Dungeon Chapter 34 END (Patreon)

All eyes were on me while my dungeon party stared me down.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I went back into the dungeon alone to take care of something.” Crimson’s guidance to keep it a secret kept me from telling them. I wanted to make sure they didn’t have to carry that weight as well.

I moved to try to change topics, but Des raised an eyebrow, as if to say ‘I dare you to stop talking there’. And judging by the other faces around the room, there was no way I was going to be able to keep any of it from them.

I trusted them. I just wished I could have protected them from the truth.

“Okay, I went back in because I felt somebody following us as we dove the dungeon today. I was trained as an assassin. I know what to look for, and I could feel it all day.” I waited for their reaction.

“Wait, really?” Harley leaned forward. “Like creeps? Do you think they were into me?”

Charlotte rolled her eyes, stepping between Harley and I as she said, “Keep going.”

Nodding, I continued. “I went back in to try to get more information. And I went in discreetly; I hadn’t exactly planned to do more than reconnaissance to understand why we were being followed.”

They leaned forward a little more. “I found three of the party. They apparently ended split up because they were all using a Stealth skill, and I followed them for a while.” I explained.

“Uh huh. And following them wouldn’t explain why you came back looking like death, so please continue.” Des waved her hand in the air, motioning for me to continue.

“I was poisoned.” I grumbled. “I didn’t take that much damage. A health potion was enough to heal me.”

Charlotte frowned. “If you had taken us with you.”

“Stealth sometimes requires a smaller team. In this case, a team of one. And I wasn’t stupid. When the rest of the party came and there was an upperclassman, I hid. If you’d been with me, we would have been found.” It came out harsher than I intended, but I needed her to understand the choice I’d made.

“They all had stealth skills?” Des locked onto the right part of that conversation. “That’s not cheap at all.”

“No, it isn’t.” I frowned, wondering how Fayeth would take the next part. “There was a reason I attacked them. When I was following them, I found them tracing our route through the dungeon, trying to find the right point to ambush us. They were after Fayeth. They wanted to damage the negotiations. They are apparently anti-elf.”

The elf stopped fidgeting with my clothes. “They were after me?” Her eyes were wide, but she wasn’t a damsel in distress. She was surprised, but a flicker of fight entered our tank’s eyes.

Stepping over to her, I grabbed her hand and held her close. “Yes, and for even considering touching my fieore, I killed them.”

She blushed. “You called me your fieore. I think that’s the first time you said it without me prompting you.” She looked up at me through her eyelashes bashfully, all the fight leaving her eyes as she swooned.

“It’s true, isn’t it?” I pulled her with me across the room and sat down on the bed with her on one side and Des on the other.

Charlotte came over and plopped herself down in the middle of my lap. Wiggling her butt to settle in, and I had a feeling also to stake her claim.

She was still petting poor Bun-bun bald. “You could have been injured.”

“I know.” I kissed her shoulder.

“Okay. This is adorable and all, and I’m glad you’re okay, but… uh… I’m feeling seriously like a third—er—fifth wheel. I’m going to jet. Glad you are okay, Ken.” Harley spun out of her chair, came over and gave our little huddle a big hug, and then ran off.

We all looked at each other for a moment before each of them leaned on me. I felt more complete than I thought I could with them surrounding me and caring for me.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you all about the feeling of being followed. But I knew I could handle it myself. And I didn’t know who was listening. If they’d all been upperclassmen, me knowing meant they could have cut their losses and tried to attack then.” I replied.

Charlotte huffed. “Yeah, but you still came back so weak. And bloody. And…” She started choking up, and Des stepped in to help her.

“Look, we get it. Do it again, and I’ll poison you myself.” She gave me a wicked smile.

I nodded to Des before focusing back on Charlotte. “I was bloody with other peoples’ blood. That will certainly happen again in the dungeons. It happens when you slit someone’s throat, or when you use metamorphosis and claw another’s chest out.” I needed her to get used to the gore.

“The blood of our enemies.” Des looked like she wanted to take a sample for some revenge ritual, but she let it drop.

Fayeth spoke up, quiet reverence entering her voice. “The Emperor class leads a group in battle. You are our leader. And through sharing a piece of your power with us, you can use us to fight.”

“Give us a piece of his power?” Des asked curiously.

I sighed. “Yeah, there’s some pieces of my new class we will just have to figure out with time. Apparently the first Emperor of the elves was my class, and he gave women his absorb ability. It’s suspected he was made stronger in return, but we don’t know all the details.”

Charlotte reached behind my neck, stroking up and down gently. “Does that mean you are going to have a giant harem?”

“Maybe? I don’t know.” I pulled her closer. “But I do know that we’ll do this all together. We have a great team, and we’re going to dive deep together. We have to push forward. The group after us will keep escalating this to go after their goal. Clearly they have enough wealth. Even if Crimson takes care of this upperclassman, there could easily be more. I need to be able to handle it.” 

I looked over at Fayeth. “And I want to take care of the upperclassman who came after my Fieore.”

“Okay, maybe we deal with that tomorrow. Can we stay the night?” Charlotte looked up at me, and the thought of having all of them with me sounded right.

