The preparation for a "quick" trip to the newly vassalized dungeon took us almost four hours. I used mana to force respawn the Fulminata's missing legionnaires, then I asked Jasper to prepare materials that would be needed for building a new city. In his usual manner, Jasper notified me that our enchanted stone reserves were far lower than the optimum, but he would give us what he had. We took additional supplies and seeds so we could improve the Kingdom's food supply by building additional farms in and hopefully near the newly conquered dungeon. Then we sat in our Royal Carriage and, assisted by two Praetorian Battalions, we teleported to the Dungeon of Snares. Hestia, in the last moment of preparation, cast a powerful illusion on herself, hiding her identity as a Goddess.
The first thing we noticed after we teleported on the spot was a huge tree whose branches were overhanging the entire area, yet the ground below was not cut off from the sun. It was simply enormous, far bigger than any tree should be unless magic was involved. Stella mumbled something under her breath about show-offs, but she refused to elaborate any further.
"Is that a large tree?" Aoi asked with surprise painted on her face. "I mean... I was not expecting a tree in a dungeon whose name contains the word 'snares'. Maybe a building or labyrinth..."
"Hmmm... I do not like that name at all. Snare City? That's just stupid," Luna mused as well, and internally I had to admit she was right.
Galahad and Captain Gilmour were standing with two older Humans who I couldn't recall. That meant the man was Lord Kaspian Tride, and the woman must be his wife, Lady Agatha. The accompanying warriors of Fulminata joined their legion ranks, fully replenishing their combat readiness. At the same time, my Praetorians spread around the area, increasing the safety levels from 'this is the safest place in a 50 km radius' to 'this is beyond paranoic'. Very soon after, our carriage came to a stop in front of the tent, so we started getting out. Stella was still preparing something and told us she would join us later.
"Welcome to the Dungeon of Snares, my King!" an unknown voice welcomed me with deep tones of incredulity.
"It's nice to meet you Kirin... Ummm, why are you deep inside that tree?" I asked while I was helping my Ladies to get out of the Royal Carriage.
"That's a story for a bit later if you allow me, my King," Kirin stated.
"My King! Allow me to introduce to you Lord Kaspian, the city lord of Quaia, who really cares about his people, along with Lady Agatha Tride." In a wide gesture, Galahad pointed at them while bowing in front of us. They soon followed Galahad's suit.
"It's nice to meet you." I smiled softly and introduced my Queens, after which we entered the large tent where the scent of freshly brewed tea was inviting us to take a brief break.
During that time, Lord Kaspian and Lady Agatha were talking about the story of their city. To be honest, it was nothing special- a transit city, established as the resting place for caravans. Of course, the city lord tried to make it exciting, but the only interesting thing was the mentioning of the Dryad, who supposedly lived in the nearby forest. The people of Quaia believed that the Dryad was the reason why their tea was of the best quality.
"Dryad? A forest spirit?" I asked, and Luna immediately provided me with the answer.
"Indeed. Dryads bless the area where they live, so the land is usually much more bountiful than it should be. According to the legends, they lived in the canopy of an enormous tree..." Luna's eyes went wide. "This tree! It's a Dryad tree!"
Lady Agatha looked around as if she expected that a Dryad was hidden right behind her. She couldn't hear Kirin, but this one side of the conversation was enough for the older Lady.
"Yes. The last Dryad tree in the world," Kirin admitted. "The last of Dryads live here. I was protecting them until you conquered and vassalized me. I beg you! Allow the Dryads to live here."
"Where are they?" Aoi asked with sparks of excitement in her eyes.
The flap to the tent opened and a beautiful woman with green eyes and grass-green hair came in. What I took at first as tanned skin was in fact something like tree bark, but it was as smooth as skin. She was very stressed- I couldn't blame her, knowing the tendencies of other dungeons, and I pitied her. I suspected that she had no other place to go. Besides, her tree was fused with Kirin. She could only beg for mercy, but I just couldn't believe how lucky I was. She clenched the side of her dress as she bowed to me.
"King Theon Avalon, mighty ruler and powerful dungeon, you defeated our guardian, the Dungeon of Snares. What will happen to us? Will you banish us? Kill us?" she asked timidly, with pain in her voice.
"Why would I?" I took another serving of tea and, after seeing her surprised face, I raised the cup slightly. "This land is excellent, bountiful, and extremely fitting to become a kingdom's granary. Your mere presence here is beneficial. No, Miss Dryad. I will not hurt you or any of your kin that hide in the safety of your tree. No... I would rather extend my protection over your kin if you just want to stay here."
