DD 202 Ch 14 (Patreon)

Chapter 14

Two days later Crimson surprised all of us. “Alright.” She clapped her hands. “Today we are taking a break, and by break, I mean I need you all to stop complaining that your CIDs are full.”

“Are we going to the surface?” Kendra asked. The pink-haired party leader sounded like she was beyond excited.

Then again, none of us had seen the sun in over a month. This dungeon floor was particularly gloomy.

“No. Just a safe zone. Actually, the safe zone is just above the raid that we are preparing for.” Crimson shrugged.

There was a murmur from the students.

I heard a couple of them and decided to be the voice for the class. “Can we go get our stuff now, and does anyone have to stay behind?”

Crimson rolled her eyes. “I’m keeping the portal up most of the day. You can all come and go as you please. But in eight hours I’m closing it and if I have to do a headcount and go pick people up from the safe zone…” She trailed off letting us fill in the punishment with our own imaginations.

The crowd of students exploded into a mad scramble.

Fayeth grabbed my arm and pulled me back towards the tent. “We need the bag of mana crystals. Then we are going grocery shopping!”

“Cream!” Felin added in.

“We aren’t getting cream.” Des said sharply. “We are going clothing shopping. I lost three good bras during this training.”

“What about gear?” I tried to interject before Felin started a fight over cream. But nobody answered me. I was hauled along with them, slowly joining with the rest of our class as everyone rushed to grab their items from their tents.

Many of the others were throwing armor off without a care that there was a guy in the middle of camp and swapping out their dungeon diving equipment for lighter, breezier attire.

“Ken, what do you think?” Selene bit her lip and twirled in a frilly black dress.

“You look great.” I put a big smile on my face.

“What about me Ken?!” Penny blurted out, her face turning red as my gaze shifted to her. She had changed into a yellow sun dress with a white orchid print.

“Penny, you are strikingly beautiful today.” I said.

“What about—“ Wendy shot out of her tent.

“Let’s go!” Des pulled my arm. “Before Ken manages to woo any other of our classmates.” Des had changed into a powder blue blouse and white pants.

“I have the crystals.” Fayeth came rushing out behind her with a comically large bag that clanked as she ran.

Bun-bun jumped and landed on the top of the bag, his head pitched upwards like he was the king of the world.

“Get down from there.” Charlotte scolded. The healer had a bold red dress cinched tightly around her waist, outlining her proportions.

Bun-bun chittered angrily at her.

“No, she is not your steed.” Charlotte sighed. “I am.”

The rabbit seemed happy with himself and jumped clear of the bag to land on Charlotte’s head with a happy noise.

“Really?” I asked him.

He blew his tongue at me and curled up on Charlotte’s hair while the healer sighed.

“We can always cook him if we get hungry enough.” I offered her. “I’m sure we can engineer a situation where we run out of food, if that would make you feel better.”

Bun-bun cracked open an eye and narrowed it at me.

“It’s fine. As much as he’s like a cantankerous old man, I don’t think it would be the same without him.” Charlotte admitted.

Des laughed, still pulling my arm along. “He might as well be family now. You don’t have to like all of your family.”

Bun-bun squeaked at her.

“Oh. So intimidating.” Des continued to laugh as she pulled us up to the portal.

Crimson was next to the portal in her signature leathers, but she was playing with the collar around her neck in a way that made me take action.

“I hope you aren’t going to sit there and mope all day.” Reaching out, I hooked a finger in the collar and pulled her face down for a kiss before dragging her behind me.

It was amusing the way people stared wide eyed at the terrifying adventurer as I dragged her through the portal.

Like other safe zones, the one Crimson had chosen was brightly lit from a giant crystal in the center. Bustle of adventurers busy going about various chores hit me immediately versus the silence of the 28th floor we’d been on.

UG buildings lined the street that we were dumped out onto.

“It’ll stay up without you standing there, right?” I asked.

“Yep.” Crimson said with a smile. “Where are we going?”

“United Guilds Office.” Fayeth shrugged with the giant bag on her shoulder.

“Wait for me!” Felin shot through the portal and landed on the bag, clinging to it with all her strength. “Where’s the grocery? I will help.”

Fayeth sighed and rolled her eyes. “We are going to the UG first. Dropping off all of these for Ren or mana coins and then going shopping.”

“Can I get those?” Felin still hadn’t let go of the bag, but it didn’t bother Fayeth who trudged forward.

Our tank had enough strength that she could probably carry a car without much trouble.

“What took you so long?” Des asked as we walked through the safe zone.

More than a few heads turned to stare at us as we got our bearings and headed towards the UG building that rose above the others.

