It’s been a few weeks now since Scylla and Zoey began bringing people to the dungeon. It took Roxy quite a while but she is starting to get used to combat now, and she has even managed to gain a few levels.
They have brought in several groups now but they haven’t even made it to the final room on the second floor yet. Zoey has been staying with Roxy more and more lately. I sent her a message asking for help one day and she rushed out quickly to see what I needed, so I don’t think it is going to be too much of a problem.
Once the house is built she should be able to transfer from it straight to the dungeon as well. The house has begun to make quite a bit of progress, Belinda still won’t let me place the imitation crystal yet just in case something happens and they end up finding it.
Once Roxy acquired enough commissions to rank up her ID. Belinda and the girls left Tobes heading towards the capital to rank up their adventurer IDs, and Belinda went along because she said she wanted to pick out some furniture and such for the house. I told her she could just use [Menu], but she said this would be less suspicious, and she can then pick out exactly what she wants.
I had nothing else to do so I let Lilah go with them, so I am stuck in the dungeon till they get back watching over it. I must be getting a bit rusty, either that or Lilah has already managed to surpass my ability at commanding the monsters…
One evening after the adventurers are all gone I head down to Tobes to find out at the receptionist of the adventurer’s guild there is a few beastkin women that just arrived in town that are looking specifically for me…
That’s not good… Belinda’s gone again and now strange women are looking for me. Maybe I should just hold up in the dungeon till Belinda gets back. I have learned enough by now that I decide that is my best course of action.
I tell the receptionist if she sees the beastkin again to tell them I am unavailable at the moment, let her know I won’t be around for a few days until Belinda returns.
Being in the dungeon for days on end, never bothered me before, but after a few days of being hold up in the dungeon I now feel confined… The important part is nothing has gone wrong, and Belinda will be back in a few more days I seem to finally been able to manage without screwing something up while she is gone.
My celebration however is short lived as three beastkin women enter the dungeon, two are well armored and armed, but the third barely looks older then Lilah, and she has no armor or weapons. The little one looks to be a squirrel or something similar her tail reminds me of Amy’s anyway. Her clothes are pretty ordinary, and she has long brown hair.
The next beastkin, is wearing a simple chainmail armor, carrying both sword and shield. She has short brownish red hair and appears to be a fox. The third and final beastkin is also wearing chainmail armor, with a simple sword and shield. I can’t tell what kind of beastkin she is however because she has small ears and not much of a tail. She too has long brown hair.
My stomach hits the floor, because as soon as they enter the cave they get down on their knees, lay down their weapons, bow, and say. “We have come to speak with the master of this dungeon, Dungeon Core #212”
I wait a few minutes but they don’t say anything else or even move still bowing down in the middle of the cave… This isn’t fair… Someone out there clearly hates me… Even after 5 more minutes pass the beastkin make no movements.
I decide to send in a kobold, the kobold moves up to them prodding them with a spear, but they still do not budge. Even when the spear’s prodding manages to draw blood on one of the beastkin they still remain unmoving…
I can’t just leave them there… The kobold drags their weapons away and I gather Bo, and Ike. Equipping them in their best gear I transfer down with them and we walk up to the beastkin. Rubbing my forehead I ask.
“You wanted to talk to me?”
Without moving the fox beastkin begins to speak.
Fox: “Our Queen, sent us with a message for you.
Dear Dungeon Core #212, I heard you had a preference for young and beautiful beastkin women, but I didn’t know how young or if you had a species preference so I sent these three. I hope you will accept them as a gift of good faith. You have already managed to establish yourself within the royal family of this kingdom, and I hear you are a promising dungeon in your own right, so I hope we can form a friendship, or at least a non-hostility agreement. If any of these three are not within your preference I am willing to send one to your liking.
Sincerely your neighbor Dungeon Core #307 [Queen].”
After relaying the message the beastkin return to silence… Queen… Belinda is going to kill me…
“You three, will you stand.”
The three beastkin get up off the floor and stand.
Fox: “Certainly. We have been instructed to do whatever you may ask of us.”
I start to wonder if these beastkin are even sentient, but I notice the little one is shaking despite trying to remain straight faced.
“You can relax…”
The little beastkin drops to the ground sitting on the floor, the other two remain standing but look around a bit. I decide to send a message directly to Queen.
