A Dungeon Core - Ch. 09 Negotiations and Surprises (Patreon)

Dungeon subjugation?  I had my minions relay my words to Susan- though they thankfully did not convey my worry.  How could I not be worried?  You did not send a team to do something that they were unable to do, so logically the team could kill him.  Damnit.

“Dungeons are dangerous,” Susan replied and then added quickly.  “However, you are less so than most- dungeons this young rarely can talk, and if they could they would not want to reduce the amount of people killed.”

And I do not suppose they would take your word for it that I prefer not to kill people?

“They think I am possessed.”  Susan grimaced at the thought, however I was quite surprised.

I was unaware that was an option- something to consider later, I suppose.

“I would rather you not, thanks.”

Why would I posses you?  But it would a non-lethal way to deal with intruders until I could figure out what to do with them.  Regardless, it seems like my only option here is negotiation- I would be quite happy if you and Specy would help with that.

“Of course, but I do not think it will help much…”  She suddenly spun around towards the entrance, and I saw a woman tentatively cross the threshold of my dungeon.

“Hailey…”

“Susan, we will get you out of here.”  The woman replied firmly.  Personally, if I was not in danger, I would be amused by her clothing.  This was Susan’s ranger friend- but her equipment was similar to what you might find for the class in fantasy settings in my world.  Which, for women, was often more impractical than not.

She escaped that for the most part- but her clothes were tight and form fitting to the point I wondered how she got them on.  For that matter, it was a good thing I was a core instead of a man because the cleavage she displayed was beyond impressive.

Not very practical though.

Her other party members entered the dungeon behind her, and I immediately knew I was correct to assume that negotiation was my only option.  Two warriors in full plate- templars of some kind if the engravings on the armor were anything to go by- a man in a robe who was definitely some kind of magic user, and another robed man who was undoubtedly a priest of some kind.  A stacked deck against an undead dungeon- I will need to think of countermeasures or diversify my creations.

Welcome, I would rather not fight if at all possible.

“He really does not want to fight!”  Susan added after Specy spoke for me, “Core is not a bad person!”

“He is not a person at all!”  One of the templars stepped forward, clearly the leader of this group.  “But I do not blame you, we shall cleanse the evil spirit from you and eliminate this blight on the world!”

I have not possessed her, you are welcome to check for yourself.  If you would be so kind Susan?

Susan walked over to the other group nervously, was inspected by the priest- who then chanted for a while and cast a complex spell.  Specy shivered, clearly disliking it- interesting that he was able to feel it.

“I detected no possession,” the priest said.  “But I cast a Greater Cleansing anyway, I believe she is speaking her own words.”

“And I am still saying the same thing!”  Susan was quick to add, “Lord Core is not a bad person!”

“He is not a person!”  The first templar growled again, “all this means is that it is you who is corrupt!”

“How, precisely, is Master corrupt?”  Specy spoke for me, “Master has done everything he can to avoid taking innocent lives and says that the bandits who died here were outside the jurisdiction of any country so there was no way for them to stand trial for their crimes.  Master is far more moral than the beings who come to his domain!”

...I had not said that last part, but Specy can not help but editorialize.

The other templar put his hand on his companions shoulder before the man exploded and stepped forward to speak.  “It is the right of the accused to know what they are accused of and why, and while you are not a person, you are intelligent and deserve those answers.”

“My Master argues that he is, in fact, a person- but bids you to continue.”

“Undead dungeons are dangerous to a fault.  Many of the creatures here can create more undead from the bodies of the living and undeath will spread like a plague- wiping out entire cities, if not countries.”  The templar explained, “All undead dungeons have done this- even if you were the one to buck that trend, we could not take that risk.”

That is, unfortunately, quite understandable.  I must admit that I have struggled to retain my morality in this form and I can immediately see why doing that would be tempting.  I can only imagine how an entire country could fuel my growth- but that is not something I would want to do.  However, your fear is reasonable.

“What are you saying?”  Susan shouted at Specy, “you sound like you are giving up!”

I found myself unable to explain the situation that occured after I had died, presumably that ass had blocked me from speaking about it directly- though I was not forbidden from talking about my past life oddly enough…  Regardless, I was able to get Specy to say a few things.

“Master says he is aware of what happens after death,” Specy said proudly.  “My Lord knows what has occured when a soul goes beyond the reach of reincarnation or undeath- and he claims that he is more likely to benefit from dying now than dying after committing an atrocity.”

“You can not do this!”  Susan shouted, trying to rush towards Specy but being restrained by her friend Hailey.  “Core, you can’t!”

The first templar seemed to have calmed a bit, even if he was quite suspicious of the undead standing down and dropping their weapon, and said.  “If this is not a trick, I will admit to having misjudged you.  I will make certain that your self-sacrifice is not forgotten.”

“No!”  Susan shouted, and I felt something strange wash over me.  “I refuse to allow you to do this!”

What the hell is this?  Even my minions were shaking and the walls of the dungeon were glowing!  No, my minions are not shaking- my whole dungeon is vibrating!