Ray blinked. Just to confirm, he asked the lord to repeat his last sentence. Maybe he had heard it wrong, maybe Cory was kidding.

Because surely the lord wasn’t threatening Ray to complete their tasks?

It turned out, unfortunately, that they were.

“As I said already,” the lord said, taking a bite of his steak. “You must remain here, on Cliff Two, if you will not agree to our demands.”

Ray’s mouth twisted into a scowl. “And what exactly are your demands?”

“Why, simple. You only need to complete a set of tasks and then we can all be on our way.”

Ray waited with more patience than he actually felt as Cory went on to outline what specific tasks Ray was supposed to deal with. It was… terrible. Menial.

They wanted him to help build and repair roads and buildings. They thought he would make a fantastic delivery guy. They believed that he could farm really well, for some reason. They also thought that he could occasionally take part in a few select fights, surrounded by a huge audience who would all bet on the likelihood of his survival.

Needless to say, Ray was willing to throw the napkin he had been offered for dinner right into Cory’s face. It almost felt insulting to have been offered tasks like that after everything he had accomplished on Cliff Three.

“Didn’t Caleb send any indications of what I’d like to do?” he asked

“He offered some suggestions, yes. However, he is not the lord of this Cliff. I am. As such, the final decision of what you will do resides with me.”

Basically, Cory had ignored everything his colleague had said and instead, wished to impose his will on Ray. It made him wonder what sort of government was at work because it felt quite tyrannical.

“And if I refuse,” Ray said. “You’re going to imprison me here until I agree?”

“If we have no other option, then we will need to resort to the only recourse left to us.”

“Why?”

“Pardon?”

Ray leaned forward, as curious as he was angry. “Why go to so much trouble? The lord of Cliff Three had stipulated that even if I didn’t work with them, I could still do whatever I wished. I just wouldn’t have any help from them while doing it. Why go out of your way to antagonize me further?”

“We are antagonizing no one,” one of Cory’s dignitaries said in a raspy voice.

Another said, loud and shrill, “If you will not cooperate, then it is hardly our fault that you are openly against us.”

Ray was tempted to prod further because stopping the conversation was going to signal his body to get ready for the next phase of whatever the fuck was going on here. A next phase that would be quite violent. He didn’t want to let it get that bad, though.

“I’ve got no quarrel with you,” he said. “Since we clearly can’t agree to work together, how about we part agreeably, at least?”

“You have heard our terms,” Cory said, voice loud and ringing. “Do you agree or disagree, Denizen Raymond Dominick?”

Ray tutted. The flash of anger he had experienced was now receding, giving him some space to think. To come up with a better alternative than immediately making himself public enemy number one of an entire kingdom. “Can I at least take some time to think it over?”

“What is there to think over?” It was the first dignitary who had spoken. “Your choices are simple. Either you agree to cooperate or—”

“Or I remain imprisoned. You almost make it sound like you’ll kill me if I refuse to work with you.”

The dignitary grumbled, almost like he wanted to give in to Ray’s bait of working together

“As you wish,” Cory said. “You may take this evening to come to a decision. We would like to know by tomorrow morning what you have decided to do.”

“You got it.”

It was actually remarkable how quickly Ray’s anger had disappeared as he got a better understanding of the situation. In fact, as he was being led away to his room, his body felt pretty relaxed. This was just another problem to solve. Annoying, yes, but one he could figure out.

Ray understood that the people of Cliff Two was antagonizing because he was an antagonist to them. In fact, maybe the people of Cliff Three were too. There was ample evidence of that, with how the guard who had chaperoned him had always acted. But no, the bigger likelihood was that people of Cliff Three had become antagonistic towards Ray.

And it had happened after Ray had retrieved the files from the Flesh Dungeon for them.

Ray hadn’t noticed any outward signs of enmity from Caleb. Most likely, the lord had decided to remain seemingly friendly so that his counterpart on Cliff Two could set the proper trap.

Of course, all that could just be Ray’s thoughts turning a little too paranoid. Maybe Cory—and his dignitaries too—were just assholes. But Ray didn’t think it likely. They must have rediscovered something sensitive in the folders he had granted them, and they must have deduced that Ray knew about it too. As such, he had to be stopped.

