Juno kept touching his now nonexistent face. He sucked in breaths through slits that ran along his chin, the sound like wind passing through paper blinds. By this point, Alistair had rushed over to the goblin he had killed and flipped it over to find one of the more horrifying things he could remember seeing in a while.

The goblin shared Juno’s features, from the boy’s kind eyes to the slightly crooked grin he usually wore on his face.

Ghost: Well, you killed your friend.

“Would you should the fuck up?” Alistair hissed as he looked down at the goblin.

Zola shrieked. It was a delayed scream, the girl quickly sending her hands over her mouth. “Juno!” she rushed forward and to Alistair’s surprise she hugged him. “We’ll figure this out.”

“My face is flat. Holy shit…” Juno laughed in a muffled way. “This isn’t funny!” he said before Zola could scold him.

“Everyone relax,” Kanda said as she stepped over to them. “Fiera, to me.”

The flamekitsune approached and sat, her bright tail further illuminating the area. “I don’t like the look of this,” the fox said.

Squish! Ziggy, who had remained on Alistair’s shoulder, moved around frantically from side to side.

“It’s okay,” Alistair said, hoping to comfort the slime.

Ghost: This is not okay. I don’t know what to—

“Everyone relax,” Kanda said, louder this time. “Relax!”

Zola pressed away from Juno, who continued to touch at his face. Her eyes locked on the older girl. “What the fuck is wrong with you? How are we supposed to relax when—”

“Quiet, Zola, and watch your tone with me. There is a solution. I wouldn’t tell everyone to relax if there wasn’t.”

Zola’s wand hand shook, like she was tempted to point it at Kanda. “What’s the solution!?”

“Tarnis?”

[Oh, now you need my help.]

Kanda ignored the way he spoke to her and continued: “I need you to read me the Tome of the Wild beastairy information and explain the known cures for goblin facelessness.”

[Huh. That’s rather convenient for you. But I still don’t hear what’s in it for me.]

“You are required—”

[I can provide Bestiary information to a chaperone, true. But deeper information from the Tome of the Wild, such as known cures, isn’t normally given unless you happen to be a member of Seraph’s Rest, or the Wraithen Archives, or you have explicit permission as a chaperone to receive the information, which you, Skyward, do not.]

Kanda and Zola exchange glances. Zola spoke: “I work at the Archives.”

[What!?]

“It’s true—”

“Holy hamster tits I can’t see anything,” Juno said in his weird voice.

Zola shot him a funny look. “Hamster-what?”

He laughed nervously. “Good one, right?”

[In that case, we need to reneg on our—]

“No, there is no reneging,” Kanda told Tarnis. “We have made an agreement. We will get the core and you will provide us with a dungeon core card.”

[Yes, that’s true. But if I’m going to give you any more information than what is required of me, I have my own terms. One term, really. Call off your Abyssal summons and tackle this dungeon like a man.]

“I’m a woman. There are two women here at the moment.”

[Whatever. Those are my terms, Skyward. Either clear this dungeon the old fashioned way, or don’t, I don’t really care now. Well, I do care. But you know what I mean. If you want to know the known cure for noppera-bo goblin facelessness, then you’ll do as I say.]

A message came in from Zola, one meant for all of them.

Zola: Let’s do what he says. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty. We have to help Juno.

Kanda: I agree. Let’s do what he says. However, you need to get one of these goblins as a summon if you can, Zola.

Zola: Why?

Kanda: For two reasons. While you all were screwing around grabbing cards, Tarnis gave me the basics from the Bestiary. This could be an incredible summon to have in certain regards. Also, as part of the Archives, you could donate it for study and be part of the team that studies it.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Zola: That sounds…

Kanda: Exactly like something you’d like to do? I figured. I’ll speak with Tarnis.

Juno: Hey! My voice sounds normal here. Did I tell you all that I can’t see shit? Because I can’t.

Kanda: Juno, standby. Alistair, slime him.

Alistair: Slime him?

Kanda: Ziggy can control Juno, right? Have the slime help.

Tarnis laughed loud enough to interrupt their conversation.

[Well? Do we have a deal, Skyward? Will you stop your petty cheating for accessing to information? Yes or no? Decide now.]

“We agree to your terms, Tarnis.”

[Good!]

“Alistair, call Lionel back. I’ll do the same with Daisy.” Kanda brought her hand out and a rush of resonant mana struck her palm.

Alistair recalled Lionel in the same way. Noctarii, who had gone ahead to join the abyssals, quickly returned.

“What the hell happened—?” He did a flip upon seeing Juno’s face. “Whoa! That kid doesn’t have a face!”

“Alistair, catch him up,” Kanda said as she returned her focus to Tarnis.

“At least let me catch you all up first,” Noctarii said. “Your sweet little shadow monsters killed more monsters on the floor below. So expect more cards.”

