When Basil finally woke up from his "best impersonation of a female actress from the early 1900s," he found himself back inside his home and comfortably in his warm bed. He momentarily hoped it was all just a dream, but then he looked up and saw several Lizard Men all crowded around his room, then quickly coming to terms with the fact that it was, in fact, not a dream. Everything from the Lizard Men, the Frogs, and finally, the dragon was all too real. Then Marigold barged into his room and shooed out the lizards. Once gone, she confirmed his suspicions, leading Basil to feel an overwhelming sense of fear and regret to bubble up.
Then she told Basil how the Mayor wanted to thank him for setting a set amount of food for the dragon so they knew how much to order in advance for him to make and that a new shipment of supplies was already waiting in his pantry. She told him how Sir Eidolon kind of vanished after their interrogation, but it was confirmed by several sources that he was still around Ash End. And finally told him that the Lizard Men were all waiting for him outside, awaiting there god, and complained how it was getting harder and harder for her to keep them from sneaking in while he was resting.
So he got out of bed, noticed how he was still in all his dirty clothes and internally complained about having to do laundry. After getting outside, where the Lizard Men were impatiently waiting for him, he asked why they were waiting when they could have started to set up their new civilization at the nearby swamp. That's when the Shaman explained that he had promised them names. Looking upon the sight of three dozen Lizard Men, he sighed with some satisfaction, seeing as the number of lizards didnt come close to the amount of Small Torah he had taken before, so hopefully, he could actually think of some good names. But that quickly fell apart after the twentieth one, which, of course, devolved into him just giving names that rhyme with others or different versions of the word lizard or just straight-up names of lizards that he remembered from his youth.
After this exhausting endeavor, he got the same notification over and over again saying how he named a nameless monster and created a pact with it and blah blah blah. He also noticed how the Lizards gained one of his own skills, which is the Automatic Building skill. At least they'd have an easier time rebuilding their lives. So he pointed the lizards in the direction of the nearby swamplands and waved them off. This is when Marigold also takes her own leave and thanks Basil for not only saving him but giving her the best experience of her life. She hugged him, jumped upon her horse, and rode off, leaving Basil to watch her until she was out of sight.
Then he set off to clean himself, his bed, and his house, which now smelled like salmonella. Once he and his home were clean, he took inventory of what was given to him by the town and placed it into his Magic Pocket for later. Seeing how late into the night it was, he decided to start baking in the morning and go to sleep.
A few weeks had passed from the events at the swamp, and Basil had taken full advantage of the Lizard Men and their natural strength and willingness to help. Thanks to this, he could clear out even more land for future use and allowed the Lizards to use the collected materials for their own new village. From their newly acquired Automatic Building Skill, he quickly found out that when a monster he has a connection with uses his skill, it will go towards his own Leveling progress in said skill.
In short, when the Lizard Men started clearing land, building up their village, and doing anything for him, he saw how his Automatic Building Skill had already increased to Level 2! This also happened with the Small Torah since his Magic Farming skill kept growing steadily with time. Before he knew it, he'd have both skills topped out quickly! Then again, if it took a few dozen Lizard Men to use that same skill just for it to increase once, who knows how long it would take to top it off! After all, Automatic Building had a Level cap of five, and forcing the Leveling up with Skill points would take thousands!
But that wasn't important right now. What was important was that the Lizards made huge progress for him! They had begun building small crop plots all the way down his front entryway and larger crop plots outback for mass production, and they even started the creation of a pasture for all of Bow sheep and any new animals Basil would want to raise in the future. All of his future plans were coming much sooner than he expected, and he couldn't be happier! The only thing that could make him even more happy was that the Knight of the Dauntless Kingdom finally grew some spine and killed Anaya once and for all! But no one has seen much of him for the past few weeks.
In the meantime, Burr and the Bugbears returned to their newly developing citadel and were quiet as usual; Myeon returned to her tree and got regular deliveries of potatoes for more silk thread. Gossamer, the Fairy Triplets, and Hagson all vanished somewhere else. Bow and Ball stayed on his property, wandering about. At the same time, Teto and Broomy stayed by his side in the Bakery.
Basil had spent most of the coming weeks working hard on his business and making sweets for Anaya's eventual return at the end of the month, which was only a week away. Luckily, he didn't manage to make them all before the month's end and took the rest of his downtime to begin making more unique dishes and experimental goods. He was doing this today while Teto was out running some minor errands, and Broomy was sweeping up any mess made in the experiments. The ones ending up helping Basil with whatever concoction came to mind were the fairies, which he finally got the hang of summoning. Right now, he was mixing a whole bunch of soft or liquid ingredients in a bowl before going from there.
