The Quantum Wanderer

The dragonesses don’t understand the undertones, but they don’t care much for it. I just laugh.  And then I notice that Siratra is not around.

“Where is Siratra?”

“She is at the school.  She lives there now, apparently.” Cecilia answers.  Opal looks at the ceiling, apparently not liking that too much.

“It’s ok.  She can come home whenever she wants to.  It is a pity though, I only offer travel for the people that want my company…”

Cecilia and the dragonesses hug me.  We go upstairs.  Before I open a portal, I offer my arm for Muninn and Huginn.

“This time, you guys can come.  We can ask Brokkr or someone else to redo the necklace for these items, to resize it bird size.  The thing about you using magic to breath is that if you fall asleep, you die.  Meanwhile, if you feel anything weird, let me know immediately, I will open you a portal out, ok?”

The both caw at the same time.

I use Dávrin’s Comm Gem to call him, while I give Cecilia her pendant.

“Friend? How can I help you?”

“It is a long story…  Can I visit?”

“Of course.”

“Great.  It would be nice if it could be somewhere where I have been.  Can I open a portal to the room we used?”

“Sure.”

I undo the connection, and turn to the girls and the crows.

“Everyone ready?”

“Yes.” “Caw!”

I open a portal to the room we used in our stay there.  I close the portal as fast as possible, I don’t want to risk anyone in my home getting a couple of breaths of poisoned air.  I check on Muninn and Huginn, and they are apparently fine.  Cecilia and I have our pendants on, and the dragonesses are just that, dragonesses.

I open the door, to catch Dávrin with his hand up, about to know on the door.

“Hi friend.  Did you actually got here faster than I did?”

“I know a couple of spells.”

He laughs, while hitting me in the back.  We follow him to his study, where we all sit on the couch.

“How can I help you, friend?” Dávrin asks.

“Actually, not you in particular, I don’t know if this is a subject to bring to you…”

“Please, don’t get fussy with me.  Spit it out.”

“I have to get a build built in the land behind my home.  Nothing compares to dwarven construction.  I wanted to hire a team to do it.”

“See?  Not hard.” He turns to one of the guards.  “Bring Andvari here, now!”

The guard takes off running.  We keep chit chatting about the recent events.  Not much happened on their side, they are excavating the new path to create the new forges.  He mentioned that Austri’s father was helping as a rock singer, and he has been working himself pretty hard, to try to come with terms with the whole affair.

I start telling him about the spy maid thing, when Andvari arrives.  Dávrin turns to me.

“Our best architect is, in fact, my advisor.  He is going to be able to help you.”

“Hi Andvari.”

“My lord.” He bows in a salute to us.  When he returns to a normal position, he sees Muninn and Huginn, that are on top of the bookcase. He opens his mouth a little, and then Muninn goes down and lands on my shoulder.  Andvari points at me.  I turn to Muninn.

“Muninn, don’t.  I already told you not to be an asshole.  And then you complain that I left you at home.  Go to the bookcase a little bit.”

Andvari is frozen, still pointing at me.

“He is a great companion and helper at times, but he sometimes get a couple of laughs on people.”

Dávrin looks puzzled.

“He laughs?”

“Yes.  He can also add small numbers, and understand a lot of what is being said.  If not all.  He had some fun with a demon guard.  Poor guys got afraid because I was a guy coming out of a portal, with a crow on my shoulder.  Muninn here decided to play a prank.”

“What?”

“Yes.  Muninn stared at the guy, and opened his third eye.  The guy just fainted.  Was it this way on the first or on the second time?  I don’t remember completely.”

Muninn was doing a laughter sound.

“Anyway, Andvari, here is the idea I had, let me know on what can be improved.  Is there any pen and paper I can use?”

I am given a pen and paper, and then I draw my idea.  What I have in mind is a set of condos, with one master bedroom, one kids bedroom, and a living room with a kitchen attached.  I am estimating that each unit would require around 650 square feet. 

