Bellona followed Mordecai as he explained the layout of the dungeon’s first floor to her, but instead of bringing her through the selection chamber, he led her to a corner of the main chamber that seemed to have an odd bend to it. “This is one of our shortcuts. Only guests with permission can see or use them. All the floors are currently busy, but maybe after the evening runs of the combat floors things will die down enough for me to give you a tour.”
“That reminds me, I saw the schedule, and the time slots were listed strangely, they seemed to reset every twelve hours, with only four slots in each set?”
Mordecai nodded, “Yes, one of our recent upgrades allows our inhabitants to respawn twelve hours after dawn. We’ve set up a schedule that encourages people to start shortly after dawn and another set twelve hours later. Our rule is that an area has to be cleared through the boss before the next group can begin, though only in the early zones. The library and beyond are less linear, but there is both a time and an advancement requirement for the previous group before the next group can try. It should be enough to keep people from clumping up, and we've adjusted the rest areas to accommodate more groups while still gating who can go through. For a determined group who starts at dawn, they can camp and be rested by the time the evening group starts, and be well into the library before anyone else reaches that zone.”
As he spoke, he’d led her through that twisted corner and Bellona found herself walking down a corridor that was not attached to the room they’d just left. “This shortcut connects to the space right behind the last boss door. This corridor used to lead directly to the feast hall, but I figured out where to put my sparring arena without making people walk through it.” He gestured to a pair of corridors splitting off from the main path and sloping downward. “Those lead to the arena, while this leads directly above the arena. Though I do recommend those wearing skirts be mindful of the next room.”
Bellona jerked to a halt at the edge of the room. The floor was almost invisible, a giant sheet of almost perfect crystal that let a person view the entire arena below them. “Wow, that’s impressive.” It took a moment to mentally adjust and make herself step onto the floor she could barely see. Jumping off a cliff when you are confident you can call upon the air to cushion your landing was one thing, trusting your weight to something that looked almost like glass was another. On the arena floor far below the crystal surface were several people sparring in different groups.
“Thank you. If you want to spar later, with me or someone else, this is the best place for it. The arenas outside are for testing newcomers to the dungeon, I want to keep them free. And this setup should keep observers safe. I’ll show you how to use the enchantments on the crystal to get a close-up view later. Now, here’s our feast hall.” The tour continued on to show her where her rooms were and where the workshops and kitchen were, as well as the small, currently empty prison. Then he led her to one of the curtained alcoves which covered a door. “And this is our ‘war room’”
Bellona’s steps faltered a few feet inside the door. On a small couch, there was a five-tailed kitsune woman lounging languidly across the lap of a human monk, while her cousin Kansif was chatting with a nephilim orc of fiendish influence. They appeared to be talking about what was going on in an animated illusion. Kansif broke off the conversation to walk over with a grin and hugged Bellona tightly. “About time you got here. And now you get to know a couple of minor secrets.” She waved at the couch, “That’s actually Princess Orchid, and that’s Lord Paltira with her,” The kitsune waved and briefly shifted to her human form, shrinking a few inches with a slight alteration of her features that made her more clearly resemble the portraits that Bellona knew. Paltira simply nodded an acknowledgment, then resumed brushing the princess’s hair and tails when she shifted back to her kitsune form, “And this is Xarlug, their companion and my newest trainee.”
The orc man raised his hand in greeting, “Hey. Your cousin has been threatening to drag you into our training sessions for weeks, be prepared.” Bellona gave a small wave back as she regained her composure.
“It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.” She’d been tempted to bow, but even the princess was behaving in a very relaxed and casual manner; it didn’t feel appropriate to the situation.
“When you are settled in, come back here. This tends to be where we gather since we get to watch the dungeon’s events from here,” At Kansif’s words Bellona took a better look at the pedestal with the illusion on it, and watched as Xarlug manipulated some crystals on the surface to adjust the image to zoom in on a particular group fighting in the mushroom forest.
Then she jumped slightly as a different short column lit up with an illusion. “Hello Bellona! I’m Kazue!” said the image of the red-haired kitsune, “I can talk to you directly whenever you are near one of these. I got tired of not having a body, and this is the best substitute I’ve come up with.”
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
“Hello Kazue,” Bellona replied. The situation was beginning to feel a touch surreal with the rapid changes to her expectations and the flood of information to keep up with, “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well,” She’d been saying that a lot today, “I take it this is the end of the tour for now?”
“Yep!” Kazue said, “Mordecai can show you around the zones when it's not busy, and maybe you and Li can play later too. My husband does seem to like using our visitors to entertain him.” She cast an amused look over at Princess Orchid.
