Chapter 45: A Loose End
Noah exited the throne room, but before DM departed, Luna approached him alongside Ardreth and Sasha. “DM, thank you for all your help in averting this tragedy.”
“…I established friendly relations with the Empire so it was worth it. How about you? …Have you decided what you want to do now?”
Luna glanced at Vosk’s nephews who were just then setting-out. “Well… I’m not seeking marriage quite yet, but I do have to admit it was pretty amazing seeing someone willing to face down a wyvern and a strong monster like you on my behalf. Still, such reckless behavior is…”
“…What about you and Noah?”
“What? Like, romance? Don’t even joke. He’s a mess without me, true, but I’ll help him find the right one. You can leave that to me.”
“…What about you, Sasha? That falcon trainer seemed pretty into you. …Any interest?”
“I—I’m just too busy adventuring to consider such a thing. Ardreth and I still have exploring to do after all. You… need us to explore the other dungeons in the Empire, right!?”
“…That would be helpful, but just the two of you?”
“We can recruit some new members here in the capital before setting out on a journey to explore the other regions of the Empire!”
“…What do you think, Ardreth?”
“Hm. I suspect you will eventually need some aid liaising with the Empire’s Guild. Have you not already made similar arrangements in the other nations where you have dungeons?”
“…True. Olivia is generally my go-between near the Twin Cities and Grace seems to be doing the same in the Union.”
“Setting aside my eternal concern for Daphne, I’m in no particular rush to settle down again. Perhaps if Sasha is interested she and I can help make similar arrangements here in the Empire when the time is right.”
“…I look forward to that. Just note that I may need to ask you and your companions to keep a few more secrets when the time comes.”
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While DM was glad the Emperor considered him a friendly ally deserving of freedom, the fact remained that a 4-meter tentacle monster needed to somehow exit the city without causing a panic or other problems. Only a portion of the city’s occupants directly witnessed all the aberrant monster behavior of earlier in the day, after all. Noah had seemingly overlooked all that when he dismissed everyone without further instructions.
DM received permission to loiter in a corner of the palace until after sundown. Some brave palace staff even conversed with DM about various topics including the nature of monsters and dungeons. DM also asked some questions about palace life as well as the culture of the Empire and how the Guild is perceived in the capital.
Once night fell, DM floated up out of a palace courtyard, mystifying just a few staff who happened to witness the feat. Once in the sky over Gazahanar, DM began his repeated use of his sprint skill, progressing under cover of darkness. A few people might possibly have seen him by chance, but that wasn’t enough to create some type of an uproar. A couple of morphlings in bird form followed him, although he had dismissed pretty much all his other monsters already.
For now, DM’s goal was to transit to the nearest dungeon he controlled. Once he was back home he’d have a lot of catching up to do. The closest choice was Guluk Dungeon, east of the Twin Cities and just over the border in the Empire. He proceeded at a good pace with only the stars and the tiniest sliver of a moon to light his way.
He decided to detour a bit east to Gulukkhath. He’d send a morphling in to speak with the Guild branch before turning west and entering Guluk Dungeon. From there, DM would transfer to the Lower Gordu Dungeon.
The trip took all night, despite DM’s overall high speed while traveling using this method. He raised his altitude to reduce the risk of anyone spotting him in the morning sun. Meanwhile, one of the morphlings descended and landed on the ground in an alley near the Guild. Once it spotted a suitable person walking nearby, it transformed to mimic them and then walked into the Guild.
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The funereal mood within led DM to believe that people in this region weren’t even aware of the happy outcome up north yet. He was glad to become the bringer of good news for a change.
The morphling actually needed to get the attention of a pensive receptionist with a wave of its arm.
“Oh, I’m sorry, how can I help you?”
Fortunately, the receptionist did not seem to recognize the person the morphling had chosen to mimic.
“…I just traveled south from Gazahanar. Have you heard what happened?”
“What? No!”
The morphling provided a sanitized version of events over the past 24 hours. At first, the receptionist didn’t believe the morphling on the basis that there’s no way the morphling could have traveled all the way from Gazahanar to Gulukkhath so fast. Eventually, the explanation included enough details that she was forced to accept it was probably at least mostly true.
“…The other reason why I’m here is to discuss the dungeon west of Gulukkhath?”
“What about it?”
