"Hey Yui, got a moment?" Ryoma asked her once the shop closed again.

All the people in the shop room had already left and the few who were still inside the mines, the forest or the other dimensional places would be transported outside into the courtyard. None of them wanted unexpected nightly visitors after all and Tora made sure that no one would have a way into the shop like that.

"Oh Ryoma, you have any more questions about the new people you recruited?"

"Ah, no no that’s not it. There are a few that look promising and one of them will likely end up living here in the future, at least Tora wants her to, but that's not what I've wanted to talk to you about."

"Is it about Miyuki?" Yui made another guess, feeling a little bit nervous when thinking about how she had pretty much tried her best to avoid Ryoma lately.

With everyone treating Miyuki like Yui's own kid and even some customers believing that the little girl was her daughter, she was not really sure how to talk to him.

"I'm sorry about it, Tora just mentioned it to her one day and I didn't want Miyuki to feel sad if I … well I should have asked you first. It must not be easy with your wife and all that …" she looked at the floor with a sad face, avoiding his eyes.

Ryoma was surprised by Yui's unexpected 'confession' but as it wasn't really why he wanted to talk to her, he only smiled and took a step closer to embrace her.

"I've already mourned my wife for over a year and Miyuki really needed some family. I can't say it didn't surprise me, but there is nothing wrong with her calling you mommy, don't worry."

"Actually, I wondered if you would like to go have dinner some time when there is less to do in the pavilion?"

Yui paused her stammering and replayed his words in her mind. He still had his arms wrapped around her, which did not exactly help her thought process though. Ryoma was way too close to her now for her mind to work properly. Not that she didn't enjoy it.

"Go have dinner? You mean … with Tora?" – 'Wait Tora doesn't really eat dinner other than spirit shards. That doesn't make much sense to invite her right? Is he asking me out on a date?'

"No, I thought about just us. We can invite Tora some other time though, not that she enjoys good food, other than her spirit stones." Ryoma quickly refused the idea of having Tora come along.

Somehow Yui felt as if the atmosphere in the room had turned quite strange.

"Just the two of us. That sounds quite nice." she agreed in a quiet voice, resting her head on his shoulder.

If Tora were here, she would tease her again about them being all lovey-dovey, but right now Yui didn't care at all and just enjoyed the moment.

"Great, then I go look for a decent place and we find a day to go out and enjoy a nice evening."

Finally realizing that she was blushing quite a bit and he was still holding her, he patted her back a bit more before letting go.

"Ah, I should get back to organize our new people. They will all be arriving tomorrow." he said, obviously reluctant to leave.

"Yes, that's going to be interesting."

She still stood at the very same spot even minutes after Ryoma had left, with a silly smile plastered on her face.

"Oh, did he say someone is going to live with us?" she suddenly remembered their earlier bits of conversation.

"I wonder why Tora would want someone else to live here. Perhaps the person is poor and has no home? Well it's not as if I would mind some craftsman living here."

Not giving it too much thought, she decided to not worry about it and just go look for Miyuki.

With Ryoma busy with the new people they hired, she would better make sure the little girl didn't get into trouble. In the last few days, she had turned from a weak feverish adorable kid into a stormy little devil.

Miyuki reminded her a lot of Tora and while she was still just as adorable, the mischief she would often cause and the risks the fearless little girl would take made Yui really worried from time to time.

"I better take a look if she is still playing peacefully with the other kids in the garden or if Tora took a nap again and she climbed a tree or set something on fire." she mumbled, still in a good mood.

With the Earthly Treasures Pavilion's large garden area that somehow always looked as if it was in the middle of spring or summer and no one turning them away, the kids in the neighborhood had all decided that it was not just mystical, but also a prime place to go when they wanted to play.

Not to mention that lately there would often be some happy people who just harvested a lot of tasty things and would even share a bit.

Miyuki quickly found some kids that were her age or a bit older to play with and Tora enjoying her naps had decided to join her outside with a blanket and some pillows.

Looking at the adorable and comical scene with both Tora and Miyuki sprawled all over the blanket and sleeping, Yui once more got motivated to improve the pavilion and make sure the little girl had nothing to worry about in the future.

-

The light brown hair worn open and only slightly held together with a thin braid and the deep green eyes of the woman clashed quite a bit with her expression, which was about as friendly as that of a bandit who wanted to take your life.

