“Can’t say I see any real downsides,” Charlie said. He sat at his dining room table with Galinda, Hans, and Olza on the night the campers returned to town. “If someone wants to live at the dungeon, who am I to tell them they shouldn’t?”

“There are more than the two you met,” Galinda said to Hans. “Many people have talked about moving up the mountain.”

“Really?” Charlie asked.

“Yes.”

“This is the first I’m hearing about it.”

Galinda patted Charlie on the back. “It wasn’t a secret, love. People say many things when they dream out loud. It didn’t seem important enough to share.”

“Oh it’s fine. I can see the appeal, I suppose.”

Olza scooped more mashed potatoes onto her plate. “Which parts are those?” Olza asked with conversational curiosity.

“It’s about as far from civilization as you could get,” Charlie said, looking up in thought. “Lots of folks here want that. Going up the mountain is just wanting it more.”

“Luther would like to move,” Galinda said.

“Really? Poor lad. He hasn’t seemed like himself.”

…Since he was beaten and nearly starved to death in Osare.

“It is pretty up there,” Olza added, “so it doesn’t have to be all about something sad, necessarily.”

“I like it,” Galinda said.

Charlie nodded. “It is nice. I’m glad we’re debating something like this. I pictured a very different spring for us.”

Hans agreed. “We’ve been very fortunate.”

“Hear, hear,” Charlie said. “We’ll certainly have new problems to solve, but that’s not today.” After they raised their glasses and took a drink, Charlie continued. “I don’t mean to put salt in your wounds or anything, Guild Master. I gotta ask: Can Devontes really win the orc war like that Diamond was saying?”

“Yes, I believe he could.”

“How does something like that work? One man does more than an army?”

“You know what else can do more than an army?” Hans asked. “Dragons, liches, demons. Power takes many different forms. It’s just rarer for that form to be human.”

Charlie scratched his neck. “And he’s stronger than Miss Mazo? I wouldn’t have believed what she could do if she hadn’t shown the whole town.”

Hans wobbled his head side to side. “Probably, but they’re at a level where measuring power isn’t straightforward. Devon is strong, but Mazo can be tactical if she needs to be. Power versus power though, Devon takes it.”

“Why not send Mazo or Devon right away?” Galinda asked.

“I don’t get invited to those meetings.” Everyone laughed with Hans. “Seriously, though. Platinums serve the King like any other subject, in theory. Nobody says this out loud, but Platinums are kind of nation-states in their own right. Power, money, cache–It’s an open secret that someone like Devon could carve out a chunk of the kingdom for themselves and there wouldn’t be a lot anyone could do to stop him.”

“Why don’t they?”

“Good question. Convenience, I guess. Running a kingdom is the kind of work adventurers avoid, so playing the hero and living in luxury is the simpler way to go. The Guild also controls Diamond promotions. They say they filter out the bad eggs, keep the nutjobs from going past Gold.”

“Sorry for botherin’ you so much about that boy,” Charlie said.

Hans waved him away. “It’s fine. The war affects Gomi, Devon affects the war… Makes sense to ask about it.”

Charlie refreshed his whisky. “Still. Watchin’ kids grow up is a strange thing, isn’t it? We ain’t raised no Platinums, but we’ve seen plenty of kids become adults.”

Galinda nodded.

“You want the best for them, so you think they should make certain choices,” Charlie continued. “They always end up going their own way though, and eventually that path is so far from yours… Well, it’s like a boat out to sea I guess. At a certain point, all you can do is wish them well.”

***

Hans sat at his desk in the guild hall after a kids’ class, scribbling frantically in his journal. When the children practiced diving rolls, he had an idea. He wasn’t sure why it came just then because it had nothing to do with children or diving or rolling.

He ran the Lemura’s Labyrinth once in his career. He now wished he paid more attention to how the economy around the dungeon operated. They could likely learn a lot from what that dungeon did organically, but he couldn’t think of a way to get that information to Gomi. Then it occurred to him that while he didn’t know how Kirai managed its dungeon, he did know how the Guild operated.

To the Guild, the whole world was one big dungeon in a way.

Gomi’s chapter of the Adventurers’ Guild had one employee: Hans. Nevermind that he wasn’t getting paid by the Guild at this point. More importantly, the Hoseki chapter had upward of forty full-time staff members between instructors, crafters, Healers, librarians, administrators, and merchants. The Guild kept adventurers healthy and equipped, but they also managed much of the loot for upper-ranked members. For a small fee, the Guild would sell a find on an adventurers’ behalf, and Hoseki needed a whole team of salespeople to keep up with the treasure their Diamonds and Platinums brought home on a regular basis.

