"I'm not sure about this, Mary."

"Nonsense, Helen. That female priest recommended this place personally. She said it wasn't as it sounded."

"You mean a brothel? Because it sure does sound like a brothel. The Pleasure Palace? Seriously, Mary?"

"Just a quickie, Helen. I mean... A quick peek. Just a quick peel. If it's what you think it is we can leave straight away. I don't think that nice lady would have recommended the things your mind is imagining."

"Hey. I have some nice thoughts too. There are some dashing men around recently though. Enough to get the blood pumping at least."

"Helen! And you were the one who didn't want to come."

"Purely based on the fact that I shouldn't have to pay for that sort of thing."

The two women arrive at the Pleasure Palace. Upon entry, they are greeted by a dashing young man.

"Hello, ladies. My name is Darwin. Please, follow me." Darwin enters the establishment and both women follow him without so much as a word. Entering an open seated area, Darwin leads them to the circular couch and takes a seat.

"So then, ladies. How may we help you today? Are you here for conversation, companionship, or maybe something extra?"

"Can we just talk?" Helen is the first to speak and Darwin smiles at her.

"Absolutely. Sometimes all we need to take pleasure in the world is to unburden ourselves from the day's troubles and the strain on life becomes easier to bear when shared with others."

"Huh?" is the only sound Helen could muster. Mary had a smug look as she knew the Priest wouldn't steer them wrong.

"What's the difference between companionship and something extra?"

"Mary!" Helen goes red at her friend's provocative suggestion.

"What? Oh. That's just your mind, Helen. Get it out of the gutter."

"Something else is whatever you desire to find pleasure in life. A foot massage, someone to read to you, a person to hold you whilst you sleep - and of course, everything inside the dark place your friend's mind seems to be." Darwin chuckles at his joke soliciting a frown from Helen.

"I'm not that bad, am I?" She asks her friend seriously.

"Well... You always seem to think everything's about... You know."

"I'm sorry, Mary. You were right. This place is not what I thought it was going to be. So... Darwin, wasn't it?"

"Yes, mam." The gorgeous young man smiles at Helen causing her heart to flutter and skip a beat twice in the same day.

"I-I would like to have a conversation with someone," she announces shyly.

"Absolutely. Are there any guidelines to that or are you happy with anyone?"

"What type of guidelines would there be?"

"Someone you know, someone you don't know, a male, female, child, older person, someone created by the dungeon, someone you've had a brief encounter with, the Guild Master. If there's a stipulation, we'll try our best to fulfil it," he smiles, constantly sifting through his list. Helen didn't know there would be so many different types of people she could talk to, but someone created by a dungeon? That didn't sound right.

Still, the woman attending the academy had heard rumours during her lectures and was curious to see if they held any truth. Helen chose a conversation with a dungeon summon while Mary also chose to have a conversation. It seems Mary already had a plan for who she wanted to speak with and chose a male her age almost immediately.

Wiley fox, Helen thought, and she calls me the naughty one.

The women were led to separate booths and were assured sound magic prevented any noise from escaping. Mary was then left alone while Darwin remained in Helen's booth.

"I thought I would get to speak to a dungeon summon, or something like that? Why aren't you leaving?" Feeling slightly giddy, Helen asks the question she thinks she knows the answer. No one can be that good-looking, right? Chiseled abs, perfect jawline, silky-smooth hair.

"Because the dungeon summoned me, Helen," Darwin announces as mysteriously as possible.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"It's a good job these booths are soundproof then," she smiles, approaching the suddenly shaken Darwin.

"W-Wait, Wait," he begs.

"What!" she stops just before him.

"This is the wrong room. There's no bed!"

Helen and Mary

Dungeon Stories Volume 4

----------------------------------------

After leaving Lord Aldor in Clara's capable hands, I left his Manor and headed to Ishda's noble district. I'm not fond of places like these. I like the buildings and architecture - or what's left of it at least, it's the people that live inside that I generally tend to dislike.

Nobles are usually a haughty bunch that prides themselves on being better than those below them. Now and then you might find a decent one, mind you. A noble who uses their wealth and authority to help those in need, but they are few and far between.

Even as we make our way through what's left of this particular section of Ishda, the remaining nobles I see are all at least orange on Soul Guide's radar. Even if they didn't participate in the coup, the kidnapping, or the embezzlement, they're still on the wrong end of justice. There's a lot of work to do here, much more than I had originally thought in the Lord's Manor.

Purchasing the entire noble quarter, I do what this dungeon does best and make shit disappear. In the space of sixty seconds, months of removal work is completed as I empty plots and remove broken buildings by absorbing everything Noir had broken. Every brick, fence, and piece of furniture sink into the ground, freeing up space for new constructions and uncluttering the rubble-strewn district.

