The meeting was long and drawn out. There were a lot of formalities and pointless pleasantries. In a way, it felt almost like watching one of those political dramas about lords and ladies. Apparently, Rutigan had pushed the human situation to be the last thing on their schedule. It was an attempt to show them how they worked as a society and what they could expect from the kingdom. However, that backfired. Hera and Blue only felt that this was worse than the outside world politics, or at least in the same level of excessive red tape. Every single subject brought up came with an extensive explanation on why that was useful or needed. Hera got bored easily and checked everyone's level. Rutigan was level 43, and Ogryn was level 75. Unfortunately, the meeting was just for the high council and the humans, so the ring Hera was wearing wouldn't do a thing.

Lural, the duke of agriculture, was level 54 and was short even by dwarven standards. He wore brown overalls and had a long ginger beard. He explained his plans to change part of the crops from lettuce to beets. Since there was no sunlight here, it took much longer for them to grow. Just to say that he took over 30 minutes. Going on a lengthy explanation about each and every crop that was currently on the field and the benefits that each type of vegetable could give. By the looks of it, it wasn't something they were doing just because of the humans. It was how those meetings usually went.

Fethy, the duchess of culture, rambled on and on about how the creations were brought up to her were amazing, revolutionary, progressive, or some combination of the three. She would talk about a piece but trail off to another without finishing a thought. A few times, she pulled up a painting or a dress and showed them around, but it seemed more like she was on a walkway showing off her clothes. To her credit, it was a gorgeous cream ball gown with no sleeves and some embroidery in the chest, but her twirls and bows were just unnecessary. She made a point of showing it closer to the humans with a large smile. Clearly proud of what she was showing off. Fethy was level 25.

The chief shaman was level 46 and called Telanz. His report was much more straightforward. He told them how their stock of herbs and fungi for potions and salves required resupply, and how many people got hurt during the last month. Telanz also added that this was only for the shamans he was responsible for. He couldn't say the numbers for Risli and what the humans used. He was mostly bald and had a thick curly mustache framing his long goatee.

Naka went on to talk about the meat supplies and the training of the new members of the guard while completely ignoring the humans. The captain was level 67 and the second-youngest member of the council, losing only to Fethy. With the training being the last subject, Rutigan took advantage of that to change the subject.

"In the matter of training. How do you all feel about having our new guests training along with the guard?"

"My liege. I don't think this is a good idea. They already proved to be willing to harm you," Naka protested.

"I agree my king. Despite being humans, they show no manners and even check our levels without our consent," Telanz added, giving Hera a stern look.

"My friends, we cannot judge them for being on edge. Put yourself in their place. You are alone in a city with thousands of members of a different race. It is expected to be wary. Weston himself took a few months before he truly felt comfortable here."

"They still threatened you," Naka replied.

"You threatened them first. Wouldn't you do the same?" Rutigan asked.

Naka looked away. She knew the king was right.

"And Telanz, my old friend. They are level 7. Can you blame them for assessing the situation? I'm sure any ideas they had to harm us went out of the window when they saw our levels," Rutigan turned towards the humans, "Still before we talk about anything, let me ask. What do you want to do?"

The entire room stared at the two guests. They never considered doing anything against the dwarves, but Hera understood that it was another warning. She and Blue had discussed what they wanted to do during the week. Blue was worried about talking with the council. Being in front of power figures was intimidating, and she could say something that would offend them or create a bad situation for them. What happened with Tom still cast a shadow on her mind. That left Hera to talk to the council, to her dismay.

Hera took a deep breath and turned to Telanz, "First of all, I apologize for being rude. It doesn't justify it, but I just wanted to know if we had any chance against you if we became targets. What we want to do is go back home. It's not that we don't think this is a nice place, but we have friends and family waiting for us," she turned to Rutigan, "We want to train, level up, and fight the sky ruler so we can search the mountain for some way to go back. And if you are worried that we might do something, training with us is a great way to know our strength. Not that any of you should be concerned about it," Hera finished speaking while staring at Naka. Both of them knew that the threat made by Hera was meaningless. There was no way that a level 7 could be faster than a level 67.

The captain kept staring at them for a long time before scoffing, "Fine, they can join the hunt group. I'll still keep an eye on them, though."

"Shouldn't we ask about the doorway?" Blue whispered.

Hera nodded and turned back to Rutigan, "Can we talk about that subject here?"

"Which one?"

"The one we talked about on the first day. When your counselor did the thing with the staff."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Oh, yes, you can. The doorway is something everyone in this room knows about. We are the only ones who know about that, and I ask you to keep it that way. Well, we and Risli, but I want to see anyone trying to keep something from her," Rutigan chuckled, but Hera noticed Telanz's expression changing at the mention of the shaman.

"Right, can we look at it? We've seen a few different doorways. Maybe we can get a different point of view," Hera suggested.

"In the future, we can arrange that, but you will be blinded not to know its actual location. I may trust you, but letting you know how to access our kingdom's only secret is too much of a leap. I hope you understand," Rutigan replied.

Blue frowned, but Hera nodded, "Baby steps, we hope you can trust us more in the future and that we can trust you more too."

Rutigan opened a large smile, "Exactly. Trust should go both ways. Now, for the next order of business. Ogryn?"

