Foreman Tuk paced around the ruins of Emer’Thalis, intermittently stopping to frantically tap his foot against the dusty earth.

According to Amak, Tess was back. If Tess was back, that meant he had to stop stalling and be honest with himself. More than be honest with himself, he had to be honest with her.

The truth of the matter, to put it plainly, was that it was time for Tuk to head home.

Oh, sure, he’d had a blast working on those two Rare buildings. And yes, his leveling speed in the past few months was nothing short of miraculous. He’d certainly planned on staying longer -- when those dark and gloomy skies had cleared up, he’d filled his head with all sorts of nonsense. He’d stay for a few months. Maybe even a year! The girl had gotten him two Rare buildings, right? What was a third?

As the months ticked by, though, he had to admit to himself that it’d been wishful thinking.

Not that the other work he’d been doing wasn’t fulfilling. He’d never made a refrigerated storage space before. Far more exciting than the cookie cutter houses and minor repairs he’d often been relegated to back in Ftheran.

That being said, much as he hated to admit it, construction wasn’t everything.

Sure, fine, Emer’Thalis was getting more pleasant. Hells, a lot of that was his doing, after all. It had warm baths, finally had a functioning market, new cuisines that were growing better and more varied by the day, a helluva bar…

And that was about it. It wasn’t as if the foreman was about to delve into the dungeon, after all.

At the end of the day, sometimes he just missed home. His old apartment. The street vendors in the central plaza. Music halls! Comfier beds. Bar hopping (which happened to require at least two different bars). Actual gods-damned stores.

So yes. Maybe it wasn’t the right move for his class, but he’d decided it was time to head home. He imagined most of the builders who’d stuck with him would follow as well.

Now, the only thing left was to tell Tess. Especially after ambushing her and being so gung-ho about staying the first time, he had to admit he felt a touch embarrassed, but he’d do it nonetheless.

“You’re a grown man, Tuk. No getting anxious over a little chat.”

Thus resolved, the foreman headed back to the settlement proper, hoping to find its owner.

And while it was hardly an instant process, he eventually did. In fact, it was she who’d wound up finding him, in a sense. Right in the central marketplace, he’d heard his name called, and on spinning to face the caller, he found Tess striding up to him with a wave.

Easy does it, Tuk. Just like you rehearsed it.

“Tess! Just who I was hoping to run into. I was hoping to have a quick chat if you had some-” The foreman’s easy-going grin faltered as Tess neared, and he had to do a double take. Sure, living in Emer’Thalis had taught him to expand his horizons somewhat. Weird was just par for the course here, all the more so when it came to the settlement owner. Still, that didn’t mean he could just take anything in stride.

“Is that- What in the hells are you doing?” He stood there, transfixed on a small gray lump nestled in one of the girl’s hands. With her other, she held what looked to be a kitchen knife. Even as she approached him, she used the one to stab the other, over and over again. After a number of such stabs, the lump would visibly quiver, the slits in its surface sealing up seamlessly.

It would have been odd just about any way he spun it, but to add to the discomforting scene, the ball in question looked decidedly flesh-like.

As if realizing what she was doing for the first time, Tess glanced down at her butchery. “This? Spell practice. Something called a ‘flesh homunculus’ to help me practice healing. Kind of freaky looking, but I’ve been assured it’s entirely humane. Anyways, glad I caught you. Any chance you’re free for a while? Had something kind of important that’ll take a bit.”

Unexpected, but no reason not to hear her out. If anything, it would make it easier to tell her he’d be heading out soon. He hoped she wasn’t going to ask him about future building projects, at least. It’d be awkward if she went over housing plans with him only for him to announce his impending departure immediately afterwards.

He nodded. “Had something I wanted to talk to you about too.”

“Perfect! Let’s walk a bit then.” She started off towards the bathhouse, beckoning him along. “Just to double check, you still have those blueprints for the bathhouse, right?”

The blueprints? Is she planning on having me upgrade the building? They’d left out a few of the optional features, like the self-heating enchantment, as they hadn’t had the materials. It was always possible to build them in after the fact, though.

Or does she know I’m leaving and she’s asking for them back? It’d be tough to part with them, admittedly, but they were hardly his to keep.

“Sure do.” Wasn’t like he was going to lose a Rare blueprint.

“Good. Let’s try this out then. No point in doing all this if he’s not even free.” With those cryptic words, she fished out a gem from a pouch at her side. Tuk didn’t recognize what sort of gem it was, but it flashed briefly as she activated it.

For a few seconds, nothing happened, and he was about to ask if something was wrong. A moment later, however, the gem flashed again, this time staying lit.

Much more noticeably, though, they were no longer alone. A lively man in golden robes now stood beside Tess and him, a wide grin nearly splitting his face in two.

