I awoke in the morning refreshed, and enjoyed a tasty breakfast before getting back to work. A quick stop off to talk to the site manager and pick up the income, and I headed back inside.
Most of the day was spent playing with my models, deciding what I wanted to do with the layout of the place. So as not to waste mana, or at least what could be regenerated over time, I did a bit of work increasing the height of the ground floor’s walls, but did nothing to the interior. Depending on the layout of rooms I may have to shift the supporting pillars to compensate. Only when I was satisfied would I really get started.
It was sometime between two and four in the afternoon, between the fifth and sixth bell, when I was finally satisfied. My model was made up to the tenth floor, not that I’d be making it that tall anytime soon, if ever. But if I decided to, I have it all planned out so I won’t have to adjust the supports.
Plus, I promised myself I wouldn’t go over three floors without building a steel superstructure in the walls. Too much danger if some evil bastard decides to try and make the thing collapse. I was going to slowly add the steel, but it’d take a couple weeks per floor unless I wanted to go out and dig up some ore to use instead of using Creation Magic to transmute stone to steel. It’d be faster, but more of a hassle.
With the layout decided, I copied the plans from the models onto the papers I’d prepared to begin with, then ignored in favor of the models. It’d be a lot easier to glance at paper rather than carry around the models, popping them in and out of inventory. The blueprints didn’t weigh much or get in the way like the models would.
I started off with adjusting the supports down in the basement first, while also making sure that the building’s foundations were extremely solid and deep. Every base I could think of was going to be covered… other than creating a ward array connected to a ley line. While there was a node where a pair of ley lines met here in the capital, they were not close enough to link to… yet. Maybe in the future.
With the supports situated, I headed upstairs and was just getting started on the important parts of the walls, the ones that would support the next floor, when a voice called out. It took a moment to realize it was calling for me. A consequence of using multiple names. The voice that called out was a very familiar, female voice.
“Ella? You there? It’s Morgan, from the port?”
“Hold on a second. Let me just finish this part.”
After using up the rest of the block, I stored my plans and headed towards the voice. It’d come from the back, which isn’t surprising, since the front door, or where the door should be since the old one was scrapped, was currently blocked off by a wall of stone with the words ‘Under Renovations’ inscribed on it.
Since I didn’t know when, or if, I’d get a response to the letter I’d dropped off, therefore when I had written I’d included the fact that the place I was staying, specifically not mentioning that I’d purchased the land, was under construction, which I was assisting with, and that should the front door not be accessible to try the back. There wasn’t a single visible window or door other than the ones in the backyard. Where they would be I’d left gaps so they could be installed later. They were indentations visible from the inside, with a thin layer of stone on the outside making it impossible to tell where they’d be easily.
Entering the ‘kitchen’ I saw Morgan in the doorway.
“Hey Morgan. Come on in, I’ll make some tea.”
I waved her in, and started preparing some tea and snacks. While the room was technically the kitchen, it wasn’t really fixed up yet. Some of it was fine, like the sink and one of the brick ovens, but most of the place was empty. I fixed that up quickly enough by pulling out some chairs and a table while I filled a pot with water to boil.
Morgan came in and took one of the seats, and was quickly served some snacks as we waited for the tea to steep.
“Welcome to my current worksite, didn’t expect you so soon, what with the festival and all.”
“Ha, even with how busy it is, there’s no point in being overworked. It’d just make us less effective when it’s really needed.”
“Hmm, that makes sense.”
We paused the conversation a moment as I poured the tea. Didn’t want it to oversteep and become too strong. I offered a small jar of honey, which she took. Sweets were uncommon in this world, but not badly so. Beekeeping was much easier with the help of magic, and cane sugar was imported from a nearby country. They didn’t have sugar beets, so there was no cheap sugars available, and sadly I didn’t have any seeds for those or I might have done something about that.
After a moment of enjoying the fragrance and taste of the tea and snacks I restarted the conversation.
“Did you all make it back here safely? No injuries or anything?”
