Liliana walked quietly among the shelves of wooden items on display. It truly was incredible, everything in the store was made of wood. Even the home attached to it was entirely wooden, from the teapot to the utensils. Ariowood truly stuck to its theme well.

According to the Fletchers, of which there were many, their family had made everything from the store itself to the cups. Apparently, they started their children off with carving small things like spoons, plates and bowls and gradually worked them up to more complicated things. It certainly helped when they had such a large, and rambunctious, family.

They had introduced Liliana to what felt like an entire clan of Fletchers. She wasn’t entirely sure how they all fit in the attached house, but she was almost certain that one of them had Spatial magic of some type and had expanded the house. She’d seen what she was beginning to call the ‘Fletcher Eyes’, a telltale hazel, amongst all the blood family, from the little nieces and cousins to the patriarch himself, John Fletcher.

John owned and operated the store she was currently browsing. A few other guards were with her, but Jason was still stuck with his family, catching up with his eight siblings, their spouses, children and their children’s children. Jason was older than his outward appearance would imply, as he now had grand nieces. Granted, Jason was the youngest child among the original siblings, and some of his nieces and nephews were the same age as him.

His parents were old, by Earth standards. Here she thought they might be simply middle aged, considering their levels. Liliana hadn’t used [Identify] on Jason’s mom until she recovered from her shock of being introduced to more people than she could keep straight. But the woman was level 230, a Woodcarver. Her husband was level 312 and something called a Life Carver. Apparently, it had something to do with his Animation affinity, though Liliana had barely been able to remember his explanation amongst all the introductions.

Liliana was beginning to understand why Jason had left. As lovely as his family was, it was easy to see how one could lose their own sense of self amongst so many. He’d probably left to make his own name for himself, not attached to his family’s. Yet there seemed to be no bad blood with his family over it, it wasn’t like he’d been the only child to carry on the craft. In fact, it seemed most of the Fletchers were carrying on the craft, with six of the siblings working directly under their father.

Liliana picked up a small toy shaped like a cat. It didn’t make a sound, but it batted at her fingers just like a real one, and even rubbed against her affectionately. She smiled as she set it back down and migrated to the games she’d seen. There were several decks of wooden cards, with moving faces. Chessboards with pieces that moved themselves and attacked the opposite side. She saw several different types of boards, one with beasts instead of the conventional pieces.

Liliana paused at it and cooed quietly over the different beasts. She recognized an Evanescence Tiger as a rook, Horned Hares as pawns on one side, Giant Toads on another. There was a Fenrir as a bishop, a Dragon as a Queen and a Phoenix as the opposing Queen. A Thunderbird as a King and a Kitsune as another. She delighted over all the different beasts and didn’t notice someone coming up beside her.

“Little Jay told me I could probably find you around the beast carvings,” the warm voice of Mrs. Fletcher interrupted Liliana’s admiration and she almost jumped as she turned to the woman. It wasn’t a real surprise she could sneak up on Liliana. With a crafting class, the woman’s dexterity was probably outrageously high. She’d seen her balancing twenty plates and eight cups while serving everyone earlier.

“He did?” Liliana asked, amused. She supposed it was obvious, her love for the different creatures in this world.

She might hunt them, yes. But it didn’t mean she didn’t love them any less. The hunting she did wasn’t just for her own benefit, it was vital to the ecosystem they inhabited. Left unattended, Mana would continue to produce beasts until they overwhelmed everything and turned the continent into a wasteland. Some couldn’t be left alive at all, like the Luxdaria, who would kill everything indiscriminately. Or the Hedgehogs, if left to become too big a problem, would overwhelm villages and towns.

Even the Horned Hares, since they seemed to appear in mass, had to be culled or they would destroy the flora of an area entirely. Slimes were killed regularly as they were produced by Mana at an exorbitant rate, and while they didn’t seem to be a problem if left to level, they could become colossal things that could and would eat entire towns. It was all about balance. The humans killed the monsters for levels and to maintain the ecosystem; the beasts killed the humans if they pushed too far or to get stronger.

