The rest of the day was a bit of a whirlwind of bouncing from one group to the next, observing, supervising, and somehow doing very little real work. There was some grumbling at the workload, though not as much as she’d come to expect from her initial interactions at the Hovel. It wasn’t so much that they hated work, it was more that they hated the sense that the work served no purpose and was really just a matter of biding their time until death. Now that she’d made the initial inhabitants get over that misconception, it wasn’t terribly difficult to get them to do their part.

It also probably helped that she’d instituted proper shift scheduling and days off. That had been one of the first things she’d taken care of that before this new batch had arrived, and had loosely scheduled for them as well. It was a personal peeve of hers how many jobs she’d had insisted on randomized schedules for maximum coverage at the expense of the workers. Granted, her current profession wasn’t nearly as concerned about hitting sales goals as her other ones, but the principle still held for her and she made a point of making sure that everyone got two proper rest days in a row.

The oldest workers at the Hovel were pretty familiar with not having to do anything for as many days as they wanted, scraping by on meager gruel and just kinda existing until they didn’t anymore. As such, two days off wasn’t quite as impressive to them. The new recruits, though, they marveled at the idea of forty-eight full hours off in a row. Most of the Demon Army had little use for the concept of days off unless you were dead and/or dying. You worked to feed the machine and you kept working unless there was nothing to do. Thankfully, Len had skipped that experience by rocketing up the ranks with her first Proving, meaning she got to make some of these calls herself.

Ultimately, the day was a modest success, a good chunk of the latrine was dug out, the miners had made some decent headway on the hollowing out of the new quarters, and Kila had made some progress on her next project: basic work knives for everyone. She was in a bit of a perfectionist mindset, so the work was taking longer than it had to, but she seemed happy, and it was a good use of the more limited ore supplies that she’d have at her disposal with the bulk of mining activities focused on housing.

Ramus and Felhammer had become fast friends, exchanging ideas, perfecting techniques, and implementing minor improvements to their little manufactory. She didn’t really understand a lot of what they were talking about, but they seemed happy, so she saw no reason to interrupt their fun. All in all, she thought it was a damn successful first day with the first round of recruits.

Keseryn, though, was not as pleased with the day’s events.

“So, how was working with Cookie?”

“Terrible. All he did was complain whenever I tried to do anything. His instructions were terrible, and any little thing that I had trouble with pissed him off.”

“Cookie? Pissed off? Are you sure we’re talking about the same mild-mannered orc chef?”

“Laugh all you want, he snapped at me constantly, almost kicked me out several times before remembering that you’re the one who decided I had to be there today, and finally just had me cleaning dishes all day.”

“Eesh, I’ll talk to him before I send you back there tomorrow.”

“I have to go back?!”

“Yup. One day isn’t enough time to show whether it’s too much for you or not. Also, Cookie needs this as much as you do. If he doesn’t figure out how to be a proper head of the kitchen, he’s gonna end up killing himself trying to keep up with everything. Can’t have that.”

“I’d be fine with it, after today.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Len smirked. “You’re too much of a softie yourself.”

“The hell I am!”

“You totally are,” Len said, ignoring her objections. “Now, how bout you blow off some steam by kicking my ass again.”

She pulled out the Chakar board.

* * * * *

They called it a night after just six victories to Kes’ credit, and Len made a note to find some tutor to teach her how to not suck at the game because this was getting embarrassing. It may have been a touch humiliating, but it did brighten the girl’s mood significantly and by the time they both went to bed, they were both quite pleased with themselves.

Morning came quick enough, with Len having gotten better sleep than usual with the benefit of most of the worry of the arrival of the new recruits removed. She knew that peace would be short-lived, but she’d be damned if she’d miss it while it was available. She left Kes to sleep in a little longer and made her way to the mess hall where Cookie had her morning caff ready for her.

“Morning, boss,” he said pleasantly.

“Morning, Cookie. So, how did Kes work out?”

“Not great, if I’m honest. Couldn’t keep water from burning most of the time and generally just wasn’t paying attention. It’s a damn good thing that Marble’s making more lately thanks to that greenhouse of yours, or we’d be in trouble.”

“Oof, that sucks. You’ll probably want to keep a closer eye on her today. Take your time with things, teaching isn’t the sort of thing that can be rushed.”

“Oh, you’re sending her back today?” His face fell slightly at the prospect.

“Yup, I think you both need it more than you realize, and I want her to be able to do lots of things around this place, she may end up running it one day.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Eh, probably. But you never know. I’ve never had a chance to mold a person’s growth as directly as this, I’m gonna have a bit of fun with it.”