On big hunts, the Guild often sent lower-ranked adventurers along as squires and harvesters. That was the only way to manage the volume of resources and items they collected while also keeping their best people fresh and battle-ready. Hans played one such role when the Guild went after the lich cabal. The upper ranked adventurers did the fighting. He followed behind to clean up and collect anything useful or saleable.

Gomi’s dungeon was that same scenario, except permanent. With the dungeon’s ability to make the town money, they certainly had the capital to hire more help. If enough people wanted to live at the dungeon indefinitely, the work would be consistent but punctuated with more downtime than a typical job. Thinking more about it, Hans found that he wanted that schedule for himself as well. It sounded pleasant.

Tandis had arrived at that conclusion far before he did, but the facts now had a logic to them that he could accept. He couldn't see the logic before.

Quentin came into the guild hall, worn from the trail down from the mountain. “We’re back from rotation. I can help with class tomorrow if you want.”

“Appreciate you checking in,” Hans said. “You can take a day off, you know.”

“I’ll rest. Also, umm…”

Hans’ stomach twisted like laundry on a storm-beaten clothesline. He braced for another crisis.

“Honronk moved into the foreman’s office. Terry thought you should know.”

The words made sense to Hans as individual units of language but not as an idea. He blinked dumbly as his brain fought to catch up. “Foreman’s office?” Hans asked.

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“Yes, the one in the mines,” Quentin answered. “He likes how quiet it is.”

“Honronk is living in the dungeon?”

“Yes.”

Hans sat back, thinking. He slept in the Gomi dungeon without incident several times, and resting mid-run was a common occurrence on long jobs in general. The iron elementals never reached that area of the mine in the dungeon or during his original visit all those years ago. Monsters from elsewhere in the dungeon could find their way to the foreman’s office, in theory, but with regular cullings, that was unlikely as well.

The potential danger to Honronk was relatively low, all things considered.

“Is he happy?” Hans asked.

“Umm…”

“I mean happy in Honronk’s way.”

“I’d say so,” Quentin said.

Oh. That’s not so bad. Phew.

“Huh. The dungeon doesn’t reabsorb his changes?”

“Oh! That’s the interesting part. We furnished the surface dorm with beds from the mine. The beds grew back with the rest of the monsters.”

That was interesting, indeed. “That’s odd,” Hans said, “but works in our favor it sounds like. Maybe Honronk will learn more living there. More importantly, how are you? How are the runs?”

“They’re going well. We’re definitely improving.”

“You and Kane are almost ready for your own party,” Hans said. “I don’t think you really need Bel and Lee for anything but the minotaur room at this point. And the iron elementals, but you know what I mean.”

“We would like that. Who would be the third member of our party, though?”

“Gunther.” Hans held a straight face for as long as he could but broke quickly. “We need another wave of Apprentices. More hands would let Bel and Lee do more of their own training too.”

“They’ve been really good to us. I’m glad they came to Gomi.”

“Yeah, me too,” Hans replied. “Actually, would you be open to teaching classes here on a regular schedule? When you’re not at the dungeon I mean.”

“What do you need me to do?” Quentin asked.

“I want to teach as many of the classes myself as I can, but I need to spend more time with the Apprentices at the dungeon too. Any thoughts on who else might be a good fit for covering class?”

Quentin thought. “Yotuli and Terry would both enjoy it, I think. Kids ask them questions all the time, and they don’t seem to mind.”

“Appreciate the insight,” Hans said. “Thank you.”

Bidding farewell, Quentin left the guild hall. Hans followed shortly after, setting out for the Tribe lands.

***

“Afternoon, Guild Master,” Luther said. “Come on in.”

The tusk’s health had improved substantially from when Hans saw him last. His color had returned completely, and his gaunt features had softened. He was still more slender than he was before his trip to Osare, but he improved.

“How can I help?” Luther asked.

“We have a few people who want to move up the mountain and make their homes there,” Hans answered. “I heard you were interested too.”

“Are you saying it’s a real option?”

“Appears that way. Wasn’t something we planned for, though, so I’m still figuring out how all of it would work.”

Luther nodded. “Is a bit strange when you think about it, living by a dungeon and such, but the isolation is appealing. I’m not sure I could make the move, though.”

“Why’s that?”

“Galad needs my help here. I don’t want to abandon my brothers and sisters.”

Hans agreed that talking to Galad should be part of the process. If they assumed Galad would support Luther’s move–and Hans fully expected that to be the case–would Luther want to do it?

“Can I be helpful up the mountain?”

“Absolutely. The dungeon is growing, and we need more help harvesting each run. People look up to you and respect your leadership. I know I do, so having you there would be good for morale also.”

