Eliza ran a tavern in a village called “Mazevale.”

Mazevale was a small burned-out town full of Adventurers and foxes. The foxes were there to rebuild it, while the Adventurers all called it home.

The town’s west side was in ashes and its east side was half-preserved, yet not a single Adventurer had left. What mattered most were the connections and affections formed within those burned down rooms, an “Mazevale” was wherever those friends dwelled.

Of course, this sentiment would not have been possible without the Kitsune Clan’s practical aid. When those foxes arrived, Eliza had more tenants, customers, and money than she knew what to do with, though she’d offered them free rooms—and naturally, after all that had happened, everyone needed a strong drink.

In other words, business was booming.

“Fen! Fen! You’re a ten!” Emory said as she spun around on the barstool. “You’re awake while the others are zen!”

A slew of many-tailed foxes slumped at the counter, each with a cadre of empty glasses before them. Even the Fox Matriarch was drowsing.

“I am just a normal Fox, but I have a hidden talent when it comes to ciders,” said Fen. “You see? When I drink, my face becomes less red than the others.”

“Ahhhh!!! You’re even cooler than Mr. Rick!!”

“Master Rick is not a ‘cool’ young man,” said Estelle from behind the bar. “I would say he is an Adventurer with interests that are feverishly peculiar.” She wore a frilled mobcap, stockings, and an elaborate white-and-black dress. She was the perfect maid, in the precise same outfit she wore when she worked as Guild Receptionist.

“Tips… tips… tips…” Estelle then went down the line. She didn’t care how many tails each Foxgirl had, only about the number of heads or tails from their coins.

“‘Interests’?” asked Cure. “Is cross-dressing one of them? I’ll always let him shop for free… but maybe he’d be willing to do some experiments anyway, hehe.”

“You say that so suspiciously, but I’m sure your thoughts are as pure as the well water.”

“They really are!” Cure said gleefully, as Eliza refilled her glass. The elf then shook up two virgin lemonades and served it to her favorite table.

“I would add this to your tab,” Eliza said, scratching the scroll. “But my pen’s out of ink, so it’s on the house just for today.”

Rick was much healthier than he had been a day after the fight, than the week after his travels, than the year after his emotions had shut down. He had lost his coarseness and a light came bright in his eyes.

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He was seated next to a shivering girl…

“So? What kind of quest will it be today?” asked Eliza.

“Of course you’d expect an S-Rank party to be out questing,” Pern said. “But Guildmistress Risa is coming to Mazevale, and she wants to talk to us about what happened. The rest of Andrestia’s in an uproar.”

She stirred the lemonade anxiously with her straw. Once, twice, thrice.

“This is a good drink,” said Rick.

“She wants us to wait two weeks!” Pern shouted. “‘Wait two weeks, and do nothing else til then.”

It seemed that King Galon had been hiring assassins to pick off Adventurers that irked him. This had been happening for more than a decade, and while the Guild was sworn to His Rightful Majesty this loyalty had a limit.

If King Galon had the ill morals and ill judgment to kill his most faithful men, perhaps he wasn’t the Rightful King after all. That was probably what Guildmistress Risa was thinking, and unlike the previous slave-trading Guild leader she had little connection to the royal house.

“I have a feeling we’re going to get pretty busy,” Rick said. “An interview with the youngest Guildmistress in Andrestrian history? She sounds like the only person scarier than you.”

Rick continued: ”And Eliza, while I’m drinking—I’d like the seltzer, the soda, the ice cream shake—and throw in a glass of milk. Let’s try something new.”

“New things!” Pern said. “So you don’t drink anymore, good for you — but what about women?”

“What about them?”

“‘ ‘I like boobs.’ ‘I like butts.’ ‘I like stomach gaps and wide thighs.’ What happened to all that?”

“Did I ever say that?”

“Did you Rick?” Pern said. “Did you? Oh, forget it. I don’t even want to know.”

Rick watched Eliza at the bar. She flicked the taps on the barrels without looking, and stacked glasses with different color liquids on her tray.

“To be honest, I’m a little embarrassed,” said Rick. “Thinking about those things helped distract me, and I think I overdid it.”

“Well, it’s natural to be embarrassed about stuff like that. But, I think when it comes to being around someone you’re comfortable with—”

“—what do you think we should do for these next two weeks?” Rick interrupted. “Let’s talk about that instead.”

“Huh?”

Pern was surprised at this new Rick. But she did her best to answer.

“Work on town isn’t supposed to start til tomorrow and we can’t go any quests. And while my drive for adventure is pretty strong, all my drives are too. So.”

Eliza delivered his drinks, and Rick enjoyed sipping each. He even mixed them into a concoction that was dubiously brown.

Pern finished her lemonade completely unsatisfied. “For someone who’s good at picking up clues…” she said. “Look, Rick, I’ve been feeling frustrated this whole month. Didn’t you already know that?

“Failing all those quests must have been really tough,” new Rick agreed.

“Ahh!” Pern almost went ahead and said it outright. But then she calmed down. Leaned in. Changed the subject. And relaxed.

“I was thinking, now that we have some time to spare. Maybe you could give me a room tour?”

“There’s not much in it,” Rick said. And you’ve already been in there. There’s a dresser, a coat rack, a chest, a bed…”

Pern smiled at him, and Rick understood.

Worried about neither failure nor success, the two Adventurers enjoyed their time together at long last.