Ann checked to see if she had everything with her. Holy water of the secret springs, check. Fish in a dimensional bag, check. Spare clothes and money, check. Now, she could go visit the little nymph that had written her.

When Ann read the letter, she felt touched that she was admired. She didn’t know how she could help this Theanore, but she was certain that she could be helpful, regardless.

With a sure step, she went to the deer that grandpa Thinker had lent her. She hopped on and took to the air. Mount Licht spanned before her in all its glory. Its snowcapped peaks glistening in the sunlight like precious jewels.

The deer hopped from a cloud to a cloud, and Ann drank from the vapors. She was used to the secret spring’s water, but this high the water was clear as well. She collected some in a bottle to gift to Theanore.

When she came to the grotto, it was the night of the end of the week since she went traveling. In that time, she had stopped only to sleep and eat. The sight that greeted her surprised her.

There were children, gremlins, ogres, and worker elves running around with goods in their hands. There were adults too, and they haggled over different wares. What was happening here?

“Hey, lady, merchants have to come through the east entrance and register,” said a gremlin. He wore leafy motif clothing and looked overworked.

“I am Ann the siren. I have an invitation from Theanore, the nymph. Here,” said Ann, and she handed her letter to the gremlin.

“Well, why didn’t you say so earlier? The little overlord did speak about you. Called you a superhero. This way, my lady. And by the way, my name is Darion the gremlin,” said Darion, and he whistled to a passing by worker elf.

“Get that deer in the goat pen and give it fodder and water. Please and thank you,” said Darion.

The worker elf patted the deer and hopped on it. Then he got it in the air and towards some cliffs in the distance.

“You are very considerate, kind Darion,” said Ann as Darion led her towards the lake.

“The little overlord is with her brother and daughter. They are making flower crowns. She needs the break. She has been dealing with merchants all day,” said Darion.

Ann nodded and imagined a young woman taking care of her daughter. What she found was three children, dozing off on the ground with grumbling flower crowns in their hands.

“I do not understand. Did you not say that Theanore had a daughter?” Asked Ann, looking at the children who were huddled together.

“She is a nymph; the little overlord, I mean. And so is her daughter. She planted a peach seed and got a little girl. Similar to how Theanore’s father, Crassus, Theanore’s father, planted apple seeds and got Theanore,” said Darion.

All the merchants wanted to know how the two nymphs came to be. They asked questions after questions, and so now Darion had a rehearsed answer for the most common ones.

“Crassus? I know a Crassus. He helped me when I was starving. Is he here?” Asked Ann, looking forward to seeing her friend.

“Crassus is with Esmer in Mirstone. They need to register the Forest of Fireflies’ Trade Union for the Mirstone Merchant Fair. It will happen in June, and we have precious little time to prepare. Hence, why we are in such a rush,” said Darion.

Had the Emperor warned them beforehand, they would have had more time to prepare. As it was, they only had a month. Theanore stirred and she blinked. She saw a blue skinned lady with fins.

“Ann?” Asked the little girl sleepily. Ann smiled and extended her hand for a handshake.

“I hear you have problems with your organization. On Alerion, I am the head siren for my tribe. I can help you whip up this trade union in shape in time for the trade fair,” said Ann.

Theanore jumped on her feet and the two children next to her stirred. Archibald’s eyes became large when he saw the siren.

“Pretty,” he said with bated breath. Ann smiled and winked at the toddler.

“You are quite the strapping young man, yourself.”

Archibald hid his face in his hands and blushed a bright crimson. Theanore petted his hair and turned back towards Ann.

“Can you teach me how to manage a union, Ann? So, when you go back home, it won’t break apart,” said Theanore.

“Of course, dear. First lesson: Work smarter, not harder. Have forms drawn up for the registration of the merchants and pre-calculated prices for their goods.”

“I do have forms, but I don’t know if the merchants will agree for me to dictate what their prices should be,” said Theanore. She made sure that her prices were fair, but more than one merchant had still walked off on her.

“Have them all vote on the prices, even if their goods are unrelated. That way, you will get a consumer perspective on the prices as well as the producer’s,” said Ann.

Mary looked at the pretty siren, and she wondered if she would sing in the next celebration of Sylen. They had a wild party for an hour just earlier today. Then the children had gone back to helping the merchants fill in forms.

But Theanore did not allow any child to negotiate prices, not even Mary. She left that to Crassus, Esmer and Claudia, as they did the shopping for the grotto and were most in the known about the value of things.

Mary wanted to become a dungeon core one day. But she didn’t want to just preside over mobs, oh no. She wanted human henchmen too. Ann’s lessons in management were going to come in handy, eventually.

The peach nymph pulled out a notebook and wrote down Ann’s advice and her mother’s counterargument, and then Ann’s answer. By the time she was twenty, Mary was going to know all there was to know about being a dungeon core. And she would be the most talked about too. With study traffic of adventurers and a winning streak a mile long.