Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

It took two more days for them to finish everything up. The bulk of the work was done the first day, and everything after was the fine details. Installing doors, getting the windows just right, planting grass in the inner courtyard, sanding the wood, and the thousand and one other little details. It was stunning to watch the whole thing come together.

Equally stunning was the bill. I knew how much it cost, but actually paying brought it all home.

I was at the bank with the owner of Casa Pernoctare. Just him, a [Banker], an [Appraiser], and a half dozen burly [Warriors] as I counted out a mix of diamond and ruby coins, each one worth 10,000 arcs.

“267, 268, 269, 270.” I said, carefully moving the last coin onto the 27th pile. One of the [Bankers] was intently overseeing the transaction, the owner was looking terribly casual, and the [Bodyguards] were looking every which way, anticipating legions of [Thieves] jumping out of any corner.

“Every coin is real.” The [Appraiser] declared, and the [Banker’s] eye twitched. Of course they were real! The bank’s reputation would get destroyed if they weren’t!

The bank was fascinating from a magic perspective. They had something on all the vaults that completely blocked my [The World Around Me] skill, and every inch was covered in glowing runes. The visible runes were completely fake, illusions coating the real runes. The few that I could read past the mirages were clearly obfuscation runes, and I’d bet everything in my vault that the real runes and security were two or three layers deep, located in a place that not even my super senses could decipher.

Good stuff. Was happy I had my money here. I was debating if our funds would be safer in [Vault of the Ages], and I was tempted to start splitting my funds… once I had funds again.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Dawn.” The [Owner] offered up his hand, and I shook it, the invisible chains of debt briefly but firmly binding me to the bank.

I made a boatload of money, but I didn’t have it quite all on hand at the moment. Nina’s biomancy didn’t help. It was critical, it would pay off over her lifetime, but expensive. Felt like a drop in the bucket compared to the house though. ‘Only’ 40,000 arcs. You know, an experienced craftsman’s annual earnings.

“Same! I’m torn if I want to do business with you again or not!” I joked, and the man laughed like he hadn’t heard the joke before.

We signed a pair of scrolls, and half the people in the room added their signatures to them. With that, I officially and properly owned the villa. I promptly teleported the scroll into my [Loremaster’s Library], ensuring I couldn’t lose it.

With a skip to my step I made my way over to Auri’s bakery, our designated meetup spot.

“Can I get another cookie?” I asked Auri, giving her my biggest, widest eyes.

“Brpt.” She shook her beak, firmly denying me.

No shoes, no shirt? That was fine, Auri would happily sell me baked goods. No coins? That was a different question entirely, and the answer was clear - no service.

She’d spent way too much time around Amber.

I narrowed my eyes at her, but decided not to make an issue out of it. My purse had been completely demolished, both by paying the construction company, and by acquiring Nina a celebratory gift.

Auri had a steady crowd going through, most of whom were whispering excitedly and pointing at Auri.

“No way that’s a phoenix.” One of them whispered.

“Totally is!” Her friend replied.

“Is not!”

Others were studying Auri, and more people were buying her goods.

“Entirely mundane.” One man muttered as he left the store, studying one of Auri’s cakes. “Not a speck of a Skill…”

Business looked brisk, and a [Mage Hand] composed of flames swung by my table. Auri dropped off a scroll… and a single cookie.

Curious, I read the scroll where it was, not bothering to open it. I delicately nibbled on the cookie. Om nom nom!

Ah.

Ah.

The scroll was Auri’s financial notes, and the place was not turning a profit. Yet. I didn’t mind if the bakery became an endless Void consuming my coins if Auri was happy, but my little friend was determined to make it on her own. To contribute in her own way. It was a matter of pride.

Which translated to no free cookies for me. There was some wonky logic behind me funding the gap in the store’s finances, and a lack of free cookies, but I understood where Auri was coming from. That was one thing, and this was another one.

