Zephyr stomped her foot, threw up her hands and half yelled, "Will you just go have some fun already. I have this handled."

Suzette looked unsure, "I don't doubt you. It's just that we've had quite a few new adventurers come into town, and some other odd people. I'd feel terrible if a fight broke out or something like that."

Zephyr filled two large flagons of Blud Dark and handed them over to a smiling barbarian and a duelist in grey, "That's silly. I have 5-10 workers in here at any one time who would help out, and I am an accomplished dungeon delver and Battle Alchemist. And because you worry so much, my mother and father decided to come over for a glass of wine for no reason what-so-ever." She glared at Suzette, then at her mother in the back of the tavern who took the opportunity to wave at her.

Suzette got the hint, "Well then, I'll just be heading out. Hopefully be back by sunrise. Ozzy said we'd be out all night."

"Well, best you get an early start then. Shoo, I've got this."

Suzette headed out the door and Zephyr got back to taking care of her customers. Business was good at the tavern and Suzette was relying on her more and more to help out. The hardest part of the job was getting Suzette to leave. It was easier when she'd just owned part of the tavern. Now though, as sole owner, Suzette was determined to make the tavern profitable, and stay ahead of any problems that might creep up.

One problem showed up in the form of a very upset Professor of a soon-to-be-rebuilt college. Johannes came down from the second-floor stairway and looked quite upset. Seeing Zephyr behind the bar and not Suzette he tried to rearrange his face into something of a smile, only half succeeding.

"Good evening young lady. I find myself in something of a bad position and need to speak to Miss Suzette. Where might I find her?"

The last thing Zephyr was going to do was ruin Suzettes evening by calling her back to the tavern, or telling someone where she was headed, "I'm sorry sir, but she is out for the night. How can I help you?"

Johannes began wringing his hands, "I'm sorry, but that simply won't do. I've just received word and...well, that's neither here nor there until it gets here. Suffice to say I need to speak to her about my room and other matters."

Zephyr took a deep breath and tried to make eye contact. The old guy seemed harmless, just worried. She spoke in a firm voice and repeated some of her words. "Miss Suzette is out tonight sir. Out with Mr. Ozzy. I believe they had plans for a picnic. She won't be back until dawn."

"But...please sir, it's all right. Why don't you tell me the problem, and I'll see if I can fix it. How's that? If I can't, then you've lost nothing."

Johannes seemed to calm a bit, "Very well, may we speak privately upstairs? I can show you easier than explain." Zephyr signaled to her father to come to the bar, happy that he was there but hating that it did turn out she needed some help.

Johannes paused on the second floor, "I have been staying in the end room, a lovely room, and while I hated to leave it, I felt it best to relocate to the city. By my calculations the amount of money I gave Suzette ran through today. I really should have removed my items by now, but got distracted by what I found on the third floor. Are you familiar with the rooms there? Simply astonishing to find them in an establishment in such a small town, but then again, I'm finding this town to be more and more interesting."

He led the way up to the third floor and down to one of the rooms that Zephyr had never looked into. Johannes opened the door, "Do you see? I've heard that you dabble a bit in the alchemical studies yourself. I'm sure you can see why I was totally astonished to find such a wonderful laboratory just sitting here, totally unused!"

"Do you know if Miss Suzette was saving it for some reason? Is it already rented out? I know she also dabbles a bit, but it seems her bent is more hermetical in nature and I was under the assumption that she was taking instruction from your father. Look at these wonderful counters! You could drop hydra venom on them and not stain the metal! The stone floor is totally inert and proof against spills, and it seems to have both floor and ceiling drains to deal with unwanted problems."

"In short, I have two problems. I need to reserve my room for a much longer stay, and I need to speak to her about making use of this laboratory for small experiments while I'm here. I'm even willing to share space if she has things scheduled."

"And I need to do this before...well, before certain people arrive tonight and try to reserve these rooms out from under me!" Johannes seemed to have run out of things to say, and stood looking at Zephyr while trying to slow his breathing. His huge, gnarled hands clenched and unclenched like a dwarven miner who hadn't had a beer in a week.

Zephyr gave him a few seconds, "That seems to be three problems, actually. But solving the first two actually solves the last."

Johannes nodded, agreeing with her.

Zephyr continued, "I'm not sure how much Suzette would be using this room, but it is very nice. For now, let's say that you could make use of the room at least half of the time, would that work for you?"

