“… Now that we have all calmed down, let us proceed forward,” Queen Filene announced, resetting the table after she calmed down her husband and giving Tatsuya and me a bit of time to overcome our slight depression.

Well, depression, of course, was an exaggeration. We were just flabbergasted and sad, really.

So, [Manethala’s Greatest Gambit] was supposedly an “Event Quest,” something that had been mentioned in the initial unique Job update description. Funnily enough, we just talked about the earth drake a few days ago when we entered Broggart’s hidden vault.

The history between Manethala the Avaricious and Revolution Queen Dravlia Kongun, also known as Goddess Chihiro, was a well known story in dwarven lands, due to the former revealing their relationship. The latter had hidden her workshop deep inside his dungeon after they somehow became friends, and the drake was now even protecting it in addition to all the dwarven laws considering it sacred and taboo to enter.

Now, after over 200 years after Chihiro’s mortal death and ascendence to godhood, the probably first Event Quest involved them. Not to mention, next month on the 30th was also her Peolyncian birthday, and the Quest would officially be announced to the world and begin during it. This couldn’t be a coincidence. It was clear the Origin Gods had this planned out.

“King Fugnarus, would you explain this so-called Gambit System? I had heard from Duke Groushia that it involved the drake inside one of your dungeons, but I wished to learn the full details from you.” I agreed with King Drangleic’s question.

Grimnir had only mentioned the Gambit System was there to increase the difficulty of a dungeon, and subsequently, also the possible rewards you may get. It was similar to adding challenges or restrictions to a rogue-like game, but … if you actually died in it, you were actually … dead-dead. Although, you could think of dying and reincarnation as rogue-like, right? … Yeah, too dark of a joke.

King Fugnarus nodded, already aware he had to explain everything properly. “I assume all of you have heard about ‘Manethala’s Nest,’ correct? It is our only rank A dungeon, although that is only due to our special dungeon master, the rank A drake himself. If our ancestors hadn’t made a pact with him, the dungeon most likely would have been graded rank S.”

“Oh, it has the same situation as ours?” King Fugnarus nodded to King Drangleic’s comparison.

Griffonpeak’s rank A dungeon was once manned by the rank A griffon Assurfel—R.I.P.—who was also the beast ancestor of the Artorian royal family. King Drangleic, for example, was a griffon arvisian, and the great-great-great-grandson of Assurfel. Since the Griffonpeak dungeon was more a training ground and roosting spot for their griffon and hippogryphs, its guild-recorded rank didn’t really reflect its true danger.

Looking over at him, I could see King Drangleic’s fists slightly shiver when he mentioned the dungeon. Assurfel, after all, was assassinated by the demonkins during the Griffonpeak attack. It was the Prince of Pride, from what we concluded. He had as much of a reason to go to war against the demonkins as I did, making us natural allies for the upcoming attack on the Prince of Envy. Although, if a rank A monster was defeated by a Prince, what chances did we have?

That was why I wanted Mom to wake up before then. She was my ace if the Prince of Envy was too strong.

“But unlike Griffon King Assurfel—Ilsaphone have mercy on his soul—Manethala is more of a neutral force. If the dwarves were threatened with extinction, he would not even raise a hand,” King Fugnarus grumbled, frowning at his description of the drake. “Still, he is the best dungeon master we could have. He provides an ever-changing dungeon, perfect for training and to attract adventurers. If you saw our ‘Hub,’ the outside part of the city, then you would understand it better. Inkoran-Tazul is as much of a dwarven city as it is a multi-racial one.”

That was a major reason why so many smiths and craftsmen were inside this city. With so many adventurers around, the more monster materials would circulate, meaning more money. The sheer size of the city was already a representation of its wealth, not even including the tax money from the humongous Ankor-Nazta territory, due to dwarves making the best use of underground habitats.

While Inkoran-Tazul had four dungeons in total, Manethala’s Nest was the most popular. However, since it was rank A, you had to have the appropriate rank before you could enter it. Not every dungeon was managed by the adventurer guilds—like Griffonpeak’s—but the ones in this city were. Thankfully, I just got promoted to rank B and I could get rank A at any time to raise our party’s rank, so it wouldn’t be a problem.

