Quote

 

"A defensive army without fortifications has a hundred vulnerable points; it is a body without armor."

Carl von Clausewitz, About War

 

 

Mariette, Constie and Alice, were extremely helpful in explaining exactly what I could do with a dungeon. Honestly, after my enlightenment by the three of them, I felt like I was strangely missing out on the obvious benefits. I didn't feel I was missing anything by not having a dungeon or even going to one. As if the whole thing was unnecessary for me, pointless because I had no real benefit from it. Somehow I was missing something essential, crazy but true.

 

But after all, what did I have an aide for if I didn't abuse her to keep my schedule in order? I would take care of the dungeon after establishing "trade relations" with my other adjoining states and their neighbors.

 

Not to mention, I had some cute islands on my doorstep that I wanted to take possession of. And a few freshwater sailors for my navy. Ahoy!

 

Initially, I had to do all the excavation and earthwork first, not that the dungeon got the gloriously shitty idea to claim the area for my tunnels to the dwarves and the caverns for my production facilities prematurely. That would suck. Construction of the facilities and buildings on and around the Pebble could wait until then. Fortunately, I already had the basic design and construction plans. Having my notebook, including drawing programs, with me was very convenient. Thanks Mom! And you should really think of a better password than "secret123456".

 

But in a pinch, paper, pencil and a ruler would also do the trick.

 

There was a lot to do and I had limited time. What does a girl like me do in this case? Well cheat, what else? What did you people expect? There was no one here except my three beauties who could have seen me. No curious eye that could possibly see something that I would rather keep to myself.

 

The technique, if you can call it that, was quite simple in concept. The execution took some getting used to for me, at least at first.

 

<Store every material in my line of sight for a length of one hundred meters in the form of a circular tube with the radius of ten meters in my inventory.>

 

I stowed all the excavation, earth, stones, and whatnot into my obligingly large and helpful inventory.

 

First up was the "official" interior of the Pebble. Several levels of halls and rooms to the top. Nothing special in principle. Storage rooms, a " utility area", plus stairwells and elevators up for the chateau I was going to build on top of the Pebble. The Academy buildings with my "official" residence. I could reuse the excavated material for the area around the Pebble and the buildings there. It was inconvenient that there was no function to sort material already in the inventory. My unsatisfactory detour was to dump everything outside again on a pile and then selectively put only certain material back in one after the other. What was time consuming was finding an intelligent way to differentiate. In the end I had a few good criteria that were not really good but at least workable.

 

<Store every noble metal in the spoil pile in front of me in my inventory.>

<Store any ferrous material in the spoil pile in front of me in my inventory.>

 

In the end, I had about fifty different traits that I had to awkwardly perform with magic. In so far as you can classify the use of magic as cumbersome. If I didn't have magic, the process would have been more difficult, more laborious and, above all, longer. Still, it annoyed the hell out of me. And my cursing was a clear signal to my girls that I was not in a good mood. Yes, I hate to repeat unnecessary activities stupidly. I preferred to brood until I thought of a clever trick to make things easier for myself.

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't think of anything right off the bat. Damn.

 

Frustrated, I began the first basement. The level in which I later wanted to house my production facilities and machine shops. I planned quite generously for growth and greater needs. After all, I always had to keep in mind that at some point, expansion would no longer be possible. Thanks to the dungeon. In the end, I had twenty rooms each in dimensions of 50 x 50, 100 x 100, and 200 x 200 meters with a height of 25 meters. Only five particular halls would have greater ceiling heights. Better said, they went deeper into the earth. Four of these caverns would contain my smelting furnaces and one cavern would serve as a tank for oil. I also provided for storage tanks of water and other necessities of life. Among other things, I planned to create various ornamental ponds and water features in my Prussian manner. Furthermore, I laid out connecting tubes and tunnels in the form of a grid. Each hall thus had at least two entrances, the ones in the middle were accessible from each side. I wanted my production facilities to work as easily as possible. The supply network was a little trickier. I solved my problems by laying another network of tunnels above and below the halls. The floor had almost something of cheese, so full of holes it was. I had also provided ventilation and escape routes in case of an emergency.

