The Dungeon Inn - English

B02C23 - A new chapter

In the evening we celebrated the completion of the house with the remaining craftsmen and adventurers. It had been a few months since work had begun and who knows if we would see each other again anytime soon. Bruno devoured huge amounts of food again to prepare himself for the upcoming hibernation. By now you could see from his stomach that he had consumed a lot. Of course there were also some who thought they could beat him in a drinking contest, but no one managed it.

The next morning came and a somewhat stiff Paul gave us the last tips.

"As I mentioned before, the winters here are quite severe. Once you are snowed in, it will be difficult to leave the house. However, you should still clear the snow from the roof occasionally. It often happens that the snow becomes too heavy for the roof if you neglect it. But make sure that the weather is calm. Snowstorms have been reported out here before. Of course you shouldn't be on the roof at that time."

"Thank you for all your tips. We will take them to heart."

"Good, survive until spring so that all our efforts are not in vain. As soon as the snow has melted, the guild will inform you of the date for the great cleanup."

"Understood."

"Hah, that means my time here is finally over. I hope they allow me a little break in Watch City before moving on to the next place."

After we had all said goodbye, the large caravan headed west to Watch City.

Albert's group and my companions returned to the house and we closed the door.

I took a deep breath.

The first step had been completed, the "Rising Sun" inn was built. But this was not the last step. Due to the large number of people present, the areas of responsibility had shifted, which now had to be realigned. So that I could exchange ideas with my companions without being disturbed, I wanted to send Albert's group away. An important element was protection and I was still only too aware that the magic veins in the ground were visible to magicians.

"Albert, your group will continue to take care of the food supply. Paul has repeatedly stressed that the winter will be harsh. I want to spread furs on the floor so that I am better prepared. So bring as many as you can."

"Understood, then we will not waste any time and go hunting immediately."

With that, his group disappeared and I was alone.

"Now that we have the space, we should use it. Let's go to my new office."

We went up to the first floor together. I felt a little sorry for Friedrich, but I thought that his task remained the same and therefore his presence was not needed.

I sat down at my desk. Hilda sat opposite me. Sarah and Bruno sat to my right and Sven was to my left.

"As much as I am pleased that the house is finished, we should discuss the next steps."

"Sir, if the adventurers are really that rough, I would like to take over the work at the counter for now."

"No objections."

"Master, I will carry out the last of your orders, but soon I will retreat to my old sleeping place and hibernate."

"Understood, then take part in Albert's tasks as best you can and as soon as the time comes, just give a signal and withdraw."

"Thank you."

"Master Marco, I think the housework is my responsibility then. But is it okay if we leave you alone without protection?"

"That won't be necessary, Sarah. As long as you guard our master during the day, I can take over the guarding in the morning and evening as usual."

"That would be good, Sven."

"Then I guess I'm the only one left, young master. Will my role change?"

"Your focus is still the mushroom farm, Hilda. You can settle a few of the fireflies in the main cave. Now that the house is built, hardly any light comes down. I should probably also organize some light stones again. Now that we have windows, we should also try to charge them in an abandoned room. That would make things a lot easier, especially in winter."

"I'll try, master."

"Thank you, Bruno. I don't think it would be a good idea to have Hilda come up all the time. So if we have guests, I would go into the kitchen and leave Sarah to serve."

"Master Marco, then you would be unprotected, even if only for a short time."

"Sir, I have to agree with Sarah."

"But what should we do? I would prefer to have Karl standing guard at the entrance to the cave in case Sven is busy."

"Young master, it looks like you don't have enough people."

"At least while Bruno is hibernating."

"Nobody can come by in the winter anyway, so the problem will be solved in the spring if Bruno helps you in the kitchen."

"So that only leaves Albert's group to keep an eye on."

"Sir, if nobody comes, I can stay by your side the whole time. So they shouldn't be a problem."

"So the only difficult period is the transition period when Bruno is already or still hibernating."

"I'm sorry, master."

"Don't worry, Bruno. I have plenty of time in the winter to come up with something. We owe the guild a lot, so it makes sense for me to summon someone else. We need to make sure we're successful both as an inn and as an outpost. Otherwise we're in danger. So we should use the winter to get used to our new situation so that we can get going in the spring and make the 'Rising Sun' known."

"My lord, do you really want to attract more attention? Wouldn't you rather stay in the background?"

"Unfortunately, I have no choice, Sven. The guild has put me in the spotlight and won't let me go again. We should make the most of it. Didn't you also say that we should look for powerful allies? How are we supposed to find them if we're always walking in the shadows? An alliance has to be worthwhile for them too."

"That's true, but please don't exaggerate. If we grow too quickly, it can be problematic in several ways."

Our goals for the future were set, but I had focused too much on the future and almost forgotten the here and now. The season that often decides the outcome of a war would soon arrive. Were we really prepared for it?