By the time they arrived back in Solaris, in the back courtyard of the hotel, night had fallen. Due to the distance, while the sun was yet to set in the Sian lands, in Solaris, the sky was already dark.
"It's a pretty high hotel," Danna said as she looked up.
"Come on, come on," Milka tugged on Sian's arm, "I want to see the place!"
"Just a minute," he said. "I'm going to install the other teleport array first."
As Sian placed the array on the ground, Illianna began to erect a pavilion around them. It was similar to the one Lin had built, but instead of being made of plants, the material used was the same fortified clay she had used to build the hotel.
Due to the practice she acquired at the time of construction, she completed the pavilion at almost the same speed as Sian installed the array in the ground.
"That was impressive," Danna looked at the construction in admiration.
"You didn't even have to intone a spell. It seems that you are a prodigy of magic." Pointing at Sian, Lin continued, "Even if he can match it in speed, the richness of detail shows that it is quite a complex spell. I believe that in a short time you will put him in the slipper."
"It is not entirely my merit. I was graced by the gods and given a divine skill."
Illianna lied so naturally that even Sian would be fooled if he did not know the truth.
"It was thanks to her skill that we made this hotel so quickly," Sian said.
At that moment, Milka's laughter drew stares, "Master, it looks like you've gotten another impressive woman for your harem."
"I'm not his woman," Illianna immediately denied.
"For now," Milka said. "But soon master's charm will attract you."
"I wouldn't bet on it," Illianna said.
Leaving the girls behind, Sian stood in the center of the pavilion, above where he had installed the array. Using the control sphere, he activated the array and in the same instant, a layer of gray light came out of the ground and enveloped his body.
The next instant, he was back on his land, in the pavilion built by Lin.
"Kyaaaaa!"
Contrary to his expectations, his arrival seemed to have startled a few girls who had taken advantage of their departure to take a closer look at the pavilion. Without paying any attention to the subject, he ignored it, since chasing and trying to talk would probably scare them even more.
Activating the array again, he returned to the pavilion in the hotel's back courtyard.
"How was it?" Illianna asked.
"Normal," he replied, "But it still spends almost ten times as much mana as I do."
Leaving those words behind, he went back and forth four more times, and that was the limit until the magic stones that fed the array ran out.
"Well, while good, I think the circuits can still be improved, but that will be for another day."
"Since you're done, now let's take a tour," Milka grabbed Sian's arm and pulled him toward the rear entrance of the hotel that could be seen not far from where they were standing.
Waving Sian's hand back and forth as they walked, Emily said, "Daddy, you have a bunch of animals. Can I have one too?"
"Do you want a pet?" Sian asked.
"Yes," she replied. "A dog like Sian."
Emily's words left him surprised, "A dog like me?"
"You don't want to!" Before she could answer, Illianna interrupted. "A dog like your father will bite you at the first opportunity."
"Not like Daddy!"
As Emily tried to explain herself, Ophi said, "I think she's talking about the orphanage dog."
"It's like mammy said," Emily stated. "Aunt Anna saw him too, he's a very cute blue dog."
"Yeah, I knew it," Illianna laughed. "But it ended up coming out of custom."
Eager to teach Illianna a lesson, Sian made a small stone rise from the ground right in front of her foot.
Being caught off guard, Illianna stumbled and was about to fall forward.
But just as Sian was opening his triumphant smile, he noticed the gaze of Ophi, who was standing next to his sister, fall on him.
Wanting to make a good impression of himself in front of her and still improve his image with her sister, Sian immediately stretched out his arm. As Illianna was not far away, he held her back, preventing her from falling face first onto the floor.
"Ahem, you need to be more careful, my old friend," Sian said loud and clear, making sure Ophi heard. "You can fall if you don't watch where you're going."
"... Is that so?" she looked at him sideways.
"Sure," he said as he avoided her gaze. "It looks like you still have some rocks in the way."
"Oh, sure, a rock, right?" Seeming to have noticed the truth, she said, "It seems that stones these days have quite violent behavior."
"You know, I would be happy if you would become our dress companion," Ophi said to Illianna with a smile on her face.
"We've already talked about it," Illianna said. "I prefer to continue the way we are."
"The same goes for you," Ophi looked at Fran who was coming a bit behind.
Returning the smile, Fran replied, "I'm fine with the shape we're in, too."
Since Tina had a strong attachment to her missing father, Fran probably didn't think to look for another husband.
When silence came, Emily asked again, "Can I have a dog?"
"I'll look for a good pet for you," Sian said, "But you'll have to wait a while."
"Is that a promise?"
"It's a promise."
"Pinky swear?"
Emily held out her pinky to Sian.
"Uh-huh," Sian stretched out his pinky and grabbed hers.
"Yay!"
Seeing that Sian accepted her request, she jumped for joy.
"Something made me curious," Sian said. "Who named the orphanage dog?"
"It was our teacher," Emily replied.
"Maria?"
Although there were other teachers in the orphanage, she was the first one that came to Sian's mind.
"Perhaps she believes that is an appropriate name for a dog," Illianna teased.
Ignoring the attempted offense, Sian said, "Well, considering that she didn't seem to dislike me, maybe that was her intention."
"No," Emily said. "She said Sian is a cute little puppy and so his name should be Sian."
At that moment, they finally reached the back door, which was closed. Just as Illianna was about to open it, noises of rapid footsteps sounded and some people surrounded them.
"Too slow," Sian complained to the newcomers. "I will intensify your training starting tomorrow."
Although with a bitter expression on his face, Edwin stepped out of the shadows. Placing his hand on his chest, he bowed respectfully, "Yes, my lord."
"All right, you are dismissed for the day."
"Before your lordship leaves, I need to report a few things," Edwin said.
"Say it fast."
"When you were away, some merchants came looking for you. They wanted to talk about some products they could provide. There is a competition going on among the merchants to see who will work in partnership with your lordship's hotel."
"Inform the merchants to come tomorrow," Illianna said. "Do you have anything else to report?"
"Yes," Edwin replied. "A young redheaded woman came specifically to meet Lord Sian."
"Meet me?" Sian said. "I don't remember any redheaded girl."
"She brought a basket with the crest of your house." With a brief pause, Edwin added, "The girl stuttered a lot and said her name was Emma."
"Oh, I had forgotten about her. She's the girl who guided Ophi and me to the inn when I arrived in Solaris."
"That matches the information he gave us," Edwin said. "Since she seemed to have connections with your lordship, I offered her a place until your return. But she refused and said she would be back tomorrow."
Looking at the women not far behind Edwin, Emily nodded to them and then turned to Sian, "Can I go to the orphanage?"
Since it was still early in the evening, the children had probably finished dinner. This was the normal time she usually went, so it would be okay to let her go now.
"Are you going with her?" Sian asked Illianna.
"Sure," she said.
"Okay, then take the four girls with you."
The girls that Sian was referring to were the former mercenaries who were now the hotel's guard.
With Illianna's departure with Emilly and Tina to the orphanage, Edwin and the rest returned to their positions.
Then Sian, Ophi and Fran went to show the girls the hotel and show them the rooms they were staying in.