."

"Dad?" Jason frowned. "Is..."

"Jason!" Jeremiah stepped inside next, a wide smile on his face. He leaned upon a cane, and sighed. "Everyone okay?"

"So far." Jason nodded. "We're running out of time, though."

"Then it's good the cavalry showed up!" Jeremiah grinned. "Daniel?"

Daniel nodded, then opened his inventory and drew out a large crate. He set it on the ground with a loud thump, and Jeremiah reached over and tapped it. With a flicker, the wood faded away to reveal a cannon, shiny and pristine, and Jeremiah drew a match out of his own inventory.

"He begged." Obadiah sighed. "I told him it was just once."

"And I think we're still waiting on one more party." Desmond held up a hand. "Unless I'm counting wrong."

With one last flicker, High Master Benedict stumbled through. He looked flustered, and scowled fiercely.

"I told you to let me be the first one!" He raised his staff, then brought it crashing down. Bursts of teleporter light flared around the area, causing Master Dominic and Milligan to appear as well. "Now, let us engage the enemy!"

"I sure hope that means to fire at will!" Jeremiah struck the match and lit the fuse. It burned down for a brief moment... And then, with a powerful whump, the battle of the Kiln of Creation began.

The opening shot, the cannon that Jeremiah had long desired to fire in a dungeon, punched straight down through the ranks of lavawalkers. It blasted through half a dozen of them on its way down, only to hit the ground a few feet before the lava itself. That caused an explosion of shrapnel that cut down half a dozen more, and Jeremiah let out a whoop. With that, he charged forward, and with him came all the others.

The warriors went first. Obadiah and Daniel, side by side, tore straight through the lavawalkers without any concern whatsoever. As they neared the lava itself, the bubbling stone began to churn, and large loops and coils of a serpent began to race about. The head of a large fire snake burst upward, snarling down at the two of them, only for Milligan and Master Dominic to fire bolts of lightning into its face. The monster fell backward, then snarled and rose once more. And that was when High Master Benedict got involved. He pointed his staff, and a great chill fell across the chamber. The snake froze into stone an instant later, only to explode into nothing but smoke. There was a pause, and the warriors surged forth once more.

Now, the great pedestal rising from the pool of magma was almost a hundred feet tall. A path led across the lava to the base, where ladders and

stairs led up the side of the thing. Higher up, bridges led across the magma back to the sides of the chamber, where more stairs and pathways led to other bridges that led back to the main pedestal. It was a proper maze, which, if properly traversed, would likely have taken hours. If you knew the exact path to take, you could do it faster.

Thankfully, they had overpowered warriors with them who could circumvent such limitations.

As they reached the base, High Master Benedict levitated Daniel straight up to one of the walkways above, then threw Obadiah to a different one. Almost instantly, gargoyles and flame elementals and griffins came charging forth, and the warriors threw themselves into the battle. Obadiah's sword flashed like lightning, as he spun and chopped and hacked, while Daniel simply punched his way through, preferring the brute force of his hands. The mages provided air support, shooting lightning bolts to knock things clean out of the sky. It was a wonderful display, and slowly and steadily, they began working their way upward toward the family.

Jason came along in the rear, guarded by Desmond, Chang, and Chase. He kept a hand on his own pistol, but knew that it wasn't powerful enough to do anything to help. Dead monsters rained down all around him, and for that, he was thankful, but...

"They'll be okay." Chase put a hand on his shoulder. "They will be." "I hope so." Jason murmured. "Why can't they just fly up there?" "There are invisible walls that prevent that. They even prevent

teleportation." Desmond answered. "There's some cheating allowed, but not much. They'll get to them, soon as they can. And as soon as it's possible, they'll teleport you up to—"

Flash!

In the blink of an eye, Jason was transported up to the top of the pedestal. There, sitting in a large, stone bowl, was the cage holding Tess, Richard, the twins, Fern, and Rachel. It was locked tightly, and Jason ran toward them.

"Great! High Master Benedict must have—"

"Oh, he didn't do anything." Leonard's voice snipped through the air, and Jason spun to find himself looking at a monster. Leonard, the real one, was even more scarred and horrendous than his doppelgängers had been. "I was the one who teleported you up here. I figured... Might as well

get a jump on things. They'll be up here in a minute, but they are still a bit far away."

"Give it up, Leonard." Jason pointed his pistol at Leonard's face. "You're a dead man."

"I died years ago." Leonard mocked him. "I died the day I killed my own parents. I died the day that the dungeon blew up." His voice trembled. "I died the day that you stole Tess from me. You took my life away."

"I was going to dump you anyway." Tess muttered. "Jason had nothing to do with it. I mean, he did, but not—"

"Stay out of it!" Leonard almost screamed. He drew a sword, and licked his lips. "We all die, today."

