Chapter 22

The little fox cub lay on its pillow and slept soundly. The involuntary adventure seemed to have exhausted it. Although it must have woken up briefly in the meantime. Lord Mitten had no other explanation for the nibbled scroll between the young vixen's paws.

One less scroll to sell, by the looks of it.

Lord Mitten decided to let the cub sleep on and let a part of his consciousness keep an eye on the vixen.

A creaking sound made him look up.

Kryll stood in the doorway and let his eyes wander around the room. Finally, he looked at Lord Mitten.

“Uhhh, soooo…” he began.

“So you don't have a problem with the state of the building, master?” he finally asked.

Lord Mitten looked at him questioningly.

“The state of the building?”

“Yes, uh. The dirt everywhere, the walls, …” said Kryll, who didn't seem to know where to put his hands. Finally, he let them disappear behind his back.

“Oh, I do,” replied Lord Mitten. “The condition is completely inadequate.”

“Huh?” Kryll looked at him with wide eyes.

“As I said before. The most important thing is a good basic structure. Who wants to buy a house only to have to tear it down afterwards? Nobody!” continued Lord Mitten.

He wrinkled his nose at the thought.

“And that's what this house has – a good basic structure. The rest are decorative repairs.”

His underling looked at him in silence while he seemed to be processing what his master had just said. Lord Mitten could practically see him thinking.

A most interesting specimen of a human, he thought once more. He would have his fun watching the young man.

“What exactly are decorative repairs to you, master?” Kryll finally asked.

That was what he had been thinking about for so long?

“The usual, Kryll. Refinishing floors, walls and ceilings, new furniture and possibly moving a wall or two. In other words, all the work needed to make it look decorative in the end. Hence the name - decorative repairs,” Lord Mitten readily explained.

After all, young beings who were eager for knowledge should be supported. Perhaps they would then make better decisions than the previous generation.

How wonderful that Kryll seems to be one of those people, Lord Mitten thought with satisfaction.

“If anything is unclear to you in the future, feel free to ask,” he offered his once again silent subordinate. A very generous offer, he thought; not everyone could claim to have been instructed by an Ancient Being.

“Thank you,” Kryll replied, smiling hesitantly.

After a brief pause, he said, “Well, it may be that the money already paid for these decorative repairs isn't quite enough. Is that a problem?”

Lord Mitten tilted his head to one side and, looking at the nervous boy, decided to gift him a second lesson.

“Let me tell you something, Kryll. Problems that can be solved with money are not real problems. Real problems take time, energy and cannot be delegated. This —,” he let his gaze wander around the room, then focused on Kryll again, "is not a real problem.”

Kryll again seemed to take a while to process what he had said.

“That means you're rich?” he finally asked.

“That indeed means I am rich,” Lord Mitten answered him, nodding.

A tension that he had not consciously noticed in the young man before seemed to fall away from him.

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“All right, master!” said Kryll, grinning at him.

“Then I'll take care of the doll now and get us something to eat. Shall I buy you some wild boar stew again?”

Lord Mitten thought about it for a moment. Yes, wild boar stew sounded like an excellent idea, his stomach decided.

He nodded to Kryll. “Yes, please. I will have a look around in the meantime.”

Kryll disappeared out of the door and a little later he heard the front door slam shut.

Lord Mitten thought about how he wanted to proceed while he lifted his white paw to clean it. Only to stop abruptly at the dusty sight of it.

Blegh.

Not acceptable, he thought in disgust.

The dirt had to go.

And now. He would not be able to live in this filth until the decorative work was completed, he decided.

Sighing, Lord Mitten came to the realization that once again his cleaning skills were needed. At least this time it would be his property he would be cleaning.

After one last dissatisfied glance at the paw, he lowered it again and focused on the magical energy carefully locked in his body. Slowly, he let it flow out of him and flood the building. Like a leisurely golden river, it first spread out in the same room, then split in the corridor and filled the remaining rooms on the first floor and second floor.