“And you’re just going to let me bear the brunt of that learning experience.”

“Yup. You’re nominally an adult and need the experience anyway. Might as well get a twofer out of this. Besides, nothing’s changed. You’re gonna need to have assistants. Probably several as time goes by. Best get used to it now.”

He released an audible sigh, but nodded.

“Yes, boss.”

“Great! Now, I’ve got other stuff to be doing, so I’ll let you get back to enjoying your peace and quiet. I’ll have Kes swing by in a bit to get started on day two of her training. Try not to be too hard on her. She’s a tough kid, but it’s worth remembering that she’s been through a lot.”

“Sure thing, boss.” Cookie sounded somewhat disappointed with the results of their conversation but wasn’t the sort to make a bigger deal than necessary about things.

Privately, she told herself that if things continued to go badly between the two, she’d let them both off the hook and find someone else to work as Cookie’s assistant, but she did want to see what would happen if she made them stick it out for a bit. The whole situation amused her more than was right, seeing the two of them struggle outside their comfort zones, but if one didn’t take the time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, what even was the point of living?

It didn’t take long for the rest of the camp to rise, and before she knew it, Grenus’ Hovel was a bustle of activity. Doubling the bodies on hand definitely did wonders to liven the place up. It didn’t take long for them to mill into the mess hall and emerge shortly thereafter to go about their daily tasks and Len just sat back and enjoyed the sight. Malkus returned to his post at the front gate, Larry’s crew resumed their work on the latrine, and everyone else that didn’t have the day off headed into the mine to get to work on their assorted tasks.

Len smiled and spent some time people-watching, observing everyone as they milled about their duties, slowly getting into the swing of things as their bodies and minds adapted to being on the job. It would be fun to see how they adapted to this approach as more people joined their ranks and they had access to better opportunities. This peaceful reverie of hers was shattered by Malkus’ bellowing voice.

“Lady Wraithwhisper!” he boomed in a tenor far deeper than he’d used when speaking to her normally, one that carried from the gate to the courtyard with almost embarrassing ease. “The visitors you were expecting have arrived.”

Hopping up off the bench, she made her way to the gate, pleased that she’d gotten a reaction so quickly.

“So glad you could join us,” she said cheerily to the figure at the gates, then stopped in mild surprise as she realized it wasn’t Valrin the son of Krim, like’d she’d been expecting, but was Balar Hammerfist, a trader from the main Kelvach tribe.

“Ho there, Wraithwhisper,” he said pleasantly, not catching her surprise. “I was hoping we could talk.”

“Of course, Balar,” she said with a smile. “You’re always welcome here. Dare I hope you’ve brought some goods to trade?”

“A bit,” he said with a mischievous grin. “Not as much as I’d have liked, but resources are a bit tight right now as we prepare to deal with your friends from the south.”

“Friends is a bit generous. Don’t really know anything about them and I doubt they’d have much interest in doing more than mocking us and/or conscripting us for fodder.”

“Well, be that as it may, they’re the reason I don’t have much to trade at present. Anyway, can I speak to you in your tent?”

“Sounds good to me. I’ve had about enough of the charming morning frostbite anyway.”

They adjourned to her tent where Keseryn was finishing readying herself for the day.

“Oh, right, that’s a new update, I suppose. Kes, meet Balar, he’s one of the traders we’ve been working with. Good guy.”

“Hmph,” the girl replied.

“Yeah, that’s Keseryn, not the friendliest of sorts and definitely playing the teenager card more than is healthy. Some crap happened and now she’s under our care.”

“I… see,” said Balar hesitantly, staring pointedly at the small brand on the girl’s left cheek, the one that marked her as Banished.

Kes said nothing more and promptly left the tent.

“Is that going to be a problem?” Len asked, really hoping that it wasn’t.

“Not particularly, I suppose,” said Balar. “Frankly, I’m not even sure how the politics on that would play out. Members of the clan are forbidden from dealings with the Banished, but you’re not subject to our laws. Sounds like the sort of thing that’s above my level, so I think I’ll just go ahead and ignore it for the time being.”

“Marvelous. Would hate to have to cut off ties with you because you take issue with me sheltering a child.”

“Quite,” said Balar, raising an eyebrow.

“So, I’m guessing that she isn’t the reason you decided to stop by. What can I do for you and your clan?”

“See, that’s the thing. The whole situation is a bit stickier than I’d care to admit and, well… we need your help.”