DD 202 Ch 6 (Patreon)

Chapter 6

I had managed to calm Felin down and get back to work.

Bellaire had watched me workout for a while, sneakily filming me. I had a feeling some of those shots would show up as some form of ‘organic’ content later. Though the way she kept smiling softly gave me odd chills despite the rigorous exercise.

Just as I was wrapping up, Ami appeared. Her long white hair swished behind her as she approached in her pantsuit and black mask. I knew under the mask she was a beauty, but she kept her face hidden.

As always, my butler’s expression was unreadable and frigid. Unless she was moving quickly, I never really saw much expression from her. The woman was addicted to speed.

“What can I do for you?” I wiped at my neck with a small towel.

She handed me a letter.

I rolled my eyes at the theatrics, but opened the letter, my eyes scanning over the words. “Near here?” I asked, assuming she already knew the contents.

“The 30th floor safe zone below this floor.” Ami confirmed. “Your grandparents believe that you also need to work on the family business.”

I started to rip apart the letter while my mind played out the situation.

My grandparents had given little information about the target. And they had subtly said for me to judge the target myself, meaning they hadn’t even officially taken the job.

Instead, they wanted me to live up to the Nagato name and assess the situation and determine if the clan would take the job.

Ami stood patiently to the side.

I could have asked her opinion, but that would defeat the purpose.

No. As the letter became nothing more than confetti in my hands, I became determined to check the situation out for myself.

Yet, I could almost hear boss music starting when Charlotte and Des discovered that I’d gone alone. They had some training, but I couldn’t exactly take all of them. It would be best if I just took one of them on a date to the 30th floor safe zone.

I quickly ruled Felin and Fayeth out. They were too eye-catching in the human territory of the dungeon. Des was competent, yet on a date she could be a little distracting for me, not to mention men tended to stare at her. Of course Crimson was out. Everyone and their mother would recognize her. Charlotte? She might be my best option.

My eyes fell on Ami who had been extensively trained as part of the clan. She was subtle enough with her mask up. If it fell down, it was another story, but with it up most people only gave her a short glance.

The more I considered my options, the better it seemed to take Ami with me.

There was just one problem. The woman asserted she was a butler and I wasn’t sure how she’d feel about faking a date with me.

“What?” Ami frowned under my gaze.

“Uh…” I scratched the back of my head. There was no secondary intention, but she was the best option. I hoped she wouldn’t misunderstand. “Thinking about how to scout it out. The easiest would be to bring myself and someone else inconspicuous. Pretending to be a couple out for the day always lowers people’s guard.”

“Sure.” Ami answered plainly.

I let out a sigh of relief. “Good. Let me get cleaned up and get ready to go.” My eyes wandered over her suit. “Maybe change?”

Ami’s brows pinched down. “I am competent at the art of subterfuge in its many varieties, and I do not need your input.”

I held up my hands. Well shit. Apparently asking her out on a fake date didn’t bother her, yet trying to tell her what to not wear did.

Then again, she was pretty big on her competencies. I was happy to leave the details to her.

Hurrying back to my tent, I dodged several other groups dragging themselves back for a moment of respite before they took on the event again.

Des was fluffing her hair dry. “What took you?”

“Ah. I got a job from my grandparents.” I said, happy she was around for me to explain everything. Disappearing would not go over well. “They want me to investigate a group in a nearby safe zone.”

Des squinted her eyes. “And who are you bringing?” She gestured at herself.

“Ami.” I said quickly. “You are just too beautiful; everyone would stare at you and pay attention to us.”

“Hmm.” Her eyes pinched tight, half happy, half suspicious. “You have a very valid point and I don’t like it.”

I suppressed a grin. “Can’t help it. You are just too stunning.”

Des sighed. “Fine. No Fayeth?”

“Walking around with an elf, a Nekorian or the famous Crimson would be almost as bad as walking around with a beauty like you.”

“Careful, I’m starting to think you’re playing it up a little too much.” She poked my side and turned her cheek.

I was smart enough to know she wanted the kiss and planted one on her. “Besides, Ami is fast and stealthy. I can use her rather than risk myself for some tasks.”

“Oh. I like that. Use her lots.” Des nodded along, making her purple hair bounce. “She’s fast enough to escape on her own should things get messy. But you are investigating rather than killing?”

“My grandparents phrased it like a test. They want me to determine if we should take the hit.” I clarified. “Which is kind of a big stepping stone for me.”

“They want you to continue the family business.” Des nodded, suddenly becoming serious. “It isn’t a bad thing, but don’t get yourself into too much trouble.” She poked my chest and then fell against me as her towel threatened to fall down. “Do you have to go right away?”

I cleared my throat. “Sooner is better. Never know when people are going to move around.”

She nodded. “Crimson is going to go then and make sure she can portal in if you need her.”

