"While Luna sleeps through her growth phase, why don't we explore the Farm a little? There are rooms in the main house for you all, though they might be cramped. From here you can also see the main barn, where the Echoes do most of their experimentation, as well as the entrance to the fruit tree groves.
As you can see, they are under guard, to prevent people from poaching the Mythic fruits. It's not a big concern, the people here are very good, but the fear of infiltration or wandering monsters coming into the orchards is an ongoing one, so the guards are up all the time.
Of particular interest to Jessica, the daycare is right there, near the edge of the main square. It also has a Temple to the Bunny Goddess, so you will find most of the clerics there. There is a market further toward the south end of the compound, past the houses, as well as a large area for travelers to camp.
When we first formed the Farm, most of the new arrivals were refugees who didn't know what they were doing or where they might be going, so keeping a large area for tents and transient visitors was more prudent than making a large number of Inns.
There is a school on the east side, between the Peach Orchards and the clearing for tents and visitors. We have been collecting spell books here, the same way as we do back in the Guild Houses. In fact, most of them started off as copies of the ones in the Guild House. We gained a lot of instructors due to cities being destroyed after the dungeons collapsed, and they have graciously agreed to take in the students and keep teaching them as much as possible." Cain described the layout of the small village to the others who had just arrived.
"You really are the friendly neighborhood Eldritch Horror aren't you? Running a fruit orchard and communal meals for everyone who comes to visit your home? It was the same in Long Fang Valley, though they said that things were like that even before you arrived, you just turned the communal gatherings into a more frequent event." Jin teased.
"This place is slowly getting covered in food plants too. Almost everything I see is edible, even the vines with the pretty pink flowers that are climbing up the houses will grow fruit in a few months." Jessica added.
"That was my idea. I told the Echoes how well it worked in the Valley, and they thought it would be a good attraction for more people to come to stay at the farm. Food can be scarce here in the south due to the dangerous monsters destroying fields." Kone pointed out.
It seemed quite safe to the others, but they were in town, surrounded by powerful people. There wasn't much to worry about right where they are, but out in the wilderness, Jin could see how this place could get very dangerous very quickly.
"It smells so good I could just sleep out here." Jessica agreed, and Cain heard a few of the locals chuckle at that.
"Bunnies never sleep alone. They're too cuddly by nature. So if they are new to town, they always go to the Church and sleep with the Clerics." The slender Plague Demon beside them informed her.
"Like sharing a room? Do they always have empty beds?" Jessica asked, confused.
"No, they have one really big room and the whole floor is a mattress. They just grab blankets and pillows and find somewhere to sleep. Usually on top of each other." Cain informed her, and the High Priestess blushed.
"It's not a mating ritual, it's just warm and safe. You will see, it's very comfortable." One of the Bunny Clerics informed her, looking to Cain for permission to pull her away.
"Go ahead. If you want something different, come to the Farmhouse and I will find you a bed. The rest of us won't be up for long, I'm planning to get a bit of an early start on the day so that we can visit at least two Cities and see how they are doing." Cain informed her, then motioned for the others to show her their ways.
It wouldn't be too much different than she was used to, but the communal bedroom had started after the Dungeon collapsed, when the Bunnies were all worried about getting attacked and not being able to defend themselves.
The Farmhouse ended up not having any other tenants when they arrived, only a few puppets for maintenance since the Echoes preferred to stay in the barn all the time and not use the former living room turned meeting room on the main floor.
"Man, I should have brought Larkin with me. Now I will have to wash my own feet." Kone complained when they reached the bedrooms.
"Seriously? You make him wash your feet every night?" Jin asked, somewhere between impressed and disturbed.
"It was a stupid bet. I told him that if he managed to make his first advancement one week that I would physically touch him once a day. It started out with me stepping on him, but he liked that too much, so it turned into having him wash my feet before bed. To be honest, I kind of got used to it." Kone shrugged.
[Someone needs to go and hold an intervention for Larkin. That poor soul is on the brink of oblivion and he doesn't even realize it. These days away might be the last chance to save his status as a human being. Well, he's technically Spirit Folk, but you get my point.] Cain instructed his Companions, who all laughed in his mind after seeing the conversation that he had just held with Kone.
[I think it's already too late for him. But we will try.] Vala agreed, taking her usual role of disciplinarian in the group.
"I can send a puppet up to do it for you?" Cain joked, making Kone stick out her tongue at him.
"No, that's fine. I just miss my pet simp. I know you get the same way when you're away from the others. That's why you always carry at least one with you." She replied, making Jin giggle.
"You guys really are close friends, did you spend a lot of time together at lower levels, or did you just hit it off right away?" The Dragonkin asked.
"Why don't we share a room tonight and I will tell you all about it? Cain will wake us up for breakfast, I'm sure. If not, the Echoes will wake me up before the meal is served. The watchers say that they never miss the opportunity to try out their concoctions on new people." Kone suggested, wrapping an arm around Jin.
Kone had grown a lot in the past half a year, and now she was only slightly shorter than the slender Dragonkin, and as tall as most full-grown human women, though still very short and clearly developing as a Spirit Folk woman.
That was part of the reason that Cain was putting effort into trying to get Larkin back on the right path. They were both still young, so there was a future ahead of him if he didn't fall into the life of a foot washing simp.
Those were words Cain never thought would pass through his mind. At least not in that particular order.
Once they were in the master bedroom, Cain tried to move Luna to the smaller bed on the nightstand that was favored by the smaller species, like Laura in Pixie form, but she just kept returning to his arm without waking up.
It really wasn't worth the fight, so Cain just fell asleep, doing his best not to accidentally squish her.
By the time he woke up, her growth phase was done, and Luna was starting to come around again. She was now almost a meter long and getting a good deal thicker than she was. Now, she wasn't so much a bracelet on Cain's arm as a sleeve, taking up most of his forearm with her coils. If she kept growing at this rate, Cain would have to rearrange her sooner or later, maybe make her into a loose-fitting necklace or something.
The thought of actually making her travel on her own, or using a summon to carry her never occurred to him. Cain had gotten far too used to wearing a Lamia everywhere he went. It was like the summons he Merged with, just another voice for him to chat with while he was doing other things.
"I'm getting pretty big. It's a good thing that equipped gear automatically fits itself to the wearer, or I would be in real trouble." Luna noted, checking out her armor as she stretched and checked over her rapidly growing body.
"True, you would wake up naked at least once a week if the armor didn't adjust for you. But you will be grown enough soon that you will actually be able to fight against some opponents with your own body. I think one more month at this rate and you will be big enough to fight against Goblin-sized enemies on equal ground, without having to stretch upward from your natural stance." Cain informed her, while Luna looked thoughtful.
"Good point. I will have to keep up with my combat drills so that I can fight alongside my summons. I heard that you do that as well."
Cain nodded his agreement. "You will get to see that soon enough. I'm sure that something will happen during our journey, but first, we should get a meal in and see what the Echoes have planned for the day. If it sounds fun, we can delay leaving until tomorrow."
