Newly Summoned Demoness 2 - Chapter 22 – Solitude, Blueprints, and Thoughts (Patreon)

The quiet solitude of the artifice shop was enveloping as Yolani sorted through a new crate of supplies.

She hummed to the soft melody of the artificed energy emanating from the walls and trinkets that was just barely audible. The box held a brand-new set of pencils and a large roll of parchment that she wanted to use to draft the blueprints for the shop expansion.

Setting the items she needed on a cleared off workbench, she let her mind drift back to the initial rebuilding of the shop with Elania. Together they had taken the fragmented shards of their lives and, piece by piece, begun to reconstruct something.

As she unrolled the parchment, her hand paused as she considered the small community that had formed around them. Henri and the City Watch, the few other artificers who she did direct business with, the Ironfist mercenaries, and the meetings with Magisters Bannon and Keswick.

Her reputation as a [Master Artificer] was no longer an unrealized future, but a well-established reality. There was a certain pride that came with that recognition. She had put her father’s teachings and lessons to full use and mastered the family craft.

But it was tinged with an undercurrent of guilt and sadness.

Her father hadn’t lived to see it, but somehow, she thought maybe he knew. Especially after Elania’s message from him.

The shop and its regrowth had been a shield, a distraction from the pain and void left by his murder by her uncle and his plot with Relain. Each successive artifice was a brick in the fortress she’d built around herself to ward off her grief.

Every time she had felt like she was going to fall off its ramparts, Elania had pushed her forward. Even if it was clumsy… even if it was full of improvisations… life had gone on and they had found a way to make things work.

The blank canvas was filled with possibilities, and as she sharpened the first pencil, her mind was awash with mental constructions of the space underneath the shop. She’d already measured things herself, going so far as to climb down into the sewers and gauge their extent as best she could.

The rest was much harder. The crawl space under the shop narrowed to where she was worried about getting wedged between the floor and the stone beneath.

It was good enough to get an idea, although the City Works hopefully had more detailed schematics for the street construction and knowledge of what was underground—if it wasn’t just solid stone.

Her humming resumed as her fingers began to dance and sketch with the assistance of a straight ruler, the future of Aetherhart’s Artifice forming on the table with each precise line.

Time flew by as she lost herself in the work. When she had a rough outline of the blueprint—built from measurements taken from her notes—she leaned back in her chair and let out a deep sigh. Justice had been served on the man who had ensnared her father, but it had done very little to assuage the hollowness that gnawed at her.

Needing a break, she got up and went to the kitchen and began to brew some hot tea on what Elania called her ‘coffee pot.’

A smile appeared on Yolani’s face. Elania’s arrival had been like a star streaking unexpectedly into her life, upsetting her existence with both chaos and solace. The red-haired demoness—the human girl from earth—had filled the void left by her father’s death.

Elania gave her someone to engage with daily and provided the companionship that had prevented her from falling into the pit of depression that she knew was lurking around the corner.

Today was one of the very few days that they had been separated.

Actually, she couldn’t recall the last day they had been apart for more than an hour or two, for whatever reason.

That was… shocking to her.

Not that spending so much time with Elania was a negative thing, but just the fact that she had become so used to the other girl’s presence that she hadn’t noticed.

A knock at the door disrupted her thoughts, and she quickly paused her hot water before finishing the tea.

Yolani made her way to the entrance, checking the brand new ‘peep-hole’ that Elania had insisted on, only to find Henri standing on the other side with some other men.

She disarmed the wards and pulled the door open, the jingle of the shop bell filling the shop.

“Yolani, some men from the City Works are here to see you,” Henri explained.

She nodded and greeted them. “Hello.”

“Miss Aetherhart? We’re here to inspect the premises for your requested expansion,” said the lead engineer, a clipboard clutched under his arm.

She nodded and moved aside to allow them entry. “Great! I was waiting for you to show up. I’ve already drawn up some plans for your review, although they aren’t finished yet.”

Her voice was steady, but inside, a flutter of apprehension stirred. Probably a vestige of her earlier musings; she pushed it down and offered them all a smile.

The engineers bustled in with their measuring tools, and Yolani directed them through the shop.

Each room needed measured and catalogued, and she didn’t have a blueprint of the new renovations they had already, although they were certainly close to the shop’s original configuration. It was just the wall was a bit thicker now.

In the back, the lead worker glanced at the shower. “Do you have sewer access back here? Believe it runs quite close to the back wall.”

Yolani nodded and showed him the trapdoor and access to the sewer and crawlspace.

One of the engineers grunted. “Saves a bit of time finding access and finding the right spot down there, but I’ll never get used to the smell.”

The lead engineer nodded. “Right, we’ll need to get down there, Miss Aetherhart. I assumed the access is locked?”

She nodded and fetched a key from the wall. The grate and sewer access had been demolished by the City Watch when they had been chasing after her and Elania, so it had been the first thing she’d repaired. With a one-way vent that kept the smell locked underground.

“Apologies for the inconvenience,” Yolani said as she handed the key over.

“No worries, we’ve had worse jobs before,” the man commented.

The other worker nodded. “Ain’t that the truth? Bit harry working down there though. Some teams have been going missing lately.”

Yolani tensed internally. Missing people in the sewer. The combat with the Conclave monks and Tessa came to mind almost immediately.

The two men disappeared into the space below, one to re-measure the crawlspace, and the other to map out the sewer and water lines running around the building.