There are some worried and anxious expressions, but life's changing whether they like it or not. The orange-souled nobles will soon be visiting Varona for reformation anyway so their opinions fall on deaf ears and I begin creating building after building.

This time though, seeing as how we aren't in Varona and are in fact in a nice district, I decide to show off a little. Instead of creating the usual Unburglable Bungalows, I take it up a notch and make the Vampires a proper mansion. If I want them to run this place and have the other nobles fall in line, they need to at least look the part. That includes a sweet crib to go with their dazzling looks.

Best case scenario they manage to start the reformation process before I get around to this place.

That would be nice.

Or maybe I could just make some more space in my dungeon for them? If I did that, however, I'd need to use more of my family to watch over them and I'd have to feed both of them from Varona's supplies. No, I've got a good thing going at the minute. Once I've gathered all of Ishda under my skirt, then we'll see if reformation needs expanding.

With work finished it's time for a little sightseeing. Still purchasing land as we make our way around, it's gotten to the point where it's become less like work and more of a habit. More so since I can't travel anywhere that I haven't personally bought.

Fortunately, the rest of my family don't have the same encumbering problems that plague me and can go wherever they like. More often than not, I'm stopped by the boundaries that make up my domain and have to fork out DP before going any further.

As we make our way through Ishda - looking like the most bizarre adventuring party anyone is likely to come across, we're given warm smiles and people graciously make way for Bear as Violet rides him down the street. Again, this wouldn't be the normal reaction that people have when seeing a little girl riding an animal three times her size. Fortunately, the triplets pump out the same peaceful aura that every other Dragon does automatically regardless of where they are. This means that no matter where we go, no one will question the odd child on the bear.

I treat the triplets to dinner whilst we're walking around to let them experience something different for a change. We have to sit outside the establishment, however, as Bear wouldn't fit through the door. Once we finished, I was left wanting. Our meals were extremely nice, but it felt like something was missing. Maybe Ali's adding a little extra love to her Dishes. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for home cooking.

Either way, I'm not satisfied and by the look on Amber's face, neither is she. Returning home we have a second meal at Ali's, the Chef's food hitting the spot perfectly, before retiring for the evening. It's the triplets day off from fighting in the Coliseum. Ringmaster Randy mentioned that other people have started to fall behind because I'm prioritizing the triplets above all else. Because of that, we decided to arrange for them to have set training days like everyone else.

They're already much stronger than they were and to be honest, I'm grateful Randy suggested they train less. It won't be long before my cute little triplets are ready to join Rebecca in the ranks of Rebellion Dragons. That thought alone makes me extremely sad. No matter what I say to Becca she always takes my words the wrong way. Maybe I should push the Rebellion Dragon's training schedule so we can rush them through that phase as quickly as possible. My only concern on that front is that I could possibly end up with something worse than a rebellion on my hands.

What if she turns into the Dragon of Imminent Death or some stupid shit like that? I wouldn't put it past this awkward strand of evolution, but I'm hoping that Sis will pull through with something amazing. Hoping is the operative word in that sentence. I'm actually begging. I just want Becca to like me. What's so wrong with that?

Shaking off thoughts of the future - we all know who that's left to by now, I bring the triplets to the tower with me whilst I practice my Creation magic.

Creation itself isn't technically magic, but it damn well might as well be because nothing else I've ever seen or used comes close to its power. As the girls watch, fabric and material form into existence. Knitting, sewing, and stitching themselves together, they form different beings as I create a mass horde of stuffed animals. Cute and cuddly beyond belief, Blondie squeals in excitement as the stuffed animals float toward the girls' futons.

Before hers have even arrived, Blondie has begun plucking them out of the air one by one. Death squeezing them like I once did so long ago - and also not so long ago at the same time as I wake up every morning with at least four cuddlies in my arms.

They help me sleep, what else can I say? Plus, they're just so adorable. Evident by the fact that Bear is enamoured by the miniature, stuffed version of himself. Violet doesn't seem bothered by the space invaders on her futon, but as long as Bear is happy she's never unhappy.

Amber is the happiest of my three little Dragons though by far, I've done something special for her. I had a clever idea when I was creating her cuddlies and made each one resemble food of different varieties. Seeing as the first one went straight in her mouth before she spat it out though, that might have been a bad idea on my part.

Still, even though she can't eat them, Amber doesn't seem dissatisfied as she sucks on the top of a large, soft banana and peacefully falls asleep.

Yeah, I know.

At least it's not a chocolate you know what though.