Kit entered the kitchen the next morning to find Crackers making breakfast. For once he was the last one up. The table was already filled with all the residents. Kit sat down at a free spot and joined in the morning conversation.

He looked at Mars and Twix across the table. He had put off telling them about the need to move out, he didn’t know how to bring it up. He felt nervous in having to kick his two closest friends out.

He had even brought the upgrade for his house last night but hadn’t asked anyone to build it yet. Kit’s mood was low, he was worried his friends would be disappointed in him. He decided to put it off further, tomorrow would be soon enough.

“Kit, Snickers told us last night that we’ll be getting some more employees at the restaurant. Are you going to upgrade the boarding house soon?” Charlotte inquired.

‘Fuck why ask that question now! Did you read my mind and feel I needed a push?’ Kit felt his hands start to tremble.

Kit sucked in a breath. Well now he at least had an opening for the topic. “I can’t upgrade the boarding house yet, I haven’t met the requirements.” Kit dropped his eyes to his shaking hands on his lap.

Just talking about the boarding house made his skin crawl. Telling his friends bad news was not easy for him. He would rather put his head inside a lion’s mouth at this point. Even though he could now easily bring the topic of moving out up, he was nervous. He could feel his chest tightening with dread.

“Then where are the new employees going to stay?” Charlotte seemed curious what his answer would be.

“Well, I’m going to have to move out of the boarding house for a while.” Kit sucked in another deep breath trying to calm his racing heart. He went to open his mouth to add Mars and Twix would also need to move out, then shut it again.

He decided it would be better to have this conversation with his friends in private. All the eyes in the room were putting extra pressure on him.

“What no! I don’t agree.” Mud spluttered. “I like having you live here. Besides if you move out Snickers will make me go live with her and Leonard. It would be a nightmare!”

Kit looked around the table to see Mud was not the only one upset that he would be moving out. Frowns and pursed lips met his eyes as they moved from one person to the other.

“Chamomile and I can share a room. We already talked about it last night. We thought the boarding house might not be ready for an upgrade.” Charlotte smiled at Kit.

Kit felt his heart move with his thoughtful employees. He didn’t think they would give up their private space and share just to have him stay at the boarding house.

“Mars and I can share a room too Kit. I don’t think you should move out. Besides how would you fit all the panthers in your tiny mud hut. Us moving in together should solve the issue of rooms for now. That leaves three spare rooms yeah?” Twix grinned.

Kit felt his eyes start to water. He didn’t even know how to thank them. He really hadn’t wanted to move out, or anyone else for that matter.

“Ai look how moved our little boss is. Did ya really think we would be ok with ya moving out Kit? You are the one that said we be family now, and family stick together.” Crackers eyes were soft as she gazed at him.

Kit felt a tear escape his eye. He quickly wiped it away. If he had to stop playing this game in the future, he was going to be devastated. How could he give up friends like this?

“Thank you everyone, I really appreciate it.”

Smiles all round the table accompanied his words.

Bundt nocked his hand on the table to get Kit’s attention. “If you still need another room for the new ones. Cupcake and I can also share a room. We squeezed into an even smaller space in our last work place so just us two in the room will be fine.”

Cupcake nodded at Bundt. “Share.”

Kit’s chest swelled even further. He should have discussed this with everyone when he decided to get new employees. Then he wouldn’t have been anxious since yesterday. He felt silly that he had put the discussion off for so long.

“Ai this is not fair. I have no one to room with.” Crackers was looking around the table and her eyes landed on Mud.

“Don’t look at me, I’m a boy!” Mud looked horrified at Crackers staring at him.

“Ai stop being a wimp. It would only be for a short while. I don’t be snoring in me sleep.”

Mud started spluttering at Crackers words. Laughter filled the table.

“It’s ok Mud, I don’t think we will need that many spare rooms.” Kit eased Mud’s worries. He didn’t think Crackers was serious anyway.

Mud frowned. “Well, if you do need the extra room Kit, I suppose I can move in with Crackers for a bit. It would be better than living with Snickers.” Mud then nodded his head as if confirming his thoughts.

Kit laughed at Muds quick change of heart. “No, it will be fine. Thank you for the offer though. I think we are only looking at hiring two new employees for the restaurant for now. The only other employee I need is the boarding house manager. But I won’t hire them until we are close to upgrading the boarding house.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

With the room problem solved they all happily ate breakfast. Kit’s low mood had also cleared up, he felt he could properly enjoy the day now. Kit reminded Crackers that today was her day off, then he went to the restaurant with the other employees to start the day’s work.

The next two days went by in a flash. He was so busy inside the restaurant that each night he didn’t have time to chat, he was so exhausted he just flopped on his bed. He woke up on his last day inside the game before he needed to log out with an excited bounce.

Today was the official welcoming party. He had already put up a notice that his restaurant would be closed today so everyone would be free to attend the gathering. He was supposed to be in charge of the invitation list, but he had been too busy inside his restaurant to be able to invite anyone.

Grandpa had offered to do the job for him. Kit was a bit nervous leaving the task to the crafty old man. He was sure he had volunteered for a reason.

Kit got dressed then headed out to the kitchen to see if there was anything that he needed to help with. He found Snowball and the midnight guardians decorated with red bows tied around their necks as he entered the kitchen.

“Aww you guys look so cute. Who came up with this idea?” Kit raised his head to see Mud with a red ribbon in his hand.