King Fugnarus continued. “However, since the hunter’s guild only allowed adventurers and parties above rank B, it isn’t the most visited dungeon. However, since the treasure you could get in there could be sold off for hefty prices, it is still a gold mine to us. Not to mention, all the materials you can get from it.”

“You mean, ‘not to mention the amount of equipment you export,’” King Drangleic smirked, causing the dwarven king to crackle a bit. He then turned to me to explain what was happening. “My equipment was made with rank A monsters from Inkoran-Tazul. I was once an adventurer before my father’s death, so it made sense to spend some of my ‘allowance’ on it.”

“What rank?” I had never asked him that, nor could I really remember his armor during the Griffonpeak attack.

“Rank B. I am level 79 … although, I have become too rusty over the years.”

“Well, that is why you have royal guards protecting you, dear. Although, if you are complaining, you may find visiting the training grounds once in a while a good pastime, instead of your endless naps.” His wife kept smiling throughout that burn!

“… You say that, but the amount of work we must do can’t be handled by a single person.” His eyes drooped a bit as he looked at Queen Filene, letting go of some of his regality. “Our dinners will only get worse if I were to do so.”

“Gahahaha!” King Fugnarus burst in laughter. “I can understand that, my fellow king and husband! My love would flay me if I were to go around, training and ‘playing’ around, instead of helping her with paperwork. If you have it bad with Artorias, imagine me with Ankor-Nazta! Gahahaha!”

“Well, that is why you had your moment in Gazahan-Orn, dear. At least, you don’t have to deal with the Church.” Queen Tragaya gave a pretty dark smile, unnerving her king. She then turned to Neill and me. “Pray, enjoy your younger years, Princesses. Once the time comes, fighting won’t be the biggest challenge for you.”

“… I will take that to heart.” I forced myself to smile, finding myself already swamped in paperwork and managerial work. Everybody in Aurora was helping out with their parts, but it still fell on me to give the final say on the more important tasks.

“Oh, I am!” On the other hand, I couldn’t help but give my sister a stink eye. She had zero bureaucratic abilities at all.

Returning to the topic at hand, King Fugnarus explained how the Gambit System could be set for each individual party. The dungeon was only 15 floors, which was quite short considering how the Griffonpeak one had 40 stages. Still, overcoming only 15 stages was still a challenge of endurance and resource management.

Every five floors there was a floor guardian, meaning a mini boss, with Manethala presiding on the 16 floor. Due to the dungeon’s protective status, though, trying to fight the dungeon master was considered a crime by the adventurer guilds, and subsequently the nation itself. Not to mention, stepping into his roost was a religious taboo due to Chihiro’s workshop behind it.

“Mhmm. That is why I wasn’t kicked out of the hunter’s and merc guild after what happened,” Grimnir stated with a bit of pride, clearly annoying the other dwarves in the room. Since he and Broggart only avoided Manethala, they didn’t break the instructions from the adventurer guilds.

Now, with all of this as the foundation, the Gambit System itself was something like a challenge run, allowing you to set restrictions and demerits to increase the rewards you can get on each floor. For example, setting a set time to clear a dungeon before a dangerous force appears to kill you, increasing the amount of damage you would receive by a percentage, or even increasing the amount of traps.

There were even styles to customize your dungeon dive. You could have a zero trap dungeon or one without a single monster inside, only puzzles. Due to the high variance, Manethala didn’t even bother with the environment. Meaning, there wouldn’t be any lush greenlands or forests, similar to the dungeons I’ve visited up until now; it was all just caverns. It sounded dull, but less variations in the environment might help people survive better.

Also to note, according to his pact with the dwarves, the dungeon couldn’t be impossible to clear. There always had to be a chance that, if you were properly prepared, you could finish it all … Sadly, luck and moment-to-moment actions could determine if you rolled death or life for even the strongest contenders.

