[https://i.imgur.com/xDEYv8R.jpg]

Lio and I wasted no time in going straight to the Garden Dungeon. Dalat had ordered two heavy crates full of braised Soaran meat with roasted vegetables, so Lio and I had to lug them inside. It was easily the heaviest delivery I ever had to carry on my back, but I managed to pull through.

We trudged straight through the city until we hit the outskirts by its city walls. Located there was the extensive plains where I had previously tried to learn magic with Lio. The fall leaves sprinkled across the grass much more abundantly than the last time I was here. There was no longer such striking greenness in the flora, but everything changed into a warmer orange or gold as the spring wheat sprung to life. Autumn was very much upon us, and the branches of the few trees present were growing more naked by the minute. It was a serene place to stroll about.

Lio and I walked deeper into the plains, passing by couples who snuggled with one another on the grass’ soft bed. We both averted our eyes and my master scratched his cheek. What got him so bashful?

The entrance to the dungeon was just beyond the tall foliage beyond the wild wheat deposit, and it wasn’t an ordinary dungeon entrance. There weren’t any giant structures to make its presence known, this dungeon only had a flight of stone stairs carved into the ground like a basement of sorts.

Once inside, my eyes exploded with all the visual candy all around me. Lavenders and pearl white gardenia flowers with a gold center scattered all around the floor and oozing their fragrant scents. I could help but pause and take a whiff of the place, then move onwards to the only thing that had been on my mind since leaving this place.

Dalat.

Dozens of parents and their children babbled on to one another, sitting on blankets that were laid out on the grassy floor. Chunky rabbits bounced around and failed to be menacing. Even a small child could beat these weak monsters, but no one minded to actually hunt them due to how harmless they were to humans despite their ferocity. Oh, but they were ferocious in their own special way.

“Charliette.” Lio tugged on my robe, and I stopped in my tracks as fast as I could.

“Huh?”

He just pointed down at my feet. Oh…

It was rabbit dung. I almost stepped right on rabbit waste that piled up here. Sure, they weren’t dangerous, but their waste could really give you a bad day. Always watch where you step!

“Thanks, Master.” I stepped right over it, ,then continue trudging forward.

“Yeah, of course…”

It was weird, since he hadn’t spoken a single word since departing. We had just been moving forward in silence. It was strange of us to not feel the need to chat at least once. But perhaps I was overthinking it.

We passed more couples cuddling close to one another on a picnic blanket covered in delicious food, and Lio turned his head.

I heard a slight groan come out of his mouth, then a sigh. “Charliette?”

Perhaps he was getting tired, his stamina wasn’t something to brag about. “Hm? What is it?” I whipped my body around to face him, and he was avoiding eye contact.

“There… sure are alot of people.”

“Yeah, I'm surprised too.”

“A lot of… couples…”

“It is a popular spot for lovers, after all.”

Lio coughed, but I felt like it was forced. He cleared his throat then grasped the leather straps of the crates tight enough that they began to wrinkle up. “Right…”

It didn’t really matter to me anymore that we keep a conversation going, because we were on the job. We needed to be professional, even if it was Dalat. Speaking of him, we turned around the corner of the luscious corridors and met face to face with him. He sat on a blanket on the ground like the rest of the people in this dungeon, and a small candle sitting in its center. He looked the same as he always had, red hair that was long enough to cover his ears and hazel eyes that stared back at Lio and I. Nothing changed, even after a month and a half of him being on some sort of hiatus.

“Hey, lovebirds.” Dalat waved to us and smiled.

“Lovebirds?” Me and Lio stared into one another’s eyes. I could see both of us were flustered, and Dalat chuckled like the annoying mage he was.

“You two are much closer than when I last saw you guys. Both of you stick together like glue, that much I could tell.” He stood up to greet us, and we set down the food as a response.

“You’re gone for well over a month without a trace, and the first thing you do is assume our friendship? That’s bold,” Lio said as he stretched out his back. He clutched his white magic staff in his hands, which was originally dangling from an extra strap on the crate beforehand.

“Well, what can I say? I’ve been busy.”

“Busy with what?” I lifted my eyebrow in perplexity. What was he up to this time, that he didn’t even bother to tell us he’d be gone?

“That’s a secret. Can’t tell you everything, can I?”

“I’m sure you could.” I flipped my hair and folded my arms. He was definitely pushing my buttons. I never remembered him loving to be so mysterious. All I could recall was him complaining about the food.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Nuh uh. Nope!” Dalat brushed me off without any hesitation. I guess he just didn’t want to share at all. It was unfortunate, but I didn’t want to pry. He was a customer, after all.

“Whatever, then. Here’s the food you asked for, though.” I pushed the crates further towards him. Technically the job had been completed at this point, so I was getting ready to leave when Dalat pantomimed a gesture for me to stay. Geez, he was like a toddler. He should use his words rather than swing his arms around like a maniac.

