25)

Mid-afternoon another young woman in a uniform arrived. This one was unarmed and looking a bit ruffled. She rode on a two-wheeled car called a motorcycle that looked like it would be even more fun to drive than a car. But also really dangerous when I thought about how fast someone could go with nothing but their own sense of balance to keep them from tumbling down the road if it tipped.

I was a little confused since she had a helmet on, but no sign of any other armor. Healers did tend to armor up fairly light, but normally they would just wear chain mail instead of solid plate. Not just armor up only one part of their bodies.

But I started to dismiss such things under the Maxim. “Earth is weird, so if it’s weird, it’s just Earth.”

Molly, if this was her, approached the door with an amused look on her face before knocking on the door.

Iris welcomed her warmly, and the damned beast tried to trip the new arrival by entwining itself around her legs while mocking her with its soft growling.

After getting her guest seated and offering her something to drink, which the young woman declined. Iris didn't waste any time.

"Before I go and attempt to prove anything by trying to convince you to go down into a creepy basement, I think I'll let Tark do the talking."

The younger woman gave her a curious look and then jumped a little as the old woman stomped her foot on the floor and yelled. "Tark! That's your cue."

“I’ve been nice so show her one of those lizard things. And don’t try to mess with me by trying to make me look like an insane old woman.”

Then she sighed. “Oh right. Please.”

I had already sent Envoy on his way. While the Kobold was hardly the diplomat I had made him to be, he was still smaller than Kelvin.

The younger woman was starting to look a bit uncomfortable and had begun showing signs of trying to get ready to make an exit when Iris nodded her head over to where Envoy was standing at the end of the hall. Sticking his tongue out at her.

He sucked it back in as Molly turned her head to look at him. Then she just froze.

“Wha… What is that?”

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Iris blinked. “You know, I don’t think I even asked. But there are at least two of them. The other one is bigger, but this one has been bearing a grudge even since I kicked it to death in my kitchen. You would think it would get over it since Tark brought it back from the dead.”

Oh… That’s why he keeps throwing things at her. I didn’t think dungeon creatures would remember that much. I really need to read the whole manual rather than just keep looking up stuff only as needed.

The young woman continued to stare until Envoy became distracted and began scathing itself on the neck. “Who is Tark?”

Iris nodded. “The dungeon in my basement. He’s a jerk sometimes, but he seems more interested in keeping me alive until my niece shows up with his wife in tow as a guardian spirit or something like that. He wasn’t all that clear.”

What? Her niece, my wife looking out for her, they will show up here one day. That was everything I knew. What was I supposed to do, make up more information?

Molly immediately had more questions than Iris had answers. See, how do you like it? Then they got back to the whole dungeon thing. All piecemeal, circling around, going off on tangents, and taking hours to chit-chat about something that could have been covered in just a few minutes if they had been men. Or dwarves.

I did pick up a few things that Iris didn’t seem to know much about either.

Molly had been given the student class like almost everyone else at eighteen. And had gotten ten experience points for her graduation from a high school. So it seemed like she had gone to a sort of elite school since was named as higher than others. Then she had a class change to healer halfway through her Eamty training and she got another five points for finishing that.

Since then she had only gotten experience for saving lives. Which she was disappointed to find out only really happened once every other month or so as a paramedic. Which was another new class to me, but it sounded like a healer type class.

So she was pretty eager to get more experience in order to raise her level and get better healing powers. Eager enough that it wasn't hard to convince her to trust Iris, and sort of half trust me.

At least well enough to go down into a basement, which I learned was unusual in the south.

South of what?

Iris grinned when the younger woman mentioned that. "My boyfriend at the time convinced me. There's a bunch of houses with them in this area. And since it's high up, flooding is never an issue. And he was right about it giving me a lot of room to store stuff. Heck, I fit an entire god-like entity down here."

That got her a note thrown at her by Envoy. For once with my approval. Molly looked a bit bemused as she leaned over Iris's shoulder to read it.

“Please don’t do a god comparison ever again. They don’t like it.”

They stared at each other for a moment before Iris spoke up. “I’m eighty percent sure he’s just messing with us. But I’m still going to keep that in mind.”

Down in the basement, the old woman pointed out the stairs going down. "Those were not part of the original house. Down at the bottom of the stairs, there is a doorway that leads into a weird room. I'll go first then you follow."

"You should get a notice telling you that you have gotten ten experience points for entering your first dungeon, and then we'll both get the heck out of there. Neither of us are dressed for a fight, but at least I don’t think we'll get attacked two steps in the door."

I thought about summoning another squirrel in the room just to have it chitter at them from above their heads as the younger woman stepped in. But I decided that while it would be funny, the last thing I wanted to do was scare her off.

The two of them made their way down. And both of them paused to take a good look inside before Molly asked. “Did Tark make those trees? Had he ever seen a tree before?”

Hey! I was proud of those.

“Are those supposed to be redwoods?”

Right. You’re getting your very own killer squirrel next time young lady.

They finally stepped in. Iris going in two steps with Buttercup held in her arms. With a grip better suited for throwing than cuddling I noticed. Then she held one of her hands back, ready to stop the younger woman from going in father then her one step.

Which was not a concern. Molly froze as soon as she took one step inside and started getting notices.

“It’s real...”