Dungeon Tour Guide ch. 44 (Patreon)

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The [Analyst] was a severe-looking man, probably in his late 50s but with a body structure that suggested he was a decade or two younger. Ah, the wonders of magic.

If we’d been on earth, he would’ve been the picture of a middle-aged lawyer—black suit, dark blue tie, trimmed brown stubble on the verge of graying, and a pair of thin-rimmed glasses that, upon inspection with my healer abilities, were probably just for show.

“Anthony Salman,” he introduced himself. “[Analyst]. Present with me are Jackson Sliprider, Edward Alys, and…”

“Lucas,” I said. “I’m a dungeonbound.”

“Lucas, no last name,” he said. HIs words were infused with mana, some minor magical effect like [Memorize] or [Record] or a similar spell being applied to them. “Of note: Lucas claims to be dungeonbound. Jackson Sliprider, [Shieldbearer], is an employee of Alder Corporation along side his partner Edward Alys, [Arcane Archer].”

“Pleasure to meet you,” I said. I need to watch my words here. [Analyst]s didn’t have the best combat capabilities, but beating someone into the ground wasn’t the only way to attack them. If I said something wrong here, gave some indication that I was the dungeon core, that information could get out.

And once information was out in the world, it was far more difficult to reclaim. If, somehow, this [Analyst] caught wind of my condition and a Kingsguard picked it up somewhere down the line, I’d have a much harder time if they started sending assassins at the core as well as my human body.

“For disclosure purposes, let the [Record] show that I, Anthony Salman, answer to the Alder Corporation. Furthermore, let it show that I am in not liable for the consequences of this interview in any way, shape, or form.”

“Do you have any connection to the Guild?” I asked. Any information we could squeeze out of this guy would be incredibly useful for their efforts to fight the Kingsguard, but there was no guarantee that the [Analyst] would feel that it was necessary to share his conclusions with the Guild.

“I do,” he replied, each word crisp and unaccented. “The full transcript of this interview will be shared with Lisa Seastrider, [Spellblade] and representative of the local Guild.”

“Will you be withholding any information?”

“If it is deemed necessary. However, that case is unlikely.”

Well, that was better than a yes, at least. It wasn’t like I could do anything about it other than be a little concerned at this guy’s practices.

“I brought [Analyst] Salman because he’s the best we have on-site,” Jackson said. “We do guard duty for him from time to time.”

“I am sufficiently high enough in the Alder Corporation’s hierarchy to warrant this interview requiring a security clearance,” the [Analyst] continued. “This interview will be conducted by myself and any of the three aforementioned individuals. The interview subject is a Kingsguard prisoner, name unknown… [Divine Assassin].”

He’d used an [Appraise]-type skill at the tail end of his sentence, which was unsurprising. I supposed he hadn’t bothered using one on me because he thought I’d be a non-factor in this interview? Or maybe ‘dungeonbound’ was the only descriptor he needed of me.

“I have been informed that you are a [Healer],” Salman said, addressing me. “Is this correct?”

I nodded. That explained why he hadn’t [Appraise]d me.

“I request for you to sufficiently heal the interviewee to a conscious state.” The [Analyst]’s eyes roamed over the Kingsguard, taking in the rather extensive restraints I’d subjected him to. “Restraints appear… effective.”

“The dungeon ‘as a mind of its own,” Ed supplied. “Built them right over him when it attacked Lucas ‘ere.”

“Understood,” the [Analyst] said. “[Healer] Lucas, I will repeat my request.”

“I got it,” I said, passing in a bog standard [Healing Stream] combined with a [Multiplicative Heal]. At the level I cast it at, he’d be conscious in less than thirty seconds no matter how hard a hit he’d taken.

Hopefully the rock would be enough. I’d thought that just cuffing his limbs would be enough at first, but I’d reevaluated as Ed had destroyed me at cards.

Most spells required both a verbal and somatic component—well, they called them the voice and gesture here, but I liked my terminology better.

Anyway, there was nothing I could do about his voice. The Kingsguard needed it to talk, after all, so there was no gagging him or anything. As to the somatic components, there were certain spells that had gestures as simple as moving a few fingers. That meant that letting his hands be free was a no-go, so I’d just chosen to grow stone around them, completely encasing the bulk of his limbs in the rock.

That said, there were some spells that only needed a verbal component, and that list unfortunately included most movement spells, including [Shadow Step]. Fortunately for us, [Darkness] required somatic components, and I was pretty sure that [Shadow Step] wouldn’t function without deep darkness to utilize.

All we could do was hope that he didn’t have other mobility.

As I healed the Kingsguard, I felt the familiar manipulation of mana, a weave of it settling into the area that the man occupied. The [Analyst]’s chosen spell for this interrogation was going to be a [Zone of Truth], then.

Magic did make interrogations far more effective in this world, I had to admit. Knowing that the person you were interrogating wasn’t just making up false information to appease you was incredibly handy.

Salman remained standing at attention, hands clasped behind his back, and I had to wonder whether that was an intimidation tactic of some kind, to loom over the prisoner and bring out the truth or whatever psychological shit that involved. I’d been a STEM major on Earth, not a psych one, so all I could do was speculate.

The Kingsguard gasped awake as my healing pushed him over the threshold, and I toned it down, turning a torrent of [Healing Stream]s into a trickle. Just enough to keep him awake and lucid, not enough to give him the opporunity to figure out what spells he could potentially use to get out of here.

