Doremi, Sola, and Tido arrived at the village without fanfare. Save for John, who looked more tired than excited. John walked up to the three, raised an eyebrow at how much Tido was praising the crows for the journey, and then turned to look at Doremi and Sola.

“So, you two are the ones that’ll go through the dungeon, I assume?”

“That’s right!” Doremi said excitedly, hopping from one foot to the other. “We’re gonna need to know all the stuff you know, and then we’ll be ready to go as soon as possible!”

Sola lightly tapped Doremi on the shoulder, reminding her not to talk John’s ears off before she got too deep in talking. Doremi let Sola take the lead.

“As much as I’d love to get to the point as quickly as my partner here, we’re gonna need a place to stay. We’ve got tents in the case that there’s nowhere to go, but…”

John nodded, noticing what Sola was referring to.

“The Incinerate Inn next to the bakery. You’ll know it when you see it, considering that it’s got a dragon skull on the sign. I’ve already booked a room for you all, but you’re free to book more. As is policy, I will pay for your stay, but not for your food or other supplies. Finally, do mind the baker. His name is Fizz, and he wants to eat the spiders.”

“I’d wanna eat the spiders too, if they were made out of food!-” Doremi interjected excitedly, but John cut her off.

“Let me be clear. He wants to eat the normal spiders and the pastry spiders.”

“Oh.”

“As I was saying,” John continued, “If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, the dungeon office of this quaint town is over there. I must inform you that I’m the only one working there - considering that, just a few days ago, this was a far more normal dungeon - but I’m sure you get the point.”

John grinned. “Now, go have some fun. I’ve rambled long enough.”

Doremi happily started running off, while Sola got their luggage and started heading to the inn. Sola didn’t mind Doremi’s excitement; It only made sense. Doremi’s thirst for knowledge couldn’t be quenched by anything except an archive of everything… But in what world would that exist?

Idly walking around town as Sola absently looked for the ‘Incinerate Inn,’ Sola heard the bakery next to it before seeing the dragon sign. That fact was mostly due to the maniacal laughter. Politely ignoring whatever madman resided in there, Sola unpacked all of her and Doremi’s stuff while whistling a tune.

Doremi appeared not long after, joining Sola in their shared room.

“I went around town and introduced myself, and I’ve learned a few things I think you should also know! That bakery nearby is committing tax fraud using a legal loophole,”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“What.”

“The sign that says the Insect Dungeon is ‘under maintenance’ wasn’t originally placed there by John,”

“What.”

“And this town apparently had a really good adventurer economy before the dungeon was closed.”

Sola stared at Doremi.

“Out of the three things you said, only one of them was normal. I don’t doubt a dungeon wouldn’t recognize that a sign on it means nobody enters, but that implies that the dungeon here has a bit more area than it should. You know how hard it is for a dungeon to get any area outside of the magic well that half of them appear on. That’s why most dungeons, y’know, don’t end up taking the area of other dungeons. It just doesn’t happen.”

Doremi blinked at Sola. Sola realized that although Doremi understood Sola, she didn’t think it was all that important. Doremi smiled at Sola, noticing that her habit of rambling has been passed onto her friend at long last.

“Some dungeons are just silly.”

Sola smiled at Doremi before continuing.

“Anyways, I’m glad you got to rush around for a while. Tomorrow at...”

Sola paused for a moment to look at the clock.

“At about 7:30, we’re gonna go explore the dungeon, so wake up at around 6. In the meantime, I’ll take a walk and get used to things, and you can do… er… Well, whatever you’d like. Just try not to bother anyone.”

She said to Doremi, who nodded eagerly. Sola calmly walked out of the comfortable Inn and began to look around town, taking her time. It wasn’t too much; Cobblestone roads, wooden buildings with wooden roofs, a small billboard in the middle of town for whatever passing adventurer to take up and get a little reward, simple things.

The town was small, sure, but it was nice. More like a village than a town, technically speaking. People idly walked on the roads, talking about inconsequential things like the weather, how their farms are doing, or their disappointment over the Insect Dungeon being closed. The middle of the town had a few stalls for snacks or food, although most of them were closed.

Looks like everything’s doing alright here. Satisfied that they hadn’t been sent to a town rampant with crime, - er, save for that odd bakery, - Sola started heading back to the Incinerate Inn. Then, since she was busy sightseeing, she accidentally bumped into Tido.

“Sorry, Ma’am!” Tido said sheepishly to Sola, holding some meat buns in his hand. “I wasn’t lookin’. Say, weren’t you one of my passengers?”

Sola nodded, before idly shaking her head.

“We’ve been coworkers for a few years, Tido. You should know my name by now.”

“Aw shucks, I know I should,” Tido started sheepishly, “But the only names I remember are ‘Kraa’ and ‘Cwoh.’ But goodness, even they need to remind me what their names are sometimes.”

Sola snickered, but looked at Tido with concern.

“You’re telling me that you can hardly even remember the names of your pet crows? I could try and heal your memory, but it’s a little advanced-”

Tido responded very quickly.

“No. I’ve got nothing against you, but, uh… I, er, don’t like healing magic in the noggin. Might jostle somethin’ I don’t want jostlin’, you know?” Tido tried to explain. “Nothin’ against you, I promise. Crow’s Honor!”

“Alright then. Well, have a good day.” Sola said with a shrug, not wanting to pry as she waved Tido off. He gave a grin before scuttling off, probably to feed his crows. Sola watched the guy run off and idly noticed a little detail as she started walking back to the Incinerate Inn.

“Huh. Never noticed he had a scar on his neck.”