Kazue was a mixed bundle of emotions. While it was mostly children who had brought animals so they might ‘retire’ in the dungeon, it was not exclusively so, with more than a few adults having panions whom they wao have a longer life. When it was all settled, there were eyes teared up because their friends now had a new home, and others teared up because their friends had chosen to stay with them despite their encroag age. It wasn’t easy for anyone.

  After that came something a bit more cheerful, though getting it anized had felt a touch forced. But eventually, they had everyone who wao try out the puzzles grouped up is of seven or fewer, with at least one adult in each group; and Kazue altered the setup so that a group could pass through ohe previous group was at least two rooms ahead, instead of the normal wait of the floor being cleared.

  There was also a group that wao try out Mordecai’s battle path, but she let him hahat with warnings and stuff, and Traxalim offered to go along to watch the group and make sure no o badly hurt. Mordecai specified that anyone he helped had to be sidered ‘out’ and just tag along. She didn’t have as good a handle on reading the ges in mana flow, but the weirdness around the old man apparently reflected how strong he was. And she refused to think about how she was teically the a elf’s step-grandmother.

  There was only a moment of peace before it was time for the traders. She had no idea that dungeons ever got this busy, it had all been rather rexed until now. Did this mean they were going to start getting visitors more often now? She’d have to ask Mordecai about that ter. And with an internal sigh, she realized that this would have to take pce after the other discussion, which she’d kind of rather just not think about at all.

  She shook her head and refocused her thoughts on the present, moving to Mordecai’s side to meet with the traders. “Good afternoon, we uand you have some goods to offer us?” She asked, to get things moving, though in truth she po let Mordecai handle most of this. She didn’t really know a lot about the worth of materials.

  “It’s Okay” His voice whispered into her mind. “Market price doesn’t matter as much as how much is it worth to us.” The merts were breaking out small dispy tables, and putting a sele of items on them, with some quantities listed o some. She watched him step up to the first mert and ask, “What are you looking for?” as he examihe items oable, whicluded a wide sele of alchemical vials, one flintlock rifle with bayo, and a bined dagger-pistol, as well as a sample ur iron and some cowhide with notes specifying how much of each he had avaible.

  “Cold iron or silver, as I uand ye kin do,” the man replied, in his thick at.

  Mordecai sidered a moment. “I only create so much, and there are other merts plus those running through the dungeon. If you are willing to wait until tomorrow, I offer you an ingot of either immediately, and more ter, depending on what others want. For today’s exge, I would take the rifle, these three vials, ten ingots ur iron, and ten plete hides.”

  The trader pondered for a moment, then grinned. “Right ye are sir. I kin do that. I haven’t had the honor of dealing with a Dungeon before, but me old master gave me the gist of it. On the market that deal would be in me favor, but for you it’s a ce to learn some uff, and ara stockpile of materials, so it's worth the bance for ya. I’ll be ba a jiff with yer materials, then we plete the trade.”

  And thus it went down the line. Some even offered a small sample of material first as a gift, so that they could then offer other materials in trade freater quantity, such as the weaver who offered up a sample of spun spider silk, then offered a trade-in for mur silk as a bulk item, and a sele of other materials and some unusual hides in exge for several skeins of spider silk iurn.

  Throughout the process, Kazue could feel the capacity for creating more materials decreasing, just as it had when he’d ented the merary couple’s equipment with some basies, but he was also carefully reserving some. They did have rewards to hand out ter after all. And while he was doing that, she was also analyzing the stuff he’d accepted, much of it surprising her. For example, while the alchemical items that had been traded weren’t particurly potent, she wasn’t sure she could have eveed their effects without analyzing them first, like the tallow bomb or the mutagen that could attuhe body to an energy form, making you resistant to it, if weaker to some others.

  They didn’t eve halfway through the avaible traders before Mordecai raised his hand. “Alright, that’s enough for today everyoomorrow we start with the people whom I haven’t had a ce to trade with yet. It may take a few days to get through everyone’s wares, but if you want to speed up how fast we grow, you always take a run of the dungeon.” He finished with a smile as everyone groaned.

  Kazue was beginning tret having pined about being bored this m, she felt so tired now. But there was still so much to do, and her mental fatigue was trasted by the steady flow of energy filling her dungeon’s mana reserves; she really o start on the fourth floor soon. But she didn’t want to throw something together before she had a solid idea either. She was very gd wheraders ed up. Many chose to stay with the wagons and the guards that had apahis little caravan, but o did join the queue waiting to go down the puzzle path. This was going to take forever.

  “e on,” she said as she bounded over to Moriko, who was chatting with a group of the caravan's guards, “we keep an eye on the liely, let me show you the new shortcuts!”

