Soon as the crowd quieted down after Rylen’s departure, those participating in the Iliad began to disperse. Some headed for their extravagant private mansions others returned to their workplaces and most headed for the stables. Now that the elaborately constructed processions had served their purpose all their mounts needed someplace to stay. To this end Rylen’s subordinates stationed hand picked individuals to transport gifts to castle Bertros. I was a bit miffed I wouldn’t see Rylen’s reaction personally but that’s just how things were.
Our group had been allocated to a stable near the South Gate seemingly by ourselves. Not that I could blame any horse owners from being cautious. It would be in considerate to force their mundane equines next to my building sized monster of folklore. Honestly my Nargacuga would probably eat a horse without a second thought...
Being dungeon monsters our mounts didn’t require much in the way of caretaking. The only instruction I gave to the more than petrified young attendant were to keep them happy and pick up any gems the Elk dropped as [Micromanaging] wouldn’t work outside the dungeon. If anything I’m more worried about our mounts growing bored spending a week alone in a stable. Maybe I could take them out riding on the 3rd day during our break?
To make sure no one tries to steal or otherwise mess with our mounts I tasked one of the Oni with checking in on them every night. The beasts can more than take care of themselves, and I’ve told them to be on their best behavior but leaving them completely alone makes me worried. I can only imagine the headache if someone ever tried to ride Nargacuga other than myself. Even the [Named] have been bucked off...
“It’s an important symbol Chairman. Leaving them here lets the public know our residents can remain docile even outside your presence. Please bear with it for now.” Noire said putting a scaled hand on my shoulder.
Walking between her and Mulan, only slightly irritated at being grounded, I muttered “If this afternoon is to be believed not all of you can remain docile with me around.”
Mulan lowered her head slightly in embarrassment while Almar whistled from behind. I didn’t want to make things awkward but I needed to make sure they got the message. Even if we’d been in the right to take action against Bran and the outraged mob doing so wouldn’t have furthered our mission. The road we’ve chosen is no easier than if we’d simply made humanity our enemy, in a way we still have, but this road leads to a future of peace rather than one built on bloodshed.
“Actually Noire, Mary, I should commend you both for acting fast properly shouldn’t I? Well done keeping everyone else in check. Especially you miss Queen, I doubt anyone in the crowd detected a hint of bloodlust from our Lamia.”
Noire simply continued on with a small smile on her lips while Mary yelled from underneath me “What about me!? I held 7 individual Oni down with [Shadow Anchors] localized entirely in secret and I don’t even get a reward!? There’s some serious favoritism going on here Master!”
Without missing a beat I shot back “Shouldn’t that be expected from the oldest monster in the dungeon by now? Noire’s barely a month old and she acts just as fast as you do. Seems my Final Boss is slowly falling behind.”
“Y-you heard that...?” Mary murmured suddenly much meeker than before.
Holding out a hand dramatically as he walked backwards Almar said in his best Stalker impression “No, I’m a monster.”
“Gods... both of you shut up! Don’t make me remember!” Mary yelled before going silent within my shadow.
---
After walking our way back to the third district, thankfully without incident as I’d feared, Noire led the way to where we’d be staying for the Iliad’s duration. I’d been expecting the fantasy equivalent to a hotel or maybe even a tavern inn combo but as we got farther and farther into the residential area of the slums my hopes began to dwindle.
“H-hey Noire? Are you sure we’re going the right way? This place looks a bit sketchy.”
Following a magic line only she could see with the [Pathfinder] skill Noire turned to me with uncharacteristically red iris’s “We’ll be coming up on the Frozen Rose shortly Chairman.”
Being careful not to make eye contact with a rough looking homeless man I clarified “Are you sure it’s safe though? I’m getting the feeling we’re not welcome here.”
At this point the well maintained wooden or brick structures of the middle class with sidewalks lined with candles were far behind us. Instead moss and vine ridden buildings suffering from heavy water damage stretched around every corner. Open pathways into the rudimentary sewer system gave the entire area a foul stench somewhere between urine, swamp, and decaying rat. Perhaps most unsettling though were the wary eyes watching from every window and rogues wrapped entirely in feature obscuring cloth.