For that reason, Liliana didn’t feel too much guilt about killing creatures. Not when it was simply a necessary part of the cycle of life. But for that same reason, she despised people who desecrated that cycle, like the village of Timberborn. Killing creatures for no reason, in cold blood. It was disgusting to her. The flowered serpents had done no wrong, were no threat to them or the ecosystem. Yet they’d killed them, and Liliana reviled them for it.

“Here, we have a better version. We keep the things made by the apprentices on display. The good stuff is back here.” Mrs. Fletcher took her hand and directed her past a door. Liliana stared at the hand gripping her own, more than a little shocked.

Other than Astrid, Emyr, Alistair and Silas, no one had reached out to her like this. As if… she was just a normal girl. It would horrify most below her station to touch a noble so carelessly. Liliana couldn’t say she minded much. It felt nice to be treated as if she was just a normal girl. Not a god blessed, or cursed, girl meant to save the world. Not a noble woman, separate from others. Not a mutt child dirtied with commoner blood. Not Lady Liliana, the daughter of the Duke. Not Lady Liliana, the daughter of a commoner. Just… Liliana.

“Here, John made this himself. It’s what the apprentices based theirs off of,” Mrs. Fletcher told her, showing Liliana a new game board with pieces on it. Where before the board could be considered a unique and beautiful piece, this was obviously a work of art. Before, the pieces had obviously been made of wood, but these were made and painted so they looked exactly like the creatures themselves. Just in miniature. The game board even had a fencing around it, to keep all the creatures inside of it as they wandered around. Some were even engaged in small fights.

“Not to worry, anything short of being smashed to pieces and set alight with magical fire stronger than the enchantments won’t harm the pieces,” Mrs. Fletcher told Liliana when she rushed to try to separate a Fenrir and a Horned Hare. Liliana took her hand back, but at a nod from the woman she reached to the creatures and picked up the Evanesce Tiger and held it in her hands. It sniffed her fingers and seemed to decide her not prey and laid down in her palm, batting at her thumb.

“That’s your Bond, right?” Mrs. Fletcher asked, and Liliana looked at her in surprise. The woman smiled.

“Jason has been regaling us all with tales of your adventures,” Mrs. Fletcher explained, and Liliana flushed, looking back at the small tiger, gently petting it with a finger.

“How much for this?” Liliana asked as she put the tiger back down.

“For you? Free,” Mrs. Fletcher told her. Liliana turned to her, mouth open to protest.

“Hush, you’ve been good to my boy. Real good. We were all nervous about him running off to be a guard rather than taking a craft. But he’s doing well for himself. Being the personal bodyguard of a lady is no small thing. And he cares for you. Almost like you were his own daughter, or a little sister. And we don’t charge family,” Mrs. Fletcher explained as she waved her hand. The chessboard opened up, each square swinging down and the pieces falling into their designated spots. The squares closed up, and the chessboard folded in half, looking much like a wooden purse. It even had a carrying strap on it.

“Press here to open it, and here to open the squares. The pieces will arrange themselves,” Mrs. Fletcher explained to a stunned Liliana as she fit the strap over her head.

“I really ca-” Liliana started, and Mrs. Fletcher held up a hand.

“Family helps family. And in my eyes you are family, girl,” Mrs. Fletcher told her, her tone brooking no argument. Liliana opened her mouth again but words wouldn’t come, instead tears sprung from her eyes and Mrs. Fletcher’s eyes softened.

“Poor dear,” Mrs. Fletcher murmured as she brought Liliana in for a hug. The girl gratefully took it, grasping onto the woman’s clothes as she sobbed into her shoulder. The hug felt like Astrid’s, like her mothers. It felt safe and warm. And like everything Liliana had needed.

“Shh, poor thing. You’re carrying a lot on your own, aren’t you? I could see it. You walk like the world rests on your shoulders. It’s alright. You’ve got more people who can help you than you realize, me thinks.” Mrs Fletcher pulled back and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe at Liliana’s tears.

“And remember, family helps family. No matter what. It might not always be the family you originally thought, but you always have one,” Mrs. Fletcher told her, and Liliana nodded, hiccuping slightly as the tears slowed. The woman’s words hit her harder than she thought the woman understood.

“There was something I was wondering if you could make?” Liliana asked hesitantly, and Mrs. Fletcher’s eyes flashed, a smile perking her lips.