The kids bedroom would implement 2 sets with 3 bunkbeds against the side walls.  Perhaps a chain to hold each of them, and a ladder.  If any of the people there have more than 6 children, then we can get another bunk bed in the middle of the bedroom.  More than that…  I should try to get them a tv somehow.

The kitchen is going to contain an oven, a smaller coolbox.  And the living room a set of three sofas, with a coffee table in the middle.

I draw a schematic for the bunkbeds.  And Andvari is analyzing it.  I look at him.

“Andvari, whatever suggestions you have, I will be glad to listen.  This is just a first draft.”

“It’s ok.  And what is it you drew here?”

“Oh, I want two rows of those, front door to front door, with a corridor and stairs in the middle.”

“Stairs?  How many floors do you want?”

“4 floors, counting with the one at ground level.”

He is doing that gesture, where they pass their hands through their beards.

“Do you know what kind of rock are we excavating this?”

“That is actually going to be on the surface.”

“Do you have a quarry nearby, for the material?”

“I am afraid not.”

“HUmmmm…  Where is your home again?”

“Ironhold.  Noble’s district, close to the emperor’s castle.”

“Hummm…  Of course…”

“If it is not feasible, I would understand…”

He shakes his hand towards me, as if he was trying to get rid of a bad smell.  He grasps the drawings.  He then looks at the king, that nods, and Andvari walks out, with the drawings in front of him.

“Fear not, friend, Andvari is having the time of his life.  He had been bored designing just plain stuff, he complained about the lack of challenge to me.”

“Do you think he can provide me an estimate on how much this is going to cost?”

“Cost?  Your money is no good here, my friend.  You saved a whole city!  Have you tried spending money anywhere in the city?  People are going to throw the coins at your face!”

I giggle a little.

“Well…  Thank you.  So, what I am going to do is provide you guys with surface food, at least.  I don’t know if you will find it a little bland, but there is a special recipe that we do in my home.”

“Sure, I will let whatever workers go there know.”

I still feel like this is too little, for a whole building.  They are going to commit several workers, during several days.  I could at least commit myself for a day, and deliver them something nice.  I keep tipping my lips with my index finger.

“Did you think about the city to clean up?”

“You don’t have to do it.”

“I realize that, thank you.  I just want to.  It is the very least I can do.  You are going to have a crew working for several days.  The least I can do is clean up a city.  And it still feels like I am taking advantage on you guys.”

”Well, in that case, can I ask you to clean up Stonehenge?”

He produced a map out of a holding bag.  The map had an X on where the entrance to that dwarven city was supposed to be, with several distances noted.  The distance to this city, Rockslide, the distance from other capitals, a big circle around it on the map, precise instructions on how to get there, and some very detailed images for the location on the back.  This was definitely not an afterthought.  I giggle.

“You seem prepared, friend.”

“Always!”

I keep the map in my holding bag.

“What matter of monster was there?  Ants or termites?”

“That one is infested with ants.”

“Do you already have the population to migrate there after it is cleaned?  There is going to be a lot of cleaning, and you guys have to take hold of the place, right?”

“Not really, it doesn’t have to be immediate.  The first crew to go there are going to have to be adventurers, to guarantee the safety against normal stuff, like eventual moles that may reach it, as well as some other monsters.  But those monsters work in an individual way, so they are not as bad a challenge as ants or termites.  Then we are going to need a second crew, that is going to do a clean up, and start the rebuild.  Whatever is broken, the fields…  And the travel time is big.”

“How long do you need to prepare?”

“I am going to need three weeks to prepare, another 6 weeks travel.”

“I will tell you what, prepare the teams, but don’t let them leave just yet.  When you have the teams ready, let me know, I will do it then.”

Dávrin slaps both hands together, and rub one against the other.

“Now I feel that *I* am taking advantage of you, friend.”

“So this is apparently a good deal.”  We do this agreement laugh.