After the mixture had turned a smooth brown color, he complimented his kitchen companions, "Aaaaaaaaand done! Excellent work, Slow! Phenomenal form, Flo! And peek skills, Moe! We finally got it done!"
Each of the fairies was carrying some kind of cooking utensil or baking item like a small jug of milk. Each one smiled at the praise they received. No human would often allow a fairy to work with them, knowing their pension for mischief.
Basil took off his apron and, wiping off his hands; he pointed between the objects while explaining, "Now all we gotta do is take this really big and unnecessarily unsteady bowl of liquid that is quite literally brimming at the edges, all the way over to the other end of the kitchen and place it in the flash freezer."
He motions to the blast freezer several steps away on a very dirty floor that Broomy is still cleaning up, feeling quite stupid for not doing it closer in the first place. But hindsight is 20-20, and there was no use in complaining about it.
So he and the fairies lifted up the bowl while inching towards the blast freezer, where he chanted, "Now, carefully. Carefully."
Just as they were at the lip of the freezer and ready to pop the bowl in, the door of his bakery slammed open as Marigold burst in and yelled, "Basil!"
Spooked by the sudden surprise, Basil misstepped on a piece of cheese, and his legs fell out from under him, causing the liquid to spill all over him! Marigold reeled back from watching the man fall behind the counter, followed by the loud splash of something he held. After a few seconds of the fairies chirping up a fuss over the man, his arm finally slapped on the counter, and he pulled up his wet body with the bowl covering his head.
Marigold sucked air between her teeth and carefully asked, "Oh geez. Did I…disturb something?"
Basil stood up, adjusted the bowl away from his face, and showed a big smile with an aura that absolutely didn't match! As he continues his closed-eye smile at the woman, he tells her in a sarcastic tone that holds much animosity, "No no, of course not. It's not like we just spent two hours making that recipe only to fumble it at the end."
Marigold bit her own fist while cringing at his words before carefully asking, "You're pissed."
An angry tack mark appeared on his forehead, and he replied, "Very much so. Now, please tell me what brought you to my residence in such a hurry."
Altogether forgoing her caution, she ran up to him and exclaimed while slamming her hands on the counter, "I got it. I finally got it!"
"Got what?", Basil disinterestedly asked while the fairies used magic to clean him up.
"This!", she exclaimed while holding a small rectangular object up to his eyes.
Unable to see what it was but able to see the shape, he guessed, "A business card?"
Pulling it away, she shakes her head and tells him excitedly, "No! It's a guild card! From the Adventurous Guild! And I finally got mine!"
Marigold placed the object on the table, allowing Basil to finally get a good look at it and be impressed with what he saw. It was a guild card written in a language he didn't know and had a picture of an excitedly smiling Marigold in the corner.
As the fairies finished cleaning him, he asked her, "That's great, but why did it take you so long to get it? You're rich. Shouldn't you have been able to pull some strings and get it way sooner?"
Marigold nods in agreement before explaining to him, "It's hard for anyone to get into the guild. Most of all, rich folk. Tightnit, exclusive, and all that. You must take many long tests or do something to prove yourself capable."
Putting two and two together, Basil inferred, "I'm guessing the Lizard Man invasion plus the battle of the Bullywug helped with that."
"Exactly! And it's all thanks to you!", she confirmed while rapidly nodding her head, all before throwing herself into another surprise hug, ignoring his still wet state, where she thanked, "No offense, but if you weren't so prone to attracting unwanted danger, my chance to be noticed would've never come."
Initially taken aback by the sudden gesture, he heard her words, where he inwardly deflated and moaned, "Gee, thanks for the back-handed compliment, I guess."
"But this also means something else.", she suddenly told him in a more somber tone, making him confused and concerned. When she pulled back, Basil saw how her expression looked, regretful as she explained to him, "I won't be around so often…like I said.", this sent a ping of sadness into himself. Still, he said nothing as she finished by telling him, "The guild has me and my new party going on an adventure to the other side of the continent."
Basil gives a depressed sigh and rubs his head while replying, "Can't do much about that. You're needed where you're needed. I understand.", turning away from him to lean against the counter, she gripes in sadness, "Shame we couldn't have more time together. The only time we have seen one another-."
"Was due to someone else or a fight.", Basil finished her thought, making her nod in agreement. Pushing off the counter, she said to the man, "Well…I guess I'll see you another time."
Just before she touched the wood of the door, Basil called out, "Hey! Hold on!", she stopped and turned around to see Basil, who was once again internally shaming himself for having no self-control and seeing there was no way out from here, he admitted, "I know we're not gonna see one another for…however long. But that doesn't mean you have to leave right now. Does it?", Marigold said nothing in response. Still, she fully turned from the door and walked up to hear him out. So he offered, "Let me get cleaned up, and I'll make us some tea and snacks."
