Mage And Wolf
Chapter 117

Chapter 117: Chapter 117

"Welcome back Young Miss" Karl and Sect Master Becky greet in practiced unison as I bring the team out of the elevator on the second floor of the base.

"Well thank you, thank you very much"

"It’s us who should be thanking you. You left the perfect cultivation totem the Forbidden Treasure Sect traded you sitting on your night stand, so this whole floor, plus a good portion of the resort staff residences have made huge cultivation advances while you were gone."

"Auntie Lelou even spends her time off with me in the gardens of our wing. She says it is balancing her cultivation base" Lala’s voice gets louder as she goes on, running towards us down the hallway.

"You’ll never guess what I did" she giggles "I got a real, full time job! I’m Supply Manager for the university dorms, working directly under Lelou, who is our new Vice Dean, and the dormitory supervisors."

Neisa was appointed a Dorm supervisor if I recall right, so Lala had landed a pretty good job.

"Karl didn’t give you enough work?" I laugh and she frowns.

"The church sent him a priest, 2 junior Priestesses and 8 acolytes to help with his work. I had nothing left to do"

"Our local clergy went from under 20 to over a hundred. All in the course of an afternoon. It was chaos, but all the teachers are here now, and the staff for the cathedral. We’ve got 3 High Ranking members here, so they’re being extra good to us with the staffing situation."

"So our floor is full?" I ask, not hearing anyone else around.

"Not at all" Lala laughs. "Lelou, the twins, the chefs and a few others are still down here, but almost everyone else moved to the city, the cathedral or the University Teachers residences."

"Good news guys, there’s room for you to crash at my place! Wait, I thought the twins were going to the orphanage to be with other kids?"

"They changed their mind" Lelou says, waving as she gets off the elevator "They’re going to school soon, so they decided that staying down here was better. They have room to run and play, and they’ve got rooms in both our suites. They hide in yours so they can play when I have work or visitors."

"And my room is too amazing to move" Lala adds, making Hui’Jin chuckle.

"Actually, the head of every Gods followers in Arcana has suites down here. Some are unused, like the gold, who hasn’t sent a delegation to the city, but the rest like the fact nobody can enter the floor without authorization, so they prefer it to the more accessible rooms in the cathedral or university."

"Sounds like things are looking up. How is our population doing?"

"With newly arrived students, thirteen thousand of them in all, the total city population is now over two hundred thousand. Roughly one fifth capacity."

"We also got an influx of adventurers. The word on the Empire wide digital net is that you’re a form of Wolf Kin High Priestess and outlawed slavery, so demi human adventurers have been flocking here to live. The Empire’s planets aren’t always kind to them, as you know."

"So the region is in good shape then?"

"Very much so" Karl laughs "Mission postings disappear as fast as they can be put up. The Adventurer’s Guild even offers paid guard patrols for rural areas, guaranteeing someone will be by daily to check for signs of trouble."

"And we still send thousands a day elsewhere. We might have two hundred thousand residents, but under half of them are in the city at any given time. Week long trips to take missions are pretty common." Lelou adds.

"That’s great news. Being known as a source of Adventurers, cultivators and high quality weapons is not a bad reputation to have"

"Better than being known for having monsters running loose. Speaking of which, what are we going to do about Sioux Falls? The city is overrun with demons, the surrounding areas are full of category 1 and 2 magical beasts and category 3 monsters have started pushing them further out from the city." Karl frowns.

"Sounds like a combat cultivators paradise" Kel’Mira says. "Have they put out Guild bounties on it, like Houston does for their giant monster problem?"

"Not yet, we trade for cores, meat and material, but haven’t put a per head bounty out on the area yet." Karl tells her with a serious face.

"Maybe we can day rate it? Actually pay cultivators to go train there and keep the population in check? I’m sure some would move their training spot for even a few benefits"

"It’s a thought. But first, get your team settled and cleaned up so they can explore the city." Lelou insists.

"Alright troops, this way" I turn and march back towards my wing.

"Kel’Mira, you can stay here, Vinnie and Paul, you’re the next 2 doors. I’m the suite across the hall" I’ve led them to single bedroom units, like mine originally was before the total remodel. Simple and functional, like a cross between a standard hotel room and a bachelor apartment.

I drag Hui’Jin to the shower, eager to get in the bath. I’ve missed this giant, never cold pool of bubbles.

"I’ll do your wings so we can get done faster" she laughs at my enthusiasm

"We could just bath"

"While properly dirty? Nope, not a chance. Shower first, then bathe." I know it’s not a tradition of her world, but I’m not letting go of it.

It’s not long before we’re all freshened up, and I can hear Kel’Mira enter the suite and marvel at the luxury.

"It’s great isn’t it? Those two are the personal acolytes rooms, the center door leads to the floors public gardens."

I’ve dressed in the fancy dress Elder Song made me, with its soft silks and flowing style. The black over silver color scheme is really growing on me too. I should get more of these made.

The twins make an appearance, finally. All the noise we were making woke them up. They gush on about having two homes, and their new bunk beds, and Disney movies and on and on. We’ve almost settled in when there is a knock at the door and Hui’Jin lets Vinnie and Paul in.

"This place is amazing. Karl showed us to the dining hall to get some coffees for everyone" Vinnie says, his eyes firmly locked in the fluff of squirrel tail showing above the back of the couch.

He circles around the front to set down the cups and pour, before greeting the girls. "HI, I’m Vinnie, this is my Sect Bother Paul. Might you two lovely ladies be twins?" They nod excitedly "That’s awesome. Can I get you some juice, or something else to drink?"

I point at the wet bar in the corner "Half and half orange juice and sprite, right girls?" They squeal in glee.

"Auntie Lelou says only one each every day or we get too hyper to sleep." Allie reminds Ellie who is a devoted sugar fanatic.

"How do we tell you girls apart?" Paul asks. Their hair, clothes and even tail are identical.

"Nobody could, that’s why the king carved this A into my face" Allie says. "Karl says he can remove it with a pill, but then we’d be back to nobody telling us apart."

"Not quite nobody. You smell more like butterscotch, Ellie smells more like caramel" I inform them.

"Wait, that’s how you do it?" Lelou asks from the doorway. "I thought it was some deep inner knowledge of their mannerisms, but really it was just a Lycan sense of smell"

"Kel’Mira, Vinnie, Paul, meet High Priestess Kal’Elouet, follower of the God Of War and Vice Dean of Arcana University." They all bow deeply.

"A pleasure, Your Highness"

"No need to stand on ceremony with me, I spent centuries running orphanages full of kids too young to speak. And I’ll wager High Priestess Katrina told you to do the same for her."

"Yes, High Priestess, we’ve taken to calling her Young Miss while working, at her instruction" Kel’Mira replies, not quite as formal in tone as before.

"I came because I heard there will be a shopping trip" she drawls at me in her best snooty high society voice, making us all grin.