We keep chatting a little bit, and after sometime Andvari enters again in the room. 

“My king, lord Marcelo.  I already started getting the crew planned, we are going to need two weeks to excavate the material for the walls, and we can start the work there in another 7 weeks.  The whole thing should take around 2 months and a half.”

In this world’s time, each month is 5 weeks, so he is talking about 12 weeks and some days.  I am amazed that he is only adding the time for their trip to the place, and not the time for them to come back.  They would stay out of their homes for a long time, and 3 months would basically be spent on the road.  More than they are going to need to retrieve material and build the whole thing.  That time I can shorten.

“Please, make sure that you call me after you gathered everyone, but before you start the trip.  I can help with trip times.”

“Of course, lord.” He does a little almost military salute.

“Andvari, how long are you personally going to work on that design?”

“Some days, my king.”

Dávrin goes to the guard, and tells him to call his boss in. Meanwhile, he turns to Andvari.

“I hope you are not too busy with your other tasks, the day to day administration?”

“Everything is running smoothly, my king.”

“Great.  There is another subject that I have to deal with you and Viggr together.”

Andvari does a weird face.

“Should I leave?” I ask Dávrin.

“Please, stay.”

“Ok.”  I sit back and relax.

Viggr, the Hammer, comes into the room, and salutes the king.

“Andvari, Viggr, we apparently have a new subject to strategize: Stonehenge.”

They look puzzled at the king, than at each other.  Then they look at me, and open an expression of happiness.

“Really?  REALLY?  I DON’T BELIEVE IT!!!  THANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!”  Viggr’s reaction was a lot more enthusiastic than I thought.

The king turned to him.

“Yes, my friend, you are going to be able to reclaim your birthplace.  Master Marcelo here offered to clean up a city.  He told me that the cleaning process is the fast part, but we have to plan for a force to occupy it, and then the rebuild process.”

“Oh, after you gathered the occupation/rebuild teams, let me know, I can help with at least the first transport.  I have to know that on the day before, so that I can kill the insects.”

A guard by the door is staring at Viggr.  He looks at the soldier, and puts on a mean face.

“YOU! Turn around!”

The soldier turns around, and the tears start flowing from Viggr’s eyes.  He takes a couple of minutes to recompose himself.

I thank everyone, and I portal to my room.  I am thinking that, since I am going to do an ant’s nest cleanup, I might be able to sell their parts.  I think that there has been some time since I haven’t visited Leopold, so I plan on visiting him.  First things first, though. I portal home, and then I summon Rudolph.

“Yes, lord?”

“Hi Rudolph.  I have contacted a construction crew, they are going to start the construction of a set of dormitories in the backyard, in two weeks.  They said that they are going to provide the materials.”

“How many workers are there going to be, lord?”

“I… Actually don’t know.  But we have to prepare for a large crew, perhaps for something like 50 to 100 people?”

“100 humans, lord?  Some races can eat…  a lot.”

“100 dwarves, at most.  They enjoy very spicy food, by the way, and let people know that any condiments they bring will burn your tongue away.”

“Of course, lord.”

“Please check with Roberta what she needs to buy, and have it acquired in preparation.”

“Are you going to serve them dragon’s meat, lord?”

“Yes.  They are not going to be too long with us, and given the volume we consume already, it is not going to be that big difference.  Tell Roberta that people work harder and produce better things with a full stomach.”

“Of course, lord, thank you.  I am sure the we are going to enjoy the lodging.”

“Sure.  And, as always, if you see something, please say something.”

“Of course, lord.”

“Now, if you excuse us, we have to check on a couple of things.”

“Of course, lord.”

He leaves, and I suggest to the girls that we visit Leopold.  He might also provide me a good estimate on how much I can get from ant’s plates.  I use the Comm Gem to get in touch with him, and we all portal towards him.

“Hello.  How have you been doing?”  Leopold asks.