“But, you don’t know what this ‘greatest gambit’ will be, right? The System message doesn’t say anything about it,” Tatsuya asked, immediately understanding it like a rogue-like, just like me.

King Fugnarus shook his head. “No. It can be anything really. We haven’t been able to ask the wisewomen and the Church of Crustacia yet for their opinions.”

“… That is unlike you, though, Your Eminence,” Grimnir aimed the statement at Tragaya, considering how fastidious she was in our first encounter.

“Not at all, Grimnir. The problem lies with the fact we had just received this information about four days ago. Exactly on the night we arrested everybody in Gazahan-Orn and your little adventures through Broggart’s hideouts,” she stated to our surprise. “Our messenger may have reached the capital before us, but we still needed to give everybody some time to contemplate everything.”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter in the end, right?” Neill brushed aside the difficulty of the gambit. “At the end of the day, we need to get through it if we want to get our unique Jobs. There is no going around it. You need to take the plunge if you want to get something that impactful.”

Neill knew what my unique Job was giving me, in addition to the four special skills I could get from my development Jobs [Idol] and [Fletchling Tyrant]. Without a doubt, she was aiming for the power they would give her in her dragonewt form, since she was more reluctant to fight with her kirin form.

“Hest—Ahem, Princess Hestia,” Tatsuya corrected himself since he was in a formal setting. He then tapped his party bracelet. “Your party can hold up to 20 people right? The Quest stated the ‘party’ to clear the Quest would get the unique Jobs.”

King Fugnarus snapped his fingers, pointing at Tatsuya with a smile. “Good eye, lad. That’s what we also thought. Sadly, we still haven’t been able to make a bracelet that can hold more than 20 people in a single party. Too many mana signals for the mana battery inside to handle.”

A normal, standard bracelet could only hold onto five people inside a party, while the ones Tasianna, Mom, the twins, and mine could hold onto twenty. They were reserved for royalty mostly, to not only hide their true Profiles but also party up with all their retainers and guards.

Looking over to the two kings and queens, they all had a similar model to mine, outside of the crest, which represented their nations. Neill had a cheaper version which only hid her Profile, while Tatsuya had a Church of Aurena-issued one. Ellaine’s and Grimnir’s were standard bracelets.

After King Fugnarus’s little tidbit on the advancement of party bracelets, King Drangleic nodded his head, before flapping his wings a bit. “Well, since only one party can win this, it would be in our best interest to not conflict with each other, right? As such, let me—”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Rejected.” Queen Filene came in with the marriage veto!

“I am of the same mind, Your Majesty.” Even Ulquint, their advisor, gave his opinion to the mix without even being asked first.

“Y-you two?!” And it was super effective! King Drangleic was flabbergasted by his wife’s and advisor’s daring move!

“We, the Kingdom of Artorias, cannot lose you, my King. You are not risking your life when the kingdom itself is currently in need of a ruler, especially with the upcoming political and religious uncertainty.” The Queen was looking into the future after the summit and the attack on the Prince of Envy. “Our son is not ready yet, and I dare say, you wouldn’t want to place the same amount of stress on the young prince as you just went through, correct?”

Drangleic groaned, setting his wings down to his guard’s and retainer’s relief. King Fugnarus nodded to his disappointment, looking like he could understand it, too.

“Admirable work, my fellow queen. I haven’t had the time, but you should come and meet the council of wisewomen with me. We have a tradition of inviting foreign female rulers or leaders to speak and exchange ideas.” Queen Tragaya’s impression of Queen Filene seemed to have improved, which the latter gladly accepted. She then turned to her husband. “Sadly, and rather quite fortunately, my husband isn’t allowed to join. Since he will have to monitor everything, he will receive his unique Job through the completion of the Quest. Which means, if we wish to create a joint party, then Princess Hestia—”

“I want to go with them!” I stated without a single hesitation, turning everybody quiet. The royals especially looked at me with widened eyes, while Neill just smirked.

