Lunch was cocoa and simple ham sandwiches. Tasty and quick. After that, I meditated until dinner, allowing the others to finish their nap. Meanwhile, Tobin went out on the porch with have a pat on his pipe. He knew I did not allow that stuff inside. Not that he minded, as the weather was phenomenal. Slight breeze, not a cloud in the sky. Just warm enough that it was pleasant.


    Dinner was a meat casserole made from ground meat that was boiled with the brown sauce, along with sliced champignon and other spices to create a unique and flavorful dish and served on top of boiled rice. A dish that was yet another proof that the Familiar bond allowed my familiars to consume things that they normally couldn’t.


    Winter loved that meat casserole, but there was no way she’d usually get any benefit from all the vegetables and rice that went into the dish, yet she consumed it all in high spirits and usually even asked for seconds. It was almost to the point I was wondering if she, and the others, could safely try chocolate. A moot point, though, since confections were impossible to buy, and I didn’t know how to make it on my own.


    At least I was happy I didn’t need to abide by regular dietary concerns for the trio, as I went through with the Familiar pact with Winter very early after she hatched, because of her deteriorating health. I didn’t know what to feed her, so made tons of mistakes that I wouldn’t realize until several years down the line. At the very least, she could eat my food safely now, but I still wasn’t keen on trying things that were outright toxic to her or the others.


    I also taught Winter and Midnight how to hunt so that they could supplement their dietary needs with hunting should they feel something was lacking. They usually did so if they got hungry while waiting for dinner or something because I was busy. As for Soot, he knew how to take care of himself. Not to mention being omnivorous, he could eat practically anything he could find in the area, so he never wanted for food outside of winter.


    After everything was eaten, we all sat down on the porch to enjoy the evening. Tobin was nurturing a cup of the trial mead Winter helped make. “This stuff’s excellent. Give it time to mature, and it will be a contender for the ARC 358 for sure.” He eyed Winter with a respectful gaze. “I must agree with your assessment that Winter might be a savant. As that was a genius idea on her end.” There was a rather proud hoot from Winter.


    “Indeed. Shouldn’t take more than a bout half a decade to finish, either. If we want the flavors to mellow out properly.” Tobin didn’t seem surprised. “Can’t rush art, Kiddo. I’ll wait as long as it takes. Besides, I have something to tide me over while I wait… don’t I?”


    I arched an eyebrow. “Surely, you aren’t trying to insinuate I crack the last 358 for no reason, are you?” Tobin’s smile faded. “Aw, come on, kid, you’re kidding, right?” I shook my head. “Consider it your punishment for what you did this morning.” He deflated and shrunk down to kid-size. “Fine, I get it, it’s fair.” With that, he downed the rest of his mead and went silent. With that done, I leaned back in my chair and glanced over to Meleri, who was entertaining Miva, Ivy, and Midnight. She was always good with kids, and that didn’t change over the years, it seemed, considering how gleeful Miva was behaving.


    “Alright everyone, do you want to just relax tonight or should I -” That was as far as I got before Miva and Ivy started chanting “Story time, Story time!” over and over. Midnight and Soot seemed reluctant, no doubt because of the terrible memories, but Winter was just as eager as Miva and Ivy.


    “Alright, alright I hear you… now then… where was I… Oh, right…”


    __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


    With the intruder gone, there wasn’t much we could do but lick our wounds and make sure that a repeat didn’t happen. And that meant adding wards to the house itself. It was... rough. Enchanting was finicky to begin with, but making it perpetual and selective at the same time was a nightmare.


    “This isn’t working…” I slammed my fist against the wall in frustration, causing the whole house to shake as I failed to control my strength properly. Soot landed on my shoulder. “Calm down, Mistress. Just getting agitated like that won’t help anyone.” I was about to bite back with a scathing remark, but stopped myself. Soot and Midnight took the brunt of my complacency. I didn’t have any right to take my frustration out on them. Deep breaths… deep breaths.


    “Let’s try again.” I cleared my throat. “I make a permanent barrier to stop unwanted intrusion. That should cause my enemies some confusion. Make it so strong it can withstand any situation. And only let through those who receive my invitation.” It was rough, it was ugly, but… As Soot found out when he tried to jump onto the windowsill from the outside, it worked. “All familiars have a permanent standing invitation.” Soot tried again, and this time he didn’t collide with a solid wall of yellow light.


    “You did it, Mistress.” He seemed relieved as I nodded slowly. I felt numb. It only took three days of constant attempts, but I finally found a wording that didn’t knock me out before it could take, or just failed to do what was intended. It was a constant drain on the local mana, but a minor one. Not enough to do any harm to the local environment, or impact the ambient mana’s ability to recover, and that was enough for me.


    Midnight looked up from where she was sitting next to me. She was by my side every moment ever side since she recovered from the injuries that damn Fae inflicted on her. However, things were bound to take a turn for the worse for that Fae now, if luck was on my side, since Ivy found out that Soot got hurt.


    She was not happy to hear another Fae tortured her bestie, so she went to Nettle and complained. This prompted Nettle to launch inquires on my behalf to the local Fae courts regarding the assailant. So if my luck held up, Nettle would soon get me something to work with, be it a name or location.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    With those thoughts in mind, I went back inside to relax, now that the house was properly secured against unwanted intruders. As I sat down to relax with a mug of berry juice, however, there was an insistent knocking on the door. The knocking was too loud to be any of the pixies. Besides, they would have probably attempted to fly through the open window anyhow.


