Theodore looked behind him, sighing as he took in the sight of Beowulf. The large man was asleep, but still had a firm grip on David, never quite letting his guard down. Honestly, he felt relieved to have his help escorting Alice, her familiar, Luna, and her father to the next kingdom over. His strength and ability to remain calm and calculating, regardless of what was happening around him, made Beowulf very uniquely qualified in a way that many other Dungeon Diplomats certainly weren't.
David had stopped struggling and trying to escape after the first few failed attempts to run away. The fact that they had his daughter in their custody certainly didn't help matters. Despite his failure to get along with Violet, the man wasn't a bad father. He wasn't going to abandon his only daughter. Even with how complicated family dynamics could be for those raised in dungeons, Theodore wasn't blind and he could understand that much about the man.
Traveling from one kingdom to the next was going to be time-consuming, though. The council had paid for and arranged for transportation and accommodations for them. Still, neither Theodore nor Beowulf could afford to spend too much time traveling. That was why Beowulf was in charge of driving in the daytime while Theodore would take the night shift. Every town they came to, there would be another set of horses ready to swap out for the exhausted ones that had been transporting them. The horses would get their rest and then return home on their own. They had been trained to always know their way home, which was a mandatory part of training for horses that were to be rented out to travelers.
Still, it wasn't like they could continue traveling indefinitely. They needed to restock on rations and other gear on occasion as well as get some proper rest in an actual bed. So, arrangements had been made for them to stay at inns and another Dungeon Diplomat would drop off supplies for them. If they didn't have to transport David and his daughter, they could have instantly transported to any dungeon in the world. So, it was a rather rare thing for their kind to have to travel for so long. Still, Theodore was grateful that the council was so cooperative in ensuring everything went smoothly for them.
It was likely going to take them a week or two to get where they were going. After that, Theodore would have to immediately get back to work. He already missed his wife, but it simply couldn't be helped. Violet needed to be checked on first to ensure everything was running smoothly and then he would have to check on the two other dungeons he was assigned to. After that, he would likely be forced to take classes, but he would get to remain in his hometown and get to spend some quality time with his own family.
Of course, there were some other matters to attend to as well, Theodore was reminded, as more magical mail materialized before him. He stuffed the letter into his pocket before continuing to watch the road. In every city, town, and village they passed through, he had been putting up notices in regards to seeking David's replacement on Violet's behalf. He would have to worry about interviews and figuring out who the best matchup was while he worked on the mandatory training Elder Kendric insisted he take.
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There were a few promising applicants, thus far, but no one was quite a perfect match. Violet's request for someone willing to help out with her new goddess, train her in the sword, and actually be open-minded enough to befriend her was a rather large ask. It was certainly not impossible to find something close enough, but it was likely going to take a lot more time and effort on his part. He might even have to teleport around to a few different kingdoms and put up some flyers in a large number of adventurers' guilds and taverns besides the ones he'd see on his route to drop David off.
Honestly, a lot of Dungeon Masters liked to think his job only pertained to keeping them in line and helping them out. That was far from the truth, though. Similar to how Beowulf was helping him now, he had to help out others with their investigations and other work. There were meetings he had to attend in the areas surrounding the dungeons he managed. Plus, he had to put in plenty of time to help teach the younger Dungeon Diplomats how to control their abilities and how to best serve the dungeons they would one day be bonded to. It was kind of like being a jack-of-all-trades, but everything related back to dungeons in one way or another.
It wasn't like Theodore could really complain about his lot in life, though. His wife and him were both dungeon diplomats, so they'd both live long lives. They had a rather large manor with servants and the pay was quite good. Normal Humans, Elves, and Half-Giants weren't privy to where their species lived as they were quite secretive about it. However, when two Dungeon Diplomats have children together, most of the time, it results in children who are Halflings and not true Dungeon Diplomats.
If their father was a [Monster] that evolved to be a Dungeon Master while their mother was from the Shifter race, it could result in someone like Beowulf who was half-man half-beast. If Beowulf had children with someone of the same variety as him, their children would likely end up being considered Half-Shifters. They'd get none of the abilities of a Dungeon Diplomat besides having a slightly extended lifespan, similar to a half-elf, but they'd get all of the perks of the Shifter race. Since the children were raised in their village, but couldn't perform the same roles they did, they often took other sorts of jobs to help their communities. Other times, they simply left and lived the same way other races did.
Still, even if Theodore enjoyed the fruits of his labor, he really couldn't wait to get home to his wife. It was far too depressing escorting an irate man and his unfortunate daughter who had to suffer for his decisions. Even if David had pissed him off with his stupidity time and again, it was hardly as if he enjoyed watching the man suffer. Theodore hardly thought the punishment should have been less severe, though. He just simply didn't enjoy this kind of work as much as he did other parts of his job.