The Human From a Dungeon 21 (Patreon)

Chapter 21

Imlor Tula

Adventurer Level: N/A

Gnome - Kirkenian

"Two carts?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes," Moner said. "We were going to have them go with the main caravan, but they don't want to leave for another two days. If you're willing to take them yourself, we'll happily supply you with the additional cart you'll need."

"And all I've got to do is take the passengers to the capital?"

"Correct. Eight passengers total. Most are adventurers, but you will need to spring for a guard force."

"Adventurers? Can't I just pay them to guard the caravan?" I chuckled.

"If you can afford them," Moner smirked. "Four of them are over-twenties, and the other three are over-fives."

"Yeesh. I can afford the over-fives but even one over-twenty is too rich for my blood," I said.

"We don't have a lot of time. What's your decision?"

"Of course I'll do it. A free cart? I'd have to be dumb to say no."

"Good," Moner said with satisfaction. "We'll get it attached to your current one, and your passengers will arrive soon."

I nodded my understanding as the chief's aid turned and walked away. Things had gone well for me since the debacle with the giant rats. I'd made more than enough to replace my hnarses and patch my cart up. Now they were going to give me another cart, and all I have to do in exchange is to take some adventurer's back to the capital with me. Despite not even technically being a village, Nuleva always treats me pretty well.

I watched as some orcs attached the new cart to the rear of my own. They also moved the goods I'd purchased and evened them out between the carts to make room for seating. I walked over to inspect my new cart.

It was well constructed. Hell, I'd wager it's worth more than my original cart is in its current condition. Buff snorted at me, smelling the yipple in my pack. I chuckled as I pulled it out, ripped it in half, and gave Buff and Regal each a piece. Telena's going to roll her eyes when she hears my new hnarse's names, but I've never been good at naming stuff. Anyone who has any doubt of that may certainly ask Imlor Tula II.

I'm glad I was able to get them for a good price, but I still felt a pang of grief at the loss of Noble and Hulk. These hnarses are much larger than Noble and Hulk had been, because they're bred specifically for pulling heavy loads at speed. They also have a certain... aggression behind their eyes. Like they're looking for an excuse to attack something. It's a tad unnerving, but it might just be my imagination. They'd been remarkably well-behaved so far.

"Are you our driver?" someone from behind me asked.

I turned to see a group of adventurers, and a messenger. The messenger had been the one who spoke. I opened my mouth to respond, but surprise took my voice as I examined the other adventurers. Four unfamiliar orcs, two familiar orcs, and what I now know to be a human.

"Oh, it's you," Nash said.

"Hi Imlor, how've you been?" Nick asked with a smile.

"I've... I've been good," I managed to say. "I'm surprised to see you here. You're the adventurers that I'm taking to the capital?"

"Yes," Yulk interjected. "We've been summoned by the High Chief himself."

"Are we ready to go?" The messenger asked with annoyance at being ignored.

"Not yet, I've got to hire some guards."

"I'm available," one of the largest orcs I've ever seen said with a grin.

Three of the other adventurers looked at him with exasperated expressions. I remembered what Moner had said and realized that these were the over-twenties. The mountainous one notwithstanding, the other three didn't look particularly different from normal adventurers. One was a spell-caster, another was obviously a blade expert, and the third had the unassuming posture of a skilled rogue.

"If you're one of the over-twenties, I'm afraid I can't afford your services," I replied gently.

"Ah hell, you're doin' me a favor by taking me to my payday," he said with a laugh. "I'll give you a discount. How's fifty copper sound?"

"We could use the money too," Nash added. "Fifty copper for myself and my two brothers as well."

Nick looked at Nash with confusion, "My sword's broken, and isn't your axe chipped?"

Nash looked back at him and replied, "My axe still has plenty of teeth, and you've still got your spells. We'll be able to handle just about anything we run into on the road."

Two silver isn't bad for guards. I'd been expecting to pay at least five. Plus, I've seen the Alta brothers in action. There's no doubt that they're capable of guarding the caravan.

"Deal!" I before they could change their minds. "Well, that settles that. We're ready to get on our way. Hop aboard!"

I excitedly climbed into the coachbox and grabbed the reins. The hnarses shifted slightly as the adventurers and messenger took their seats. I watched until they were settled, and then urged Buff and Regal to start pulling.

