I stared at the Dungeon Master for a few moments before resuming writing on the parchment. He went quiet, no doubt waiting for me to comment or perhaps wanting to make sure I wrote this part down. Either way, he was being patient.

If what he was saying was the truth, then it would be an incredibly large event to deal with. Millicef had already asked me if the events going on were how the Continental Dungeon started, and it looked like those rumors were going to turn out true.

If what he was saying was true.

Once I finished catching up on the conversation, I looked back up at the Dungeon Master. “I’m not sure how much I trust you seeing how you completely disregarded our society’s laws, but I’m not so heartless that I can’t see why you decided to act out this way,” I said. “Should this… CC be on her way as you say, how long do we have?”

“Depends,” he replied, and I could sense the tension leave his body as he realized I was taking him seriously. “From what Himia calculated, and she’s really precise, anywhere between six months to a year.”

I arched an eyebrow. “A six month window is what you would call precise?”

“It’s not really what you’d call an exact science,” the Dungeon Master admitted. “I was going to tell everyone after the blizzard was down.”

“And how long would that take?”

“About a month?”

“Are you asking me if that’s right or telling me?” I replied, returning to writing.

The Dungeon Master cleared his throat and shook his head. “No, it’ll take roughly a month. That’s when I was going to announce my presence and warn the people of the Central Continent that CC was coming.”

“All the while harboring a fugitive?”

“Well, he, uh, he wasn’t a fugitive when we came up here…”

“He was a fugitive the moment he left his designated path, Dungeon Master. The bodies he left in his wake didn’t help, either,” I said. Sighing, I shook my head before looking up at him. “This is beyond me. If we have as much time as you say, then I need to talk to my boss. We’ll have to call for a conference with the Adventurer’s Consortium and the Mage’s Guild. The heads of state in all countries are going to have to be notified and a summit will likely have to take place to discuss things that the Consortium would already be putting into practice. That is, if you’re telling the truth.”

“I am, one hundred percent,” the Dungeon Master said quickly. “If I do nothing, then everyone’s in danger, including me. I’m not trying to say that I’m scared of my sister, but she is crazy with a capital K.”

“That’s not how you spell crazy,” I responded.

“Yeah, I know, that’s just how she is.”

Shaking my head, I set the quill down. “Are Ferrisdae and the adventurers done with the dungeon yet?”

The Dungeon Master tilted his head as if looking off into the distance, and he nodded after a few moments. “They just finished up. Man, they’re pretty fast at this,” he commented. “I also gave them back all their stuff at the end because I figured you’d tell me to.”

“I would have, yes,” I confirmed.

“So… what now?” he asked.

“I need to reach my boss on my Sending Stone,” I said. “You can connect us to different dungeons you’ve taken over, right? We’ll need to be outside of the Thousand Year Blizzard so that the magical interference won’t stop the communication. Oristrella’s dungeon would work fine.”

“Yeah, no problem there, I can do that.”

“Good. Since we’re the only team close to the Thousand Year Blizzard, after we’re done talking with Brackenhorst we’ll likely have to deal with Raitheus Razorbeak. Which was the whole reason we came up here until we were unduly sidetracked,” I added, my voice accusatory.

“In my defense, I was really excited about my dungeon,” the Dungeon Master said, but he looked away when I glared at him. “If you want, I can take care of it for you. I can’t take back the gift I gave him, but I can, you know…” He brought his hand up to his throat and made a slicing motion with his thumb.

I immediately shook my head. “No, you’ve already done enough,” I told him. “You can lock him in there so that he can’t leave and cause more problems for the Mage’s Guild representatives trying to figure out what you’re doing to the blizzard, but it’s a matter of professionalism that we deal with him. No help from you or Himia, understood?”

“Crystal clear, Inspector,” he said. “Do you want me to talk to the Mage’s Guild and let them know what I’m up to?”

It only took me a second to think about this before nodding. “Yes. They’re the foremost researchers on the Thousand Year Blizzard, so giving them a heads up on what you’re doing will be crucial for the meeting between our organizations.”

“Okay, I’ll meet them with Himia,” he replied with a nod. “Anything else?”

“Just a doorway to Oristrella’s dungeon for me, and I want the others to meet me there. Once we’re through, make another one directly to the eye of the storm that we can use after I’ve contacted my boss.”