 

From this level I also drove two tunnels into the realm of the dwarves. To pass the dungeon safely, I swerved quite far to the south and then deviated west to the mountains. Between both tunnels I left four times as much space as they were wide. At a distance of two hundred meters each I connected the tubes with smaller tunnels. In the area of the bend to the west and on the border to the dwarf realm, I added a large hall that encompassed both tunnels. A kind of waiting area. Likewise, two tunnels also went in the direction of my future port. Currently, the dwarves didn't care that they had lost their access to the sea, dwarves and water rarely worked together, but if at some point in the future a dwarf wanted to bathe or sail on a ship, they could share my access. Free right of way. That's how it should be among good neighbors.

 

My tunnels met the already existing cavern in which our trade was to take place exactly at the place predestined by the dwarves. The dwarves knew their business and their trade. As was to be expected.

 

In the end, what mattered to me was far away from disturbing sunlight. The dwarves agreed with me wholeheartedly on that.

 

And unwanted observers.

 

The next basement contained something that I wanted to keep hidden. The entrances were camouflaged and equipped with all kinds of deadly traps. Whoever wanted to enter my command center and hideout had to be either authorized or really extremely motivated and willing to accept unheard-of losses. I was almost tempted to leak hints to see who would try. Together with my companions and wives I could have a nice relaxing evening with romantic candlelight, wine, appetizers and a pretty show for pleasant entertainment. But only almost. I'm the villain - not dumbed down. But it spoiled my pleasure a bit that I was forced by a cliché to set up a secret hideout. Hah, secret hideout, what a funny term. And of course, any hero would know, the villain has a lair. Why hide it at all? But complaining in tears about my unfair fate won't help me. Better to make sure no one made it here or gave it up. Worked just as well for me.

 

Beside the command center, who ever saw pictures from the war room of Dr. Strangelove can imagine how it looked like, there were communication facilities in several versions, sure is sure, and shelters in sufficient numbers to offer protection to a large number of people. Of course, I could easily conceal three quarters of my military strength without attracting attention. Shift work made it possible. To the outside only a part was to be seen. And who wanted to know it more exactly - this person had to go down here. Have fun with it. Ensuring communication was my biggest problem. I rely here on redundancy and camouflage. Without information I could only act blindly. But to collect the necessary resources for indiscriminate actions exceeded my possibilities. For this reason, information and communication were very important to me. No matter how effective I could make weapons, if I didn't know where to aim, I wasted my energy.

 

Information gathering at the level of relationships, that is, beings, the network of my informants became larger and larger. Intervention regarding the growth was not really necessary. Insights into messages through my communication lines also improved with each passing day. A no-brainer, so to speak. Reconnaissance by eavesdropping and observation. There lay at present one of my weaknesses, one can also say my blind eyes and deaf ears. The test run with the prepared tiny magic objects that I dropped completely unintentionally at Throinain had gone passably. Whether I should give Huinain a hint of his planned matchmaking with the "milk cow" Elsa? My impression was, however, until now, Huinain had brought the matter upon himself. On occasion I would get a picture of Zylra and until then I enjoyed the cat and mouse game between the two brothers. In retrospect, I was annoyed at my failure to have made preparations for the stamps on the slave collars. Without the slightest effort on my part, I would have ears everywhere. A great pity, a missed opportunity. However, I was able to make up for the lapse somewhat. How and why I came up with this idea, I can not say, sure is only Cebille will soon include a few "extras" in the manufacture of my lingerie collection. And I don't mean slips with dildos inside. This design I keep for myself.

 

Signaling itself was also not where I wanted to be. Basically, I already had redundancy by using wireless radio and wired signal transmission. I would have preferred to add magic and telepathy to my repertoire. In principle, the former was within my capabilities. Magic, however, unfortunately had its own problems. The greater the distance that had to be bridged, the more magic had to be put into it. And more magic could be easily detected. Counterproductive. Admittedly, radio waves were also easy to detect. If one knew how. Fortunately, this knowledge was very scarce on Maronde. With telepathy, the problem was - I had no idea. Simply asking around would be treacherous, more tedious but above all not so conspicuous was simply to acquire and squeeze out more mages, priests and so on. Additionally, I had every book purchased that was even remotely related to magic. My hope was, something would eventually lead to success. There was one more option for me. But it exceeded my knowledge by far and I had difficulties to understand even the theory. A very nebulous, almost "spooky" option. Quantum entanglement. An almost ideal solution to my problems. Unfortunately, currently out of my reach. Of necessity, I would first expand what I had. And all threads ran together in my secret hiding place.

 

My "Le repaire de la méchante!" I would have an appropriate sign put up. To pat myself on the back right away would be a bit exaggerated, but I could allow myself a little pride for a job well done.

