“I still think that you’re mad for attempting this. Usually, they’d send us a ransom. We’d have to free some of their men or give up a fort. They won’t kill the princess though unless they are being foolish.” The commander explained.

“You said it yourself, we have three months. We can’t afford any setbacks.”

“You’re a crazy man, Drakus, but I respect you.”

We were in front of the keep. It was still night out, but I figured that would be the best time to infiltrate an enemy keep. The commander was even able to give me an incense that if burned, it supposedly kept the other monsters at bay. That way, I’d be able to progress in the night quickly without too much concern. As for my outfit, I was wearing the enemy outfit now. They had one in the keep and I was able to squeeze into it. Why didn’t it disappear for them? Ah, whatever, trying to understand the logic of a dungeon now was only foolishness.

“Once you’re out of our sight, our men won’t recognize you as one of our own.” The commander warned. “Until you acquire the princess, you will no longer have our support and you’ll be stuck on your own.”

That was the same position I was in when I entered this dungeon, so there was no change there. I had been worrying that the commander would struggle to accept my role, but Karma was very good at covering things up. I supposed I also had Copy Behavior, so I was able to copy the behavior I recalled in my rather short interactions with Drakus. It seemed to be enough to dupe the commander, at least, and that was what was important at the moment.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Drakus, it seemed, was a lord, rank Count. It was Count Drakus. Could it truly be karma that I ended up taking on the role of a fellow Count? I couldn’t say. However, I knew what I must do, so I began heading to the fort where the princess might have been recently caught. It was true that this was only our best guess. She might have been killed already, or taken to a farther away keep. I tried to keep a cautious optimism as I moved forward.

With incense burning, I had already left the safety of the skeleton keep and began my journey on undead horseback toward the keep on the other side of a small creek. It was seriously a small creek. I could step across it if I needed to. My horse was able to jump across it with ease. After thirty minutes of riding, we didn’t encounter any enemies either, although I did hear numerous scary calls on the way.

I finally reached the keep. Dismounting from the horse, I decided to leave him in the treeline so that he could help with our escape. After I tied him up and started heading toward the keep, using the cover of darkness to aid me. I was glad I had just the right dungeon point skills to aid in my ability to move swiftly and quietly. If I was seen from a distance, I’d look like just another soldier. I might look like a suspicious soldier, but not one they’d fill with arrows in a heartbeat.

This time, I saw a troop of similarly coated demons marching in formation into the keep. As soon as the last man passed, I jumped up and began marching right behind him. It was a bold move, yet the people watching the procession enter the keep didn’t look twice as I marched right through their doors and into the keep.

The princess was as good as saved!