-Several hours later-

“Hmm, hmm ,hm, hmmm…” Aria was swaying her upper body as she sat next to the owner, who was leaning on the mop’s handle, staring towards the vast desert.

The ogres who had managed to remain alive were now keeping a good ten-meter distance from their obviously unwelcome visitors.

“Hmmmm, question.” And Aria speaks up as she turns to look at the owner.

“Did you ever have any sort of trouble with the spire’s priests?” She continues.

“None so far. So try not to bring a battalion of them with your shenanigans .” The owner answers.

“But, you could probably just deal with them anyways, so what’s the problem?” Aria asks back with a slight smirk.

“Have you ever tried to manage a shop in a nation that’s eyeballing you? They could probably tax me to death, for starters.” The owner answers back.

“Hmm, you’re already serving my kind, if it’s that easy, why haven’t they done that already?...” Aria adds.

“Because they’ll have a very angry visit from me then. And for now, the cons of doing that far outweigh the pros. Though I can’t say the same if they find out that an Ex demon queen is strolling about in my building” The owner sighs.

“Then open shop on my side of the playground. Taxes free, just for you.” Aria narrows her eyes slightly as she keeps smirking.

“Didn’t you tell me your hot springs are like swampy lava pits? Also, isn’t your daughter now the ruler?” The owner asks back as he arches an eyebrow.

“I never said it would be easy. And please, I still have some pull you know. Making this happen in a location where I had a high influence won't be too hard.” Aria shrugs.

“Well. Who knows, maybe in the future.” The owner answers as he shrugs back.

“Ha! Yes! You didn’t say no~ I’m slowly making you accept me~” Aria shackles as she makes a first pump motion.

“...” The owner just sighed as he leaned on the broom even more.

“How long till the ogres finish with my spring?” He asks right after.

“Oh, they've probably finished hours ago.” Aria answers casually…

“....What?” The owner ‘asks’ as he turns to face the ex-Demon queen with a slight frown.

“What what? You never asked.” She answers as she keeps casually looking towards the desert.

“I’m giving you ten seconds..” The owner folds his arms as he gets up.

“Fine, fine. No need to get grumpy.” Aria chimes right after as she also gets up.

“Umm, can we stop by my pl...:”

“No.” The owner cuts her off.

“Fiine.” Aria then responds with a long sigh as she snaps her fingers. And, the world turns black yet one more time for the day.

And, a few seconds later…

The cold weather got replaced by a warmer climate, a familiar grassy field and trees surrounding the duo…

“Finally, I hope they didnnnn….” And as the owner turns to look towards his building, he stops…

What used to be a small establishment made of gray smooth stones and wooden pylons. Was now replaced by a building white building of the same size, the front, where a small wooden porch used to be, was now a wide, circular mosaic floor, with several marble pillars at the corners that held a bell sunroof that seemed to give off a constant light from underneath…

“....The, fuck…” The owner whispers as he keeps staring…

“You like? Come on, don’t tell me you preferred that poor excuse of a building you had before~” Aria adds as she takes a few steps forward, then spreads her arms towards the building.

“...Ohh, this is going to end bad…” The owner whispers to himself again.

“Come on, you’re not allowed to shoot it down until you see all of it.” Aria continues as he starts walking towards the building...

“Uhh. Is, marble easy to clean?....” The owner asks as he passes through the first couple of marble pylons. He then looked up, towards the inside of the bell sunroof, to find a relatively big, glowing white crystal that was attached to the roof via metal pylons …

“Easier than that rotting wood you had. Probably, I mean I’m a queen, I don’t clean.” Aria responds with a shrug.

“Ex-queen” The owner retorts.

“Come on, you’ll love the inside~” She continues, ignoring the owner’s remark as she starts walking towards the entrance, which was still the old, oversized door.

“Oh I also did not change anything that was magically enchanted, for obvious reasons. So good thing your old front door matches the new frame.” Aria adds with a smile as she casually walks through the closed door.

“This feels so, weird.” The owner whispers as he places his hand on the door, which responding to his touch, starts to open up, and….