The Dryad dropped to her knees and started crying. The crushing stress and uncertainty that accompanied her over the last day finally disappeared. Wherever her tears fell, a beautiful flower sprouted, to the excitement of Aoi and Agatha. Some people simply couldn't feel the mood in the room. I gave the Dryad time to calm down while I spoke privately with Kirin. He explained that nearly two and a half thousand years ago, at the dawn of the Age of Heroes, the last of Dryads wandered into his dungeon. Since he never was interested in the dealings of the world and was more than happy to be left alone, the Dryads begged him to make them his residents. He never bothered to ask why they were running, but having them as residents would be enough to sustain him, so he agreed. After a few moments, a kneeling Dryad bowed to me, extending her arms forward and pressing her face to the ground, making the whole situation very awkward.
"Miss Dryad, I think you took that wrongly..." I sighed heavily and stood up, quickly approaching her. "I, Theon Avalon, the Righteous Dungeon, ask for the help of your kin. Will you help us feed the entire Kingdom?"
I gently but firmly took her hand and lifted her from the ground. She looked at me with a puzzled expression on her face, but seeing my smile, she finally smiled back.
"I, Lavender May, the Queen of Dryads, the Lady of the Forest, will be happy to make your wishes come true. My sisters and I will lend you our powers if you promise to protect us from our ancient enemy," she replied, but there was uncertainty in her voice at the end.
"And who is your ancient enemy?" I asked, sitting back near the table and offering her a seat with a gesture between excited Aoi and Agatha.
"The life devourer, Black Dragon Tiamat," she replied meekly, expecting the outbursts of my rage or decline of her request.
"Hahaha! Rejoice, Queen Lavender! That monster is already my enemy." She looked stunned but with just one glance at the faces of my Queens, especially Aoi's, she saw a grim confirmation.
Hestia sighed, and she dropped her illusion, allowing everyone to see her true identity. Lavender and the old Lords were astonished, and they immediately dropped to their knees.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Stand up. There is no need for that right now," she commanded softly. "God Zephyr has a personal vendetta against Tiamat, and my Husband has vowed to help him." Hestia put her hand on my shoulder, provoking long stares from Queen Lavender, Lord Kaspian, and Lady Agatha. I smiled softly and cleared my throat.
"I'm afraid I was not diligent during my introductions. So allow me to introduce myself once more. I am King Theon Avalon, The Righteous Dungeon, The Champion of Eriar, The Chosen of Archangel, The Bringer of Equilibrium, The Friend of the Eternals, and The Protector of the Weak." Queen Lavender was for another shock when I grinned. "But call me King Theon in short."
"The Champion of Eriar? You are the Hero sent by the silent God?!" She looked at me tensely, as if I was pulling a bad joke on her.
"I wouldn't go to such lengths as to say that I am a Hero... In fact, I don't believe in Heroes, and I have a feeling that my patron shares the same sentiment." I laughed, but all this time I was observing the Dryad Queen.
But it wasn't anything bad, as I briefly expected. She just put a hand on her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
"So you are his Hero..." She smiled warmly and curtsied deeply.
"Indeed, he is." Luna smiled and wagged her fluffy Kitsune tail, as if she wanted them to see who she was.
"The Goddess, the Kitsune, and the Dryad..." Lord Kaspian sighed with awe. "I hoped that I made the right choice back then when I surrendered the city, but this amount of confirmation is almost overkill..."
"What do you plan now, my Lord?" Lady Agatha took a deep breath and gave her husband a long stare.
"First of all, I will be renaming this place. Sorry Kirin, but I don't see the current name working... Then I will send architects, farmers and many more Guardsmen here. This place will then become the new region's capital and Quaia will be one of many satellite farming cities." I shrugged. "But before that, I probably should start accepting all resident requests..."
The flop to the tent opened, and Stella gracefully flew in, holding her notebook. When Queen Lavender saw her, she was close to tears again.
"Sister!" she called to Stella, who looked at her, confused.
"I am afraid you are wrong, Dryad Queen." Stella nodded her head slightly. "My name is Stella the Wise, the Scion of the Righteous Dungeon."
"But... No... You are Er'lamira the Sage, the Faé Queen! But that's... Impossible... Tiamat killed the entire Faé race." Lavender was in shock so big she heavily sat down with an empty gaze, as if she saw a ghost. "But you are back..."
"I don't remember anything from the time before my Master called me from the darkness. But when he called me, I was Stella the Pixie and after a disaster, my spawner was upgraded and I became The Faé Queen." Stella hesitated for a moment and looked at me nervously. "But that name... Er'lamira… sounds so familiar..."
"I would call you Stella Er'lamira. Maybe one day, you will recall your lost memories…" Lavender smiled sadly.
