Dungeon Annihilation 2 - 19 (Patreon)

Good morning everyone. I hope the week is starting off good for everyone. As for us in the USA, may the odds be ever in our favor. HAHAHA

Louella

The theme of the dungeon had me worried. Other dungeons exhibited such displays later down the road, and while they usually stuck to whatever their first floor demonstrated. There had been cases in the past where there was a radical change at some point in the dungeon. For the tower do change every five floors was almost unheard of.

I dismissed the thought for now, I had an opponent that I needed to be full focused on to make sure I wasn’t defeated. Earle had woken me up literally at first light making me irritated at his insensitivity. Then his suggestion about when we should meet again officially ruined the day for me.

I cleared my throat to clear the air. “Sir Earle. About my job offer?”

He leaned back as he tapped his chin. I couldn’t tell if he was seriously thinking about it or was just putting on a show for me. I was tired though, so I didn’t press him. If he wanted to think about it then that was fine.

“I lead a busy life. It would be hard for me to protect you much more than your current guards are.”

“I understand that. It would only be during times when I truly felt my life was in danger.” I looked to the maids and had them leave the room then leaned forward. “To be honest, I want to hire you for… other assignments.”

Sir Earle leaned for taking the bait. I should have figured this was what he truly dealt in. For now though, he would be an assist if I could get him on my side. Nobles that could cause me problems in the future were only a small subset of the people that will likely be aiming at my neck in the future.

“Color me intrigued. Go on.”

“You likely already know this, but my position isn’t the most solids of things right now. In a few weeks, nobles begin coming to this town and the dungeon. While most of them will be more bark than bite, a few of them will be truly dangerous if I make the wrong move.”

“Don’t you have the marquis for protection?”

I let out a low breath, then shook my head. “He is a fancy shield while he is here, but that can only last so long. He has many duties around the country that he is putting on hold due to the nature of the dungeon and the recent attack.”

“I see. Why not try to tie him to this place,” Earle suggested then gave me another wink. I squirmed before I could stop myself.

I coughed. “That would be difficult. He has never shown interest in any women, not that plenty have tried.”

“Really? Does he swing the other way?” Earle asked with a chuckle.

“Not that I know. Many people just think that none of the women he’s met have stacked up to what he wants.”

“He does have a pretty knight with him. Maybe she helps.”

“That’s beside the point!” I growled wanting to get back on topic. “Either way, the marquis will only be a good shield for a few more weeks, maybe a month or two. After that, all the daggers in the north will be aimed at me.”

“Sounds like I might have my work cut out for me.”

“I’m willing to pay per job.” Sounds like I was really going to have to beg the dungeon for some more coin. Taxes were still down to attract people to the valley after all. Plus I feared immigration was going to go down once people learned of the necromancer attack on the dungeon.

“I’m quite expensive.” Earle pulled out a platinum coin and started twirling it between his fingers. A second later, five more joined it. The message was clear.

I ground my teeth, so gold wouldn’t be enough to entice him. That left me few options. I could offer land, but as an adventurer I didn’t think that would draw his attention since the dungeon would only hold his attention for a limited time. Perhaps I could use my body. He’d already suggested it after all.

I blushed, completely surprised by myself. I never thought I’d be the type to resort to such tactics. Taking another look at the man that had annoyed me, he wasn’t too hard on the eyes. Actually, he was quite handsome by many standards. Rather than the weakly, soft bodies that nobles had, Sir Earle had the strong body of an adventurer.

I coughed, sure that my face was redder than a tomato. “Um, I’m not sure what I can offer you other than money.”

“Are you alright?” Earle asked with a smirk. I was sure he had seen through me. “You look a little under the weather.”

“Yes! Yes. I’m fine.” I squeaked out.

“Good. As for what I want…” He paused like and looked serious to the side. I felt like he was looking at something in the distance while he thought. “For now, just give me a plot of land.”

“Land?” I asked surprised and slightly relieved. “But, you’re an adventurer.”

“That might be the case, but I plan to be here for a long time. Just in the month since I’ve been here, the dungeon has grown twice. I’m sure it will take several months or even years to safely dive the dungeon.”

“You have a point,” I mumbled. The dungeon was growing almost too fast. With most of the adventurers barely breaking through the first set of floors. I could see where he was coming from in that it was going to be a long-term objective. I filed that away for discussion with some of the town leaders. We might need to change how we were recruiting people to the valley. “Alright. Where would you like the land?”

“Anywhere in the city is fine. I enjoy camping, but there are certain activities that are frowned upon when done in the public,” Earle waved it off and gave me a suggestive grin.

I wanted to slap myself when my heart skipped a beat. What the hell was wrong with me? I had never been that interested in the opposite sex before. Sir Earle obviously had many women and while that was normal. I had always hoped that my spouse would want only me.

“I understand. Then I shall go through the plots we still have to distribute, and we’ll find one that suits your needs.”

“That works. For now, I’ll leave Raven with you. She is well prepared to defend you, but don’t order her around. She’s not a servant nor a slave. When you settle on a plot, she can inform me.”

“Of course!”

“Good! Then I guess we’re done here?” he asked leaning forward. I hadn’t realized I was leaning toward him and his face was only a few centimeters from mine. His breath washed over me and I felt parts of me warm up that I’d never experienced before. I jumped back with another squeak then covered my face, embarrassed.

“Yes…”

“Pity.” Was all he said as he got up and left the sitting room. I rubbed my hands on my legs as the sensation faded. I’d never experienced anything like that before and I worried what it meant about myself. I grabbed the pillow on the couch that Earle was sitting and hugged it, it still had his smell on it.

