David and Niala disembarked from the Alchemical Star, waving at the crew and Captain Arnelle. The airship had landed on the outskirts of Riverwall, and walking back home would take a few minutes.
Cornelius's “gift” of a private honeymoon cruise up and down the coast aboard his airship had been a nice surprise, and it had allowed David to ascertain the VIP cabin's bed quality. The verdict was: very high quality. It hadn't squeaked a single time.
Between being served like king and queen by the crew, gourmet food, and frequent visits to seaside towns, the entire trip sort of melded into one long, uninterrupted dream. Just him, Niala, and nothing else to care about.
The cruise had left them plenty of time to talk about their future, and one of the topics had been kids.
It still felt a bit surreal to David to even be broaching the topic, but then he only needed to lose himself in his wife's eyes for a few moments for his mess of emotions to untangle.
Niala wanted to have kids. With him. And if he were to have kids, she certainly felt like the right woman to have them with.
It still left them with a tiny problem: space. Niala wanted to have at least three kids. Their home had exactly three bedrooms, and one small personal library which could be turned into a fourth one, if they gave up on the books.
If they wanted their kids to have individual rooms, this meant they needed a bit more space, which meant house expansion.
They didn't want to build up, as the building would look spindly, not being particularly wide or deep already. They couldn't build forward, as they'd be building over the small plaza, and backward would cut down on their private yard. This left going to the side.
They figured adding about four meters would allow them two new bedrooms upstairs, a new room on the ground floor, and a larger kitchen and dining area.
From there, they began talking about what else they could do, and they went a bit wild. They thought about buying the vacant lots around their homes, turning one of them into a small park, and building a guest house on the other. They wondered if they could buy the small, decrepit plaza and renovate it, or at least pay for the renovation. They even pondered buying every lot around the plaza, putting up a wall around them, and creating a small compound, similar to what Cornelius, Niala's father, had back in Majestic.
Any of this was going to require funds, of course, but Niala's shop, with the help of the business-savvy Linzy, was more or less raking in coins.
Still, David didn't want to mooch off his wife, even though Niala insisted it didn't matter, that her money was also his money. He still wanted to contribute, and had used the frequent stops during their honeymoon to sell a bit of his fairy dust, a few grams at a time, to various shops along the way.
He hadn't realized just how valuable the stuff was, really. At a going price of seventy princes a gram on average, and having sold twenty-five grams in total, he now held just under 1,800 princes. Between her potion trade and the old woman's sales, which she didn't even know were to her name, that was about equal to what Niala's current personal fortune was.
Between the two of them, they had enough money to purchase a small mansion and hire staff for a decade.
Their “crazy plans” didn't seem so far-fetched after that.
For now, though, nothing mattered but getting home. The cruise had been fun, but nothing beat sleeping in your own bed.
They arrived in sight of the shop, passed by the few customers going in and out and toward the back door. They stepped in, and as they walked into the kitchen, Niala skipped ahead and turned toward him. “David!” She exclaimed, with a giant smile on her face.
He smiled back. “Yes?”
“Welcome home!” She said, running to him and jumping at his neck, giggling.
He held her up by the waist and twirled her around once, chuckling, before letting her fall back to her feet, but keeping his hands around her.
He gazed deep into her bright amethyst eyes, as she did the same with his deep blue ones. He bent forward and placed his lips against hers, as they kissed, and pressed into each other.
He pulled back, locking gaze with her once more. “I love you.” He said.
She smiled and closed her eyes, humming, as she pressed her face against him and rubbed it on his chest. “I love you too!”
Heavy, metallic footsteps rang out from behind. David glanced back to see Jordo, their golem majordomo, coming in from the yard. His single eye lit up as he walked into the kitchen, his deep, gentlemanly voice filled the space. “Sir and Madam! Welcome back! I have kept the house in perfect condition for your return! Are you hungry? I can prepare something quickly, if you wish!”
Niala pulled her head back and leaned to the side, throwing Jordo a smile as he came into view. “Hi Jordo! We ate just before stepping off my father's airship, but thanks! Anything happen while we were gone?”
The golem shook its head. “Nothing of note, madam. The town has been quiet, although I'm afraid this will change in the near future.”
Niala's smile flattened somewhat as she looked up at David, who dipped his head. She turned her head back to Jordo. “You mean with the mana crystals and all that, right?”
Jordo nodded. “Quite so, Madam. From the timetable that Mayor Caleb gave us, the time to make a decision on whether or not you wish to pursue a claim on the Living Vault is imminent.”
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David let go of Niala and turned to face the golem. “We already decided we were going to try it. We just need to mount the expedition. Are Sybil and Sammie around? We're thinking of bringing them along with Leandro.”
Jordo's eye flashed once. “They are. They asked me to notify them once you were back, so they could resume their guarding duties. But, pardon me for questioning your decision, sir, wouldn't their presence preclude Madam Niala from using her... full repertoire?”
The golem meant Niala's weaving, which was an ability that, once displayed, guaranteed forced enrolment in the Royal institution known as the Library, where all weavers were sent to learn to control their powers.
David shared a glance with Niala. He turned back toward the golem. “We're kind of hoping that having two Azure guards along will mean that Niala won't need to... reveal herself? And, she can always use her wind powers. She's gotten pretty good with it.” He said as Niala allowed herself a proud smile.
