Amelia was excited today as the housekeeping cart she had been working on helping the local Dungeon Master, Veronica, obtain was finally ready. It had taken longer than she had expected to get everything prepared, but her party members had been encouraging and understanding the entire time. In fact, they had even willingly accepted an escort quest without pay to help her out.

You see, the leader of the carpenter's workshop, Juniper Evergreen, had offered to make the wooden elements of the housekeeping cart in exchange for her party escorting her team through the dungeon while they harvested more wood. They didn't quite need the wood yet, that was obvious by the piles of lumber they had, but Amelia was hardly going to argue on the matter. She wanted to return Veronica's kindness for returning her keepsake and a single day without pay was hardly a big deal in the long run.

As for the technical elements of the housekeeping cart, that was being handled by master blacksmith Rulvion. The base of the cart was being made from dungeon wood to keep it light and reinforced enough to withstand being used for years to come. Meanwhile, things like the wheels and axle as well as figuring out all of the hinges on the cart were left to the blacksmith workshop.

There were other carts that the two workshops had worked on before and that were even for sale on the market, but no one had seen a design quite like the one Veronica had drawn up. If it weren't for the fact that they all wanted to keep the local Dungeon Master happy, they likely would have wanted far more compensation than they had asked for. It was actually because everyone had a great deal for Dungeon Masters that Rulvion had even agreed to supply the materials and handle the work himself in exchange for her putting a good word in with Veronica.

You see, Dungeon Masters were known for their long lifespans and their ability to remember people. If someone upset a Dungeon Master, they not only risked their own lives being lost in the dungeon, but also everyone who shared the same name and features. Sometimes the entire local population would suffer for it as the dungeon grew more dangerous and the death rate rapidly increased. [Monster] stampedes could also be initiated by a Dungeon Master and could end up happening frequently enough that the dungeon would no longer be safe for anyone to enter.

Luckily, contracted [Monsters] could only travel two floors away from where they were assigned so only the first and second floor ones could leave the dungeon. Since they always tended to be fairly weak, compared to what could be found deeper in the dungeon, it was unlikely there would be too much issue outside the dungeon. Regardless, no one wanted a Dungeon Master to think poorly of them.

There was also the opposite end of the spectrum as well. If a Dungeon Master liked you, it was possible you and your kin would be treated more favorably. Craftsmen might be able to collect resources without having to worry about dying to the [Monsters] that guarded the dungeon. Other times the Dungeon Master would offer special gifts or share technology with them that could make them rich. All sorts of possibilities existed and it truly was seen as an opportunity that couldn't be missed.

"Ah! Miss Amelia, you're finally here! Just give me a moment and I'll bring the cart out for you."

Rulvion said. She merely smiled in acknowledgement as she patiently waited. It didn't take long before he came out pushing the cart, which stood at a height that was comical compared to his own short stature. One of the questions she had had to answer when getting the cart made was what sort of creature the Dungeon Master most resembled so the cart could be made accordingly. Since Veronica appeared to be human with a similar stature, they had made the dimensions of the cart accordingly, which meant it wasn't as easy for a dwarf, like Rulvion, to push it around.

"Thank you! Well, I better get going. I don't want to make Mistress Veronica wait any longer than necessary."

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Rulvion grunted in response, fiddling with something as he called out behind her

"Don't forget to mention my role in making the cart! I worked quite hard on it, you know!"

Amelia said nothing in response as she exited the shop. She was joined by her party members outside who had volunteered to escort her to the dungeon. The last thing she needed was to have the cart damaged if anything happened. It was already difficult enough to push the metal wheels across the rough cobblestone of the street, much less how difficult it would be to traverse the narrow land bridge that leads to the dungeon.

When Amelia arrived at the dungeon, Veronica was surprised to see her pushing a cart that resembled the one she had drawn up blueprints for. It didn't quite look like the modern-day ones, which were made from plastic and, usually, black in color. This one was mostly brown with a wooden body and either iron or steel bits here and there. The young girl pushing the cart seemed to be out of breath and embarrassed as she presented the cart to her, two male adventurers standing a bit back from them.

"Sorry it took me so long to get back to you! I've been busy and the workshop leaders weren't quite sure how well they'd be able to make the cart since it was a new design they had never tried out before. So, what do you think?"

Veronica still wasn't sure how to feel about everything. She had already given up on getting any help from Amelia and had thought she'd have to find another way. The housekeeping cart looked quite nice, though. It had a lower area with shelving for storing things, a middle section with a small cubby hole to stock things like toilet paper, and the top-most portion with a divided area for carrying towels and cleaning supplies. The front-most portion of the cart had a panel that could be lifted up to place a bag into for holding dirty cloths, the side had areas for slotting in a broom and a dustpan with a handle, and the very front had an area for her to place a mop and bucket. It was just the frame, she'd have to make her own mop, bucket, broom, dustpan, and everything else to fill the cart with, but it was still exactly what she had wanted.

"Everything looks fine to me. They did a good job of following my blueprints, as rough as they were. I'm surprised they decided to go with steel for the metal, surely bronze would have been cheaper?"

Amelia seemed nervous, but just as bubbly as ever as she replied

"Ah, yes, well, everyone was eager to make you a high-quality product. That's dungeon wood too, actually. You don't have to worry about making an exchange in return for the cart either. My party members, Coryas and Elwin, actually helped me escort some people from the carpenter's workshop to help cover the costs there. Juniper Evergreen was really quite nice about the whole thing. The master blacksmith, Rulvion, also worked quite hard on everything. He was really impressed by your design, we don't have anything like it."

Veronica raised an eyebrow in surprise. She wasn't being expected to pay them anything in return? That certainly made the wait and lack of communication seem like a much smaller deal when she took that into consideration. Feeling generous, she replied

"Well, he is free to use my blueprint and make more carts. I can make copies of this one, so their work will live on for as long as my dungeon does. I hardly mind if they want to recoup some of their costs by selling the cart to other businesses. They may need to design other cleaning supplies, though, if they're going to make use of it."

That piqued Amelia's curiosity, so she asked

"How is the cart used exactly?"

Veronica took her time, explaining each element she planned to add to the cart and what purpose it would serve. When she finished speaking, the young girl replied

"Oh! It sounds like you really know what you're doing. Are you really going to keep doing the 'housekeeping' yourself, though? That doesn't really seem like something someone like you should have to do, Mistress Veronica."

Wrinkling her nose up in discomfort, she replied

"Don't call me that. I'd prefer to be called Lady Veronica or something similar. It just sounds wrong hearing something as stuffy as 'madam' or as weird as 'mistress' attached to my name."

"Yes, Lady Veronica! I'll make sure to inform everyone at the guild right away!"

With that the erratic young woman ran off with her two party members in tow.