I had faith that she’d get there. The store was getting more and more crowded every week, and it was only a matter of time before she made enough to be profitable. The killer was the property tax.

Also, I wanted tea. Auri should totally start selling tea.

I popped a library book out of my storage, put my feet up on the chair across from me, blissfully ignored a wagging finger made out of flames, and started to read while waiting for Iona and Nina.

I almost didn’t recognize Nina when she entered my sphere of perception. Only with Iona right next to her, giving her an arm to lean on for support, along with the massive lack of nine-tailed kitsunes in Sanguino, was I able to tell.

She was at least three inches taller to start, and completely reforged. No longer was there a trace of a malnourished background. No longer were her bones criminally weak. Her hair was fully filled out, no longer patchy in some places where stress had caused it to fall out. A thousand and one other tiny metaphorical scars that had been etched into her body, etched into the very backend the System used to determine how I healed them were gone.

I hadn’t gotten the full details of everything they were going to do, but clearly the two of them had decided that Nina had worked hard enough, and the muscle cheat was on. She had to have had at least thirty pounds of additional muscle added to her frame.

Her tails looked to be at least another inch longer, all bushy and so fluffy. The two of them entered the bakery a moment later. I waved to them.

Iona spotted me and quickly navigated over, Nina an awkward, gangly mess of limbs. Like a teenager suddenly growing an extra three inches over the course of two minutes.

“How’d it go?” I asked, completely unable to hide my enthusiasm.

Iona and Nina traded a look, the two of them silently communicating. Iona raised an eyebrow at Nina. The kitsune got the hint.

“Great!” She said. “I’ll only figure it all out once I finish growing up, but everything seems fine!”

I gave her a flat look of disbelief. She could barely stand!

Then again, I had been stuck in a hospital bed for almost a week after my biomancy changes. People in glass houses and all that.

“Hurray!” I cheered.

A small cake, coated with frosting and strawberries, came flying towards us with nine ethereal will-o-wisps burning over them, a [Mage Hand] deftly dissolving into nothingness as it landed on the table. Auri’s little celebration present.

Her cookie reluctance earlier now made a lot more sense. She was giving us a huge free cake in the first place! Okay, Amber hadn’t completely rubbed off on her.

“Congratulations on the biomancy!” I cheered.

Iona clapped a hand on Nina’s shoulder.

“Good job. Another hurdle down - and this one will make the rest of them that much easier.”

The Valkyrie sliced the cake up into five uneven sized pieces, wrapping a large portion up for Fenrir, and a tiny little slice went onto a plate for Auri. Nina got the fox’s share of what was left, the ginger’s eyes sparkling with joy as she grabbed a fork and dug in.

I shouldn’t have laughed.

But it was just too funny when she completely overshot the return, and landed the cake firmly between her eyes.

After a stunned moment, she laughed as well.

“Presents!” I announced.

“Presents?” Nina asked.

“PRESENTS! For you Nina! Congratulations!” I handed her the gift I’d prepared.

Nina teared up at the small wrapped package. My heart sank into my stomach.

“Problem?” I asked.

She sniffled.

“I’ve never gotten a present before.” She quietly admitted, and my heart broke just a little.

“Open it!” I encouraged.

She unwrapped the present - Iona and I pretending not to notice any fumbles - and pulled out my gift.

A brush. A brush with about a dozen enchantments to make brushing easier, and a glimmering pearlescent handle.

“It’s beautiful.” Nina’s voice wavered as she whispered her thanks, then she started full-out bawling.

Iona and I wrapped her up in a hug, and all was right with the world.

“Legata! May I have a word?” I poked my head into Katerina’s command office.

The Sixth Legion was back at its home base, and that meant no more tents. The fort was three quarters of the way to being a fully fledged town, the only thing truly lacking being the chaos of a civilian presence and the desire to expand past their walls. Not that it stopped the camp followers from building right outside the walls of the Sixth Legion in the first place.