“Morning Kit. I’m glad you agree that they look cute. The others haven’t woken up yet. Do you want me to wake them?”

“No today is their day off, let them sleep in. I’ll start breakfast.”

Kit decided to make something simple. He would just do some bacon and eggs on toast. Kit got busy in the kitchen while Mud happily started decorating the area with colourful ribbons. By the time he had placed the food on the table. All the boarding house residents had filtered out of their rooms.

Kit joined them at the table and started to fill his belly with food. “What do you guys need me to do today?” Kit spoke around a mouth full of toast.

“You can help decorate the house.” Mud chimed in.

“Ok, I just need to head to the market quickly first, then I will be all yours Mud.” He had forgotten to get them all a housewarming present. He would head over to the market quickly and buy them all something.

Kit picked up another piece of toast then stood to leave. The faster he went to the market the faster he could return.

“Wait, I need to come too.”

“Me too.”

“Oh, I think I need something as well.”

Soon all the residents in the boarding house were standing ready to come with him. How was he going to get them a surprise gift if they all came along! He would need to think of an excuse on the way there to ditch them.

When they reached the market Kit had still not come up with a valid reason to part ways with everyone. He was frantically searching for a reason when to his surprise the others made an excuse to split off. Before he could agree he was left standing at the entrance to the market with Mars and Twix.

“Haha Kit, I bet they all forgot to buy gifts for the welcoming party.” Mars chuckled. Kit felt his face grow hot. Mars turned to him to see his flaming red cheeks. “You too? Is that what you came here for?” Mars started laughing even harder.

Kit patted his hot cheeks and frowned at Mars. “Is that not what you are here for?”

“Nope, I’m already done. I was just tagging along because everyone was coming.” Mars grinned.

“Great then you can help me pick gifts.” Kit beamed at Mars. “What about you Twix?”

“I need to get gifts as well. The only one I have is one for you Kit.”

“You got one for me?” Kit felt his face flame once again. He hadn’t expected to get gifts from anyone today.

“Of course, I got you one.” Twix looked displeased that Kit had thought he wouldn’t get him one.

“Sorry I was just surprised. I look forward to seeing what it is!”

They headed inside the market. Kit was dazzled at the display of wares around him. His previous trips to the market were all a rush to find what he needed so he hadn’t taken the time to properly look around.

The stalls in front of him varied from clothes to trinkets to some high-end armour on display. Staring at the armour he remembered he was going to buy a set previously but had forgotten all about it. He put it off once again. Today was about getting gifts!

Kit ended up spending two hours inside the market getting all the gifts. It was much longer than he had planned. He hoped he would still be in time to help decorate the house. He would feel guilty if it was all done by the time he returned.

They were heading towards the entrance when Mars spoke. “I forgot something, I’ll meet you back at the house.” Kit nodded and kept walking with Twix.

“Should we go past the new shop to take a look before we head back?” Twix looked excited about the new building.

Kit wanted to get back as fast as possible, but the temptation to see a new building was high. He hadn’t taken a good look at Spartan Fire since his grand opening. “Ok but we can’t go inside to take a look, we need to get back.”

Twix nodded and then headed to the back of the town hall. A dirt road was now in place leading around the small village. Kit walked on the road and listened to the crunching under each of his steps. “Who made the road Twix?”

“Some of the new residents. Surprisingly everyone has been pitching in to raise the prestige points after your musical night. I think they are all hoping you will give away free samples again next time you try to create alcohol. The night was a big hit!”

Kit raised his eyebrows. This was news to him. If having a night of merry making helped everyone to pitch in to raise prestige he would definitely do it again. Just not with musical rum and Snickers would have to be invited next time or he didn’t think he would live to see a new day.

“Then it looks like I will need to find some more ingredients for creating alcohol.” Kit gave Twix a mischievous smile.

“Wait you really will give away free samples again?” Twix was surprized at Kit answer.

“Sure, if it helps the town I will. We could make it an event next time. I just hope my creation works though, imagine if it takes me a week to get it right or longer.” Kit shuddered as he remembered the headache he had woken up with the day after. He didn’t think he could wake up every day for a week with a ringing in his head.

“Well, we can at least plan it better for next time. It was rather messy and there was no limit on the intake of alcohol.” They turned the corner of the new road as Twix spoke.

A row of shops came into Kit’s view. “Wait, when did so many shops appear?” Kit counted five shops in the row of buildings.

“What do you mean? The only new one is the apothecary. I was surprised that they built in such a small village.”

Kit realised he hadn’t properly looked at the new shops. He had heard about them but not been past them to have a good look. Kit felt like he had failed as a founding member of Spartan Fire. He hadn’t met a single shop owner yet!

The neat row of shops was made from the familiar orange brown mud. Their roofs were different from his restaurant though, they were made with mud tiles. Kit thought they looked very smart. He wondered if he should change his restaurant’s roof to match.

As he got closer, he could see small gardens surrounding each shop. The shops gave off a quaint feeling, Kit was pleased with the progress Spartan Fire was making. It had grown from the three mud huts standing in the middle of nowhere to looking like a small village.

He couldn’t wait to see what it would look like after the next town hall upgrade. Kit looked at the signs above the shops to see what they each were. The first shop along the small strip was the general store, next to it was a grocer.

The third shop was a butcher, then a tailor, lastly was the apothecary. Currently all five stores were closed. Kit frowned at the sight. Was business that bad they didn’t even open until late?