“You know a message would have sufficed…”
Queen: “Ah, I was beginning to wonder if they even made it, they should of have arrived a few days ago. I hope at least one of them was to your liking?”
“You could have just asked me by message you didn’t have to send the beastkin.”
Queen: “I wanted you to know I was sincere in my request.”
“And what do you mean you were wondering if they even made it? Couldn’t you just ask them?”
Queen: “I heard you were very clever, so I decided it would be safest to unbind them from the dungeon just in case.”
I look at the three beastkin in front of me then ask. “…When is the last time you three have eaten?”
Fox: “We finished our provisions three days ago at the time we were expected to arrive at your dungeon.”
I sigh and quickly pull some food from the dungeon’s storage. Nobody eats anymore, and we don’t hold captives anymore so the pickings are pretty slim, but I manage to get a little together for the three and hand it to them.
“You can eat that. If you are not bound to Queen’s dungeon why did you even bothering coming here to begin with?”
Fox: “This task was the very reason our Queen gave us life, to not at least see it though…”
“Alright. Just eat for now.”
I then return to messaging Queen. “I don’t mind to agreeing to at least the non-hostility agreement for now, but what am I to do with these girls?”
Queen: “Whatever you want, they are my gift to you.”
“You unbound them from your dungeon, I can’t even transfer them to my dungeon.”
Queen: “They are only level 1 you should be able to make them boss monsters for 1000xp each that would do the trick, but if are willing to meet, and sign the non-hostility agreement I am willing to provide a beastkin of your choosing that you can transfer ownership of if you like.”
“I am unable to leave here for a week or so, but after that we can meet. The beastkin however we can decide on later.”
Queen: “Perfect, I look forward to hearing from you in a week to set up a time and place to meet face to face.”
Now the question is what do I do with these three? I have enough xp to make them all boss monsters binding them to the dungeon, but I don’t want to do that without Belinda. They know about me and the dungeon, without them being bound to the dungeon I can’t be certain they will keep it a secret.
They are only level 1 so they won’t give me much for xp I guess I can put them in the girl’s rooms until they get back… No to be safe I will just summon a few cots and they can use the left over space. It may be a little cramped, but nobody can possibly get mad at me that way…
“Girls… Until I figure out what I am going to do with you I am going to move you to a different area, it may be a little cramped but I will make sure you get food.”
Fox: “As you wish, our purpose in life is to serve you.”
With their permission I am able to transfer them to one of the empty spaces, after placing Belinda’s old cot and summoning two more, there is enough room for me to add a small table and a few chairs.
“This should work. Let me go ahead and take your gear I will store it for now.”
The older two begin to remove their armor, and the little one begins to remove her clothes.
“Wait wait. Just the armor is fine.”
I wait for them to remove their armor and I then store it in the dungeon inventory.
“I am going to have to wait till I am sure no more intruders are going to enter the dungeon for the day, but I will then head down to town and pick you guys some more food, is there anything else you need?”
Fox: “We should be able to get by on that for now.”
I then transfer to the core room… I try to think of a way to tell Belinda…
“Belinda… I have some bad news, but I promise it is not my fault this time…”
Belinda: “What happened this time?”
“I told you Queen took over Leona Ruins. Well she wants to meet and form a non-hostility agreement between us, which is fine, but she sent me a gift…”
Belinda: “I don’t like where this is going… What did she send you?”
“She was under the impression that 3 beastkin women was an acceptable gift…”
Belinda: “Two-Twelve… Please tell me you didn’t accept them?”
“There was no turning them down. She unbound them from her dungeon before sending them here, and only gave them enough provisions to make it here.”
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Belinda: “Where are they now?”
“Well they knew about me being a dungeon core so I couldn’t send them into Tobes. I could bind them to the dungeon as boss monsters, but I didn’t want to make that decision without you. For now I just put them in one of the spare areas between Lilah and your rooms till you get back…”
Belinda: “Two weeks Two-Twelve… Just two weeks without trouble that’s all I asked for…”
“It wasn’t my fault this time though…”
Belinda: “We will deal with it when I get back…”
I finish out the day in the dungeon, and once evening begins to roll around I head down the mountain to pick up some food for the beastkin girls. My luck seems to be getting worse however because after gathering the food I hear a voice from behind me.
Denova: “Hey now there is someone I haven’t seen in a while.”
