When I head to breakfast in the morning all the women of the house have already arrived before me including our visitor Amy. Her brother Kline however still has yet to arrive. Scylla has an angry face and is reprimanding Zoey and Roxy.
Although Roxy’s ears are drooping Zoey’s chest is puffed out and she seems to be taking it like a badge of honor.
Zoey: “What it didn’t give you any ideas?”
Scylla: “I am saying I don’t want to hear it! And when there are visitors in the house you should be more mindful and keep it down!”
Roxy: “I am sorry Scylla, you are right… Last night was… I promise it won’t happen again.”
Lilah is happily munching away on a piece of toast seemingly oblivious to the conversation, either that or she is just happy she isn’t the one being chewed out. Bell is also sitting eating a piece of toast but her ears of drooping and by the look on her face you think Scylla was also talking to her.
I move over to the counter and take a cup of coffee Belinda slid over for me, Amy and her are both working on breakfast together.
“Amy you know you are a guest here, you don’t have to help out.”
Belinda: “See! I said the same thing, but it’s no use she said if I am doing the work she should have to as well…”
Amy: “That is my purpose!”
Belinda: “Maybe when I was at the capital, but now I just want you to be my friend.”
Amy: “Well then your friend wants to help you with making breakfast.”
“…”
I really need another guy around here… “Where is Kline? Is he still sleeping?”
Scylla: “He is probably too embarrassed after what he had to listen to last night!”
Zoey: “He probably wore himself out, thinking of you, after hearing us last night.”
Syclla: “He isn’t like that!”
Amy: “Please don’t put that image of my brother in my head…”
Zoey: “It’s perfectly normal. I am sure even Boss has jerked the weasel while watching us though the screens a few times.”
Roxy: “Wait… He can see us?”
Zoey: “Of course boss can see everything that happens inside of the dungeon.”
Amy: “But we aren’t in the dungeon.”
Zoey: “But the house is all part of the dungeon too.”
“I am not sure what you mean by jerking the weasel… But I have made an effort to keep the screens displaying the bedrooms out of sight after the first time.”
Belinda: “What do you mean after the first time?”
“When I first added the house to the dungeon, all the new screens popped up displaying the rooms. Zoey and Roxy where already… Actually I am still surprised to manage to fit that entire thing…But after that I hid the screens from view.”
Zoey: “See! I told you even Boss has a pervy side!”
Scylla: “It couldn’t be helped it was an accident!”
Zoey: “An accident, is opps and seen a bit of skin. He wouldn’t have known that much details unless he watched for a while.”
Scylla: “Master wouldn’t…”
“Well I was curious… But I promise it was only the once and all the screens have been hidden since.”
Belinda: “Wait a minute… The night you added the house to the dungeon that was the first time we… That wasn’t because you just watched Zoey and Roxy was it?”
“Of course not.”
Zoey: “You hear that Roxy, we got the Boss all fired up!”
Roxy: “I… I don’t even know what to say at the moment…”
I think I just managed to get myself in deep trouble, but luckily of all people Lilah comes to my rescue.
Lilah: “Lilah doesn’t see the big deal she watches Zoey and Roxy all the time!”
Belinda: “Wait…What?”
Lilah: “Lilah enjoys watching Belinda and Master more though...”
Belinda: “See what you did Two-Twelve! Lilah, now you can’t be watching that stuff on the screens that’s private!”
Lilah: “But Belinda watched Zoey and Roxy that one time too!”
Roxy: “Oh my god… Has everyone watched Zoey and I?”
Bell: “I…I’m sorry…”
“Roxy: “Even Bell!?”
Zoey: “Lilah next time you are watching Boss and Belinda, can you call me, I would like to see that too.”
Belinda: “It’s not a show! Two-Twelve go to the core room and find a way to disable the screens in all of the bedrooms.”
Zoey and Lilah: “Awww”
Scylla: “Lilah you are too young for that kind of thing anyway.”
Lilah: “Lilah is older than Zoey and Scylla!”