I’d bet quite a lot of money that this spot would be a proper town within the next two decades, and that the Sixth would need to move to a new spot to be ‘proper’ soldiers. Or something like that.

What was interesting, and I couldn’t wait to see the reason why, was the sheer number of non-Exterreri armor and weapons moving around in crates. A few exotic items here and there were to be expected, but this looked like they wanted to completely rearm the Legion in different gear. I had no idea why they’d want to do that. Everyone had trained in a particular style. The gear was already harshly optimized over decades, if not centuries or millennia. Why shift? Why change?

Also, none of the gear was using the red, gold, and black of Exterreri’s colors, nor was the Bat sigil present. Instead, it was all blue and silver, with a closed fist as an emblem.

My best bet was it was for a training exercise of some sort. Put team 1 in Exterreri gear, team 2 in this new gear, and let them fight it out. Make people adopt different tactics, given how often the skirmishes between centuries I oversaw turned into shield falls futilely poking at each other.

Given my position in the Legion, I was sure I’d be told sooner rather than later what was up. Need to know and all that.

Also want to know.

Katerina sighed as she saw me, the three Centurions and one Tribune snapping to attention.

“Since that meeting’s been shot, yes, Dawn, please come in. Make yourself comfortable. Tea?” She offered.

I was… okay, fine. I was starting to get better with the social stuff. Time, experience, and hanging around Iona for long enough was starting to get some of it through my head, and I needed to stop denying that I couldn’t do it at all. I was no savant at it, it didn’t come easily, but I had started to get enough experience with it, see the same patterns often enough, to put together rudimentary basics and niceties.

Like Katerina’s tone was like a rattlesnake’s tail, warning me that the correct answer was ‘no ma’am’ and being in and out like a shot.

“No ma’am, thanks for the offer. I’ve got a mission separate from the Sixth. Wanted to let you know.”

Katerina gave me an unimpressed look.

“I know that you can be called on other tasks. Will you be back before the Saturnalia? Next time, this meeting could’ve just been a letter. If there’s nothing else…?”

I recognized a dismissal when I saw one.

“I should be back by then! Sorry! Bye!” I dashed out, my newfound confidence crumbling around me.

Oh no. Just when I started to think I was getting decent at the whole social thing, just when I was finding my feet under myself, I’d committed one of the worst sins possible.

I’d made a meeting that could’ve just been a letter!

Lock me up! Throw away the keys!

But keep the mango supply going.

All of the Eventide Eclipse had been in and out of our home ever since the construction started. We got to watch it be assembled. We went over every inch of it, looking for problems and errors. Most of that was me with [The World Around Me], and the [Foreman] had gotten annoyed at both me and some of the [Builders] as I was able to call any corners they cut, any trash that they tried to hide in the wall.

Not all of the [Builders] directly worked for the construction company or something like that? It wasn’t important, the long and short of it was I’d been all over the place already. We all had.

But not like this. Not all together.

Not as a family.

Nina clutched her brush and trusty metal pipe. Auri had changed her flames to look like the fanciest, purplest toga. Fenrir’s scales gleamed. Iona looked like she was on top of the world, and I was clutching the potted mango seed I’d gotten way back when we first made it to Sanguino. The odds of it being still alive and fruitful were slim, but I was ever the optimist.

“You mentioned a tradition like this?” Iona picked me up in a princess carry. I clutched my pot carefully, kissing her once she finished.

“That’s for when we get married.” My eyes twinkled as I stared into hers. She gave me a wink.

“Close enough, yeah?” She asked.

I snuggled in.

“Close enough. Onwards!” I pointed with the pot of command, and Iona deftly opened the door with her foot.

She carried me over the threshold, the rest of the Eventide Eclipse piled in - sans Fenrir - and I once again marveled at the place.