By the time Ray reached his room, he was starting to figure out what he could do to turn things around. Without resorting to violence, that was.

A part of him was actually tempted to pull out all the stops and start the proper questioning. Everything he had learned, from the Flesh Dungeon, from the infected Sylvan, from Ram, Bam, and Lam, all indicated that the people of this Everstead kingdom were hiding something.

Something huge.

Maybe if Ray could get a proper hold of Cory, he could do to the lord what he had done to the Sylvan and get the truth that way. But he decided to leave that was a last resort. The kingdom had been useful to his growth so far, and he was loath to throw it all away so quickly.

“This is it, huh?” Ray asked.

His room was much smaller than the one had been gifted in Caleb’s manor. The bed was unmade and plain. Besides the bed, there was no furniture at all save one, rickety chair. No curtains or carpets either. Maybe they liked austerity here.

“I got a much nicer place on Cliff Three, you know,” Ray said.

Instead of replying, the guard closed the door behind him and left. Sighing, Ray decided to lie down and start working on his plan for tomorrow. And of course, for the rest of the Cliff Two.

Ray: I really hope they didn’t kill you, Mary.

Mary: I can assure you that I’m not dead.

Ray: Oh so NOW you reply to me. Did you even see my earlier message? It’s literally right there.

Mary: I heard you paid your respects to Alice. Thank you. She would have appreciated it too.

She caught him off guard. Ray hadn’t been prepared for the sudden shift to the sombre.

Ray: How did you know?

Mary: I visited the grave today. Heard it from the guard.

Ray: These damn guard are everywhere. But you should thank me. If it hadn’t been for me stipulating that the Everstead people would need to keep the spires open for travel, you wouldn’t have made it there so easily.

Mary: Yes, thank you for that too.

Huh. Ray hadn’t actually been expecting her to be so forthright about her gratitude. He asked about actual matters of import. Mary didn’t seem very interested in his experiences, though, not even when he said that it was likely due to his discoveries that he was being targeted.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Mary: Are you truly being targeted, or is it your mere imagination? Remember that I was tasked with discovering the origin of the plague. This journey has led me to discover much of what you have found already.

Ray: Right. That’s why you’re not surprised.

Mary: I am mildly taken aback that they would target you so heavily. I was never really restricted.

That was strange. Why were they acting against Ray if they allowed Mary to go about and discover the exact same things that he had? It made no sense.

Ray was in no position to question it, though, especially not when Mary herself didn’t know much of why. For now, she counselled him to stick to the Everstead people’s good side. He could still make use of them. That was what he ought to focus on.

Mary: It returns to the same question. Are you too proud to work with others?

Ray: The things they’d have me do are more like working FOR others.

Mary: Whatever. You know what I mean.

Ray: Fine. I’ll think about it. But mind telling me what you’ve discovered so far? You’re looking for the Floor Lord, aren’t you?

Mary: I haven’t found anything new that you haven’t. But I have located the Floor Lord. So now, I’m going to go find her and confront her.

That jolted Ray a bit. Mary had already found out where the Floor Lord was hiding? That felt far too fast.

Ray: Confront her? Whose… side are you on here?

Mary: The side that is helping me advance to the Third Floor.

He supposed he couldn’t argue against that logic. As much as he was forming a negative impression of the Everstead kingdom, as much as that impression was rooted in reality, he knew his experience wasn’t universal. Mary might truly be benefiting from whatever deal she had struck with them.

It still rankled Ray that she was more or less taking the sides of people who were now quite against him, but he kept his thoughts to himself. She already thought him too selfish to work with others.

Ray: Where is the Floor Lord?

Mary: I’ve already told you.

She had? He thought with a frown for a brief moment. Then froze where he was lying on the hard bed.

Ray: Cliff Three? She’s on Cliff Three?

Mary didn’t answer. The chat window closed as she left. Ray cursed as he sat up. The Floor Lord was on Cliff Three? Had she been there all this time? How had he not noticed or found out? Where exactly was she?