Jordo tilted his head as he looked at his mistress. “Oh! Is that so, Madam? Congratulations, then! I do believe you might be the first non-incarnate to possess incarnate powers!”
“Thanks, Jordo!” Niala said. “We'll go greet Linzy, Papo and Lychee, and then I guess we'll take a walk through town? Say hi to everyone?” She offered, looking up at David, who nodded.
And so they went, making sure everyone knew they were back, and using the time to settle back into their regular life.
Tomorrow, they'd plan for their expedition.
Today, they were just going to enjoy life.
The next day, after breakfast, the first thing they did was head to the town hall and, on a bit of an impulse, purchase the small plaza and every adjoining land plot. It took a few bells to go through every document, and they had to get Caleb to weigh in on having the plaza go from public property to a private one. Once they walked out, near lunch time, they were the new owners of the entire small neighbourhood around the plaza.
All for the “small” sum of two hundred and forty-five princes. A steal, really, the land being vacant and unused for so long.
Next, they put up a free courier posting for an architect and construction manager to come over in a few weeks' time, offering salary and boarding for the duration, and a bonus once their construction plans were completed.
Niala kept glancing at David with a bit of trepidation. When he asked what was going on, she answered that she felt a bit like a tycoon, throwing money around for her estate to be built.
David replied that it was exactly what they were doing.
This made Niala sad, because she didn't want to be a tycoon throwing around money earned off the back of the poor workers, only to have a gaudy palace built for everyone to see just how unjust life was.
David suggested they turn part of their new “estate” into a public park for everyone to enjoy, maybe have a small stand to sell reasonably-priced fruit water to quench people's thirst. On a whim, he said they could also make it a snow-themed park in winter, and offer a hot beverage instead of fruit water.
Niala jumped on the idea and began thinking up what kind of hot, warming drink she could come up with.
She shot down David's suggestion of Old Woman.
In the afternoon, they invited Leandro and gathered in their living room, inviting Sybil and Sammie to attend, along with Jordo.
There, they presented Caleb's plan: to trek up to the north-east, locate the ancient library, and try to retrieve documents which would provide legitimacy to David's claim over the living vault.
Unlike Caleb, however, they thought that finding such documents was a stretch. They still wanted to go, because they and Jordo suspected that legal documents of another kind could be found, possibly old land claims, or treaties with neighbouring countries. With this, they hoped to somehow force the living vault to remain, at worst, an unclaimed parcel of land, and at best, an independent nation under the ownership of the natives.
Whichever the case, they were bound to find something of use.
Sybil and Sammie looked at each other. He hadn't needed to, because he knew he'd find Sybil's eyes shining like stars at the prospect of a heroic adventure into the Hungerwoods to retrieve a document to safeguard a population's future.
And, sure enough, her eyes were shining bright. He sighed and waved a hand as approval, with which the bunnykin turned back toward the couple and energetically accepted the job.
The next day, they informed Caleb of their decision, picked up a copy of the old adventurer's reports about the approximate location of the Reign library, and spent the rest of the day preparing.
The morning after, they said their goodbyes and left through the north gate, and back into the Hungerwoods.
Jordo at the front, followed by David, Niala, Leandro, and finally Sybil and Sammie, they advanced through the Hungerwoods. The two azure guards soon turned wary and alert, only to be puzzled by the relative carelessness of their travelling companions.
The golem led through a seemingly random path through the woods, while the other three chatted, appearing unfazed by the beasts lurking all around them, hidden within the deceptively calm vegetation.
That is, until Jordo stopped and pointed toward a spot to his left. David instantly activated his imbuements, a blue flame covering his body, and kicked off in that direction, disappearing through the bushes.
A roar sounded out, followed by the sounds of splintering wood. A second roar, this time desperate rather than angry, shook the air. A few more exploding trees and falling timber drowned out the other sounds of the forest, and then nothing.
David walked back out of the brushes, dusting himself off as the forest's birds and insects began chattering once more, and the column resumed its advance.
Sybil looked back at Sammie, a question on her face. He shrugged, having no answer for her.
A few bells later, a similar scene played out, with David bursting to the left, followed by sounds of struggles, or rather the sound of something struggling, before the man walked back to their group, offering no explanation beyond assuring Niala that he hadn't hurt whatever it was too badly.
After a break for lunch and a third event in the afternoon playing out much the same as the previous two, the pair of guards, more puzzled than ever, remembered Karline's words.
It helps if you don't ask.
So they didn't ask. They just accepted that this trip wouldn't be fraught with dangers, at least not for now.
Sybil still held out some hope that the night would have some action, maybe a predator or two that wandered too close, needing to rouse everyone up for a quick defence.
And then, near night's fall, David brought out his carriair, upon which a small cabin was attached, and invited everyone, minus Jordo, inside.
Niala cooked everyone a filling and warm meal, and they all got to sleep in basic but comfortable bunk beds.
Sybil woke up rested, warm, healthy, and somewhat disappointed.
When she complained to Sammie that this wasn't an expedition through dangerous lands, he replied that it totally was, but if she wanted, she could sleep outside at night, where it was more dangerous and adventury.
She glared at him and picked up the march, putting distance between the two of them.
That night, when she slept in the cabin along with everyone else, she avoided looking at him.
She didn't want to see his smug poop-face.
Is going to the rumoured library a fool's errand?