Scylla: “You know what I mean.”
Belinda at least gave me an opportunity to escape where this conversation has gone too so I am going to take it… I take my cup of coffee and transfer to the core room. Once arriving I see Kline heading down the stairs and heading to the dining room.
Good luck…
I access [Menu] and try to find a way to disable the screens but can’t find anything. I can however restrict access, so I set it to where only I have access to the screens displaying the bedrooms… I don’t really have any intention of looking in on anyone else, so I guess that is going to have to work.
I check back on the dining room before I risk returning, but it seems the conversation was instantly defused by Kline’s arrival. Although everyone in the room except Amy, Lilah, and Zoey appear to be blushing.
I transfer down to the other dining room before heading back to rejoin the others.
Belinda: “That was quick… Did you take care of it?”
“I couldn’t find a way to do it completely, but now nobody can mess with them but me so that will have to work for now.”
Belinda doesn’t look to happy with my answer, but she doesn’t say anything else.
“So… Kline how did things go last night, did you two enjoy yourselves?”
Kline: “Yes sir… Thanks for allowing me to take her to dinner, and if it is ok I would like to also make plans with Scylla for lunch?”
“I don’t think that would be a problem. She has her responsibilities, but as long as she has them taking care of you can spend all the time you want together.”
Scylla: “Don’t worry Master I will be sure to take care of my duties, and return to working today.”
Kline: “Sir, if you don’t mind me asking… Is there anything I can do to help? I always help the Young Master out, so I wouldn’t know what to do with the down time.”
“You don’t have to call me sir, Two-Twelve is fine. And sure I mean as long as you can read and write we could use your help at the office. Scylla has been keeping you and Amy company the last few days since the shipments have started to come in again there is a lot of paperwork to deal with and today is her day to help Belinda so we could use the help.”
Belinda: “Actually I am about caught up, and Amy can help me out while she is in town, so why not have Scylla and Kline both help you out till Logan arrives?”
“That would be quite helpful.”
We finish breakfast and then prepare to head out. I send the rest on ahead as Lilah pulls me to the side and asks to talk to me.
Lilah: “Master didn’t restrict Lilah’s access right?”
“Just to the screens in the bedrooms, they shouldn’t matter anyway.”
Lilah: “But what if some human sneaks in though one of the bedroom windows? How can Lilah protect us then if she can’t see?”
“Nobody should bother with the house though.”
Lilah: “But humans always want things that are not theirs. If a thief comes to Tobes, Master’s house is the best so they would target it first.”
“Well I guess so…Just don’t tell anyone, and no watching when the room is occupied alright?”
Lilah: “Alright Master Lilah prom… Alright.”
“I mean it…”
Lilah: “Lilah won’t let you down!”
Hearing that statement now makes me question every time she ever used it…But what she said was true so I guess I don’t have much of a choice. I follow Lilah back to the core room and remove her restrictions again, but before leaving something catches my eye.
The observation screen that I have been leaving open while at home has just started displaying an image. I am surprised to find that it is still displaying the large white humanoid bear like monster. At least I think it is the same one.
Its body now has quite a few scars and it is even has a scar across its face that apparently took out one of the monster’s eyes. If it was a dungeon monster it would have healed without scars, so if this screen really does follow what Dyson is watching does that mean it’s not restricted to dungeons?
The monster however is not in the same frozen cavern anymore, although the walls are still covered in ice they are now sculpted and it appears to be walking down a frozen hallway. It reaches the end of the corridor and everything starts to make sense.
Entering a room similar to Dyson’s or Madam Erin’s throne room the monster walks up to a throne and kneels down in front of Elder Fredrick… That must mean this monster is a yeti… I read that Elder Fredrick has a village of yeti that are not part of his dungeon and that’s where he gets all his xp.
But that still leaves the question why is the observation following this yeti for the last few months. I don’t know what to do now, and I still have never told anyone that this screen is still available. Should I ask Dyson about it?