They didn’t know I had my unique Job yet. Their astonishment was ‘cause of what had just happened to King Drangleic.

Tatsuya also looked at me in an uneasy manner. “H-hey, you know why we shouldn’t be joining, right? Also, shouldn’t we tell them about it?”

My face twitched when he suggested that, since I knew he was correct. “… Right, so, uh, I got my unique Job already.”

“???” Even more bafflement filled the room as I nonchalantly informed them of something pretty rare, at this moment. Even if they knew I was in Elyonda for a divine Quest, they couldn’t have guessed what my reward for it was.

As such, I was forced to give them a quick summary of everything, including what unique Jobs were. Although not in depth, it gave them a good idea of what to expect. Consequently, they were now even more vehemently against me joining the expedition party.

“You are the most important member of the summit, you cannot go and risk yourself! The Loatryxians will only fume if we allow this!” King Fugnarus was slowly returning to his former mood, even looking at me in the same way when we spoke about the upcoming battles.

“Then, will you stop my sister?” I countered, causing the dwarven king to flinch. “Because, unless you do, she will go.”

Neill smirked. “Oooh, you know me too well, my little sister. We’ve only known each other for a few months, but you already know me better than most.”

Honestly, even if I were the one to ask her not to go, she wouldn’t agree with it. She was the type of person to seek challenges to test herself, to show off her value as a person. Her draconic gluttony, her need and desire to strive forward, was to make her existence important. What better way to express this than striving for her own, personal unique Job?

“So, whether the Loatryxians complain or not, just tell them how would you stop us?” I shrugged. “Yes, I know I am risking my life here, but what doesn’t if I am to become stronger? Will you stop me from fighting people in the future just because I could potentially die? We are going in circles; it’s back to the war topic.”

“You have a unique Job already, though. Aren’t you taking a spot from someone who needs it?” King Drangleic stated. “From what I understood, this Gambit System pits everybody in different trials, correct? Even if you wanted to support them from the side, you wouldn’t be able to, or, at least, you cannot be sure about it.”

Queen Filene agreed with him. “If we are talking about efficiency and a joint party, then it would be best if we support the otherworlders in their endeavors to become stronger. We had also planned to add one or two of our people into the party, to not only aid you, but also have them gain a unique Job.”

“There is also the problem with the fact we are honor-bound to respect the words of Goddess Chihiro, Princess Hestia,” Queen Tragaya stated. “We will and must send notice to the different countries. Subterfuge would benefit our party the most, but wouldn’t it just bring dishonor to my husband’s name if people were to find out we kept this to ourselves? It will take a whole week for the people in the Empire to reach Inkoran-Tazul by train.”

Her King nodded. “Even if someone is allowed to join late, it still means they will join. Meaning, adventurers, potential enemies, and … the chance for dragonslayers aiming for Manethala’s head. Yours and Princess Fargryneill’s head will also be on the line.”

“There is a law that prohibits dragonslayers from entering dwarven land, though. Even wyvernslaying is strictly forbidden unless you’re a true or lesser dragonkin, and only if that wyvern is a feral.” Neill brought up, revealing how Kargryx and the Empresses had set up an entire list of laws and conditions for their alliance with Ankor-Nazta.

One of them included making the dwarven lands a safe haven for young dragonkins on their adulthood pilgrimage. The same logically also applied to elven, Caedhulen, and Loatryxian land, of course. In those countries, true dragonkin slaying was taboo and deserving of the death sentence, while lesser dragonkin slaying was heavily monitored to make sure they weren’t hunting intelligent wyverns, kirins, and so on. Only ferals were allowed to be hunted to maintain peace, and only allowed for certified and trusted individuals.

There were instances of feral dragons and drakes appearing from monster spawning, but in those cases, the right to handle them was handed over to the corresponding Caedhulen or Loatryxian embassy, depending on the type of dragonkin. I guess it made sense since Kargryx was an Empire made for—what the System considered—monsters. Rules had to be complicated.

