When I’d first had the idea of living off the grid and using my magic to form a house out of the ground myself, it’d felt like a brilliant choice. No more rent costs, minimal utilities, and only an up-front investment in solar panels and the like. I’d figured that I could whip together a burrow-home in a few days time and have no issues moving my stuff into it.

  Oh how naive I was.

  Thankfully, I found out the truth of the situation relatively quickly, which prevented some concerns. The realtor that I was working with, a man by the name of Gordon, had a few clients in the past that would have qualified under the affectionate epithet of ‘doomsday prepper’ and had thrown a few suggestions my way when he called back to confirm that the previous landowners had accepted my bid.

  “Oh, they accepted so fast, I was worried they were going to bite my hand right off,” Gordon had laughed over the phone. “I guess they were more than happy to get out of that chunk of land before taxes were assessed.”

  “More power to them, then. They saw the opportunity and took it,” I replied with a broad smile. I’d just gotten back from the planning session with the girls, so had a few days of time to work on things. “How long do you think the escrow process will take?”

  “Things are slow at the moment with the winter coming in right now. The bank would say thirty days, but I expect two weeks time will handle it,” Gordon answered and I heard the shuffling of papers over the phone. That made me guess that the big man was likely in an office. “Why? Eager to get to work?”

  “Any work I can get done before the ground freezes solid would be appreciated,” I hedged, but the big man just laughed.

  “As long as you aren’t setting up buildings or hauling out major construction equipment, you should be fine. Jameson said you were good for it, so I’ll trust his word on this. Just be careful about cutting down trees and pulling stumps up. The last thing you wanna do is trigger a rock-slide or tear up your truck.”

  “Good point.” And it was a good point, mostly because I would have to remember to reinforce the ground and the structures underneath it to prevent the whole affair from being damaged by the weather. I’d read about how thermal shock from a fire in a cave could damage walls and cause collapses, so I’d need to look into that as well.

  “Do you want me to start the paperwork for a well and the approval for solar for you, Mr. Cosgrave?”

  The question broke through the layer of racing thoughts that had been occupying my mind and it threw my train of thought right off the tracks for a moment. Thankfully, my increased mental scores were finally pulling their weight, so it wasn’t long before I could readjust and answer him.

  “Sure, how much extra is that going to cost?”

  “Few hundred for the paperwork, but the cost for the well drilling is going to be much higher. Anywhere from three to fifteen grand depending on how deep the water table is. The solar will run the same or higher, depending on how many you get. But if you have the permits ahead of time, then it’ll be easier to get them installed.”

  The way that Gordon rambled off the numbers without pausing to check told me that either he’d done his research or this wasn’t the first time he’d set something like this up.

  “Go ahead and get the paperwork set up. I might try and piecemeal stuff as I can afford it, but knowing how slow paperwork is to go through the state, it’ll be best to be ready,” I said after waiting a moment to think.

  I knew that, if push came to shove, I could easily fill out the paperwork. But this was a situation where I was confident that my time was far better put to use sourcing new income streams or working on excavating my new home. I’d spent enough time roughing it with the girls on Cortha that the idea of camping in a cave didn’t bother me much, especially if I could bring along stuff to make it more comfortable.

  toI thought in a rush while Gordon clattered away on a keyboard for a long moment.

  “Okay, I’ve added it to my queue, and I’ll make sure the necessary paperwork gets filed. Again, if you want to go walk the property and the like, you should be fine. I’d just avoid doing anything major for a few weeks until the escrow clears. You can’t take possession of the land and start filing for building permits until it does. But the property butts up against the national forest, so you can probably get away with camping there if you want to stargaze or something.”

  “Got it, Gordon. Thanks again for the help,” I said with a smile. The need for the extra permits would be a pain, but throwing money at the problem would solve it without undue stress.

  I didn’t want to live in the apartment any longer than I absolutely had to, and I’d already been using a post office box to send and receive business mail. I’d keep the apartment for the next month or two to give myself time, but I had a feeling I’d be doing quite a bit of camping for the next few months, and that was not including the time that I was spending on Cortha when we left on that mission that Cariad had mentioned.

  <><><>

  “It might be time for you to hire someone to handle the shipping aspect of the work you do, Liam,” Kassandra suggested, turning to shoot a smile up at me.

  The sun shone on her rich red hair, sending glimmers of gold flickering through the mass of curls even as the light danced over the silver rims to her glasses. Winding over the dirt road behind her, the long snake body of my favorite dwarf lamia shimmered in the sun as well. Russet red and earthy brown scales contrasted with each other, while the shimmer of the sun also sent lines of bright yellow and white reflecting off the healthy scales of my lover.