I am awfully close to Madam Erin’s dungeon and I need to quit relying on her so much just in case things eventually turn bad between us some day. After all she already attacked my dungeon once just to get information, but she has let me train my monsters in her dungeon as well…
Maybe I should just warn Elder Fredrick, but then I am not sure if the observation screen truly is following what Dyson is watching. I know for a fact I don’t want to make Dyson mad. I still don’t know the purpose of all this either, so maybe I should just hold off…
Lilah: “Master isn’t the others waiting for you? Don’t you need to get to work?”
“Yea…Sorry, I will get out of your hair now…”
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
I transfer back to the house and begin to head to the office. I guess it really isn’t my problem so I won’t worry about it till it becomes one. I just hope it isn’t too big of a problem if it does become mine...
The next few days pass pretty quickly. It really helps having three people helping me instead of just one or two. Although I don’t know if Scylla and Kline working together is quite as effective as it could be. There are some awkward moments a few times that seem to slow the work down quite a bit but not enough to cause a problem.
From what Belinda heard Logan and Queen should arrive in Tobes right before noon tomorrow, so I need to make sure the dungeon is in top notch shape just in case. The adventurers are starting to return and I think even when Kline leaves with the amount of adventurers in the inn we should at least break even now at the end of the day.
The groups have already been reaching the third floor so after dinner work on the dungeon. I decide to use the xp I have been gathering from Kline on adding a new floor. I got an idea and it takes me over an hour of working it out before I get it to work.
I set a staircase that is 100 ft down which is the max without extra cost, but the door is only about 20 ft down the staircase. I debate it for a while but end up using a stone wall to block people going down the rest of the staircase.
The room I attach to the door extends all the way past where the base of the stairs is so the door is about 80ft off the floor. Using stone wall I make three pillars in the room, and then make a narrow path across the room with wooden flooring.
One wrong move or fire spell and adventurers will fall down the 80ft hole. The lighting in the room is dim and made only to cover the area above the pit so the only thing you can see off the sides is pure darkness.
I am sure the fall will kill most adventurers that enter my dungeon but I don’t know about high level people like Logan or heroes, but I am sure they would at least break something so I put a couple dozen blue slimes at the bottom.
Red Slimes are now available to be summoned at 100xp
I use more stone walls to make a small hiding spot for the crystal at the bottom of the hole, but build it where it isn’t noticeable from the top or can’t accidently take damage from someone throwing something down the hole to find the bottom.
I am always so worried about the crimson brute and elder because they cost so much and aren’t rift monsters that they are not helping me at all… I decide for the first time ever to dispose of monsters myself using the small amount of xp refunded plus my last remaining xp to add normal crimson kobold rifts in the old crystal room.
I debated letting them fight Logan and Queen, but I figured this way I at least got something from them. I put their gear on the new rift kobolds in the old crystal room. I leave one of the golems stored in the crystal but put the other two on the pathway on the fourth floor.
I have almost no xp remaining but here in under an hour I will get another day’s worth from Kline so we should be ok. I didn’t realize it was getting that late already… I can’t do anything else so after stretching I decide to head to bed.
The next morning at breakfast Kline looks a little down.
“You ok Kline? You seem a little down.”
Kline: “I don’t mean to be. The Young Master will be here today, which is ok. It just means we will be heading back to the capital after another day or two.”
“I got a letter from one of the shipments that arrived from the capital saying I have to attend a gathering of the town leaders in a few months. It said it should take a week, if you like I will bring Scylla along so you can spend more time together.”
Scylla: “Really? You would do that for us?”
“We will be there anyway, so I don’t see why not.”
Kline’s mood seems to improve quite a bit, and Belinda’s does as well as takes my hand after filling my cup of coffee and smiles at me… Though I’m not entirely sure why…
After breakfast Belinda tells Kline and Scylla they don’t have to worry about helping out this morning and can spend time together just in case they don’t get another chance before Kline has to leave. After they set out I catch Lilah up on the changes I made to the dungeon and then head to work myself.
