The day’s last run came to a close, with the level 20 [Bespectacled Boxer] losing his bout against Alforde in spectacular fashion. Vee felt no small sense of satisfaction as the man – whose primary skill was a reverse taunt of sorts called [You Wouldn’t Hit A Man In Glasses], which caused Alforde to hesitate for a few seconds and was incredibly annoying to hear over and over and over again – went flying after Alforde landed a heavy [Combination Attack].
“Good riddance,” muttered Reginald. “What an obnoxious fight that was.”
“Agreed,” Vee said as he turned to look out the broken window. He’d given it a temporary ectoplasm patch, but the green sheet was unseemly and he’d have to figure out how to get it properly replaced somewhere down the line. Of course, that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon, though, as there was no money for any such thing.
It was late afternoon, and some grayish clouds were rolling in from the west and obscuring the sun, which had been shining brightly all day. The [Dungeon Master] couldn’t help but feel that that the notion of a sunny day being replaced by clouds was oddly prophetic, and a gnawing anxiety established itself in his stomach. He drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair and summoned Cecil.
The [Excellent Spreadsheet] appeared before him. “How may I be of assistance, master?”
“Can you give me a sum of the day’s earnings? Subtotal each portion first in silvers, and then give me the grand total. Convert to gold fleurs, please.”
Cecil hummed for a moment. “Revenue from dungeon operations, including floor costs, potion sales and an estimated income from sales of dungeon guides equals one thousand eight hundred and two silver fleurs. Removing taxes, minion replacement costs, and other miscellaneous expenses leaves us with one thousand four hundred and fifty silver fleurs. Sales of discounted dungeon runs, duels with Alforde, strength-and-weakness assessments, and donations of general support contributed another five thousand two hundred and seventy seven silver fleurs. All together, we earned slightly more than sixty seven gold fleurs with some silvers left over.”
Vee breathed a sigh of relief. They’d made enough to cover the next payment to Sacre, though he strongly suspected that the groundswell of additional support to the new products that they’d gotten wouldn’t be repeatable. There’d probably be a few stragglers coming in over the next few days, but for the most part the resource that was the surge of support from the city’s adventurers had been exhausted. He'd have to come up with other ways to bridge the gap and keep up with his repayments in the weeks to come.
But that was a problem for tomorrow. For now, Vee had to figure out a way to make sure that the day’s earnings were secured properly.
Once Alforde brought up the fleurs from the dungeon runs as well as the day’s shards of chaos earnings, Vee opened the dungeon’s vault, forced down the lump in his throat at the sight of its emptiness and carefully set the coins down on the floor. He didn’t think that the thief would return for a second round of stealing, but the [Dungeon Master] was taking no chances.
Turning to Dheart, Vee said, “Direct whatever power is necessary to ensuring vault security. Depower the dungeon entirely if you need to make that happen, okay?”
Dheart hummed, and lines of blue and white energy spread across its sides. “Understood. Reallocating power so that all vault safety measures are active and functional.”
The vault sealed itself shut, and Vee tightened his fingers into a fist, wondering if the security measures were going to be enough.
After a few moments of brooding, he decided that it was better to do a bit extra and feel silly for it than to have another break-in. There was that old saying about criminals and the scene of the crime, right?
“I’m going to have some ghosts set up in here as guards,” Vee said. Reaching through his bonds, he directed Do and the other [Dungeon Maintainers] to bring up a few packs. Had he been interested in maximizing minion strength, he would have incorporated some skeletons and slimes too, but he’d had enough chats with Kai about their menagerie shenanigans. He didn’t want them wrecking the place while he was gone.
It took almost half an hour for the [Dungeon Maintainers] to bring up the ghosts and another twenty minutes for Vee to rig up a simplified alarm bond system that would alert him right away if someone came into the office once he activated it.
“Hate to say it, boss, but I don’t think that’ll really help us anything if the thief comes back,” Reginald said as Vee finished getting the last of the ghosts connected. “Assuming we could even get through the gate, which isn’t terribly likely, we’d get here too late to stop anything from happening. Beyond that, I don’t think the ghosts are going to be much of a deterrent for anyone who's half-capable.”
