"So you think the kid might be hers?" Dungeon Master 20 asked, seemingly unable to digest my theory. I warped out of existence only to appear several hundred meters later, keeping up with Dungeon Master 20 as we rushed in the direction from which we both sensed the disturbance.
"Yes," I nodded, more or less if not entirely convinced of that theory.
With that face, that reaction she had against Dungeon Master 20 and toward me, everything was suggesting that.
What a mess. It was, that’s for sure.
I looked down at the spherical communicating device in my hand, hoping it would provide guidance on what we were supposed to do.
"Dungeon Master 02, sigh... this is a mess," Dungeon Master 07 said through the device, his voice carrying a tone I rarely ever heard him use. Clearly, he too was having trouble digesting our latest finding. I couldn't blame him. While we couldn't say that one of us popping up a kid, whether accidentally or voluntarily, never happened, it was a first for a female-incarnated Dungeon Master. Well, actually, there had been one before, but her circumstances back then were very different from those of Dungeon Master 20.
Reigning over his turmoil, Dungeon Master 07 asked, "Are you at least sure that it is safe for you? You mentioned her attacking Dungeon Master 20?"
"Yes, I am," I confirmed with absolute confidence. "If she wanted to attack me, nothing would've stopped her from doing so."
"I... I see."
"As for why she attacked Dungeon Master 20, well... you know how he is," at that moment, I glanced at the white-haired Dungeon Master who, at least, to some extent, displayed guilt for what he did.
"Is it because he messed up with the kid?"
"Yes. She really didn't approve of that, thus warranting her rather hostile reaction. Now that I think of it, he was really lucky she didn't go as far as to use her main abilities against him; he would've been toasted, haha."
Dungeon Master 20 clearly wanted to add something but ultimately chose not to.
A strange silence set in as I warped in and out of existence as we closed in on the source of the disturbance until Dungeon Master 07, through the device, most likely sensing my unrest, asked, "You're sure you're okay?”
I don’t sound like I am, am I?
"No, I'm fine. I'm just a little shaken, but as I said, I'm fine."
"I see. Nonetheless, the fact that she just attacked Dungeon Master on sight for a… Tsk. It’s concerning enough, so be careful. Just in case it goes any further wrong, I’ll have Dungeon Master 14 or Dungeon Master 05 on stand by, should the former not be unavailable."
The fact that he was willing to even resort to involving Dungeon Master 14 in this matter proved how seriously Dungeon Master 07 took this matter.
While it's more of a tacitly implied agreement between us, since, well, we were who we were—proud and stubborn—we all Dungeon Masters were aware that Dungeon Master 07 was to be considered a sort of higher-up, or at the very least, a little above any of us in the existing chain of command between us. This partly stems from the fact that he was the first one of us to be sent to Fiendfell, and also that he was the one with whom Dungeon Master 00 bestowed upon the task to look after us, as that was something that Dungeon Master 00, in spite of all the authority in his possession, could not do. But another major reason for which this also worked so well without any of us tempted to question his authority is the fact that he undoubtedly proved himself, which is why while he, in his current incarnation, could be described as weak, he is still without the most influential of us all.
"Understood," I said, subconsciously nodding to the device. "Alright, contact us as soon as there's any update."
On these words, he cut the connection, prompting me to store the device. Just as I did so, Dungeon Master 20 asked, "This is going to be a stain, isn't it?"
"What?"
"What just happened, it's going to be a stain on my record, isn't it?"
I thought over what just happened and simply said, "Yes." Sure, in this matter, if one were to ask who's going to be in bigger trouble, no doubt that it would be her, but just because it was the case, it didn't mean that he wouldn't. So if his question was, "Is this going to be a stain on my record?" the answer is obviously yes.
He tsked and said, with a regretful sounding voice, "Since the last time I was entrusted with something important and messed up, bringing trouble to everyone, I made sure to not get my ass in trouble. But somehow I always find a way to do exactly that," he sighed.
If by ‘not get my ass in trouble,’ you meant not using those problematic abilities of yours, then credits where it's due—I'm not dead yet. Otherwise, that is quite a lengthy path ahead.
Perhaps it was the fact that he took a very pitiful voice, or perhaps it felt very awkward to hear someone who I know is at his core a copy being so pathetic. "It's not too late to change that. Do better."
"How do I do that?"
How am I supposed to know? I'm not an alienist.
"Don't know, get counseling or something?" Just as I said that, I felt we were getting close, so we slowed down, and a few seconds later, we arrived at the spot. Reflexively, I summoned the communicating device back, ready to contact reinforcement should I have to. While I was very doubtful I would have to, unless Dungeon Master 20 managed to get us in another trouble, I was not taking any risk here.
I warped into a place in the middle that, if I were to describe, had nothing particular to it. It was just a random spot in the middle of a forest.