“There was some excitement on the trip, but none of us were injured. Some bandits tried to rob the carriage and were excited to see so many young women… then they realized that they had us to deal with instead of just the two escorts that were hired for the trip. After we defeated them, we looted their camp and freed some other people they’d captured as well.”
“Hmm, fewer bandits is better for everyone.”
She nodded.
“Yeah, though the young lady was quite adamant that we haul the survivors along to make them slaves instead of just killing them. We were two days away from the next town. Fortunately, they had a wagon and horses, and while it wasn’t enough to carry everyone and everything, only a few bandits had to walk. If they couldn’t keep up, they’d have been dragged along and probably killed, so they mostly kept up. One of them decided he’d rather die than become a slave.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I just nodded and sipped my tea.
“What about you? Anything interesting since we last met?”
“Yeah, a few things happened.”
I talked about a few of the things I’d done, including clearing out a goblin village, but didn’t mention my higher level stuff. Even the village I mentioned was the smallest one, just to not alarm her or make her suspect anything. After all, to her and the others I was Ella, not the ‘Space Destroyer’ Rynn.
We chatted for a while, enjoying the tea and snacks, both of which were refreshed, until it was nearly time for her to leave, which is when she got down to the business side of her visit.
“The young lady would like to meet you, but with the festival preparations, she doesn’t have much time until afterwards. Are you going to be in town long?”
“Yeah, I’m planning on staying here for a few weeks at least. Maybe more. Right now I’m waiting on some people I worked with who’ll probably be here in a week or so, and I’ve got plenty of work to do fixing this place up. I’ll be living here, staying in the basement, until the work is done, so you know where to find me. If I’m not here, you can leave a message with the site manager for me.”
She nodded, smiling at me.
“Great! I’ll let her know. Sorry you have to wait.”
“Ah, it’s no problem. I’ve got plenty of time. I’m sure she’s quite busy, and will welcome some time to relax once the festival is over.”
“We all will.” She sighed and stood up. “Unfortunately I’ve got other things to do today, so I have to go. Thanks for the tea.”
“You’re very welcome. Feel free to come by if you have time and need to relax. That goes for the others as well.”
“I’d like to take you up on that, but I doubt we’ll have the time.”
“If you can, I’ll welcome you. If not, I’ll see you after the festival.”
She left, and I returned to work.
The walls for the first floor were raised and I’d gotten about half of the second floor’s floor installed when the day ended.
This was also when I noticed I had a bit of a problem. At one point I’d had enough stored stone to make a small fortress. Now, I was running out. I hadn’t realized I had so little left. I’d be able to finish putting in the second floor and raising the outer walls, but then I’d have to restock.
Doing so wasn’t a problem. I could easily reach the nearby mountains, but if I was going to go there, I should do a bit of research on what’s around in case there’s any monsters I’m unfamiliar with.
Or in case there’s a dragon roosting there.
While I can kill a dragon, I’d rather not have to. Fighting the things is extremely annoying and tiring, even if the materials are usually worth the effort. As I have no need of said materials, and do not want another guild to give me the Dragonslayer title, yet, I’d have to do a bit of research.
…
OK, Fine, I just want to see if there’s anything interesting to fight there and was using the possibility of a dragon as an excuse to visit the guild. It’s unlikely a dragon would be that close to the capital, but while it’s possible, it’s highly improbable.
The next day I finished off the second floor and raised the walls around the stairwell, putting up the roof over that part to keep out any possibility of rain, then I headed to the Guild.
This would be the first time showing my face there, and I was interested to see how different it might be from the one back in the port city.
After entering the building, I stepped off to the side so as not to block the door as I surveyed the place. Overall, the layout was similar to the others I’d been in, but there were some differences. First off there was no pub in the guild lobby, there’d been an inn next door which I guessed was owned by the guild that housed it. Secondly, the quest boards on the ground floor only went up to rank five. Next to the boards there was a staircase leading upwards, leading me to think that the rest were on the second floor.