Once he was up the stairs, in his room, and far out of sight, he silently fist-pumped himself and shamed himself simultaneously. After taking a change of new clothes and briefly dampening himself clean, he went back down. In the kitchen, he made some corn silk tea and small buttered biscuits with different jams from the berry bushes growing around his house. After placing it all on a tea tray he summoned, he walked out to see Marigold sitting on the front steps of his bakery, waiting for him.
He set the food beside her, and the two engaged in the first real talk they had ever had since meeting one another. They talked about all kinds of things! Themselves, though Basil was vague, their likes, dislikes, plans for the future, ideas for one another in their respective careers, and so much more.
It was just lovely to take a moment and talk with someone else. Someone to speak of their favorite flower, the color, what shapes the clouds formed, or just watching ants walk by in the dirt. It was nice to talk about nothing sometimes; just time to take it all in. To laugh or just enjoy the silence. It was nice to be with someone who wouldn't judge.
Eventually, the day grew long, and the tea grew low and cold. So, it was finally time for Marigold to leave. They gave one another one last farewell, and the woman hopped onto her horse and off into the distance, where Basil watched her until she vanished. Once she was gone, he gave a sad sigh. It had only been seconds, and yet he had missed her.
Suddenly, a voice from beside him asked, "Why Basil man scrunk not go after female?"
Basil almost jumped out of his skin and quickly looked to his side to see a familiar face looking at him with a disappointed expression.
Sighing in relief, Basil said, "Huh? Wha-? Oh Burr, you scared me! But wait, what did you call me? Man scrunk? I thought I was man scrimp. What does that mean and…wait, did you say my name?", he asked after realizing what the Bugbear said to him.
"Did.", Burr confirmed.
Basil blinked at this and admitted, "I, um, wasn't sure you knew how to say it…or could."
Burr nods and tells him, "Yous earn it. Show strength with frogs. Fight good. Respect to Goblins."
Basil gives a sideways smile before saying, "Glad to hear it. But what does scrimp and scrunk mean?"
"Scrimp means small, weak, useless. Scrunk means strong, big, useful.", Burr explained as best he can.
Basil sweat drops at this and awkwardly states, "It's an improvement, I suppose."
"But why doesn't Basil try and keep female?", Burr asks him.
Basil blinks at his question in confusion before reluctantly asking back, "K-Keep her? What do you mean?"
"Take as misses. Make wife. Have pups.", Burr explains in simple terms.
Basil's face goes bright red with embarrassment, and he stammers out in exclamation, "W-W-W-W-W-What!? No no no no no! That's ridiculous! I don't like her…in…that way."
"Yous lie.", Burr immediately retorts while narrowing his eyes.
"No I'm not!", Basil argues back like a child to an adult about their crush, to which Burr just gives him a half-lidded gaze of disbelief. So the man relented and replied while looking down, "Look, Burr, it's not that simple."
Burr makes an 'Are you serious' expression and exclaims, "Sure it is! Yous show female yous strength, she show yous hers. Yous fight. If she likes it, yous mate and make pups.", saying it all like it was simple.
Basil blows a short and insulting raspberry at him before stating, "Maybe for you, but like I told you, humans are a bit more complex. She's a person on the move, and I'm sedentary. We can't do both. She wants to go out and see the world. My feelings aside, I can't keep her from pursuing her desires. I can't be…selfish."
"Why not.", Burr asks him.
"Well because…because, um…because.", Basil tries to find an explanation or words, but always ends up with nothing.
Burr then gets up from the railing he was leaning on and tells him while looking off to where Marigold left, "Maybe Basil should be shellfish."
Basil also looks out where the woman went off and starts at the setting sun, which is slowly turning into night. He laments everything in his head and then sadly sighs, saying, "Maybe…Maybe. But that day isn't today. Maybe…some other time."
Burr snorts in annoyance at his answer and comments, "Man's is too complex for goblins."
"Man's is too complex for man's as well.", Basil agreed with him, putting his head into his hands and looking off with a sad, distant, and confused expression.
Suddenly the fairy triplets came out of…wherever they went off to while Basil and Marigold chewed the cloth, flew up to his face with huge impish smiles on their faces and sang in unison, "Basil and Marigold, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Basil went red in the face from anger and embarrassment as the fairies laughed at him. He then clutched his hand into the fist, and said between grit teeth, "K-I-L-L-I-N-G Y-O-U!"
He then tried to take a swing at them, but they easily dodged and blew raspberries at him while giggling! Basil jumped to his feet and chased after the three while yelling, "Come back here you little mosquitoes, so I can squash you!"