With the extra help I have been getting the last week we have managed to get ahead on our paperwork, so when Belinda sends me a message at noon telling me her brother has arrived and wants us to meet up for lunch I just close up the office and tell Bell she can have the rest of the day off.
“Logan, Queen, good to see you both again how was your trip?”
Logan: “A week in a wagon is easy traveling. One time Kline and I had to all the way to the east coast of Sarnova, that trip took us almost an entire year. Queen has been on the road almost all winter though.”
“Really?”
Queen: “Yes… But I managed to get all my affairs in order so I plan to hang around Gowen for a while. I heard once the snow began to melt monsters started to be spotted from the ruins of Leona, so I thought I would go check that out.”
Logan: “Sometimes after a dungeon is destroyed and after a period of time passes it begins to grow again. We sent several group of adventurers to check it out. It was really a shame we were forced to destroy it, so if it is indeed back it will be a great boon for Gowen.”
“You’re going to issue an order of protection on it like Belinda did with the Ancient Kobold Stronghold then?”
Logan: “Yea, they rarely ever come back with as much grandeur as they had before so we are going to have to keep an eye on it for a few years. I heard there was even a small group of beastkin that have taken up residence there so we need to keep an eye on them as well.”
Queen: “How did you guys pull through the winter? I heard when the winter is that bad it is really hard on the small towns like Tobes.”
Belinda: “Luckily with the mild winter last year we had a good idea what was coming so I commissioned extra storage just for preparing for a bad winter. We still had to close quite a few businesses, but since I own most the land and buildings I didn’t charge them while they were closed so once the shipments started to return they were able to pick back up right where they left off. It was touch and go for about a week, last month, though. We ran out of coffee and I didn’t think Two-Twelve was going to make it, but one of our girls works at the tavern and she was able to gets us enough to make it the rest of the winter.”
“It wasn’t that bad…”
Queen: “Really? I have never had coffee before.”
Logan: “She is a really picky eater so I am not surprised, and she doesn’t eat enough to keep a bird alive…”
Belinda: “Two-Twelve is the same way, but he is getting better.”
Logan: “I left Kline a communication parchment, but I never heard from him, so I guess things were going good between him and the young lady of yours?”
“Yes, they have been getting along quite well.”
Belinda: “Well they have been… but it’s just been going very slowly. They are both so reserved they aren’t making much progress.”
“I thought they were doing really good…”
Belinda: “Says the man that took months to even hold my hand, and only then after I nearly died while adventuring.”
“See and they have actually been together for just over a week and they have already kissed.”
Belinda: “On the cheek!”
Logan: “Kline always has been pretty shy… I don’t know how many times I tried to talk him into going to the brothel with the other soldiers so maybe he would cut loose and learn a thing or two, but he never would.”
“Yea if it wasn’t for Cassandra at the brothel here I don’t know if I ever would have figured out what Belinda wanted…”
Belinda: “Yea over two weeks visiting a prostitute almost every day and even paying her and he still went home a virgin. That is how thick Two-Twelve is…”
Queen: “That must be so hard on you…”
Belinda: “Oh it was… But let’s just say we don’t have that problem anymore.”
Logan: “This is not how I seen our lunch conversation going…”
Belinda: “Well you started it!”
Logan: “We were talking about Kline, I didn’t want to hear about my baby sister’s sex life…”
Belinda: “What about you Queen? Have you and Logan?”
Queen: “Oh of course. He was my first as well.”
Belinda: “You might have been his too if it wasn’t for that slutty princess of Livinston.”
Logan: “How would you know anything about that? You were barely a baby then!”
Belinda: “Exactly! You where what 11? 12? She had to at least be what 16 or 17 at the time.”
Logan: “And she hasn’t been the only one…”
Belinda: “Maybe, but if she didn’t corrupt you when you were so young you might be like Kline right now.”