 

As I looked contentedly at the beginnings of my construction work so far and wanted to tackle the next site, I was gently but nonetheless firmly reminded of my "other" duties. Apparently, I had somewhat lost track of time. And my wives were not ... pleased. They "insisted" that I give them my attention. Who am I to disagree? I could still take care of the rest the next day. Because there were no really ready accommodations we retreated for the night in our tent. Because of my inventory, I also did not have to save on amenities. If camping then please with style is my motto. And with a wonderfully comfortable bed.

 

 

Our night's rest was regrettably interrupted.

 

The reason was ... a spider. Outside at the tent canvas. Illuminated by the full moon. Creepy!

 

Well, normally I would have just rolled over again and continued sleeping. However, this spider had grown up on Maronde. And the critical word in that sentence was GROWN UP. And LEVELED UP! I allowed my wives their panic as the caustic venom ate its way through the canvas of the tent and allowed myself a dose of healthy respect for a 50 centimeter hissing aggressive arachnid!

 

Emptying three magazines into the spider thing and the tent tarp was no panic. No matter how that may look. I will swear anytime in the presence of Sadanobu-kun that it was not an overreaction on my part. Perhaps, however, I would have to pay very close attention to my choice of words. The tent looked holey on the side where I had eradicated the spider from existence.

 

Nervously, I noticed that the hissing sound had still not stopped. To my relief, the cause of the noise was not that the beast was still alive but that the poisonous acid was eating up the surrounding soil. I can now justifiably say that there IS a huge difference between watching a movie and standing next to it in reality. My heart made it urgently clear to me that I was still alive. I didn't have to worry about deposits in my vascular system for the foreseeable future. That much was certain.

 

My sweet rabbit took the shock best of all. She lanced the smoking remains of the body with a wooden spear and rammed it all into the ground far away from our campsite. Why take a chance? We also played it safe with the hastily performed protective spells around the tent. There would not be a single insect left alive within a radius of fifty meters. Guaranteed. Alice's comment that this was a NORMAL spider didn't really help my relaxation.

 

The sex that followed did. And yes, sex after a near-death experience has a whole different quality. And no, I have no intention of deliberately putting myself in any mortal danger from now on for the added thrill. I didn't need to choose my words carefully for Sadanobu-kun to swear to that. Straight out was true enough.

 

The experience showed me several things. On one hand there was the psychological impact, I could make something out of it maybe a trap or something similar, on the other hand I would definitely deal with this system in the near future. I might be able to protect myself quite easily, but my subjects might not. Mariette was to remind me of sidearms. Perhaps there was more than one reason why land prices were so low in this area.

 

We found rest only after being startled a good half-dozen times by squealing screeches as other spiders and critters perished in our protective spell.

The next morning my wives proudly told me they had moved up a level. I did not mention how many carcasses I had hidden in my inventory. From now on, however, I would place much more emphasis on protection spells. Especially when camping.

 

An important point to consider when building larger structures is always the statics. No matter if it is a building or a bridge. Gravity does not forgive mistakes. Good engineers therefore plan not only for the expected load but always for a generous safety margin. In the event that a structure will be subject to direct attack, it is more than advisable to make this safety margin exceedingly generous. It is literally necessary for survival. As soon as you go underground you better throw any attempt to economize out the window. The dwarves know what they are doing. And I had no intention of hiding, meaning here my ability to plan and build, not my role in this drama.

 

My outdoor buildings would be constructed of steel-reinforced concrete. That's what I had introduced cement for, after all. The detail with the steel reinforcement was not necessary for me to pass on to the public.

 

In the subsoil it looked a little different. Here, too, I would use reinforced concrete. However, not for the statics. For the statics below the surface, I reached into my bag of tricks and copied the solution for the stamp of the slave collars. The "Fuhen no kinzoku" was just clever and simple. As if the original purpose was precisely to erect structures that would not collapse. But it was more likely that the ancient heroes simply wanted indestructible swords. What I did was to make a net of a fine metal wire for each room and tunnel. The nets lay tightly on the surface of all the walls. A sort of wall lining, if you will. Once a wire net rested to my satisfaction, I scribed <Inalterable Metal> into the wire. Because it was only one wire that made up the net, the whole net took on the property. Whatever happened, these rooms would not collapse. Hidden under the concrete, no one would think to look for it. Removing the net was impossible for an ordinary person. Except for me, no one would probably figure out the trick. Not that it would do much more than cause the room to collapse. Someone would have to be pretty creative to manage a reuse. You're wondering where I'm going to get all this concrete and steel rebar? I told you I was going to cheat. There was space in my inventory with no apparent end. And there were obviously no restrictions on what I could put in there.