“Why’s he going to need Crimson?” Fayeth stepped out of Crimson’s portable shower next and waved at me. “He’s not doing anything stupid, is he?”

“Never.” I promised.

“So, he’s doing something stupid.” Fayeth nodded to herself. “Who are you taking with you?”

I huffed. “It’s like you two practiced.”

“Who says we haven’t?” Des still had her chest pressed to me, that pressure being the only thing keeping her towel up. “He’s taking Ami and going to use her for anything dangerous.” She informed Fayeth.

“Ah. I guess that’s better than running off on your own to kill murderers, monsters, assassins, dwarves.” She ticked off her fingers one at a time.

“Hey, I fought with The Harem Queen for that last one. As for the murderers, I was just a distraction.” I argued.

“Uh huh.” Des sounded unconvinced. “Fay-fay. Does someone who plants poisoned spikes in the ground and hides in a tree to ambush them count as distracting?”

I sighed. “If I didn’t kill the archer I wasn’t going to escape. Why am I arguing this? Ami is coming.”

“Alright. I’ll talk to Ami before you leave. Go take a shower and get dressed.” Fayeth took it upon herself. “What are you going as?”

“Uh… a couple?” I hesitated. They were obviously okay with my harem, but Ami wasn’t part of the party.

Des however cooed. “That’ll be so cute. I wonder if Ami will get into it?”

“Miss Stone Face?” I scoffed. “Doubt it.”

“I bet she gets into it.” Des countered me and tapped her lip. “Let’s make a bet. You let me put a collar on you on my next night if I win and she gets into it.”

“What if you lose?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Duh, then you get to collar me.” Des smiled brightly.

“Sounds like a win-win both ways to me.” Fayeth chuckled. “Just be careful.” She made me promise.

Her voice had a slight undertone of a second meaning, and I frowned.

But not wanting to waste time, I shrugged off whatever extra insinuation she was making and hopped into the portable shower, eager to scrub off my sweat and dirt.

***

I got myself dressed in a fairly normal adventuring outfit and slicked my hair back to give myself a little edge.

Des had a big grin as I came out. “Took you long enough. Tada.” She stepped aside and gestured towards the strange woman behind her.

I blinked, not recognizing her at first, until the traits of her long white hair and pretty face made me realize who was standing there. “Ami?”

“At your service, master.” She bowed.

The woman was out of her butler outfit in more normal adventuring gear. She wore a tight bodysuit with leather straps around her shoulders, hips and thighs. Each pulled at parts of her, making me realize she had curves, even if they didn’t compare to Desmonda’s.

Ami looked like a hot rogue adventurer.

I cleared my throat. “So strange seeing you out of your suit.” I covered for my fumble.

“Ah.” Ami nodded, clearing her throat, putting on a bright smile and skipping over to my side to grab my arm. Her voice was nothing like the serious one she often used. “Let’s go have fun in the safe zone~!”

I just stared as she transformed into a different person.

Ami pouted. “Are you going to cancel? But you promised.” She pouted and puffed her cheeks out playfully. “You were going to take me on a date.”

“I think your acting skills are just too good for him.” Des clapped softly. “Ah, Ken I’ll get a collar sized for when you get back.”

Ami continued holding onto my arm. “A collar?” She tilted her head like a ditsy flirt. “Oh, can I get one too?” She batted her lashes at me.

“Your acting is incredible, maybe calm it down until we get there?” I offered.

Ami cleared her throat and nodded sharply, putting her mask back on. “Let us go, Master.”

I had chills from how quickly she had switched back. Ami was low-key terrifying to the point it made me wonder which was the real her. Focusing on the task at hand was for the best.

Rushing off towards the next floor of the dungeon, Ami kept up with me. The woman still had all of her stats in agility.

“Do you know all of the details about this task?” I asked.

“You know as much as I do.” Ami nodded.

I spoke aloud to order my thoughts more than anything else. “Brandon Sayer, level thirty eight, though the record is old. He’s upgraded his warrior class into some sort of elemental based fighter. The hit was put out by a small guild who claimed that he plays small time warlord of the safe zone. UG doesn’t have a presence in the safe zones that don’t come up from the entrances based on earth. A dead branch like this is up for grabs.”

Ami nodded along. “They said that he took all of their CIDs and their inventories. After losing two members escaping back to the surface, they scraped together their savings and put out a hit on him. This far from the main safe zones, we cannot easily gain information on Brandon.”

“Thus, it rests on my shoulders to assess him. If he’s harmful to the rest of humanity, then I’ll end him.” I grimaced. There was a pressure on me to play judge, jury and executioner.

In the assassin business of the Nagato Clan, we didn’t take just any job. Our own morals played a role in which we’d accept.