Broadly speaking, there were two sections to the villa. A ‘public’ half, where guests might be entertained, and a ‘private’ half, which was just for us. The public half was in a square shape, four small wanna-be towers on each corner, and the central courtyard that opened to the sky. Most of our various workrooms were in this area as well. From Iona’s future art galleries (okay, fine, that was most of the hallways), to my armory, a training salle and a workout spot, a core room that we would eventually fill with arcanite, to an industrial sized kitchen, spare bedrooms, a chapel, and a dozen other spots, it was the ‘main section’.

Awkwardly, Nina hadn’t been part of our lives when we got the designs of the place, and she had the pick of any of the ‘public’ rooms as her own, instead of one of the more ‘private’ rooms that were more intimate.

A hallway offshoot from the main square public area, and that hall was filled with mirrors. Auri’s request, her contribution, her zone. It was a neat effect as well!

At the end of the hall were two sets of rooms, one to the left, one to the right. The one on our left was the master bedroom. Huge walk-in closets, a nice bathroom, the works. On the right was our more private living area. Cozy fireplace in a living room, a small kitchen and pantry attached to it.

The four of us walked through the place together. Nina was gaping at everything, Iona was all smiles.

My eyebrows were scrunched up.

“What is this place missing?” I asked out loud, wiggling out of Iona’s grip.

“Furniture?” She suggested.

I tilted my head.

“Maybe that’s it…?”

“Brrpt!” Auri suggested, and I laughed. Not just at her suggestion, but at how it was right.

“We are missing pictures of the glorious you!” I said. “I’m so used to mosaics being displayed, that’s what we’re missing!”

“Dibs!” Iona called. “DIBS! I’m calling dibs on the art.”

“You’ve got dibs!” I happily agreed. Iona hadn’t gotten nearly enough chances to stretch her artistic muscles recently, and if she wanted to dabble in a new artform for our entire house? More power to her.

“This place looks like it might be difficult to clean.” Nina commented idly. The three of us stared at Nina. I got a wicked grin on my face.

“Why are you all - OH COME ON!” She threw her hands up in the air as I cackled. A proper, witchy cackle. Shame I didn’t have my School robes anymore, it would’ve been perfect.

Iona patted Nina’s shoulder.

“It’s all part of the deal. That being said, I know Elaine’s got a few cleaning spells in her endless spellbooks, and we are hoping to enchant the place so it self-cleans.”

Bless magic, in all its forms.

The ‘garden’ was basically all dirt right now. Critically, it was actually dirt, and not just loose stone or other forested mountain floor. With about four seconds of effort, I dug a nice little hole, and planted the seed deep.

“Home.” I said, hugging Iona.

“Home.” She agreed.

The second order of business was testing out the new bath. It was deep and luxurious, but Exterreri baths all had a similar issue. Namely, since the water was almost always in the bath and ready for people to jump in - baths weren’t run the same way, especially with magic helping things out - the pipe from the water cistern to the bath wasn’t particularly large, leading to only a small trickle refilling the bath at any given time.

“This is going to take weeks.” I hyperbolically complained to Iona as I watched the anemic trickle of water pour into the empty bath.

Iona squinted her eyes at the bath, calculating.

“Unfortunately.” She agreed.

I dramatically groaned, and hopped into the empty bath. My feet were completely dry, the puddle hadn’t even made it out here yet. I sighed, and ran a number of calculations.

I could try to conjure water, but water was heavy. Add in the hefty mana to effect penalty that wizardry had, along with the potentially nasty effects if someone drank the water, and it just wasn’t worth it.

“Fine, fine. Another day.” I hopped back out of the bath.

I balefully eyed the small pipe that was denying me one of my favorite ‘at home’ luxuries, before reminding myself that in just a few weeks I’d be singing its praises. Just one of the tiny hiccups moving into a new place.

Better than the basement leaking, the roof missing shingles, rotting beams in the ceiling, or a thousand other issues that could be challenging me at this time!

The sun was setting, and Iona headed off to Sanguino to light a pair of candles from a temple dedicated to Selene and Lunaris, the twin goddesses of the moons.