Queen: “Then I would like to thank her, because I like Logan just the way he is.” –She says while leaning over and kissing him.-
For the rest of lunch we continue to talk, I can’t tell how much of what Queen says is true, because surely she hasn’t been out of her dungeon as much as she talks about traveling, but then again she is only a few months old and has already been to the capital and here. I was over a year old before I went to the capital and I still haven’t gone to any other dungeons.
“What are your plans now? With Kline’s help I have been able to get ahead on my paperwork, so I went ahead and locked up the office for the day.”
Logan: “If you don’t mind, we will stay tonight, take a look at the dungeon tomorrow and stay tomorrow night, then head out the next day. Because I promised Queen that Kline and I would keep her safe while she explores Leona Ruins for a few days.”
“I see.”
I can’t really fault her, because I have been using Kline for the xp for a little over a week, and will get Kline and Logan for two more days. I just hope that isn’t the only reason she is with Logan. I am sure that would upset Belinda if that was the case.
“We told Kline and Scylla when you were expected to arrive, so they are probably waiting for you at the house right now.”
Logan: “Well we will let them have a bit more time together. What about you Belinda do you need to head back to work?”
Belinda: “Unfortunately I do… One of the receptionists got sick, and I had to have Amy cover the counter while we went to lunch, and you know how much she hates doing that…”
Logan: “Well “Mister Mayor” why don’t you show the prince and his lovely girlfriend around your town.”
I spend the rest of the afternoon showing them around Tobes, and even tell them the plans for the future development. After a few hours we start to head to the house.
“And that is where Belinda is planning on constructing a Town Hall building. She wants to make it have enough room to move the adventurer’s guild inside as well.”
Logan: “Not bad for a little hunting village with only 100 or so people not even two years ago. You even made it through a winter of Faron’s rest with only two winter related villager’s deaths. That in itself is a huge accomplishment.”
“Of course I was only Mayor for the last half of the winter, the prep for it was all done by the previous Mayor and Belinda…”
Logan: “That modesty is what is going to make you be a great Mayor, you’re people will never get tired of it.”
We head in the house, and Logan and Kline catch up a bit before dinner. We have to use the large dining room with all the extra people, and the conversations remain pretty normal. After dinner Logan invites me out to the tavern for drinks.
That would leave another dungeon core in my dungeon with my monsters… Even if it is Queen I am not comfortable with it so I have to decline. He seems surprised but not upset, so he takes Kline with him instead and they head out.
After they are gone Queen approaches me.
Queen: “I am actually glad you didn’t go, I would like to have a word with you if you don’t mind.”
“Very well…”
Queen: “I am sure you anticipated this, but I still want for you to confirm it. My entering your dungeon isn’t going to interfere with our agreement right?”
“As long as you don’t remove any equipment, or tear things up to bad it won’t be a problem. All the monsters that will be in the dungeon when you enter however are expendable. I also can’t make any promises about your safety once inside. The monsters are not going to treat you any different than normal adventurers.”
Queen: “Fair enough. I actually am looking forward to it, because I hear your monsters are unique. I also have a few questions if you don’t mind, and you can choose to not answer them if you like.”
“Ok.”
Queen: “I heard you had a copy of the Dungeon Core Information do you mind if I have a look at it?”
“It cannot be removed from the dungeon core room, and I am sorry, but I am not comfortable you entering my dungeon core room.”
Queen: “Fair enough. Can I ask you to look up a few of the cores for me and give me the information on them before we leave Tobes?”
“It depends on the cores.”
Queen: “Fair enough, I will make you a list you can just give me the information on the ones you want.”
“I am surprised you haven’t asked Dyson, he should have access to one now.”
Queen: “He wants me to prove myself to him to become one of his allies so, he said I have 5 years to fend for myself and if he likes what he sees then he will consider it. Until then I have no contact with him.”
“I was going to ask you for some information about something he is up to, but I guess you can’t help me then.”
Queen: “I’m sorry… When I did have access to a Dungeon Core Information during my training, your number was one that Dyson made me remember. At that time I seen that your boss monster was Belinda, but it said she was a Divine Being. Now I have seen Logan’s adventurer’s ID and it said he was human, so what’s the deal with that? I have never heard of a Divine Being is it some kind of light element species?”
