Chapter 126 – The Bent Fork.

The mineral steam of the basement's thermal pool dissolved the last traces of grease and shale dust from Diana's skin.

After twenty minutes immersed in the hot water, the Commander put on clean black trousers, the gray linen shirt, and adjusted the Crown of Arcane Sovereignty upon her brow.

Upstairs, the scent of fresh food already filled every corridor of the Bastion.

Aurelia-Elysia and Kael had turned the kitchen and dining room into a celebratory feast: there were platters of roast meat seasoned with rosemary, fresh cheese bread straight from the stone oven, sweet herb salads, and flagons of mana wine flavored with wild berries.

To cover the expenses for the fresh ingredients and the square's sweets, Diana had withdrawn three silver coins and fifty bronze from her dimensional bag before taking her seat at the head of the great oak table.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

[RETURN CELEBRATION EXPENSES]

- Commander's Welcome Feast: -3 Silver Coins and 50 Bronze Coins (350 Bronze).

[NEW NET WORTH IN VAULT: 480 SILVER COINS (48,000 Bronze / EXACTLY 48 PURE GOLD COINS!)]

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

***

The mood around the table was pure euphoria.

Kael sliced generous portions of roast meat with his fully recovered left hand, Aurelia-Elysia poured wine for everyone, and Seraphina kept the silver grimoire beside her plate, laughing at the household tales.

Rhea sat in the chair pressed right up to Diana's left.

The wolf girl hadn't left a hand's breadth of space between their bodies: she kept one hand resting on Diana's thigh beneath the table and used the other to place the tenderest cuts of roast directly onto the Commander's plate, silver ears perked up.

Kael took a long swig of wine, wiping his mouth with a napkin before asking:

“And how is it down there, Commander? Is the Third Circle as dangerous as the guild reports claimed?”

Diana sliced a piece of bread with the tip of her black claw, answering in a calm tone:

“The main city is called the Iron Cauldron Outpost. The baseline level there is completely different from ours: nearly one hundred percent of the inhabitants are Level 50 at minimum. Even the baker's assistants and woodcutters have fifty Strength.”

Aurelia's eyes widened. “Even the street porters?!”

“Yes,” Diana continued. “I rented a stone property in the south sector for eight silvers a month. The manor has two floors, high walls with iron spikes, and an underground cistern that works perfectly for setting up the lab and mobile forge. The space is ours.”

***

Kael scratched the short stubble on his chin, curious:

“And the monsters outside the walls? Did you manage to hunt alone without us to hold the front line?”

Diana took a sip of wine, replying naturally:

“On the first day I hunted alone with a local tracker named Boran, but the mana cost to bring down Level 44 beasts was too high. On the second day, an arachnid demon named Zarek showed up on my wall. He is a Level 60 Candidate for the Sin of Wrath. He has six arms and wields two moon steel swords. He started following me through the city, carried my alchemy shopping bags, sliced vegetables in my kitchen, and insisted on becoming my official consort.”

CRACK.

The metallic sound echoed sharply through the dining room.

Everyone at the table stopped chewing in that exact second.

Diana turned her head to the left.

Rhea had her right hand clenched around her cast-iron fork. The power of 49 Strength and the wolf girl's tension had bent the solid metal of the utensil into a ninety-degree angle.

Rhea's silver ears were pinned back flat against her skull in a rigid, hard line. Her wolf tail whipped against the chair leg with dry snaps of pure territorial fury, and her amber eyes flashed in vertical slits that looked capable of cutting granite in half.

***

“A six-armed demon...” Rhea began, her voice coming out in a dangerously low, hissing whisper, “...walked into your house?”

Diana blinked, noticing the drastic drop in temperature beside her. “Rhea, he jumped the courtyard wall-”

“He cooked in your kitchen?!” Rhea slammed the base of the bent fork against the wooden table. “He carried your groceries?! And he had the audacity to say he wanted to be your what?!”

“Rhea, calm down,” Diana tried to use logic. “He is a Level 60 fighter. I used his presence as a free shock vanguard to hunt Level 55 drakes without burning through potions from our stockpile. It was a strictly tactical cost-benefit decision.”

Rhea didn't care about cost and benefit.

The wolf girl dragged her chair with her legs until her thigh was pressed tight against Diana's, locked both arms around the Commander's left arm, pinning Diana's shoulder against her chest with the unyielding grip of her 49 Strength points, and growled softly into thin air:

“He isn't your consort of anything! You have your faction! If that six-armed bug tries to touch your coat again when we go down, I'll cut all six of his arms off with my dragon daggers!”

***

Aurelia-Elysia covered her face with her linen napkin, doubling over the table as she burst into hysterical laughter that shook her entire back:

“OH MY GOOD HEAVENS!” Aurelia laughed until tears came. “The Commander spends two weeks away and comes back with a six-armed Level 60 suitor! The Harem of Greed is recruiting Candidates from other Sins now!”

Kael choked on his wine, pounding his chest and laughing heartily: “Six arms is just cheating, Commander! How am I supposed to compete on the front line against a guy who swings four swords and two webs at the same time?!”

Seraphina adjusted her glasses with the tip of her index finger, stifling a giggle behind her mug: “House Vesperis had records indicating that Candidates for Wrath are extraordinarily territorial and stubborn when they pick a target of interest...”

Diana tried to pull her left arm back, but Rhea refused to let go, resting her chin on the Commander's shoulder and glaring at the wall with a petulant pout of pure possessiveness.

Diana sighed deeply, feeling her face warm slightly amidst the merry clamor at the table, but she let the wolf girl stay wrapped around her arm while picking up her mug with her free right hand.

The table was full. The vault held forty-eight gold coins.

Tomorrow morning, the Arcane Greed Faction would begin the clandestine descent through the worm tunnel toward their new stronghold in the Third Circle.