Chapter 34: "Finally" & End of First Story Arc
DM played around with new dungeon tools that allowed him to make water levels. While he was trying out swimming, slowly, he received an alert.
“Good news or bad news? Back to the console I go.” He was so used to getting interrupted by alerts at this point, it didn’t even get a rise out of him anymore. Fortunately, the distance from his temporary swimming pool to the boss chamber was small.
“Let’s see… One human. Female. Wait, it’s Olivia!?” This could be good news. Olivia had been captured on the orders of the previous Lord after reporting about her run-in with DM to the Guild. If she was here, DM could rule out some of the worst outcomes for her. He was cautiously optimistic as he deployed a morphling to meet her.
“…Olivia?”
“Guild Master? Wait, you just copied his form, right?”
“…Yes. It’s me.”
“Long time no see. We… have a lot to catch up on, don’t we?”
“…We do. I’m glad to see you’re all right.”
“Yes, all things considered, I’m okay. I was held, but at least they took decent care of me.”
“…How did you escape?”
“The new Lord had me released. The Guild Master told me Lord Davidson is taking ‘aggressive action’ to right various wrongs. One of them was releasing me and turning over responsibility for dealing with… you… to the Guild again.”
“…That’s good news. What are the Guild Master’s intentions?”
At this question, Olivia smiled. “He’s agreed to ‘informally’ set up relations with you! He told me I’m the best woman for the job, so he assigned me to be the ‘liaison.’”
On the one hand, DM was happy to see Olivia in good spirits and eager to work with him. On the other, he felt like a problem child was just dumped into his lap. Still, the Guild Master agreed to friendly relations with the Lord’s backing. Provided the capital didn’t come in and shake things up, this was a great result for DM.
“…As I said before, I’m willing to create a safe environment for adventurers to train and also share information about how the console works, provided the Guild assures my safety and provides a bit of, uh, material support.”
“Of course! I’ll arrange when and how adventurer parties come into the dungeon and how deep they can go.”
DM had a weird idea flash through his mind. “…Do you want me to set up a welcome desk on the first floor?”
“A welcome desk?”
DM talked Olivia through some ideas for how to set up the first floor of the dungeon to basically be like a branch of the Guild. After brainstorming for a short while, DM asked an important question.
“…How will the capital branch of the Guild react to this new arrangement?”
“That’s for the Guild Master to figure out.”
DM wasn’t in love with that answer, but Thaw at least seemed fairly reasonable, so he decided he really would leave it to them for the time being. Of course, he’d take advantage of any opportunities that popped up to investigate the capital a bit when Daphne’s party arrived.
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Back at the Guild, the Guild Master was overseeing workers rebuild a portion of the wall when another employee greeted him. DM did not have any eyes in the Guild to witness this exchange.
“Guild Master, is Olivia really back?”
“Yes. It turns out she was another victim of all the recent conspiracies.”
“Conspiracies?”
The Guild Master jerked his chin to the side and entered a hallway beyond the main area. The pair proceeded into the room with the dungeon crystal and shut the door.
“What did you hear about Lord Pool?”
The employee thought for a moment before answering. “He and his family were killed and the culprit is at large.”
“That’s mostly true.”
“Sir?”
“After that asshole ordered his man to attack the Guild, I made arrangements.”
“So it really was the Lord, huh? I’m not surprised, but I can’t believe you went after his whole—“
“No. Only Eddie Pool was the target.”
“Then?” The employee craned his neck, eager to learn what the Guild Master was getting at.
“I know you already know this, but not a word of this to anyone. The one who did in Eddie Pool told me a man from the Church was visiting around the same time.”
“The Church!? It’s not like them to secretly assassinate people. I can hardly believe it.”
“Neither could I,” the Guild Master acknowledged. “They’re quick to throw their weight around, judging heathens and all, but they do so publicly. To their credit, they don’t even go after family members, normally.”
“Then why would the Church do this now?”
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“You’re not getting it,” the Guild Master snapped back, a bit impatient. “The Church was not behind the additional murders.”
“Then, who?”
“I’m almost certain the man claiming to be from the Church was just pretending in order to get close to the Lord. I doubt he acted alone, either.”
“Then?”
“There are really only two possibilities. One is a powerful faction from the capital, and the other is foreign influence. In either case, they just happened to go after the Lord and his family at the same time as our ‘faction’ acted. That’s the most likely answer, at least.”
The employee took a moment to process that implications of what he heard. “Th—Then, do you think these hostile actors will leave the new Lord alone?”
“Probably. Pool was making enemies for literally decades. We were just the latest. Lord Davidson is as by-the-book as they come. Nobody loves him, and nobody hates him. I can’t promise that will last forever, but for now, I don’t see any reason for anyone to go after him.”
“What about his oldest son?”
“Rufus? Okay, maybe he hates him.”
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Sasha’s party traveled south from the Empire’s capital of Gazahanar in the north as part of guarding a merchant caravan. For whatever reason, the caravan was traveling light, carrying few items towards the central region of the Empire. Sasha figured that meant business was currently bad for the traders, but she wasn’t complaining. Her entire party got to ride along due to all the space in the wagons and the relative safety of the roads, at least for the first half of their trip.
Of their new members, the two brothers, the hunter and the spearman, seemed pretty indifferent about where they went. As long as the party was completing missions on behalf of the Guild, the brothers were satisfied. Sasha couldn’t ask for more from new party members. She turned her attention to the final member.
Luna was really the reason why they were guarding this caravan. Sasha couldn’t help but wonder why Luna was interested in exploring south so soon after joining the Guild. She was fairly skilled for a beginner, so there were no complaints in that regard, either from her or Ardreth. The party had agreed to wait until their arrival in Khun before deciding what to do next.
