I couldn't see a difference in the illusionary world.

‘How did Black Eye know that we reached the boundary?’

As I was thinking about Black Eye, something caught my attention.

‘What is that?’

At the periphery of my vision, there were wiggling white lights. When I tried looking at them, they vanished.

‘Could this be how he knew?’

I was wondering if I should ask Art when my vision swam. All the colors around me merged in a swirl, forming darkness.

‘What the hell is going on?’

Treaty breached! Treaty breached! Treaty breached!

The dungeon’s voice boomed inside my head. I was starting to think that something might have gone wrong when…

“Get ready, they’ll be here any second!” Black Eye commanded.

The party was back where we had been before entering the dungeon, we were in front of the lake, in the real world.

All around me, soldiers were running to do different tasks. I saw wooden spikes jutting out of the ground at different intervals and pointing at the lake. Between the spikes, soldiers stood at the ready, their shields in front of them. A group of soldiers ran toward us. “Welcome back, Sir! Sir, we have managed to set up the defenses as ordered,” a soldier said, addressing the Count.

“Excellent lieutenant Hans. Now, we don’t have time to waste, take me to the war tent.”

“Yes, sir!”

We followed the lieutenant as the soldiers cleared the way for us. I was surprised at the increase in the number of soldiers. ‘Wasn’t there only a dozen before? I can count a hundred now, where did they come from?’

“Hey, Art, why the sudden increase in soldier numbers? Wouldn’t it be better if they came with us from the start?”

“It's due to the treaty with the Bara tribes. One of the conditions of the treaty prevents the Count from amassing large numbers of soldiers quickly. Also, his soldiers are stretched thin protecting the southern border.”

I have heard about the Bara tribes before. Uncle Ghandour once told me about them, he said they were barbaric people who ate human meat.

“Is the border far away from here?” I asked.

“No, the plains stretch for about a two-day walk, after the plains come drylands. The drylands are a huge disputed area, the empire lays claim to them but the Baras say it was historically theirs. After the drylands come the Bara desert, which the Baras control,” Art said.

“Why would the empire want drylands? Aren’t they useless?” I asked as we passed between the wooden spikes. I took a closer look at them; they were the thickness of a leg with a pointed edge. ‘I wouldn’t want to be at the other side of these if I were in the Gnolls Shoes.’

“The drylands are rich with unrefined Lio, and they are the only source of unrefined Lio that the empire controls.”

I got intrigued at the mention of Lio as I didn’t know much about it.

‘What is Lio in the first place?’ I thought about asking Art but decided to wait as we reached the war tent.

We entered the tent, following the lieutenant. Inside, I saw two men, one was short with a shaved beard and a long graying mustache, I estimated the man to be around sixty. The other man was skinny but tall, and he was holding a thick book.

“General Samir? What are you doing here?” the Count asked the short man, surprised.

“Sir, I have sensitive news to report,” the general said. His tone was rushed and he was eyeing the party suspiciously.

“Adventurer Black Eye, thanks. You have done your job excellently and will be rewarded handsomely.”

“But sir, don’t you need my help to kill the Gnolls?”

“No need, you can return to Hama.”

“But- “

“No buts. Now, if you don’t mind, I have an important meeting and wish to have some privacy,” the count said sternly, leaving no place for negotiations.

“As you wish sir,” Black Eye said, it was my first time seeing him act so tame. The count just smiled at us before turning to face his general.

……….

In the end, we didn’t get to fight the Gnolls a second time. We took the road to the city after reuniting with Ramses and Fin.

I decided to ask Art what was on my mind.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Art, what is Lio exactly?”

Art smiled, saying, “You just asked me one of the most important unanswered questions in the world.”

“Really!? Then what about mana? Is it some kind of otherworldly power?” I asked, hoping to get something to quench my curiosity.

“Again no one knows the answers to your questions, but there are some speculations. Mage Fabian of the Scholarly Order has a book on the subject, the book is called *Observations over the Millennia* in it he speaks about what he thinks Lio might be using different occurrences throughout history. If you want to read the book, just ask Ramses he should have it.”

“Thanks for the help,” I said, excited about reading the book.

‘I don’t usually read books but this one is different, I’m going to give it a try.’

“No problem,” Art said with a smile. I was starting to like Art again; the man had a certain charm about him, he also was very helpful and never complained about my constant question bombardment.

‘Maybe he is really trying to help me out. I should give him a chance.’

We reached the city at early noon, it was bustling, with shops open, and people of different shapes, going around, doing their work. We headed for the Adventurer’s Guild first. After entering the hall, we chose a random table to sit at.

Upon sitting at the table, Black Eye shouted, “Goddammit!”

I was surprised at the shout, but what surprised me more was that no one paid us any attention.

“What happened Captain?” Neymar asked, sounding worried.

‘Yeah, what happened?! Why did you shout all of a sudden?!’ I thought.

“I didn’t manage to get the Count on our side, and probably will never be able to do so,” Black Eye said with an enraged expression.

“Captain the kid isn’t outside your spell’s range, he can hear you,” Edger said calmly.