 

The only explanation I had for this was that no one before me had been so excessive. Which is why no regulation has yet taken place via the system. Otherwise, the whole thing was completely incomprehensible to me. Not thought through to the end. A gift horse. Mouth. Legal? Illegal? I don't care! ¹Pun lost in translation. The saying rhymes: "Legal? Illegal? Mir doch egal!"

 

The fact was, every chance I got, I packed interesting things into my inventory. Water. Sand. Gravel. Metal. Ores. Bauxite. Glass. Gases. Oil. Tar. Food. Elementary particles. Stuff. Whatever. I was a one-woman super transporter. Crazy but true. The only effort was to make sure that nobody noticed what I was doing. So far I visited many, many warehouses and sites with interesting raw materials. One thought from me and the warehouse was empty again and the deposit relieved by many cubic meters. The rest stops were supplied with large quantities of food on a weekly basis. When I made my tour once every two months I collected everything that was there. And then again from the beginning. Rince and repeat. I had a lot to carry around. Lots of luggage. Typical female collecting mania. Hehehe.

 

I had enough cement, sand, gravel and water. What I still lacked was the steel for the reinforcement. In two to three days, the dwarves were ready for me. In the meantime, they diligently cooked metal for me. I also had the payment for the steel in my luggage. A complete plant for brewing beer. Not to forget the ingredients. Hops and malt - God bless! The dwarves will be delighted. ... or drunk, as the case may be. ²Pun lost in translation. It rhymes: "Hopfen und Malz - Gott erhalt´s!" Old german brewer saying.

What I wanted to get done before was start my deep sea port and shipyard. A few details were tricky. The dry docks, for example.

The harbor and moorings themselves I was able to build relatively easily using my knowledge from Earth. As everyone should know, every plan survives only until it meets reality. Of course, I had already planned my perfect harbor. As homework for my second semester. Twelve points out of fifteen. The professor then picked me out and explained exactly what I had done soooo wrong. Study years are just like learning years no master days. The grade was reasonably good and I learned something new. Basically, ports are planned and built based on their location and their task. However, I'm sure engineers have never planned or even built a port for a Villainess. Except for movies, of course. I also can't think of a movie with a Villainess that ever needed a port.

However, the Meritocracy of German Nation was located on the sea. The harbor was therefore on the seashore in purely geographical terms. There were tides. Why were there tides? Because there was a moon. So the tidal range of ebb and flow had to be taken into account. Currents had to be considered. What was the direction of the winds? Even if this was unimportant for my ships, there were still ships that were sailing with wind power. Although the idea had occurred to me to build my harbor in such a way that only propeller-driven ships could dock there, I rejected this idea again. As long as there was no compelling reason to develop these ships, no one would invest vast sums of money to have this capability. If my harbor could be reached with sails, everything was fine for the established seafarers.

The Pebble was more or less enclosed by water on a small peninsula that jutted out into the sea to the east. Both to the south and to the north there were bays that offered some protection from the general south-to-north current. The bay to the south was quite small. However, the rising current made it very easy to go ashore there. In fact, there were a few traces of pirate ships there. More interesting for me was the larger bay in the north. However, here the currents were very treacherous at tide as a few wrecks showed me impressively. Here I would have to do something.

The first thing I did was to remove a lot of unnecessary rock to the east of the Pebble, directly facing the seaward side. The walls now went vertically down and the seabed was now excavated to a depth of 300 meters. Whoever wanted to moor here had to be really creative. The strong current made normal mooring very difficult and the extreme depth made anchoring impossible. Climbing up would be fun for extreme sports enthusiasts but guaranteed to be hell for any soldier or assassin. And fighting the ships from above would be like chasing carp in a barrel with a shotgun.

The next step was to separate the bay in the north from the sea. To do this, I dumped all the rocks that I had collected from the east side in front of the bay entrance. It was a kind of breakwater. However, in this case used as a dam. I deepened the ground in the bay from an average of five meters to a good fifteen meters and spread the excavated material, before the eyes of my wives overflowing with disbelief, as a second dam a little further offshore. The wrecks of the ships looked funny on this breakwater. Really spooky. It was cute how the three of them asked me if they could plunder the wrecks.