That was true, but there was a glint in the hat’s eye that suggested he had something else in mind. Sighing, Vee gestured for his [Majordomo] to go on.
“We could go down and talk to Nock. He’s a pretty strong fighter, and we could amend his contract so that he protects the office for the next few days. I’m sure he’d welcome the chance to move around a bit more freely.”
“But can we trust him not to leave?” Alforde asked. “He seems amenable to helping out in Crestheart, but that’s a very different thing than giving him free reign of the tower and the ability to head out into the city if he so chooses. That’s kind of risky, isn’t? it”
“I’m sure Vee can work something out with him to ensure that doesn’t happen,” Reginald said. “He’s a spirit, so can’t you just do something like putting him into your orchestra?”
Vee shook his head. “I’m afraid not. My orchestra is full, unless I want to dismiss one of my fiends, which I’m not doing. Besides, Nock is a strong enough spirit that he’d have to be willing to join in the first place. I couldn’t force him.”
“That’s why I said like,” Reginald huffed. “I know how your class works, boss. The old guy yattered about it plenty.”
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Rortenferry’s voice cut through the room. “Old guy?! I take it that you’re talking about me?”
Vee’s head snapped toward the sound; his old [Professor] had come in so quietly the [Dungeon Master] hadn’t noticed. Judging by the smile on Rortenferry’s face, it was obvious that he was quite proud of that fact as well.
“I came to let you know that I’m leaving. It took me a bit longer than I would have liked to get all my things together and arrange my travel preparations, but the time to say farewell for now has come,” Rortenferry said as he stepped forward and held out his hand. “It’s been quite the interesting trip.”
Vee shook Rortenferry’s hand, and was surprised to find that the old man’s grip didn’t feel as tight as it first had when he’d come to the city. “I’m glad to hear it. I’ll be excited to see the results of your research.”
“Not nearly so excited as I’ll be to conduct it,” Rortenferry said. “A most fascinating problem indeed. There’s one last thing I’d like to give you before I go.”
He reached into his jacket and drew out a large golden envelope, which he handed over. “Included in this are some of my preliminary thoughts, as well as a few simple minion concepts I roughed out. Should you find them interesting, I’ve also included a list of instructions for you to use in making them. I think they might be beneficial for your operations here. There are also a few other little things for you to read when you have some time.”
The envelope was deceptively heavy, and Vee carefully set it down on the desk. There was a different kind of lump in his throat just then, but he forced himself to talk through it. “Thanks, Professor Rortenferry. Thanks for everything."
His old teacher smiled. “You’re welcome, lad. Take care of yourself, Vee. You’ve got good instincts, for all that they weren’t well suited to the classroom. Should you find yourself having any questions, you’re always free to write me. I’ve left my address in the envelope along with the easiest way to reach me.”
“I’ll be sure to do that.”
Alforde shook Rortenferry’s hand as well before bowing to the older [Ghost Maestro]’s partner spirit, and then Rortenferry turned to leave.
Just before he did, however, he turned back and said, “Be extra careful with that Expectation lad. Those are powerful spirits that can propel a man to greater heights than he might have ever imagined, but can also be an anchor dragging you down.”
“Got it,” Vee said. The Expectation around his shoulders tightened, as if angry, but it passed a moment later and faded from Vee’s awareness the way it always did.
Once Rortenferry’s footsteps vanished down the stairwell, Vee returned his attention to the minions and made sure that everything was perfect while he thought about whether or not to accept Nock’s help.
Ultimately he decided against it for the night. Like Alforde, he wasn’t entirely sure that he could trust the weaponspirit not to leave the dungeon if he got out of the lab. It wasn’t like Vee could afford to pay the bow anything to keep him tied to guard duty just then – heck, even fulfilling the original terms of their contract was going to be difficult.
“If it’s not one thing, it’s another,” Vee muttered.
