Unexpected Company

Chapter 150

Down in the valley near the entrance, Dawn was waiting for me. I’d been busy before, but a week prior Hetcha had informed me I could expect either a group of Lepusan refugees or Lupe marauders in the near future. The latter possibility had the bone brigade making an excited flurry of bets about how that would turn out.

My concern was more for the potential refugees and I’d been erecting facilities to receive them. Mainly a bunkhouse complex. The one Dawn was waiting to tour with me to make sure it wasn’t too weird.

My first instinct had been to clone the boarding house for adventures I’d been tinkering with in my free time. That idea had been shot down quickly and after some discussion, I’d understood why. I’d over-engineered it pretty seriously compared to what people would expect.

That didn’t mean I was going to make normal accommodations either. The people who would be coming had been through an incredible period of hardship. The bunkhouse would still be luxurious by most standards, but was a little closer to normal. Essentially it had racks of bunk beds and places where fabric dividers could be tied to create private units.

The basic idea was the flexible location of the dividers could be used to make family spaces if needed. Each set of bunks was against an actual wall though, for privacy reasons. Every three sets of bunks was a break in the wall that created a corridor between the two halves of the bunk house. Simple but flexible.

It looked weird and underwhelming to me, but hopefully wouldn’t be too strange for the new occupants. More importantly, it wasn’t intended as a long-term solution. Once the new townsfolk arrived, they’d be sorted into new dwellings and helped to find work of one kind or another.

Dawn and I exchanged brief greetings before heading inside. We would do a walkthrough of the complex. There were three bunkhouses in total, so we had a fair amount to look over.

“I never thought about stacking beds,” Dawn said contemplatively as she looked over what I’d done.

“Why three bunk houses though?” She asked. It was honestly a lot more space than technically needed for the expected group size.

“Families in one, singles in the smaller ones,” I explained. Refugee groups weren’t guaranteed to get along and cramped quarters wouldn’t help. Giving them room would hopefully ease their anxieties.

“I see, that makes sense,” Dawn said, faster than I was used to. I wasn’t entirely sure why, but she’d seemed to have relaxed a bit in recent weeks. She still made the same kind of decisions as before, just more quickly and with less stress.

“How’s your house, by the way? Need anything adjusted?” I asked. Blending a space for species of disparate sizes had been something of a challenge.

“A narrower bed would be nice,” Dawn said absently then looked startled by her own words. Blushing, she looked at me and I tried, but failed not to laugh. I wasn’t laughing at the request, just her overreaction. I honestly didn’t understand why she was embarrassed, I just found it cute.

“Uhm.. that’s..” Dawn fumbled for an explanation and I put a hand on her shoulder. If she wanted to make cuddling in bed unavoidable, who was I to argue?

“It’s fine. I’ll make it how you want, just let me know the size,” I said, trying to be gentle now, despite how I’d laughed before. She nodded before schooling her expression into its normal neutrality. An effort wasted, as she still couldn’t look me in the orbs.

Walking back out we came to what I called the mess. Instead of constructing an additional complete building, I’d made a roofed outdoor picnic area with a kitchen, since I was confident the weather was reasonably dry throughout the year. The bunkhouses formed a “U” shape around it, and I’d assigned some of the new skilled skeletons to it as cooks and caretakers.

Those living in the bunkhouse could still choose to take their meals indoors; I’d provided tables and chairs. I just felt like an outdoor venue would have a better atmosphere and embedded a few light stones in the overhead supports. Once evening came, they would shine for a few hours so everyone could take their evening meal before going out on their own.

“What do you think?” I asked after a few minutes had passed.

“I think this is much tamer than I expected, even with the light stones,” Dawn said thoughtfully.

“Thaaaanks,” I said, playfully bitter. “But do you think it will work?”

“I imagine so. They’d likely be grateful for shabby tents let alone all of this,” Dawn said, gesturing at the complex as a whole.

“Well, I’m not going to slouch as a host, so that's not happening. I’m glad this will do the job and isn’t too weird,” I said honestly. It was the bare minimum I was willing to offer and my willingness hinged on it being temporary.

I almost didn’t notice a gentle chime go off and a new pop-up.

[Non-hostile Entry]

[Accept/Reject]

My orbs flickering, I searched my map and found a group of ten entering the stone labyrinth. All of them were in bad shape and one appeared to be on the verge of death.

“Mistress?” Dawn asked curiously after seeing me go rigid.

“A party of disabled and dying Lepusan just entered the labyrinth…” I said as I tried to put my thoughts together. I’d been making plans for receiving people, but I hadn’t put any emergency measures in place for those arriving in a bad state.

“Give me some potions and put me in around a bend from them. I can heal and lead them in,” Dawn said decisively. I just nodded, glad she had a good head in an emergency. I dropped her in with a cart I hastily stocked with water and medical supplies.

Instead of starting a text I went to the monster panel and selected everyone in the dungeon. A group call instantly opened up. I’d never used the feature before, but I’d figured out how it worked after the last round of upgrades.

“Showtime,” I said simply. In the distance I could hear whoops of joy and shouting as the town sprang to life in anticipation of new arrivals.