Khun was one of the largest cities in the central region of the Empire. It was about halfway between the border with the Holy State to the west and the coast to the east. Sasha was curious to see what the central region was like, especially after all the warnings Ardreth had received.
Ardreth didn’t seem like he wanted to do much of anything, but that was normal or him.
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A caravan departed the Twin cities westbound. Daphne’s party was one of the four traveling alongside for protection. In addition to transporting goods for trade, the caravan was carrying a fair amount of material and documents on behalf of the Guild. Included in the batch were various written messages. One of the more senior parties was tasked specifically with safeguarding the wagon containing Guild documents.
After arriving in Ereacht, the capital, Daffy’s party would journey north to EarthGlen, ancestral home of her tribe. According to her elders, elves had lived in that forest since well before the formation of the Holy State.
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Kat’s party arrived at the Guild, hoping to find something to do. While perusing the request board, Rufus walked over.
“Ah, it’s you girls. I’m happy to see you’re eager to continue, despite all that’s happened.”
“It’s Rufus!” Shiba acknowledged. Although the girls were a bit underwhelmed by their treatment overall during the trip to the dungeon in the Upper Gordu Forest, Rufus had actually acquitted himself fairly well, so they didn’t mind bumping into him.
“Vulp, are you still interested in fighting with a shield?” Rufus asked.
“Yes!” In truth, Vulp did want to adopt a similar fighting style to Rufus’s.
“If you like, I could bring you to a place that sells shields and help you pick one out. I even know of an artisan who will add designs to it for you!”
Vulp wasn’t sure exactly what design she’d want added, but she did want a shield. She looked at Kat, who nodded. Instinctively, the girls all knew that Rufus wouldn’t try to pull anything the way that thief had during their recent journey. He seemed like a nice guy, albeit a weird one.
“Perfect. Let’s go right away.” Rufus guided Vulp out of the Guild and to a shop within the Twin Cities specialized in armor.
Rufus introduced Vulp, and the pair checked out various shields with the help of the armorer who ran the shop. While they were trying to design what type would work best for Vulp, given her high level which quite outpaced her young form, an older gentleman poked his face into the shop.
“Rufus?”
“…Father.”
“One minute I’m telling you to shift your attention from the Guild back to your familial duties, and the next, you’re in a shop trying out armor?”
“L-Lord Davidson!” the armorer blurted out, jogging over to greet the new Lord.
“What are you doing here, father?”
“Well, my sphere of influence has expanded quite a bit recently. I’m trying to tour around the Twin Cities, seeing everything for myself. Oh?” The noble glanced at Vulp, trying to put two and two together regarding why Rufus was assisting Vulp with equipment selection. “Ah! I see!” The man looked like he had solved a life-long mystery.
“Father?”
“A bit exotic, but young or not, it’s a big improvement over—“
“Father, what are you saying!?”
Vulp had never seen Rufus so flustered before. She couldn’t imagine what type of history he and his father had.
“No, no, I’ll admit, I was too quick to judge. Given her age, I’ll need to be a bit more patient, but so be it. Young miss, what family are you from?” the Lord asked as he turned his gaze to Vulp.
“Me? I’m not from a family.”
“Oh dear. We’ll need to do something about that. I guess I need to speak to my brother about adopt—“
“Vulp,” Rufus interrupted. “There’s no need for you to do anything on account of my father. I’ll just help you choose a shield as we, uh, previously arranged.”
“Okay.”
“Rufus,” the man called out, ignoring what his son was saying. “Bring her by later. I have to go. It was nice meeting you.”
The armorer bowed his head as the older man turned to leave, mumbling to himself, “And to think I was trying to get him killed off doing all that dangerous Guild work, hah!”
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The Twin Cities Cathedral can be thought of as the second capital of the Church within the Holy State of Whites. DM had not performed any spying of the Church, and he had no idea what people discussed within. Two such people, a priest and a young girl in religious garb suitable for her station, sat opposite one another discussing a matter of importance.
“Vera, I need you to join the Guild.”
“The Guild!? Why, Father?”
“I’ve selected you because you have separated yourself from your peers in service to the Church. Be proud of yourself.”
“I’m honored, but why the Guild? I thought I was to stay away from that godless bunch.”
The priest exhaled a laugh. “Yes, it’s easy to think of them as a lost cause, despite our teachings. Setting aside our duty to spread knowledge, there’s a specific reason why we need to send someone to join the Guild.”
“Am I to proselytize—“
“No, that is merely an excuse for why you are there. I want you to investigate something.”
“Investigate? Father, isn’t such a mission far above me?”
“No, you’re perfect for this, I think. Join the Guild as a healer. Be outspoken about the fact that you got permission from the Church to share our gospel in other cultural circles within the city. Of course, you had to twist our arms to convince us, but we saw how passionate you were about the cause and eventually yielded.”
“Me? I could never—“
“Nonsense, Vera. Your dedication is, and always will be, admirable.
“A… A party. I’d need to join a party, right? With the Guild relying entirely on secular white mages, I don’t see a pious young priestess like myself being very desirable…”
“Don’t sell yourself short. I’m sure you’ll think of something. If it helps, find some other white mage and offer to trade with them. We’ll teach them some specialized healing methods here in the Church, and you’ll take their place in their party for a while to gain experience. How does that sound?”
“I suppose… If it’s your will, I will put my all into it. What shall I investigate?”
As Vera waited for the priest to explain her mission, she decided, perhaps selfishly, to seek out a young all-girl party to join if she could.