After putting everything away and getting the office locked up, Vee and his friends headed back to the boarding house.
----------------------------------------
The next morning, Walnut visited the dungeon right on schedule. He was gaunt, the bags under his eyes were darker than they’d been in some time, and even his thin little smile couldn’t entirely hide his fatigue.
“Morning, short stack,” the gangster said as he walked into the office. “It’s a nice morning out there, isn’t it? Perfect day for collecting some coins.”
He paused when he saw the bits of glass on the ground that Vee hadn’t bothered to clean up in the flurry of activity the day before, and his eyes darted up to the broken window. “What happened here? Throw a temper tantrum because your pet tin can lost a close fight?”
“Hardly,” answered Vee, folding his arms across his chest and bristling at Walnut’s tone. “We were robbed by those mud golems that have been causing trouble all over town.”
“You what?!” Walnut’s eyes widened and his mouth went tight. “Are you sure it was the mud golems?”
“As certain as it’s possible to be. There were muddy footprints everywhere.”
“That mangy prick again! When I get my hands on him I’m going to snap him into pieces!”
Reginald cocked an eye. “What do you mean, again? Has there been some other trouble?”
Walnut hesitated for a moment, as if deciding whether or not he was allowed to say more, but then he shrugged and said, “A bunch of our places have been robbed or damaged recently while none of the shops belonging to our competitors have been touched.”
Reginald frowned. “Have you noticed that discrepancy before?”
Walnut nodded. “We did, but the volume was never enough for us to be sure. Over the past week or so, though, there’s been a lot more golem activity, and almost all of it has been at our expense.”
“Then…is there any chance we were hit because of our relationship with you guys?” Vee asked.
“I suppose that it’s not impossible for the two to be connected,” Walnut said as he held out his hand. “But that’s not why I’m here. It’s pay day, little guy. Let me see those gold fleurs, eh?”
Frowning, Vee pointed to the chest on the ground. The gangster didn’t have to know that they represented nearly every fleur in his possession. “They’re right there. But Walnut, if we keep getting caught up in some sort of crossfire between you and the don there’s going to be some problems. I don’t want anything to do with your city-wide pissing match.”
The gangster picked up the money with a grin. “Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it, short stack?”
Vee didn’t answer, and Walnut left with a snort.
However, the [Dungeon Master]’s thoughts continued racing for the rest of the day.
What was he going to do about it?
Main Character Sheets:
Vee Vales (Unchanged from last chapter)
Primary Class: Ghost Maestro (Locksmagister University), Level 30
Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 22
Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 6
Might: 14
Wit: 35
Faith: 21
Adventurousness: 7
Ambition: 15
Plotting: 20
Charisma: 15
Devious Mind: 24
Leadership: 19
Guts: 14
Intimidating Presence: 10
Citizenship: 21
Public Relations: 8
Determination: 3
Persuasiveness: 3
Bargaining: 1
Patience: 1
Competitive Spirit: 1
<3***Infatuation***<3
Alforde Armorsoul:
Primary Class: Hammer Afficionado (Self), Level 27 (+1) [Deferred Due to [Fair Fight]]
Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 15
Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 17 (+1) [Deferred Due to [Fair Fight]]
Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 9
Might: 49 (+1)
Wit: 14
Faith: 28
Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 9
Endurance: 27(+1)
Intimidating Presence: 12
Heart of a Champion: 11
Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 8
Vigilance: 7
Vanity: 1
Reginald:
Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ??
--~%@(%$@ &% (*$ #&#e !i$$ (#$%#$%#$@!)~--, #$v@& ????
Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 40
Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 18
Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 10 (+1)
Might: 1
Wit: 34
Faith: 15
Ambition: 27
Greed: 23
Deceptiveness: 27
Manipulativeness: 39
$#&*!@!!: !!!
Loyalty: 47
Patience: 9
Irritability: 22
Remorsefulness: 17
[#&%%%@%!#@__--#%]
Hop@#!! @#$@!@#
@#$@%%^
#4^5#*&_!+++#(@$#
Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 8