Cody hummed a quiet tune while he walked towards the orphanage, as the building rose in front of him he smiled, it already looked better than when he'd previously been by. he knocked on the door and not much later Ruby answered. "Oh, hello Cody. Come in." She opened the door with a smile as she brushed her red bangs from her eyes and stepped aside so he could come in, the children crowded around his feet.

"You certainly seem more relaxed than last time." Cody noted as he entered, walking into the main room, he sat down on the couch. "Is Maria taking care of you?" He asked casually, Ruby nodded a shy smile on her face as her blue eyes swam with thought.

"Yes, most definitely, she comes by quite often too. The kids love her."

"That's great." Cody replied genuinely.

"Yes, we've even had the budget to replace old and worn appliances and furniture with new ones." She said happily, smiling from ear to ear. "The kids are happy to have new furniture in their rooms, and I'm happy to have a new oven and new dishes."

"That's great, are you planning any renovations?" he asked curiously, she nodded, gesturing for him to come see. Cody got to his feet and followed her towards the back. She showed him a large room with toys and mats, there was a large window in the back that overlooked a backyard.

"This window back here, the insulation has either been rotted away or eaten by something, in the winter this place gets really cold, and through these gaps snow and rain gets in. Cody traced his hand around the windows. There were gaps here and there in between the windows and the wall, gaps big enough to stick his hand through sometimes.

"These are bad." He noted, "When are you planning to do this." he asked, she frowned a bit.

"We are saving the extra money left over from Maria's givings, we'll probably have it patched a few days into winter." She explained, cody frowned.

"I'll talk to Maria, she'll probably give you a little extra to fix this quicker." Cody spoke just as a kid came running over.

"Miss Maria is here!" She exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as she spun around in a circle.

"Hello there Cody, what are you doing here?" Maria's voice reached his ears, as he turned he saw her there playing with the tip of a long strand of her blonde hair. She smiled and those emeralds she had for eyes were trained on the children as they surrounded her.

"Just seeing how they're doing, come over here for a minute." Cody gestured her over and pointed out the bad insulation and gaps.

"Hmmm, I can put some money aside and get a carpenter hired. Don't want this to still be like this when winter comes." She said, she furrowed her brows, her pointer and thumb picked at her top lip.

"Cody." She turned to him, "I need to talk to you, I was going to come find you after I left." She pulled out a bag of coins and added more silver pieces to it, then she handed the bag to Ruby who thanked her. As if on cue, a group of kids burst in led by the young deer beastkin, she'd apparently gone and rounded up the Maria fan club.

"Maria Maria look, I painted my nails. "

"Maria look at my new toy."

"Maria let's have a tea party, I brought all my stuffed animals." The kids crowded around her, she began complementing and talking to them, she winked at him, before gesturing to the door. Not sure what that meant he sighed and headed out.

"Well, Ruby, I guess I'm going to head out. It was nice talking to you." As Cody waved to leave she stopped him. He frowned as she followed him into the next room. "What's up?" He asked as he leaned against the counter.

"I just, wanted to ask about someone that's all. I heard from Maria that she was helped by a girl named Skarlet." She seemed hesitant. Cody nodded and she seemed to muster up courage before asking. "How is she doing? She left the orphanage as soon as she got the chance. I haven't seen her since she seems to avoid me." Cody frowned in response as he was reminded of Skarlet's aversion to social interaction.

"She's doing well, a bit reckless, but still she seems to have found a goal to chase." Cody reassured the girl, ruffling her hair subconsciously. She seemed to be consoled by the action for a moment before pulling away and blushing.

"Thanks, if you see her could you tell her to stop by and say hi." She asked before turning and heading back into the room with Maria and the kids. Cody sighed as he stepped out into the rain. Dang, when did it start raining so hard, I was just at that window. A little while later, Maria opened the door as well, followed by a chorus of "Awes". She stood beside him, underneath the air barrier he'd set up.

"Let's head over to your place." Cody began and started walking only to pause as she grabbed his sleeve.

"Wait, I want you to bring Skarlet too."

"Huh, ok." Cody paused. "Shall we head there together?" She nodded, grabbing his arm. They walked down the street together, though cody felt slightly uncomfortable. Is she coming on to me!? She's like fourteen and I'm almost twenty, she might be ok with this, but I'm not. I only see her as a little cousin, maybe she's just being close like a sister to an older brother. Please dear gods that, I don't believe in, let it be that.

"You ok?" She looked up at him, no blush on her face she looked at him with pure worry and curiosity in those adorable green eyes. He sighed, kicking himself mentally for worrying.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He chuckled, which turned into a laugh.

"What?" She asked, her curiosity making her eyes seem to sparkle.