No, not actually standing there, he amended. The man had a slightly shimmery appearance, marking him as some sort of illusion. On realizing this, Tuk sucked in a hasty breath.

Hells, that’s some sort of contact gem, isn’t it? And with visuals? Aren’t those ruinously expensive? He didn’t even know how much money that would be, as they were essentially unheard of in Ftheran. Sure, he knew they existed, but it wasn’t like he knew anyone who had one.

“Hi! Sorry to call you out of the blue, but we never set up an exact time. No chance you have some time free now, is there?” If Tess was wowed by the marvel of instant face-to-face communication, she didn’t show it.

“Hello! Was starting to think I wouldn’t hear from you! All times are good times for you. I can clear my schedule. Why, what’s up?”

It was a question both he and Tuk were curious to hear an answer for. Who in the hells was this guy, and what did he have to do with bathhouse blueprints?

“Perfect. In that case, here’s what I’m thinking. I’m going to level with you -- I know just about nothing about buildings or city planning. I’ve done a little construction work a few months back, but that’s about it. On the flip side, this,” she said while gesturing towards Tuk, “is Foreman Tuk, who built those two Rare buildings I was telling you about. It’s been a while since we wrapped those up, though, so I’ve been hoping to get him something more exciting than housing to work on next.”

Something more exci- What was going on?

“Tuk, this is Laurent. He works over at an architectural guild. He’s interested in getting his hands on that blueprint we have, and I know for a fact that his guild has some Rare plans of their own. I don’t really know how to talk shop here, but I was hoping you could chat with him about the bathhouse and the bar, and maybe see about exchanging our blueprints for some of theirs? Whatever you’ve been wanting to work on as long as we run it by the others before pulling the trigger.”

Whatever I- No, back up for a moment. An architectural guild with multiple Rare blueprints open to be traded? Where exactly has Tess been off to this whole time?

“I can… Mmm. Yup. I can do that,” he sagely and confidently offered.

“Works for me too! Excited to finally follow up.” Laurent beamed at them, his teeth shining a silver-white to match the golden sheen of his clothes.

“Perfect! Like I said, I really don’t think I’m going to have much to contribute here, so I was hoping to leave you two to it for a bit. Do you mind if I just set that gem down for a second and pull Tuk off to the side before I head off, though?”

Laurent nodded and waved them away in a sign of acceptance, and a moment later, Tuk found himself just out earshot of the illusion.

“Sorry to spring that on you, but, surprise! I know the settlement isn’t as comfy as Ftheran, and you only stayed behind to level up, so I wanted to make sure you had something you actually wanted to build here. In any case, though, quick info: He never told me this, but that guy’s the guildmaster for a very snooty city’s Architectural Guild. He also seems to really want those blueprints, so do your best to milk him for all he’s worth, sound good?”

For the umpteenth time in the past few minutes, Tuk stood there, failing to process whatever the hells was going on. Not even bothering to try, he instead focused on the last two words she’d uttered: Sound good?

Because it sure as hell did sound good. Had he ever gotten to really choose his own project like this? Had he ever been empowered to get his hands on a Rare blueprint of his own choosing? What sort of fever dream had he found himself in?

“Huh. Sounds good,” he eventually muttered out.

“Great. Now, before I leave you two to it, there was something you wanted to tell me too?”

Tuk glanced back towards the image of the guildmaster waiting patiently for him, then back to Tess.

“Nope,” he answered. “Not even a thing.”

Carpin had to admit that, out of all of the jobs he’d had in his life, his current situation suited him better than most. Good experience. Interesting project. Minimal hours. Indeed, despite the fact that his class was growing at an admirable rate, he found that he had more free time than he could truly ever remember himself having.

Some, he knew, would have gone stir crazy from such a thing, all the more so considering the somewhat anemic leisure options of the surrounding settlement. For Carpin, however, it was ideal. Had he been made to weigh all of the belongings he’d brought with him from Drawgin, it would quickly be noted that the vast bulk of the weight belonged to reading material. Books, scrolls, the rare poem scrawled onto a parchment. The written word in all its various shapes and sizes.

He was, in fact, likely one of the few denizens of Emer’Thalis who had not minded the previously gloomy skies. After all, what did the brightness of the sky matter if one was tucked away inside with a good book? To that end, he found the dim glow of the mana-enriched dark-wood walls endlessly comforting, lending the perfect environment for his favorite pursuit.

When it did come to work, however, he would readily admit to enjoying what he did. While some of that had to do with the novelty of optimizing a fledgling dungeon, he knew that just as surely, much of his enjoyment had to do with his boss.

Oh, he’d worked a fair number of jobs over his years, some which had stretched his logistics muscles, some of more mundane varieties. Especially when it came to the logistics positions, he found, most bosses tended to micromanage. To nitpick. To give him infinitely little leeway, and to hound him for constant updates. It was in large part what had driven him to the more laid back environment of Drawgin in the first place.

