Danika ate dinner alone, and considered her living conditions. On the surface, they were luxurious. On another level, not much had changed. She still ordered the same kinds of food from the same place, someone else still did her laundry, and she still spent most of her time either working or playing in an online game. But there was an underlying layer of annoyance that was still making her feel like scolding herself for being lazy.
She really didn't like having to use her chair so much in the mornings. It was silly, and trivial, and increasingly annoying. When she compared it to how comfortable her little apartment had been, she almost wanted to thank her father for driving the ridiculous wedge between them that had made her move out on her own in the first place.
Some things were also a lot more expensive. Not for her personally, but Ryuske hadn't tried to hide anything from her, for which she was grateful. The access to the household finances that he'd given her let her see just how much maintaining people for security, and a building this size near the city center could cost.
She had only kept the weekend reservations she had made at the places Shinichi had asked her to stay at, because he was so hopeful that she'd find one of the setups he liked more comfortable than the way their room was currently arranged. Otherwise, the knowledge that those reservations had required additional expenses for the people who had to accompany her would have made her cancel them all.
Those expenses weren't being charged to her, to Shinichi, or even to his dad, they were being charged to Underneath. Even Danika could understand the logic of that, but it made her feel like SilentSky's accusation (that she didn't understand that everything she did would affect them all through her relationship with Shinichi) was a lot more valid than she'd thought at the time.
Of course, not all of the changes were bad. There were some fun things too. Whenever Shinichi was home, they did their exercises together on the roof in the building's private pool. Her exercises had never seemed less like a chore, even before her spine had been damaged.
--
When she logged in, MatchlessMinion was waiting for her, like a messenger animal. "Hi?" she greeted him questioningly.
He didn't respond at first, and she realized after a moment that his character was connected, but he wasn't actually there.
"Wait for me!" he demanded after a moment, without moving at all.
"Sure," she agreed, and took out her aqua stone to water her garden and her tree while she waited.
The addition of the healing berry bushes made the little round garden in its illusionary pond seem fuller and wilder than it had in a long time. Since its replanting it had been rather neat and orderly, with clear lines of sight that let you take everything in with just a glance. Now there were hidden spaces again.
"Thanks," MatchlessMinion said, as he hopped up onto the tallest stone dragon print seat.
"What's up?" Danika asked curiously.
"I wanted to talk to you about Quicksilver, before she logs on," the chinchillamin announced.
His serious tone worried her, and she replied, "Okay, is she not working out?"
"She's awesome," he said seriously. Danika was confused, until he added, "There are guilds that would pay her to join them, it makes me feel like there's a catch I don't know about!? Why did she join us? Why is she spending so much energy on things that won't benefit her own character?"
"Oh," Danika said with relief.
MatchlessMinion squinted at her suspiciously and stated, "You know something."
"Kind of," she agreed with a grin. Then she explained what the little nadia had told them about the traveling merchant suggesting them to her, and how she hoped to let 'her girls', a music group called 'Sugar Wings', perform on their stage before Underneath's concert.
"I see, that explains so much. But aren't you betraying your boyfriend by agreeing to that?" he asked doubtfully.
"He didn't seem to mind," Danika protested.
"He's either being obtuse, or he's actually really confident that this group will make Underneath look better instead of worse," MatchlessMinion muttered. "Ugh, I can't even guess which way to bet."
"Maybe it'll just make a nice contrast," Danika suggested hopefully. "I looked them up, and I think they aren't bad, but they aren't nearly as popular as Underneath."
"Quicksilver is sharp," the chinchillamin warned her. "Really sharp. And really competent. Under her management our performance venue is going to be amazing! I mean, we weren't doing bad on our own, but you will hardly recognize it as the same project when it's finished. Now that I know she has a goal here, I'm sure she is going to profit from it."
Danika didn't want to admit that she'd never had a really good understanding of what they were building in the first place, so she just replied hopefully, "Then her work here is actually benefiting Underneath just as much as her own group, right?"
"I don't know, but Endless Song is already starting to profit from it," he said more cheerfully.
"How?" Danika asked blankly. "Have you already opened it up to the bards?"
"Not yet, but we're beginning to gather vendors. You should visit, there are three candy shops already!" he told her laughingly.
"If it's not open yet, how are they running their shops?" Danika questioned.
"The outer ring is already open to the public," he explained with satisfaction. "Quicksilver suggested that we finance the spacial enchantments by allowing people to start renting the cubbyholes. Those that need more space can contribute extra toward expanding their cubby, and those that don't need the space anyway can set up shop right away."
"But if there aren't any performances yet, there won't be many customers?" she pointed out.
"More than you'd think," he promised. "We redesigned the roof of the structure into a landing area with a portal of return in the center. The whole thing is so big that from the air it looks like a giant target in the center of the city. We put up enchanted maps next to every entrance that show the easiest way to get to whatever you're looking for from where you are too."
"How did we afford to build a portal of return?" Danika asked warily. The city's portal had been one of its biggest expenses according to rumor.
MatchlessMinion admitted a little sheepishly, "We owe Logical Heart. He said he'd be happiest if we repay him in materials, and that there's no rush."
"We need to pay him back even more than he used!" Danika declared. Josh Beagle's little gnome enchanter was still probably the top enchanter in the game despite interference from his work schedule, and he'd promised that Endless Song didn't need to support him as his expertise deserved when he'd joined, but Danika hoped that he could continue to advance without being held back by their limited resources and relatively small size. Endless Song still had barely twenty members, even with the recent influx.
"Of course!" MatchlessMinion agreed promptly. "I already doubled the amount of everything he suggested we gather when I gave the collection list to Keeper Kin."