Luther cocked his head. “Really?”

“We haven’t known each other for long, but from the day I met you, I’ve only ever seen you put Gomi’s needs ahead of your own. No hesitation. No reluctance. If someone needs help, you’re one of the first people to put on their boots.”

The tusk looked out the window, thinking and likely a little embarrassed by the praise.

“I take that back,” Hans said. “I heard about a fist fight between you and Galad, so maybe you’re not always putting others first.”

Luther laughed. “You heard about that? Only happened the one time, and we were both being childish… I won though.”

“Of course. That was my assumption from the start.”

The tusk chuckled again. “Okay, so if Galad okays it, what would this look like?”

When Hans shared that one husband and wife pair was already training for the job, Luther said talking with them was what gave him the idea to move. He also knew that they planned to build their own cabin, and he liked that idea for himself as well. Luther already assumed he would build his own if he made the move, and he looked forward to the project.

Living arrangements aside, Hans explained what dungeon harvests would entail. Harvesters would follow the adventurers into the dungeon and collect usable materials from everything they killed. With its current regrowth rate, that would mean roughly two runs per week. Those runs would include gathering iron, collecting minotaur and camahueto horns, harvesting imp blood, harvesting geode gecko oil sacs, and catching zouts to be released into the wild.

“The zouts are a real thing?” Luther asked. “I thought that was just a weird joke.”

“Yes, they’re real. They’re a favor for Becky. Druid stuff.”

“I see.”

“The work will grow with the dungeon,” Hans continued. “With harvesters supporting the adventurers, we can expand the dungeon more often. Each expansion will have at least one harvestable resource.”

Luther said all of that sounded reasonable to him. “When do I start?”

“The dorms should be finished by now, so the work crew will be working on the road next. If I were you, I’d bring the essentials and come back for the rest of your belongings when a wagon can make the trip.”

Quest Complete: Coordinate a plan for dungeon assistants living permanently at the dungeon.

As Hans readied himself to depart, Luther changed the subject. “Hans, you’ve seen some awful things, been through them too I imagine.”

“I’m more fortunate than most, but yeah, I’d say that’s accurate. Why?”

“How do you move on? I… I feel stuck, like Osare was yesterday.”

Hundreds of faces flipped through Hans’ memory when he heard Luther’s question. Adventurers, witnesses, victims–All people affected first hand by a tragedy of some sort. Their own memories haunted them, like a time loop that forced them to relive one horrific moment for the rest of their waking lives. The weight of that repetition hollowed out their humanity little by little.

“I can give you eight different strategies for clearing a troll nest,” Hans said, “but I wish the Guild taught us how to answer a question like that. Everyone handles it differently, I’ve found. Mazo separates the work from her personal life, a sort of professional distance where she thinks of herself as a tool with a job. The situation might be awful, but she isn’t there as a person. She’s there as a tool, and her objectives are listed in the job description.

“Gret, a Rogue I ran with for a while, tried to do as much good as he could. He still carried the pain with him, but he found comfort in knowing he did everything within his power to help. Then there was this dwarf I partied with who stayed busy during the day, putting on a good face, and then drowned himself in drink each night to get to sleep. Those late hours where there’s nothing else to distract you were hardest for him.”

“And you?” Luther asked.

“A little of each, I’d say. I need to be honest with you, though. I’m not good at it, so I don’t think I’m the right blueprint to follow. For me… I just carry it. Each day gets a little easier, and there are good times and bad times, but it’s never not there.”

***

The walk home from the Tribe farmlands felt longer than usual. He thought about all the times he delivered bad news to a family, explaining to a husband or a mother how their loved one died. He thought about collecting Gret’s ashes with a dustpan, the Disintegration spell reducing him to a few pinches of dust. He thought about attending Boden’s funeral after not hearing from the dwarf for years, listening to his partner explain that the dwarf warrior drank himself to death.

I get it, Boden.

***

Open Quests (Ordered from Old to New):

Progress from Gold-ranked to Diamond-ranked.

Mend the rift with Devon.

Using a pen name, complete the manuscript for "The Next Generation: A Teaching Methodology for Training Adventurers."

Expand the dungeon with resource-specific monsters for each of Gomi’s major trades.

Decide whether or not to pursue silent walking and snow walking.

Suggest growing mandrake elementals to the dungeon core.

Secure interior dungeon doors without trapping adventurers inside.

Find a way for Gomi adventurers to benefit from their rightful ranks in the Adventurers’ Guild.

Build a rest area in the dungeon to improve adventurer recovery.

Secure a way to use surplus dungeon inventory for good.