The old dwarf nodded, "Of course. I am also responsible for the housing of our people. When someone wishes to move to a different place or remodel, they all have to come to me. Since that is my responsibility, I was also in charge of setting up a place for you to live. Even Risli's infirmary is made so humans would fit. Other houses don't have the same dimensions, so we had to build a new one."

"You built a house for us?" Blue gasped.

"We did. We can't leave you two sleeping in an infirmary. If we have any emergencies or someone has a disease that can start spreading, we might have problems," Rutigan said.

"Precisely. Not to mention my workers were all itching to build a new house. It's been a few years since the last one. The house is located in a small area between here and Risli's hut. You would technically be Weston's neighbor, but no one uses his house these days," Ogryn smiled.

"We will show it to you after the meeting. I'll also have a few guards to work as your escorts and explain anything you want to know about our society or life here," Rutigan added.

"Our tailors are also very excited about the idea of making clothes for you two. Even if you use armor, it is good to have some casual clothes. We just need to take some measurements, and it would be great if we do it before we leave." Fethy said.

"We are spending so many resources with humans who have yet to prove themselves. How can we do so much for them when they have yet to do a single thing for us?" Telanz asked.

"That is precisely what we are discussing here, Telanz," Rutigal turned to Hera and Blue, "So you want to go home. Can we leave you with Naka to train and fight the sky ruler?"

Hera and Blue nodded. They had already decided to do whatever it took to go back home. Naka begrudgingly agreed to have them as part of her guard. That way, she could train the humans and understand their strengths. At the same time, they could level up in a dungeon called the Wooly Plains. They would discuss more about that later, but it was a place where they could hunt various kinds of sheep and receive their meat as drops. However, that was something only for the next day. For now, Fethy called a couple of tailors to take the girls measurements so the other dwarves could start making some garments for them.

"If you don't mind. I have a request," Hera said to Fethy as they were being measured.

"Of course. Just say the word, my dear."

"Don't make any dresses for me. I hate wearing those things. Skirts too. Even if they are as beautiful as the one you are wearing," Hera thought it was better to compliment the dwarf's dress to lessen the blow. Fethy was clearly very interested in tailoring.

Fethy stopped and stared at the explorer with an expression of pure shock. After around a minute of uncomfortable silence, she sighed, "I understand. We shall have tunics, pants, and easy-to-move clothes for you, Lady Hera. How about you, Lady Blue?"

"Oh, I want dresses, but if possible, things that are easy to move in and sturdy. I'm a brawler, so if the dress is too fragile, it will rip easily. And you don't have to call me lady. Just Blue is fine."

That seemed to perk up Fethy a bit, but she only regained her excitement when the girls asked about underwear. They were both wearing sports bras, but Blue had an open tab for some lingerie that she wanted to buy that was still saved in the tablet's cache. Luckily, that was enough to make Fethy focus on something else. Her constant stare made Hera uncomfortable. Not so much for being sized up, but because tailor-made clothes are supposed to be very expensive. With Fethy's presence, it was almost like receiving clothes handmade by a well know designer. Although, to be fair, she probably could afford it now.

After getting all their measurements taken, the two were led to what it would be their new house. It was a single-floor building, but it was very tall. The walls outside were made of grey stone, and even the black stone door was massive. Hera could lift Blue on her shoulders and still enter without a problem. The house itself had a single floor with a kitchen, a living room, and a large bathroom with a round stone tub in the middle of it. There were several magic rocks spread around that could be activated by using mana. Most people had to touch them to trigger, but some could do that from far away. There was a small stone oven that used a crystal to heat up any food, but no fridge. When asking about it, the best they could muster was to make a stone box and have someone create ice for them. That would need to be refilled daily, and it would be a lot of work to clean the box properly every time. Blue and Hera agreed that it was best for them to figure out an ice spell on their own if they wanted to have cold drinks. The furniture was all made of stone, but the place was cozy despite the high ceilings.

To the right there were two doors leading to their bedrooms. There was a wardrobe, a nightstand and small stone desk. Their beds were surprisingly soft. It was almost like laying down in a cloud. According to Naka, the materials came from the dungeon. There was a rare creature in there that could drop something called cloud wool. It was incredibly soft, and depending on the crafter, they could even receive benefits from sleeping in those beds. Sadly, the material was so rare, and the success rate of those benefits was so low that only a handful of those beds existed. Making the beds for them cleared out the stock. Hera felt guilty for receiving such a fantastic thing before the people who lived there, but everyone already had a cloud wool bed and pillow. The material was used only in attempts to create a mattress that could buff someone. After the tour and the entire explanation, Rutigan and the high council left the humans at their home. There was a welcome basket with some vegetables, meat, pastries, and some water and wine at the kitchen table, enough to last for the rest of the day.

Blue sat down by the table, sighing and opening the wine, "They actually made a house for us. We are really stuck here, aren't we?"

"Yeah…" Hera was still looking around the house.

Blue poured two glasses and stared at them for a while, "Hey, Hera?"

"Yeah?"

"Am I going to see my family again?" Blue's voice cracked.

Hera turned around and saw the tears coming out of Blue's eyes. She quickly rushed towards her, holding the controller in her arms. They've been fighting for so long that she had forgotten that Blue was still 22. She was barely an adult.

"You will. I promise," Hera wanted to comfort her friend, but they both knew that those words could be a lie. They just stood there, in this strange grey house, far away from their friends and family, with Blue's crying echoing in the stone.