    With more than a bit of curiosity, as well as caution, I opened the door. Outside was an unearthly beautiful and pale lady in a dark purple dress and a cascade of flowers in her long silver hair. Right beside her was a similarly handsome man dressed in a lime green silk tunic and fine leather breeches. On his head was a set of antlers so massive I got to wonder how he got that tunic on, and the entire thing was covered in an equal amount of colorful flowers.


    Flying around them were… pixies? No, they were too big. Fairies then. Eagerly picking up the seeds that dropped from the rapidly growing and wilting flowers before flying off, only to be replaced by another Fairy shortly after. The moment I laid eyes on them, I got hit with a feeling of “wrongness”. Every instinct I possessed was screaming this duo was bad news.


    “Good afternoon. I must admit I was not expecting guests on this day. May I inquire as to the reason for your visit?” Erring on the side of caution was likely the better option where this duo was concerned. Besides, if I remembered my Fae lore right, and if it was relevant, then these two were likely Fae Nobles. This meant I should be cautious with what I was saying, lest I get myself into trouble.


    There was an awkward silence for a bit as I looked at the two, and they looked at me. Then the silence was finally broken. “Are you not…” “…going to invite us in?” They waved their together sentences so fluidly that I was hard-pressed to even process when the speaker changed. I shook my head. “No, I think not. The last time a non-pixie Fae set foot inside here, said Fae tortured two of my familiars to the brink of death. So no, you can stay out-”


    That was as far as I got before the barrier flared to life. I didn’t even see the woman move, but now she was hissing in pain as she shook the hand that slammed into the barrier. Her companion glanced at the barrier for a moment. “Surely, you won’t be as uncouth as to let your guests stay outside, though, right?”


    As he spoke, there was that same pin-pricking sensation along my skull that I got when that other Fae started making inane demands. I was suspecting maybe there might be magic involved… magic that was failing, likely because I wasn’t human, though that was just an uneducated guess.


    “If you were guests I was expecting, then that might be the case. However, you are not. And given the last interaction with a non-pixie Fae, I do not feel inclined to let others inside unless I know I can trust them. You two do not meet that requirement.” The man seemed surprised and glanced over to the woman. Then refocused on me. “What a pity. We were…” “…trying to be polite about this.” The two of them each put their palms against the barrier, and the drain on the ambient mana increased exponentially.


    Cracks appeared all over the wall as the local magic plummeted. At this rate, the local mana would take a severe beating for quite a while. Then the cracks faded away and the magic usage plummeted. “What an amusing barrier…” “… We can’t break it…” “… Since both the barrier and our magic… “… Uses the same source.”


    So since I could sustain the barrier myself, should the ambient mana run out… I was lucky. I held no illusions as to that. “Well then, now that we have established you’re not getting inside… What do you want?”


    The woman tilted her head and looked at me, as a slight smile crept over her features. It was a strange and somewhat unnerving sight, as the smile made her even more beautiful than normal, but combined with the inky orbs of her eyes… it made it unsettling too.


    The next moment, it felt like a truck was pressing down on my chest. I could barely breathe as I fell to my knees, gasping for air. “You’re quite full of yourself for a mortal. I can’t rip you apart with my bare hands because of the barrier, but I can still choke your life out.” Her voice was as calm as if she were talking about the weather.


    Just then, a small piece of parchment fluttered down from above and hit the woman in the face. With her vision obscured, the weight on my chest disappeared. I fell backwards, coughing and gasping as I could breathe properly again. That was… unpleasant. The woman ripped the parchment from her face and moved as to throw it away. Then paused. She looked down at her hand, confused.


    Then, with an annoyed grimace, began reading the parchment. Her expression became unreadable, but she now eyed me for a few moments before going back to the parchment. Once she was done, she handed it to the man. He read through it as well and did not hide his astonishment.


    Once he finished reading, he let go of the parchment, and it fluttered down to the ground next to me. “The Fae won’t harm you” - S. This was followed by a heraldry crest of a skeletal hand holding a flower. Whatever was on that parchment must’ve changed its content based on the reader. Because they both spent a few seconds reading.


    “You have powerful friends, Mortal. Or is it patrons? Either way, this changes things… I Ilmahir promise no further harm will befall you from any Fae for the duration of our stay. Can we come in now?” I hesitated. “Include my familiars and home into that promise, and you will be welcome.”


    Ilmahir broke into a dazzling smile. “A sensible approach. Fine, I promise no harm will befall your familiars from any Fae either, for the same duration.” I took a deep breath. And then made one of the best choices I made after arriving in this region. “I invite you inside.”


    __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


    Soot landed in my lap and I began stroking his feathers softly. “Understatement and a half. It was risky, sure, but things became far easier for us afterward.” I leaned back and looked up towards the ceiling. “An understatement and a half. I will openly admit, though, if not for ‘S’ intervention there, I’d be dead. I don’t doubt for a second Erydhe would have killed me then and there without her aid.”


    Meleri looked up at me. “Would that be the same ‘S’ that…?” I nodded. “That was the second time I heard from ‘S’ after moving in, the first being a series of notes scattered around the house to explain what was where and so on.” And then the third and final time yesterday. Though I didn’t say it out loud. Some information would be better left alone.


    “Say, why don’t I grab some snacks from the kitchen before we continue, eh?” There was a unanimous cheer for that as I got up and headed into the kitchen. A perfect excuse, really, as I needed a few moments to clear my head. This next part was hazy for me. And I doubted it was purely because of all that happened in a very short amount of time.


    However, it was an important part, so I would need to recall it as much as possible. With everything sorted out in my head, I returned to the living room with a bunch of small bowls containing diced fruits, nuts, and some meats. A bit for everyone.