Lio and I sat down on the blanket parallel to him, and he just glared at me with an uneasy steadiness. His lack of blinking was disturbing.

“So what do you want now?”

“I ordered this food for us to eat together.”

“We’re really busy right now, so we can’t do that,” Lio chimed in, but Dalat whipped his head around.

“This is between Charliette and I. I’d appreciate your silence, Fireman.”

“What’s her business is my business, too. So I can’t shut up.”

“Pfft! Fire Mages are always so stubborn!” Dalat threw himself to the ground, laying flat on the floor as he stared up at the dungeon’s ceiling.

I take back what I said before, Dalat changed. He was normally a goofball who complained all the time about everything. But he was much more aggressive now. Him lashing out on Lio like that make me realize that. It made me more curious to know what exactly he was up to.

“So what else do you need? Like Lio said, we’re pretty busy, so I can’t stay for too long.”

Dalat swept his limbs across the floor like he was making snow angels, but abruptly stopped as I said those words. He jumped up into a sitting position. His face grew stoic, staring right back at me with intensity I couldn’t even bear to describe. “I know you took that cat from the Treasure Dungeon.”

“How? Did Fiar or Kueler tell you?”

“Nah, I haven’t talked to any of them yet. I just know, from a credible source.”

Well, that credible source was definitely accurate, to say the least.

“What about it?” I fired right back.

He pointed out a finger, inching closer and pressing it right against my chest. “Hand over the cat. I need it.”

I couldn’t wrap my head around why he’d need the cat. I guess he caught onto my mindset, since I was probably giving him a nasty look.

My ears muted out the giggling of children right behind us, the laughing of parents, and even my own loud breaths. I was so confused, trying to grasp onto the semblance of logic that Dalat had. He was way too mysterious now for my liking.

I shook my head. I just didn’t see a reason to hand over the cat, especially since I already planned on keeping it. That cat also was super attached to me, so I didn’t have the guts to send it off.

“You don’t understand what that thing is. It’s a dungeon master. I’m sure you’ve seen its power, right? To control beings and strip them of their free will so they’ll obey it unconditionally.”

“Why the hell do you want the damn cat so bad?” I just couldn’t take it anymore. I yelled at him, still not understanding a thing. The cat is a dungeon master? That couldn’t be true. Who’s to say it's not just another species of monsters in the treasure dungeon with that ability? Dungeon masters are tied to their dungeon, so it didn’t make sense for the cat to be one, since it practically begged me to take it with me.

“That cat should be returned to the dungeon where you found it.”

“Why would you care about that!”

“I can’t tell you—”

“Then forget it! I’m not giving you anything. That cat wanted to stay with me, so it's going to stay with me. That's final.”

I swore I could have seen a vein on Dalat’s forehead. He bit his lower lip in frustration and flexed his jaw. Before I could calm down myself, He reached out a hand and grabbed onto the collar of my robe and began pulling on it. I instinctively curled up to protect myself, shielding my chest. Never would I have thought of Dalat to put his hands on me like this.

Then a hand latched onto Dalat’s veiny forearms. “That’s enough!” Lio shoved him backwards, and he let go of me. My shirt collar’s shape was distorted though, a shame. “We’re leaving.”

That Displacement Mage stared back at us, grimacing. He wasn’t a friend no longer. Looking at that face gave me a fight-or-flight response, he was an enemy now.

He quickly reached for something in his belt, too fast for both of us to see what exactly it was. With bloodlust in his eyes, he threw the object, and I stared down its point.

It was a dagger.

He shot a finger at it and began a chant. It dumbfounded me how he was willing to do this with families all around us… with children merely feet away from us. I knew I had to do something.

“Acceler—”

“Disperse!” I pointed my own finger at him and disrupted the spell he was casting. The knife lost momentum and fell flat to the ground, clattering on the grassy, eroded cobblestone.

Everyone around us was staring, especially at Dalat, who was seen throwing a knife at me. Whispers filled the quiet ambience that was between Dalat and I. He had a shocked look on his face. Looks like he didn’t know about the true potential of the Disperse spell. Too bad it drained almost all my magic reserves, since I had no time to pull out my tome.

Lio jumped in front of me with his staff aimed right at our new enemy. He looked distraught staring down the end of Lio’s staff. No way he could win now, Lio was way too powerful for him. And I was sure he knew that.

He clenched his fist tight before turning around to run deeper into the dungeon. As he ran, he gave us a parting message: “You’ll see very soon why I was gone all this time. Living to tell that tale will be a different story.”

And with that, he disappeared around the corner of the intersecting corridor. His parting words were a declaration of war, Lio and I knew that. I didn’t know what to think. A friend turned into an enemy that day, and I found myself pondering what exactly would be coming in the future? There was no telling what Dalat had in store for us, but my mission hadn’t changed.

If he was a threat to the adventurers that serve as our clients, then he had to be eliminated. If it's war he wants, then it's war he’ll get.