Crassus led the children into his house. He had to help Marinus as the merman was still unsteady on his legs. Theanore ran from one piece of furniture to the next and touched them all. Crassus smiled at her enthusiasm.

“Well, this is my home. It is just a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom. I will make a bigger one in the forest. Big enough for the three of us.”

Theanore beamed at Crassus and sat in a chair. There was just one more chair and Crassus placed Marinus on it. The man sat on the floor and observed the children.

“I will need to trade the gold and pearls in the market. Can you two be good and stay in here?” He asked and both children nodded. Theanore was kicking her feet over the ground and she was playing with a napkin. Finally, she placed it over her head as a headscarf and Crassus chuckled.

“I’ll get you a real headscarf, little nymph. Marinus, do you want something?”

Marinus stared at his feet. He had socks on but his feet were cold. Crassus saw the direction of his look and nodded.

“Some new socks for the both of you and shoes. With the gold, you brought, we will have money for everything.”

“Don’t forget the ammonite necklaces!” Said Theanore. She had helped the ants to make them and so she was very proud of them.

“Of course, Thea. I’ll sell them too. Now I will leave you some paper and quills for you to think up games while I am away.”

He went into the bedroom and came back with a leather-bound book and two quills and an inkpot. Leaving them in the middle of the table he patted each of the children on their heads and he left the cottage.

Marinus took one of the quills and stared at the paper. This was a great opportunity.

“Thea, we can plan how to expand the grotto with this book.” He said and he wrote on the first page:

Construction plan.

“That is going to be a fun game, Mari. Since it was your idea, you go first.”

Marinus thought long and hard about what the grotto needed. The ants have found walled-off caverns which were flooded with saltwater. He could expand his aquafarm with them.

Use the walled-off caverns to expand the pool cavern and make a coral reef so that more fish can live there.

Marinus showed this to Theanore and she clapped her hands. Then she got thoughtful.

“But, Mari, those caverns are flooded. What if they flood the entire grotto? Let us see what we can do.”

She took her own quill and she let it hover over the paper. Then she got an idea from her watering hole.

Make a drain towards the ocean so that the walled-off caverns can keep a certain water level. Maybe with a door so that even if they become flooded again the grotto won’t get flooded.

Theanore proudly presented her idea to Marinus and he nodded.

“That could work. But what if the ants drown while they make the drain? They would have to work underwater. If I only had watery refuge…”

“You can’t have it but I can get it!” Exclaimed Theanore and both children shared a smile.

“System, how do I get watery refuge?” Asked Theanore but no words appeared.

“Maybe we are too far away from the grotto and the system can’t hear us?” Suggested Marinus as Theanore was preparing to repeat her question. The girl pouted and wrote.

Subtask: Gain the watery refuge skill.

Theanore gave the book back to Marinus but he pushed it back.

“No, Thea. You need to have your own idea too. Before you just helped with mine. That is how the game is played.”

“Ok, then. Let’s see.”

Have the ants excavate for other ores and minerals from outside the grotto. Make them into things that can be sold in exchange for wealth.

“There, what do you think?” She asked Marinus and he took the book to expand on the idea.

Search for shiny metals. Like the copper of my fire bracelet. Have Theanore learn some magic so that she can enchant anything we make.

“Oh, enchantments. Are they expensive?” Asked Theanore and Marinus nodded.

“Only the more well-off sailors had them on their bodies. If we undercut the local producers of enchantments and produce useful ones in bulk we can get rich fast. I mean, we do have the luxury of having ants make the items already.”

“Ok, we’ll do that too. Now it is your turn again, Mari.” Theanore was beginning to like this game. Normally both she and Marinus did what they could by themselves without asking the other. This planning thing was very nice.

Build uncle Crassus’ house in front of the entrance of the grotto so that people would think that there was just the mountain behind it. Live in it with him.

“But I have to check up on my apple tree! And the murder muffins like to fish in the pool and all my chickens are in their tunnel.” Protested Theanore but Marinus placed a hand over hers to shush her.

“Think of it, Thea. If people think that uncle Crassus is a hermit that lives with his children they will still visit, but they won’t snoop around his house out of respect. We can make a hidden tunnel leading from the house to the grotto. I don’t want to abandon my sea horn just like you don’t want to leave your apple tree unchecked.”

“And father Crassus’ will be happier.” Said Theanore, beginning to see things Marinus’ way.

“Precisely.” Said Marinus with a smile. Then they heard the door creaking open and they saw Crassus coming in with two big pies.

“Pork pies! Pork pies! Who wants a pork pie?” Asked Crassus in his best-handler voice. The two children giggled and sat straighter in their chairs. Crassus saw what they have written as they ate and smiled.

“You two will need many more such books in the future. They are expensive, but we will make ends meet. More than that. Your necklaces earned me a lot. A whole hundred silver coins and fifty coppers. Now, before you absorb them or something like that, hear me out.”

The two children stopped eating to give Crassus their whole attention. Once he was certain he was going to be heard, Crassus spoke.

“The money is yours, I will not take them from you. But there are many things that you both need. Things that even I, a well-off merchant, can’t buy you. With the steady income, you two are making, you can get all those things and more. Are you both with me so far?”

“Yes, father.”

“I understand, uncle.”

“You two want to learn magic to become enchanters. The bookstore sells beginning magical books. They are expensive. Just one will cost you your hundred silver. I haven’t sold the gold and pearls yet but anything that I earn from them should go towards magical books. Do you agree?”

“And then we can make a library and charge people for them to read the books!” Exclaimed Theanore and the two males looked at her strangely. She blushed.

“I mean; the books are available for sale already. We will only read them once and then we will keep them for references. Why not make a profit off of them?” Asked Theanore. Marinus poked her nose to get her attention.

“More enchanters will spring up. We will have a competition for enchanted wares. The markets will get flooded and the prices will drop.” Said Marinus and this time it was his turn to be looked at strangely. By Theanore, because she believed all knowledge should be shared, and by Crassus because he didn’t know from where Marinus could know the basic economic theory.

“Merfolk have markets and an economy too, you know? We are not beasts!” Huffed Marinus and Theanore’s eyes widened.

“I never said you were. Mari is smart and knows a lot about the world so obviously, he is not a beast.” She sends him a reassuring smile. His eyes softened.

“Do you think you can trade some human objects for some merfolk craftsmanship then, Marinus? We can say the goods are replicas.”

Crassus could already imagine the profit he could make if he could get his hands on merfolk wares. They were bought in bulk. Only once the underwater caves were raided by water mages did they appear in the markets.

“Why trade? I can make many things. Or we can have the ants make them? It is best if merfolk doesn’t know of Thea’s grotto. They will flood it once they learn it is a dungeon.”

“But that would kill my tree!” Said Theanore, eyes tearing up. She couldn’t believe that Marinus’ relatives could harm her.

“They will leave the core’s cavern unflooded. Thea, I am a nice merman, but most of the merfolk are not so. Just ask uncle Crassus.”

Crassus nodded and unbuttoned his shirt to show a deep scar that looked like it was done by fangs.

“A siren lured me into the rocks when I was a young sailor. I quickly changed professions after that.”

Both children looked green at the thought that Crassus might not have been a part of their life. Now Marinus understood why Crassus was not very warm towards him. He couldn’t say he could blame him.