Jason took a deep breath, and he slowly glanced over at Tess, then at the rest of his family. They stared at him with wide eyes, and he gave them a small nod.

"If I'm going to die, then I'll die with my family. I can't really ask for anything better than that."

Leonard let out a scream that echoed through the chamber. With that, he charged headlong at Jason, swinging his sword wildly. Jason raised his pistol and fired twice, the two remaining bullets in the chamber, hitting Leonard squarely in the face. His aim was true, and blood splattered across the ground, but Leonard's health was simply too high. He slashed desperately at Jason, and Jason only narrowly dodged.

For several long seconds, Jason frantically dove out of the way as Leonard stabbed around desperately, trying to impale him. He fell flat on his back, and the sword slammed into the ground between his legs, driving into the granite. Leonard gasped as he rose to his feet, chuckling softly, and drew the sword out of the stone. And that, thankfully, was when Jason noticed that he wasn't looking in the right place anymore.

Leonard had been blinded, at least mostly, by the two bullets.

"I know you're here, Hunter." Leonard slowly started to walk forward, passing just to the left of Jason. Jason hardly even dared to breathe. Richard, thankfully, opened up his inventory and pulled out a bolt, which he flicked to the other side of the platform. It pinged off the stone, and Leonard spun in that direction. "How does it feel for the Hunter to become the hunted, eh?"

Leonard slowly approached the edge, feeling his way along with his sword and his feet. Jason took a deep breath and rose back to his feet, being

careful not to make a sound. With a flicker, Jason drew his blunderbuss out of his inventory, raised it, and aimed it at Leonard's back.

"Come on." Jason whispered. "Almost."

Leonard reached the edge of the platform, feeling it with his sword, and chuckled. Slowly, he turned around, then raised his weapon.

"I know you're there." He stared straight at Jason, a smile flickering across his face. "I know what you're thinking. If you charge me, if you run right at me, throw your weight against mine, you can knock us both off. We'll tumble to our deaths, and your family will be safe."

Jason set his jaw. He could see Leonard bracing his feet. He was trying to plant the idea in Jason's head, in the hope that Jason would take it. Clever.

"Thing is..." Leonard smirked. "There's something I think I've figured out about you. You... you're scared. You'd never give up your own life. You love the quiet life, you love the..."

He continued to talk, quietly and forcefully, but Jason didn't say a word. Suddenly, in the corner of his vision, notifications were starting to appear.

[Jason Hunter has been added to Daniel's Party.]

[Automatic Party benefits: 25% to all stats]

[Bonus from Daniel: 200% to attack]

[Weapon Buff from Milligan: 300% to Explosives]

[Passive Skill from Jeremiah: Cannon's Glory: 100% to

Explosives]

[Passive Skill from Desmond: Swine Herder: 50% Strength against

Pigs]

[...]

Jason felt power surging through his veins, and his Blunderbuss began to glow. A smile came across his face, and he sighted down the barrel, reached out, and carefully brushed his finger against the trigger.

KA-BOOM!!!

A piercing blast of light leapt from the end of the blunderbuss and stabbed clean through Leonard's chest. He was lifted off the ground and thrown backward over the edge of the pedestal, where he fell, down... down... down. Jason rushed to the edge and looked down, only to see him

land in the magma. He was dead long before hitting the molten fire, of course, but it was still satisfying to see him burned to a crisp, again, in the blink of an eye.

[Notice: You have now become a Player Killer, have been marked by a Red Diamond, and will have all Team Buffs removed.]

"Yeah, well, I can live with that." Jason turned around and ran back over to the cage, where the girls beamed with delight. A moment later, Daniel jumped up onto the pedestal, swinging himself onto the stone, and Jason gave him a nod. "Let's get my family out of here.

Chapter Forty: Goodbye Friends

[Date: 91st Day of Spring. Time: 12:00 p.m.]

"Come in, come in!" Jason beamed, waving guests inside as they came filing up the stairs. "The more the merrier!"

"Dad!" Fern came jogging down the stairs. "They're requesting more chips on the third floor."

"I'll handle it." The bellboy, Frank, came jogging past. He gave Fern a smile and a wink, and Fern blushed a bit, making Jason scowl. She shrugged, then turned and scampered away, and Jason sighed in contentment.

He stood just next to the desk, watching at the first official Spring Festival began to take form. Pots and pots of flowers were spread throughout the rooms, which had entirely been converted from their use as actual bedrooms. Instead, gaming tables had been placed throughout, including table tennis, chess, checkers, corn hole, and far more. The stoves in the Hog were blazing, churning out food just as fast as they could.

