“What do you think?” I looked at Lucas as the man who had given his name as Lazemus went out of sight around a corner.

“I don’t see why he has a reason to lie to us about paying for gnoll bodies,” Lucas said. He gave a shrug. “There is always the possibility this is a setup or trap, but why us? Perhaps it has something to do with the overall goal of the dungeon. Something we have to solve before we get to leave?”

“Or it could be a test to see if we’re spies?” Anna suggested.

“Potentially,” Lucas agreed.

“I’m conflicted,” Jessica said. “As far as we’re aware, this dungeon world has a limit to its size. I find it hard to believe there are multiple empires and kingdoms dotting the distance. That’s all probably just a sort of lore to frame whatever it is we are supposed to achieve here.”

“Right, but the mission still came down to gnolls, which as far as we’re aware is the entire subject of this dungeon,” Glenn pointed out.

“We could also assume the dungeon is simply moving us in the correct direction. We reached the checkpoint of making it to Rigar and now we’ve unlocked some new space?” This may have been the first non-sarcastic thing I’d ever heard come out of Maria’s mouth and I agreed with her.

“Is it possible this is the main questline we need to address in order to finish the dungeon?” I thought aloud. “There could very well be a gnoll invasion happening in the lore of this world, but at the same time, that could just be background for a small group mission like the one we’ve been offered.”

The more we discussed it aloud, the more we couldn’t wrap our heads around it. Without enough clues, we really couldn’t figure out one way or the other, and eventually decided action was better than standing and twiddling our thumbs.

We headed back to the Barracks with the intention of speaking with General Rhugar We headed back to the Barracks with the intention of speaking with General Rhugar. He would have a grasp on the surrounding area and let us know if this quest was even something we could accept while signed up to the defense of the city. We didn’t know the rules.

For my part, I hoped we could take on the quests and earn some gold. The bubbling excitement I had for gear – both for me and for all of our group – was starting to boil over. As a group we potentially needed hundreds of gold to acquire new gear and gain skills in the professions we would need for our future survival. That was a lot of shamans to kill or capture.

While on the streets we walked in a reasonably effective formation. A more loose one than when we were moving into confict, but if things went south, we were prepared for a battle even here.

Jessica fell back to my side, “I hope we can take the quest.” Her hand reached down and her fingers locked between mine. We had grown closer these past few days.

“If we can’t, I’m afraid there will be hell.” I looked at Maria, and Richard, and Anna. They all had a very keen eye on the loot they wanted. If they were suddenly told we couldn’t take the quest and our money making scheme was out the window… I didn’t know what they’d do.

“I have a feeling it will work out: that the dungeon is designed for this to happen.” I gave a nod and then cherished the silence as we walked hand-in-hand. Some of that emotion I felt was slipping away from the both of us had come back, or both of us had better learned to control it.

Frankly, the increase in gentler feelings between us was probably a result of the long period of peace. We hadn’t needed to kill another person in months, and that was the hardest part of this ordeal. The true believers forced us down a potential path of slaughter, and until we got out the other side, we truly couldn’t see an end. The thought of taking life still wasn’t something easy to swallow, and yet I had needed to do so to survive.

Reluctantly, I let Jessica’s hand drop when we arrived at the barracks. It felt too soon, but this matter had to be taken care of. The others went to get lunch while I went to meet the general. Our ability to prosper entirely depended on this interaction. My hands were suddenly more clammy than when I was holding Jessica’s hand.

The door to General Rhugar’s office was cracked, and I couldn’t hear any talking. I suddenly felt emboldened as I approached. My hand knocked on the edge of the door, “General Rhugar, are you free for a moment? It’s Mike. I’d like to discuss something with you.”

I heard the ruffling of papers for just a moment before a coarse voice came through, “Come in Mike, I have a few moments to spare.” I grasped the handle and pushed inward. The creaking of the doorframe broke the silence and he looked over at it, “I’ll have to get that fixed.” He gave a light laugh.

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“Good to see you, sir.” I said respectfully while raising a hand. Regardless of the difference in our strength, I was still a subordinate here.

“Be at ease,” he said. “What do you need?”

“I’ll get right to the point sir. We were solicited for a mission today, and the mission requires us to leave the city for a short time.” My eyes were locked to General Rhugar’s face the entire time. Any change in expression I’d immediately notice. Even my sixth sense was primed to read the room. I didn’t continue talking but allowed him to speak.

“What kind of mission is it that it requires you to leave the city?” The severity of his voice let me know he was fully in control, and that I needed to choose my words carefully or he could reject my plea with no explanation.

“It’s a killing mission sir, to kill gnolls,” I answered, “there is a camp about ten miles east of the western gate, with the gnolls pushing closer to Rigar every day.”