“I don’t know if I should answer that or not. But in good faith I will say that as you know my crystal is unique, and some of the rules are different for me. Sometimes it is an advantage, and other times it’s not.”
Queen: “I see all your girls are feral beastkin except Bell and the scarred one. She obviously wasn’t summoned by you, so can you not summon normal beastkin? You didn’t take the first three I sent because they were not bound to my dungeon, but their cost would have been minimal to make them part of your dungeon, so I still don’t understand why you wanted Bell, and even put an emphasis on her remaining bound? I needed the agreement with you so I was willing to overlook it then, but I am still curious.”
“We will say it is just one of them advantages/disadvantages my crystal has, but to answer your first question is yes I can summon normal beastkin, the sub-species I can summon however is limited.”
Queen: “I understand. I heard some are limited that way. I was lucky enough to be able to summon all subspecies, so if you need another in the future maybe we can make a deal, because I cannot summon feral beastkin especially advanced sub-species like your beautiful salamander.”
“I also wasn’t born with all the information that a normal core is born with, so if I ask an odd question that is probably why, that being said. How does a normal core summon new types of monsters?”
Queen seems a bit surprised at my question but answers it anyway. “Well every core can summon the basic monsters, and then they usually have their element list which they can summon at a reduced cost, but to say new “types” of monsters they usually can’t. Of course if you summon enough of one monster you can then summon its advanced forms. Like goblin allows you to summon brutes, brutes allows you to summon hobgoblins and so on.”
“I see…”
Queen: “The exception of course is though breeding, so in the future after I am well established I would like to trade you for a feral beastkin, since they are breed-able with normal beastkin I might get lucky and be able to summon some in a few years.”
“Well a non-sentient one is only 25xp, I think after Bell I could easily summon one of them for you.”
Queen: “You would do that for me?”
“You summoned 4 sentient beastkin to get me to sign that agreement, sure I only kept one, so I would even be willing to summon you a sentient one if you could convince Logan to stay a little longer.”
Queen: “I might be able to get him to stay 1 extra day…”
“You want a rabbit, dog, or take your chances with a random?”
Queen: “What do you mean take my chances on a random?”
“I can summon it as a random subspecies, it seems to favor sub-species that are available to me, but with it you could even have the chance to get an advanced, which was how I got Scylla.”
Queen: “I have never heard of such a thing… I don’t care if it’s a dog or rabbit, but if I could get a chance at and advanced I would jump at the chance…”
“Well how do you want to do this? It would be odd for a random feral beastkin to show up and to follow you back with Logan?”
Queen: “How did you explain it when you summoned your girls?”
“Well because of people calling me by my number, they thought I was an escaped slave… We kind of use that to say they are as well. The owner of the brothel is even trying to prove I am stealing someone’s slaves and setting them free.”
Queen: “What if we use that? While we are at the dungeon tomorrow you summon it and when we return you can say it showed up looking to you for help, I will suggest it hiding among the settlement of beastkin that is forming at Leona and that we will take it there.”
“Works for me, if you can convince Logan to stay another day.”
Queen: “I will take care of that at breakfast in the morning.”
“Any preference for sex or build?”
Queen: “If it’s a female I could only have a chance about once a year, but if it’s a muscular male it could breed with several females to raise the chances, and also a lot easier to convince to breed.”
“Ok you take care of your end, and I will summon a random feral beastkin male tomorrow while you are in the dungeon.”
I talk with Queen a while longer but she doesn’t ask me any more questions on the contrary she seems very excited. After how much xp she must have spent on trying to get me to sign the agreement I don’t understand why she feels I am making such a big sacrifice especially due to the fact 1 day of Kline and Logan’s xp is more than it will cost to summon the beastkin.
Belinda eventually checks to make sure everything is ok, so I bid Queen goodnight and head to bed.