“Hi.  Everything has been going… Busy, actually.  We have been with the dwarves for a couple of weeks.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have been in a dwarves’ city.”

“What city?  As far as I know, they don’t really have a city…  Some groups, here and there, but their numbers are generally on the low side.”

“Not if you go to their city inside the cave.”

“Wow…  Really?  You’re the first ever non dwarf in history to go there.  How did you manage?”

I explained him about our visit, about the trial, and I don’t disclose much about their city underground, but I give him some idea on what is there.  I don’t mention any of the secrets from the dwarves, though.

I show him my new katana, and he has the same reaction as Edward. I really wish Cecilia’s joke from yesterday wasn’t so on point, but we men do love our toys.  And then we get to the point where I came back from the trip.

“I see Rudolph, he is acting really suspicious.  And of course, a maid level 35?  That’s a lot of levels for a maid.  That number can only be hit if you battle a lot, you know.”

“And then what happened?”

“Once we got alone, Rudolph apologized.  His family had been kidnapped.”

“What did you do to the kidnappers?”

“Not much.  The boat the women were in, is gone.  As for the crew, I made them bleed a little bit and delivered them to the middle of the Big River.  There is a fish monster there, I think.”

“The piranhas?”

“Is that what they are called here as well?  Hum.  The spy network was undone.”

“Almost undone.” Cecilia complements.

“Oh, yes, almost undone.  There is an adventurer, called Richard, that was employed by the spies to get information on us.  He is on the run, but I am keeping an eye on him.  I decided to give him a couple of days.  I have been busy, anyway.”

“Busy?  That’s the understatement of the year.  How are you keeping an eye on him?”

“It’s a secret…” And I pet Muninn.  I think that Leopold understood.

“O…. K…  That all being said, how can I help you?”

“We are about to do an ant’s nest cleaning…  I was wondering how much the guild would be paying for the carapaces.”

“Hum…”

I can see that the mood around the dragonesses damped a little.  Leopold scratched his chin.

“Can I be completely honest?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“We are still selling armor and weapons based on the last cleaning you did.  The guild would only be buying those to keep your good humor.  Of course, I can check, but the guild is not particularly interested in that at this point.  Specially with something we are not invested in.  You just kind of decided to go after an ant nest.”

I don’t really want to force anyone to interact with me. Part of that is receiving a ‘no’ here and there.  And if I think about it, I haven’t even been able to spend my money.  Everything has been gifted.  So I will not be needing any more money any time soon.

“Alright, I think you just made Ruby happy.  No need to keep any ant this time as well.”  Ruby turns her mood around, and the dragonesses get in better spirits.  Leopold giggles.

“I cannot see anyone talking so casually about something like this.”

I shrug.  He continues.

“And what about the adventurer?  The Richard guy?”

“That’s just a pity, but…  What he was doing is really messed up.  I didn’t mention anything that was not publicly known.  I did just fix a couple of rumors, people were starting to grow them really big.  But anyway, I am doing away with the spy network around me, and he is the last thread.”

“What do you intend to do with him?”

“Question him, and see how far his network goes.  And then do what is the common thing to do with spies in the Empire.”

Leopold just nodded a little bit, a ‘makes sense’ expression.

“Well, we will be going.”

“Sure, see you later.”

“Can I have my katana back?”

“Oh, of course.” We both giggled.  We do like our toys.

I open a portal home, and we get back.  It is almost time for dinner, so we have an erotic shower, and get down to eat.

We sit down, and I notice that Siratra is not with us.

“Cecilia, do you know of Siratra?  Has she mentioned anything new to you?”

“I know as much as you. She has been spending her time researching the stuff with that professor in the school.  She is probably having fun there, and ends up sleeping in the dormitory.”

“Ok.”  But it still is a pity.  I can’t help but feel just a little dejected.  I know I am in the midst of 5 very beautiful, sexy and willing girls; but I still love all 6 of them.

We go home.  We dine and go to bed.