"Maybe." Stella smiled neutrally. "What's your name, Dryad Queen?"
"Lavender May." Stella slowly nodded and smiled.
"Your name also sounds familiar," Stella mused to herself.
•••
Before I started anything more time-consuming, I gave Kirin guidelines on how to be a dungeon and a city at the same time. After I ensured myself that he could read them and had a vague idea of how to proceed daily, I made sure to explain to him the difference between civilians and non-civilians, which he understood right away. My Queens spent the time in talks with the City Lord and they happily accepted his gift. We spent a few hours in the Dungeon of Snares, during which I was mostly accepting resident requests from the Dryads. One thousand five hundred and twelve Dryads lived in the canopy of their tree. They lived in the large and crudely furnished tree holes, which made me more than concerned. Queen Lavender explained that they were afraid to build their homes on the ground. She also told me there was no need to build anything special for them since they were used to their homes.
"That won't work at all, Queen Lavender," I sighed and opened my build menu.
It turned out that Kirin had an absurd amount of wood, which shouldn't be that surprising, considering his location. The Dryad Tree had a thick trunk, easily having five hundred metres of circumference in most of its length and it was close to one kilometre tall. Yet, you could see it only after entering the Dungeon. Well... Magic. I chose one of the newly unlocked, mountain-type homes fully made of wood.
"I hope you will like it..." With a wave of my hand, I built a wooden home fused to the Dryad Tree. "Let's take a look..."
We entered the house and the sparks of amazement in Queen Lavender's eyes told me everything I needed to know.
"The Tree was unharmed! And this home is simply amazing! It's so warm and cosy..." She looked perplexed and I laughed, almost feeling how she was uncomfortable asking for more homes for her sisters.
"I guessed that you would prefer a wooden home to a stone one." I went outside after she quickly took a look at all five rooms. She followed me like a shadow and I gestured behind me without even looking. "I think that many homes should be enough."
"Ohhhh!" she screamed and looked at the rows of homes, platforms, and elevators between the levels that entwined most of the tree.
One of the homes couldn't simply be called that. It was more like a wooden palace between the branches of the mighty tree. I turned and, after putting my hand on her shoulder, I teleported us to the large balcony of the palace.
"Please, accept this as your home, Queen Lavender May." I quickly let go of her, but she just smiled sheepishly.
"Thank you, King Theon." She bowed to me and followed me to the railing of the balcony. "What is that?!"
"It's just the beginning..." I replied with a slight tone of mystery in my voice.
She looked in shock, pointing at the large wall that was rising right before her eyes. The first wall was just two hundred metres away from the Dryad's homes, right after a flowery meadow with young trees that filled the empty space in between. A small lake and meandering river crossed that serene meadow, adding more to its beauty. The single gatehouse, as big as the first gates of Avalon, was the only connection between the two parts of the new dungeon city. The company of Praetorians entered the balcony and right away, Queen Lavender knew they were her personal guards.
"It's so beautiful, my King," she said quietly.
"Queen Lavender, I can't promise you that from now on, everything will be fine because that's just a straight-up lie. Evil will never be truly routed; harm can befall on anyone and there is nothing I could do. But I will do as much as possible in my power to protect your people." I assured her, then I showed her everything near the tree and up to the first wall. "This land is directly under your control. No one can enter it without your permission. But I hope that one day, when your people decide they are ready, you can travel freely."
"I must admit, my King, this place looks much better now," Kirin's amused voice startled the Dryad's Queen. "May I propose a new name for my, well... Yours, but still a bit mine, Dungeon?"
"Of course." I smiled. "It would be much more suitable if you came with a better name."
"Westwood, my King. The Dungeon City of Westwood." He sounded pretty proud of that name.
"I like it, Kirin," I admitted without hesitation.
"I like it as well." Queen Lavender smiled brightly.
"I think it's all over with traps as well, my King." Kirin sounded a little bit sad.
"Why? Just limit them, and make them fair so the Adventurers could learn how to avoid or disable them. Be fair, Kirin, don't set your denizens to kill anyone at all costs. Slap their hands, toy with them and let them go, so they will return. You can discuss that with Demesne or with me if you have any doubts." I smiled.
"In that case, I'll think about it myself for a while before I'll look for any help, my Lord. The inverted tower idea you suggested before was excellent." Kirin's voice was much happier.
"Queen Lavender, may I ask you to govern this region? Will you organise the farmlands and orchards to feed my Kingdom?" I asked. "Lords Tride will be helping you in any way they can. Don't think about wars or perils, because I will designate one of my best military commanders to protect these lands."
"Yes! I will be happy to repay you for your kindness, my King!"