The trek back was uneventful, except that Tirene had apparently become a lot more playful and trusting of me with Victoria around. Zipping back and forth between us on our shoulders, clinging to our shirts and occasionally disappearing in a flash as we reached for her, only to reappear a short distance away on a nearby lamppost or tree.

“Hahaha!” Victoria let out a laugh at her little friend’s antics. “Tirene hasn’t been this energetic in a while.” Turning to look at me she gave a smirk. “I heard that you played a very important role in her getting a very tasty snack from the wilds.”

Embarrassment filled my face at that reveal. “You little nark!” I called out to the evasive vermin as she continued to flit about.

“I’m guessing you’ve never heard of a Lanuae Sciurus.” She watched her little friend’s antics before continuing. “Her kind, as you can see, has the ability to teleport short distances. Another interesting thing about them, is that they have a natural space within themselves that allows them to store up many objects for safe keeping and food storage.”

Lifting her hand up with the palm open, I watched as Tirene flashed onto her hand, then remain still and relaxed as I looked more closely at her. She really did look like a squirrel from back home except with the muddy yellow stripes that ran through the woodsy brown.

Victoria then addressed Tirene in her hand. “Would you mind showing Andrew one of your toys?”

Tirene gave an affirming chitter and then did something amazing! A weird shifting or folding of space occurred right in front of my eyes, and out popped a fist sized ball. Tirene herself wasn’t much bigger than a fist if she were to curl up into a ball herself, so this object certainly wasn’t something she could pack into her cheeks like I’ve seen other squirrels or hamsters do.

*Hehe* With a chuckle, Victoria grabbed the ball and chucked it hard at the ground. My eyes opened wide in shock at that movement to break a toy, but then I watched the solid ball ricochet off the ground and soar into the sky. Tirene gave an excited squeak as she then disappeared from my teacher’s hand, and then another squeak of triumph rang out from high above me as she caught the ball midair, several paces above even the local tree line. Before she began to fall even a couple feet, she once again disappeared from sight, only to settle on a nearby lamp post.

Seeing that image of her there, I remembered a few humorous video clips of squirrels failing to conquer various bird feeders. Those feeders, protected by a baffle or the ones that spin around when the heavier bodied squirrel tries to snag a bite came to mind. *Chuckle* I had to laugh at the recollection of those videos, and the frustrated or drunken like squirrels stumbling around after failing their endeavors. I’m sure Tirene would prove to be a right old menace to those would-be bird watchers, as she pillaged their stock of birdseed, and probably treated their obstacles as mere toys to challenge herself with.

Entertaining myself with those thoughts and occasionally chucking her ball for her to chase after, we made our way back to Victoria’s shop.

Just before entering, Victoria stopped me. “It is honestly rare that Tirene gets to play out in the city like this. If it weren’t so dark and with no-one truly around, I wouldn’t take this chance.” A serious look graced her face as she continued. “I trust that you wouldn’t hurt her yourself, seeing as she is very sensitive to the intents of those around her, and she had no problem playing with you. However, not everyone is as considerate as you are and would be more than happy to acquire a living or dead Lanuae Sciurus.”

Taking a moment to cast her eyes concerningly towards her diminutive friend, she morosely added. “In case you weren’t aware, their beast core, once fully developed, can be fashioned into a space holding artifact.”

“Wow.” My eyes grew as I realized that this was what was used to create space rings and bags of holding in this place.

Shaking her head, Victoria continued. “I don’t think you fully understand the value of those things. If you removed all the contents inside first, then my house, shop, and land with its prime position in the middle of the city, would not equal the value of if someone were to capture and sell Tirene. The spacial storage items that could be created are highly sought after items that could set up the average person for a life of comfort and excess, if sold.”

Now my eyes bugged out. The sheer magnitude of value that little Tirene had boggled my mind. That little bundle of energy and joy was a walking teleporting treasure. Not once did the thought of selling her myself cross my mind, as instead a sense of protectiveness came over me for the sake of my protector and guide in the woods.

Victoria studied my gaze for a moment and then gave a relieved smile. *Sigh* “I’m glad that you now understand the graveness of her existence.”

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A more viscous look crossed her face as she added. “The very few local hunters and adventurers that are aware of her, keep very quiet about her existence and don’t even think of harassing or hunting her. I dare say that they are probably terrified of hunting any of the local Lanuae Sciurus for fear of what I would do to them if they mistook her for being a wild and unclaimed one.” A look of fierce satisfaction flashed in her eyes as if recalling a particularly vindictive memory. “I taught them well.”

I was well and fully scared by the look of murderous delight that oozed from her. Thankfully, that moment passed and she was back to her normal crazy woman, in a beautiful package self.

“In any case, there will be more to discuss later.” She said before looking concerned for a second. “We will need to talk about your disturbing encounter with Paladin Ekhart out there when we have more time.”

*Hiccup* I startled for a moment as I wondered how she knew about that. “Uh. . .” She pressed a finger to my lips to silence me before continuing. “Shhh, Tirene told me. And it is something best saved for closed doors and no risk of overhearing ears.”

My thoughts whirled with tangents of possibilities and emotions, stemming from my brief private encounter with that scary man. I worried about how our apparent irreconcilable exchange which occurred within the private confines of the forest, may affect my continued living here.

