Rise of the Living Forge

The sound of a knife chopping away at a cutting board rolled through the kitchen like distant applause. It was joined by the crackling hiss of vegetables in a pan and the scent of freshly baked bread wafting from the oven.

Dishes washed themselves before taking their places in a drying rack while spatulas flew through the sky in a dance of ingredients and metal, racing to plate as many meals as they could. Someone walking through the kitchen was liable to be carved to shreds by all the sharp utensils zipping through the air, seemingly without any rhyme or reason.

And in the center of the storm stood Lillia. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and head tilted slightly to the side as if listening to distant music. She tapped her foot against the ground in a steady rhythm and her tongue protruded slightly from the corner of her mouth.

The inn was positively packed. Lillia could feel every single soul crammed into the dining hall — and she was more than aware of just how many more people there were waiting outside. She’d already contacted Riker to prepare for another expansion, not just to the rooms within its upper floors, but to the dining room itself.

The customer experience doesn’t begin once they walk through my doors. It starts the moment they decide they want to dine at the Devil’s Den. This line isn’t acceptable. It’s way too long. If people have to wait around for so long to eat, not only will their time be wasted, but their expectations will start getting too high.

Lillia couldn’t have that. She was all too aware about the satisfaction level of her average customer. The Mesh’s glowing words buzzed in the air before her, a gentle reminder of how she was doing.

And, as of late, she had been doing quite well.

Average Satisfaction: 82%

Current Diners: 28

Boons:

[Greater Shadow] - Your shadow magic is significantly empowered and can form solid objects.

[Meal Maestro] - The instruments controlled by [Hearthmother] will be able to exhibit basic intelligence for simple tasks, requiring less supervision and making fewer mistakes.

A loud clang echoed through the kitchen and Lillia winced as a two knives spun out of the air, joined by their load of a large, perfectly cooked steak. There was a streak of white as a plate shot out from the countertop.

It caught the steak moments before it hit the ground, righting the meal and floating it back to safety. One of the knives clattered against the ground before it lifted back to the air. It floated over to the sink for a washing while the other one made its way back to its station.

Lillia blew out a small breath and shook her head. Fewer mistakes did not mean none at all. [Hearthmother] gave her a ridiculous amount of control over the Devil’s Den, but it wasn’t a permanent solution for its ever-growing clientele. The ability was meant to be an auxiliary tool, not the main way in which she handled everything.

I might have to hire a chef soon. At least I don’t have to be in the main room watching over everything anymore. Monica is a godsend. I barely even have to worry about using my abilities to keep people in check when there’s an orc glaring people down… and nobody even thinks she’s a real orc.

Lillia grabbed several plates of food that waited on her counter and strode out of the kitchen to emerge into the bustling dining room. A wave of sound slammed into her like a wall. Adventurers were packed into every single table, squeezing into the chairs as they all chattered and ate.

The Proving Grounds had been one of the biggest boosts to the inn’s popularity in some time. Even though it hadn’t been going very long, it seemed everybody wanted to watch it together with someone else. The last four days had practically spawned a dragon’s horde of gold into her possession.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

And I have to give it to the Secret Eye… they know how to monetize.

A representative had swung by the tavern not long after Arwin and the others had left, bearing a rather interesting offer. He had a magical artifact that would create a small rift in space through which only light and sound could pass through. A rift that was connected directly to the air above the Proving Grounds tournament.

For a rather ridiculous amount of a thousand gold, he had opened that rift within the Devil’s Den. Lillia had been a little hesitant to pay that much money, but she’d more than earned it back in the time since. The Inn had recognized its sudden increase in perceived value and, as such, decided that all the services she sold were more expensive in accordance with it.

The price change wouldn’t last forever. Lillia didn’t need it to. It had already taught her some very valuable information. The more value people saw in her inn — or the more the Mesh saw, she wasn’t actually sure which it was — the more the Mesh’s restrictions on her prices lifted.

That normally would have been cause for quite a bit of celebration. Lillia didn’t even know exactly how much money she’d earned recently. She just knew it had been a hell of a lot. Madiv had been in charge of ferrying all of it to safety in the Infernal Armory while Anna corralled people and made sure nobody stayed for too long after they finished their meal.

Normally, Lillia would have been thrilled. These past four days had raised her earnings by so much that it made her other days look a bit pathetic… but her thoughts were elsewhere. Gold was barely even on her mind. That wasn’t to say she wasn’t happy with how things were going, of course.

She was just a whole lot more concerned with the happenings of the tournament. There was absolutely nothing she could do from Milten to influence its outcome. She couldn’t help Olive with her Challenge. She couldn’t stop Hein from stealing anyone else’s classes. All she could do was watch, and that feeling of helplessness made Lillia want to tear her hair out.

And so, Lillia focused every scrap of her attention on cooking and keeping herself distracted. She had confidence in everyone from the Menagerie. They would do what had to be done.

Lillia’s job was to make sure they’d have enough earnings to capitalize on all the fame that they were sure to bring the Menagerie. If Art or Olive’s teams placed well during the tournament, there were going to be a hell of a lot of people swinging by to partake in the Menagerie’s services.

It’s a damn good thing we own the street. Arwin can take the path of becoming far more exclusive and pickier with who he makes equipment for, but that isn’t my goal. I want to create a community. That doesn’t work if I price gate all the weaker adventurers out of coming to the tavern.

That’s a problem for later. I don’t need to think right now. I just need to cook.

Lillia dropped the last of her plates off and turned back toward the kitchen. There would be new ones prepared by now. Even though her control of the kitchen’s appliances wasn’t completely perfected, it was still quite efficient.

And she wasn’t the only one hard at work. The rest of the Menagerie’s members that had stayed behind were working just as much.

Anna had set up shop outside the tavern, using the wagon that Arwin and Reya had bought to sell equipment at the market to sell her healing services. She had a line nearly as long as the one to enter the Devil’s Den — and half of her customers were the adventurer’s coming out of the Devil’s Den.

Lillia’s drinks tended to hit a bit harder than most.

Rodrick was helping Anna whilst keeping tabs on everyone waiting in the lines. Even some of their allies had shown up.

Raen and Melissa sat at a table near the corner of the room, avidly discussing the events of the tournament whilst spending a very respectable amount of gold keeping their drinks and food flowing. They’d seemed pretty thrilled as of late. That gave Lillia some reassurance that the Menagerie’s teams were probably doing quite well…

But not enough for her to actually want to watch the rift. Perhaps she’d just spent far too much time watching people from afar during her time as the Demon Queen, but Lillia just had absolutely no desire to partake in sitting around and doing nothing.

Someone had to keep everything moving, and that someone was going to be her. She could rest and get an update on how everything had gone once everyone —

Lillia strode right into something. She let out a surprised grunt, taking a step back to steady herself. Her senses very helpfully informed her that someone had rudely decided to take up existence directly in her path.

Someone who hadn’t been in the Devil’s Den moments before.

And beside them were a fair number of other someones.

Lillia’s eyes went wide. The day had gone by a whole lot faster than she’d realized. She’d thrown herself so heavily into her work that she hadn’t even realized that time was slipping through her fingers.

Out of the corner of her eye, she dimly registered the rift to the tournament closing. Lillia paid it no mind.

Standing in the tavern was Olive and Reya and every other member of the Menagerie’s teams that had headed out to the tournament. All of them had returned… and directly before Lillia was Arwin.

“We’re back,” he said, a smile crossing over his features as he swept Lillia into a tight hug. “Did you miss us?”

Lillia just smiled. She let herself sink into Arwin’s arms, content to ignore everything else for just a moment longer.

The tournament was over.