“Wellll?” Aria asked while she was sitting on the counter, which was still at its old position, the only difference being that instead of the wooden slab, the top was now made of marble.

The rest of the building also looked oddly similar to how it used to be, doors at the same location and all, except that everything seemed to have been replaced with a more expensive version of itself. Tables, windows, lights, the section that led to the inn even had carpets.

“I’m waiting~” Aria speaks up again as the owner walks inside.

“....Is that, a chandelier?” The owner asks as he looks up.

“Magically enchanted too, it can change flame color on command.” Aria responds as she also looks up.

“I get the feeling I just lost most, if not all of my clients now.” The owner whispers as he keeps looking around.

“O don’t be so grumpy. Just keep your price’s the same. Come on, let’s check out the rest~.” Aria shrugs before jumping off the counter.

The owner nods slightly, and moves to his left, towards the kitchen.

Opening the door to it, he finds himself in the same old layout again. Everything once again having been spruced up, everything except…

“Hmm, what is this?” Aria ‘asks’ as she trots over to the door that led to the enchanting room with a frown on her face, the door now being the only item in the room that didn’t look ‘new’.

“Why didn’t the idiots change this?” She continues as she folds her arms.

“Because this door and the surrounding walls are not meant to be broken down easily. To keep unwanted, guests out.” The owner responds as he also walks next to the door, then casually opens it. The insides looking the same as always, with the armor still standing attention next to the table.

“So the fact I can just go through it whenever I want means I am wanted here?” Aria asks back as she turns to grin at the owner. Who turned to return to the main room.

“Oi! At least answer back!” Aria grumbles as she trots after the owner.

The moment he returned to the main room, keeping his weight straight, towards the other side of the room and the staircase that led to the inn...

“...Uhhh, I’m pretty sure that door was not there before.” He points straight ahead, at a royal-looking door that was next to the staircase...

“Hmm? Ohhh. That’s my room.” Aria answers casually.

“....The what now?...” The owner asks as he turns to stare at Aria.

“What? You can’t expect me to live in the inn did you? It’s for customers.” Aria responds with a slight pout.

“You ‘are’ a customer.” The owner retorts.

“I’m a V.I.P. And a sponsor.” Aria folds her arms as she makes a smuggy smile. The owner just keeps staring back at her.

“What? Nothing to say back?” Aria smirks as she leans towards the owner.

“Should've figured ‘something’ was up. But, you did make the place better...” The owner responds. And, it was Aria’s turn to stare now.

“Wait, for real? No witty comeback?” She asks as she blinks a couple of times.

“You want me to change my mind?” The owner asks back.

“Ahh, no no no! This is fine!” She responds as she quickly shakes her hands, a wide toothy smile appearing on her lips.

“Just one rule.” The owner then turns to face Aria completely.

“Don’t worry, I won’t seduce anybody.” Aria answers right after.

“Keep out of human sight.” The owner continues.

“Oh. Ohh. Sure no problem. I have my own private spring pool next to my room anyway.” Aria responds with a slight shrug.

(...This just keeps getting better and better...)

With that thought, the owner turned to head towards the actual spring rooms.

“Still, I’m surprised a bunch of ogres could do all this so fast, and not leave even a splinter on the ground.” The owner scratches his forehead as he walks through the curtain that leads hallways to the spring rooms.

“Well of course, these orges are part of the main royal building group that takes part in the construction and repair of the main castle, and maybe a building or two in the bigger towns. Certainly not a bright bunch, but give them a schematic they can understand and the materials, and they will make what’s on the paper in a tenth of the time .” Aria responds.

“Yet the ogres in the village we were at lived under rocks.” The owner continues.

“As I said, give them the schematics, they will build it. Leave the schematic half-finished, they will build the thing half-finished, give them nothing, and will just stare at the sky like a bunch of idiots.” Aria answers as she and the owner enter one of the springs.

“Huh, nothing changed here.” The owner looks around as he folds his arms.

“Since we don’t have springs like these in the Eather. I didn’t have any sort of basics to give, so I left them as is.” Aria answers with a small nod.