“If you can dream it, we Fletchers can make it,” Mrs. Fletcher told her, and Liliana smiled.

“So it’s a game…”

Liliana smiled happily as they left the Fletcher shop and residence. They still had a few hours left to explore the city, but they were leaving with far more items than they’d started. Every guard in her protection squad had spent some coin in the store. Either on utility or pleasure items. Liliana herself was leaving with two game cases and five moving figurines. She’d finally managed to negotiate a payment, though everyone knew it was far less than the items’ worth. But she’d been lucky to be able to negotiate it at all.

After giving them the idea for Monopoly, she’d sparked a fire in the Fletcher family, and when she left, four different Fletchers had been making more of the games. She’d decided to give them the idea for a couple of other games too, only agreeing to take payment in the form of having the games shipped to the Rosengarde manor. She didn’t think Clue, Battleship and Scrabble would change the world in any meaningful way, but it might make the Fletchers an even more prosperous crafter family. Monopoly, on the other hand, might tear some families apart.

Liliana had gotten a fox figurine. It had already been painted, and had so resembled Polaris when she’d seen it. She’d grabbed it on instinct, missing the little fox fiercely as she stared at its wooden eyes that somehow managed to be full of mischief and secrets. She’d gotten a Luna Moth figurine for Astrid. The creature didn’t resemble a Luna Moth from Earth except in its wings, but it had the body of a bunny with perhaps more fur than normal around its face and neck. It had the eyes and antenna of a moth, with the ears of a rabbit. Liliana had thought it was unbearably cute, and they’d even put real fur on it to further sell the effect. She’d gotten a Solion for Silas, the regal and powerful beast reminding her strongly of the man.

The last two she’d deliberated over a long time, but eventually been gifted them forcibly by the Fletchers after they’d seen how long she stared at them. An Umbra Panther, whose dark form and creeping nature reminded her of Emyr. And a Crystalline Charger. Which basically looked like a rhino made of crystals, with extra crystals protruding off of it. It was an incredible creature with some of the highest Vitality stats of any creature at its rank.

Liliana knew Alistair would take Earth as his next affinity, and subsequently get a Crystal sub-affinity as a result of his Light and Earth affinities. It was a good choice that played well into his tank nature, and with Earth he could get a Metal sub-affinity as well, further making him a menace on the battlefield when he became virtually unkillable. It was well into the future though, but still the figurine had reminded her of her brother. Even the way it had snubbed her, turning its back on her and struggling mightily in her hands, resembled her brother well.

Liliana hadn’t wanted to get the figurines. They hurt to look at. What they reminded her of, who they reminded her of. Yet she hadn’t been able to deny them when they’d been pushed into her hands. She didn’t know if she’d give them to the boys, or if they'd collect dust in her storage bracelet only to be brought out to remind her of what she could’ve had, if her stepmother wasn’t a venomous snake of a woman.

The Monopoly game, she could at least play that with the guards. She wanted to get to know them better, anyway. She most certainly hadn’t gotten it because she’d thought Emyr and Alistair would enjoy it. And she hadn’t gotten the chess set because of how much she enjoyed playing chess with Alistair. She’d be challenging Jason to chess games, to get to know her personal bodyguard better because it was obvious she knew very little about the man.

At least, that was the mantra she told herself as they left the Fletchers.

“So where to next?” Jason asked her and Liliana looked around. She’d wanted to get her alchemy herbs sold, and she wanted to visit a…

Strange, I can’t remember what it was I wanted to do. It felt fairly important. Liliana reached up to finger the pendant hanging off her throat, the gem flashing in the afternoon light and almost seeming to glow with an inner light as it caught the sunlight.

Must not have been too important. I’m sure I’ll remember if it’s that important. Liliana shrugged off the feeling that she was forgetting something vital and turned to Jason.

“I’d like to sell some of the herbs I gathered, and maybe see if there is a bookstore selling bestiaries or perhaps a skill and spell shop?” Liliana added the last part almost as a question, and Jason tapped his chin for a moment.

“Yes, I think we can do all of that,” Jason said with a grin, and Liliana smiled in return. Stopping in Ariowood had been a good choice. She was feeling better than she had since the assassination attempt. She dropped the pendant from her hand and followed Jason as he navigated the roads of Ariowood.