Season 3: Catpurr 2: Deals with the Guild

Adam stroked his chin, watching as another series of adventurers fell victim to a horde of crabs.

“Idiots, as if having a water breathing skill was all you needed to tackle my dungeon,” Adam gloated before rubbing his chin as his gaze turned to another screen that showed him dozens of fresh adventurers entering his haven.

Although Adam didn't want to admit it, the constant flux of people attacking his home was beginning to weigh on him, especially since each time he'd kill a few of the aspiring heroes powerful clerics from some unknown church would simply show up and revive those fallen to his traps.

This led to his dungeon being mapped out, layouts being shared with trap types and monsters discussed with parties who would use the information to make it further into his dungeon.

There was also the fact that with each skeleton turned to ash, he was losing more minions than Dungeon could convert from the corpses gathered.

Fortunately, the band of clerics didn't seem keen on steamrolling their way through his dungeon, rather, they only entered to collect the dead and then leave.

But why? Surely they were strong enough?

“Tsk, so unfair…” Adam hissed, watching as a trio of platinum clad paladins tour through a swarm of his undead. “Who even are these guys?!”

“Death Party Insurance agents.”

“GAH!” Adam yelped, jumping in place as the hologram of Dungeon’s Avatar suddenly appeared beside him. “Don't jump out at me like that!”

“My apologies sir,” The hologram bowed. “Your subordinate Ellie has carried out your orders and brought your guests.”

“What? Oh, right. Send her in,” Adam said, focusing his attention on a panel that showed one of his latest additions to his party praying to Eli beside a shrine of bones.

“Weirdo,” Adam frowned before turning to the little cat girl trailed by two humans. “My friends!”

“Please!” Sehn yelped, jolting away with Titania catching the man in her arms. “Whatever scheme you got brewing, we don't want a part of it!”

“Uh, what he means is, it's nice seeing you, but um… we're still recovering from our last run in with you,” Titania added.

“A devil! I swear he's a bad luck charm! Even our trials didn't saddle us with this much debt!” Sehn yelled, the scrawny man using his green-haired companion as a shield.

Adam frowned, unsure of how to feel about the pair wishing to flee from him. It wasn't the first time people had cursed his name and pointed at him with fearful eyes, but it was the first time coming from individuals he considered benefactors.

His eyes shifted, noticing the shackles still on their wrists.

“Your debts?” Adam asked, rubbing his chin.

“Well… yeah,” Titania replied, rubbing her wrist, “The duchess is kinda after us because of our association with you. Lots of people saw us eating together…”

“Are you in danger?” Adam asked, ignoring the screen beside him that showed Liza being beaten up by Junith.

“What? No, we've got the guild Hall’s protection thanks on account of these,” Titania said, holding aloft her wrist to brandish the bracelet. “We're technically repentas and the FAP agents have already interrogated us.”

“We know nothing! And I'd like to keep it that way!” Sehn shuddered.

“I see…” Adam replied, ignoring the grating laughter that echoed through the tunnel connecting his chambers. He furrowed his brow, his expression pensive as his mind seemed to weigh with an incredible decision. “If your debts were to be paid you'd be free right?”

“Yeah?” Titania raised a brow, unsure where Adam was leading with his question.

“Dungeon, open the vault,” Adam said with reluctance as a wall within his chamber fell away to reveal a gleaming trove of gold coins, jewelry, and looted trinkets from the hundreds of fallen adventurers. “Would this suffice?”

“I… uh…” Titania muttered as Sehn took off and dove into the gold.

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Or tried to before hitting the mound of overlapping metal and knocking himself unconscious.

“Idiot,” Titania sighed, “Look Adam, you can't buy our freedom. It's a bit more complicated, if our repenta status is revoked, we'd lose the guild’s protection and then the Duchess’s goons will hunt us down. What did you even do? I mean, besides destroying half a town with a giant crab, burning an entire farm down, scattering hundreds of adventurers across the world, kidnapping nobility, unleashing a king slime on-”

“I get it,” Adam cut.

“-the city oh, and let's not forget burning down an old Squat’s home-”

“I’m aware of the allegations,” Adam groaned, lamenting all the chaos sown in his wake. “And I didn't burn down a Squat's home, that was Liza and the old guy rebuilt it.”

“Just tell me one thing Adam,” Titania said, her expression one of serious concern.

“Hm?”

“You’re not really a kid are you?”