At first the bay wasn't watertight and I had to repeat the process until there was no more seawater running in. Basically, I now had one heck of a dry dock and no harbor. With a few quays, dock facilities and a shipyard, I could have had a harbor right now. However, I was still missing a few details to my satisfaction.  By then, instead of the original bay and future harbor, here would be a rather large hole in the ground. It already looked quite ugly. And I was sure no environmentalist would be thrilled about what I was doing here. In my defense, though, I can say that no living thing had to die. Nothing died in my inventory and as soon as I released everything back into the sea, life continued there.

At least that was my plan. How could I have known that the spiders hunting here saw the seafood as some kind of delicacy? There was also not the slightest hint that the marine population I had misplaced might now be settling in the South Bay? I disclaim any responsibility for the fact that a few pirate crews may have been attacked by angry, because breeding, spiders. There is no law here that forces me to put up a sign on each of my beaches: Caution! There may be angry spiders living here.

My jetty would have some peculiarities. It was several kilometers long. Usually a jetty serves more as a breakwater. By bending the ends into the sea to the east, I could also use it for other tasks. Because of its shape, it would easily deflect the current into the harbor entrance to the south. So there would always be a support to get out of the harbor exit in the north without having to pay much attention to the tidal range or the wind. It was also a fairly good protection. Both against storms and against enemy ships. Whoever wanted to enter the harbor had to pass two narrows. And I could fortify and secure these narrow points with little effort. As a special gadget there was the possibility to open the breakwater at two places in the middle. In case someone should get the glorious idea, and was successful in doing so, to blockade the entrance and exit of the harbor. Who was not prepared for it would have a nasty surprise.

At least I now had a harbor basin, and that is part of the very essence of a harbor. Even if it did not contain any water at the time. In contrast to other areas of an artificially created or naturally existing harbor, i.e. roadstead, the actual harbor basin often offers shipping largely current-free conditions and thus calm waters for easy and safe ship movements. Especially in coastal areas, often only harbor basins provide safety from severe weather and storms. So my harbor would be ideal for seeking shelter. Due to the ebb and flow of the tide, the water depth in the harbor basin and the waterway would fluctuate. With the depth I had planned, it was guaranteed that ships in my harbor would ALWAYS have a hand's breadth of water under their keels. Even my ships.

First and foremost, a harbor basin is used for docking and mooring, as well as loading and unloading ships. For this purpose, I needed quay walls. And pontoons that would automatically compensate for the tidal range. In direct or relative proximity to the quays, I needed warehouses to either store goods or transfer them to the ships. The warehouses, in turn, had to have a connection to my road network. Including customs office of course. Controlling and regulating the flow of goods is one of the most important duties of a port. Hehehe.

Normally, the moorings for the merchant ships would be closer to the city and the shipyards or even the military area of the port further away. In my case, I decided to go the opposite way. The military area came right after the harbor entrance. This was followed by the shipyards, where primarily my ships would be laid down. Then followed the civilian commercial port with its moorings. Between the civilian port and the shipyards would be the so-called entertainment district. Pubs, inns, taverns, brothels, craftsmen, ship chandlers, just about everything that sailors and ships normally needed.

The metal and all the equipment for my ships would come from my production facilities in the Pebble. For this reason alone, it made sense to have the shipyards in the immediate vicinity. For the military area of the port, I also found it necessary to have quick access. In case of emergency, my navy had to be able to react quickly. There were also other reasons, but these are not suitable to be discussed in public.

It remains to say my shipyard would have five dry docks. Each fifty meters wide and one hundred and fifty meters long. The docks would be covered with a large hall. Not so much to hide what would be built there, but rather to keep the work from being interrupted by wind and weather. On Earth, time was money. Here on Maronde, time was life to me. So why were the dry docks tricky for me? Well, I had to decide whether or not to use floating docks. Floating docks have the advantage, they can be moved somewhere else. They are simply mobile. On the other hand, the process of towing them is problematically slow. Any bozo with a rowboat can intercept a towed floating dry dock.

