Dungeon Menagerie 3 (Patreon)

Commissioned by InfiniteChaosRai

-VB-

Dungeon Menagerie

Chapter 3

-VB-

“... So you know how to read, calculate, and have done clerk jobs before?” 

Vanessa nodded. 

After hearing about the Guild, she decided that she needed to find a job, and she wasn’t quite sure about becoming an adventurer. It wasn’t like she had a Falna or Familia. Even if Birdie (he would kill her if she actually called him that) was a strong monster(?), she couldn’t find the benefits of becoming an adventurer.

Because if she could get safe and steady income here on the surface, then why would she need to go down there for money? 

“I’m sorry. We’re currently full on clerks so we won’t be able to hire you. Perhaps next time there is a job opening, you can apply and …” the manager replied and droned on and on about the Guild and opportunities she might find in the future.

“Ah… okay,” she muttered and got up from the couch. “Thank you for seeing me.”

“Good luck, young lady,” he said as he also got up and left the room. 

After a while, she left the room, too, with her shoulders hunched and feeling down. 

When she came out of the room, she heard a croon and looked up to see Judgement standing at the ready for her. 

When she had walked into the Guild with him, all of the adventures had been tense as were the Guild’s clerks and receptionists. But he proved himself “tame” when he showed none of the usual aggression that monsters show toward people. Or so she was told when they complimented her for her ability to maintain such a good discipline on her monster.

“... I really need to give you a good name, Judgement Bird,” she sighed, and her friend cawed loudly in agreement. “Okay, let’s go find some place to rest. 

-VB-

With no money and no connections, she found herself back at the ruins and the pool that she dropped into earlier today. 

She sighed. “This sucks,” she mumbled.

She was hungry now, but she didn’t have money! She whined a little.

“Caw.”

She turned to look at her friend.

“I really need to give you a name.” She paused. “Let’s give you a name right now. Otherwise, I’m gonna push it back forward, and calling you Judgement Bird is a mouthful.”

He cawed at her indignantly. 

“I get it. It’s your name, but if I can’t really say it quickly, you know?”

He poofed his feathers up. That looked like a rejection if there ever was one. 

“Why not something cool? Like … Like … Krisi! That’s greek for Judgement. It’s much easier to say.”

He shook his head. 

She pouted. “Foreign names are chic, you know that, right?”

Judgement Bird looked at her with what had to be scorned. It didn’t matter that half of his face was covered by the bandage; she could feel his disdain for her … airheadness. 

“Fine! I’ll try harder but at least give me something to work with!” 

He just huffed and left her to work on her own.

Grumbling, she decided to make him uncomfortable for a bit for not helping her. Maybe giving him an edgy name? Like … like … Well, he’s Judgement Bird. So he gave judgements before, and … And … 

… She wasn’t sure where she was going with that, but she was going to get a name out of it! 

Judgement. Bird. Bird. Judgement. Bird… live in forests? Judge what in a forest? Other creatures? Humans that enter the forest? Does he kill? Does his judgement involve capital punishments? 

… Well, there was that phrase memento mori. She wasn’t sure what that was about but she knew that mori was death in latin, right? But in Japanese, Mori meant forest.

So Mori! Death and forest, because he was a judging bird who lived in a forest.

She grinned. “You’re name is now Mori!” 

He stared at her before shivering like he heard something awfully disturbing. 

“Aw, come on! I actually put some thought into that!” 

And then her stomach growled. 

She froze and blushed, even though there wasn’t anyone around to hear it aside from Judgement Bird - ‘I mean Mori.’

Mori stared at her for a moment before getting up and nudging her with his beak. Confused, she got up, and grew even more confused when he lowered himself back to the ground next to her and squawked.

It took her a moment to get what he was doing. “Oh, you want me to ride on your back?” she asked giddily. 

He squawked. 

She got on gingerly, and almost latched onto his neck when he rose up. To her surprise, he was extremely stable. She didn’t even feel any sway except the rise.

“... Thank you,” she giggled.

He squawked and suddenly began to move. 

“Where are you going?”

He raised up one of his wings … and pointed it at the -.

“... Wait, no, wait, we’re not adventurers!” she squeaked as he moved. “Mori? Mori?! Answer me, Mori! We’re not adventurers! We don’t have falna! We’re going to die in there!!!”

Why was she panicking?

Because he had pointed to the Tower of Babel, and from the way he was heading towards it, he was serious about this.

She was going to die!