I wasn’t particularly religious, although I was trying to brush up on the twin goddesses for Iona’s sake. One twist I was surprised at - although I shouldn’t have been - was it didn’t matter what the phases of the moons were at for a consecration. Simply that the moons were out. New moons to full moons, it didn’t matter, as long as they were present, and the sky was reasonably clear.

‘Reasonably clear’ was apparently a whole theological thing as well, given the heavy cloud cover on some parts of the world. I had felt myself starting to lose focus as Iona explained, and I communicated that to her.

Fortunately, she’d understood and hadn’t been offended, and what she’d mentioned about the candlelit procession was far more interesting. Not the procession itself, but how religion changed and adapted over time.

The goddesses didn’t specifically have their own rituals that they demanded. However, whatever rituals people came up with, they tended to endorse. This was something that most of the gods and goddesses of the pantheon did, although a few were demanding and particular.

Eternity was a long time. Expecting people to keep and remember the same rituals and routines the entire time, expecting that life and culture wouldn’t shift and change, expecting knowledge of minute particulars to survive Immortal wars was absurd. The most successful gods were adaptable and flexible.

They could always descend to Pallos and remind priests of what they wanted, or make a decree, or just flat-out chat with people to remind them.

But it didn’t matter too much. They got divine juice or faith just the same from a ritual. It didn’t have to be the ritual.

In other words, it was performing the ritual, not the contents of the ritual, that was important.

For Iona, consecrating our chapel to the moon goddesses was a Big Deal. Even Auri wasn’t cracking jokes or fooling around. Nina looked like the biomancer who’d done her work had shoved a large rod somewhere deeply unpleasant.

Fenrir was shrunk down, and the four of us waited by the open front door. We’d opened the rest of the doors from here to the chapel so there’d be no awkward ‘hang on, pause while I get the door’ during the procession.

Then, we waited. The seriousness of the event was the only thing helping me keep still, no matter how boring it was. I redirected every urge to fidget at Iona’s serious face as she left, almost fully clad in armor, to the temple.

Thus, we waited. Waited while Iona slowly trekked from Sanguino to here on foot, slowly and solemnly walking the whole way with two flickering candles. By a small Miracle - a proper Miracle with a capital M - one flame would be blue, and the other flame would be yellow, no matter what the candles were made out of. Faith fueled it.

In a fun twist, Iona was one of the very rare people capable of performing the entire ritual on her own. It called for both a priest, and protection. The protection could be anything - even the locals walking around the priest carrying the lights. As a [Paladin], Iona counted as both.

Hours passed. The moons rose, three-quarters full, and slowly marched across the sky. They started to fall back down to the horizon, and I was beginning to worry that Iona wouldn’t make it in time.

I didn’t have the nerve to ask what would happen if Iona ‘failed’ to consecrate the chapel in time.

Hours and hours later - the walk wasn’t a short one - I spotted the flames flickering through the trees. I sharpened my focus, my chimeric eyes able to pick out the details.

Iona was calm and serene, placing every foot exactly where it belonged, moving so smoothly it was like she was gliding. A small procession was behind her, other faithful of the twin goddesses who’d taken the opportunity to participate. A minute later I could hear her softly humming hymns. It was both harder and easier once I could see and hear her. On one hand, the finish line was approaching. She was almost here. I could directly see her face, hear her voice, and remind myself of the importance of what we were doing to every impulsive urge I had.

Ignoring all the spiritual importance for a second, this would be good for a level or two in her [Paladin] class. Probably only one. It was a small chapel, one person, and she had a solid number of levels as a [Paladin] already. Every level was a level, no reason to complain about it only being one for a safe, relatively short activity.

On the other, dear gods, she walked so slowly. It was almost causing me physical pain. I knew she could cross the distance in half a minute, if not faster. Instead, I got to watch her walk for 90 minutes.

