Chapter 33: Tour Afterburn
The tour didn't end after the guild registration.
Charishe insisted they continue, and neither Kivas nor Samael protested. The winding lanes of Solvish Keep curved between mixed-material structures—living wood curled around soul-wrought iron, and fungus-stamped bricks bore the faint shimmer of enchanted moss.
Lanterns floated higher here, drifting with intention above crosswalks and gathering points.
"This," Charishe declared, gesturing to a squat building with a crooked roof and an attached outdoor counter, "is my place."
The scent that clung to the air was unmistakably appetizing—thick, sweet, iron-rich. It radiated from multiple open grills lining the building's outer ring.
Through glass-paned openings, miniature figures flitted back and forth inside the kitchen. They had the exact shape of Charishe, though in a chibi form—shorter, with oversized simplified eyes and limbs exaggerated for cuteness.
The most striking trait, however, were their ears, comically long fox-like tufts nearly twice their height, bobbing with every motion.
Two of them were cleaning plates stacked taller than themselves. Another was carrying a bowl with a flaming broth sloshing in impossible directions.
"They're not sentient," Charishe explained preemptively. "Tall-eared Workers, I called them!"
Kivas leaned in. "You basically made little versions of yourself to run a kitchen."
"Sounds narcissistic," Samael snickered.