Incoming!

Chp 111

It took two more days of buying lava tiles to get Blackmore back to normal. Still, I spent the full week adding on. I wanted to be ready for when the puppies eventually appeared. Given what had happened to Blackmore herself, I was worried it might affect their health if they weren’t linked to the system when they were born.

I was more measured about how I went about it after the first couple of days, however. I used my normal reserve method for my mana. Outside of that, I hung around in the den and the surrounding area once Blackmore felt up to getting a little exercise.

Since I was in the lava area anyway I went to work improving it as I added new tiles. It took on a more natural appearance fairly quickly and I let the hounds make requests like normal. When I wasn’t caught up doing that, I worked on my other projects, but my heart wasn’t really in them.

With everything going on, I expected problems or complaints to crop up, but the bone brigade was pretty quiet. Something I attributed in part to the fact that Chris was spending most of his time respawning and then coming back to burn while he checked on Blackmoore. Without him making trouble, things were fairly calm all around.

Less welcome was the relative silence from the girls in the valley. Still, I hadn’t exactly been expecting them to turn chatty out of nowhere and they had contracts to consider. I did check in and see they were still present in the evening, but that was all. I had to drop food off anyway, so I’d have been observing them, one way or another.

My curiosity about how Andrea was doing was tempered by my decision to let her sort it out on her own. I wasn’t pleased she might have ruined my chance at making more deals, the second time no less, but it also wasn’t the end of the world.

I was caught pretty much flat on my tail when I suddenly had three contract agreement notices come through at once. I’d thought Hetcha might make a deal in the end, but I wasn’t expecting Mira and Mina to go through with it. From where I was sitting, I felt like they probably had less at stake, but I wasn’t unhappy to be proved wrong.

Going to my map display, the amount of information available to me increased drastically. For the most part, anyway. There were a weird pair of gray patches, but I wasn’t put off since they weren’t particularly large.

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I did pull a screen capture and write a couple of question marks next to them before putting them in my inventory. I’d put them up on my wall in my palace of shadows when I got back to it. I wasn’t exactly forgetful, but this seemed like it would easily get lost in the shuffle if I didn’t make a reminder for myself.

Happy with the outcome I started looking at the contracts again, just to make sure everything was how I expected it to be. Mina agreed to a more limited version of employment with me that was similar to Elim’s deal.

Mina’s interest was fixed on finding a way home to her own world and her mother. It had been her goal in joining the hero’s party before the lily pendant had been used to control her. Now she was determined to make up for lost time.

Due to that, Mina was fine with buying things for me and sharing map data as she went along. What she wasn’t interested in was agreeing to work on projects for me. Or rather not in agreeing to do them without additional negotiations. If our interests aligned while she was searching, she’d consider accepting a commission.

Mira was in a similar position. I got the distinct feeling she was doing it more for the chance to be able to have control over her class and other aspects of her build than anything else. Willing to work with me to an extent, but not to do as I bid without discussing the matter first. Unsurprisingly, they both got the basic features Elim did, but no payout in currency since they were more like freelancers than permanent employees.

The only problem was that Hetcha was looking at the temple I’d built as a potential cultural center where her people’s traditions could be revived. My little passion project had suddenly blossomed into something much more important. Something it wasn’t designed for, nor could it honestly support as it was.

Still, that wasn’t exactly a pressing issue. Her deal included the basics, but also my permission for her to bring refugees into the valley as settlers whom I wasn’t allowed to force into the dungeon. Something I didn’t have a problem with since I was more interested in them as a cover population than as point fodder.

I was distracted enough by my reading I didn’t realize that Stalin was yapping in the distance until I heard a proper howl ring out. Freaking out, I teleported to the den immediately.

“What happened!?” I demanded in a panic. My super useful brain generated worst-case scenarios for the entire split second I had before I was tackled to the ground. With two grown hounds smothering me, it took a moment for me to hear the more high-pitched noises mixed in with their own.

“Puppies!” Blackmore yapped happily. Managing to wriggle halfway out of the pile I was finally able to see the litter of pups that was happily gnawing on my tail. They were completely adorable, redder in color than their parents. The stone of their outer shell was thinner and looked almost soft. Like it was on the verge of melting.

“Awe!” I exclaimed, reaching over to pet them. The little devils immediately started biting my hands and whining, but I didn’t mind. I couldn’t feel it, which was a blessing since puppy teeth fucking hurt.