Nikola woke up in Dimitri's arms, the heat beating down on him even though there was just a blanket covering his naked skin.
He smiled, as he snuggled into his husband.
This was the life, he decided. He slowly got out of the embrace, put on a bathrobe, and then headed to the baths.
Glad that Andrew and Bleda had taken the babies to their rooms for the night.
He was humming as he washed himself. Thinking about all the unspoken promises Dimitri had made him the night before.
He giggled, as he remembered how the vampire had written his name on Nikola's stomach with his tongue.
Before putting it to better uses.
Nikola splashed more cold water on himself.
His problem solved itself without him needing much.
As he was drying himself, he stopped to think. What was he going to do now?
It was one thing to have a lover, but nothing had prepared Nikola for married life.
He had always known that he was different. Always known that he would never marry a woman, no matter how charming she might be.
His examples of a married life were his parents and his grandparents.
But he didn't want all the shouting matches that came with these memories.
He dressed, switched off the rune so that the bathroom could be cleaned for the next person, and then headed to the kitchen.
There was porridge on the table. He poured some of his mana inside it, taking the platter the innkeeper had left for him and his family.
When he entered their shared dining room, he saw that Andrew and Bleda were already feeding the babies.
He smiled.
It was time to talk about business.
"I know that you would like something to do," Nikola said, as he placed a bowl with porridge before the two men. "And I have just the thought!"
Bleda nodded. Andrew tilted his head to the side.
"I think that the equivalent of a Silk Road should be made for Oak's Rest!" Nikola proclaimed, as he dug into his breakfast. "The closest major town is a port and a trading hub. If you manage to turn heads at the East Trading Company, then we can sell more of the mana stones!"
The plan was sound in its idea, but Andrew already saw the problems with that.
"This world is not like ours," the siren said, as he began to pet Timmy on the back, so the baby could burb. "Even a normal merchant will expect bribes. The thing which we should consider is: how big of a bribe do we propose?"
Nikola nodded, lost in thought.
Yes, bribes were immoral, he knew, but he had something that could help a lot of people in such a surplus, that it wasn't even funny.
They needed to get rid of the food and the mana stones.
Even if it meant that they would need to honey up a couple of gatekeepers.
"Bribe them with mana stones, not with money," Nikola said, as he decided that the next order of business should be discussed.
"But, now that the goblins are either at school, at the adventurer's guild, or simply working the fields outside of town, I don't have any workers for the mines."
Bleda nodded.
"You should have thought about that before you gave them the green light to run off," the necromancer told him. "But it was the humane thing to do, so I understand why you did it."
"If we have tried to keep them in the mine, they would have rebelled," Andrew added, sending Bleda a look. "I think I can hire some of the jobless town's people for the mine. The problem is, they are not like the goblins. They might start to steal from you."
Nikola blinked.
"But… they will get a job and steady pay!" The brunette protested.
Andrew raised an eyebrow at him. Was Nikola really that naive?
"Yes, as miners. Think, Niki, if you had such a job, would you have done it gladly? Or would you have tried to save up enough to get your own business?"
The druid didn't have an answer to that, which was not going to make him feel like a little child.
"Which is a good idea!" Dimitri's voice came from the doorway. He looked freshly bathed, his hair falling around him in soft blonde waves.
Nikola made a mental note to cut it. Long hair and adventuring simply did not mix well.
"What if we promise them, let us say, 10,000 gold coins to start their own business if they work for us for a year?"
Bleda sighed.
"Are we running a charity now? Why can't we just find a mining town, and put real miners to work?"
Andrew glared at him.
"Oak's Rest needs the improvements! This will be our home! The home where the children will grow up at! We can't just let the people starve! What if one of them gets desperate enough to attack Timmy or Vera?"
Bleda rolled his eyes.
"They are necromancers," he countered.
"And still children," Andrew bit back.
"I like the idea," Nikola said. "Let us just hire them for a year and then help them get their feet under them."
All three looked at Bleda with pleading eyes. Vera began to bubble about something urgently.
"Ok, I'm outvoted," the Mongol said, as he placed Vera back in the stroller. "But I am telling you: If we throw money around so much, we are going to get the brunt of it all one of those days."
"Do you think someone might try to stop us? Who? The people of Oak's Rest want the jobs!" Nikola protested.
Bleda raised a hand. His fingers were folded. He unfolded his pinky.
"The king, for one, would want more taxes. He will try to get our dimensions from us, when he understands just how rich they can make someone."
Bleda unfurrow yet another finger.
"The town barely has any defenses. What is stopping a bandit group from attacking us? Must I continue?"
Nikola furrowed his brows.
"I didn't say it will be easy. But if I managed to say no to Tangra, a king won't scare me!" the brunette protested.
"Optimist. But, you know, that is what I like about you," the Mongol rested his hands at his side.
Ready to put in the work.