“I was just heading home…”
Denova: “You haven’t stopped by in a while, I didn’t really mind because I was making so much more off your friend then I ever did you but, now she doesn’t come by either.”
“I know you had to make a huge profit off of the kobold, so you can’t sit there and tell me you are regretting your deal.”
Denova: “Oh you are right about that, but I heard that you had another shipment of beastkin come in. I know you aren’t getting them from Edward now, so where are you getting them?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Denova: “I heard all about it. They were sent from Queen to take care of you. Obviously it’s not The Queen, so who is Queen?”
“You’re misunderstanding the situation. Like usual.”
Denova: “You do know I am going to just keep digging till I find out the truth.”
“Be my guest, I got nothing to hide, and you just have an overactive imagination…”
It is pretty late before I manage to escape from Denova and work my way back up to the dungeon, I send Queen a message letting her know that she might want to be more careful in the future because the way the beastkin were talking her name is now associated with the slave trade…
The next few days pass, I try to stick to the dungeon only leaving when I need to acquire more food for the girls, I have tried to keep minimal contact with them, that way if we turn them loose they don’t know as little as possible about the dungeon.
Belinda messages me one morning saying they have made it back to Tobes, but they have stuff to take care of in town so it won’t be till late afternoon before they can make it home. I ask her if she could at least send Lilah home, but she tells me no, because she needs her….
Knowing they have made it back but unable to see them makes the day seem to drag on. Even the group of adventurers in the dungeon seems to be moving in slow motion… Eventually though as the sun begins to set I see the group heading up the mountain.
However only Belinda and Lilah are heading up the mountain, Zoey and Scylla are nowhere to be seen. Once they arrive they transfer to the core room. Belinda and Lilah both look exhausted and not even a few seconds after arriving Lilah says.
Lilah: “Master we are home! If it is ok can Lilah go to bed now?”
After I nod she gives me a weak hug then transfers from the room. Belinda doesn’t say a word and just pulls her boots off then crawls onto the bed and curls up on top of the blankets.
“Rough day?”
Belinda: “We traveled half the night so we could arrive in Tobes first thing in the morning, and after getting here we had to move… We were busy all day. Everything else can wait till morning for now I just want to sleep…”
I decide to go to bed as well, but after getting ready for bed when I crawl into it I notice Belinda is already sound asleep. I cover her in a blanket then after a while I drift off to sleep myself.
At some point in the night Belinda must of woke up, because when I wake up the next morning she is still asleep but she is now under the blankets holding onto me. I lightly brush the hair from in front of her face, and she opens her eyes.
She then smiles and leans in kissing me, she then rolls over and sits up on the bed and stretches.
Belinda: “It’s the little things about being a dungeon monster that I notice the most… After yesterday I should be sore all over, but I feel great.”
“Well I am glad I can be of help.”
Belinda laughs then says. “Well I guess we need to decide what to do with your guests…”
She then moves over to the desk and pulls out the screen from behind it.
Belinda: “They are pretty cute… But is that really what other dungeon cores think of you? One of them doesn’t even look much older than Lilah…What are their names?”
I get out of bed and pull on my shirt then move over to Belinda. “I don’t know, I tried to have as little contact with them as possible, because I didn’t know what we were going to do with them.”
Belinda: “You can’t bind them to the dungeon like you did Lilah?”
“Apparently that only works if they are still bound to another dungeon. I could make them boss monsters, and that would bind them to the dungeon.”
Belinda: “You could make sure they don’t talk about the dungeon then right?”
“Right.”
Belinda: “Is there any disadvantages? I mean can you only have a limited amount of boss monsters?”
“As far as I know as long as I spend the xp, and they agree to it I can have as many boss monsters as I want. They just can’t be monsters I have summoned.”
Belinda: “Even if you make them boss monsters they aren’t required to stay here right? I mean they could go where ever they wanted without a problem right?”
“I think so, it might be a problem if they enter another dungeon or something, but shy of that I don’t think there is a problem. I could even make them boss monsters use an ultimate command to not say anything about the dungeon then unbind them from the dungeon.”
Belinda: “If they aren’t bound to the dungeon anymore won’t that stop the command?”
“Well I think Cassandra is still bound to her dungeon, but even though Lilah is bound to ours, she still can’t go against the command she was given from before, and I asked her once what would happen if I used a command to make her say, but that scared her pretty bad, so it can’t be good.”