[Such a cheap trick!]

“That’s fine,” Kanda told Tarnis. “How do we do this?”

[How do I know you won’t double-cross me?]

“You have our word.”

[I don’t need your word. I need proof. Start clearing the chambers. I’ll tell you what needs to happen when it needs to happen.]

A grimace took shape on Kanda’s face, which was immediately replaced by a sharp smile. “Fine. Let’s go. Alistair. Ziggy?”

Squish? the slime asked from Alistair’s shoulder.

“You’re in charge of Juno,” Alistair said, the young mage still in shock at seeing his roommate without a face. “Ziggy, help him.”

Squish! The slime hopped to the ground and zigzagged over to Juno, where he jumped onto his shoulder. From there, he entirely took over the boy’s arms and legs, performed a couple of practice steps, and stopped. Squish … Squish. He let out a final squish to let them know he was ready. Squish!

“This feels so weird!” Juno said. “Never thought I’d be piloted by a slime.”

Noctarii fluttered closer to the two of them. “I’d better stick around to make sure Ziggy doesn’t mess this up.”

Ziggy growled at Noctarii.

“It’s for your own good, slime. I’d pilot him myself, but he would need a mouth for me to do that.”

“Please, don’t,” Juno told Noctarii.

Once again, Kanda took the lead. “Fiera, keep the area illuminated. Let’s hit the next chamber, you all can gather cards, and we’ll head down. Tarnis, how many chambers do you think there are in this dungeon?”

[How am I supposed to know that?]

“Okay, what’s an average amount?”

[There is no average amount, but I can tell you when you are closer to the solution of the Fledgling’s little face problem.]

Alistair figured now would be the right time to ask. “How is he watching us, exactly?”

[The little boy orphan has a lot to learn about Resonant Mana, but I suppose that is why he is a Fledgling. Do you want to answer him, or should I?]

Juno sneezed through the nostrils on the sides of his face, startling Ziggy. “Holy wow that was wild!”

Zola remained just about as flummoxed as Alistair could ever remember seeing her. “Juno stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Just remain still. Ziggy, keep him steady, and let’s continue on. Ugh. And as for the answer to your question, Alistair: Tarnis has tapped into the dungeon core, the vein running through this chamber, watching us like the creep he is.”

[I’m not a creep!]

“But he doesn’t own this core?” Alistair asked.

[If I did, this dungeon would be a lot harder!]

“You’re such a suckbutt, Tarnis,” Juno said as Ziggy piloted his body, his steps exaggerated as if Juno was underwater. “Huh, I think I could get used to this.”

“Juniper, quiet,” Kanda said. “You’re not going to get used to it. And don’t send a message to Mellisa.”

“Why the shit would I do that?” Juno asked in his muffled voice.

A message came in from Ghost just as they reached the next chamber.

Ghost: Well, this is beyond fucked.

Alistair: You think?

Ghost: But I suppose there are advantages to being faceless. For one, it would be easier to wear a disguise. Actually, no, that isn’t the case. And how would he eat?

Alistair: I can’t believe you’re seriously entertaining this!

Ghost: I’m not entertaining this, I’m entertaining you. Relax, like Kanda said. She clearly has a plan.

Alistair: I’m sure she does, but not all of her plans align with what we need.

Ghost: What do you mean?

Alistair: She wants the dungeon core card.

Ghost: I know. We’ll talk with Zola about how that would work.

Alistair: Her intentions could be anything. They could be to stop the Unknown Souls, or they could be to seize control over the Baronblades.

Ghost: Why are you thinking about this when you should be thinking about Juno?

Alistair: Because all I want to do is think about Juno’s condition and thinking about this is a distraction.

Ghost: Fair. As for Kanda, from what I understand, she could also use a card like that to imprison future opponents.

Alistair: She could use it to imprison us.

Ghost: I’ve thought of that as well. Tonight, you’ll come here and we can discuss further. You need to be ready to use a sword tomorrow, or better, we need to be ready to switch back and forth. We also need to figure out a better time to deal with Goran. Perhaps dealing with this dungeon was the wrong move. It’s too bad we can’t just kill Tarnis. That would solve at least some of our problems.

“Look at all the Resonant Cards,” Zola said, which broke Alistair out of his conversation with Ghost.

Alistair quickly counted at least nine cards hovering above the dead monster bodies in the new chamber..

“Fiera, make sure they’re all dead,” Kanda instructed her summon.

“As you wish.” The blazekitsune’s tail flared and the numerous dead monsters all caught fire. At just about the moment the smell of charred bodies reached them, Kanda cast her hand to the side and conjured a gust of wind that took the smell out of the room. “Good,” the older girl said, “grab the cards and we’ll continue. Juno, hang tight. We’ll get to the end of this.”