  “I’ve thought about that, actually. The issue is finding someone that I trust enough to handle the business without robbing me blind. Honestly, it doesn’t take that much effort at the moment. I just need to actually return to Earth once every few days to make sure things are fine there and make a trip to the post office. It takes a few hours at most.”

  “And that will stay the same with your relocation?” Rieka asked from my other side.

  My wolf-eared princess had her arm threaded through mine, the soft sensation of her full breasts pressing into my biceps as we walked.

  “I would expect that it takes a bit more time just from travel, but that’ll be necessary for supplies,” I answered with a shrug, turning my head to smile down at Rieka.

  Just as the sunlight shimmered on Kassandra’s hair and scales, it danced amongst the chunky braid that held Rieka’s platinum hair back, before shimmering amongst the dusting of black that colored her pointed wolf-ears where they peeked out on top of her head. Those fuzzy triangles flicked happily while she watched me out of the corner of one eye, a small smile curving her lips.

  “I’ve been doing quite a bit of research for you as well, Liam!” Jane chirped from behind me. “You mentioned before the worries about fire underground and I did some digging in the archives. There are different treatments that can be done to protect the stone and distribute the heat that I’m looking into right now.”

  “I’ve been helping her with that for now,” Shayla added shyly as well as I glanced back over my shoulder at the two of them.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Thanks, Jane. I appreciate it. And I’m sure she appreciates the help, Shayla.”

  The bright smiles I got from my last two contractors and lovers made my heart swell with happiness, though the sight that greeted me would have been bizarre for most people.

  Shayla was walking just behind Rieka, the large moth-winged woman dressed in a loose and airy sundress that left little to the imagination as the wind tossed her brown hair behind her, making the red and cream highlights glow. She was the only one of the group to be wearing a dress, as Rieka was clad in her normal long-sleeved shirt and riding pants combo, and Kassandra was immune to pants by virtue of her serpentine portion.

  The broad moth wings that slowly pumped the air behind her though really grabbed the viewers attention. Intricate designs swirled across the cream appendages, with highlights of brown and red describing swooping eye patterns and threads of color. Everything about the woman, from her lush curves to the shapes described on her wings spoke of artistry, which tied into her personality well.

  Jane bounced in her seat once more, drawing my attention away from the beautiful moth woman and reminding me that I’d been staring.

  “There are a few options for how you handle water and sanitation, too. I’ve been looking into how people who live in remote areas handle it to get ideas too,” Jane rambled quickly, yanking a leather-bound notebook out of her bag and flipping it open.

  The gesture threw the small mouse kin’s balance off and her long tail flailed frantically through the air behind her while she fought to right herself. Thankfully, this wasn’t the first time she’d nearly tumbled off her seat, and I just adjusted her seat for her to resettle the small scholar’s balance once more.

  “You gotta be careful there, Jane,” Kassandra teased. “You’ve ridden Liam often enough that you should know to pay attention!”

  “They are not the same and you know it!” Jane squeaked in protest, her slim face going red enough that it leaked up into her large mouse ears as well.

  Jane had been the most recent of the girls to decide she wanted to take our relationship beyond the professional and into the emotional and sexual, so was still getting used to it. Her shyness cropped up at the oddest of moments though, considering she was riding me right now.

  She’d picked up the habit during our last long mission, but this time I’d gone farther than just having her riding on my shoulders in hopes of giving her a smoother ride and getting some practice with my Shape-Shifting

  I was currently a mixture between a human and a cougar, with my human waist tying into a muscular second set of shoulders while I padded along the dusty road that we’d been following. Jane was perched on my feline back, her smaller size making it a perfect fit for her.

  With my improved stats, I could have carried any of the girls without problem, but Jane’s weight was so slight that I sometimes forgot that she was even back there. Then she’d start running her little fingers through my fur, and let me tell you… There is a reason that cats and dogs like pets.

  To spare Jane some more blushes—because I could just tell that Kassandra was winding up to tease her some more—I diverted the conversation once more.

  “So, there was no problem getting your mother to approve a bit of a side-trip, Rieka?”

  “Nope,” Rieka replied while squeezing my arm against her. The fluffy mass of my princess’s tail swept back and forth behind her, and I occasionally felt its weight hit me in the side of my feline lower half. “You should know that, Liam. You were the one who was handling communication between the two of us.”

  “Yes, but…” I started to say before letting it trail off and just shrugging.

  “Just because he was the one carrying the reports doesn’t mean that he read them,” Kassandra piped in from my other side.

  “Mother left the scrolls unsealed,” Rieka replied defensively.