“Don’t remind me,” The princess muttered with her eyes closed, “Don’t get me wrong, he’s sweet and naive, but he’s hard to keep up with.”
Well. That was interesting. Bellona filed that under ‘to think about later’ and asked, “Then, before I settle in, should we go over my duties as an envoy? I want to make sure we are on the same page.” Just because she didn’t care for the political aspects of this job didn’t mean she wouldn’t do her best. Mordecai and Kazue's illusion exchanged nods, then Mordecai gestured for her to go ahead. “First, communication. I have been given a Traveling Secretary Box with enchantments that will let me send and receive messages to and from a specific message station at the palace. This won’t be instant communication as the receiving stations are monitored on a watch rotation unless messages are expected from a particular remote location, but the message will get there, and be read in no more than an hour in a worst-case scenario. Communication with Riverbridge, Azeria, or any of the tribes is still up to you. I am authorized to use it on your behalf for any reasonable communication, even minor things like invitations, but not more frivolous things such as passing casual correspondence.”
She paused to give them a chance to ask any questions, but they didn’t seem to have any so she continued on with the next part, “As I am sure you can guess, a part of my duties is to observe and report,” Bellona couldn’t keep from making a face at that, “I called it out as spying on an ally, and was informed that everyone knows that, but I still don’t like it.” She paused as giggling erupted from the couch.
“Oh, you poor thing, you are definitely related to my dear Kansif,” Orchid said as she slid from Paltira’s lap, transitioning from indolent lounging to delicate grace as she glided across the floor to embrace Bellona warmly. “It is okay. They will understand that you are doing your duty. And if it makes you feel better, they somehow have an inside line to the kingdom,” Orchid pulled away from Bellona with a smile, then turned her gaze to Mordecai. The princess’s body language shifted again as she walked towards him, a slight sway of her hips causing her tails to swish softly.
“I don’t know more than that, but they weren’t surprised enough at some information I gave them. If I thought it would work, I’d try and seduce it out of one of them,” Her voice had gone low and sultry, “Unfortunately, I think this one could keep his secrets even if he weren’t already faithfully bound,” As she spoke Orchid paced a slow circle around Mordecai, raising a hand to lightly run a nail over his arms and back. “Now, if I had an unwed Kazue in my hands,” she cast a half-lidded gaze toward the illusion, “that would have been a different matter,” She shook her head and it was like a mask fell off as Orchid walked back to the couch where Paltira was waiting for her, his expression perfectly neutral. “Mm, now for even that bit of teasing I’ve got a price to pay later tonight, don’t I love?” She said, sliding into his lap to kiss him, holding the kiss for a long moment as his arms wrapped around her tightly.
When their kiss broke, Orchid looked back over to Bellona, “I would like you to note that the only people surprised here are you and Kazue.” The red-headed kitsune’s illusion was in fact blushing intensely. “While I did find an excuse to not feel obliged to take on such missions anymore, I have been quite thoroughly trained. I was only so blatant just now as a demonstration, and to take advantage of the ability to do so with sincere allies. We all have different talents. You can’t help being forthright and honest, and even as allies knowing that this is the intended effect, they will be slightly less guarded around you, which means you may see something I would not get to see. This is the game, and everyone must play to win, even when helping others. Winning, in this case, simply means a nation protecting itself, so there is a valid need for us to know how this smaller political entity got a secret source of information. But they are also trusted allies because of Kazue and Moriko, so I can afford to be honest like this.”
She smiled impishly, “Of course, this also buys me credibility by exposing at least part of my hand. Mordecai knows it too, and there we get into the infinite loop of each knowing that the other knows. I admit that I really like getting to not play that game here, that I don’t have to pretend to not know when we both know that I do. So go on Bellona, be honest about who you are and what your duties are, they won’t be offended.”
Bellona had been too stunned by the princess’s actions to respond, and only now was she able to shake it off enough to take in the rest of the room. Kansif looked somewhere between amused and melancholy, Kazue was as shocked as Bellona was, Xarlug looked … well, she wasn’t sure, but definitely not surprised, and Mordecai looked gently sympathetic. “She is right, though I wasn’t expecting her to put on that show. You’ve been dragged into politics and diplomacy. But it will be easier to have someone who isn’t playing overly complicated games. Orchid’s doing her best to relax, but I suspect the games come as a habit by now.”
The princess fluttered her eyelashes with overly dramatic innocence. “I know not of what thou speaketh.”
Bellona sighed, “I’m still not sure I understand, but maybe that’s part of the point. But back to reviewing what my duties are. I am to help defend the dungeon, though I have been advised there is a significant advantage to being a contractor and that I should consider trying to become one for you, but I am concerned about a conflict of interests...”