“Wait, you know him?” Kazue asked, “How old is he?”
“Older than me, by a good amount,” Mordecai replied as he sent his focus to where the two had paused, “He was a king once, but that kingdom was only known to scholars and archaeologists long before I came into existence. Now, what I am curious about is why that girl is wearing the gear I crafted. That’s the set Traxalim commissioned.”
His focus picked up on an interesting bit of conversation, as Gil told the girl by his side, “Huh, that’s strange. It feels like we just crossed between dungeons. We shouldn’t be in any dungeon right now.”
Mordecai swore, of course the man could feel the change that well. He might be unsubtle with his own power, but someone doesn’t become that old without being able to pick up on minor changes in your environment. Being aware of when to shut up is a different matter. He quickly located an unoccupied rabbat and transferred him to the branches of a nearby tree with a message.
The rabbat swooped down to a level where they could talk to the pair, “Hey, the boss man says -woah! Watch it girly!” Gil had snatched the thrown knife out of the air before it could actually be a threat, but the tall girl was clearly on edge, “You aren’t in a combat zone, you won’t be welcome if you keep that up. Ahem. As I was saying to the big one, boss man says you are about as subtle as a ship on fire at night, and to meet him at the inn. And to be clear, the dungeon entrance is the cave. Yes?”
Gil frowned slightly as he handed the dagger back to the horned, wolf-eared girl, “Fuyuko, your reflexes are good, but be sure to know why you are attacking, being nervous is not a good excuse,” the girl had the grace to blush and look down as she gently sheathed her dagger, “Now, what do you mean that the dungeon entrance is ahead? I can clearly feel-”
Fuyuko elbowed him to interrupt, “Yeah, this creature’s boss knows ya, he has ya dead ta rights. Ya shoved your pressure down on anyone who looked to give us trouble. I mean, made things easier, but good thin’ no one’s tryin’ ta track us or somethin’. Agree with the strange bunny bat thing and let's get this over with.”
The rabbat made a loop in the air above them, “I’m a rabbat,” Gil winced at the pun, Fuyuko took a moment longer to get it, and then looked incredulous, “And they want to know what you want to eat, they’ll get some food and a private room ready. Also, boss lady says the girl is adorable.”
“Oops, I must have thought that too loud,” Kazue muttered, then focused on the rabbat, “You weren’t supposed to say that, I was just thinking it!”
Fuyuko looked like she wanted to be struck dead on the spot, and the rabbat hovered in place as he apologized, “Er, sorry, Lady Kazue says I wasn’t supposed to say that. Um, anyway, food orders?”
Gil shrugged, “Anything hearty for me, I just want lots of it. She likes meat, so whatever is up I guess? Just make sure she gets her greens too. And -er, no, I guess I should wait to ask about that too.”
Fuyuko made a face at him, then looked at the fuzzy flying critter, “And, um, sorry about the dagger, I got nervous about this whole dungeon thing. First time, ya know?”
“Yeah, bosses understand it was an accident, but to be sure you know, there’s no surprise combat. Well, if you go down that path, then you can be ambushed or whatever, but you know what you are getting into. Anyway, it ain’t too far up the road. My job is done!” And with that, the messenger rabbat flew up the road as he gained elevation.
“She’s adorable and loves meat. I think I like her,” Kazue commented.
While the pair made their way to the town proper, Mordecai made his way to the inn while giving instructions to greet the new visitors properly. Which mostly meant making sure they were pointed the right way, the layout of the trading post was becoming a little haphazard as it continued to grow to accommodate the constant flow of aspiring delvers.
When they entered the private room in the back of the inn, Mordecai rose and bowed to them, “Welcome to my home. It’s good to see you again Gil, and a pleasure to meet you Fuyuko. I am Mordecai, and represent half of the dungeon’s core, with my wife Kazue representing the other half, and our wife Moriko as our first contractor. Unfortunately, Moriko and Kazue’s avatar are on a trip, so you can’t meet them directly just yet. But before we get into further conversation, please, take a seat and dig in while I give us some privacy.”
Gil scowled slightly as he took a seat at the food-laden table, “I liked you better as an elf.”
Mordecai snorted as he closed and locked the door and began setting privacy wards, “You preferred me as a woman, though at least you aren’t as bad as the green bird brain. But you are out of luck, I am keeping this avatar for a long time thanks to present circumstances.”
“Mm,” Gil said as he started filling his plate, and Fuyuko followed his example, “Speaking of your circumstances, how are you doing my friend?” He paused to look at Mordecai, his expression somber.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I’m doing surprisingly well actually,” Mordecai said with a small smile, “And I can thank my wives for much of that. And since we now have privacy, I can show off a small trick Kazue figured out. You can’t meet her avatar, but you can meet a projection by her core,” In a corner of the room, Kazue manifested one of her projection platforms, her image jumping to life above it.
“Hello! I’m Kazue, the original core of this dungeon and wife to Mordecai and Moriko. A pleasure to meet you both.” She curtsied to them with a smile.
Gil gave Mordecai a narrow-eyed look.
Mordecai smirked and produced a short-lived illusion of Moriko, pulling on a memory of her at the start of one of their spars, her challenging grin on her face, “This is Moriko, should you have the opportunity to meet her. She’s a monk and priestess of Sakiya,” He didn’t normally lean into showing his wives off like this, but it was fun to tease an old friend.