I distracted myself by how nice it was watching her walk. I’m pretty sure the goddesses would approve of my thoughts.

It was their moment, I sent them a little prayer.

Hey!

Consecrating a chapel to you! Hope you like it!

Give Iona a lot of credit for this one, she deserves it!

I swear I might’ve felt a slight brush at the edge of my consciousness after sending the prayer up. I did notice that the goddesses took a tribute of mana.

Eh, I wasn’t using it, sure, they could have it.

At last Iona finished coming up the road, we silently fell in around her, acting as a sort of honor guard. Iona switched from humming, to singing the hymns. I’d already memorized them, but it wasn’t right for me to sing or hum them with Iona without my ‘counterpart’ also singing them. Auri had a single word, Fenrir’s singing was more growling, and Nina didn’t know the tunes yet.

So I progressed in silence. Most of the others trailing along with Iona did know the right words and songs - frankly, I was surprised that one person didn’t know, it wasn’t the average follower who joined a procession like this - and with some minor fanfare, we all entered our home.

The moonlight came down as we crossed the central garden, creating a vague illusion of arches that we passed through. Maybe a small miracle, maybe a coincidence.

We entered the chapel, the altar already draped with blue and yellow cloth. The four of us spread out in the back, with only a bit of awkward shuffling.

We hadn’t exactly gotten a chance to rehearse or practice this.

Iona made it to the altar, and bent her head.

“By the light and grace of the twin moons, we call upon thee, the two-as-one, the one-as-two, O divine…” Iona started her prayer out loud, lighting the candles with the two oddly-colored flames.

As the candles touched the sacred torches on the altar, the flames ‘leapt’ from one to the other, entirely abandoning the devices used to bring them here.

Magic. With a capital M. Gifts of the divine, outside of the System. If I didn’t have so many other things going on, if I wasn’t trying to study wizardry as well, I’d be sorely tempted to delve into the divine mysteries.

That, and I just didn’t really feel a strong connection with any god or goddess. Transactional faith did sort of work, but… I was kinda busy. I did try to pray to the moon goddesses now and then, but it didn’t click for me the way it did for Iona.

Once she no longer needed to carry the sacred flames, Iona took a knee to the altar, which I remembered was a Big Deal for her. There were only three people she’d kneel to in her life - her mentor, her gods, and her lover.

The ritual continued. Elixirs that had been left to soak in the moonlight were sipped and passed around, the cups never emptying. Incense was burned, somehow invoking the smell of the moon. I had no idea what the moon smelled like before then. Ethereal voices joined in the chants.

Then at the climax, the consecration itself, I felt a surge of divine power, of a Presence filling the room. A single feather fell from the ceiling, gently kissing Iona.

My heart melted at the smile of peace and contentment on her face.

There was a knock on the bedroom door. [Rapid Reshelving] instantly hid the ties, and I used the skill again to instantly get dressed.

[*ding!* [Rapid Reshelving] leveled up! 19 ->20]

Ugh. Fine. A level was a level, and I guess this was stressful.

“Come in!” Iona called out. Really, there was only one person it could be.

Nina poked her head in.

“Iona. Elaine. Um. Can you come to the garden please?” She asked.

“Yeah!” I hopped out of bed, and we all made our way to the garden. The moons were out, lidded at half-full like the great dragon herself was blinking. The stars were twinkling, and goddesses, it was good to see the night sky again, instead of eternal ash.

Fenrir and Auri were already in the hortus.

Nina stood near my buried mango seed, taking a deep breath. She spun round to us, and lifted a hand.

I swear upon my honor and the light that guides me, to serve justice unwaveringly.

I pledge to protect the innocent, to vanquish evil, and to uphold the virtues of righteousness.

With every breath, I shall strive to be a beacon of hope and a shield against darkness.

I dedicate my sword and my heart to the cause of righteousness, bringing light to the world.

In the face of adversity, I shall remain resolute, unwavering in my devotion to the path of righteousness.