“Chairman you tasked me with procuring a temporary place of residence willing to accept 23 sentient dungeon monsters, including yourself and not counting Mary, for an entire week. Out of all those Eli put me in contact with only 2 would agree and only the Frozen Rose would agree to our reasonable price range. For now we can’t reasonably expect high tier housing from those who see us as enemies.”
Conceding her point I fell silent and followed her though the slums. By the time we found the damn place the sun was beginning to set and most of Centrilliam was out looking for dinner.
The Frozen Rose itself didn’t look too bad all things considered. At least from the outside. It was a 3 story building made of brick with a few wet and rotting planks of wood for window sills sandwiched between a pair of abandoned residences. Atop the inn appeared to be a small cleared off section of the roof meant for entertaining, not that it likely ever saw any. Emitting from behind the lower floor’s boarded up windows a few flickering lantern lights could be seen as lone figures walked around them. Perhaps most telling was the creaking signboard hung above the main door depicting a single red rose, although the paint had long faded away, cast entirely in ice.
Though apprehensive I figured beggars couldn’t be choosers and followed Noire into the building. She’d handled the booking and was also in charge of dungeon finances for the trip. I couldn’t exactly keep them on me without pockets or a [Shadow Storage] of my own.
Seated behind the counter was an elderly woman of at least 80 years. Her once long black hairs had become a ghostly white alongside her once tan skin. Beneath her endless wrinkles though flickered a silent fire. Something about the woman screamed confidence in the face of even our group.
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Spitting on the floor of her own establishment the woman coughed out “15,000 a night for the lot of you. Payment immediate.”
Holding her hand above her own shadow as several bags of Rhilos fell upwards into her hands and then onto the counter Noire smiled “Of course. As agreed upon here is exactly 105,000 Rhilos.”
Tearing open one of the bags with a slice of her boney fingernail the elderly woman held one of the Rhilos coins against her ear and tapped it repeatedly. Apparently satisfied at whatever she heard the woman placed the Rhilos back in the bag and began dropping the large sum behind the counter.
“You have the top 2 floors and roof if you want it.”
Noire nodded and began leading the others towards the staircase without questioning her. I however made the mistake of asking questions.
“Ma’am do we have keys to the rooms? Oh, and also will we be doing the cleaning ourselves? I wouldn’t want to leave the rooms trashed either way but I felt I should- “
Actually growling at me until I followed the others the woman made herself perfectly clear. This was an inn where you got the room and what happened within it wasn’t her responsibility. Hell from her demeanor I’m pretty sure she’d rather we kill another patron before making her clean. As for keys... Well I’m sure Noire knows an [Alarm] or [Lock] spell.
---
Dismissing everyone until the morning I divided the groups by floor. On the second I placed all the Lamia, female Oni, Noire, and Mulan, despite her insistence to guard me at all hours of the night. Technically I also placed Mary with the other girls but she decided to go out hunting for information, specifically regarding where other participants were staying and about The Blight mentioned in Rylen’s speech. As for me, Almar, and the male Oni we took the third floor. Admittedly there weren’t as many of us but I figured we could use some guy time much as the girls could use some time to themselves. Or at least that had been the plan before they all fell asleep after a single round of cards.
Listening to Almar’s snores beside me I came to the realization of how my insomnia may prove problematic outside the dungeon. Since I don’t require sleep like the others I essentially have nothing to do but sit around waiting for them to wake up. Sure I can enter my trained meditative trance and get something close to “sleep” but I’m too anxious to do that right now.
For around an hour I simply laid atop my blankets so stiff I figured they must be carved stones before deciding to be productive. So amidst the snores of my roommates and the talkative laughs from below I contacted those still at home.
First I tried Lila as she was the one left “in charge” for lack of a better word. Nutcase though she is I’d figured she was at least intelligent enough not to burn the place to the ground in my absence. However she blatantly ignored my attempts to talk. I could tell she heard me too given the emotions I could feel emitting from her. For some reason she was feeling really excited before I showed up which made her feel incredibly nervous/guilty. Not exactly a great discovery.