However, just as Neil finished catching me up on dragonslaying laws, the Ankoran King shook his head with a deep frown. “Never underestimate the sheer insanity of a person dedicated to slaying dragonkins. Laws do not matter to them. Even the wyvern slayers are obnoxious; there is always an issue with them every year, since wyverns spawn a lot in the mountain ranges.”

Thinking about it, I actually didn’t know much about the situation within the Ankor-Nazta. As a nation, it was humongous.

Thinking about it, those were all sensible arguments. Nothing I could argue back against. From a min-maxer’s standpoint, me participating was a total waste. If we had Tasianna lead the main expedition crew, then we could have 20 more people with new unique Jobs for the upcoming battles.

There was also the fact the Empire was now sending people to kill me, a fact both kings and queens knew about since that newspaper had already reached both Artorias and Ankora-Nazta. Apparently a second one had also arrived a few days ago, but I hadn’t had the chance to read it, yet.

Regardless, once the notice reached them, the dragonslayers would convene in this city without a doubt. Whether they believed I would be here or not was a non-issue; they would come here for the chance to slay a rank A drake. If I participated in this, there was a huge chance I would run into at least one of their parties, perhaps more.

Realizing this, too, Neill was starting to look a bit unsure of her participation. She had a run in with some of them once before, so she was undoubtedly nervous ‘cause of them. It did sound like if we were to participate in this, it would just bring us more than trouble. I had no experience with dragonslayers, but everybody was making a fuss about them, to the point I was unnerved.

“As the High King of the dwarves, I assure you, Princesses, that my vassals and I do our best to make sure dragonkin slayers don’t enter our soil, or at least, stay long enough to be a danger. However … there are many, many tunnels inside the mountain. Ways for people to slip in, despite our security. Zuekluks; our damn own kin selling off their principal and honor for money! We close a smuggling den, more will be made.”

King Fugnarus glanced over at Grimnir, assessing the latter’s reaction to everything, but turned his attention back to me. I guess this was why the dwarves hated dishonored dwarves so much. They were practically like any other scoundrel … and it made more sense why people treated Grimnir as if he was a pariah.

“I will not risk your life to chance, so a compromise. If you want to train, then you can enter our second dungeon—a rank B one. The boss monster there is starting to get stronger, almost to the point of evolving into a rank A. We’re planning on exterminating it for the experience. Take it for yourself.” King Fugnarus was seemingly even begging at this point. “25 floors. Come on.”

… There went that plan out of the window. I thought I could join the main expedition, but I really couldn’t say anything. In fact, if I tried to argue back without some godly reason, I would just make myself look like the same naive girl when I was first dropped into the whole royal shtick. I wasn’t about to let my growth go to waste.

“… I understand. I’ll try to stay out of trouble.”

In the end, I had to acquiesce. Neill, though, managed to gather her courage in the end and told everybody she would go. There was a huge debate between her and everybody else, but it all ended when it got nowhere. Instead of trying to stop a “boorish horse,” he would find a way to keep her safe.

With things settled here, I told the kings I would submit a list of people from my side who would be going, and once the numbers were decided, they would add their representatives to the party.

Since it was likely the other alliance members wanted to join and get a unique Job on their warriors, I had to, at least, accommodate about five members—Artorias, Ankor-Nazta, Saelariel, Loatryx, and Caedhul. There was also Yeos, but I wasn’t sure who or if they would send somebody. Still, maybe keeping room for one more wouldn’t be hard with 20 slots.

After my group left the royal palace, Ellaine and Beth let out some deep sighs, as they weren’t even able to speak one bit during the whole discussion, meanwhile, Tasianna and Shay took it in stride. Wanting to cheer them up, I decided to take a foodie tour around the city before we notified the others about what happened during the meeting.

Since Inkoran-Tazul had such a deep Japanese subculture, I took this chance for the students to indulge in some nostalgia and also to introduce my party’s native Peolyncians to it. With Tatsuya and Grimnir as our guides, we returned to the cavern city, so we could avoid the dragonewts in the outer part, and ventured through little Japan.