Ah, so this is what it looks like upstairs, Lord Mitten thought briefly as he received feedback through his golden link about every room, every wall, every object down to the smallest speck of dust.

Too bad.

It was an art to still be able to be surprised as a powerful being. An art that Lord Mitten indulged in. After all, the alternative would be a terribly predictable life. And who wanted that?

Nobody!

So he often consciously limited his senses in order to enjoy life in its entirety with all its unpredictability and surprises.

Lord Mitten had been looking forward to exploring the second floor, but the desire for cleanliness had gained the upper hand.

It is what it is, he thought and refocused.

Lord Mitten felt the deep connection to the building. The massive roof beams weighed heavily in his consciousness - dark wood with cracks that had outlived its original inhabitants. Drops of water that collected in some places in the wall echoed inside him and the slight gust of wind that blew through a broken window caused waves in his inner sea.

He concentrated on dust particles, damp patches and existing dirt. On everything that had accumulated over time and settled on or soaked the floor, walls, objects and ceiling of the house.

Away with you, thought Lord Mitten as he removed the dirt particles and water droplets from their original location with his telekinetic powers and moved them towards the salesroom. He only left the dirt on the windows facing the street. The fact that it was currently impossible to see in from outside allowed him to operate undisturbed and unobserved in the building. And that suited him very well.

A short moment later, dirt from all corners of the house gathered in a heap in the middle of the salesroom - a very large heap.

How fitting that Kryll was already figuring out how to dispose of trash in Minthral, Lord Mitten thought. The knowledge would help him when he returned to take on the next assignment.

He let his magical energy return to his body and looked around his future office with satisfaction. The wooden floor shone in a warm dark brown, with only the occasional scratch marring the overall picture. The wall didn't seem to have been painted well in the first place, the cleaning had only improved the appearance to a limited extent.

Lord Mitten shrugged his shoulders. That was what the decorative repairs were for. With a smile on his lips, he looked at his white and now impeccably clean paw, which he had of course also cleaned. He began to lick it carefully and then cleaned his whole body thoroughly.

Cleanliness was a virtue. And he was, without a doubt, a virtuous being.

The virtue of balance also played an important role in Lord Mittens life. And so he decided that after all the hard work, it was time for his first nap in the new property.

*****

Some time later, he was woken up by the rays of the setting evening sun shining through a window onto his face.

After yawning heartily, he sat up leisurely and cleaned his paw.

How do I want to furnish my store? Lord Mitten asked himself.

He quickly decided that he would unashamedly use Glacial Doom's interior design ideas as inspiration. After all, the highest compliment you could pay someone was to copy their achievements and ideas.

I need a chandelier, Lord Mitten thought.

And dark brown shelving walls that go up to the ceiling. The floor can stay, he decided, glancing at it. But it will have to be sanded down. In his mind's eye, the run-down building was transformed into an elegant store in which warm, dark tones set the tone and created a cozy ambience. The walls and parts of the façade shone in a mix of black and dark pine green and heavy leather armchairs served as seating next to the massive shelves.

It was time to not only mentally record the To Do list, but to write it down for his underling, Lord Mitten decided. He reached for a loose sheet of paper in his pocket dimension and a pen.

As he did so, he suddenly realized that the movements in his space had not gone unnoticed.

Two blue beady eyes stared at him curiously from a pillow.

Oh, hello. Did you sleep well? Lord Mitten asked the fox cub telepathically.

MHmhmm. The young vixen nodded shyly and hid behind her bushy tail.

Very good. Are you hungry?

Mhmhh! The head became visible again and the two eyes looked at him expectantly.

Understandable. Lord Mitten nodded to her encouragingly.

Then let me get you out of my pocket dimension. My underling will be back soon and will bring us something to eat.

Mentally, he reached for the pillow and its fluffy content and let both materialize on the floor in front of him.

Welcome to my house, little creature, he greeted the little monster child and smiled at it.

He-Hello, it replied.

F-food? it asked, searching the room with its eyes and finally focusing on the door.

“Huh?!” someone called from the salesroom.

Kryll was back.