I’d seen similar layouts before. They were usually like this so the veterans didn’t have to wait around forever as the hordes of low level adventurers took or turned in their requests. It also gave a sense of accomplishment when one graduated to the second floor. Given the traffic of the port city, I’d have expected them to have a similar layout, but there might’ve been some reason they couldn’t, or that this one decided to split them.
I wasn’t interested in the boards though, so I headed off to the other side where a sign indicated the library was. After checking in and paying the fee, I got to work.
Unfortunately for me, I must have been recognized as I passed through the lobby, and somehow it resulted in me being collected from the library and brought to the principal’s… Guildmaster’s office. I was very wary as I entered, because he had a huge smile on his face that seemed out of place on his weathered visage.
“Welcome to the capital, Miss Space Destroyer.”
I groaned.
“Please don’t call me that. I hate that nickname. Just call me Rynn.”
“If that’s what you want. You arrived in the city at the perfect time. Here, this is for you.”
He handed me an envelope, one with a somewhat familiar crest pressed into the wax. It took me a moment to recognize it.
“Please don’t tell me…”
“I won’t tell you, but you’re going to have to read it anyways. I was asked to pass that along if you arrived in time, as well as notify them that you had arrived and were given that.”
Sighing, I broke the seal and pulled out the contents. After reading the enclosed letter, I gave another sigh.
“I have to go, don’t I?”
“Yes, you do. But don’t worry, I’ll accompany you, at least at the start. Plus it’s better to meet there instead of a formal audience.”
“Fuck. Fine. Anything I should be aware of? I’m unfamiliar with the local customs, and would rather not unintentionally insult anyone.” (I prefer to keep my insults intentional.)
We talked for a bit, with him giving me some pointers, then sent me back to the library where I was given a small mountain of books on the local etiquette and nobility.
Why?
Because the envelope contained two things. First the letter which was from the Palace. They wanted to meet me, and what better time to do so than during the festival, where there would be a ball. That brings us to the second item. It was an invitation to get me into said ball. The letter said that if I hadn’t gotten to the capital in time for it, I’d have had a different and far more formal meeting arranged.
Apparently locating a dungeon, especially one that received a level eight ranking for the bottom layers, was an achievement worthy of an audience with the king. I had no doubt that they also intended to use this opportunity to try and recruit me again as well, which meant I needed to be careful in turning it down. I didn’t want my refusal to be taken as an insult. Some nobles and royals can get really upset when someone has other things they want to do with their life rather than being a servant.
Unhappy with my original plans getting delayed, I studied the books that had been laid before me. It took two days to get through them all, but fortunately I didn’t have to pay to access the library to do so. I’d been given a pass for free access to the Guild’s library. It only worked here in the capital, but considering it was many times larger than the one back at the port, that was fine with me.
Once I knew about the customs of the kingdom, I headed off to find a tailor to help me get outfitted appropriately for the event. I had plenty of pretty dresses, but I didn’t know enough about the local style to know which one I should use, or if I needed to have a new one made.
Fortunately, I had a week to get ready. While the festival started the next day, it lasted for a week, at least this year due to the quin-centennial anniversary. Usually it was only three days long, with the Royal Ball being on the final night.
Finding a tailor was easy, there were plenty of them. Finding one that had enough time to help me was a different story. I went to seven high-end tailors before I found one that’d help me. They couldn’t make anything for me, since they barely had enough time to finish the work they’d already been contracted to do, but at least I could show what I had and get advice on which I should use and if I needed to alter it any.
I ended up distracting them with the unusual designs, but at the end of the day, I was able to get the help I needed. A dress was selected that required only minimal alterations, one that didn’t require the restricting torture that is a corset. I was so glad that corsets weren’t considered a necessity in this country, because I hate wearing the things. It’s so hard to enjoy a party when you can barely breathe.
Once I knew what I had to do, I borrowed a corner and got to work. Creation Magic made the alterations rather easy, especially since I had a decent amount of practice making clothes since coming to this country. However as I didn’t want them asking questions about what I was doing, the corner I was in had concealment spells making it impossible to determine how I did what I did.
I did have to have the work checked and fix a few errors, but by the end of the day the dress was ready. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the day of the ball.