Belinda: “And it’s not going to put us in a bind if you make them boss monsters?”
“Well I was going to use that xp to put rifts in that one remaining empty room, but I was going to wait till the imitation crystal was set to make sure there were not any unexpected costs.”
Belinda: “Ok, once you make them boss monsters you should also be able to summon normal beastkin as well right?”
“Well you changed races, so that could have had something to do with it, but it worked that way for Lilah.”
Belinda: “Well if you are sure it’s not going to put us in a bind with xp, I guess it’s the only way to be sure…”
When Belinda and I transfer to their room they quickly stand and line up next to each other.
Belinda: “Hi, I am Two-Twelve’s boss monster. You can call me Belinda, Two-Twelve told me he hasn’t asked your names yet.”
Fox: “Our Queen named me Heart, She is Diamond.” –She says motioning to the other full grown beastkin.- “And this is Clover.” –She then motions to the little one.-
“Well we have come to a decision regarding what to do with you three. If you three are fine with it I am prepared to accept you in my dungeon as boss monsters.”
Fox: “Our Queen instructed us to follow your every command, so if that is your wish we accept.”
Belinda: “Two-Twelve hold on a second…” –She moves forward to stand in front of them. - “I want to know what it is you three want, not what Queen wants, but you yourself.”
Fox: “The very purpose Our Queen gave us life was to be presented to Two-Twelve as a gift, now that we have we are to serve his every desire.”
Belinda: “Two-Twelve… Are you sure they are even sentient? They can talk, but they act just like Bo and Ike…”
“Well that should be proof enough, not to mention the little one was scarred when they first arrived, if they weren’t sentient they would be able to be afraid.”
Fox: “We are indeed sentient… Our Queen however commanded us to follow Dungeon Core #212’s every order unless the order causes harm to Our Queen or her dungeon.”
Belinda: “That is horrible…”
“I don’t understand? Why?”
Belinda: “They are sentient, but Queen used her command to force them into doing whatever they are told, that’s worse than being a slave…”
“But doesn’t that work out for us?”
Belinda: “How can you say that?”
“If I tell them not to say anything about the dungeon to anyone they would have to comply to follow Queen’s ultimate command, and I don’t even have to spend the xp to have them join the dungeon.”
Belinda: “But how could they live like this?”
“They were able to act normally in town before coming here without rising suspicion, and when I told them to relax when they first got here they seemed normal enough. I could probably tell them live normal lives, without revealing anything about Queen or my dungeons.”
Belinda: “Will that really work?”
“We can tell them to stick to Tobes for a while to make sure they are ok.”
Belinda: “But what about being able to summon normal beastkin?”
“Well about that… When I mentioned to Queen about these three not being bound to the dungeon, she told me if I agreed to sign the non-hostility agreement, I could have any beastkin of my own specifications that is still bound to her dungeon that way I can transfer it.”
Belinda: “That is just making another slave though…”
“I can tell her I don’t mind her using a command to not say anything about her dungeon, but nothing else and it should be ok.”
Belinda: “I am not convinced, but at least it’s another option. I guess we can try it then.”
Belinda gives each of the girls enough gold to get by for a while, and I give instructions to them. We watching them pretty closely for a few days and they seem to be getting by alright. The people of Tobes seem to get the impression that they are more slaves that have escaped from where ever I did and they came asking me for help.
In the end it helps both the girls fit in, and my backstory so we let it be. Belinda sets the girls up with adventurer IDs while secretly making a second copy so we can keep an eye on them. However none of them work on any commissions.
Heart seems to be taking care of Clover while working at the restaurant that Belinda had built in Tobes. Clover is attending the school Belinda set up. Belinda seems pretty proud of them two, but she is rather upset with Diamond after she went to work for Denova although she didn’t interfere.
I haven’t seen much of Scylla or Zoey since their return to the capital, Belinda keeps telling me they are working on a commission concerning the house. I however find it pretty surprising they haven’t resumed their dungeon tours yet. When visiting the adventurer’s guild I have heard several people even ask about it.
I haven’t been able to check on the construction of the house, it should be pretty close to being complete from what I can tell from the outside, but Belinda won’t let me near it since they returned.
I checked with Madam Erin asking if it was a good idea before making my decision, but after things settled down I contacted Queen, and we set our meeting to take place in the capital.