I wasn’t sure why we were so eye-catching.

It could have been Crimson still being dragged by me, or the elf with a giant sack and the Nekorian clinging to it.

Of course, it could just simply be Des and Charlotte’s beauty attracting all of the attention.

“I was oiling my tail.” Felin swished her tail back and forth.

“Why would you be doing that?” Des’ eyes crinkled with how wide she was smiling.

“Tail hygiene is very important. I need to make the fur as soft as I can. Ken likes to play with it.” Felin said flatly and then turned to me and gave a very obvious wink.

“Subtlety is not your strong suit.” I sighed.

“So you like tails?” Des held my arm into her chest. “That’s good to know.”

“Everyone brings something unique.” I said diplomatically and turned down the street to see the entrance to the UG building.

All around us, the safe zone was downright busy. But I was also adjusting to the difference from where we had just been. We were in the main branch of the dungeon at this point, where the UG and the rest of humanity had a much stronger presence.

By the 30th floor, almost all of the Earth’s dungeon entrances had converged and begun to mix with other worlds such as the Nekorian’s or dwarves. And then there were a few dead branches that guilds could conveniently occupy.

This was a far cry different from the distant dead branch that Brandon Sayer occupied.

Compared to that, this might as well be the central trunk.

“So many people.” Felin’s tail swished back and forth.

“If you think this is a lot, you should see one of the cities on the surface of their planet.” Fayeth added. “Only about 18% of their population become adventurers, though many step into the dungeon and get at least a few levels.”

“What?” Felin gasped. “Why not? Are there things worth hunting on the surface?”

“No. Well…” I trailed off, translating her ‘hunting’ for something more like ‘success worth striving for’. “Many people live lives of building skills.”

“Oh. Builders are good.” Felin nodded along. “You can’t have a city without builders. So most humans are builders… huh.”

“Ken is over simplifying it, but yes. Most people are builders.” Des added in. “Lots of people just don’t have the desire to put themselves in danger, not when they can safely build on the surface. Of course, then there are the poor people who rush into the dungeon to try and better their lives.”

Felin nodded, still clinging to the bag while holding this conversation. “Bad hunters.” She shrugged. “For us they become builders. They make clothing or take care of cubs. Normally, they are too soft hearted and not aggressive enough to be good hunters.”

“Are they lesser than the hunters?” Charlotte asked.

“No. But hunters are preferred. Well…” She puffed herself up. “Shamans are the best. Hunters aren’t bad. Who doesn’t want to be self-sufficient?”

“Of course, since you are a shaman, they must be the best.” Fayeth pandered to her.

But Felin accepted the statement as genuine and preened. “Yup.”

“We’re here.” I told Felin who might not have been able to see around Fayeth’s bag.

She hopped off and did a slow turn. “It’s not much.” She sounded disappointed. “You all talk like it’s some wondrous place.”

“Let’s cash in and then hit the shop.” I said, ignoring her. I couldn’t wait for her to step into the shop after this.

The tellers were all busy and we had to stop and wait for them to finish.

The other groups there were quickly passing their CIDs around and to the teller behind the counter.

“Hey, what’s with the bag?” Someone huffed behind us.

Fayeth turned and nearly knocked them over.

The woman had her hair pulled back and gold strands woven through it. She wore a fancy leather jacket with a patch on it.

Des wasn’t one to back down and purposefully checked it out. “I don’t recognize that patch. Do you Ken?”

“Nope. Must be a small guild.” I shrugged, not even bothering to check myself.

The woman choked on Des’ words. “You fucking inborn baffoons. You can’t recognize the leader of the big four colleges.” She pulled her sleeve so that we got a good view.

The purple and gold crescent moons with a star cradled between them was obvious enough to me. I gave Des a look; she had certainly recognized it.

Yet, she only pulled down her eye lid and stuck her tongue out at the other woman. “That’s funny. I’m fairly sure Haylon has that title. Ken, which college did the number one adventurer, Crimson, graduate from?”

I shook my head at the college rivalry that was bubbling up. “She’s right here. You could ask her yourself.” I gestured to the woman who’d followed us after I stopped pulling at her collar.

The Royal Academy woman barked a laughter that was taken up by the rest of her party. “You want me to believe that The Mistress Crimson waits in lines? I’d much more expect that she’d just kill the person in front of her to make space. Quit cosplaying in the dungeon. This is for real adventurers.”

I glanced at Crimson, waiting for blood to splatter on my face.

Yet, she was just ignoring the other adventurer, idling on her CID.

I tried to peer over her shoulder and saw she’d connected to the UG store and was currently shopping for kinky outfits.

That figured.

