Chapter 210 - Blue's recovery (Patreon)

Rutigan listened to the entire story. Naka kept staring angrily at the humans the entire time while Ogryn listened to their tale intently, asking about certain details now and then. When the story was over, Rutigan turned to his old mentor, who nodded in reply.

"Their story is very similar to Weston's. There doesn't seem to be anything off with it. Although, the fact that she went up the mountain and survived is nothing short of a miracle. Not that I can detect any lies in what they said. It is just surprising that the sky ruler was forgiving," Ogryn said.

"They are a blessing from the mountain, that's why," Rutigan gave a warm smile to Hera and Blue, "Now. I imagine you have a plan for when you are healed, correct?"

"We want to get back home," Blue replied.

Hera stared at her friend before rolling her eyes, "We don't mean anything bad for that. We just have friends and family back home. Risli mentioned that there is no way out of here, but we know for a fact that there is. It is a rule of the MA.. of the world. There are always ways to go to a different place. I imagine that there is a doorway that could lead us back home."

"I understand. I would have the same desire in your situation, and…" Rutigan turned to Ogryn, "Can you do what we discussed?"

"Of course, my king," the old dwarf hit his staff on the ground twice, making the green gem glow while a dome started to form around the group. Hera and Blue looked at it with worried expressions, but Ogryn began to speak, "Fear not, this is just a spell to block any prying ears from hearing our conversation."

It took 30 seconds for the dome to finish being created. A soft green glow started emanating from it, indicating that the boundary of the spell.

Naka stepped forward, "My liege, you are not considering revealing that to them, are you?"

"I'm not considering anything. I already have decided to tell them about it."

"But…!"

The king raised his hand, signaling the captain to stop, "I understand your worries, but how can we ask them to trust us if we don't trust them? Not to mention that the best way to know if you can trust someone or not is giving them an opportunity to betray you."

Rutigan took off his hat while looking down, adjusting his suit. The man had short brown hair with a receding hairline and a small bald spot on the back of his head. However, Hera was more focused on his words. It could seem like he was showing his trust, but it also made it clear that they still didn't trust the newcomers.

"You are right," the king finally said after fixing his clothes.

"About?" Hera asked.

"You said that there was a doorway here. You are indeed correct, and I know where it is. The doorway is locked and can only be opened by a key that can't be found at the moment. At least, that's what the voice of the mountain told me. I also understand that this is just a room inside the place called MAZE. This is something that was shared with us by Weston, although it is something that very few are aware of," Rutigan explained.

"And why is that? Why are you hiding that information?" Blue asked.

"Because the key is not inside the caverns. We had 12 hundred years to find it. The only place where it might be is outside, but we cannot go out while the sky ruler exists. We don't share this information to avoid anyone thinking that they are special enough to survive the monster's attack."

"Why don't you kill it?" Hera asked.

"Because we can't damage it!" Naka barked, receiving a stern look from the king.

"My captain is correct. Our attacks do nothing against it. The voice of the mountain told us that. We can't even enter its nest."

"That's just your kind?" to Hera. It seemed like a very specific condition.

"Yes, the first humans that came here were able to wound it but ultimately were killed by the creature."

"I see," Blue looked down. The small hope she had about going back soon was crushed. Hera didn't know what to say and just stood there, holding her hand.

"This is a lot to take in. I'll leave it at that while you recover. Naka will station a guard nearby. If you two need anything, just tell him, and I'll make the necessary arrangements. When you are feeling better, we can have a meeting to discuss where you will stay and how we can help each other. The entire high council will participate, but you already know two other members. Naka and Ogryn. Also, I have a small request, not as a king but as a person. Would you mind if I came by to talk about your society? I grew up hearing stories about Weston, but he already had passed away."

"I don't see a problem. As long as Risli doesn't mind. This is her home, after all," Hera said.

The king thanked them and left with his group. Naka was the last one to go, not even glancing back at Hera before exiting the infirmary. The humans discussed what was going on and what they could do. First, they had to wait for Blue to get better, but in the end, it seemed like the plan was to kill the sky ruler.

"By the way, what type of creature do you think the sky ruler is? We never got a description," Blue asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe an eagle or something. What type of birds live in the mountains?" Hera tried to remember the nature documentaries she saw.

"Owls, maybe? I think geese can stay in cold climates too. Or maybe it's a flying penguin."

"If it's penguins or owls, we can win, but a goose? I don't know. Those things are nasty," the joke wasn't enough to break the tension, but it helped.