  “And when would he have had a chance to read them?” Kassandra shot back, wiggling her eyebrows at Rieka. “The queen summoned him to collect the orders and then sent him right back.”

  My dwarf lamia turned to stare up at me with sparkling eyes and a wicked grin a moment later, and I could just tell there was trouble brewing behind those eyes.

  “We really need to see if we can’t get your next level of Dimensional Pocket

  “It really is too bad you can’t just take the dimensional bag that Rieka has and load it up, then stuff that into your Dimensional Pocket

  “That is classic game logic, and I was not at all surprised that the System warned me when I tried.”

  It had been something that the girls had insisted on trying while preparing for this longer trip. With the extra funds that they all had at their disposal, the girls had each purchased a dimensional pouch for themselves, allowing Rieka to declare the other one that we’d been using exclusively for use with the camping supplies.

  I’d tried to store the camping bag in my Dimensional Pocket

  .

  Needless to say, I’d stopped trying immediately and returned the bag to Rieka.

  I thought before focusing back on the road in front of us.

  “So the route we are taking should get us relatively close to where Cari asked you to go,” Rieka said while gesturing to the road in front of us with one hand. “We have two weeks worth of time right now before we meet the others at the muster point further to the north-east. Travel can vary, but we should have easily a week of time to spend digging through these ruins.”

  “And I’m sure the queen was excited at the prospect of another set of ruins to inspect and plunder,” Kassandra teased.

  “Of course,” Rieka replied with an offhanded shrug. “Why wouldn’t she be? There is a great deal of potential in each of those locations. The fact that we are finding them so quickly is a boon in and of itself. We just need to be careful with who knows about them. That’s why this time the orders were different.”

  “Yes! I can’t wait to swing by my estates,” Kassandra crowed happily, adding a bit more bounce to her movements. If she was a human, she’d have been skipping. Instead, the lithe snake woman jiggled enticingly as she bobbed her human torso up and down.

  “I am surprised that such orders were able to circumvent the curriculum at Juneau,” Jane added from her spot on my back. She’d gone back to petting me with both hands, telling me that she’d stowed her notebook for now so she could hang on better. “Is that just a privilege of nobility?”

  “Partially,” Rieka said with a shrug. “Any student would be able to make such excuses, but because we have the queen ordering it then they are less likely to complain. Family issues, estate issues, and personal requests can all contribute to these allowances, but there is an element of privilege included.”

  “It’s not fair, but it is the reality of things,” Kassandra said sympathetically. “While the masters at the academy might complain if you were to put in a personal request to handle family business, especially after just taking time off, they won’t question it if the allowance comes from a higher noble.”

  “They’ll still talk about it,” Jane murmured with a frown then squeaked when I shrugged. I hadn’t quite gotten down doing that with just one set of shoulders and the motion jostled the little scholar.

  “Who cares if they talk about it?” Kassandra said blithely.

  “But she has a point…” Shayla murmured, her tone worried. “It may not affect our classes, but it will take time away from our masteries if we miss too much.”

  “So?” Kassandra said, this time more seriously.

  “But—” Jane began, only for the dwarf lamia to cut her off once more.

  “I’m serious about this, Jane. So what if it takes away from the mastery? So what if people talk about you behind your back? By the time you finish the coursework at Juneau, I guarantee that you’ll have more than enough personal accomplishments under your belt that you could find work anywhere you might want to, and that’s if the queen herself doesn’t employ you as one of her personal scholars due to all the work you’ve done.”

  “Kassandra does have a point, and there is something else that you two might be forgetting,” Rieka interjected when Kassandra paused to breathe. I felt the attention of Jane and Shayla switch to the princess. “You are both going to be rather wealthy shortly, with money to invest and live off of. Shayla, you already have your artwork to supplement you, but with the palladium coins we found? You two wouldn’t need to seek work to support yourselves for quite some time.”

  “I’d forgotten about those,” Jane admitted, her little hands switching from petting to an anxious kneading in my feline shoulders. The sensation actually felt nice, so I let her continue. It was far better for her to work those muscles on me than to spend it twisting her tail in knots.

  “I had a feeling,” Rieka said reassuringly. “The money is not a small amount, so it’ll take time for Mother to arrange. But I guarantee that you will have no issues with money once we get back from this border fracas.”

  The reminder of the wealth that these women held in their hands on this world would have bothered most people, I’m sure. But for me it wasn’t an issue. Both because these girls had worked hard to earn the money, risking their lives in dangerous situations, and because they had insisted I take an equal share as well.

  And now, I might have a way that I could use some of that wealth to bring useful tools back to Earth.

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