“Besides, what is a guy doing with Haylon?” She pointed a finger at me.

That finger disappeared a moment later as Crimson stated. “Don’t point at him.” She didn’t even appear to have moved from where she was shopping.

“AH!” The Royal Academy student screamed bloody murder as one of her party started healing her and another caught the potion. “Attack! We’ve been attacked!”

The response was immediate.

UG guards popped up from every entrance and exit of the place, only for them to freeze in place as they used their CIDs to check on who was causing the issue.

I could see two big red markers show up on their screens.

“What are you doing! Arrest her!” The girl pointed her now regrown finger at Crimson, only for it to explode again.

“At least she didn’t draw her weapon. It looks expensive.” Des commented, non-pulsed by the situation. She too had opened up her CID to start shopping.

One guard stepped forward and when Crimson didn’t look up, he shifted his attention to me and rubbed his hands together. “Excuse me, would you like me to have her kicked out, Mr. Nagato?”

I paused, realizing I must be the second mark.

After my [Liminal Speed] and the fight with the dwarven queen, my treatment from the UG had massively shifted.

Though, I didn’t expect their CIDs to give them a warning about me.

“Yes, she should be removed.” The Royal Academy student apparently couldn’t read the room. Her party’s healer could, and he was trying to pull her back.

“Ah. I think her party understands the situation.” I glanced at the healer, making eye contact and telling them with no uncertainty that it was time for them to leave.

Really, it was for their own safety.

Thankfully, Crimson was more interested in shopping than dealing with them.

I could only imagine the horror if they tried to stop her from using her CID.

“What’s happening? Stop dragging me away.” The student shrieked until a rather charming man came up behind her group and put his hand on the healer's shoulder.

“You should stop trying to force her out. After all, she was attacked.” The man had a soft smile on his face, yet I felt that it was fake.

I didn’t need to see it through my CID to tell that the saber on his hip was a powerful weapon at least as strong as a pair of my daggers, not to mention the bronze shoulder pad and his greaves practically radiated mana.

“Prince Albar.” The woman practically swooned. “That woman—“

“Is Mistress Crimson.” He tucked one hand against his chest and performed a very formal bow. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, but your beauty yet radiates as powerfully, if not more so.”

Crimson picked at her teeth. “Who?” She snorted, not even bothering to give him a full sentence.

His eye twitched as he came out of the bow. “Prince Albar, though you might recognize me as the son of Emir Talni. It’s been—“

“Ooooh.” Crimson made a noise of recognition, cutting him off.

The prince didn’t seem to mind. Instead, his smile grew to cover his entire face.

“That bastard who practically bought his way into the upper echelons of adventurers. Then again, I let him pay me quite a bit to carry him through some of the floors in the 50’s. So, maybe I’m to blame. In fairness, he paid me quite a bit. He hasn’t shown up to things in a while. Is he still sore about how I cut his legs off when he tried to touch my ass?” Crimson squinted at the prince. “You kinda look like him, I guess.”

The smile that had grown across the prince’s face turned so brittle that it began to crack as she talked and his eye started twitching non-stop.

It looked like a man who just had his heart broken, then stomped on before it was tossed in the gutters to wallow in shit for the rest of its life.

I sighed. “Crimson, you can lay off.”

“Just making it clear.” She pouted.

“I’m taken.” She told the prince. “Also if this woman is part of your class, you should probably put a leash on her so she doesn’t run around barking at the wrong people.”

The woman in question was frozen stiff, probably with the realization that Crimson was actually Crimson. She’d just insulted an adventurer famous for killing people on a whim.

She was lucky that Crimson only destroyed her fingers.

“Taken?” Prince Albar asked with an uncomfortably crack in his voice.

Crimson stopped trying to shop on her CID and leaned on my shoulder that Des wasn’t occupying. “This guy. Ken Nagato is going to be the strongest adventurer in a few years. I’m investing early.” She played with her collar. “He got me this.”

Prince Albar gritted his teeth so hard, I was pretty sure I heard one crack. That was going to need some healing.

“Next!” A teller shouted.

“Oh, Ken. Stop puffing up. Silly males. We need to go sell all the mana crystals so we can buy cream!” Felin pulled at me to hurry up.

“Mana crystals?” One of the other students asked and their eyes turned to the sack that Fayeth was carrying. “A Nekorian and an Elf?”

Fayeth grunted and walked the sack over to the teller before plopping it down. A few spilled out as she did so. “Yeah, our CIDs were full. So we had to start bagging it.”

“You criticize my father and then farm crystals for them like that.” Prince Albar came back to himself and scoffed. “Crimson, are you that desperate to win the raid competition this year?”