Lilah seems pretty excited to be trusted to run the dungeon while I am gone, but I am still pretty nervous. Belinda debated on going with me to the capital, but Scylla reassured her saying she will keep an eye on things Belinda decided to be my guide.
I managed to convince Belinda to accepting Queen’s proposal for a beastkin, but she only agreed if she got to choose all the specifications. I told her it was fine, and that it could even be male, but she shot down that idea saying that if she takes it adventuring with her a female would be better.
Belinda told the girls if everything runs smoothly while we are gone, we might stay in a capital for a few extra days, as there are a lot of things she wants to show me. As we are making the final preparations before setting out Scylla says the house should be complete by the time we return.
Belinda and Scylla then begin whispering back and forth before Belinda seems satisfied. Lilah gives us both a big hug,
Scylla: “Be careful Master. We have anything under control here so enjoy yourself a bit.”
Zoey: “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do Boss!”
Lilah: “Lilah will make Master proud you’ll see!”
Even Roxy is there to see us off, Belinda gives them all one more hug before we set out towards the Gowen Capital. After the first day of travel as we are preparing to rest for the night I come to the realization this is the first time since my training that I will be sleeping outside of my dungeon…
I don’t know how far it is away when I go to the meetings with the elders, but with that small exception this is the furthest I have ever been away from my dungeon. I open [Menu] but we have already traveled to far away to be able to do much in it.
Belinda kisses my cheek and rubs my back saying. “It will be ok I promise. Now come on lets go to bed.”
The trip should have taken 6 days, but we manage to make it to Gowen Capital in 5. Amy meets us at the front gate when we arrive.
Amy: “You really came…”
Belinda: “Of course he came, I told you he would.”
Amy: “Everything should be ready, Logan seems especially excited.”
Belinda quickly rushes forward and starts whispering to Amy.
Amy: “I see…Boy are you in for a surprise.”
Belinda: “Amy!”
“…”
Belinda: “Did you prepare the inn like I asked you too?”
Amy: “Logan wouldn’t let me, he heard you were here a few weeks ago and didn’t stop by for a visit so he forbade me from setting up the inn.”
Belinda: “But I promised him!”
Amy: “I think he is more interested in Two-Twelve.”
Belinda: “He can wait like the rest of them…”
I feel Belinda is planning a lot for us here other than just the meeting with Queen, and a little sightseeing… Belinda leads us to a rather nice inn and gets us a room. After storing our gear at the inn Belinda, Amy and I head to their favorite restaurant.
They both order something but I decline. After a while of their chatting a well-dressed man approaches the table and startles the girls.
Man: “You know little sister, you’re nothing if not a little predictable...”
Belinda: “Logan! How did you know?”
Logan: “As soon as Amy left the castle I knew you had arrived, and I knew you would eventually wind up here. So that must mean this here is the man that took my innocent little sister from me?”
Belinda: “Logan!”
I stand and greet him. “I am called Two-Twelve it’s nice to meet you.”
Logan: “Two-Twelve? That’s not going to go over too well.”
Belinda: “It’s nobody’s business but mine, and you can tell them I said that!”
Logan: “Well you better come up with a better excuse then that before you meet with father. He was pretty mad when he heard about the gold you spent when you were here a few weeks ago.”
Belinda’s face pales as she says. “He heard about it?”
Logan: “You think Mindy was going to let that chance slip past once it crossed her desk?”
Belinda: “I should have known…”
Logan: “Don’t feel too bad they are pretty mad at me at the moment as well, but you’ll have to wait till the party to hear about it. I got a surprise as well.”
Belinda quickly looks to Amy.
Amy: “Don’t look at me I am sworn to secrecy…”
Logan: “Well it looks like you girls still have a ways to go with your meals, and Two-Twelve here is already done, so mind if I borrow him a bit?”
Belinda: “What are you planning on doing?”
Logan: “Don’t you think I have the right to get to know my future brother-in-law a little better?”
Belinda blushes bright red and quickly says. “It’s not like that! Quit jumping to conclusions!”
Logan: “With the amount of gold you spent on your little love pad. For your sake you better hope so. Now come on Two-Twelve let’s go get a drink together, and get to know each other a little.”
I look to Belinda who is still blushing quite a bit, but she nods as I am dragged off by Logan…