Hera and Blue stayed in Risli's hut for the rest of the week. During that time, Hera helped clean the house and started learning how to use some shaman's herbs. Since she had yet to discover a better healing spell, it was a good idea to at least know how to make some medicine. Risli didn't mind sharing her knowledge now that Hera had shown her some of the medical advances they had.

"Risli, what level are you? Back home, fixing a broken foot takes at least two weeks unless you are a very high-level healer."

"Level 72. I've been doing this for a very long time."

"Wow, that's incredible. You would be at a high level even among the humans."

"It's incredible that people with such short lives can reach those levels," Risli replied.

"We are very… driven. We also keep chasing stronger monsters and enemies. I'm sure people would go nuts over the idea of killing the sky ruler," Hera said.

"You guys are weird. Why do you chase death?"

"Honestly… I can't say. We just want to get stronger."

Risli shrugged, and they continued to work with the herb.

Every day, Rutigan would visit the humans to ask about their society. At the same time, Hera and Blue asked about how things worked in the kingdom. They had an utopic community, in a way. 5 thousand people were living in the kingdom. Close to 4 thousand could live their lives however they wanted, but they would work on the farms. Only 160 people would take care of the crops, meaning everyone had to work once every 24 days. The other thousand were split between those who cook, those who took care of the few children, those who heal people, and the guard. They called it guards, but in reality, they were mainly responsible for going inside the dungeon and retrieving meat for the city. Then there were another 20 to 30 people who worked in the administration together with the king.

Oddly enough, the type of clothing that was given to them by Weston was mainly tunics and robes. It wasn't the Victorian style for nobles, but the style that commoners used. The people inside here developed their own outfits, and they ended up in a very similar design to the one used in suits today. Although the color scheme seemed to be from the disco era.

There were a few other odd differences. They didn't have a weekly calendar, and once a month, a festival happened where people could share their new pieces of culture, from paintings and music to clothes and plays. They also had a firm belief in knowing the entire process of anything they made. If someone wanted to make a tunic, they had to first learn how to grow the fiber and turn it into yarn and fabric before making the clothing. After doing that once, they could go straight into the last part of the process.

People didn't have to spend gold to get anything. As long as they had done their work on the farm and could share whatever they worked on, it was enough to get almost anything they needed. Although they could get gold from the dungeon, they didn't use it in their day-to-day life.

Hera found it interesting, but at the same time, she couldn't understand how that worked. Where did the materials come from? And how could they be sure that no one was taking more than they needed? But apparently, that was never an issue. Everyone knew how to share. It sounded almost alien when comparing with humans.

Rutigan was especially interested in the internet, but Hera and Blue didn't know it well enough to explain how to set it up. Unless they managed to unlock the room, there was no way to create a network like that with the knowledge they had. One option put on the table was to allow them to open their tablets to reverse engineer them. That idea was quickly shut down. Neither Hera nor Blue was willing to lose their tablets for an experiment. There wasn't a doubt in their minds that the dwarves wouldn't be able to create anything that advanced. After all, they didn't even have computers.

Blue's foot finally got healed. On that day, they had a meeting with all the high council. It was called that, but there was no minor council. Their meeting would be with the six people responsible for the city, the king, his counselor, the duke of agriculture, the guard captain, the shaman chief, and the duchess of culture.

A couple of guards came to escort them to the palace. Their travel felt almost like a parade that the entire city was watching. Hundreds of people were creating a path to see the humans pass by. Hera kept looking around. Seeing the faces of all those people staring made her feel on edge. She started breathing heavily, and her hand was shaking.

"Are you ok?" Blue noticed her reaction and held her hand.

"It's just a lot of people staring," Hera lowered her head and kept looking at the ground. This felt like when she got her status and everyone at school figured out. The eyes followed her, sizing up everything she did, judging her. Hera felt like a teenager again, just after her entire world crumbled. The one thing stopping her from spiraling out of control was the warmth of Blue's hand. This time, she at least had someone by her side.

After arriving at the palace, she asked for some water before going to the meeting. The guards nodded and took them to the kitchen before leading the two to the meeting hall. Being away from the horde of people allowed Hera to calm down. Then they headed to where the council was gathered.

Before entering, Hera put on her Ring of Speech. She knew it was only effective when talking to 10 people or more, but if any guards were present, they could count and give her a slight boost to charisma. Even if Rutigan was very friendly, they still could use any advantage they got.