Dungeon Annihilation 2 - 13 (Patreon)

Louella

I dropped my head into my hands as I groaned in annoyance. What the hell? When was a dungeon only born a few months ago smart enough to take hostages? This was going to complicate things even more. I just knew it. Shaking the thoughts away, I motioned for Ezal then made for the adventurer building.

When we arrived, people were shouting and were clearly upset. I couldn’t blame them. They just found out they could end up trapped in the dungeon for undesignated amount of time. The people that returned couldn’t speak about the events, thus we didn’t know if they had been tortured or had just been staring at a wall. The only upside was that they didn’t appeared injured.

This wasn’t a new fear for the adventurers. Plenty of other dungeons on the continent had traps that resulted in the victims being held for periods of time. The reason people were so upset, was due to the fact that the dungeon was considerably younger than those dungeons. Considering the host, though, I felt he was older than the actual amount of time the dungeon had been around.

Cassie stood on the counter and was trying to calm everyone down. Some of the people were demanding that the guild force the returnees to talk. I just shook my head. We had tried that, and the man only got out three words before he vomited nearly a liter of blood. Obviously, the host had cursed him which prompted another headache. Curses usually attracted the attention of the church. Hence why the church in town was starting to get involved.

“If you want to be responsible for over a hundred peoples’ deaths! Then be my guest!” Cassie shouted putting mana in her voice. The crowd died down at the pressure. I took that chance to move through it and joined Cassie on the counter.

I looked over the crowd. Rather than fear, I felt there was more anger. Adventurers could either be a tight nit group or extremely formal. With this being a brand-new dungeon, many of the adventurers in town were on good terms with each other. That they might have friends trapped in the dungeon made most of them want to run in. “I’ve talked to the host. I’ve been told that the people taken failed a challenge. It is nothing new for a dungeon. We should be thankful that they didn’t die.”

“What challenge!?” Was the prominent question among those shouted.

“As you can assume, I didn’t ask. I’ve already overstepped the rules by seeking a counsel with the host. Too much and the town might be subjected to an inquisition.” It was against the laws to influence a dungeons development. I wasn’t sure that quite applied in this situation, but I didn’t need some goody two shoes to report my dealings with the dungeon to the church or capitals. Even with Marquis Valamar’s support, it would be hard for me to survive.

I looked to Cassie who nodded. “New rules will be going into effect as of this moment. The minimum sized party is now ten. If you have the standard formation of five and don’t have any connections, the guild will create a timetable for you to work with another party. Of course, we can’t force you to abide by this rule, but don’t blame the guild if your party is taken.”

“What about the people still trapped inside!?”

I cleared my throat. “I will be commissioning a request with the guild. Anyone that finds the captives will be paid fifty gold, plus one gold per person. The guild will be building a gate around the dungeon so that we can track people entering and exiting the dungeon. Anyone that fails to return after a week will be added to the missing person list. If they are still gone after three months, we will assume they have died.”

“I know this is a difficult situation and I hope it has reminded everyone to stay on their toes when in the dungeon, no matter how well you think you know it.”

A few more questions came from the crowd, but I left them to Cassie. I had a tougher issue to deal with, Cassie had passed me a note after most of the questions were answered.

Mortals. I will be sending my boss to join your tournament. Hopefully, he will prove entertaining for you.

That’s what he meant! This was going to be a headache. I glanced at Cassie, but she only shrugged. I guessed she had already given up. There was little we could do to until the boss was sent out of the dungeon. Even posting around the clock guards that could deal with a boss level monster would only serve to weaken our response.

Giving it some thought, I finally just decided to be ready. The host stated that it would be during the tournament. At least we could be on our guard at the time. With a sigh, I decided I would not be reporting this to the church for the time.

On that note, Ezal and I left the adventurer guild and made our way over to the church. It had expanded rapidly over the last few weeks and was starting to look quite grand, even if it was partially under construction. They were even shipping in a beautiful white stone to use for the outside. It would look quite magnificent when it was completed.

Even at this late hour, people were streaming in and out of the entrance. People coming to pray or receive healing. I silently prayed that the church in my valley didn’t end up like the supposably corrupt ones in larger towns. When we entered, a priestess came over. “Countess Louella. An honor to have you in our halls.”

“Thank you. May Lelune’s light be with us. I wish to speak to the Lower Vicar.”

She motioned for us to follow her. “Right this way.”

The wealth of the church had already reached the inner halls. Gold embroidered carpets and beautiful pews lined the central hall with paintings of the current Grand Vicar hanging on the walls. The only thing more common than the Grand Vicar was the paintings of Lelune. Her golden hair that appeared to radiate light and caring face made her look like a perfect mother.

Healings after tier one cost a decent amount of gold. If you wanted to use your arm or leg after it nearly got cut off, that was the minimum that you had to do. Even then you were usually required to return several times to get it back in complete working order. The church was probably the wealthiest and could be comparable to both the king of Thonaca and the Emperor of Lecazar.

Rumors of corruption had been spreading among the nobles, but the church wasn’t something you could easily check up on. One wrong move, and your entire family were heretics that worshipped necromancers. Thus, it was only whisperings in the dark scheduled parlor rooms.

The priestess pushed open a door after a quick knock, revealing a study lined with books. It was quite a collection that was likely worth hundreds of platinum coins. There were even a few volumes that I noticed that could help me on my cultivation path.

With some effort, I pulled my eyes off the bookshelves and looked ahead. A man in his forties or fifties sat reading a book next to a fire. He kept reading until he reached a good stopping point and placed a bookmark. With a sigh, he looked at us. “Lady Louella. It would be a pleasure if not for the reason.”

I ignored the fact that he didn’t use my title. For the church, they didn’t care unless you were at least a certain rank. “Lower Vicar Deris.” I gave the Thonaca salute. “I have come with a report.”

“Oh? Let us hear it then,” Deris said, focusing his eyes on me. A small glow came from them.

“Yes. We’ve determined that it is a trap and capture feature, as seen in a few other dungeons. Once we had that information, I sought the host to confirm as per procedure. He neither confirms nor denies this information but given his attitude I believe we were correct.”

“I find it fascinating that a host is already so developed after only a few months. Are you sure you’re not hiding anything from me?” Deris trailed off staring right in my eyes, the glow growing ever so brighter. I gave a tight smile.

“I’m not sure what I could possible hide from one such as yourself.” Lower Vicar Deris was at least tier three. It would be impossible to fight him without taking him out quickly since he could heal all of his wounds in seconds. High ranking priests and priestess were a nightmare on the battlefield.

“I suppose that is true. The host is dangerous. Dungeons that like to play in the dark tend to slip faster. Just take the Undead Dungeon in the north. She became overwhelming due to a war and the necromancers took advantage. We can’t allow another dungeon to fall.”

“I agree wholeheartedly.”

Deris nodded then gave a fatherly smile even his eyes softening. “Sorry about that. This is just that delicate an issue. Please go with the knowledge that the church is on your side.” He even bowed his head to me.

I blinked at the sudden change and nodded. “Thank you, Lower Vicar Deris. Then, I will take my leave.”

I met up with Ezal outside then left to head home. I shuddered just remembering Deris’s sudden change. It reminded me too much of my own father. A person that could be cruel one moment then smiling as if nothing was the matter then next was the kind I had the most difficulty dealing with.

“Is something the matter, mistress?”

I looked at Ezal, who had a worried look in her eyes. “No. I just remembered something I’d rather not.”

Next:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/43234220

Previous:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/dungeon-2-12-43030617