Chapter 130 – The Territory and the Mattresses.

Lunch in the kitchen of the Lower Cauldrons Estate passed with the tension of a minefield ready to detonate.

Diana sat at the head of the wooden table, chewing a piece of roast meat with rye bread.

To her left, Rhea occupied the chair pulled so close that the wolf girl's blue coat draped over half of Diana's leg. To her right, Zarek sat with one leg crossed over his knee, using two of his secondary chitin hands to slice vegetables and his two primary hands to hold a mug of ale.

Zarek extended a clay plate of sliced smoked meat toward Diana with one of his chitin hands:

“Take this cut of rib, Diana. The fire-salt seasoning turned out perfect.”

Before the platter could touch the table in front of Diana, Rhea's hand came down with a sharp crack.

The wolf girl struck the back of a cast-iron spoon straight against the tips of Zarek's chitin fingers, shoving the plate back with the power of her 53 Strength points.

“She has two working hands to get her own food, insect,” Rhea hissed, amber eyes narrowed and silver ears pinned flat back against her skull.

Zarek calmly drew back his hand, letting out a low chuckle and resting his chin in the palm of his primary hand:

“You're quite territorial for someone so short, little wolf.”

Rhea slammed the spoon onto the table with a metallic clatter that nearly cracked the ceramic:

“I have one hundred and nine Agility, sideshow demon. If you call me short again, I'll draw my dragon daggers and lop off your lower four arms before your web even touches the floor.”

Diana slammed her mug of water onto the wooden table hard enough to make the plates rattle.

The two obsidian horns atop the Commander's head released a cold spark of mana from her 201 Intelligence.

“Enough,” Diana ordered in a dry tone. “Eat in silence. We have work in the city this afternoon.”

Kael and Aurelia-Elysia chewed their bread with bowed heads, stifling their laughter, while Seraphina adjusted her spectacles and pretended to read her grimoire to avoid the crossfire.

Zarek shrugged with an easygoing grin and went back to eating, while Rhea nudged her own plate of meat closer to Diana with a sullen pout.

***

After lunch, Diana gathered the full squad for a reconnaissance walk through the Iron Cauldron Outpost.

The group walked through the red-dirt lanes with heightened vigilance. Kael carried the Volcanic Shield on his back with his 930 hit points, Aurelia-Elysia held her staff with 870 MP, Seraphina carried her grimoire with 1,250 MP, and Rhea stayed an inch from Diana's shoulder. Zarek strolled right behind, hands clasped behind his neck and both lunar swords across his back.

The demographic reality of the Third Circle hit Kael at the very first crossroads.

The vanguard stopped near an open forge, watching a blacksmith's assistant haul a four-hundred-kilogram block of granite with bare hands. The worker's status sheet read Level 52 with 56 Strength.

Kael's brown eyes widened, his mouth dropping behind his visor:

“Commander... even the guys sweeping the pavement here have more raw Strength than I do...”

“Their Strength is passive for hauling dead weight, Kael,” Diana explained in a calm tone without breaking stride. “They lack runic containment techniques and dragon armor that reflects thirty-five percent of damage. In actual squad combat, your front line holds against any of these porters.”

Diana led the group to the eastern plaza to show them Beelzebub's Hunting Board, where notices for Level 45 to 52 monsters were posted.

Next, they crossed the main thoroughfare and stopped in front of the Red Cauldron Arena, where fiery chimneys illuminated the granite dome.

“That was where Zarek and I fought in the tournament,” Diana pointed toward the gladiators' entrance. “Inquisitor Vaelor commands that arena. Next week we are heading back there to compete in the official transit bracket once we reach Level 45.”

Seraphina and Aurelia observed the arena ramparts with fascination and respect. The power scale of that Circle was brutal, but with the Commander leading and Zarek covering the flank, their initial fear had shifted into practical focus.

***

On the way back home, Diana stopped at the Upholsterers Market of the South Sector.

The Lower Cauldrons Estate had been furnished with a double bed in Diana's room, but the other rooms still lacked bed frames to accommodate the entire squad.

Diana was not about to let her four companions sleep on the bare granite of the house.

She bought four thick mattresses of straw treated with infernal ram's wool, four feather pillows, and heavy blankets of dark linen, paying two silver coins and fifty bronze.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

[SQUAD LODGING EXPENSES]

- Four Noble Mattresses + Blankets and Pillows: -2 Silver Coins and 50 Bronze Coins (250 Bronze).

[NEW ABSOLUTE NET WORTH: 457 SILVER COINS AND 50 BRONZE (45,750 Bronze / 45.75 PURE GOLD COINS!)]

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Four hundred and fifty-seven silver coins kept safely in the vault. Nearly Forty-Six pure Gold Coins.

***

Kael carried two mattresses on his broad shoulders, while Diana and Zarek hauled the other two back to the manor.

Room assignments were settled late in the afternoon:

Kael rolled out his wool mattress in the ground-floor bedroom, near the exit door, to serve as a vanguard sentinel should anyone attempt to force the iron gate.

Aurelia-Elysia and Seraphina shared the second upstairs bedroom, arranging their mattresses side by side over the wool rug, setting their grimoires and potions onto the cedar shelves.

When Diana asked where Zarek would sleep, the arachnid demon made a vertical leap and touched down atop the courtyard's black-tiled roof:

“Spiders don't sleep on soft mattresses inside four walls, Diana,” Zarek called down from above, crossing his chitin arms. “I'll stay on the roof. I have a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the entire block and I'll sound the alarm if any inquisitor walks the street.”

Rhea asked no questions about where she would sleep.

The silver-haired girl grabbed her wool mattress, went upstairs, and laid it out directly onto the rug of Diana's master bedroom, flush against the right side of the Commander's wooden bed.

***

Night fell over the Iron Cauldron Outpost.

In the master bedroom, Diana sat on the edge of the bed wearing her gray cotton shirt, the amethyst circlet stowed on the nightstand.

Rhea sat on the mattress on the floor, back resting against the frame of Diana's bed, resting her chin on the Commander's knee, silver ears relaxed in a calm rhythm.

“That six-armed guy is irritating, Diana,” Rhea murmured under her breath, looking toward the closed door.

Diana rested her hand upon the wolf girl's silver hair, gently stroking the base of the girl's ears with her obsidian nails.

“He is a Level 60 fighter, Rhea,” Diana said, her gentle voice cutting through the bedroom's quiet. “He draws the attention of heavy monsters and spares our healing potions. He is a useful asset to accelerate our climb to Level 50.”

Rhea lifted her face slowly, meeting Diana's dark eyes with golden rings with deep gravity:

“He won't take my place on your frontline. And he won't take my place with you.”

Diana looked at the girl she had rescued from the iron cage months ago, feeling the steady warmth of that unbreakable loyalty.

“Nobody takes your place, Rhea,” Diana replied calmly. “Now lie down and sleep. Tomorrow we hunt as a full squad.”

Rhea gave a small, sweet smile, releasing a relaxed sigh, and lay down on the wool mattress, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

Diana blew out the pine lamp and lay down on the bed.

The squad was established in the Third Circle. The house was garrisoned. And the hunting march would begin in full force at dawn.