"Why do I need trees?"

Valkner scowled at the trio of budding trees, pulling his robes tight. The ashen fields around his dungeons were still mostly devoid of life from when the Ratlord decided to turn tail and got caught at its entrance. They had nearly thirty adventurers sitting outside the dungeon preparing some simple raids and turned the whole area into a warzone. Yet despite that, the Demon Moss King had brought the first bits of new plant life into the area around it by making this trio of trees. DMK kept his robes sealed tight around his form -- no more than a three-foot high blob now -- but whispered in his ancient, magical voice.

"No tree needed. Alternative needed." The blob shook and clutched its robes tighter to its form as a powerful wind swept over the area. "Soon... gone too. Demon Moss lifespan... not long like your kind."

Valkner looked down at the small blob and then back to the seedlings.

"Alternative to you being gone? You say that like I-"

"Need me." The blob nodded. "You did. Now tree... help you."

The demon prince burned with anger at being told he needed anyone but that pride had been sinking for years. It had grown so lonely in the last year or so when he began working to learn his new skills. In another year, he figured he would finally understand the Disguise skill and he could finally start seeking out better goals. Maybe he could be a spy if the merchant taught him to use a blade. But the idea that he needed trees was preposterous. What he needed was people, not objects.

"... Thank you for the trees, Demon Moss King. Now... can we get out of this wind?"

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It had been an uneventful day wrapping up their dungeon success but Valkner was glad that it was behind them now. Tuscetta had been allowed to sleep in her own room and surprised Valkner quite a bit -- she had to be told that the bed was hers to convince her to not sleep on the floor. As a Demon Prince, he certainly didn't mind where his customers slept... but she would need to work going forward and sleeping on the ground wasn't viable for those who work. Even a half-orc's hardy demeanor could wane beneath a steady work schedule.

"Do I really look fitting?" Tuscetta asked, examining herself with a confused scowl. "I look... like a poor warrior."

Using the robes from that foolish cleric -- and some rudimentary sewing since he lacked the official skill -- Valkner had created a simple tabard that went over her cuirass. Originally the robe's material was brown and rough to the touch; after spending the day doing laundry and using up many of his lemons, they were now softer and a pale beige. But most importantly was the fact he had used some of his red dye to draft the inn's emblem on her. With just a simple tabard, she had become the inn's official guard.

Trade Successful

New Balance: 500 Gold

Yvette took the cleric's staff and book, tossing a look over at Tuscetta while Valkner sorted through the gold. After selling off the cleric's useless possessions, the inn was actually comfortingly in the black. Adventurer deaths in dungeons weren't unheard of -- but with so many witnesses, it was easy to pass off telling her a half-truth. Jigalta slipped up beside the half-orc and looked her up and down, forcing the dwarf to chuckle.

"An old man having a heart attack with someone like her definitely makes sense." Yvette looked back at Valkner. "But you really couldn't wait to have me come around Valentine? Are you trying to show these new girls off?"

"Pft. Of course not." Even his half-elf disguise failed to hide his lechery when he looked at the disguised slime squeezing Tuscetta's arm to check out her strength. Offloading the loot as soon as possible was important but getting to brag about two employees was fantastic. Jigalta had more practical looks that could snare most men adventurers and even Tuscetta wasn't a bad looking woman for the surly warrior type.

But the best part about the trade was the possession he had obtained for them alongside his gold bounty.

New Item Acquired

Iron Club

Although the weapon itself was simple, there were disadvantages to Valkner trying to wield it. Unlike a kitchen knife that most without skills could at least fight with, clubs were assigned not only a weapon class and type but also statistic requirements. Without strength-based skills, it was almost impossible to raise it; many who wanted to get stronger beyond traditional day-to-day strength and labor used skills to do so. Farmers didn't learn to work the field all day through effort alone; they often discovered or were born with the ability to harness a skill like Farming, Hard Labor or something in that vein. Clubs were the first steps for many training to use weapons since they fought mock battles with sticks.

It was the ideal weapon for Tuscetta to take on as her first one. Valkner circled around the desk and pushed the weapon into her hands.

Item was given away.

"You look fine. But with this, you'll be tough. No more fighting with your hands." He raised a hand and flicked his horn -- which looked like he flicked the tip of his ear to the others -- before finally patting her breastplate. "I expect you to train and patrol the dungeon a few times throughout the day to see if you stumble on any parties."

Yvette laughed. "Why, is she going to hold them up to keep you afloat?"

The dwarf had a dark sense of humor but considering Jigalta devoured that cleric's entire body it wasn't entirely wrong. Tuscetta furrowed her brows but Valkner turned and wagged his finger at Yvette with a quick rebuttal.

"It's so she can rescue freeloaders who use the magical dungeon obviously. If she can drag even one person out, we can charge a fee for their rescue!"

Jigalta clapped and beamed since even she understood the significance of that. "That means we can make money even if they don't stay at the inn!"

"Precisely." Valkner set his hands on his hips while Tuscetta simply frowned; perhaps she didn't like being a pawn in his ploys. But considering she had become his servant and had sworn herself to his service, there wasn't room to argue. In fact, she resigned herself with a reluctant smile and slipped her helmet on.