And, what was even better... It was all free. Well, mostly free.

"I was told that we could come, as long as we brought food." A woman slowly walked up the stairs, holding a platter that seemed to hold a great many potatoes slathered in a yellow sauce. "Where should I put it?"

"Right in there!" Jason pointed her into the Hog. "Pick an empty table, and then choose something to eat! Only rule is that it has to be something you're not used to."

The woman smiled, then waved her children along. They went running up the stairs, and Jason sighed deeply. Tess walked up behind him, handing him a plate. He took it and looked down, finding cooked eggs with the yolks replaced by some sort of fruit, a meat dish that was covered in a chocolate sauce, several rolls laden with nuts, and a great many other things.

"How's it going?" Jason asked with a small smile.

"It's going better than we could have possibly imagined." Tess shook her head with a smile. She paused, then held up a finger. "The maids

were asking, just for confirmation. The general games and things will continue until 5:00 this evening?"

"Yes." Jason confirmed. "After that, we close down the rooms, clean them, and have them ready for guests to check in by 8:00, if possible."

"Good. I'll let them know." Tess turned and swept back away, and Jason slowly started to eat the food. It was incredible, all of it, a blend of tastes from places that he had never even imagined before. A few people tried to shake his hand while he was at it, which made for a few mildly awkward conversations, but it was all in good fun. He finished up his plate around 1:00, which, thankfully, was about the time that everyone quit coming inside. People bustled back and forth, and he sighed in contentment.

"You know, I should probably let you know that these buildings have a limited capacity." Chase sighed deeply. "Technically, you're not supposed to have more than two hundred people inside this structure at any time, and I'm pretty sure you're close to twice that."

Jason blinked in surprise, and Chase laughed.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I mean, I'm not, that's a real law, but we have enough real problems that I'm not going to give you any hard times about it."

Jason sighed and slapped the wall. "This thing is good and solid. She can handle it."

Chase nodded slowly, then shook his head. "You're an odd one, Jason Hunter. Can't quite put my finger on it, but you're an odd one. You're probably the only person in the city who won't charge people to come to your inn."

"Ahh, we're charging them for the night." Jason folded his hands behind his back. "But... When we lose our humanity, we become nothing more than animals. Case in point, the swine that tried to make my life miserable. This... this is being human."

"Sure makes me feel like I'm a thousand miles from here." Chase shook his head. "I've never seen so many people coming together like this. Just for fun, they're playing games and laughing and chatting and... Just living."

"We'll be doing it from here on out. Last day of every season." Jason grinned. "You're always welcome."

"I'll keep that in mind." Chase smiled and walked away. Suddenly, Emilia came running out of the Hog, a smile on her face.

"Inspector!" She beamed. "Can I paint your portrait?"

"Me?" Chase put a hand on his heart.

"Yeah! I'm doing a series of pieces about the People of the City, and

I want to make sure to get an official inspector." Emilia nodded. "Come on! It'll be great!"

Chase seemed flabbergasted, but he nodded. "Well, if you want an inspector, I suppose I'd make a good one! You want me to pose? I can draw my gun, stare off into the distance, like I'm about to shoot someone down!"

Jason laughed as they walked off. Emilia was really coming out of her shell, and she was doing well. Already, the Circle-Z was becoming more famous for being a painting brand than a furniture brand, and he didn't think that her success was going to slow down anytime soon. He stepped over a bit closer to the Hog and glanced inside, where dozens of her paintings were on display. Most of them had tags that read "Sold," while she quickly worked on more. Chang waved at him from the kitchen, and he waved back, only to step back over to the desk as someone else came up and through the door.

"Mr. Jason!" Desmond beamed as he walked inside. "My apologies for being late. Looks like quite the time."

Jason nodded and glanced around. "It's turning out quite well. Where have you been? I'm not upset, just confused."

"Ahh! You will understand in a moment. I was about to leave home this morning when who, of all people, showed up? My sweet Dulcinea! Back in town, and I simply had to invite her."

"But she had somewhere else she had to be?" Jason guessed.

"Of course not. She's right here!" Desmond threw open the door, allowing a woman to walk inside. "Behold, Jason, the fairest maiden of the land."

Jason's jaw dropped. Frankly, he had assumed, for some time now, that Dulcinea had been a mere figment of Desmond's imagination. Instead, before him stood a woman who was easily the most beautiful woman (excepting Tess) that he had ever laid eyes upon. She was tall, dark-skinned, with deep eyes and jet-black hair that hung over one shoulder. Her lips were pursed, and Desmond bowed.

"Has everything I've told you been true, or has it been true?" Jason shrugged. "I..."

"Oh, pfft." Dulcinea whacked Desmond upside the head. "Have you been talking about me again?"