“I see, I half expected you to wing it. But this, is actually pretty good…” The owner responds as he turns towards Aria.

“Heh, about time you realize my awesomeness.” She says with a grin.

“AAAnyway~ I’m beat. All these teleportations tired me out. I’m going to my room.” She adds as she stretches with a moan before turning around.

“If you come to my room, don’t knock. I like surprises.” She adds as she glances behind her.

“I’ll make sure to surprise you with your tab then.” The owner answers.

“Ha, you wish. I’m rich bitch.” Aria snorts as she turns her head away and starts walking, lifting her arm slightly while pointing her finger towards the sky.

(....Did, she just call me a bitch?)

The owner scratched his forehead again as he also proceeded to leave…

-20 minutes later-

“.....” The owner was now sitting behind his new shiny counter.

“....” Staring towards the small green field outside.

“....” Unmoving.

“This feels. So friggin weird.” He whispers as he taps the marble slab in front of him. He then turns his sight towards the chandelier on the ceiling, a soft white flame burning on its candles.

“How do you even change color on that thing? Aria didn’t mention that bit...” He asks pretty much himself as he keeps staring at it.

“Blue.” He blurts out as he keeps staring at the chandelier, which did not respond.

“Color, blue.” Nothing.

“Umm, exc..”

“Change to blue.” Nope

“Would you kindly change to blue.” Much to everyone's surprise. Nothing.

“Blue or riot” The white flame decided it was time for a riot.

“E, excuse…”

“Blue or you’re fired.” The chandelier is now jobless.

“Aaa, Um! ” And a meek sounding female voice broke the ‘fight’ between the owner and the chandelier.

“Hmm?’ The owner turns to look towards the entrance, to find a short, female…

“A Raccoon demon?” The owner tilts his head.

“T, tanuki.” The Tanuki girl mumbled, holding her straw hat with both hands over her chest.

“Umm, a friend of mine told me there were hot springs here. But, umm...” She mumbles again as she looks around slightly.

“She, she told me that the place was affordable for me and, umm…” She then looked down, as if to make sure she was not stepping into the building.

“Could you please point me to where that place is?” She asks as she glances at the owner.

“There aren’t any other hot springs around, at least none that I’m aware of. Big chance your friend came here.” The owner responds.

“What? No way, she would never be able to afford something like this…” The Tanuki responded. And then her eyes went wide.

“Oh lord! Did she rob somebody?! Am, am I friends with a thief?! I, I don’t want to go to jail!” The Tanuki girl bites down on her straw hat as she starts to dart her eyes around.

“Uhh, relax, your friend didn’t rob anybody, probably. This building just got refurbished some time ago. Tell me how much you were aiming to spend, I’ll tell you how long you can use the springs here” The owner lifts his hands slightly to calm down the freaking out Tanuki.

“Ahh, umm, ehh. O, one...ol…” The Tanuki, after taking a few deep breaths, ended up hiding half of her face behind her hat, trailing off to a mumble...

“One what?” The owner asks again as he tilts his head.

“Gold….” The Tanuki mumbles again.

“That’d be half an hour then.” The owner responds.

“ I, see. I’m sor...Wait, what?” The Tanuki girl takes a step back and starts to turn around to leave, before darting her head towards the owner.

“Fifteen minutes are five silvers” He continues.

“Really? But this place looks…”

“My place, my prices. But well, if you want, I can charge you ten golds a minute.” The owner shrugs.

“N, no it’s ok! I, I will stay for fifteen minutes then.” The Tanuki girl responds as she turns completely towards the owner.

“Very well.” The owner answers, and opens the attendance book…

“...” While the Tanuki girl stood still by the entrance…

“Uhh, I need you to come in and sign up please.” The owner points at the book.

“I, can come in?” The Tanuki asks, causing the owner to chuckle.

“Yes.” The owner answers.

The Tanuki girl nods, takes a few meek steps inside.

“Woaaaaaaa….” Her mouth dropping open as she looked around. Taking small steps towards the counter, until she almost disappeared marble slab, only her head remaining visible.

“Umm, where do I sign?” The Tanuki girl asks. The owner moves to page T, and picks up the pen.