"I guess it means I'll get to rescue people. There is at least honor in that... albeit nowhere near as much as in battle. I'll go ahead and um... test this as best I can within the false dungeons then. Unless-"

"Nope." Valkner waved her off and pointed to the door. "Get going; you need to cover that room or you'll be staying in the storage room with big-chest!"

Tuscetta rolled her eyes but left the trio alone; Yvette set her hands on her hips with a grumble and waited for Jigalta to quickly run off to her storage closet before turning to face Val.

"You really do have things a lot more busy around here. Think you're going to get your full harvest done when the trees start bearing fruit?"

The question wasn't an easy one to answer, actually stunning him and leaving him a bit speechless. Utilizing all of their hands would actually mean he could get it done without having to give away a large portion to Yvette for her help. Yet parting with a chance to stare at her shapely behind would be just as cruel. Those trees were always causing him trouble even if they were eternally long-living and bore fruit perfect for the fledgling killers to take their first steps into poison-craft. Alternative sources of income that were always a pain in his tailed ass to deal with.

For now he didn't bother answering; instead, he chose to wave it off and lean back against the counter. The lack of an answer still drew a smirk to the merchant's face albeit smaller than if he had given one. He hoped. The duo helping would certainly benefit the inn so trying to keep Yvette amply confident in things being more of the same or better was key. For now, she waved and left. Valkner slipped back and settled into the chair behind his desk, taking a load off with the biggest sigh today... so far.

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"Tuscetta and Jigalta are great and all but I wish I had a use for those trees... or at least more skills." The demon prince set his chin against his fist, leaning over the counter and staring down at his ledger. "I learned [Basic Casting] but I can't actually perform magic without more skills. I should try to figure out why Jigalta acquired [Masochist] while devouring someone else. It doesn't make much sense that she learned to love self-inflicted pain while devouring a cleric."

Of course, there was the odd possibility that clerics somehow were dangerous for slimes to consume. Maybe they were some form of antithesis for demon races and when paired with her enjoyment for eating it caused the skill to trigger? The one upside was that Jigalta made a perfect training dummy; most people with that skill were berserkers or military instructors within demon armies. Few actually utilized it in some form of true pleasure lifestyle. Valkner would just need to wait and see.

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The end of the day had come rather swiftly and uneventfully; Jigalta manned the desk in the prime hours of the day while Valkner made the boring checks and storage cataloging. Tuscetta had returned from the dungeons without any loot but had acquired the [Club Proficiency 1] skill to show for her efforts. Plate Knights developed offensive skill paths at slower rates so it was no surprise she didn't tap into more skills.

But while Jigalta now went around and cleaned the inn -- running along the floor and walls in her slime state -- he sat in the dining area with the armor-peeled greenskin, looking out the windows at the trees below. Without her armor on, Tuscetta was actually considerably more attractive; she had set it down beside her, removed her gambeson and sat with a sleeveless top that showed off her scarred lower back and toughened abs. She was looking at the trees in a bit of awe while Valkner's frown had yet to go away.

"It really is impressive you grew those... how old are they, Valentine?"

"... Old." Valkner grumbled, sitting forward in his chair. "Don't eat any of its fruit. It tastes awful and in a big enough amount the cherries can kill."

The tusked warrior snickered but a quick look of disdain shut her up. The demon prince couldn't help but feel weak compared to either of the two in his employ. Asking them to teach him skills was doable but it might look suspicious; blowing his cover wasn't something he could afford until trusting them was unquestionable. Even if they were minions, it didn't mean that they needed to know everything. It just meant that he needed to find a way to properly test them.

"Tuscetta, there's a festival coming up that will bring us business. When it comes around, you'll need to give up your room. Is that-"

She knocked on the table and a quick glance revealed she had flicked up her thumb. The flexibility of a greenskin's temperament made so many things easier. If he really wanted, it probably wouldn't be hard to make her sleep with him -- albeit he'd have to be in a pesky disguise so why bother.

But back to the topic at hand, he turned his attention instead back to the trees.

"Tomorrow, you and I are going to get a few cherries and see if we can't feed a few of the Mystery Bugs. If you're able to hold your own against them then it might be alright to get a few of them nice and fat. We might actually attract some more serious types of demons... or evolve one."

Mentioning evolving to most of the more commonly known demons was honestly a bit foolish; most of them never evolved unless they grew in power significantly. Leveling up was universal but had many various gaps of requirements based on species. A Mystery Bug could evolve very quickly if given the right food -- not even the weakest greenskins could evolve without copious amounts of battle experiences and skills. Evolution for his kind was perhaps the most tedious to deal with thanks to their age and lack of popularity among humans with dangerous amounts of potential. Most humans underwent pseudo-evolutions but could evolve if they acquired the right skills or married into human-demon relationships. All of it was something of a balancing game that could make astounding levels of variance in power while some did almost nothing.

Tuscetta gave the most common response with a sigh. "Evolving one will just make it dangerous -- what if I'm not able to deal with it?"

"Well... if that happens I guess we'll just need to put out an ad and hope some greenhorn adventurer shows up to fight it."