When it came to the young settlement owner of Emer’Thalis, however, he found that she did the exact opposite of micromanaging. Seemingly free from the arrogance of youth, or perhaps simply recognizing that there were some things she wasn’t proficient in, she’d granted him far more authority than he’d ever expected upon arriving. He had access to the settlement interface! Direct approval to spend its energy!

Better yet, he sometimes went months without having to report to her. Sure, in that same time frame, he would run things by the leader of the forest shadows -- a sharp logistical mind, that one, and after all, they did have to share settlement energy -- but that was just about it. And in fact, when he did end up reporting on his efforts, it felt, to him, more like an opportunity to brag if anything.

All that to say, Tess had arrived back in Emer’Thalis, and while walking along the outskirts of the main settlement, Carpin was in the process of bragging once more.

“So you see, it’s really quite astonishing how quickly we’ve been able to ramp up the number of dungeon delvers in a given day. Even in the short time you’ve been away, we’ve managed to over double the rate. I’d estimate in a solid year’s time, we’ll manage to have it fully instanced, and perhaps even with a second floor!”

He noticed the girl’s eyes growing wide and chided himself for forgetting one of the cardinal rules. Most people, he had to remember -- especially the younger ones -- tended to shut down when presented with any details farther than a few months in advance. A year was just far too long.

If nothing else, however, his words seemed to have her thinking of the future.

“That’s phenomenal, Carpin, and I’m sure all the adventurers appreciate it too. Question though: Are we planning for people to still be here in a year? I’m going to be honest, but each time I come back, I’m kind of surprised that the adventurers haven’t just… left yet. If anything, I thought this might turn into some sort of brief vacation spot where Drawginites -- Drawginians? Drawginers? -- would use our dungeon for a week or two before heading home. Not a year round city.”

He chuckled at how poorly the girl understood the mind of an adventurer, despite seeming to have the trappings of one herself. If anything, he expected many more people to arrive if word of the dungeon ever spread.

“Perhaps I should have led with this, but have you perhaps heard that other parties have chanced upon your ‘hidden boss’? We’ve determined that any party can find it, provided that none of its members have faced the boss before.” The discovery had resulted in a somewhat uproarious state for a time, but such a thing was understandable. A fruit that guaranteed at least five levels in skills was no small thing.

“Huh,” was Tess’s first reaction, followed by “Do you know if people have been mining its body? I met a few people who were interested in the material.”

He beamed, happy to have anticipated the desire. “Of course. Your companions delivered a full report to me, which included your mining of the beast’s body. It’s been recommended for each team attempting the fight to bring pickaxes, even if they’re not overly proficient in the profession.”

Admittedly, a good number of teams chose not to fight the beast. It was a much simpler affair to resolve the hidden event peacefully, and doing so resulted in a sizable blessing from the snake. As it was, some of the fights he’d had reported to him were… gruesome. It turned out that there were certain orders that the gems absolutely should not be activated in -- having the fire gem activate after the room filled with the life gem’s poisonous gas, for instance -- and from the sounds of it, Tess’s group had gotten quite lucky with their fight.

“I believe you’ll find there’s quite a number of adventurers with enriched obsidian to sell. Ah, and on that note, I imagine you have a good bit of Contribution Points owed to you as well -- we pay them out for delivering important information on the dungeon, and your companions were adamant you got the lion’s share for your effort in discovering the hidden boss.”

She seemed to take that in stride, still fixated on her earlier question. “Is that really it, though? People are going to stick around because of a magic fruit from an event they can only do once? Why don’t they just leave after eating it?”

At this, he merely shrugged. “What can I say? The experience is good. The buy-in to run the dungeon is much smaller than in Drawgin. The resources and items found within are infused with comparatively rare darkness mana. I believe it’s a fine location to gain levels and gain loot, and you must remember that most of these folks are hoping to one day level up enough to where age loses its grip on them. What’s a few years without a few creature comforts if it gets one closer to eternity?”

Then again, he’d hardly know anything about that. He wasn’t planning on becoming a Battle Logistician or any such nonsense anytime soon. Having spent enough time in Drawgin though, he knew that’s just how it was. Leveling maniacs rarely had much else on their minds.

“Huh,” she intoned once more. “Can’t say I fully get it, but good to know. And thanks, Carpin. Now that we have a sort of mini-economy, we should talk about giving you a raise at some point, but I think that’ll do it for me for now.”

He coughed, dismissing himself with a light bow. In truth, he’d already taken the liberty -- after running it by the other city leaders -- in assigning them all a paycheck of sorts, though perhaps he’d leave the specifics of that for another time.

“Then I believe that I’ll take my leave.” He was in the middle of a particularly good read of the accounts of a wandering cattle merchant, and he was eager to return to it.