“Mistress?” I heard behind me and yelped as Ezal surprised me.

I chuckled nerviously and turned to face her. “What is it?”

She looked at me with a worried expression. Likely, she was worried that something had happened to me while I talked privately with Earle. “I’ve never seen you hug a pillow before, and your face is quite red. Is everything alright?”

“Yes,” I replied quickly. “He agreed to work for me in exchange for some land in the city. He thinks the dungeon could take years to challenge.”

She gave me another worried look before she nodded. “Where would you like to place him?”

“He’s not a prisoner! We’re going to give him a good piece of land,” I retorted upset at her word choice.

“Ah. Okay. I meant no offence. I guess you’ve come to terms with your hate for him?” Ezal asked stepping back.

I turned around to look at the now empty seat. “I never hated him. I mean sure, he didn’t help things, but the person I hated was Ivan. I should thank Sir Earle since he fed the slaves that night.”

“I understand. Then mistress. I believe you should get dressed and make your way over to the arena,” Ezal said taking the pillow from me. “Also, next time you should have the maids dress you before you meet with a man. This attire might attract unwanted rumors on your conduct.”

I blinked then glanced down. In my drowsiness, I had met Earle in my nightgown. It was currently in the middle of summer and the nights were hot. To say everything was on view would be an overstatement, but still close to the truth. A few seconds later, my guards rushed in due to my shriek and Ezal barely managed to stop them before my attire was seen by the men. I simply wanted to die after that.

~~~

As Ezal and I made our way over to the arena with Ioa’s party as our guards. The tall elf asked if I was under the weather due to the red shade of my cheeks. I told her I was fine and got a chuckle from Ezal which she in turn got a glare from me. I was sure my face was going to be red the rest of the day.

Coming up on the tournament site, I was glad to see that all the damage was repaired from yesterday. While the adventurer guild had taken the corpse, the achievement and reward for defeating a boss would mainly go to Sir Earle while a smaller portion would go to all those that helped.

“Countess Louella!” I turned to see one of the officials running over to me. When they finally reached me, I asked what was wrong as he had a worried look. He took several deep breathes before he explained. The other participants were threatening to retire from the tournament if Earle and his party were allowed to participate. “The tournament will completely stop.”

“Ezal what was the first place reward again?” I asked thinking quickly.

“The sword from the dungeon and a hundred gold coins.”

I turned back to the official. “Ask Sir Earle if he would be willing to settle for an honorary first place. Either way, if he doesn’t drop out the tournament will end with him being the overall victor. If he accepts he can join the judges until the tournament is over.”

“Very well. I will try!” the man turned and rushed off.

“Never a dull moment around here any more is there,” Ioa commented watching the man go.

“I’m surprised. I figured he would have to go through you at least,” I stated looking at the elven woman.

Her fists tightened as they turned white. “I cannot beat him in one on one. Even with my party together, it might be hard given his prowess with the dark element.”

I remembered yesterday when he appeared out of nowhere and even seemed to put Marquis on edge, not that he would admit it I’m sure. Given that sort of display, I couldn’t blame Ioa from threatening to withdraw as well. I really didn’t know what to say. “Don’t sweat it.”

“I know my limits. Better not to rush into certain defeat.” Even though she said that, I could tell she was pissed at having to admit it.

“That is a good point.” Only the foolish would engage in a battle that they knew they couldn’t win. “Let’s just hope that he accepts to withdraw. I don’t believe he’s that petty of a man, but I’ve been wrong before.”

I chatted with the officials at the judge’s booth for a while when I heard someone yawn next to me. Looking over expecting to see the marquis, I yelped when I found Earle sitting the marquis’ seat with Set standing next to him. More like lounging to be honest.

“Sir Earle. When did you show up?” I asked after I caught my breath. This man was causing me all sorts of strange sensations today. While my heart did start to beat a bit faster, I was sure it was from him surprising me. That was definitely it, I told myself.

“A few seconds ago. Apparently, all the other competitors are children and went to complain to mom,” he said, or rather grumbled giving me a glance that said he wasn’t happy.

“I’m sorry!” I said bowing my head. “Thank you for accepting to withdraw. A lot of money would have been wasted otherwise.”

Earle laughed and waved me off. “Trust me I understand the type of money that is flowing among the audience. I don’t blame you and just wanted to gripe for a second.”

“At least you have the best seat in the house. Speaking of which, that is technically the marquis’ seat. Perhaps we can find you another?”

“I know. I planned to get up when the good marquis showed up.” His form suddenly darkened then I found him leaning against the back of my chair with his face right next to mine as he leaned over the back. “So. When do I get my first target?” he whispered into my ear sending shivers down my back. I was not used to this sort of attention and the heat from earlier grew in my chest.

I coughed to hide my tremble. “How about…” I really didn’t have a target yet. None of the nobles were in town after all nor were they causing me trouble. Then I remembered the reason we got off on the wrong foot in the first place. “How about Ivan?” I whispered.

Even though I wasn’t looking at him, I could almost feel the grin he made next to me. “Consider it down.” A second later, he was gone.

“Mistress! Are you alright?” Ezal asked moving next to me. “He moved so suddenly that we couldn’t do anything.” I could hear the anger in her voice from her lack of control of the situation just now.

“I doubt it would have mattered. Right, Raven?” I asked glancing at the woman that had been behind the other two all morning.

She nodded. “If he wanted you dead. You would be… trust me.”

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