“Please. I don’t think I’m going to have any energy for funny business, but if you stay I’d feel more comfortable.”

Fayeth nodded and slipped out of her dress and into the nude. “Okay.”

Charlotte just stared at the naked elf in shock. “Y-yo-you can’t sleep with him naked. Besides, he needs a bath.” Charlotte pointed out.

“We all sort of do.” Fayeth sniffed at her armpit. “Okay, group bath time. His shower isn’t large, but we can squeeze in.”

Charlotte just stared at her, lost for words as she started to tip over.

“Let’s take turns.” I offered, saving the cute druid from hitting the floor.

***

Crimson was up front, teaching class, and I was having trouble concentrating.

My mind was swirling. 

Life had blown up on me a bit. I came to Haylon to be an adventurer, and that part was coming true. But I’d also built up a harem that apparently meant I was now also an even bigger target.

And I wasn’t going to give up my team. My heart was in it now. I’d grown attached to my team.

I let out a yawn, my body still recovering slightly from the battle the day before, but I had managed to get some sleep. My women had been relatively well behaved the night before, but Des had cornered me in the bathroom to ‘perform maintenance’ on my seal.

My body started to perk up, and I quickly pushed that from my mind before it started to make any noticeable shifts.

Luckily, the door opening helped break me from my thoughts.

Crimson turned to the person who interrupted her class with a sharp glare. “Excuse me?”

“S-sorry, Crimson. But the Security Council needs to conduct interviews for anyone who went into the dungeon yesterday afternoon.” The redhead that had come after me twice was flanked by two more members, one I recognized. It was Penelope.

“Introduce yourself.” Crimson stepped aside for her to take the lectern.

“Uh, sure.” She stepped up. “I’m Helen. I’m in charge of the 1st year’s Security Council, and we are investigating the deaths of three members on the first floor of the dungeon. They were level two and level three, yet a group of three dying is suspicious.”

Her eyes locked onto me, and they were filled with questions and anger.

I didn’t fully blame her. She’d likely woken up in the nurse’s office, replaying all the events right before everything went dark. But I wasn’t sorry for what I’d done.

“Great. Call my students out one at a time and don’t interrupt me again.” Crimson warned her and went back to class.

I tried not to make eye contact with Crimson, in case I’d give anything away. She was playing it cool, but we both knew the truth.

Helen looked right at me. “Great, then we’ll start in the back. You, boy, come.” It sounded more like the command she’d give a dog.

I rolled my eyes and went along with it, getting up and heading out the back door of the classroom into the hallway. They were currently setting up stations.

Two other teams of three appeared to be starting to question the other two first year classrooms.

“So, what can I do for you?” I met Helen in the hallway. “I assume you’ll remain impartial despite the fact that I knocked you out the other day?”

Penelope raised a brow. “He knocked you out?”

“He was corrupting that sweet naive elf of his. They were naked in the gym.” She hissed.

“Correction. I was naked. She was fully dressed and helping me wash my back. It’s an elven thing. If I’m honest, I wasn’t totally comfortable at that moment either. Public nudity isn’t really my thing.” I shrugged it off. “Helen here was like a rabid dog and wouldn’t listen.”

“Pervert.” Helen tensed up, but Penelope put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look that said ‘let me handle this’.

“Were you in the dungeon yesterday?” Penelope asked, and I appreciated keeping us on track.

But her question was obvious. “Yes, I was. My entire class likely was. You should know that Crimson expects us to be diving and progressing our skills every day. She’s tough.”

Penelope just nodded. “Were you with your party?”

I nodded. “Yes, but I stayed behind and fought some boggarts on my own afterwards because I was so close to level three.” It was likely somebody would remember me coming out alone, even if I’d managed to keep from questions the night before. I didn’t want to cause suspicion if that happened.

She nodded and jotted that down on a notepad. “The students that died were all at least level two, and they were decently well equipped. You must understand that the people who could have killed them in the first year are limited?”

My eyes flashed with genuine anger. “You are singling me out because I won the tournament? What about second years or higher? I saw an upperclassman on the first floor yesterday.” I cast a little doubt towards that woman. If they could identify her for me, I’d kill two birds with one stone.

“You saw an upperclassman?” Penelope asked, perking up. “What did she look like?”

“About this high.” I put my hand up. “Brown hair and what looked like caster gear. She had a green cloak and a silver staff. I really only paid attention to her because she was hiding her face, and the staff looked too nice for a first year. I couldn’t figure out why she hadn’t gone deeper into the dungeon.”

“Where did you see her?” Penelope asked.

“Leaving with a first year. I think she was a girl in 1-B. Looked like a healer.” I threw out some details, but I lied about where I saw them so they didn’t connect me to their dead compatriots. It was better that I spotted them later, after the others had died. “Look, whoever it was, I want you to catch the bitch. There’s enough danger as we learn to dive. We can’t be taking each other out too.” I grit my teeth and tried to look genuinely disgusted.

Penelope nodded. “Did you see anything else suspicious?” She pulled out several photographs. Two I recognized as Gris and Gretch, but the third must have been the poisoner who had been wearing a mask. “Recognize these three?”