The Dungeon Master raised his hand and swiped the air next to him. A doorway attached to nothing appeared where he had gestured, and I used the Quickdry Stone to dry the ink in an instant before rolling up the parchment and setting it in my Dimensional Pocket. I stood up, heading to the doorway but not going through it just yet.

“Anything else you want to say?” I asked.

“Thank you for trusting me,” he said, looking down at me.

“It’s not trust,” I snorted. “I still think you’re very dangerous, but dealing with you as an enemy isn’t my job.”

“Cold, but-“ I didn’t hear the rest of his statement as I stepped through the doorway.

I immediately recognized the area I emerged into as the entrance to Oristrella’s dungeon. The large room with the icy floor hadn’t changed in the time since we saw it, and I took that as this room was complete already. I vaguely wondered if the rest of the dungeon had finished their renovations, but not enough to check.

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

A few feet in front of me, another doorway appeared. I stepped out of the way so that I wasn’t crowding the entrance, and Cojisto rushed out. He was wearing his hide armor from when we first met, though he still held on to the crossbow he had looted from the dungeon. After looking around diligently, his eyes settled on me.

“Oh, hey,” he greeted.

“Hello, Cojisto,” I replied. “I take it everything is fine with my junior?”

“Coji, you’re not supposed to…” Ferrisdae came out of the doorway next, nearly running into Cojisto, but fell silent when she saw me. He moved out of the way, pulling her aside just as the doorway expanded and Moose followed her out.

“Found Badger,” he said with a grin, pointing towards me. Ferrisdae began glancing about the room, but my eyes were locked on her. She didn’t seem injured, though that could have been because of Moose’s healing powers.

I had expected her to change back into her starry purple robe, but she had not. Ferrisdae now wore a black leather bodice with a torn green cloak that fell to her legs. Instead of the pants she had previously, she had on a pair of black shorts and knee-high leather boots. The wand at her hip was still there, but was accompanied by a quiver with seven arrows stuffed inside. Her fingers plucked nervously at the black studded bracer she wore on one forearm and a finely crafted composite bow rested in her hand, completing the archer's ensemble.

I arched an eyebrow at her bow. “You’re good with a bow?”

“Proficient,” she said meekly. “I’m… proficient with a bow. It was my grandmother’s. The outfit was, too, and it’s enchanted to help make me more accurate.”

“Is this the same grandmother who played the violin as the first seat of Violin Concerto #3?” I asked.

“No, that was Grandma Arabella, my grandmother on my father’s side,” she replied. “This belonged to Nana Maeal, my grandmother on my mother’s side. She was a famed archer back in her day. Retired, now, but she taught me enough to be relatively proficient.”

“Mmhmm,” was all I said before she looked back down at me. “What about the rest of the dungeon?”

“Piece of cake,” Cojisto announced loudly. “The Avians were preparing a Silver Golem for us to fight, and it was glorious! Allow me to regale you with-”

“Pass,” I said before reaching into my Dimensional Pocket.

Taking out the parchment I had written my conversation with the Dungeon Master on, I handed it to Ferrisdae to read over while I pulled out the second item I needed. It was heavy for its size, but nothing I couldn’t handle.

The Emergency Filing Capsule was a stone tube the size of a Human forearm covered in glowing blue runes. I flipped open the cap on one side and watched Ferrisdae as she read through the parchment. Cojisto and Moose had moved behind her, reading over her shoulder, but she was finished and handing it back to me long before they had a chance to catch up.

“That’s… wow, I’m not even sure what to say,” Ferrisdae said.

“It’s a lot to take in, which is why we need to get this out as fast as we can,” I told her before heading towards the dungeon’s entrance. The others followed.

The sky was black, and it was hard to tell what time it was. I briefly wondered how long we had been inside before deciding it didn’t matter. The runes on the capsule flashed once, indicating that it was ready, and I instructed Ferrisdae to roll up the parchment and stick it inside.

Once she did so, I closed the capsule. The runes grew in brightness to the point where we almost needed to shield our eyes before going dark completely. I checked inside to make sure the parchment was gone, and placed it back in my Dimensional Pocket once I confirmed it had.

In one of my regular pockets, my Sending Stone started to vibrate. “Damn bards with their Sense of Drama timing powers,” I muttered. Pulling it out, I traced my finger along it and was met with the voice of the Chief Dungeon Inspector, Brackenhorst.

“Dungeon Inspector Badger,” he said with a formality that didn’t normally suit him, and it caused me to bristle.