I vow to uphold the sacred laws, to defend the weak, and to be a champion for the voiceless.

I bind my soul to the pursuit of truth and virtue, forsaking personal gain for the greater good.

Through courage and compassion, I shall be a source of inspiration and strength for those in need.

I solemnly swear to confront the darkness within and without, never succumbing to its temptations.

Wow. That was quite a bit more high-brow than I was expecting from Nina - and using significantly more complex language. Made me think she was cribbing hard from other [Oaths].

Nina’s face slowly fell as her words finished echoing off the walls. Her ears wilted, turning down, and her tails went down. A minute passed. Her fist clenched, and she started to hyperventilate, eyes darting frantically around. Her lips moved in a silent prayer. Then two.

She started to tremble as she looked at Iona.

“I - I didn’t get the skill.” She sniffed, hiccuping through the statement, fighting the tears.

Iona smiled, took two steps forward and wrapped Nina in a hug.

“Hey, hey, shhhh, it’s okay.” She reassured the teenager. “It just meant it wasn’t right for you. That you didn’t believe it deep in your heart.”

“But I want to!” Nina exploded. “I want to believe that! I want to be a good Valkyrie! Isn’t that what it’s all about?”

“There’s more than one path.” I said. “More than one way. That one sounded like, what, the [Oath of the Righteous Paladin]? Maybe yours is more the [Sworn Vengeance of the Wrathful Valkyrie]. Give it time. Wait to see what clicks with you. What resonates. What you believe, deep down, is right. There’s no rush.” I did my best to reassure Nina that everything was alright.

“You’re not going to kick me out?” Nina asked, looking up at Iona with big eyes.

I punched my girlfriend in the arm.

“If she does, she’s sleeping in the garden, and you’re always welcome to live here. Alright?” I said.

Iona shook her head.

“Never.” She reassured Nina. “Many Valkyries never even take a [Vow]. It’s not required.”

With a LOT more reassurance, we finally all made it to bed. Just in time for the sun to start peeking over the horizon.

Not exactly the most auspicious start to my first mission, which we were leaving for in the morning.

Uh.

Which was now-ish.

==============================

I was both ready and not ready at the same time to go on the mission to Nippon-Koku. In the end, I went with the old reliable just do it, and I left with Iona and Fenrir after packing several dozen different knick-knacks in my [Vault of Ages]. If I wasn’t careful, I’d spend years prepping the [Vault] before actually doing anything with it. Auri wanted to keep working on her bakery, and she was keeping an eye on Nina, who was just a little too low level right now. The mission was a little too far from the Valkyrie’s normal mandate for her squire to get solid experience, while being on her own, looking after the place was.

The System was fucking weird at times. I was sure that soon enough it would swing back round, where sweeping the floor would make Nina swing a mace harder or some other ridiculous nonsense.

Heck, I wasn’t thinking weird enough. Probably something like drinking milk making her illusions more solid, or smelling the flowers improving her armor.

The two of them were tasked with not burning the place down, and settling in.

The three of us were soaring over the Sea of Stars, chatting.

“Let’s take a wide detour south.” I said. Iona tugged on the reins, and Fenrir obligingly turned south.

“Why’s that?” Iona asked.

“There’s an island roughly in the direction we were heading that might go boom.” I explained. “There’s a Void mage experimenting there.”

Iona shuddered.

“I was so much happier before I knew that. How do you think Nina and Auri are holding up?”

“Oh, they’re fine!” I reassured her. Iona looked all strong and stoic in front of Nina, and couldn’t stop worrying the moment she was out of sight. “I’m really impressed with how quickly you managed to teach Nina to read!”

Iona froze.

I twisted my neck around like an owl.

“You… you haven’t taught her to read at all, have you?” I asked, a little accusatory.

“Whoops.” Iona said. I smacked my forehead. Real hard to do with my neck twisted all around.

“How is she going to talk with Auri!?”

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