Adam frowned, momentarily considering if he should lie. On one hand, if he kept them in the dark, he could leverage their sympathy for his needs. On the other hand…

“No… no I'm not,” Adam said, unused to the feeling welling up within.

“I see…”

“It's not that I meant to deceive,” Adam sighed before explaining the situation to Titania and how he'd been cursed.

“I… huh,” Titania, now sitting on a cushion brought in by Ellie serving Adam tea. “It's not uncommon for otherworlders to get sent here. I'm not originally from this world either but… it is odd that your form was changed. Not many gods are that invasive with their Chosen, even Unidine doesn't change people and she's a goddess of vanity. Who's your sponsor?”

“Eli,” Adam said, revealing his abyssal ticket and decloaking the symbol etched into the magical paper.

Titania furrowed her brow, the green-haired battle-maiden’s gaze shifting from the ticket to Adam and then back to the ticket repeatedly.

“This isn't a symbol I'm familiar with…” Titania said, eyeing the serpent devouring itself. “Maybe the church would know more?”

Adam took the ticket back and looked off to the side.

Come to think of it… I haven't checked on the Church since they protected me from that noble girl’s goons.

“How is Coco?” Adam asked as Sehn finally woke up, the man in the lap of the latest addition to Adam's growing cast of nekofolk, Dominica.

With orange-blonde hair, narrow eyes, bushy tail, and grudgy demeanor, the woman made Sehn momentarily blank out at the cat girl taking care of his head wound.

Picked up during his last trial, Katherine Dominica was a former follower of Voltrain bitten by Adam and converted into a neko-person.

A proverbial middle finger to the God of Light that seemed to have backfired on Adam.

“Well, hello beautiful,” Sehn said before Titania pulled him off the woman by his ankle.

“With your guest awake, I shall take my leave Lord Adam unless there is more you require of this servant?” Dominica said, the orange-haired nekogirl curtsying as she waited for orders.

Well… it's not all bad, at least I have someone around here who listens to me.

“That will be all Dominica,” Adam said, waving his follower off who bowed with her hand over heart and exited his chamber.

“Well… the Church is fine, considering they're a world organization sponsored by the gods themselves, not much the Duchess can do. It did cause an incident though and the King had to come down to quell the chaos, but… Coco is fine.”

“That's good,” Adam said before sighing and motioning towards a mirror that showed a group of adventurers falling into a spike trap, “Anyway, I brought you here to talk about the guild. Is it possible to meet with your guild master? Arrange a meeting between us? Given my… situation I rather not expose myself to the surface.”

Titania pursed her lips, crossing her arms with her expression one of deep thought. “Sehn? What do you think?”

“Nope! Leave me out of it. I'm already in enough debt, whatever antics you two get up to is on you two,” The warrior said, packing up his coffin and turning to leave.

“You don't really mean that do you?”

At Titania’s words the man froze in his tracks before slumping his shoulders and rejoining his friend.

“No…” Sehn frowned. “I guess we can probably convince her to have a chat.”

“Excellent,” Adam clapped his hands, “Once I-”

Suddenly the glow stones illuminating the space began to flash red, “Ah… crapbaskets. Sorry, but you'll have to leave.”

“What? What's going on?!” Sehn yelped with Titania leaping into a fighting stance.

Suddenly Ellie and Dominica rushed the chamber, bringing with them gold chains and a metal coffin carried by skeletons.

“My Lord,” Dominica said, bowing as the skeletons deposited the coffin.

“What's happening?” Titania asked, stepping forward only to be blocked by a hologram of an attractive white-haired lady with a stern look.

Sehn frowned, his eyes widening a moment with a sense of familiarity as he stared at the see-through cat-woman.

He opened his mouth, moving to say something.

“Your presence is no longer required,” The hologram said, gesturing to the chamber entrance as a litany of skeletons dressed in the armors of fallen adventurers stood at the ready. “The custodians of our House shall see you to the surface.”

With that, Titania and Sehn were led out, brought away from the chamber to a passage that sent them to the surface after several hours.

Outside the dungeon, deposited into a forest, Titania and Sehn waited until they were clear of the skeletons.

“So…” Titania began, her brow furrowed, “Is it just me or did that look like-”

“Madam Des'heart?” Sehn frowned, his eyes scanning their surroundings as if seeking for eavesdroppers “Yeah… this may be a problem.”