Next I tried Melina who actually did respond although she was busy. Her assassination squad was currently in the process of training the newly evolved Force Raptors in stealth, a project she has apparently been finding great success in. Who new gravity magic and dinosaurs worked so well together?
Force Raptors: Black and purple scaled raptors fashioned after Earth’s prehistoric reptiles, albeit a long fictionalized version of them. These large reptiles use their claws and proficiency in gravity manipulation to climb any surface including air.
That was about all I got out of her before one of the E.H. Llamas did something and her connection grew staticky.
E.H. Llamas: With tongues and stomach linings composed of magical space crystals Event Horizon Llamas manipulate gravity and create black holes. A common tactic used by this species is generating black holes where their launched saliva lands.
The only sister I could hold a proper debrief with was unsurprisingly Azura who gave me the results of some experiments I’d had her run with her biome’s new residents.
First up were the Leisterfish which had evolved from the colorfully venomous Lionfish. Each has increased in size to over 4 feet long with proportionally larger spines. While keeping the same colors as their mundane counterparts the Leisterfish gained the unique characteristic of retractable harpoon like spines. Each and every one of their spines can be discharged and returned in mere seconds if no prey is punctured. When combined with each spine’s acid coating capable of rotting wood in moments they should prove more than capable of sinking any adventurer’s makeshift ships.
I’d told Azura to test their range, accuracy, and rate of decay on wooden dummies to great results. Not only were the fish impeccable shots, but they could also fire from any direction. Even from behind their line of sight it’s very rare a Leisterfish misses their target. A strong addition to the blue biome to be sure.
The other main topic of conversation were the Shackled Seahorses. These guys had blown all expectations I’d had for them and are sure to become one of the biome’s most formidable foes. Not bad for a few small Leafy Seadragons placed around some kelp.
Shackled Seahorse: Cursed in ancient times by the goddess of servitude Shackled Seahorses are wrapped in chains from birth. Surviving despite their curse the fish have adapted to wrap prey within their chains before feeding on them. Some have even been observed targeting sailor’s masts before sinking their ships with powerful blows.
I’d had her knights test their “powerful blows” and we’d both come away impressed. The several meter long seahorses are capable of swinging their chains with incredible skill and unexpected power. While testing their range one of the larger specimens had snapped his chain straight through a palm tree without even slowing down. Another had wrapped her chains around a similarly sized tree and simply pulled the chain taught squeezing it until the trunk burst. I’m not sure exactly what seahorses did to this “goddess of servitude” but they’d certainly grown more powerful than I could’ve ever hoped.
It was just when I’d begun inquiring as to the Saw Sea Turtles though Mary, in full Stalker form, dove headfirst through the boarded up window, shifted her mass around to fit, and reemerged whole once again. Contrary to what I’d been expecting her face was completely serious.
“I’ve spotted several suspicious individuals approaching the inn Master. There are three in total without any hidden reinforcements. From what I detect they aren’t anything dangerous unless they possess skills able to hide their strength from me.”
Standing from the edge of the bed I asked kicking Almar awake “What makes them suspicious?”
“Well they’re following our path here without a single deviation. Seems likely they’re tracking us somehow. They’re also not from the slums based on their demeanor, dress beneath their cloaks, and avoidance of the locals. Without a doubt they are here for us.”
“Are they armed?”
Shaking her head Mary answered “I believe the male is carrying some sort of device along with the taller female. This will sound strange... but it seems to be made of clouds Master. Not sure what it does though.”
Yawning as he sat up on the bed and grabbed his spear Almar asked “What should we do Boss? Your call.”
Thinking for a moment I ordered “Regardless of their intentions we need to know why they’re looking for us. Let them get close, possibly even in the inn, and then apprehend them alive. If they try to use this weather device or whatever it is drop it in your storage so it won’t go off Mary. Last thing we need is a bomb exploding anywhere near us in a residential district. I’ll speak with them then.”
“Yes Master.”
“Got it Boss.”
Their orders given Mary and Almar headed downstairs to let the others know while the Oni upstairs stood guard around me.
‘So much for a good night’s rest... Sorry guys.’