That morning, the three of us woke up bright and early, cooked up a meal together, and made our way to town.

We didn’t have all that much of a destination. But the children wanted to head out that way now that they were free, and I had wanted to take them out there as well.

The first place that we went to was the marketplace, which was quite crowded at that time of day, and which was overflowing with all of the riches of the town. Each of us spent some time looking at whatever caught our eye, as I watched to see what the two of them liked.

I noticed that each of them had taken an interest in a merchant of board games, and a store with books. So, I let the two of them browse through those shops for a while, as I chatted with one of the owners.

A little while later, we had bought three different board games, and a fair number of books as well. It hadn’t cost all that much – about two gold coins in total – but we had been able to acquire quite a few things that the children had wanted. It was clear that they each had a taste for long, sweeping adventure stories, and so we had acquired a couple of those, as well as a nice large book on how to draw, a picture-book that depicted all sorts of different objects, and a couple of simple instructional books that covered a few elementary subjects, like grammar and mathematics. I had also picked out three books that seemed interesting to me, which contained selections from some of the past scholars of the Guild of the Pen, the Guild of the Lab, and the Guild of the Mind, respectively. Aaron seemed to be quite interested in those books as well, and I told him that he was welcome to read them.

Afterwards, we strolled through some of the stalls that were run by the local artists, craftsmen, and gardeners. I noticed that Lily seemed to be interested in the plants and flowers, so I decided that once we got to Riverdale, I would see if there was a garden that she could make use of. I also noticed that she had really taken a liking to a couple of the gems that were on display, so I ended up getting her a small ring, and a stone that was a little bit like an amethyst, each of which had been quite cheap, but had been a real source of pleasure to her nonetheless.

I picked up a couple of other things as well, like one more little toy for their castle, and some materials for Lily to draw with. But soon, it felt like we had enough, so the three of us continued to make our way through the town.

We had probably been walking for about twenty minutes after that, when I noticed that both of them were looking off towards a small building that was situated just a few meters to our side. A few moments later, I heard the sound of a bunch of kids laughing and playing, and I realized that Aaron and Lily were looking off at what seemed to be a local daycare, and glancing towards all of the other children who were inside.

So, I asked them if they would be interested in going in, and in meeting some of the other kids from the town.

They both seemed to be quite eager to do so, and the three of us soon made our way up to the little building, and stepped through the door.

At once, we were greeted by a warm, lively atmosphere. The place was clearly pretty cheaply run, and in a lot of ways, it should have seemed kind of ragged, and uninviting. But even though there weren’t that many decorations, the ones that were there had clearly been placed with a great degree of love and affection, and you could really feel a kind of gentle, amiable spirit echoing throughout those halls.

There were about ten to twelve children inside, all of just around Aaron and Lily’s age, and there was a single employee who was looking after them, a young lizard-woman in her early twenties. It was clear that she was the one responsible for the whole feeling of the place, and from just about the instant that I talked to her, I felt a real sense of goodness radiating out from her, and a genuine and real concern for the welfare of other beings.

It seemed that Aaron and Lily felt that, too, because they were soon talking with her in an easy, relaxed manner, without a hint of discomfort or of fear.

A little while later, a few of the other children from the daycare had come over to say hello, and had introduced themselves to each of the two kids.

It was already pretty clear that each of them wanted to stay here for a while. So, after talking with the young lizard-woman for a few moments more, I paid a modest fee for them to stay here for the day, and I agreed to come back and to pick them up after I had made my way out from the dungeons.

Then, I said goodbye to each of the children, and left the items that we had purchased in a locker along the side, as I headed back out the door, and towards the farmlands that lay beyond.

Afterwards, I spent about five hours out in the dungeon, fighting my way up around the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth floors. I didn’t want to make too much progress that day, because I wanted to keep exploring each of the different floors with Praxa. But since she was a few levels ahead of me, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to pick up two or three more levels right now, while I had the time.

Once I was done, I headed back out into the town to pick up each of the kids.

It seemed like they’d had a good time while I was gone, and that they had each enjoyed their stay there. But, they seemed quite glad to see me, too, and they each seemed ready to head back home. So, we picked up our stuff from the locker, and then said goodbye to the young lizard-woman, and to each of the other children, before we at last headed out through the door, and made our way towards the wooden gate.

Just before we had made it to the exit, however, we happened to run into Praxa, right as she was coming into the town.

It was clear that she had gotten off of duty a couple of moments before, and that she was quite surprised to see the three of us, and to run into me right then.

This was my first time seeing her since yesterday… and right then, both of us felt a little shy around each other – and probably if the children weren’t there, then things might have been kind of awkward. But as it was, the two of them seemed to be in great spirits, and the moment that I introduced them to Praxa, they invited her back to our house at once, and asked her to come and join the three of us for dinner.

Praxa, understandably, was a little nervous about that. But I let her know that she really would be welcome, and that I’d love to cook up a meal with her, if she was interested.

After that, she agreed without too much hesitation, and she decided that we’d spend the day together.

And then, all of us started to make our way back towards home, as Praxa and the two children began to get to know one another.

At first, Praxa was a little shy, and reserved. But, once Aaron and Lily started asking her about her time in the dungeons – and about how long she’d been an adventurer, and about what she wanted to do once she got older – then Praxa really began to open up a lot more, and she soon became a lot more animated, and energetic, as she talked about each of her adventures, and what she wanted to do in the future.

That helped to draw each of the two children out of their shells, as well… and soon, each of them started to become more talkative, as they asked her about how she had originally become an adventurer, and what it was like to be a student in the town of Westfall.

Even though she’d only been here for a few weeks, Praxa had a number of surprisingly enjoyable stories to tell… and soon, the three of them were all laughing quite a bit, as we stepped through the door, and took out one of the board games that we’d acquired.

By then, things were really moving along about as smoothly as they could have.

We certainly didn’t feel like a family, or anything like that. We were too close together in our years, and we were too unfamiliar with one another. But at the same time, there was a real tenderness, and a real sense of mutual respect to the way that we were dealing with one another, and interacting.

Praxa seemed to be feeling all of that, too. Because, as we were finishing up the first round of our game, she gave me a remarkably warm, and tender smile.

That told me pretty much all that I needed to know about how she felt right then, and what this whole experience was like, for her.

I felt just about the same way, myself… and I was really happy with the way that everything seemed to be progressing, between the four of us.

At any rate, after we had finished, we all headed into the kitchen, and started to prepare our meal. Then, we sat down at the table for a long while, as we chatted with one another, and enjoyed each other’s company. But after a while, it had started to get pretty dark outside, and it felt to all of us like the day was winding down towards its end. So, after a little more time together, the four of us said our goodbyes for now, as Praxa and I stepped outside for one last stroll through the woods.

A little after that, we said goodbye for the night, after quite a bit of hesitation, and we each began to head back alone towards each of our homes.

As I stepped back in through the door, the two children came over to me at once, and told me how much they had liked Praxa, and how much they had enjoyed the daycare, too.

Afterwards, the three of us spent a bit more time together, before we each began to prepare for bed.

Then, the three of us laid down, and started to drift off to sleep.

The moment that I closed my eyes, I saw a remarkably clear image of Praxa’s face, as she laughed, and smiled, and looked me softly in the eye.

Even though she had only been here a few moments before, I missed her a lot right then. I could still hear the sound of her gentle, kind voice, and I could still see her sitting at the table in front of me, just looking up, and smiling.

The two of us had agreed to meet up at the entrance of the town tomorrow morning, and to head on into the dungeons.

Right then, I could hardly have been looking forward to that any more than I was, or been any more eager to be with her once again.