Johannes nodded. "I could easily make do. I'd also offer to aid her in her experiments. Test tube washing, cleaning up, and other mundane things that would speed her experiments to give me a bit more time if needed."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Zephyr considered that, or at least, acted like she did, "That's a good point. And I might actually be available to do similar jobs if not working downstairs."

Johannes liked that idea, "Oh, a lab assistant. Yes, that would be ideal. Would you require pay in gold, or instruction. I like to be modest, but I'm sure you know my position at the college...well, what my position will be when we have a college."

"Instruction would be fine please. I'm sure I can learn quite a bit while helping out," And, she thought, get to do experiments without her father leaning over her shoulder. He meant well, but sometimes she just wanted to be able to experiment a little without him watching.

She continued speaking, Johannes nervously looking at the lengthening shadows, "So, we can agree on the use of this room, and just need to sort out the pricing. Would paying a sum equal to what you pay for your room on the second-floor work? This is all up to Suzette of course, but I know you'd like to have an agreement in place tonight."

"Yes, yes! Totally agreeable. What would you like the price to be for that splendid little room downstairs? Let's consider a term of a year, with the possibility of renewal."

Zephyr had no idea what he had paid, but Suzette had been happy with the sum. Very happy.

"How about this? Take the amount you paid for one week, and multiply that by fifty to give us a yearly sum. Then pay an equal sum for the lab. Would that work for you?"

Johannes seemed relieved. "Yes! Spendid! I must say that I like this solution and my pardon for doubting you downstairs. I'll let Miss Suzette know how happy I am with how you worked things out, especially when you had to calm my nerves. But…shouldn't we write this all up? And arrange payment?"

There was a commotion outside. Shouting and the sounds of many horses entering town. Johannes found a room with a window, "OH DRAT! Here already!" He turned in a panic to Zephyr.

Zephyr stuck out her hand, "Shake on the deal." Johannes took her hand and shook it, his own huge paw many times the size of hers, "Are you sure this will suffice?" He seemed uncertain.

Zephyr shrugged, "Good enough for tonight. My daddy says if you can't trust a man's word, why deal with him at all. And Suzette likes you."

Johannes considered that, "Well enough, we will let Miss Suzette iron out the details tomorrow and consider the deal to be done. Let me pay you to add assurance of my intentions." Zephyr followed him down to his room where the old alchemist gave her a large sack of coins. Zephyr immediately took it up to Suzettes quarters and hid it under a pillow on the bed.

A sack of gold for two rooms! She was going to ask for a raise after tonight. She ran back downstairs to the bar and got behind it. She poured a beer for Johannes and her father, on the house, and suggested they grab an empty table before the crowd came in from the stables.

Within a minute, the door opened, and several strangers came in. All were dressed similarly to Johannes in long robes of a faded grey, tied with a belt of braided cords. But that was where any resemblance ended.

The one in the lead was barely four foot tall and so fat, he was nearly round. Volminous had grown lazy in the last century and taken up cooking.

He claimed that the difference between a potion using monster parts and a good meal was just a matter of the spices. Several of his guests over the years had to agree after they went through the strangest transformations after eating his culinary experiments. When he got too fat to fit through a door, he imbibed what others might consider a failed experiment. The potion was supposed to cure baldness, but it did so at the cost of the rest of the body. The rotund professor became thin as a rail and gained a glorious set of golden locks that would make Rapunzel jealous. There were rumored to be other side effects that kept him from selling this potion to other fat, balding men. He could have made a fortune. He was due for another dose soon. Only 3 lonely hairs adorned his otherwise bald head, and going through most doors was a squeeze.

The next two through the door were tall, and thin as rails. They also were identical enough to be twins. Professor Tommaso had sought to create the perfect lab assistant, and instead created a perfect twin. No one, not even Tommaso, knew which of them was the original. They were never seen apart from each other. Seeing Johannes, they waved to him and headed to the bar for a pair of flagons.

The last was a woman. What Titania lacked for in size, she made up for in hair. She was only five foot tall, and some of that was the heels on her boots. Her hair was bright red and thick, done up in braids adorned with the skulls of small animals. Her locks cascaded down her back to her knees, ending in small bells. A good-sized, single-bladed axe was shoved through her belt. Her sharp eyes scanned the room, coming to rest upon Johannes in the back of the tavern. Her voice boomed out across the room

"Already here, are you, Johannes?!

"Impolite of you, heading out in the middle of the night to get here first. Impolite, I say!"

"Girl, bring me a bucket of that swill Johnnyboy is drinking and you better have a room left with a hard mattress for my aged bones."