"So," Karina started for the umpteenth time, "If you are a virgin, why do you carry a flask of clearly expensive lube?"

"Yes, that thing would sell for five or eight silvers in the right places!" Josie added.

"Where can we buy more?" Marta added.

"I made it. Secret recipe. It is not for sale anywhere in the world."

"Three gold," Cedric pressed the coins to my hand. "Sell me what you have there."

The lube was an astonishing success. They drained the flask I gave Karina in a few days. The best thing, since it was a recipe from Earth, my curses stopped me from teaching anyone how to make it. Maybe some crazy [Alchemist] would be able to reverse-engineer the formula, but I doubted it. And they wouldn't get the same quality as mine.

I knew the coins were gold because {Chemical Analysis} told me so. I could even tell one of the coins was shaved.

I reached inside my bag and took another flask of the crystal-clear gel. "Here you go, Mr. customer. Always a pleasure doing business with you. And remember our deal."

Cedric came to apologize to me after my talk with Karina. The girls were pissed at him. Rule number one of being the master of a harem. You are not the master. Unless all your 'waifus' are made of cardboard. Looking at you, isekai harem protagonists.

The party was excited about how much they gathered and harvested in this delve. The lowest-leveled one among them, Marta, gained four levels. Everyone's levels were at the odd-numbers. Even number levels meant something wrong with the person's build. I set mine to thirty-one after the last battle.

He snatched the vial. "Thanks for the gold," I told him.

"How do you even know it's gold..." He mumbled.

I cackled, "Oh, did you deceive me?"

"No. It's gold. I know you know it. I was just wondering how can you do so many things."

"It's better if you don't know, milord," I said with a well-modulated lady voice and curtsied perfectly.

Josie squealed. She was obsessed with high society and its mannerisms. Someday I'm going to appear in front of her as the ghost of the late Elf Queen just to scare her panties.

"Cut the crap. Down here I'm just another delver," Cedric groaned. "And yes, I'm going to honor our deal. You'll be able to enter the Dungeon anytime you want. The guard or the guild won't give you trouble."

"Good," I made a blatant display of stowing the coins in my cleavage and sent them to the dimensional storage. The girls laughed.

A few minutes later, we reached the exit. The sunlight hurt my eyes. EYES, not the brain. Because the sensitive cells in my eyes were perfectly good, thank you very much. My problem was neurological slash System bullshit. And I could tell if a room was in pitch-black darkness or illuminated. Regarding the dim light of candles or torches, I might as well since the heat before the light.

"Cedric!" Baelor, the gate guard in day duty, greeted us. "And ladies. I'm glad to see you alive and well. Send word to Baron Rothwell."

"Yessir!" Someone ran away.

"Baelor, I want to talk to you. Miss Rosewise Honorcoin here, she has proven herself over and over while fighting with us. I would dare say we would've been gravely wounded if not for her. You are to let her enter the Dungeon alone or with any party as it is her right as a delver."

I couldn't see him but I felt Baelor's gaze on me. "Twenty levels! That's a lot. If you are vouching for her, milord," he said the last word in mockery, "I'm going to allow it."

I think the two men had some history between them and they weren't all that friendly, but it wasn't my job to pry. I just wanted to delve and practice my craft.

"Let's go, girls. We will stop by the Guild to report our loot and pay the taxes."

Ugh, taxes.

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We dropped the loot they had at the guild and Cedric split it six ways after tax. The sixth share was their war chest, for replacing spent supplies and repairs. But it was a really good amount of money even with this arrangement I was perfectly fine with. When I tried to go away, Karina held me.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"To the inn, to rent a room and get some rest," I answered.

"Why don't you stay with us? You won't have to pay," Josie said.

And get no privacy. I shook my head, "Sorry, girls. I need some time alone."

"What do you intend to do now?" Karina asked me.

"Get a damn bath, sleep for two days, I answered. "Then shop for some sundries and a place to set up shop."

"Shop?" Marta asked.

Cedric wasn't speaking but he was nearby, listening.

"Yes. I want to set up a workshop for my crafting professions."

"Are you going to make more of that?" Karina asked. She was the one to profit from the lube the most, as she became addicted to butt sex.