His eyes flashed between doubt and excitement for the briefest moment. That flicker of emotion on his face would have easily been missed but it gave me hope. “I’ve heard of this,” he said, “and someone wants you to kill these gnolls?”

“Yes sir. We were looking for missions to acquire gold and stumbled upon this one.” My explanation wasn’t a lie, and as long as ‘Lazemus’ wasn’t up to nefarious deeds, this was a win-win for the empire.

“And your goal for this is simply gold?” General Rhugar asked.

“Right, sir,” I said. “As you know we are traveling mercenaries. In the end, our main goal is gold. If we can make some extra while we wait to be of use to the Rigar empire, then we don’t see any reason to say no. We’re good at killing gnolls and we’d all love to buy some new equipment.”

I felt I’d done my best. That there was nothing I’d said which would make him doubt my explanation. The entire time I’d been in the office, I’d been focused on this, on preventing a curt refusal. Even the way I presented the information to him was calculated: breaking it into chunks and talking in a monotone, so as to hide my excitement. It was as if his rejection or acceptance didn’t matter to me.

There was a moment of silence as the options played in his mind. I didn’t know if he was picking apart the conversation to find a reason to reject, or to see if I was being untruthful in some way. I waited in silence, trying not to show any eagerness or expectation.

“I don’t see any issue with it, so long as you don’t go too far and we can recall you quickly,” he finally said. “I would like to know when and where you go though, so run it by me beforehand, or my assistant. This way if something happens, we can send people to retrieve you.” He paused for a moment. “No doubt you’ve seen how many men we’ve lost, and the fact you’ve signed up for duty matters.” He spoke as if he was explaining a rule to me.

Lucas had briefly talked with me about some possible outcomes from this meeting and what General Rhugar had just said was our best-case scenario. Freedom to move without surveillance. There had been the chance he would give permission for us to take the quest but send someone along with us, and that would make moving bodies nearly impossible.

“Absolutely sir,” I said. “I’ll get in touch and let you know every time we plan to go and hunt gnolls and where we can be found.”

“Good. Then I have nothing to worry about. Dismissed.”

I saluted again to show respect and then walked out to the find the others. I had put up a strong front, but every inch of my body had a fine layer of sweat on it. General Rhugar was an intimidating man. His presence was commanding and unyielding, he had seen much more death and life than I had.

As I walked the halls I reviewed our conversation and especially that moment when I mentioned having been solicited to attack the gnoll camp: he’d grown excited before hiding his emotion. It was possible he even knew what we were going to do: even the part about gathering gnoll shaman bodies.

The family or person requesting this mission from us was clearly not short on money to do so. Going off that logic, it was completely possible General Rhugar had been either offered, or knew someone who had also been offered our same deal. The rich had very little fear of authority, especially when those enforcing the laws were in their pockets.

Our biggest hurdle was gone now, though. I was excited to find the others and break the news. It took just a minute of brisk walking to make it the slop hall where everyone was waiting for my return.

For some reason I was feeling a bit impish, and shrouded my face in a downcast expression. The jubilant mood of my party slowly dwindled as I approached, sure that I had failed. “It… WORKED!” I blurted out as I reached them. “We have permission to leave the city.”

“You are an ass,” Maria said flatly, but then it was clear the anger she felt had washed away as she realized this meant she might be in line to buy the new gear she wanted.

Lucas let out an exhausted sigh, “Was it difficult?”

“Not at all, he didn’t interrogate me or suspect anything was dubious, at least on the surface. I had been expecting a no, full stop. But it didn’t come.”

“Someone will need to visit the mission hall again and leave a note addressed to Lazemus,” Jessica said while walking over and wrapping an arm around me.

“About that,” I replied, “I assume everyone wants to get going as soon as possible, so I was

planning on going back there now.” The day was still young, and the sooner I had delivered the note the faster we could get easy access out the west gate.

“Do you need anyone to go with you?” Jessica asked.

As much as I wanted to bring her along, I actually felt it was best I went alone. Less distractions meant I would be as fast as possible. I’d have time to spend with her tonight, anyway. “I’ll go quickly by myself.”

Jessica nodded and the others agreed. With that, I took to the streets as fast as possible and made quick pace. Without stopping and looking at wares, or the wonders of the Rigar empire, it took less than twenty minutes to get back to the town hall.

“I’d like to leave a message for someone,” I said to the front clerk.

“Their name?” he asked.

“Lazemus.” I said. Which caused his pupils to constrict ever so slightly.

“And yours?”

“Mike.”

“Understood.” It was if he already was informed of the situation and didn’t even ask for the message contents. I stood there baffled for a moment before realizing what that meant. Lazemus had connections even in the mission hall, which meant his sphere of power was large.