“…The dungeon master received the Emperor’s permission just yesterday to turn the dungeon into a training facility for young adventurers. Please ask the local Guild Master to start making preparations for that.”
Once again, the receptionist had trouble believing what she was hearing, but DM was just planting the seeds for now.
“How do I know you really are speaking on behalf of…” She trailed off, unsure of what her precise question was.
“…Technically, I’m just a monster speaking the words of the dungeon master right now.”
“A monster? Really?”
“…Yes, I’ll prove it.” The morphling poofed out of existence in an instant.
DM hadn’t infected anyone in the room so he couldn’t see the look on the receptionist’s face but he could guess. He internally shrugged and resumed his journey, this time heading west toward Guluk Dungeon.
When he arrived in the air above the dungeon, he noticed the entrance was still being guarded by some soldiers from the central region. DM landed with a tremendous thud nearby, startling the hell out of them. At the same time, his remaining morphling landed next to him and transformed into one of the soldiers.
“Y—You!” At least one of the soldiers recognized him from his previous visit to the dungeon back when he was first betrayed by Karen Burger.
“…Honey, I’m home.”
“What happened to Ms. Burger!?”
“Her brother is bringing her home now that the war has concluded.”
“It has!?”
“…Yes. It seems like Emperor Noah is going to forgive most people for what happened now that Andrei Vosk is dead and Chuck Burger is in chains.”
“What!? Then what about us!?”
“…I imagine he’ll forgive you too so long as you don’t make a fuss.”
“No! I mean, what should we do now?”
“…I suggest you go home before I feed you to my chickbears.”
The soldiers deliberated but ultimately decided to depart, leaving DM alone with the dungeon.
He proceeded into the entrance and through the halls toward the bottom level. Once in the boss chamber, he quickly transferred to his original dungeon, glad to finally be home after all the chaos of the previous days.
He didn’t have long to relax. By chance, he received an alert almost immediately. Someone was entering the dungeon. Given that it was morning, right around at the beginning of a workday this wasn’t surprising. He hadn’t made any arrangements with the Guild for how to manage his dungeon in the Lower Gordu while he was away. Now was probably as good a time as any to reorganize his efforts.
In fact, the first person to enter the dungeon was Olivia. She was exactly who DM wanted to see. DM had received alerts a couple of previous times on earlier days that she had stopped by but he hadn’t interacted with her due to his absence and all the other events that were ongoing.
The only problem was the second person that entered the dungeon alongside Olivia. It was Barney.
This was not good.
“Grummanonth, I am back in the Lower Gordu Dungeon.”
“DM? Ah, good. I look forward to your account of what occurred while you were gone.”
“That will have to wait. Barney just entered my dungeon… with Olivia.”
“…I am sorry, DM. It would seem I have failed you.”
“In hindsight, it wasn’t reasonable for me to expect you to deal with the Barney problem while I was gone. He must have slipped past your efforts to find him.”
“Indeed. Please tell me if there is anything I can do to help.”
“Standby.”
DM dispatched a morphling to the entranceway, granting DM a view of the arrivals. Barney had a dagger to Olivia’s throat and was guiding her one step at a time.
“Ah, there you are! Haven’t seen you in a while!” Barney greeted the morphling.
“…I was otherwise engaged.”
“Well, don’t try anything. I know just how fast you are and how you can use those tentacles. Rest assured; I can take this woman’s life before you can do anything.”
“…That won’t end well for you.”
“No it won’t, but I have no intention of hurting this woman so long as you cooperate.”
“…What do you want?”
“I’d like to visit your room down at the bottom of the dungeon again, real quick. For old time’s sake. Make a path and don’t hinder me.”
“…Very well. I will begin moving monsters out of the way and disarming traps.”
“Don’t bother trying to have your monsters ambush me. I know not even the highest-level goblin archers would be able sneak up from behind and disarm me before I could twist my wrist.”
Barney’s progress was slow since he had to maintain careful control of Olivia the entire time. She was sweating profusely but not saying a word.
“I’m not sure how or why you lost control over me, and I don’t intend to find out. The scary thing is, I still think back somewhat fondly on the time I was in your thrall. If I didn’t have my memories from before that time…”
Barney appeared to be wearing various accessories which provided protection against a slew of status effects. It was clear he had prepared well for this moment in the previous weeks.
“Getting rid of you will be my final act of loyalty to Eddie.”