Lena watched the progress of the [Paladin of Knowledge, Level ???] as he traipsed down the hall without concern.

She was beginning to regret spending all that energy on the signs.

Signs that said ‘Do Not Enter!’, ‘Trespassers will be prosecuted!’, and ‘Beware of dogs.’, didn’t really do much when there were no prosecutors or dogs to enforce them.

Even worse, Lena didn’t even think he spoke the same language!

The man opened a door and frowned when it outright fell off its hinges. Lena mentally sighed, not having the capabilities to do so physically. On top of all the cleaning and refurbishing, she would have to rebuild what was already there. At the rate this was going, Lena was going to end up rebuilding her entire house before she ever got the option to pretty up the place.

And it was a pretty big house.

It was lucky she had all the time in the world to do it.

The man opened another door, this one much more solid in its connection to the wall. It better be, Lena had already replaced this one.

Unfortunately, that meant he had entered the one room Lena had finished. Her core room. See, Lena was assigned the role of a Dungeon, in this case meaning she got all the problems of an HOA with none of the opposable thumbs that usually came with such a problem. The only thumbs in sight belonged solely to the [Paladin] that the System kept insisting was a highly dangerous intruder.

To be fair, he had greater control of her doors than she did, and, if she was understanding correctly, those doors were a part of her.

Ugh… she really didn’t like that idea. It kind of made her feel a bit violated to have a guy she didn’t know rooting through her halls, which, she supposed, was exactly what the System seemed to want from her.

But back to the issue at hand, or rather, the Paladin of Knowledge at her table.

Lena had styled her ‘core room’ after a witch’s hovel, with a purple pillow— which she had made by using the existing carpet material, and then changing its color and shape with an embarrassing amount of System assistance— on a pre-existing table, in the center of the room, all topped with a mimicry of her core. It was meant to emulate the idea of a crystal ball used for fortune telling, but now that someone was actually there to see it, she was wondering if it was the right decision.

“Hello, curious core.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Lena was caught off-guard. The man did know her language. Unfortunately, that also meant that he had simply ignored the signs, but you win some and you lose some.

He took a seat at the table, across from a fair lady in flowing velvet robes.

“What brings you here this fine evening?” Lena’s only monster asked with a sense of mysticism. Lena winced, it was really embarrassing, and she could practically feel the paladin’s judgment. “Are you looking to have your future read?” Of course, Lena could also tell just how hard Vanka, the siren, was trying, so she couldn’t exactly tell her she didn’t like it.

“I am.” Thankfully, the paladin was willing to play along with the performance.

Lena hoped she could repay him for entertaining Vanka’s acting.

“Of course. Please, tell me your name and what you would like to know.”

“Peregrine, and I'm currently on a research trip. I would like to know if I will be successful in my endeavors.”

Vanka nodded and studied the false core. Lena conveyed her thoughts to her, citing Peregrine’s clear confidence as a mark of his likelihood of success. See, she didn't actually have the ability to read the future. The idea was that they could use body language to puzzle out the answer a person wanted to hear.

While Vanka stalled for time, her passive ability to influence minds would begin to take root. That was the idea at least.

“I believe you will be successful,” Vanka said after a minute of conference with the core.

“Hmm. Did the core tell you that?” Peregrine tipped his head curiously before turning to stare directly at the spot in the wall where Lena’s core hid.

Regardless of its impossibility, Lena could swear she shivered under the intensity of that knowing look.

Peregrine got to his feet and stepped confidently toward the wall.

“Stop.” Vanka commanded nervously. Lena felt that the siren put the entirety of her influence into her voice.

This meant she could never blame Vanka for not trying hard enough. Only herself for not giving Vanka the power she needed.

Peregrine waved his hand and the wall opened before him, revealing the unguarded golden core that was Lena herself.

Vanka shrieked and threw herself toward the man, but with another wave of his hand, she disintegrated.

Lena’s focused attention froze over the spot where her first creation had ceased to be on a whim.

“Relax, I can tell you’re afraid, but I genuinely wish you no harm. Additionally, you shouldn’t worry. The siren should re-spawn soon.”

Lena hurriedly scanned the System notifications and saw that he was right. Because Vanka had been the only monster on the floor, she had been designated as the de facto ‘boss’ meaning that she would eventually re-spawn even if she was killed.

Lena relaxed considerably at this revelation.

Would have been better to know that beforehand, but it was still preferable over mourning her first friend in this unfamiliar world.

“While we wait on her, I’ll start explaining to you why I am here. In full. It is a lengthy explanation, but we have time. Captive audiences, and all that…”

Lena hoped the other [Extraplanar Reincarnators] were having a less stressful time than she was.