The owner of the rather rundown and shady place in the southern parts of the town, acting as both a bar with cheap ale and food as well as an inn looked the woman in surprise. Not many would come and stay here, even more so a woman who was on her own.

She wore a long grey old cloak with a hood covering her slightly from the weather and somewhat from curious eyes. Leather armor that was visible whenever the cloak moved that had seen plenty of hardships, made it obvious that the woman was not your usual civilian.

"What can I get you?" he asked, expecting her to get a drink and then leave again.

"I want a quiet room. I will leave tomorrow morning." She told him in a cold unemotional voice that sent a shiver across his spine.

Her looks would make her a rather good target for many of the more questionable people, but this time, the innkeeper decided not to inform his acquaintances who liked to play with such lone women.

Handing her a key with a room number and pointing to the stairs leading up to the next floor, he wanted to avoid any problems with this person.

"A room is 5 copper. Dinner is in two hours and breakfast is starting at 7 bells in the morning, both services cost extra." he mumbled, before taking the 5 copper coins she placed on the bar.

-

The woman, obviously not interested in exchanging any more words, went up the stairs and sat down next to the window in her room after making sure to lock the door. She was watching the people come and go up to the pavilion building, that could be seen not too far away.

Taking out several weapons, both normal knives and daggers as well as hidden blades and needles, Rinomi made sure all of them were well maintained. Placing them next to her, she took off her armor next, before quickly taking off the bandage that became visible below with a new one.

"Damned wound. If I had not been so careless during the last mission, I would have never fallen so low as to accept a job in such a no man's land, let alone one that leaves such a nasty feeling behind." She muttered, obviously annoyed by her own mistakes.

With a long deep gash running along the left side of her body, all the way from her hips to her chest, it was hard to even move around properly, let alone travel for longer distances. The remaining poison that she could not really get rid of, preventing the normal healing pills and elixirs from working just made it worse.

It did not help that most of her belongings were seized by her enemies when she had to flee.

"If I don't get some antidote quickly to get rid of this poison, this wound is only going to get worse."

It was not easy to find a source for a high-grade antidote. Most places around did not have the means to procure it, while the few places that had something available would likely be watched by her enemies. Buying it openly would be the same as waving a flag announcing her identity.

While none of them had seen her face, she could not take the risk of getting attention. It was easy to figure out that she was hurt if an expert looked closely and she did not have the means to defend herself properly in her current situation.

In the end Rinomi had to rely on a private person of questionable morals to acquire what she needed, but at least her contact could confirm that her client had a high-grade antidote. She would not get any second chances. If this mission failed, she would likely be too weak to get another try.

"Ahh I should relax some more, its not like I ever worried much about my targets. Every single one of these rich brats has been totally deserving of meeting their ends, it won't be any different now."

"Really though, entering this place as some kind of maid? Who is the owner of this shop, a noble? I wish I had the time to properly gather information, there is nothing worse than dealing with the unknown."

She was surprised that she even got the job, but never would she have expected them to offer her a job as a maid.

Initially Rinomi did not think it would be hard to get one of the positions, as they needed quite a lot of people, but when she found herself to be just one of several hundred people, she realized that she might have underestimated the appeal of this strange place.

"The guy seemed to be some senior manager of this shop and the girl was likely part of the family that owned the business." Rinomi did her best to review what she had heard and found out about the Earthly Treasures Pavilion.

She was not the strongest looking person, as such she never planned to get any of the miner of woodworker jobs. As she did have some skills with alchemy though, mostly as it was beneficial for her job to be knowledgeable about poisons, she applied for a role as an apprentice alchemist.

The girl however seemed to have something different in mind.

Rinomi tried to recall the exact words again.

'Ryoma, we still need a lady-in-waiting for my sister, well whatever you call the position, some role of an assistant would be good, why not offer her the job? If she currently has no home in the city, she can live here.'

Yes. It was definitely about that woman's sister, whoever that would be.

"It should give me access to their private quarters, makes the job at least achieveable. If I have to climb the roof and into windows, I'm not sure if I would manage in my current condition."

She sighed and after having replaced the bandage of her wound she decided to get some early rest.

It would be a troublesome time ahead of her.