  “Wait, wait! I still o get the rest of my stuff.” The half-elf grinned down at her. “I didn’t travel light this time. After all, this is home nht?” Kazue was happy at those words, and that helped revive her headspace a bit. It only took a few moments before Moriko returwo guards in tow, each carrying a rge chest. She only had a backpack herself, clearly not wanting to muss her fancy dress.

  “Alright, if you two could just put those down.” Moriko directed, then fluttered her eyeshes at Mordecai teasingly. “Oh good sir, would you be kind enough to carry this dy’s luggage to her chambers?”

  Mordecai smirked at her, and both chests simply disappeared. Kazue could feel them enter her iory, the again, pced in Moriko’s bedroom. “Done and done, my dy.” He responded with a dramatic bow.

  Moriko pouted. “That’s no fun, you’re supposed to py the game! Silly dungeon.” She bopped him on the nose and gave him a smile, though to Kazue the lightheartedness still felt a little forced.

  With the little bypy done, Kazue grabbed Moriko’s hand. “This way. You ’t see it yet, but you’ll be able to once you have got the feel for them. Only dungeon people use them, and sometimes guests if we let them.” The spot that she was aiming for looked like just another er, but once she was there she stepped in a slightly different dire, angling into a half-there bit of space, and stepping out into the main hall down on the fourth floor.

  “Isn’t that fabulous? We’ve got a few of them, so you get around much easier noarently, we get more as we grow, though never as many as we have floors, so we have to choose where they go carefully. For now, it’s pretty easy though.” She gri Moriko as the older eered at the entrao the shortcut.

  “That’s weird,” Moriko muttered, trying to get her head ed around the sensation. “But yeah, I tell it’s there now. And I think I sort of know where the others are too. Is that from being a tractor?”

  “Um, I think so,” Kazue replied. “The inhabitants all seemed to know about them immediately, but you weren’t here when they were created.” She turowards one of the doorways leading out from the side of the Hall and called out “Hey guys! We have a lot of guests ing! Start making a lot of food! And be really he first group is Moriko’s family!” A gomorph with a chef’s hat nearly as big as she was stuck her head out from the kit and gave Kazue a thumbs up, then darted baside.

  She couldn’t help but grin as she turned baoriko. “They make the cutest cooks! And they do a really great job.” She hadn’t actually o call to them, but it still felt more natural to her. Mordecai would probably have just sent instrus to the inhabitants, but Kazue liked to i through her avatar more. “e on, the private quarters are now all behind the main hall; we’ve made it a bit cozier.”

  Kazue hummed happily to herself as she led the way through a discreet door behind the throhat still sat up high to overlook the room. “See, this is now more of a living room area, but bigger. Your room is back that way, mine’s still o it with Mordecai’s office over there. We have some guest rooms down that corridor too. We have your family there. Oh! That reminds me, Mordecai and I were thinking about eventually having some more tractors, but if we do, their private rooms would be a wing off of the main hall. This area is for family, and maybe very close friends.”

  “Okay,” Moriko replied, looking a touch overwhelmed, and Kazue realized she was kind of just chattering away without really giving the other woman a ce to get much of a word in.

  “Oh! Sorry, I guess I got carried away. I’m just happy to have you bae! You are staying a while, right? You had those two big chests after all.” She couldn’t keep her tails from swishing at the thought.

  “Yes sweetie, I’m staying. e o's get to my room, I have some gifts for you, and I have an idea for the three of us to talk over, so he might as well meet us there.” Moriko said, and Kazue had to keep herself from boung as she followed. She knew her excitability art of why others treated her as though she was a lot youhan her actual age, but she just couldn’t help herself. But while Mordecai and Moriko were clearly amused by her ‘antics’, they both respected her and didn’t do stuff like make decisions for her, which was a rge part of what made her feel fortable and happy to be with them. Even if that meant occasionally making decisions where she’d rather hand off the responsibility and effort.

  On Moriko’s room, they found Mordecai had indeed listened in and was waiting on the bed for them. Kazue hopped oo him and sat with her feet swinging as she watched Moriko dig through her chests. “That dress is really pretty, I want one like that.”

  Moriko peeked over with a smile. “Better make your own. You’d bust the seams on the front while dragging the hem on the floor with this ohough that first part sounds like it might be pretty eaining to see happen.” Then she finished pulling out what she was looking for and handed Kazue a pair e leather satchels. “I want the bags back since I hem for you guys anyway, but the tents are all yours.”

  Kazue eagerly peeked ihen slowly and carefully pulled out the precious tent inside. Books. Oh, there had been some old books in the gifts they’d gotten too, Mordecai said it was a way of preserving older copies after new ones had been made, but those had been b books. These were books that told stories. “Oh, thank you so much.” She whispered.

  “You’re quite wele,” Moriko replied with a kiss on Kazue’s cheek. “I figured you would like these, especially with your pys too. But, now for a bit of family business, before we get on to the topic of what happened earlier.”

  Zagaroth