The hnarses began to pull the two carts effortlessly. I'd been a little worried whether or not they could handle it, but my fears were unfounded. Once I was certain they were following the trail without guidance, I turned back to my passengers for some chit-chat. After learning everyone's names, I asked what was really on my mind.

"So, why does the High Chief want to see you?" I asked.

"He wants to meet Nick, and we're probably getting dragged along due to association," Nash answered.

I couldn't tell if he was upset about that or not. Nash has an odd bit of stoicism, it seems.

"Did you make out okay?" Nick asked. "Were you able to still make a profit off the stuff we saved?"

"Yes, and thanks again for the timely rescue. I was able to fulfill the most profitable of my orders and get my cart all patched up. I even got new hnarses!" I answered excitedly. "Meet Buff and Regal."

"Nice to meet you," Nick said with a smile.

The hnarses ignored him and continued striding ever forward. I chuckled at their lack of reaction.

"What happened to your sword, anyway?" I asked.

"It broke. A boss in the dungeon cut right through it."

"Ah, a pity. So you're in the market for a new one then?"

"No, I'm going to try to have it repaired."

"Ah," I winced. "Is it enchanted?"

"No, why?"

"Well, it's usually cheaper to replace a broken blade than it is to fix it. I learned that from my son," I laughed.

"You have kids?" Nash asked.

"Yep. Two sons and a daughter. The eldest is a level 3 adventurer already!" I beamed. "I'm hoping one of my other children will opt to take over the family business, though."

"Why not hire your son as a guard?"

"Guard duty is boring, apparently. It also doesn't pay well until you're over level five," I explained. "I'd obviously pay him more than a normal guard, but the lack of entertainment is a big issue for my boy. He prefers the adventuring part of being an adventurer."

"Your clan's bond could be stronger, then. I would work on that with your other children."

The criticism stung, but I knew it wasn't coming from a malicious place. Nash seems like the honorable sort, and giving harsh advice is one of their greatest displays of kindness. He's not wrong, either. Imlor II and I are civil, but we don't see each other nearly as often as I'd like. I tell myself that it's just because we're busy with work, but the truth is I wasn't exactly a great father and the end result of that is a wedge between us.

A tale as old as time, business always came first. I know it's wrong, but it was ever so easy to justify at the time. I'd considered myself a good dad because I never hit my family, and they never went hungry. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until my son had grown from a boy to a man that that's the bare minimum of fatherhood. I'd missed out on his growth, and didn't make myself available to help mold him. He'd grown into a stranger to me, and I'd let it happen. Now the consequences tear through me like a knife.

It's mostly small things, like how he sends letters addressed to his mother instead of to me, or how he'll go see his friends in town before coming home after an adventure. I'd already resolved to do better by my other children, but it hurt that Nash had been able to see the truth of our relationship after such a brief discussion.

"That's not an appropriate critique, brother," Yulk interjected. "Do we need to work on your social graces again?"

"N-no. I'll do better, I swear," Nash held up his hands in mock horror. "Seriously though, I was out of line, Imlor. I apologize."

"I appreciate the apology, but you're right," I sighed. "Business has always kept me away from my family, but even when I was home I didn't exactly make time for the boy."

"My father would play games with us," Yhisith added.

"Mine would spar with me until we couldn't move anymore," Thunra said with a nod.

"Mine had to work a lot, but made time to take us on vacations whenever he could. Mostly local, but it was still fun," Nick said sadly.

Everyone fell silent at the soft grief in Nick's voice. It hadn't really occurred to me that the human had family back in his world. It reminded me of when I was stuck in the tree, wishing desperately to see my family once again. A terrible feeling, indeed. Nash put his hand on Nick's shoulder.

"Our dad used to do the same thing, before he died," Nash said.

"I don't know if most people would count monster hunting trips as vacations," Yulk added with a chuckle. "And I'm certain that Nick doesn't."

"Well, it got us out of the house and strengthened our bond, did it not?" Nash asked irritably.

"How did he pass, if you don't mind me asking?" I interrupted.

Yulk and Nash looked at each other for a moment and shrugged.

"He was poisoned by an enemy of our family," Yulk explained casually. "Heart-bane. Nothing could be done."