"Nothing, I just scared myself with an assumption, before realizing it was just that. I just think it's funny." Cody smiled, they arrived at the inn soon after. He held open the door for her, there were several people in the inn eating lunch.

"Afternoon showers eh!" A man called out raising his mug, he looked drunk, Maria nodded to him as they walked past. They headed up the stairs, Skarlet was just stepping out from her room, all geared up. She paused as she saw them, her tail flicked a bit in annoyance or nervousness.

"Hey, we wanted to talk. Do you mind?" Maria asked, holding out her hand. Skarlet hesitated, looking at the hand, her tail tip twitched some more.

"Umh, I was about to go out on a job." She tried to get away with a simple excuse as she looked past them. Cody noticed a look of desperation flash across her face.

"Yeah, but you can put it off right." She asked, taking Skarlet's hand, "I won't hold you until dark, I promise." With that her tail dropped and her eyes settled on Maria before she nodded and accepted her fate.

Skarlet sighed, Cody felt a little bad for her but followed the two girls as they descended the stairs. They all headed back towards Maria's home, They were greeted at the door by Joseph and Clara. Joseph held the door while Clara told them she'd bring some tea.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Cody and Skarlet followed Maria to her office, it had been redecorated, the swords and shield were still above the fireplace though. The curtains and rugs had been exchanged for brighter colored ones. And the curtains were open, the back window had been fixed. Maria didn't go sit down, she instead walked over to the unlit fireplace. She stood in front of it, Cody walked over, Skarlet followed, and sat down in one of the two chairs. Cody stayed standing, not feeling like sitting if she wasn't.

"It's been a month and a half since my father died." She began, she approached the mantel two bags sat there. She pulled them down and approached Skarlet. "For helping when needed and saving my life." She said as she handed Skarlet the bag. She then turned to Cody. "For being my friend, unrelenting protector, and doing it all without expecting any reward." She handed Cody a bag, a bag filled with coins.

At that moment the office doors burst open and a group of butlers and maids came in, carrying a table and three chairs.

"You didn't ha-" Cody began to protest as he weighed the bag in his hand, a look of alarm flashed across his face.

"No, Cody, let me do this please." She replied, pushing the bag, he tried to hand back, away and led them over to the table just as dinner was set up on it. Cody sighed and put the money away before stepping up to pull out a chair for both Maria and Skarlet before sitting himself. Clara moved to stand behind Maria as the maids and butler's dismissed themselves.

"You're such a gentleman today." Maria laughed from her seat, a warm smile settled on her face.

"You're proper nobility now." He told her, winking, she frowned at that. "I was wondering if you have any current plans for your immediately future?"

"Yeah, actually we can talk a bit after dinner." Her smile returned as the food was revealed, Clara poured them each some tea before returning to her spot at Maria's side. "Let's put that aside and eat. I'm trying to reward the friends that got me here." She then lifted her cup and spoke. "To my amazing friends!"

Cody lifted his cup, "To the future of Aguris, and the rebirth of the Macuroll family." he clinked it against Maria's, laughing boisterously, Skarlet timidly clinked her own glass but didn't add to the toast. They began eating, the food was a roasted Demon Chicken. Demon Chickens were quite big, so their legs were about twice as big as a normal chicken.

"This is amazing, who cooked it?" Cody asked as he took a large bite of a leg, causing Maria to laugh. Skarlet was quiet, she ate while not really giving eye contact. But she was smiling softly and seemed to be enjoying the food.

"Where'd all those manners go?" Maria asked, she was eating cleanly for once, acting like proper nobility instead of the greasy adventurer she been playing as for so long. Clara seemed satisfied with her master's new found manners and class.

"You told us that you are treating friends, I don't need to put on my royalty and nobility act around friends." Cody explained as he tore through his meat, there was also buttered bread and vegetable soup that was served alongside the meat.

"Clara cooked it, It's amazing isn't it!" Maria answered his previous question, Cody nodded his mouth full.

"Delicious." He agreed, though it was directed at Clara who blushed, had the urge to hide behind Maria. Skarlet gave a quiet nod towards her before returning to her food quietly, at that moment Maria turned to her causing the girl to flinch lightly before making eye contact for the first time during the meal.

"What commission are you going to do?" She asked, Skarlet paused and set her spoon down.

"Umh, I Umh, I'm just hunting." She explained, her eyes on the soup in front of her. She was lying, her current plans involved the red dragon, she believed she was strong enough to beat it now so that's where she was headed before getting invited. Honestly, this little gathering made her happy, but also frustrated and sad. I shouldn't be experiencing this, I shouldn't associate with them. I'm bad luck, and I'll give it to them.