“Dungeon Inspector Badger reporting with Junior Dungeon Inspector Ferrisdae and the adventuring duo, Moose and Cojisto, Chief Dungeon Inspector Brackenhorst, sir,” I responded, keeping it just as formal as he was.

“Director Ortaephaen is reading your report as we speak. Thank you for sending it so quickly.”

I turned around, fixing my best glare on Cojisto and Moose and putting my finger to my lips. If Brackenhorst had called in the director, then he was committed to taking this seriously.

“The director?” Ferrisdae whispered. “Really?”

Shaking my head, I didn’t answer. Director Ortaephaen was an Elven man every inch as decrepit as Brackenhorst. Nobody except the Elves were really sure when an Elf was old enough to die of old age, but whatever that number was Ortaephaen were surely pushing it. Regardless, the director seemed as spry as he had been centuries ago to the point where many of the DoD’s detractors had wondered aloud if he were a lich or some other powerful undead.

That was neither here nor there, and I didn’t really care as long as he continued doing exemplary work for the Department of Dungeons.

“Director Ortaephaen, thank you for attending,” I said respectfully. “If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

A moment of silence, then he spoke. “Dungeon Inspector Badger, I’m glad to see that you are still upholding my standards after all these years,” Director Ortaephaen replied. His voice was raspy, but still strong.

“I take great pride in my job as a Dungeon Inspector, sir,” I responded with humility.

“And I am enjoying your notes on what you think is prudent in this situation,” he said. “The Dungeon Master-“ I gave the others a sharp look, but they just shook their heads. “- seems like he’s telling the truth based on his voice alone, but it’s hard to tell with a blurry face. Conference with the Consortium and the Mages, gathering the heads of state. All great notes. There is one thing that I’m unclear on, however.”

“I’ll answer what I can.”

“You are requesting immediate recusal from the case involving the Dungeon Master?”

“You’re requesting what?” Ferrisdae quickly asked. “I didn’t read that. Did you write that?”

I didn’t answer Ferrisdae, and instead raised the Sending Stone a little closer to my face. “Yes, Director Ortaephaen,” I replied. “I am requesting recusal on the grounds that we cannot, in good faith, continue interacting with the Dungeon Master. He has used an ability on us that we don’t yet have a full grasp on that some members of the team have had issues coming to terms with.”

“I… I can still do this, Ba- Dungeon Inspector Badger!” Ferrisdae claimed, correcting herself. She had clasped her hands together, fidgeting nervously.

I still didn’t answer her. “I will also admit to a lack of professionalism,” I hesitantly stated.

“You? Unprofessional?” Brackenhorst snorted. “What, were you a little too coarse in your manner of speaking again and we can expect a complaint?”

Clearing my throat, I turned so that I could no longer see Ferrisdae. “When I was face to face with the Dungeon Master, the first thing I did was ensure that he was, in fact, the Dungeon Master.” I paused, and then released a heavy sigh. “The second thing I did was break his nose.”

“Yeah! Let’s go, Badger!” Cojisto said, and I turned to glare at the grinning man. He seemed unperturbed, his only response being to give me a thumbs up.

“As you can guess, I am having issues coming to terms with some of the things this Dungeonborn can and has done,” I said. “We are well enough to subjugate Razorbeak, should the Department of Dungeons want us to go forward with that plan while preparing someone to take our place once we are finished.”

Brackenhorst and Director Ortaephaen lowered their voice to discuss what should happen next, and our group fell silent. Cojisto was whispering jovially to Moose, who was bobbing his head up and down in what I assumed was agreement. While I didn’t look back, I could feel Ferrisdae’s gaze boring into the back of my head.

It only took a minute for my superiors to respond, but it felt like far longer. “Go ahead and subjugate Raitheus Razorbeak as planned, Dungeon Inspector Badger,” Director Ortaephaen said. “We’ll ensure that someone will be there by the time you’re done.”

“Thank you, Director Ortaephaen,” I said. “We’ll commandeer Oristrella’s dungeon as a rendezvous point and meet them once we’re done.”

“Excellent. Good luck to all of you.”

The Sending Stone went silent, and I sighed. Slowly, I turned around to look up at Ferrisdae. Her eyes were red and teary, and I shook my head. “Oh, no-“ I didn’t get a chance to finish before she fell to her knees and basically tackled me into a hug.

“You took the blame for me,” she whispered, her voice quivering as she buried her face in my shoulder.

I rolled my eyes, but gently patted her on the shoulder. “There, there. Get it all out now, I guess; we still have work to do.”