The cycle of running a dungeoneering inn was starting to take shape and it greatly pleased Val. As Tuscetta grew stronger, built up her abilities and slowly increased the dungeon's allure -- as she can navigate it freely and challenge the beings within -- then they could turn everything around. Starting tomorrow, he would try his best to actually start this... while keeping an eye out for any chance to either learn more magic or to acquire some sort of fighting skill. At the rate things were going, there'd be no chance of him ever getting out from behind the desk. The one highlight to his week apart from getting two girls in his employ was that he had actually killed someone for the first time in two centuries.

He wasn't going to let the fact he pulled it off with a kitchen knife ruin that grand achievement anytime soon. Valkner, tired of sitting around, stood and waved to Tuscetta so he could make his way around and finally outside of his inn. It had been a while since he was able to truly look out over the fenced in yard of his inn but even under moonlight he just wanted to get a bit of a head-start. The soft grass was starting to cool but was relatively dry; it was hard to imagine these fields hadn't actually been burned away in fifty years. His pace down to the trees wasn't impeded by stones left from some crashing drake or uneven from quakes. It was truly a luxury that he hadn't been able to appreciate with his awful mood.

And with that luxury, his trees were certainly faring better still; all three had grown an extra foot taller and were now firmly brushing their blossoming branches tight together in a comprehensive canopy. The laid-out boards had kept the grasses away from their trunks. It was a simple tactic to try and keep the ground clear for when cherries fell, allowing the trees to wholly absorb their added nutrients. Under the moonlight, it even cast the ground with a pinkish glow that kept everything nice and pleasant. Luxuries were few and far between for a rundown inn like his.'

Val sat against the trunk of one of the trees and looked out over the rolling hills, illuminated by that pink glow. It was hard to not let his disguise fall even when alone but it only took one person walking around on the road below to see him and ruin all his progress.

"Sha-li-dalali."

The words left his lips and resonated between the trees, echoing up the boughs and into the canopy. Though he lacked the skills, the words themselves still held importance. It was the language of the wicked taught to only the most elite demons. To access dungeons, one had to know it or have someone teach them enough of it to read the seals. Yet the language itself was a form of casting applied through a skill known as [Tongue Speech]. Learning it was difficult but not impossible -- after all, there were more than just his kind that served as elite demons. And under a full moon's light -- beneath the branches of demon trees -- he knew he could beckon to one of them.

"La la li-da sha-li!" A sweet voice echoed from the trees above. "Look who's come to play with me!"

Compared to his words, the true power of the words resonated with this new voice. The tree let many of its petals fall, cherries bustling in great number and raining upon his head relentlessly. Thankfully they just dinked off his horns for the most part. But when they ceased, the petals parted and a familiar figure danced free of the trees and landed before him. Only about one foot tall and with an androgynous body befitting their kind, the pale fairy's dragonfly-like wings were given a final shake to get rid of dust. Anywhere the dust fell, the ground sprouted small bits of grass. Valkner outright hated summoning the little pixie of his garden because it meant pruning weeds for weeks.

"Oh, it's my great prince Valkner! What do you need from me, King of the Demon Cherry Trees?"

The title made Valkner cringe. "Your name is Obero, we've been over this."

Obero flipped his pink hair and rolled his cherry-red eyes, turning his back on Valkner and sighing. It was always a show of drama with the pint-sized demon. Most fairies were neutral in the entire war but not from choice; they were truly one of the few demons that kept the world in balance with their mastery. They grew and waned in power with nature, with every small garden being home to at least one of them. Perhaps the only reason they weren't counted among the numbers of demons was that it was a constantly changing number; few fairies lived long when their homes were destroyed unless bound to a being of significant power. Many also never were summoned from their strange plane between reality and the magic one. Even comprehending that power was next to impossible without the skills to decipher it.

The truth was that he hadn't summoned Obero to worry about semantics or keep ragging on his inability to use skills. His garden fairy was important for a bigger reason. Valkner leaned back, crossed his arms and sighed.

"As for why I needed you... tomorrow, we're sure to get business. We're also likely to be doing a harvest soon. So... as you may recall, I can't learn skills unless taught. It also had a restriction it couldn't be for bad reasons. Now I may be... not evil but I'm sufficiently not good either. I've come to terms with my-"

"Neutrality?" Obero interjected, giggling and skipping across the dirt around Val. "That's so good for you!"

"...No, not neutrality! I just simply have come to terms with my situation. I recently re-acquired [Basic Casting] and I need to learn [Mana Manipulation]. I'm not asking for a spell but-"

Obero fluttered up and into his face, smiling as big as he can. He wanted to hear Val say the magic words and it outright burned every part of his soul to think he had no choice. If he wanted to become useful, magic would be a good route; there were many things he could do without needing to learn any of the Magic Schools.

"I need you to teach me... please. Tonight, okay?"

With the fairy exploding into excitement, Val couldn't help but groan. It was going to be a long night but there wasn't any other choice. Obero pranced, danced and celebrated the fact he was going to get to help him. Tonight was going to be a long night.

Skill [Mana Manipulation] learned. Skill mastery level is Basic.