Not paying attention as I thought, I almost ran into a werewolf, deciding to stop and use [Triple Breach] followed by [Shadow Strike] and two swings of my blades.

The werewolf exploded into black smoke with that quick use of multiple abilities. Triple Breach worked fantastically for a powerful burst.

Ami’s eyes sparkled seeing the purple lightning racing down my arms as I took off even faster than before. The butler raced after me. “That ability. You can share it? I noticed that Crimson has your portal ability.”

“No, sadly this one and her Limit Break don’t work that way.” I shook my head.

Ami’s gaze lost much of its excitement. “Still, it must feel amazing to go so fast.” She had a dreamy expression plastered on her face as she kept up with my strides.

I had to wonder what her agility had leveled up to in order to keep up, even if I only had a few stacks of [Liminal Speed]. “We’ll just have to find you other abilities to increase your speed.” I offered.

She leaned forward, the slight glow of mana around her showed she was activating an ability before she shot forward like a flash of light twenty yards. “I am collecting them.” She said with a big smile. “One day I’ll just chain them and be the fastest.” She activated the familiar [Sprint] and I had to activate mine to keep up with her.

Another werewolf came up ahead and I used [Shadow Ambush] to melt out of its shadow and strike it.

Ami used her own ability to teleport to the monster and activated three abilities in quick succession.

My own [Triple Breach] hit and the monster exploded into smoke before we started rushing off again.

Continuing forward, we rushed through the dungeon floors. The werewolves were supposed to summon a small pack of wolves to help them each time, but we were so swift in killing them that they didn’t have a chance to get their summon off.

After killing numerous monsters, the giant bronze doors that marked the 30th floor dungeon boss finally came up ahead.

Rather than fight it, we dodged around it and down the stairs to the safe zone below.

As soon as we stepped out of the gloomy 30th floor to the brightly lit safe zone, Ami’s body language shifted. “Love, this place looks great!” She clung to my arm, swapping her mask out for an item veil that covered half her face and seemed to make my eyes slide slightly off of it.

Interesting.

“Yeah.” I scratched my head like a fool. “We are so far off the beaten path, yet the dungeon is as beautiful as ever.”

Like all safe zones it was a large span of grassy plains with only a touch of hills. In the center there was a small settlement and a large stone castle.

One man stood nearby. If Brandon really controlled this safe zone, then we had to put on the act the second we arrived.

“Look at that.” She pointed ahead to the small castle that had been built with a low wall ringing around the settlement.

Someone had certainly put a lot of work into this place.

Ami bounced on the balls of her feet as we saw the first person. “I always wanted to visit a castle!”

It was just too strange for her to sound excited and eager. I was having some trouble coping with the sudden shift.

She squeezed my arm tight and I felt the warmth of her chest enveloping me. “Are we going to visit?”

I chuckled. “Sir?” I waved at the person we were putting a show on for.

The safe zone wasn’t split up and there weren’t any particular markings around any of it. Instead, it just looked like a castle had been built in the middle of the field that took up the whole safe zone.

“Ah, you must be here for your first time?” He asked. His smile was tired but not entirely unfriendly.

“Something like that. Our party wanted to camp out on the 30th floor a little longer, but we needed a break, you know. A little alone time helps.” I said with a smile.

It wasn’t uncommon for parties to be made of two groups. In this case, I was saying a group of three and the two of us needed some time alone.

He chuckled. “Well, we’re a little unique here. This far out from the main path, we live off the grid.”

“Off the grid?” I asked, surprised. “Do you go back to earth at all?”

The man chuckled. “Nope. I’ve been down here for three years. The guy that runs the place almost six. We prefer it to the surface. Fewer stupid rules.”

“Politicians just won’t leave well enough alone will they?” I huffed in agreement, knowing the right thing to say.

Ami pulled at my arm. “Don’t get started on that.” She rolled her eyes. “We’re here to have fun.” By doing so, she aligned me further with them without making me actually get into it. Most people would fill in the details with what they wanted.

“Sorry.” I apologized blandly to her. Yet in my mind, I wondered just which rules were stupid. Did that include theft and murder? “So then you guys run this like a real castle?”

“Well, there are some perks living in the dungeon. Honestly, you guys came at a good time. We haven’t had many visitors lately and it would be nice if you could trade. The floors you came from have lots of werewolves. We can get plenty of hides and even meat from them.” He started to lead us back towards the castle, though there was more energy in his body language than when we’d first greeted him. “That one.” He pointed off in the distance. “Has big rock monsters that we use to build buildings. Then that one over there has a plant monster. It’s a little rare, but it drops edible loot that helps make up what we’re missing down here.” He waved us after him to join him. “I’ll show you around.”

He seemed friendly enough, yet my senses were telling me that something was wrong. I kept my mind sharp as we walked, waiting for whatever was triggering my senses.