My thoughts were interrupted by Victoria’s next statement. “I am very glad for the fact that you cannot permanently die.”

With that, she pushed open the door to her shop and led the way into the brightly lit interior. Boisterous noises sounded out from beyond her shop and seemingly from her dining room, breaking me from my startled thoughts. She was right, better saved for another time. And I too, was glad for being able to not truly die, after facing that wrathful and fanatical paladin.

“Victoria! You’re back! And with your wayward apprentice I dare say?” The aged voice of Gertrude sounded out from beyond the doorway from the shop to the dining room.

Another voice, deeper and husky, with more than a healthy dose of naughtiness called out. “With the way Gertrude’s been talking up this new apprentice of yours, we’d thought you might have run away with him for a tryst. Oh, that poor Monroe.” A playful tone colored her words. “The beauty of our city hast fallen, and he was too slow to see that she had pined for him afore.”

I seriously suspected that my face was turning beet red as I felt great warmth tingling across my cheeks. I couldn’t see Victoria’s face, as she had preceded me through the door way to the boisterous and uncensored group in her dining room. But as she ran a hand through her hair as if in embarrassment, I caught a glimpse of her neck that had become pinker in the current light.

*Ahem* Victoria cleared her throat as she faced her accusers with a bereaved tone. “Tis a pity that he is but a boy, and unsuited for the ways of a woman such as I. Monroe is my only man, as I have seen that which he would have be hidden, and it did touch my heart in his moment of weakness.”

‘What the Dusts?!’ My mind froze for a second. And apparently so too did that of those in the room freeze.

“Pfwaaaaahahahaha!” The silence brought on by her proclamation was broken by the deeper husky voice that I could now put a face too. It came from a short and well-muscled dwarven woman who sat up her in chair with sparkling eyes. “Aye! Why can’t I get my dear Brutus to talk to me like that? You sound just like these trashy and sappy romance novels we love reading.”

*Snicker* I watched as the only person whose voice I hadn’t heard yet let out a titter at Victoria’s expense. She looked somewhat like a bipedal human and deer hybrid with small antlers growing forth from her head. A light dusting of dark brown mixed with white fur, covered the majority of her frame which wasn’t hidden by her professional clothing. Or at least it looked more professional, compared to the loose and wrinkled clothing of the other guests. Her expression seemed used to a more serious tone, but I suspected that this group was very good at knocking the serious out of her, given the current proof.

“I take it the news is good?” A soft melodious voice came out of her mouth as the doe faced lady finally spoke.

“It is!” Victoria responded with pride in her voice. “My first official apprentice, since I graduated from my own training many years ago.” An exuberant smile crossed her face, as she finally got to take this in and celebrate with what I believed to be very close and dear friends of hers.

It was quite the mixed group. Victoria then introduced the others to me as I tried to absorb and figure out how this diverse group of personalities had ever developed such a friendship.

Hanna was the Dwarven lady who then blew a raspberry at me as a greeting. She was looking more and more like the joker and naughty one of the group. An overseer and owner at a local mine for various precious stones, she was introduced as the wife of Brutus. Brutus was the local blacksmith that I’ve been hearing hammering away at his forge at various times. Apparently, Brutus was mostly human in appearance. However, he as an infant, had been adopted and raised by a conclave of dwarves, who had chanced upon the remains of his convoy, which had unfortunately been utterly decimated by monsters. There, he had grown up to learn blacksmithing.

Due to his limited exposure, his taste in women had swung strongly towards those that he interacted with on occasion during various festivities and other times. There he had met Hanna and they both had fallen in love. He with her rough tongue and adventurous vibe and her with his large. . .

My mind blanked at what was said after that. Needless to say, they had a Very healthy sexual relationship.

I was relieved when Victoria finally moved onto the deer lady. Her name was Flourana and she was an Empathic Counselor. I quirked my head at that as I knew the words, but was unsure of how they worked in the current world. Apparently, she provides very deep and expansive insight for couples seeking counseling and wanting to mend broken relationships, or simply wanting to learn how to improve their current interactions with each other. Her services were in very high demand, as her track record for aiding in recovering or reinforcing beautiful relationships was well known across multiple cities. In fact, she rarely was able to come to the weekly book club meets due to being away for work so often in other cities.

That was really incredible! At one point in my past, I had tinkered with the idea of going into Psychology to help singles and married couples in overcoming their challenges in life. It seemed like a very fulfilling occupation for those that can bear with the emotional burden of it. Instead, I had turned to my initial calling of architecture, and then due to tragedy, to pharmaceutical botany.

I had a tiny thought to ask for her aid in reconciling my past, but I had my own methods that I was currently invested in. And she appeared busy enough with her current responsibilities.

My darkened thoughts lifted as Victoria pointed at Gertrude. “You already know the old turtle, Gertrude.”

“Pah.” Gertrude let out an exasperated sigh. “Why must you always add in Old when you introduce me? . . . . Blasted Vixen.” She muttered at the end.

I might have thought that there could be some slight bad feelings over that, except that Gertrude then shot me a sly wink that had my hands twitching in wanting to rub her long neck and pat her head just like when I had been in her shop prior to this.

“Well now that we are all introduced, Andrew.” Victoria took over the topic with a verbose tone. “How would you like to join us for our latest discussion of our romance book for this week?”