I have been a Dungeon Master long enough to know that what I felt was not a disturbance in space or anything of such a physical reaction like the one Dungeon Master 18 caused rushing over, but instead, a disturbance caused by the thing other than the interface ruling this world: G.P.
When Dungeon Master 20 and I arrived at the spot, we naturally expected to find Dungeon Master 20 and the kid—two of them. However, as we got there, we only saw one. The boy was there, standing on his own, seemingly in the forest. He was there, alone, crying, desperately calling out the name he seems to refer to Dungeon Master 20: "Mah," with Dungeon Master 20 (her) being nowhere to be seen. To confirm it, I looked in Dungeon Master 20's direction seeking confirmation from him. When it comes to detection, he was much better than me, but his response was the same: she was not around. What happened? Where had she gone to? Why would she leave the child behind, especially when she almost snapped Dungeon Master 20 in half to retrieve him from us?
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More curious than ever and wanting answers, we closed in on the boy. Finally noticing our presence, he first displayed a look of expectation only to have one suggesting that the said expectation had been brutally shattered. At the sight of us, and especially Dungeon Master 20, he began crying even harder, most likely remembering what happened just a moment ago. Dungeon Master 20 backed off a few meters, and I, wary like never before of an attack that could kill me on the spot, said genuinely trying to be reassuring, "It's okay, kid. We're not doing anything anymore. So don't cry."
Why is it that I thought that would calm him down, I wondered internally as he kept on crying. "Hush, hush little buddy, don't cry now."
Ah, Goddess, I'm really not good at this, I couldn't help but lament.
It was at that moment that I heard from a distance behind, "I got some lollipop if you want?" he said before effectively pulling another one of the lollipops he's been sucking on through the whole journey from his pocket.
'You seriously think that's going to work,' I would have said under normal circumstances, but right now I was desperate to calm the kid down. I was all the more positive to the idea as the kid slowly calmed down. With my hand, I motioned at Dungeon Master 20 to pass over the lollipop, but as I waited for him to pass it over, nothing landed on my extended hand. I looked back at him urging, "Oi, the lollipop," and as I did, I noticed his expression.
He was staring at the kid with an expression that I assumed would once again make the kid cry, but strangely enough it didn't. He was frowning with a confused but at the same time, for once, very serious expression on his face.
"What is it?" I asked.
He looked back at me and said, "The kid... look at him... appraise the kid," urging me. Though confused as to why he wanted me to appraise the kid, I nonetheless used my [Appraisal] skill.
<“Baby” successfully appraised>
_____________________________
Name: Baby
Level: ???
Race: Verdenkind
Class: N/A
Title: N/A
Experience: 25 / 225
[Status]
- H.P: 6 / 7
- M.P: 3 / 26
- S.P: 4 / 7
- Fatigue: 63%
- Defense: N/A
- Offense: N/A
[Skills]
- Telekinesis: Level 2
- Fire Magic: Level 1
- Identify: Level 1
- Appraisal: Level 2
- Anti-appraisal: Level 1
[Abilities]
???
『Expand』
_____________________________
Having successfully appraised the little boy, for a short second, if it was hardly a second, I saw the boy’s stats being displayed through the interface. But then, the next instant, the interface simply disappeared as if my skill had been deactivated. Confused, I once again used the skill on the boy, but curiously, it took much longer to produce a response.
________________________
Name: ???
Level: ???
Race: Verdenkind
Class: Classless
Title: Monster Slayer / Kinslayer / Champion
Experience: 17 / 780
[Status]
- H.P: 12 / 12
- M.P: 28 / 28
- S.P: 7 / 7
- Fatigue: 63%
- Defense: N/A
- Offense: N/A
[Skills]
- Swordsmanship: Level 1
- Martial Art: Level 1
- Memorial Magic: Lvl 1
- Heightened Physique: Level 1
- Elemental Infusion: Level 1
- Identification: Level 1
- Appraisal: Level 1
[Abilities]
- Spawn: Unlocked
- Memory Manipulation: Unlocked
- Monstrous Resilience: Unlocked
- Feral Instinct: Locked
- Monster Slayer's Mark: Unlocked
- Death Dealer: Locked
- Weapon Enhancement: Locked
- Bloodlust: Locked
- Extract Dungeon Core: Unlocked
- Baby
『Expand』
_____________________________
As I stared at the incomprehensible display in front of me and finally came to notice that the boy had gone completely silent, I stood there, staring at the boy in the eyes. As I did, I felt something—something that didn’t translate through the interface. Instead, it was more like a hunch, something that told me that the one staring at me wasn’t just a random child but someone I, as a Dungeon Master, was much closer to.
“Dungeon Master 18?”
***
At that moment, while I did feel a sense of danger or something, I activated the device to contact Dungeon Master 07. Whatever happened, whatever was coming out of this, I would not be involved.
"I’m out."