"Heeeey. Wake uuuuup." - Garami
*Slap, slap, SLAP!*
Still not moving. It's almost as if I'm hitting a corpse. And believe me, there's nothing better and shameless to do than hitting dead stuff to train your skills. It's a lesson I learned in the Water-Knot...
"That's an idea. Alf, water." - Garami
"You do know that even if it's technically water, ice is horrible to spray onto people." - Alf
"Idiot. She's talking about that bottle in your hands." - Mira
"Ah, right. The heat's getting to me." - Alf
*Splash*
"Buehgh?!" - Flint
And finally, our Sleeping NOT Beauty decided to wake up. Man, to think you could faint just from entering a Dungeon. Wow, my child is such a masterpiece~. ...Yes, I know the real reason for this lizard smith's lights going out is that the adrenaline he was feeling from being chased by that dragon before finally left him empty—no need to be picky.
"Wh-where am I?!" - Flint
"Safe, Mr. Quest Giver. How're you feeling?" - Garami
"G-Garami? How did...! That's right, Lord Runitos! And where's Iron-!?" - Flint
"Ruin-what-toss? I'm not sure who you're talking about, but Iron's sitting over there. As for where we are... A plaza?" - Garami
More precisely, we're in my Dungeon, on its first floor, and in the area where the [Fountain Plaza], a Dungeon Facility that produces a large open "room" in an urban-themed Dungeon to give some watery entertainment, is placed.
I originally planned to add three trap facilities to the first floor. However, after some input from Noire, before we left, I decided to switch one of them into the Plaza, just to act as bait for people entering the cave in the hope of escaping the desert heat.
As for Iron, he's busy trying to salvage his shield. It took a good beating, or should I say "heating", from the dragon's assault. Alf on the other hand took advantage of the [Glutton Stand] that was placed close to the Plaza. Dehydration due to the desert sun is no joke for the denizens of the blood moon, aka vampires.
As for why we're exactly at this location, it's the only "room", aka area within the Dungeon, that is large enough to room both the Marauder and the dinghy-like floatship Flint and Iron used to flee the Fire Dragon. As for the Dungeon's monsters, I made sure to put Flint on the VIP list, so they won't attack him.
Ignoring some of the less important parts, I told Flint my story, which caused him to yell "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, DUNGEON!?". So I got to start from there. What a pain... Let's take the conversation somewhere more comfortable.
---
Like the [Forgotten Royal Hotel I] facility, even if it's only a "1-star hotel" that can still be upgraded, the service here's nothing to sneeze at. Flint finally calmed down, maybe thanks to the hot cocoa we served him, and listened to the whole story. We also called in Noire and Revi, who had stayed behind to keep an eye on the Dungeon, and had Alf fill them in while I was busy getting the salamander smith up to speed.
Though I didn't give him all the details, such as our connection with Filyn's organization, I told him how I had obtained a Dungeon Core and wanted a lonely place to set up the base for our Guild. Oh, and I also mentioned that we were looking for a method to introduce "resurrection within the Dungeon" to prevent too many losses among our fellow adventurers.
That last part seemed to calm him down even further, or maybe the thought of reviving dead people was the final straw to crack the camel's back and he gave up thinking altogether. Good thing I didn't bring up the iceberg known as Filyn and her organization, cause that would cause Flint to lose the rest of his SAN points. And we can't have him do that. He hasn't paid us for our work at solving his treasure map yet!
"Should I say, as expected of adventurers? You people think of the craziest things." - Flint
"Sure! We have wisdom and bravery in spades. Not to mention violence~!" - Mira
Hey, hey. Please don't ruin the good impression I've been working hard to build here. Ehm, and Flinty? Why are you nodding along to this girl with the face of a sage!?
"Okay, I think I understand you guys' situation. Now, can you explain..., please explain what happened with Lord Runitos." - Flint
"With who?" - Garami
"Huh?" - Flint
"Hmm?" - Mira
Okaaay... This is awkward. Did I forget some VIP's name again? Iron came to the rescue from his corner of the lobby, despite still looking down in the dumps over the sooty mess that used to be his shield.
"The Fire Dragon. His name is Runitos." - Iron
"It is? Now that you mention it, we never did do any self-intros." - Garami
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Whoopsie, that's a miss from me~. Or should I see this as an advantage? I didn't ever give away my name either. However, we do have more pressing matters.
"He's not going to bother us these next three days. As for Flint, you don't have to worry at all." - Garami
"I-, I don't?" - Flint
"Nope. We managed to find a resolution that didn't include your head having a non-existent bounty on it." - Garami
"In short, Garami managed to fast-talk that overgrown lizard-, er, no harm intended." - Mira
"Hmm? Oh, none taken. But what did you fast-talk Lord Runitos to?" - Flint
"A Dungeon Battle." - Garami
"...A what now??"
Geez, stereo-questioning is annoying to be on the receiving end of. Only Mira and Alf didn't join in, as they were there when I challenged the Fire Dragon, er, "Runitos".
"*Cough*, a Dungeon Battle is a competition between two hostile Dungeons. Each side will send their forces to invade the other side's Dungeon, most preferably settling the score by having one side take the other side's 'Dummy Core', an item used as the goalline for this contest so there won't be any damage to the real Dungeon Core." - Garami
"Hold on, why's that?" - Flint
"Hmm? If the Dungeon Core gets crushed, so goes the Dungeon. It's common knowledge, even for non-Dungeon Masters." - Garami
"No, that wasn't what I trying to ask...." - Flint
"Before that, explain why a Dungeon Battle has anything to do with that Fire Dragon," piped in Noire, having come to our side of the lobby after having finished Prof. Alf's "Grey Park Events" lesson.