“Master, please continue making more, alright?” I reminded the noodle shop chef, to which he gave a loud affirmative nod. “You ready?”

“Of course, lass!” Grimnir responded loudly with his mask still on, to keep his beard status a secret.

“Time to beat your scrawny ass, little whelpling.” Neill cracked her neck and hands, looking like she was about to get into a ring.

“Don’t think you can beat a true ramen eater, Hestia-san! You’re going down!” Tatsuya smirked, looking like he had an ace as he picked up his chopsticks. “All-In!”

Crazy! He’s using his unique skill for a ramen challenge?!

Food meant food challenges, and the four of us couldn’t pass this chance up. Who could eat the most bowls; it was clear this was a divine challenge!

“Please, enjoy.” Meanwhile, the rest of our group just took a small location and began to enjoy their meal.

I ignored those party poopers; instead, I began the countdown. “One! Two! … Three, begin!”

Suffice to say, our debt kept growing. However, it was all about having fun and making memories, right? What was money there for if you couldn’t use it to have some fun.

After finishing our challenge, we started visiting shops for any delicacies and treats, and to our surprise, quite a number of Japanese ones were around! You could find mochi, dangos, even bloody rice balls! This area was just a small part of the city and you could see they added their Peolyncian twist to everything—as in, all of them felt a bit hard since they used tazlokwheat for everything—but it sure was an experience. It had been so long since I, well, I felt like I was back on Earth.

After our tour, we returned to the inn to inform everybody about what happened. It quickly became clear to everybody that not everybody could come, but it wasn’t a problem really. Tatsuya, Kyouya, and I couldn’t participate since we already had unique Jobs, while Haruka, Tamae, and, surprisingly, Daichi didn’t want to join since they weren’t combatants.

“I am a smith now. I’m content with that if we can give the pure combatants a chance to get better.” It was a pretty mature response from Daichi to everybody’s surprise. Had he actually grown from his experience in Gazahan-Orn? “O-oi, fuck you guys! Just let me have my moment!”

As such, our current roster consisted of Tasianna, Ellaine, Grimnir, Neill, Nishio, Kazumi, Kohaku, Misaki, Shay, and Beth.

Rajah didn’t want to join since he felt he could become stronger by being with me instead of away. It felt like a waste, since if he could buy [Humanize] and get a unique Job, he could become far stronger. Still, I respected his choice. Unless we needed him on the final roster to fill up a spot, I could let him have his way for now.

I also planned on asking Cernust and the saurians, since they were strong allies to have unique Jobs on. Not to mention, Yorshka and Farron had to be asked, too. I also had other people in mind, like Muraina, the hunter’s guild master in Griffonpeak and also one of the few elves I knew, but I couldn’t fill up every spot with my allies. I had to think diplomatically.

However, before I asked any of them, there was one person who had a right over everybody else. The first person I met in this world and also Aurora’s vice leader. When I brought it up to everybody, I pulled out my subspace and entered it, before going to the nexus location.

I’m coming to visit you now! Saori!

I forcibly opened the portal belonging to Saori and entered through the portal with Tasianna, Ellaine, Grimnir, and Rajah first. The first thing that took us by surprise was how incredibly dark the place was, as in, there wasn’t even a speck of fire or light around. I could still see with [Night Vision], but it was without a doubt scary.

Looking around, I saw some furniture scattered around, crudely-made ones, at that. It was clear people lived here, meaning I got the correct place. Considering Saori had mentioned living inside the cave where Belzac’s corpse was, it shouldn’t have surprised me we would be here.

[“Who are you?”]

Urgh!

A chill went down my spines as I snapped my head around, darting my eyes everywhere once that voice came into my mind. Everybody else who followed me here did the same, even readying themselves for a fight.

[“Intruders …”] That low, deep voice echoed inside our minds once again, just as I noticed something black seeping out from a nearby cave entrance. They wafted around like flickering fires, before congregating together into larger beings—into the form of wolves!

“Onnikais!” Tasianna called out.

[“Grave robbers!”] he growled once again.