“Kingsguard,” the [Analyst] said. “You’re a long way from home.”

“A suit, eh?” the Kingsguard said, his lips splitting to reveal a bloody smile. “Haven’t seen one of your like in years, old man.”

Salman didn’t reply, his expression unchanged. “You admit you are Kingsguard, then.”

“Of course I am,” the [Divine Assassin] said, sounding remarkably at ease for his current position. He wasn’t even struggling against his bonds. “What did you take me for? Another talentless monkey?”

“You attempted to assassinate a dungeonbound, attacking two of my employees in the process,” the [Analyst] replied, still stone-cold. He hadn’t moved an inch, though his words continued etching into the fabric of his [Record]. “Is this correct?”

“I must admit, the [Healer] surprised me,” the still-anonymous man replied. “The other two were helpless lambs to the slaughter at first. The one who wields the shield lives only due to the generosity of another.”

Jackson winced at that remark. His reaction got another smile out of the [Divine Assassin].

“Why were you here?” Salman asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” the Kingsguard replied, his smile growing cockier.

“He said that there’d been previous Kingsguard who went missing in this area,” Jackson supplied.

“I recall the incident reports,” Salman said, nodding. “Your two scouts. Why were they in the area?”

The Kingsguard cocked his head, apparently thinking on his answer.

“I feel that it is necessary to divulge the following information,” the [Analyst] said. “Due to the nature of how Ketz’s court system works, I will be able to grant you amnesty if you cooperate. You will be freed if you answer to the best of your will.”

“Wh—“ Ed’s complaint stopped before he could even finish his first word, his fellow adventurer placing a hand on his shoulder.

“He as this handled,” Jackson said.

Jackson had been briefed outside, then. From how much he’d wanted to kill the Kingsguard earlier and how calm and unsurprised he was now, then…

Yeah, the [Analyst] was definitely lying. There was no way he was letting a threat this big get away in one piece.

“The last transmission from the scouts was that they were going after thieves,” my prisoner said. “We lost contact with them after.”

That fast? He’d barely even thought about Salman’s offer before accepting it. Was he that willing to sell out his kingdom?

“You’re leaving out information,” Salman sighed, the mana of a passive skill flaring. “What was stolen?”

“Artifact. We have more.”

That didn’t narrow it down much, but I suspected that we might not get anything else out of this. Salman asked a few more questions along the same line, but they didn’t really seem to get him anywhere.

I might have to ask Minus One about that. I did recall the first Kingsguard who’d invaded me saying something about chasing thieves, but I had never quite figured out what that was. Given the increasing frequency of their attacks, maybe the thing that M-1 had taken was actually something relevant to the Omen in the south.

“Will there be others after you?”

“What do you think? Of course!”

Fuck me, the Kingsguard sounded like he was having fun.

“There’ll be many, many more,” he said. “Until our forces blot out the sun and your crops perish under our blight.”

“What locations will be targeted?” Salman asked.

“This place, of course,” he said. “Nobody will stop because they heard of my defeat. We’ll send more and more. We’ll send an army, if we have to, and the unworthy will drown in the Omen’s fury.”

Wow. That was… certainly something. I’d already suspected that there was going to be more followup after this guy anyway—if the scouts disappearing was enough to get the Omen king to send a level 15 after me, what was the disappearance of the level 15 going to warrant?

I had to be ready for war.

“What other targets?” the [Analyst] asked. “Your life may depend on your answers here. A non-response will be treated as a threat.”

“Everywhere,” the Kingsguard said, his eyes wild. “Here, the royal’s capital, the borders, the farms, the dungeons, anywhere and everywhere. We will not stop.”

“Then—“

“What you are witnessing,” the Kingsguard continued, interrupting the [Analyst]’s words, “is the calm before the storm. The omen before the Omen. His wrath will make itself known, and—“

“That’s all very well and good,” the [Analyst] interrupted, slight annoyance creeping into his voice. “Can you tell us about the capabilities of the Omen? And why mobilize now when the two kingdoms have been at peace for years?”

“There is no peace,” the Kingsguard replied. “There was never a peace. There will never be a peace. Your peace is the blindfold you wrapped around your own eyes, talentless one.”

“Great,” Salman replied, massaging his forehead. At some point during the conversation, the Kingsguard had gotten to him, breaking past the stone-cold facade he’d put up earlier. “Goddess, this is going to be a pain to report.”

“What’re the capabilities of your king?” Jackson asked. “You didn’t answer that.”

“Won’t say,” the Kingsguard replied.

“I have everything else I need,” the [Analyst] said, turning and giving me a stare that I couldn’t quite parse. “You may continue questioning at will.”

“Your life is on the line here,” Ed reminded the Kingsguard. “How many soldiers? How much power? How high leveled is the Omen?”

“Higher than you,” the Kingsguard said. “More powerful than you.”

Ed nocked an arrow. “Dodge the question one more time and it’s your life, ya piece of shit.”

The [Analyst] must’ve had some mana detection ability up, because he noticed it at the same time I did.

Fuck. I started using [Reshape] as fast as I could, trying to grow stone over his mouth, but it wouldn’t be fast enough.

“Get down!” the [Analyst] shouted, taking his own advice and diving away.

We heeded his words, sprinting away, and as we did, the Kingsguard screamed, an unearthly noise that tore apart at reality itself.

[Power Word: Martyrdom], the Kingsguard declared, and then the world was fire and light.