For a moment Ray was tempted to sneak out of the manor and go back to Cliff Three before the showdown between Mary Felds and the Lord of the Second Floor went down. But that would essentially be breaking a pseudo-contract he had established with the Cory, the lord of Cliff Two. He was stuck.

Good thing he knew someone who wasn’t stuck. Ray wasted no time locating Kredevel in the list of people he could contact via the chat and shoot him a message.

Ray: Kredevel. This is urgent. Are you still on Cliff Four right now?

Luckily for Ray, Kredevel answered in record time. Bless him.

Kredevel: Yes. What is the matter? Are you alright?

Ray: I’m in a bit of a bind, but that’s not the issue I want to discuss. The real matter is that I found the Floor Lord.

Kredevel: What? Where? On Cliff Three? Wait, no. You’ve already moved to—

Ray: On Cliff Three, actually, yeah.

He mentioned everything he had learned from Mary. The more important part was that he was in no position to do anything about it just then. Kredevel, however, very well could.

Kredevel: The only problem that leaves is finding the exact location of the Floor Lord.

Ray: Yeah… I’m starting to understand why she never told me the exact location.

What a crafty woman. She had probably figured out Ray would want to interfere in some way, but had still left him that tantalizing clue. So close yet so far.

Kredevel: I believe I know what I must do.

Ray: Are you going to head there directly? Now?

Kredevel: Yes. I suspect that Mary Felds hasn’t seen the Floor Lord yet, only suspects the locations she needs to be at. As such, I can get there ahead of time and pretend to be the Floor Lord.

Ray had a ton of counters to that. Kredevel was far too weak to pretend to be the Lord of the Second Floor. Plus, how was he going to find the exact location that he was supposed to be for his crazy plan to even work?

And why was Ray so concerned about whatever happened to this Floor Lord in the first place?

He realized that he was selfish. The truth. That was what Ray wanted. Mary Felds might have gotten to it before him, but that didn’t mean she could do whatever she wanted with this truth now. Ray should at least be allowed to get on the same footing as her before things went down.

Ray: You decided what you’re going to do?

Kredevel: Yes. I don’t need to find where the Floor Lord is. I will simply enter this Cliff Two and pretend to be the Floor Lord from the get-go. It will draw them all to me.

Ray blinked. Foolhardy, crazy, but it could possibly work.

Ray: Good luck. Sorry I can’t help more.

Kredevel: No, you’ve done enough. This is none of your concern, after all. Fear not. I will deal with this in due order.

Ray: Maybe. But remember how we were talking about what moves we could make when things got to a head? Well, things are getting to a head now and I think it’s time we made the first move. We need to use the fact there are more Sylvans coming. Can you tell me if they’re all coming together or if they’re coming in batches?

Kredevel: In smaller groups, yes. Separated by a small time interval, of perhaps half an hour or so.

Well, that was basically together for Ray’s purposes. But that was good.

Ray: Great. I can make good use of that.

Kredevel: I What are you going to do?

Ray told him about the entire conversation with the old guys that ruled Cliff Two, with how the lord was pushing very exacting terms. But Ray was planning to turn the tables on them with the reveal of some vital information. Something they couldn’t refuse.

Like the knowledge that the Floor Lord might soon be reinforced with a small battalion of his kind.

Kredevel: Risky, but also, ingenious. Force them to confront us with wildly off expectations so that we can then overcome them with ease.

That was definitely the plan. Though, how well that would eventually be executed was anyone’s guess. Plus, things were already going to be a little wild with Kredevel’s plan to interfere with Mary Felds soon. If he got captured or worse, who was going to inform the incoming Sylvans about the whole business?

Kredevel took care of that part. He was going to leave a message that only the Sylvans would be able to find. Perfect.

Ray: And afterwards? Your plan kind of hinges on the Floor Lord’s actual intentions aligning with our assumptions, doesn’t it?

Kredevel: We will deal with that when the time comes.

That was as good as a plan as any. At least, when they were making one in such short notice. After all, Mary might already be moving in to confront the Floor Lord, if she had indeed found the chief of the Sylvans on this Floor. Kredevel had no time to waste.