 

As soon as the construction work on and around the Pebble was completed and the dwarves began supplying me with the steel for my ships, production would begin. It was advantageous that I had plans for a type of ship that was quick and easy for me to implement. At least as far as the hull was concerned. The propulsion and the rest of the equipment I had to rework a bit more. Basically I knew how things worked and how to make them, what I lacked were the exact plans. Getting the blueprints for an obsolete type of ship was easy. A propulsion engine was doable, with some adjustments. It was a little different with the armament. Nobody leaves construction drawings and instructions for ship artillery lying around. What gave me a headache was the conversion of propulsive power into propulsion. A ship's propeller is always adapted to the ship. And it's more trial and error and experience rather than calculation. For a propeller, I had nothing more in my luggage than my basic knowledge. In my mind, I had already prepared myself for having to screw up really badly.

 

I looked at the plans I had. A little less than 115 meters long, twelve meters wide. Around 2500 tons of water displacement. Sufficient for my purposes.

Before I went about paying for the iron and steel from the dwarves, I still had to drive the shafts for the air supply through the ground to the surface. Unfortunately, I didn't have as much time as I would have liked. Instead of putting on a special cover, I just put on some sort of brick protection from falling in and a rain cover. It looked something like a fountain. I just about finished before Mariette reminded me about the appointment with the dwarves. It would do.

It is a real pleasure to use a "dwarf railroad". Unfortunately, the buggy came to an end relatively shortly after the border to the dwarf realm. The tunnels were simply not always wide enough to drive through. But for the transport of ore, rock and rubble, the dwarves had installed rails with trolleys. Anyone who has ever been to an amusement park and knows the indoor roller coasters knows what I'm talking about. A lot of fun. Especially when it goes a little faster. Our howls of joy and pointed screams must have echoed through the underground. At the end of each track we were in each other's arms and just chirping about which part was particularly exciting or scary. Some of the older dwarves looked at us with a slightly unnerved look. I took it upon myself to persuade Huinain to build me a roller coaster on occasion. As long as I was fast enough I could have the track ready before it was too late.

 

The Steiger met us in the hall where the brewing plant was to be. At least the first one I would deliver. The second plant I would build together with the dwarves. And after that I would deliver on order or help out in case of special problems. First of all, without any ceremonial pomp, I fetched the finished plant for brewing beer from my inventory.

 

Unfortunately, the installation was somewhat delayed. Again and again, one of the future brewers complained that the plant would not stand properly. The constant in and out and correction was already a bit exhausting. To my relief, Huinain put his foot down after almost an hour and instructed the future foreman to set the position.

 

Putting the necessary raw materials into the storage chambers, on the other hand, was the easiest thing in the world.

 

Then the complex part began. How to brew beer for beginners and advanced. Brewing beer 101 and 102.

 

Basically, to brew beer you need water, malt, hops and yeast. Plus heat and cold at the right time. While water and hops were not problematic, malt and yeast required special attention. The yeast, because there were many different types and they had to be cultivated accordingly. Malt had to be made from barley first before actual brewing.

 

I didn't have to explain the importance of pure water to any dwarf.

 

Hops had to be either bought on the open market or grown themselves. Virga was already growing hops in her duchy, so there was at least one source.

 

Yeast was best for the dwarves to grow and produce themselves. I provided a culture of my yeast with the appropriate instructions and briefing.

 

The malt was still missing. I'll spare the details, but it all starts with barley. The barley is germinated over a period of a good five days during what is called "malting." During what is called "kilning," the germination of the green malt is terminated by heat and dried. At the end, the malt is further shredded.

 

After all raw materials are ready, the actual brewing process can begin. Because of my exclusive agreement with the dwarves, I will not explain to anyone exactly how it works. Only this much: Mashing. Iodine test. Purification. Wort boiling. Racking. Cooling. Yeast addition. Fermentation. Storage. Filtration. Bottling.

 

All the while I was explaining everything, the dwarves were adopting a devout and reverent attitude towards me. If someone had addressed me as Laura-sensei, I would not have been surprised.

 

 

Solemnly I handed over all the instructions and documents. Huinain did not miss the opportunity to carry out the first filling with his own hands and to brew true beer as the first dwarf.

 

The subsequent drinking binge at the end of the business was ... humid. And a long one.

I approached Huinain about the spiders. It was not reassuring for me to learn that he does not consider any spider under 1.5 m in size dangerous. And I should first see how big the arachnids become in the labyrinth. Sometimes it's just time to shout "NOPE" and then say "Hans, get the flamethrower!"

 

One advantage of spending the night at the dwarves was that there was no sun shining in your eyes the next morning.

 

The headache was killing us.

 

I'm never drinking alcohol again. Kill me before I start puking again.