The old woman planned to go into the kitchen to cook for everyone, so she sent the old man to clean up the rooms. With a rag in one hand and a broom in the other, he was about to grumble when she shooed him away.
Ivan, Kagel, and Kailan had little talent for cooking and were no good at chatting with people either, so they hurried after the old man to help him clean.
Nora could not cook, but she could certainly chat, and she kept the old woman laughing. Holly was a good cook and worked seamlessly with the Archmage brothers in the kitchen. With Nora holding her attention, the old woman never even noticed that Holly and the others had taken all the work off her hands.
Before long, only Cyril and Ye Chuqi remained in the courtyard, looking at each other. As Ye Chuqi headed outside, Cyril asked, "You're still going out this late?"
"Worried?"
Cyril declared with perfect seriousness, "I'm worried about the people outside." With Ye Chuqi's strength, worrying about her would have been pointless.
Ye Chuqi had found time to study the terrain of Mussel Bay, including the depth and extent of the ore vein beneath it, and discovered that she was rather lucky. The vein was so deep that even if she drained it dry, it would not readily collapse. The only things she needed to guard against were the impact of seawater suddenly flooding in, which might cause the crust to collapse, and any unusual phenomena on the sea's surface.
So she still needed to set up a formation, not only because of the ore vein, but also because of the news Big Black Fish had brought back. He had indeed found traces of those sea beasts on the seabed. They