"You got the fun part of the deal, boss." Aurelia comments when I ask her about if she saw anything. She takes a seat and puts her feet on the table. "The mayor thanked me for mounting guard for a few hours, but his brat was around and she was still around and was as annoying as piss."
"I wouldn't call fighting a lich and then having to deal with two abominations of evolution fun."
"It was traumatic!" Leiva chimes in. "I had seen Vermis kill innocent people with those beasts in the past! I was impressed how you managed to defeat him so easily!"
My face must be obviously red.
"I-it was not easy!" I answer.
Aurelia laughs when she notices how flustered I am. I know for sure she is catching up that I can barely take any form of compliment. Hell, she is going to use it against me, isn't she?
"So, what's the plan for the rest of the day?" Aurelia asks.
I sigh. I think about it for a while. I need to continue checking on the rest of the names and the Mayor. There are 3 names we have not accounted for and one of them already had her life threatened.
If it were for me, I would just take the rest of the day off, finally resting without needing to travel anywhere and just taking my time to explore the town without drama or issues.
There has been too much stuff happening. Getting betrayed, sent to a dungeon, seeing people I was starting to like die. It does not make me feel any better the fact that so much occurred during this morning.
"What are you planning to turn this place into?" Aurelia asks me.
My ears go up at the question. I was starting to drift into thought.
"Ummm… in the shorter term, a place where we can just escape when we need to run away and be safe."
"Building something in a place like this is crazy… yet intriguing." Leiva comments. "What kind of choice is to have a base like this in the middle of the Nothing? I am certain that flying Wyrm is still lurking in the skies."
"At the beginning I just thought it would be fun to do so." I answer. "Having a base on a spot no one else can reach? That is something to brag about, don't you think? But now, it seems to be the safest spot."
"Certainly." Leiva explains. "No one is crazy enough to enter this place without a team or preparation."
And she still doesn't know we are close to the Gates. I wonder if she will explode if I do teññ her? Even Aurelia had a hard time processing it.
"Long term, I plan to set up a full base of operations and have production happening here." I lean against my chair. "There are rare resources here, some very valuable that could produce a nice amount of money or great equipment."
"Risking your life for monetary gain is…" Leiva stops her comment, for what I notice.
"I am not going now! Anything here could devour me." And it is not an experience I want to go through any time soon… or ever.
"That will take a lot of time." Aurelia shakes her head. "And that is not counting how much money you will need to get."
"Don't remind me… with what we have we should be able to get something small going, so, it will be time to get some jobs and dungeon crawling done after we finish with the situation at town."
We still need to find the person that is placing dying chickens around town to be discovered! We have no clue of who has been leaving them and the information has given us little!
Is it the Traveler? That guy that made me lose everything? I will have him answer me a few questions when I find him and put him in his place! He is the one that has been causing me too much trouble!
"For the moment, I need to take a break. Today was too much for me." I finally decide.
"Then I am going back to town. I can continue checking around. Detective work is not my thing, but I will have an eye on what is going on around and if I hear anything important." Aurelia offers. "Ah, give me a scroll in case I need to return, and some money to get more."
I am glad she is reliable. Even with her attitude she had been following my orders and today she wants to-
"You want to get some candy, don't you?" I ask.
"E-eh?!" Her face seems to show her internal surprise. "N-no! Candies are for kids!"
"You were trying to get some earlier! That is the reason why you got into a discussion with Darcy to begin with!"
"Okay! How is it that you cannot let anything slide! Fine! I won't get any!"
"Are you kidding me? Get me some too! If you eat candy alone I will not let you manage money!"
"Hey! I am the Queen here!" Aurealia answers.
"Then go to your kingdom, queen! This is my territory!"
"I will when we are done with your shit!"
"Ummm…" Leiva interruptus.
We both look at her and I notice we are having a discussion in front of her. Even if it wasn't that big of a deal and was some stupid shit, it is still embarrassing for a person like her to be caught in the middle of such a situation, I presume.
"Just get me some cookies and a cinnamon roll…" I answer.
"Okay, boss." Aurelia says and I notice she… chuckles?
I give her a few thousands, it should be more than enough.
"Go check on Lisa and see if you hear anything about that old man from the park." I tell her.
"Miss Aurelia." Leiva fixes her glasses and approaches the dragon woman. "If you see that man, can you please tell him thanks in my behalf? He helped today and he was gone before I could say anything to him."
"Uuuhhh… sure." Aurelia answers.
She looks at me. Is she waiting for me to confirm that? I nod, after all, he did help.
"Oh! And by the way, can you check something for me in any equipment store you run into?" I give her a few things to look for if she has the time.
She nods and leaves through the stone, back into the city.
I am glad I am getting some rest, even with all the questions running around my head at that point, I think I can finally rest in a quiet place.
Heh… How interesting. The most dangerous territory in the whole world is now the safest for me.
The most dangerous territory right now, though.