While she was waiting, Henri knocked lightly on the propped open door and peered inside. “Just checking in,” he said, concern clear on his face. “Everything going fine in here?”

She offered him a small smile and nodded. “Everything’s normal. They’re checking out underneath.”

Henri winced and raised his hand to pinch off his nose. “I can tell.”

The lead engineer took a few more minutes to finish up in the crawlspace, then emerged. “Measurements done. You said you had drawn something up, Miss Aetherhart?”

Yolani nodded and walked him over to the draft. In truth, it was only really half finished, detailing the necessary changes and general outline for adding a large basement floor, the stair access, and a question mark for maybe an additional area if space permitted.

“You’ve done thorough work here, but we’ll need to confirm everything before we start tearing up stone,” the man said. “There aren’t any city blueprints for the specific section the shop is sitting in—it’s ancient.”

“So we’ll need to be careful regardless of whether or not things look clear,” Yolani mused.

He nodded as the other worker slid out of the sewer. The smell grew worse and Henri winced.

“Sewer’s clear,” the second worker reported. “Shouldn’t be any danger in running a new site. I took measurements just to line them out on the schems, though.”

Henri’s brow furrowed. “How exactly do you plan to dig under a shop without risking collapsing it?”

Before the workers could delve into an explanation about bracing and structural integrity, Yolani interjected with a confident air. “This is an artifice shop. I have some methods to reduce the weight of the structure and enhance the durability of the floor. We can excavate and put in bracing as we go, without concern for collapse.”

The lead engineer raised an eyebrow. “That sort of artifice is costly, and while it will save some time, proper support still needs to be built.”

Yolani nodded. “Magister Keswick has agreed to cover all expenses.”

The engineers exchanged looks. They took a few more measurements, and she granted them permission to take her rough blueprint sketch as they departed.

She turned to Henri. “I think I’ll step out and grab dinner for Elania and me,” Yolani said as she grabbed her coat and belt.

Henri nodded. “I’ll come with you. The guards can keep an eye on the shop.”

A smile crossed her face as she turned to move to the door.

“How have you been doing?” Henri asked.

Yolani froze and did a double-take as she realized she had stepped a bit closer to him than she had intended. Looking up at his face, she could see his expression of concern plainly written there.

He’d been around almost every day since her father had died and the shop had been destroyed, doing the work of a constant go-between them and the City Watch and Magisters when needed.

But they hadn’t really talked. Not alone, not about things, not about anything, really.

And he was standing really…really close.

The memory of him kissing her in the shop before they went to search for her father in the Dwerven Dungeon with the Ironfist mercenaries came to mind.

Her cheeks heated, and she turned and slid out the door in a hurry.

“Yolani?” Henri asked, confusion tinting his voice.

“I’m doing fine! Let’s go!” she called back.

He shut the door and waved to the rest of his squad to stand guard by the shop before catching up to her halfway down the street. “Hey, Yolani! Slow down…”

She reined in her fast pace to a more regular one. “Sorry. It’s just.”

“We haven’t really had any time to ourselves to talk about things, have we?” he asked.

That was like a thump on the head, hitting way too accurately. “I know. I just…”

Yolani swallowed. She didn’t want to think about it. She took a deep breath. “I don’t think I’m ready for any kind of relationship,” she blurted.

There were a few moments of silence as they continued down Artificer Row. Henri shook his head. “I wasn’t really asking about that. I just wanted to know how you felt about how things have been going. I know we see each other every day, but we don’t really talk about anything other than business anymore.”

“I honestly haven’t been thinking of it. Just taking one day at a time and moving forward,” Yolani replied.

Henri nodded. They made it to the end of the street and passed through the Ironfist checkpoint, then she guided them towards the sandwich shop. It was down a side alley, nestled in a corner with a little sign out front with offerings and prices written on an A shaped board.

“Sandwiches?” Henri asked as he spotted the sign.

A smile appeared on Yolani’s lips. “Yeah. I’ll be getting ham sandwiches, they are Elania’s favorite. Do you want to eat with us? I can get an extra one.”

“Elania,” Henri said, almost as if he were tasting the word. “Sure. I would like that. I’m glad you found a friend that has been able to help you so much.”

She glanced at him, but she couldn’t see any anger or bitterness behind the statement.

He looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. “I mean it. I think she needed to find you as much as you needed someone, as well.”

Yolani nodded slightly and pushed open the sandwich shop’s door. The bell dinged, and the shopkeeper greeted her from behind the counter. There weren’t any other customers inside, so she stepped up with a smile. “Three of the ham and cheese sandwiches, please.”

The older man nodded and began putting her request together quickly, slicing the lengths of bread and then putting a thick helping of sliced meat and cheese onto them. There were fresh vegetables as well, and since she had ordered three, he cut them up fresh for her.

“Nice place, a bit hidden, though,” Henri said.

Yolani nodded. “I didn’t even know it was here until Harlock showed me a while ago. It’s a favorite from the mercs.”

“It cuts down on customers, but things are fine with the regulars,” the shopkeeper said happily.

The shop doorbell rang behind them as it opened. Yolani felt Henri tense beside her, and she glanced over her shoulder.

A group of four large men clad in black robes and masked faces stood inside, all four wielding iron banded cudgels.

The memory of meeting the cultists in the sewer was the first thing that leapt to mind as Henri drew his sword.