"Because the Fire Dragon, I mean, Runitos, is a fellow Dungeon Master like me." - Garami
"HUUUUUH?!" shouted Flint all of a sudden. Did I forget to mention that part until now? Whoops.
"Incredible. It is unbelievable to think this is supposed to be our Guild Master." - Noire
"Tch, tch, tch~. Noire, you are way out of date. People are calling her 'Princess' nowadays." - Mira
"'Thug' would fit her better." - Noire
Okidoki. No birthday presents for the fallen angel this and the upcoming years.
"Enough with the slander and nicknames for now. Garami, is that story true?" - Alf
"Ask Bloom, not me. She's the one Identifying that guy while I was playing the talk game." - Garami
"And there is no question about it," said Bloom after flying out from my hood. "That dragon, Runitos, is indeed a Dungeon Master. How he became one escapes me, but..."
"The whydunit sits here," I finished for Bloom, pointing at Flint who had been trying to follow our conversation to the best of his abilities. "Dungeons are one of the best ways to set up a base in any environment, especially if nobody's there to invade it every hour of the day."
"Riiiight. We're doing it, so it wouldn't be strange for someone else to take the same approach." - Mira
Bingo. Though, preparing a whole Dungeon just to hunt down one Lizardman who had been involuntarily involved in hurting a dragon princess? Boy, that Runitos guy sure overdoes the whole "dragons love princesses" troupe. And it's not only me who thinks that's over the top. The faces of everyone in the lobby, even Iron, betray disbelief over the Fire Dragon's obsession over trying to score some points with King Loitan's favorite little girl. Especially Flint.
"A whole Dungeon..." - Flint
"Meh, no worries. At least he won't be coming after your neck anymore. I bet you could even return home after this mess is cleared." - Garami
"That...is a task too soon for me..." said Flint with his head down. Even if he wasn't in the wrong, to suddenly return to the country he fled from wasn't something he could do with a snap of the finger.
"In that case, I'd say you have two, no, let's say three roads in front of you." - Garami
"Three roads?" - Flint
"Yup. One would be returning to Oasis Town while keeping this place a secret. At least for now. We still need some time to make this place a little more 'adventurer-friendly' without losing too much of our 'security'." - Garami
"What, we're just going to give him a ride back home?" - Mira
"Why not? We're pals with old Flinty here, right~?" I said, making no attempts to conceal the silent "Because if you don't..." in my message.
"G-g-got it...pal..." - Flint
"Great~. Your second option would be to make an artisan contract with us." - Garami
"Uuh, you mean I'll be your go-to person for blacksmithing?" - Flint
"Pretty much. We're in dire need of a steady forging hammer these days. Just look at poor Iron's shield!" I said while pointing at the undead knight who was still trying to salvage his partner at the corner of the lobby. Man, that thing's gone from "breaking apart" to "totally destroyed" since I last saw it. Now that I think about it, our first reason for accepting Flint's quest was because we needed him to fix that metal slate post-haste. Too late for that~. And I'm definitely not counting on that to make a certain someone feel guilty over it all~.
"Guh...that-, that could be arranged..." stammered Flint, his eyes restlessly taking in all of the lobby except the place where Iron was sitting.
"Hey, hey, hey~. Keep your horses, buddy. I still haven't brought up the best path you can take~." - Garami
"I don't think my stomach can take anymore..." - Flint
"Keep it together, Flinty~. It's just some post-dragon-attack stress messing with it." - Mira
"...Do you need some medicine?" asked Revi, in an unexpected moment of generosity. Right, these two know each other from that time when we helped Flint clean up his mine. Good times.
"Now, as for the third path," I started as Flint drank the water along with Revi's homemade stomach medicine, "would be for you to join our Guild, the Nightmare Voyagers."
"*Gu-GULP*-!? *COUGH, COUGH*, e-excuse me... Me? Join you guys?" - Flint
"I told you, we NEED blacksmiths. And any other kind of smiths. Even a John Smith would be accepted at this damn point!" - Garami
We are surely understaffed. A Guild Master shouldn't have to risk their lives visiting abandoned, dilapidated amusement parks. They're supposed to take it easy in their homemade Dungeons! ...I think. It could be just a me-thing.
"And in truth, there's not going to be much change from route 2. Heck, since you'd be part of the decision group, you'd have a vote for where we would go and explore next." - Garami
"Hmm? I was in the belief that the Dungeon Master decided all that on their own." - Flint
"Some people might do it that way, but our Princess is a strange one. She's constantly wanting our input before making a big decision." - Mira
"It's called democracy. If we didn't have that, you guys would make a ruckus to go look for treasures and famous swords, fashions, fishing ponds, and lately, even other towns to help develop." - Garami
"Aaaahh...hahaha...?" - Mira (<- Treasure and sword freak)
"What is wrong with that?" - Noire (<- Fashion freak)
"...I'll behave myself from now on." - Alf (<- Fishing freak)
"No comments." - Iron (<- Pioneering freak)
"...*Smug face*." - Revi (<- Proud non-freak)
"You're also having a lot of burdens on your shoulders." - Flint
"At least there aren't any dragons on the table. Even if we're busy with a Dragon Dungeon and could need all the help we could get." - Garami
"Is there perhaps a favor for whoever could give a helping hand?" - Flint
"As long as it's within reasonable margins." - Garami
"Hmm..., fine. Where do I sign?" - Flint
I've gotten us a Blacksmith! Now, time to start preparing for the Dungeon Battle! ...And explain to these guys what a Dungeon Battle even is. Gosh, there are never enough hands to help me here! Maybe I should start looking for more recruits. Are there any vicious desert monsters willing to join my party? Not even a slime? Jerks...