“Just, tell me your name.” He responds as he glances at the Tanuki, which was trying to look at the book..

“Kimitha” The Taniku mumbles.

“Very well, the springs are behind the curtained door frame to your right. You will find towels and the such in the room the spring is in.” The owner responds as he points to his left.

“So, I can go now?” The Tanuki girl asks.

“Yes.” The owner responds.

“My friends, will never believe this…” The Tanuki mumbles as she starts walking, her head almost making full circles as she keeps moving…

After the Tanuki left the front room, the owner turned to look back out, the sun slowly starting to dim, which caused the lights around the stone path to light up.

“Hmm, I should add some benches for the new porch.” The owner whispered to himself as he stared outside.

“And maybe change the crystal in the dome roof to a blue shine.” He adds. And just as he finished his sentence. The whole room turned to a cooler, blue shade.

“Huh? What the?” The owner narrows his eyes as he glances around, before turning towards the chandelier, whose flames were now a dark blue.

“...Oh why you little shit...” He grunts with a frown.

“Red shine.” He added right after, and the flames changed to a bright red.

“Yellow shine.” And the flames turned yellow.

“....Rainbow shine.” He adds with a grin. The chandelier, after a few seconds, changed each candle into a different color of the rainbow..

“Ohh, smart. Hmmm” The owner taps his chin.

“Bright blue shine.” He adds right after. Yet the chandelier changed to the same blue it was before.

“Blue bright shine” The chandelier is confused.

“Blue shine, bright” The chandelier used hue change!

“Ohh, so that’s how it works.” The owner nodded slightly, then leaned back on his new comfortable chair. His eyes running around the ‘new’ interior.

“Still, I wonder why Aria is so damn bent on staying here. Because I don’t buy the I’m interested in you gig. Free upgrades aside, what she essentially did is make the building easier for her to live in, and she did make a whole damn room for her. Oh well, take what you can get I guess. Annoyance aside, she’s still a powerful Demon. Plus she might bring in some, higher-class customers.” The owner sighs as leans on the marble counter.

“Though on the other hand, high-class Demons are usually a bit, hard to deal with. And I really don’t want to see what’ll happen if a Dragon, Vampire and Kitsune pop up here at the same time, especially if they’re all in a bad mood…” The owner folds his arms as he tilts his head.

“Add that this will definitely start attracting more attention from the spire’s priests. I’ll have to think of a way to deal with them, because they ‘will’ show up eventually. As I get the feeling that Aria ain’t going to lay low…” He continues as he turns to glance towards the new door, the one that led to Aria’s, room.

“You know, I’ll go check the vault and enchanting room. Just to make sure…” He taps the marble counter a couple of times before getting up, turning to head towards the door to his right, which led to the kitchen. After going through that door, he kept moving straight towards the enchanting room’s door.

Upon entering said room, he closes the door behind him. And then starts looking around.

“Hmm, everything seems normal.” He whispers as he goes to the desk in the middle.

“Even the materials I left are still here in the same position.” He continues as he glances at the bookcase on the far end of the room, the one that had the stairs to the vault behind it.

“Let’s check the vault then.” With a small nod, he walks up to the bookcase and throws a light kick at its bottom. The bookcase responds by sliding back, and opening just like before.

“Nothing seems different here either.” He continues as he goes down the stairs. And after reaching the heavy metal door and going inside the vault…

“Aaaand, everything seems in place, so I guess ogres really couldn’t get in he...uhh, wait a minute...” The owner’s sight locked on a single fried fry which laid on top of the central table, next to an assortment of arrows. Next to that fry, a single dark-tipped arrow…

The owner lets out a sigh as he walks up towards the fry, then turns to glance at the arrow…

“Ohh no she didn’t…” He groans as he picks up the arrow.

“....Uhhh, she used a dark elemental arrow, as a toothpick? The crap’s wrong with this woman?...” He sighs yet again as he turns to leave, arrow in his hand.

“If she’s going to make herself at home at my shop, we need to establish some damn ground rules around here…” He whispers as he closes the metal door behind him.