"But of course, my dearest love! Who would not tell of your beauty, your glory, your wonder?"

Dulcinea rolled her eyes, then leaned against the counter. "He's a hopeless romantic."

"And you, my dear lady, are a resolute skeptic." Desmond pressed. "If only you would give me a chance!"

"We're married." Dulcinea rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but that does not mean that romance has to perish! Our wedding bands are a sign of our eternal—"

Dulcinea lifted a finger and pressed it across Desmond's lips. "I know you're excited to show me off. Let's go try the food, shall we, and stop bothering your partner?"

Jason laughed as Desmond turned and waltzed away, strutting like a rooster, and Dulcinea rolled her eyes.

"How you handle him all day, every day, I'll never know."

Jason shrugged. "You get used to him."

Dulcinea frowned in agreement. "Aye. That you do."

She smiled and walked off after her husband, and Jason shook his

head in amazement. Tess walked up to him a moment later, and raised an eyebrow.

"Dulcinea is real?"

"Seems like it." Jason slowly sat down behind the desk. "Some things never cease to amaze, I suppose."

"Indeed." Tess crossed her arms, then glanced down at Jason. "Can I... Can I say something?"

"But of course, my dearest love!" Jason turned and beamed up at her, only for her to shake her head.

"You don't have it. Don't even try." She grinned for a moment, then became more serious. "I'm sorry I didn't want to do this. I didn't see any way that it could work, but... Here we are."

Jason shrugged. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I pushed it so hard. If I hadn't met Desmond, it never could have worked. Well... Desmond, Chang..."

"Chase." Tess nodded. "The list goes on. But... That's the point, I think."

"What is?" Jason looked up at her, confused.

"When we left Summer Shandy, we promised to take a bit of it along with us, wherever we went." Tess shrugged. "I was too quick to shift back to life in the city. You didn't. For a bit, when we first arrived, I thought that was a bad thing, but it's not. You're a people person. You're a hard worker. You brought the joy that we had back in Summer Shandy, and you infected everyone around us with it. Even if we hadn't met Desmond and Chang and Chase, you would have just made other contacts, done the same thing, maybe in a slightly different manner, and it all would have worked out."

"I'm glad you think so." Jason slowly sighed and stood back up.

"Oh." Tess held up a finger. "I meant to tell you. You know how Obadiah and Daniel left pretty much as soon as we were safe, right?"

"They had to get home to their families." Jason nodded. "What about it?"

"Well, they took with them some information from the mages. Since they knew that the drought was caused by a curse, they were able to put together some information, and were actually able to start reversing things."

Jason blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Really." Tess nodded. "Now... The drought hit Level 7 with the start of spring. That's classified as a Desolate Wasteland. It'll take them years to undo the damage, but they're both determined to do it. Summer Shandy will return to normal again. It probably won't look the way we remember it, and it won't do so for the better part of a decade, but..."

"But it'll return." Jason felt something swell within his chest.

"Exactly." Tess confirmed. "Jason... You not only did all of this, but you saved Summer Shandy as well."

Jason drew in a deep breath. He could hardly speak, and his voice quavered. "Well... I couldn't have done it without you." Behind Tess, Fern, Rachel, and the twins came running up. They looked to be playing some sort of game of tag with some of the other children, and went racing straight past and around the corner into the Hog.

"Yeah, and we couldn't have done it without you. You connect people, so on and so forth, it's the same thing I've been saying for the last several minutes." Tess sighed. "It's a cycle." She paused, then glanced down at Jason. "So... What do you think? Should we start making plans to return?"

Jason thought for a moment, then shook his head. He reached up and took Tess's hand, and a warm glow spread over him.

"We had our time in Summer Shandy." He whispered. "Now, it's our job to spread it a bit further. Our place is here, now." He looked around at the joy, the people making their way back and forth in a great torrent of joy and activity. "Obadiah and Daniel? They're holding down the fort, and they'll welcome the waves of new settlers who come. They'll whip them into shape, and when their time is done, they'll move onward. Just like us."

"You know what?" Tess gave his hand a squeeze. "I think so, too."

Jason sighed deeply. All around them, the joy of the Spring Festival continued, and would do so for hours longer. Even after he closed down the Spring Festival, though... well... There would be more. Summer, and Fall, and Winter, and Spring again. More challenges would come, he was sure, but he would take them as they came. It wasn't the Summer Shandy he remembered, but it was the Summer Shandy he had now. He was going to love it and take care of it just like the old one, and make sure that everyone who came through took a bit of it with them back to wherever they came from.

If he kept at it long enough, then... well... There wouldn't be a place in the world that he wouldn't be able to call home.

The End