The giant of a man shook his head slowly, “Seb will turn even greener with envy. I have to be sure to tell him as soon as I find him again.”
“Let me guess, he got distracted by a pretty face and wandered off? Preferably one who had shiny jewelry. Or is shiny. I remember that one poor dragon-scion girl with the beautiful pattern of silver scales. Seb was absolutely obsessed. Most tengu aren’t actually as bad about shiny objects as crows are.”
Kazue rolled her eyes, “Guys, you can stop measuring now. And Mordecai, I am keeping Moriko up to date with everything,” she gave him her best frown, but that just made her look cuter.
“I’m showing her off when she’s in her element, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t mind that I think she’s hot when she’s raring for a fight,” Mordecai replied, making sure to send that out over their link to Moriko as well. The reply back was a pulse of smug satisfaction, and Mordecai grinned as Kazue sighed.
“Fine, fine, you two are weird anyway. Now, back to our guests. Um, Fuyuko, right? Mordecai noticed that you are wearing some gear that he crafted on commission, and we’re kind of curious about how that came full circle to bring you here.”
The oni-horned wolf girl looked between Mordecai and Kazue’s illusion for a moment, “So this really wasn’t your idea at all? You had no idea?”
Mordecai shook his head, “I have no idea what you are talking about. I knew nothing of your existence until you walked in. Well, aside from the measurements, but honestly I thought it was being made for an older teen male.”
Fuyuko sighed and began her long tale while she and Gil ate. Mordecai had a little of the food and drink as well to be social, but mostly he listened and asked the occasional question. It was an interesting story, and it gave him a piece of a pattern, “Looks like someone wants something done and has stacked the deck a touch. With your arrival, and assuming you decide to stay and become part of our team, we have someone with some level of devotion to five of the empyreal pillars,” He pointed at the rat-coin pendant hanging from Fuyuko’s necklace.
“Which reminds me,” he continued with a sigh, “I am guessing one of our other guests is leaving soon, probably with Gil in tow,” The man in question froze briefly as he processed that statement, and Mordecai couldn’t keep a bit of his amusement from showing, “I mean, he and Gilly are such good friends too, and I’m sure it’s just been ages since our good friend Li went on an adventure with his friend Gilly.”
The girl looked confused, but Gil understood and tossed back the last of his food and drink with unseemly haste. Then the door popped open; locks, wards, seals, and barriers be damned. “Hey Mordi, did I hear you say Gilly’s name I did! Hi Gilly, long time no see my man, how ya been?” Mordecai had no idea where the ratling had picked up this particular slang, but it was amusing to hear it come from the small one. “I’ve been hanging out with Mordi and Kazue Since Moriko and other Kazue left and making lots of new friends oh you should see the cool stuff they made and he has dracobits and stuff again but no kobolds this time instead it's these adorable bunny people you should really meet Zushi he’s an awesome ball of floof called a void bunny, and I made friends with a slime girl and a mushroom king and showed a princess around the mushroom forest and it was lots of fun even if she seemed confused a lot, princesses should know about stuff like that shouldn’t they? Oh hey, it’s Yuyu! You were the girl living with Yvie, right? Last time we talked she said you’d left on a journey so when I see her again I’ll let her know that I saw you safe and sound with my friend Mordi are you staying? He’s really cool but he already has two wives though there is a princess but I think she likes the monk and then there’s the scary cool orc lady with the giant axe you should meet her she’s awesome but anyway I can show you all the cool places to hide and stuff later oh but I have to show Gilly the cool faerie swamp witch and the two new dragons hey Gilly come on you gotta hear this awesome new music she’s come up with.”
Li had walked in stuffing one roll into his face and two more into his pockets, and during his rambling conversation he’d hopped up onto the table to help himself to even more food, and even now he didn’t stop talking, he just jumped down and tugged on Gil’s pants while continuing to talk about all the cool things he wanted to show Gil.
Moments later it was just Mordecai, Kazue, and a stunned-looking Fuyuko. Mordecai got up and closed the door, and tried to not think about how reality had warped enough to keep all his magic unbroken despite the door opening. “Well, that’s about what I was expecting,” It was hard to keep a note of melancholy from his voice at the idea of Li leaving and only getting to see Gil for so short a time, “Li’s touch on the world feels light even when its heavy, but with Gil here now it's far too much.”
Bringing the two together had actually hurt, but he’d anticipated it and was buffering the effect to keep Kazue from feeling the brunt of it, “One of the reasons I always retired my avatars when they’d reached peak mortal skill was to keep from developing that sort of effect on the world around me,” He glanced down at his current body and shook his head ruefully, “I think that’s going to change this time around. I wonder what that will be like? Well, I’ve rambled enough I think,” He sat down and met Fuyuko’s wide-eyed gaze, “So, have you pulled your thoughts together yet?”
While his avatar had been talking with the girl, he’d also been bringing Kazue and Moriko up to date. The short version of the issue is that reality would react to too much power gathered where it neither belonged nor was needed, and Mordecai had no desire to feel the impact of that sort of bad luck. An interesting life could be good, but only in moderated doses. Besides, Li wouldn’t have been able to stay here much longer anyway, and Mordecai suspected his instincts had kept him here waiting for Fuyuko’s arrival.