“Don’t worry, the kid will sign the pact soon. I have already asked a Runesmith in the city to make one. But kid, you better not speak about any of this, am I clear?” Black Eye asked me with a murderous gaze.

I almost squirmed under his gaze, but still managed to say, “Y-yes.”

“Why won’t we be able to get the count on our side? Is he loyal to the Emporer?” Hugo asked.

‘What the hell are they talking about?’ I thought, not understanding a thing.

“No, the reports say he isn’t very loyal, but I think I know what General Samir told the Count. He probably warned him of an approaching invasion from the Baras, and if the Count has to get his hands full with those barbarians, we won’t be able to get him to join us.”

“Then what should we do?” Naya asked.

“We should wait and see. If the Baras really breach the treaty and attack the Empire, then we’ll have to change plans. For now, we can claim the reward for the mission, Neymar can handle the procedures and the disturbing of the money. Also, Neymar, make sure to give Art enough money to buy simple armor for the kid, I don’t want to see him on the brink of death again, as that cost us a lot,” Black Eye said.

‘The bastard!’ I thought, trying not to show my anger on my face.

“Yes, Captain. Should we also restock on some healing potions?” Neymar asked.

“No need, what we have should be enough.”

The group discussed a few more topics while we ate. Today’s food wasn’t as good as the one I ate at the inn, but I didn’t care as, after all the action I went through today, I was starving.

After getting the rewards from the Guild, we headed back to the inn we were staying at last night. Before I went to my room, Neymar approached me, he gave me twenty silver coins! I couldn’t believe the number, and Neymar told me this mission's pay was above the usual.

‘The Count is rich!’ After getting the coins I went back to my room. Thankfully, the blood and filth that soaked me while fighting the Gnoll vanished after exiting the dungeon so I was clean, but still, I took a quick shower.

‘Why did the filth go away, but my arm remained injured, after exiting the dungeon? I should ask art later.’

After the cold shower, I went to get some sleep. It was still afternoon, but after the action I faced today, a few hours of sleep wouldn’t hurt.

In the end, I slept till the evening. Waking up the sun had already started to set. I found Art in the room, playing with his brother.

“Oh, you finally awake. Come, let’s go and get you some armor.”

After clearing my bowls, I went with Art and Fin. We walked the streets until we reached a shop called *Bob’s Armory & Weaponry*. The amount Neymar had given Art wouldn’t allow us to buy custom-designed armor, so we had to choose every armor piece separately.

All the pieces were made of hard leather except the helmet and the pauldrons, which were made of metal. Also, the different pieces were of various colors, some black and some brown, but I didn’t mind. In the end, I got myself a full set of mismatched armor that fit me well but didn’t look aesthetically pleasing.

After buying the armor we were left with some extra money. The amount was enough to buy me a normal sword, but Art advised me against it, saying that with my one hand, my short sword was better. I agreed with Art’s judgment, so I decided to buy a simple tool sharpening kit with the leftover money.

“What do you think of your new armor?” Art asked me after we exited the shop.

“It's not bad, I would’ve preferred armor that looked the same as the group’s but that would have been expensive,” I said, as the armor had cost us 30 silver coins, which was low if compared to custom-designed armor.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get one in the future. Now, how about we celebrate your first successful mission and your new armor?” Art said, excited.

“I’m not sure,” I said, still not wanting to get too close to the party members.

“Ahh, don’t say that, the food is on Fin so you won’t have to pay a penny, am I right Fin?”

Fin just nodded, not saying a thing.

“Excellent. Hugo told me he found this perfect place that served good food. It should be around here.”

We found Hugo’s place after asking the locals, and it turned out to be a hot spring bath. After stripping in a private room, I hung a white towel around my waist and went to the joint room, in this room we were surrounded by steam. I just relaxed on my belly next to Art and Fin while a man poured hot water on our backs and gave us a nice massage.

“This is bliss,” I said, satisfied.

“I agree,” Art replied.

Fin just nodded in agreement.

“What do you want to eat after the hot bath?” Art asked.

“I don’t know, you choose.”

“I heard that fish from the Aasi River taste heavenly. Do you serve them here?” Art asked the massage man.

“Yes, sir. We also have many dishes like Fatoush and…” The man went on describing the local food.

“Do you have something sweet?” I asked.

“Yes, we have…” The man again went on a rant about what the bath offered.

After the massage, we went to private rooms to fully wash up. I rinsed myself quickly as I had already showered before, then wore my clothes.

The bath had a separate part that acted as a restaurant. Hugo had eaten at this restaurant and found it good, so he recommended it to Art.

We ordered Grilled-river fish. While we waited for the food I decided to ask Art about my hand.

“Art, can I ask you a question about the dungeon here?” I said in a low voice as normal people were around us and they didn’t know about dungeons or abilities.

“Yes, but lower your voice.”

“Okay. I wanted to ask why the filth after fighting the Gnolls disappeared but my injury remained. Wasn’t the dungeon an illusionary world? Shouldn’t all my wounds be not real?”

Art got serious all of a sudden as he said, “This has to do with the treaties the sentient races made with the mother dungeon thousands of years ago.”

‘Well, shit. Who expected a simple question to turn into this…