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t see them at all yesterday.” I focused on the poisoner as I said it. At least that part was true since she had been hidden.

Penelope nodded, looking up at somebody standing near my classroom door. “Please send in the next student.” She turned to me. “You’re free to go.”

“That’s it?” Helen grumbled.

“Yes, I don’t believe he is lying. I’ve crossed swords with him, and I’ve gotten a sense of his morals. He wouldn’t go around killing Haylon students.” Penelope was calm.

“He’s a pervert. You never know what his kind do.” Helen glared at me. I was starting to figure out that she seemed to have something against men. It surprisingly made it easier to deal with her stupidity; at least it wasn’t about me. But I wasn’t going to let her feelings get in my way. She could shove it.

“Great, heading back.” I ignored her, getting up and heading back into class. Charlotte headed out the door next.

I leaned over, whispering to Fayeth, who had taken up my desk as her own. “Fayeth, you shouldn’t go talk to them.”

After her feelings on lying previously, I was a little concerned she’d just tell them the truth.

“Okay.” She just smiled in agreement, and we continued with class.

Crimson was writing up on the chalkboard and teaching us about the fifth floor boss, going over the difficulty that would come with it.

I was starting to zone out, even if I should have been focusing. I was still processing that I’d killed three other students, and that there was a group coming after Fayeth. I had to figure out how to keep her safe.

If the AEF was recruiting in the college, then they were going to create more trouble for me, at least until I could cut the head off the viper.

At the moment, my only lead was the girl in 1-B. If I figured out who she was, I could identify her father.

I needed to learn more before I was going to come up with any plan.

“Ken. What do you do when the Bog Giant starts throwing spores?” Crimson asked, breaking me from my murderous thoughts.

I paused, my mind catching up to the question that she had asked. “Uh, avoid them?”

“Right. Continue to move through the area around the fifth floor boss. Avoid the spores, but also keep the boss out of the spores. They will reattach and regenerate the boss. It is important that you don’t stress your supports more than you have to by damaging the boss down quickly.” Crimson eyed me, clearly aware that I’d been lost in thought and not paying attention to her class. But she seemed to let it slide.

Fayeth was taking notes on what had become our desk and looked up at me. “You should pay more attention and stop thinking such murderous thoughts.” She replied.

“Are you a mind reader now?” I joked.

“No, but our souls are harmonizing.” She said it as if it was entirely normal. Then she continued to take notes as Crimson talked at the front of class.

I really tried to focus, but eventually I gave up. I pushed back from my seat and headed out of class.

I knew it was rude and Crimson would give me hell later, but I needed to stretch my legs. I was feeling so antsy.

I passed the security council and my legs carried me past class 1-B. I couldn’t help myself. I scanned the inside of the classroom until I found the person I was looking for.

There in the class, she looked so normal. She was focusing on her teacher and taking notes. I eyed her, also noting who was sitting around her.

“Ken Nagato. Just the man I was looking for.” Headmistress Marlow stood at the end of the hall. “Come with me.”

I paused but then moved towards her. It wasn’t like I’d be able to avoid her.

“Yes Ma’am.” I picked up my steps.

“I’m not that old.”

The early wrinkles on her face said otherwise, but I let it be.

I walked quietly with her as she found an empty room in the building and ushered me in. “What do you need?” I asked.

She pursed her lips. “It seems that I need to reassess our situation. After your discussion with Adeane last night, I’ve come to learn that you are engaged with Fayeth.” Her words were supposed to be happy, but she had a scowl on her face.

“Shouldn’t you be congratulating me? I believe I’ve helped your negotiation with the elves.” I smiled, pleased that she now was going to have a harder time expelling me.

Her scowl only deepened. “Congratulations.” There was just an inkling of joy that she managed to squeeze into her voice, which made me grin. “Given your relationship with Fayeth and Crimson, I wanted to say that I withdraw my objections to your presence here at Haylon.” She grit her teeth. “I will do my best to treat you as an equal student.”

“Do I get to move into the dorms?” I asked. I couldn’t help it. It was too damn fun to push her buttons.

She glared at me. “No. But you may be in them, with a curfew of nine o’clock.” She actually made a decently fair concession, and I started to have some hope she could be reasonable. “We will be retrofitting several of the facilities with men’s bathrooms as well. Though, I apologize, they won’t be very large.”

I kept smiling, happy to take the win.

“Welcome to Haylon, Ken. I hope you stay. And that you stay out of trouble. An alliance with the elves is critical. I don’t want anything interfering with that.” She gave me a flat smile.

I knew I was about to be smug, so I worked to try to quickly excuse myself. “Thank you. I’m happy to help. I should probably get back to class before Crimson hunts me down.”

She nodded and I headed out, a little bounce in my step.

I was finally being accepted at Haylon.

I was the first man to attend, and I’d already managed to overpower the first years and win the tournament. There was no telling what I’d do next.

AN - Whelp that's it for now folks. I am pushing hard on SSV 4 right now to make sure I can get it done without issues given we got the holidays coming. I really want to continue Ken's adventure though. At a minimum it will take Dao's place in my 3 series rotation. That means I have SSV, Dragon, then another Dungeon currently lined up.