The captured murderers were sent to the capital for trial, and the city was able to return to its usual course. The fire-ravaged houses were being restored by the efforts of the whole city, and thanks to the returned funds, the city finally regained its independence, and the official documents were supposed to arrive just in time for the grand celebration.
Some guild members who were left without work decided to help their comrades. Levris and Ragni came to a small confectionery to assist with an unexpectedly increased flow of customers. For some reason, a long line stretched outside, while exuberant cries were coming from the kitchen.
"You wash the dishes, and I will entertain the guests!" - a thin, shrill voice of Vina resounded from the room.
"WHAT?! It's not fitting for a princess to do dishwashing! I'd rather prepare more pastries; otherwise, we'll have nothing to feed the guests," the self-satisfied voice of the red princess refused to yield to the mercy of the petite troublemaker.
"HAHA! And where will you put them? In a bag?! We don't have a single clean plate left!!"
The girls peered into the kitchen and saw two girls fiercely locking horns in the midst of a mountain of unwashed dishes.
"I see you're doing well here," Ragni assessed the situation and tried to escape, saying, "I'll come back later."
"HOLD ON!!! Did you come to help?"
"Yes, it seems you can't do without us."
"Levris," Ragni helplessly dropped her hands.
"Oh, you've come just in time! We have too many customers, not enough clean dishes, no one to cook, and... and... well, a lot of things to do!" Seleria promptly unloaded all her responsibilities onto the newcomers.
"HEY, WAIT!" Vina caught the girl just as she was about to flee the kitchen. "It's your turn to wash dishes, and I won't let you off the hook! Leveris is good at cooking, so she'll take care of the supplies. Ragni and I will go to the hall; I think with her dragon strength, she can handle several orders at once."
"Umm, not all the pots are that dirty," Seleria protested.
"THAT'S because you burned the ones that were really filthy to hell!!!"
"Well, it's not my fault that customers keep distracting me with their adoration," Seleria proudly thumped her chest.
"Liiiiiz..." A strange sound came from somewhere in the kitchen.
"What was that?" Vina looked around. "Where's Ragni?"
Slowly circling the kitchen, the girls discovered the culprit who had snatched a pot with fresh cream from the sink. She hid in a dark corner, licking the pot clean, a pot that could rival the dragoness in size.
"I suggest not letting her into the kitchen," Vina scolded the girl with a reproachful gaze.
"I agree," added another.
"And I suppose I'll take care of the dishes after all," Seleria reluctantly took the pot from the dragoness.
"Uuu, but you promised that I could eat whatever I want!!" However, Ragni was not ready to part with her prize.
"I said after closing time, and now it's just the beginning of the workday!!"
"Well, I just took a little."
"Hmm," Vina narrowed her eyes and glanced at the red princess. "What did you promise her?"
"Huh? Well, sometimes we have many unsold pastries, so I thought, why not give them to Ragni."
The fair-haired merchant gave Seleria and Ragni a suspicious look, then Seleria and Ragni again.
"I sense that you're hiding something. But whatever, if she helps with the café, let her finish it. BUT not during working hours!"
"And maybe an appetizer?" Ragni batted her eyes flirtatiously.
"If I let you, you'd eat everything here, including the raw ingredients. I wonder how you can eat like an adult dragon in human form," Vina leaned towards Ragni and poked her finger into her firm abs. "And where does it all go?"
"Hey," the dragoness stepped back from Vina and stroked her stomach. "I can just transfer food to my second body, that's all. Both of my bodies are real; dragons can change between them at will. And I need a lot of energy to keep myself in shape."
"Hmm, the saying about girls having a second stomach for sweets suddenly gained a new meaning. Well, okay, let's get to work now. By the way, you all should dress up. I'm sure Seli has suitable outfits for everyone."
"What? Even me?" Levris stepped back with suspicion.
"Ha-haa! Beautiful dresses are the uniforms of our staff!" Vina put her index fingers together and looked away. "Actually, we don't have money for proper uniforms, and besides the owner, nobody else worked here before. So we use Seli's extensive wardrobe as a replacement for the waitresses' uniforms."
"But-but princess dresses would probably look dull on me. Maybe you shouldn't bother yourself so much."
The three apprentices looked sadly at their mentor and sighed deeply.
"I really don't like such unconfident girls, especially when they are quite attractive," Seleria frowned discontentedly. "We should do something about your appearance!"
"Great, and I'll invite Grain to the café," Vina smirked mischievously, causing Levris to visibly panic.
"Huh? W-why Grain? I don't want him to see me like this."
"Alright then, you'll do everything we say!" The girls began to surround their teacher, rubbing their hands in excitement.
Soon, rumors about the confectionery, where four beauties prepared the city's finest sweets, spread throughout the area, and all the locals and passing traders became regular customers.
"So, Aileen, how are you going to make those hours, and why did you bring Grain with us?"
We were heading to the forge, where we could finally get to real work.
"I'll need him."
"If you needed physical strength, you could've asked me."
"No-no-no, I need his special abilities."
"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what you need from me either."
We approached the forge, and the master, grumbling discontentedly about yesterday's truancy, let us inside.
"You can start working on the gift for Lady Serena, but I won't pay extra for another worker!" The blacksmith glanced at Grain and let us down into the basement.
"It's okay; I've already been paid for building the bridge. I'm just helping my friends," Grain assured him.
"Hmm, alright then. Just know that I'll personally check what you create down there, and don't you dare get away with some trinket!"
"Rest assured, it will be a work of art."
Aileen confidently led the way downstairs and unfolded several drawings on the table before us. They were adorned with intricate patterns of numerous tiny details, springs, gears, and ways to connect them.
"It looks a lot like a clock tower's scheme," I remarked.
"Yes, while you kept me imprisoned in that tower, I spent some time studying them. It's amazing that you were able to build something like that at all. Though they were powered by some magic, I'll make them entirely mechanical, so they can be wound without any magical assistance."
"Why do you need me then?" I decided to clarify my purpose once more.
"I heard that you trained to sense everything happening around you through the earth."
"Yeah, Krito made me learn that, and I'm glad he did."
"Exactly," she turned a page to reveal the tiniest details. "Your optics aren't that great, so I'm hoping you can use your senses to determine how accurately I've crafted these parts."
"That's... unexpected. I used to concentrate on expanding my senses."
"Well, then focus on narrowing your search. The details will be very small, the smallest being just three millimeters, so do your best. By the way, if anything sticks out, maybe you can use sand to grind the part down to the correct size."
"I think I can manage that, but will we have enough time?"
"The most complicated part is already done; we just need to fabricate the pieces and assemble them together."
"I suppose you won't need the hilt for now, so I'll focus on the props for the performance."
"Sure, you can use my press, just make the forms suitable for your blades and Algo's sword first."
"That was my plan. I might have to darken my replicas a bit more or cover them with black-red color; after all, mithril has quite a different shade."
"Speaking of mithril, perhaps it's the most suitable metal for my parts in terms of elasticity and lightness. Do you mind if I borrow a small amount?"
"Sure, but you know that it glows under moonlight and occasionally builds up static electricity."
"That's perfect; it'll provide night illumination. Your job is to ensure that the frame insulates the mechanism."
"Alright, alright. We still have a lot of work ahead of us."
The next day, I finished the replicas of the blades and decided to visit the school.
"Grraaaaiiin! Be more careful with the details. You've already ruined three gears."
"But they're so tiny, it's hard to find the right tool for them."
"You need to be gentler, much gentler."