"Probably, if I can find the materials."

"Guys, why don't we help Rosie get settled in her own workshop?" Josie said with a laugh. "Cedric, can you loan her some money to start her business?"

"No," I cut off. "I'm not borrowing money."

That was a downward spiral. Debt in the medieval age was the easiest path to slavery. And I didn't need to. I knew very well where to get funding.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"I can use the help of friends to look for a place, though."

Josie snorted and giggled. "Look for a place? We can do that," she put emphasis on "look", making a lame joke.

I sighed, "Fine. You can help me. Maybe shop for some tools and implements too."

"And clothes, Karina added. You need a wardrobe."

As we shopped, the women spoke non-stop. I got to understand why they behaved the way they did in the Dungeon. Delving meant you were risking your life. At any fight, you could die. The buildup of adrenaline, the thrill of the fight, the danger, the anxiety of not seeing the sunlight, it made them crave for release. Normally, a female's libido will vanish in a dangerous situation. But these three - and me - weren't normal females. All three were thrillseekers, their risk appetite bigger and bolder than the others.

That's one reason females don't choose Adventuring too often. Although it is a quick path to power, it is dangerous. But these ones got high on it. And then at the end of a day's fight, they were all horny and sought solace on one another. It wasn't that Cedric was using them, neither the other way around. The four of them were in that relationship of their own free will.

My hands-off approach proved to be the best. Leave them to their own devices, learn more, then form an opinion.

We visited a smithy to place an order for metal and gemstone stock, along with some tools. It was run by a dwarf, named Steelbender. Funny how the steel already ingrained itself into the dwarven culture.

He measured my hands to make the grips and handles. I also ordered two wicked daggers that might as well be short swords for me. I couldn't use my elven daggers willy-nilly. The were-jaguar was the last resort. I couldn't show that here, because the therianthrope population was almost non-existent and they were considered very dangerous monsters.

In their minds, all monsters that could convert people through attacks were dangerous.

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I had no time to rest for a week. The girls took me to shop, walk the city, spend money on thrifty things, baubles, and clothes. I looked at several houses for sale that could be used as workshops but none fit my needs. I wanted an out-of-the-way place that was both defensible and secure.

I found a nice two-story small house with a basement whose cellar I could use because I was an Eleon. It was in a cul-de-sac hidden inside a maze of back alleys in the merchant district. The houses here were for the servants of the merchants and they were cramped by design. It didn't matter for me because the furniture could be smaller. I was less than a meter tall.

Best of all, the house was haunted. A family of workers was murder to cover a merchant house branch manager's embellishment of money from the main company. I got all the information from the ghosts and bound them to help me exact revenge.

I sat with the owner, that same manager, to negotiate the lease. From the ghosts of the city, I knew the average rent and sale price of the house, and I wanted to push to buy it at a reasonable price.

"So, Ms. Honorcoin, the lease on the house is two gold coins per year," He said.

His opening bid had a markup of a hundred percent. I frowned. "I'm sorry. I think you are mistaken. I am not renting a main street storefront." He laughed and I kept my face serious. "I'm not joking, Mr. Eriksson. I'm willing to pay you twelve silver per year as rent."

He stopped laughing. "The miss is not understanding. Think of all the space you'll have there. For you, the house might as well be a four-story mansion. But I am not without a heart. I can make..."

Our back and forth went on and on. He had his Skills but I was stronger. His Charisma score was higher than mine so it evened out things a bit. We were down to one gold minus three silver when he played the wrong card.

"And the zoning of the place, I'm afraid I'll have to obtain expensive permits for you to run a business there."

I shook my head. "You are mistaken, Mr. Eriksson. I checked the zoning and permits. I'm not running a business, I'm working as a family craftsman. I'm not going to employ anyone."

To protect small entrepreneurs, the Kingdom had this law where you weren't a business if you didn't have employees. I would not even have a shop front. All my dealings would be through commission.

"Since the permits are twelve silver, we can deduct that from the first four years..."

"You might as well take the house for free!" He burst out. He fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.