"Are we friends?" Maria asked finally getting Skarlet to break eye contact. Skarlet nodded causing Maria to smile. "You can head on that commission if you want, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Maria offered, she whispered into Clara's ear as Skarlet got up. Maria also stood up and approached her, before Skarlet could refuse she was hugged as Maria quietly told her to take care of herself. Skarlet reluctantly patted the girl on the head as she nodded in affirmation as Maria stepped away.

"Thank you for coming, Skarlet, and if you ever need a favor, I owe you my life ask anytime." She thanked her by giving a bow, when she finished Clara was handing Skarlet a to-go bag, with three pieces of bread and several large slices of meat. There were also two leather flasks, one with some soup and the other with some wine.

"We were gonna drink later." Maria explained, Skarlet waved bye as she stepped through the office doors. Cody and Maria got back to eating and conversing.

"About your earlier question. I'm planning to start a sympathizing campaign here in Aguris, I wanna create an atmosphere of comraderie between the human races and the beast races. I want to use Aguris as a staging ground to build support for the complete removal of slavery and I'd like to crush discrimination against Lithians and Beastkin." Maria explained after taking a sip of wine, she swirled it around the glass with a look of anticipation on her face.

"I definitely support you, and I think Aguris is a great place to start. A majority of the people here already recognize the benefits that the other races bring. So they're already treated far better here, it would be as simple as pulling them into higher positions. Right now they are simply coveted for their capabilities as adventurers, however if you encourage them to own business or get jobs in the guild then they will be a more integrated part of your city. This will increase the contact between them and non adventurers, and as they do services for the community the opinion of them will rise." Cody spoke his thoughts out loud, the whole time he held the leg that he had yet to finish up as he had been mid bite when he began talking. "Though I suggest you create relationships with Otalos and Talik, didn't the Lord of Otalos come visit you recently?"

"Ah! Yes, he heard of my father's death and came to greet me. He and my father were business partners so we had to talk out a new deal." Maria explained.

"Was he upset about the ended relationship between you and the black market?" Cody asked, leaning forward slightly as he finally put his food down.

"Em, actually he didn't seem to be aware. He was only a surface level partner with my father, he didn't ever check whether they were official or black market. After I explained the situation he agreed to work with me to make sure the slaves bought and sold are official and not forced or illegal." Maria explained, she smiled a bit before adding. "He was around my age, seemed like a good kid."

"Develope that relationship, but don't let him know your end goal as it will be the demolition of his main business." Cody suggested along with a warning before taking another bite of his food. "The Lord of Talik, will likely be much harder to get in contact with. He's old like your father was, he stays to himself and is the one in control of the bordertown. He has a higher connection to keeping escaped slaves from leaving the country. His opinion on this will likely differ from yours and might end up being a political enemy in your pursuits. I'd say be careful on that front, if you can get them on your side do it if you can't. . . You might have to work around him. Since you have already started a relationship with the head of the merchant guild and Lord of Otalos focus on that for now." Cody gave his own two cents on the political atmosphere that he was aware of, he'd been away from the capital for decent amount of time but while he was there he learned a bit about the political scheme in the empire. "One thing I would suggest, work on some policies to separate the people from the church. The main group pushing discriminary tactics against the different races is the church. They have a slightly twisted view of the goddess. Honestly the church used to be better but it's gotten quite corrupt over the years it needs a reform. That's not really your job though, and I believe someone else is already working on it a friend of mine. Eventually you should be able to reconnect with the church I don't know when that's going to happen though it's a slow process." Cody couldn't stop himself from bringing up his friend Amelia, the nun he had met, a prophet and possibly a demon.

"You're quite right Cody, as I've delved deeper into my job as the head I've realized that things are far more complicated than I ever noticed. But I have a resolve to stick to my own principles. I'm sure I'm not the only one in a position of power that wants the discrimination to go away. I'll find my group, and we'll push the Reformation together. There's a party coming up in the capital, I received a invitation ahead of time. I have plans to go with Clara, hopefully I can make some connections during the party. Apparently it's the princess's birthday, however just like everything in high society is more a political move by the king. Though I'm not entirely sure what he's attempting to do, but maybe he wants to bring the people together again. Kozak has been rather divided lately." Maria replied, her face held a thoughtful look as she reached into her mind for the knowledge she had on the topic.

"Yes I believe so, there's also a possibility that the party is a partial cover for the princess and the King to reach out to people they believe might become their allies in the future. They are also wary of the church. I would recommend trying to get in contact with the princess if you can, I don't know her direct aspirations but it would be good to learn what they are at least for your sake. Having an ally that high, would be extremely beneficial." Cody urged with a knowing smile, before taking a large bite from his chicken leg. The mood settled down as they began drinking, and a few hours later they were both passed out at the table.