"Yep, and then mom hunted the poisoner down and carved him into little pieces in front of everyone," Nash said. "We wanted to come with, but she made us stay home. Didn't want us to see that, but we heard about what happened from a city guard years later."

Nick's expression had gone from sad to shocked. The only face that wasn't showing surprise was Thunra's, who nodded along to the story as if it were something he'd heard before.

"Don't fuck with the Alta clan," he said quietly.

It was on this somber and terrifying note that I opted to turn my attention back to the road. We've been making good time, and the change from forest to desert is now within view. This was the portion of road where I had met Nick, Nash, and Yulk. I shuddered at the memory of the giant rats.

"Hey, I recognize that tree," Nick said as the tree that had been my home for a time came into view. "Wait, where's the giant rat bodies?"

"Eaten, presumably," Yulk answered. "There are a lot of predators in the wastes. It would be a terrible omen if a corpse were to last longer than a day."

"Why's that?" Nick asked.

"It would mean that an apex predator is nearby."

Grim, but accurate. There isn't much that is natural about the wastes, but even monsters follow the pecking order. Anything that can be killed without too much of a fight is prey, regardless of what that prey eats in turn. There are some predators who are simply too fast or too strong to be considered prey by anything else, and these apex predators are notoriously difficult to kill.

"Well, it's a good thing that I don't see any signs of our fight, then," Nick said. "So, the wastes, they were caused by the Cataclysm War, right?"

"Wars. There were more than one," Joni said, perking up for the first time since he got on the cart. "Five total, and three of them were fought simultaneously."

"Oh, okay. Who was fighting?"

"Everyone. These cataclysmic conflicts were aptly named. The world nearly ended!"

"He doesn't just mean all life on the planet, either. The magics involved threatened to break our world on multiple occasions," Yulk added. "It got so bad that not much is actually known about the conflicts themselves because hardly anyone survived to write their histories."

"That's right," Joni nodded sadly. "There's an account carved in stone in the dwarven kingdom of Prignira on the southern continent, but it's unknown if the account is accurate because there's no way to verify it."

"Ain't Prignira one of them bunker countries? Where the whole thing is pretty much underground?" Thunra asked, to which Joni nodded again.

"Wait, okay, so hold on. You don't know what started the fighting?" Nick interrupted.

"Not for certain," Joni answered. "However, the account in Prignira says that daemons conspired to convince all the countries of mer to attack each other, and once that war was nearly finished the forces of Hell invaded our plane of existence. These were the first two cataclysm wars."

"Wait, Hell exists here?" Nick incredulously asked.

"Again, we don't know for certain. A lot of scholars believe that daemons are a convenient scapegoat created to cover up the magical experimentation that went on during these conflicts," Joni explained. "The daemons won the second cataclysm war, according to the account, but their victory was short lived. The third cataclysm war began when the anyels from the plane of Haven invaded, supposedly to restore order and free the mer from the tyranny of the daemons. They managed to take half of every continent, but were fought to a standstill."

"What about the fourth and fifth? Didn't they happen at the same time as the third?"

"Yes. The anyels ruled over their mer with just as much tyranny as the daemons did. Less slavery and butchery, but even the pettiest of crimes were met with extremely harsh punishments. This was the order that they so craved, but mortals require a balance of order and chaos to happily live our lives. The daemons saw this, and made a fatal mistake," Joni said. "They convinced some of the mer who were living under the anyels to rebel. Once they did, the daemons went on the offensive. However, the sight of mortals fighting against the anyels inspired those who were subjugated by the daemons to rebel as well! The war between the anyels and the mer was the fourth cataclysm war, and the war between the daemons and the mer was the fifth. Daemons fighting anyels, mer fighting daemons, and mer fighting anyels. Everything natural in this world rose up against the two occupying armies and fought them back to their own planes."

"Never to be seen or heard from again," Thunra finished with a laugh. "I dunno how much stock I put in tales like that. Think I'm of the belief that powerful mages were fuckin' with forces they don't understand, and opted to cover it up once the dust settled."

"That is the more plausible explanation, but there's technically less evidence of that," Joni countered.

"Lack o' evidence is usually evidence of a coverup," Thunra said.

"Spoken like a city guard. You ever think about a career change?" Yulk grinned.

"Three hots and a cot don't sound so bad, but my pa would have my balls if I even tried!"

Everyone laughed as we continued our journey.