Same went for Ray. He headed straight to where he could find Cory. There was a guard outside his door, the same guy who had led him here. Once Ray impressed upon him just how urgent the situation was, with a quick mention of the Floor Lord, the man led him straight to the chamber he had last met his host. Cory appeared moments later, dressed in a long robe.

“What is the matter?” His voice was a little testy. Clearly, he didn’t enjoy having his rest interrupted. “You say you have news about the Floor Lord?”

“Yes. I have information. But it isn’t free.”

Cory’s eyes were awash with scepticism. “What kind of information?”

Ray had a lot of considerations driving what he had to say next. He couldn’t just tell Cory about what Mary had told him. That wasn’t going to work. Most likely, Cory and every other important member of the Second Floor’s administrators under the Everstead kingdom already knew where Mary was headed. Or at least, they knew her location, and what she intended to do.

Plus, they also knew that Ray was on their tail. Supposedly. After all, he must have learned something incriminating about the Everstead kingdom in that Flesh Dungeon. It was why they were suddenly quite hostile to him now, after all.

Hostile, without tipping everything into outright aggression just yet. Both sides still wanted to make the best use of each other.

Which was why Ray had to tell Cory about the “Actual” Floor Lord about to make an appearance. It was essentially a betrayal of Kredevel, but that was what they had planned for.

“Fake?” Cory asked. “The Floor Lord about to be discovered by the investigator isn’t real?”

“What I meant was that Mary is mistaken in her search,” Ray said. “She won’t find the real culprit. The Floor Lord is pretty cunning.”

“And how can you be so sure that you know where the Floor Lord is truly at?”

Ray smiled. “Let’s stop the pretence that any of us are ignorant of what’s really going on here. We all know what the Floor Lord wants, and why she wants it. This Floor was never supposed to be yours, Lord Cory. It was never supposed to be Everstead kingdom’s. And now the Floor Lord wants it back.”

Cory had tensed as soon as Ray had begun talking about ending pretences. But by the time he paused, that tension had gone away. Hmm. Curious.

“And fooling the investigator is part of her ploy to take back the Floor?” Cory asked.

“I’m glad we’re not pretending that the Floor belongs to you. But anyway, the Floor Lord can’t take back the Floor alone. She needs assistance. Allies. Fellow Sylvans who will help her reconquer what she considers to be hers.”

It took a few more seconds for Cory to realize what Ray had implied. His eyes widened as he said, “More Already?”

Ray nodded. “All this time, the Floor Lord has been waiting until more of the Sylvan contingent arrives from the First Floor. Now, they’re going to arrive. Not a lot of them. Not yet. But enough for the Sylvans to start carving a foothold on the Second Floor.”

Cory cursed something that Ray couldn’t decipher. “We must end this threat.”

“Immediately.”

The reasonings and logic Ray had provided were apparently enough for Cory to get to work. Either that, or he wasn’t willing to take any chances. Whatever the case, Ray had succeeded. He detailed the exact location the “actual” Floor Lord was going to appear, and how she most likely meant to join up with the rest of her ascending kind.

“This information is highly valuable.” His eyes squinted a bit. “If it can be trusted.”

Of course. They weren’t ever going to fully believe Ray at face value. “But clearly, it’s good enough to make you take action.”

“And in return, you want to ignore all the tasks we would have you do and instead, use our information to hunt monsters.”

That wasn’t a question, but Ray answered anyway. “More or less.”

Cory turned to the guard he had assigned to keep Ray under watch. “Give him what he wants.”

Ray turned his smile onto the guard, who maintained a carefully impassive face. “Excellent.”

“Perhaps.” The tone in Cory’s voice made Ray swivel his head back to the lord. “But you have traded information for information. There is one more matter you are forgetting. Don’t you wish to earn more True Mana shards?”

Ray scowled. “Info not good enough to just tell me where this person who can create the shards is?”

“It is simply a different matter. Let us make another deal. You perform one task, and I will tell you the location of the shard smith.”

“What task?”

“Simple. Your distaste stems from the mundanity of what we would have you do, yes? Then fear not. In the following task, you will have the freedom to exercise your powers to their fullest, deadliest extent.” His eyes met Ray’s, dots of darkness that offered nothing beyond what he said. “Tomorrow, I want you to kill some of our people.”