"Yes. I might. It needs so many repairs that it is a hazard. It's infested by rats, the wooden frame has termite damage. Worst of all, it is haunted. Did you know a fellow named Vundamar?"

He hesitated to answer, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Vundamar?" I materialized the ghost.

"Vengeance!" Vundamar haunted.

It was a cheap shot but I was on the ghost's side.

"Now, Mr. Eriksson, this is what is going to happen. I'll take your last offer. Take the house for free. In exchange, I'll purify Mr. Vundamar here and you will agree to keep our little agreement a secret. You'll also set a reasonable value on the property deed, and pay the relevant transfer taxes out of your own pocket. Now. Sign the deed."

"You can't--"

I materialized Vundamar's wife.

"You were saying?" I asked coldly. "Mr. Eriksson, the only thing keeping these ghosts from murdering you is me. And I'm getting bored."

I got a notification saying my negotiation terms were accepted. Eriksson signed off the property, at the low price of six gold coins. He wanted the lowest tax possible without raising suspicion. Once the deed was signed in my name, I put him under a {Royal Geas} to keep him silent and to not seek retaliation. After everything was settled, I purified the two ghosts.

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Two days later, I entered my new run-down house. Over the years since Vundamar's death, it was looted and invaded dozens of times by some unsavory elements. The smell of stale refuse was overwhelming. The wood was rotten. I conjured a silencing barrier around the house and another spell to block vibrations from spreading through the ground. A ward to keep vermin away and another alarm ward to let me know about intruders. Finally, a light spell to weave an illusion over the house so nobody would see the wood moving.

With that done, I became Alloralla and started to sing. One of the chants I learned to use with {Elven Spellsong} was the one we elves used to shape wood. Not only it is shaped but also reinforced and even restored wood. It worked better with living wood but it also affected deadwood.

The wood knitted, bonded, straightened. The pillars became as hard as steel. The roof shingles grew and formed grooves to fit over one another and make sure no rainwater would run drip inside the house.

Hours later, my MP and SP were spent. I was halfway done. That much energy would take a whole day to regenerate. I turned into Silverstreak, set my bed, and went to sleep with Nenandil. I would take three more days to fix the house, fitting the upper floor to an Eleon's size, and recovering MP,

I went to the guild. I had agreed to meet Karina and Marta to go fetch my supplies. After committing the path to mind and with my [Cartographer] Skills, I didn't get lost anymore. I didn't have a minimap but with my detection perks and these Skills I could get by.

I was being watched by some unsavory elements. Maybe I should wander into the wrong - for them - alley again.

At the guild, someone shouts my name, "Rosie, over here!" It's the overexcited thrillseeker called Karina.

I approach the direction of her voice until I get close enough to see her in my {Skin SIght}. I started to use a more open style of clothing to let more of that perception come out.

"Karina. I have one thing to tell you," I say with a grave voice. Here comes another off the bucket list.

"What is wrong?"

Summoning my best night elf demon hunter impression, I tell her, "I'm blind, not deaf."

A hand comes for my butt and I swat it away, delivering a small electrical jolt. I turn to face the joker that's shaking his hand. "Next time, the hand comes off."

Karina cackles maniacally. "Suits you!"

"Should we go?" Marta asks. From the mood, I think I earned more than my share of glares.

"Yes, let's. I need to pick up the toolkits and some stock metal to work with."

We walk out and go back to the crafter's district. Along the way, Marta hires a handcart with two strong men to load and unload the materials. We picked up the tools from the smithy run by master Steelbender. I also placed a recurring order for the number of crystals and metals I thought I'd be using over a week.

I took the wagon home and let the workers unload the boxes in the living room. I paid them and they left, leaving me and the girls alone. They were looking around, astonished.

"What a lovely house you have here," Karina said.

"It's funny how the wooden boards aren't there. The wood seems seamless," Marta added.

The rascals were coordinating their speech.

"Yes, the house was supposed to be haunted, but it looks brand new," Karina continued.

 "And the worksmanship, it looks elven!" Marta gushed to deliver the punchline.

"Now that we are alone here, Ms. Too-Many-Elven-Secrets, care to explain?" Karina moved to box me.

I overdid, didn't I?