Take care of business.

The rest of the day is spent wandering the outskirts of the castle. Within the walls, Peony is already frolicking about. She's taking in the sights, and she explains that this new home is wonderful for her. She also mentions that despite that, any place is wonderful as long as you're there with her. A couple days tick by, but you spend the time camping out with your party at night and exploring during the day. You haven't seen Stax and the other goblins since catching them in your treasure room, though you figure they'll be back eventually.

Nyllia's connections are apparently legendary, because the workforce shows up at Castle Phoenix in record time. A team of dwarves with a few wagons of preliminary supplies arrive and immediately begin scouting the place out to detail an intricate plan to rebuild and furnish the entire area. Despite the destruction, they insist that it's less work than it appears. Much of the infrastructure itself remains intact. The longest part is going to be commissioning and delivering the furniture itself to the castle's full extent. More dwarves are on their way, and far more wagons. The foreman Dulin Drunarad says that the majority of the work will be done in a few weeks at the most while the smaller details may take a few weeks longer. But you request the first things of focus to be the bedrooms, so that you and your party don't have to camp out in the throne room anymore. They agree, and get to work straight away.

On the fourth day of your time within the walls of Castle Phoenix, something occurs. You find yourself wandering the construction site covering much of the throne room. They're fixing the hole, which expands up through the second floor, as well as the columns so that the entire place doesn't come down, though they do say that the castle itself is surprisingly hardy.

Poof! Yin appears directly in front of you, nearly forcing you to mess your pants in shock.

"Jesus Christ!" you exclaim through the smoke as the devil appears a mere inches from your person.

"I'm so sorry, Master." Yin bows in apology. "I promise that I'll be more careful about my teleportation in the future."

You take in a hefty exhale and let it all out as your heart beat steadies. "It's fine. Did something happen?"

"Yes. We have visitors. They're currently waiting outside of the castle entrance. Shall I lead them here?"

You cast your eyes around. "Maybe not now. Probably best not to have a meeting in a construction site. I'll go to them."

"Then follow me, please."

She leads you through the doorway and to the exit of the castle. Outside, basked in the afternoon sun, two women stand chatting to one another. You recognize them both--the first familiar guests you've had since Nyllia. With a smile, you approach to greet them.

The first stands with a head of fluffy white hair that covers her head like a cloud. Her eyes are bright, wide, and a vibrant shade of violet. Her skin is brown, and two drooping antennae protrude up from her puffy do. That same fluff covers her shins as well as her forearms. Fore wings extend out from her back with a beautiful swirling pattern of brown and white. She casts a striking glance beneath dark, groomed lashes, and her lips are painted crimson to match her dress. She dresses fashionably--straps down her shoulders, silk hugging her figure, entirely coloured a deep, dark red apart from a golden band around her waist. It ends at her thighs apart from the back which falls down almost like a cloak. Her sleeves are short as well, and her feet are slid into a pair of matching heels. As always, her trade leaks into her choice of garb.

Beside her is the polar opposite. The girl's orange hair has been tied back into a ponytail. Her outfit consists of trousers made from dungaree, leather boots, and a white blouse she's tied in a knot beneath her breasts, pushing up her cleavage. Though despite her clothes not being so fancy and intricately crafted, she's smoking hot, like a country girl that doesn't act like she's trying to be attractive, but is regardless. She's the first to step forwards with an excited, wide smile, and wave of her hand.

"Well hiya! Good to see you again," she says. It's the blacksmith from before, Laira Holland. She's was responsible for the creation of Projectile: Eradicator Gold--the entire reason you were able to topple the Demon King. "I hope we're not intruding."

Of course, the other young woman is none other than Luna, the bombyx insectrin. Eva knew her as the seamstress that would work on her outfits, and it was her that made your suit for RF's family ball. "We have something to ask of you," she says.

"Welcome to Castle Phoenix," you say. "You're not intruding at all. What did you want to ask?"

Laira laughs and scratches her cheek. "For me, it's pretty simple. You trusted me to work on the best project I ever had. Then I caught wind of craftsmen being contracted by Lady Tesgella to work up this way. I also heard that a so-called Demon King Warren was exiled from Tivera. Well, I know you set out this way to slay the Demon King, so it had to be a misunderstanding... Though I was mostly hoping you'd have more exciting work for me. If you're really going to be building this place back up, surely you'll need metalworks. Nails. Horseshoes. Eventually, swords and shields. And once things are moving along, maybe more legendary items!"

"That's certainly all true, but I can promise we'll need something else like the PEG. Weird stuff does tend to happen to me though, so it's a safe bet that we'll need some weird things. If you're offering yourself as a blacksmith, then I definitely accept. You should tell the foreman right away. I bet they'd love your help."

Her eyes practically sparkle. "Oh thank you, Kyle! Uh, should I call you Lord Warren?"

"You really don't need to do that."

"As for me, I have a relatively similar request." Luna steps forwards. Her heels click along the stone. Once in front of you, she takes a gentle hold of your tunic, and slides a hand up your chest to hold against your cheek. As you do, you reach your own hand up, and touch against the back of her arm. The fluff is as soft as ever. She smiles. "Surely you and your allies will need someone to work on fabrics as well. Clothes tear, and there are banners and other things. Not to mention outfits. I imagine you desire other articles of clothing to wear. I know the others will."

"You're both definitely free to say," you say. "We don't have much right now, but if you want to put that investment into moving in, be my guest. As numbers grow, we will need craftsmen to produce goods. The two of you cover a lot of the spectrum right there. I'd be a fool to turn you away. I'll ask the workers if they can shift their focus on securing temporary living spaces out here for people who come until the buildings themselves are made."

"You've really taken control, haven't you? My my. I still remember when you came into my shop, flustered and looking for a dress to suit your date."

"It wasn't exactly a--"

Luna places a finger gently against your lips and smiles warmly. You stare back at her almost luminescent gaze. "And I'll be patient. We wouldn't have come all this way so soon if we weren't prepared to wait."

"Do you two know each other?" you ask.

"Not at all!" Laira answers. "But we both caught each other preparing a trip out this way, got to talking, and found out that we both knew you. Weird, huh? Though you've apparently known her for quite awhile. I hope I'm not a third wheel, huh?"

"No, no. Darling, you're wonderful," Luna says.

The numbers are growing already. So we have the main group, which consists of me, Yin, Alice, Eva, Niki, Amara, Delphi, Peony, Snow, and Jelly. Then we have Stax and her crew, wherever they are. I don't know when they'll be back, but I need to take that into account. Now we'll have Luna and Laira. Oh yeah, and there's Nyllia too. She basically swore her life to me like a knight, so I know I'll be seeing her again. I better ask for some paper and writing instruments so I can keep track of all this.

"You look like your mind is racing. Please don't overheat." Luna chuckles as she tickles her fingertips softly down the sides of your head and along your neck. "If you stress too much, it'll be unhealthy. I hope the girls have at least been treating you well."

"Aha. They've been fine," you reply.

Her smug aura flusters you slightly. "Have they now?"

"Well I'll go find that foreman!" Laira announces. "Then I'll go grab my stuff. We both packed pretty light, since we didn't know what to expect."

"Indeed. But I'd love to move my entire shop this way when I can," Luna adds.

"Are you really going to do more business than in Avana?" you ask.

"Sadly, my store has not been doing all that well. People are... Well, to put it bluntly, quite nervous around me."

"I'm sorry. I'll make sure that doesn't happen here."

"And that's exactly why I came, Lord Warren. I knew you'd say that." Her wings flutter, sending a cloud of sparkling dust up into the air.