DAY 786

As DEATH OF RABBITS fades into so much mist, Grim applauds his team for their work. As usual, the rest of his team winces at the sound of his massive metal gauntlets clanging together. "And another one down! Given that Floor Five is a rest floor, we're now basically halfway through the dungeon!"

Bandages shakes his head at where the rabbit-eared monster once stood. "Seems a bit odd, don't you think? Why bother making a floor guardian that can speak, but then limit it to a language that no one's going to understand?"

"Hey! I caught...about half of that." The kobold of the party, Yellowbelly, scratches her chin. "I think he was complaining that we were interrupting his writing time, or something like that?"

That only causes the team healer more confusion. "...What exactly does an undead shade have to write about? His latest kills?"

"My demonic is a little rusty, but I think he said he was writing..." Yellowbelly's eyes narrow, and after a moment of thought she suddenly changes the topic. "...Uh, no, I must've heard that wrong. Anyways! Floor Five, huh? I mean, we've seen the inn part of it, but are we going to pass through that 'Fiver's Lounge' now that we're qualified?"

Their minotaur leader nods. "Of course! In fact, part of me suspects that it may be the most important part of the dungeon for us to inspect. After all, while some of the floor designs are a little unique according to the reports, a monster fight is still just a monster fight. But this lounge of theirs..."

As he trails off, Grinner finishes his sentence for him. "...You're worried the dungeon is seducing Challengers? In more ways than one, yes, hrmm?"

"Well, it's certainly the oddest part of the place, I'll say that! But enough talking about it - it's time to see it for ourselves!"

It doesn't take long for the party to collect their loot and take the portal up to Floor Five, and to enter the lounge from there, but they do have to stop and stare for a while after they arrive. They'd heard the rumors and reports, of course - not only had they gotten a brief overview of the dungeon before setting out on their mission, but Alizz herself had given them a verbal walkthrough of the place. But even so, there's some descriptions that just don't match up to reality.

For Yellowbelly, it's one of the nearby lighting crystals that attracts her attention the most. Many of the lounge's lights are hidden behind paneling or the bar, giving a soft backlit effect to most of the space, but a few of them are more exposed and the kobold approaches the nearest like a moth drawn to flame. "Bandages! Bandages, take a look at this!"

For his part the human had been staring at attractions of the more organic variety before he's pulled to Yellowbelly's side. "...What? You're asking me to look at the light? It is unusual, I suppose..."

"Not just unusual! Unique! I've seen thousands of magical crystal lamps in my time and I've never seen ones with color that's so...so uniform, so clear! And the surface is so smooth...can you tell anything about its construction?"

The cleric sighs, and begins to inspect the cylindrical crystal with his magical senses. As a high-ranking follower of Ulinda, the Goddess of Crafts, inspecting magical items is a common task for him. Indeed, lower-ranking clerics of his church often spend much of their time identifying the enchanted items that come out of dungeons like this one. This is the first time someone's asked him to pay this much attention to a lamp, however. "Well, the base material is your common crystal, though it has been smoothed out to an unusual degree and then coated in a layer of glass, yes. Although...huh. The lamp is...hollow?"

The kobold blinks. "Hollow?"

"And filled with some sort of gas? There's also a lightning enchantment inside, converting some of the crystal's energy into low levels of lightning. But...I can't identify the gas. Probably an unusual alchemical creation of some sort, not my specialty."

With a sigh, Referee places a clawed hand on each of their shoulders and pulls the pair back towards the rest of the group. "Very clever, I am sure. But unless the Dragonlord intends to take over the north with a new line of magical lighting products, I think we can probably dismiss it as less important, hrmm?"

Grim chuckles at the conversation, although he does take the lead in moving the party to one of the tables. "Actually, that's a good eye for magic as usual, Yellowbelly! We'll make a note of it - probably not vital, no, but anything might be good to know. Personally, I'd keep my eyes on the monsters, though!" As several of the party members give him a look, he quickly clarifies. "For potential irregular behavior! Not just for their...unusual performance routines."

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Grinner laughs at his reaction, before pausing to take a sniff of the air. "Hrmm, not all monsters though, no. The human woman on that stage is real, not monster. Also, I believe that is an incubus on the opposite stage? Yes, yes. Mortal employees, working in the dungeon's pay, as they said."

Referee's tongue flickers out as if he's taking a sniff of his own. "That is unusual. Dungeons in the Domain often have mortals living within, but they work for the Domain, not for the dungeon itself. Although a few dancers are nothing compared to that Challenger team they have doing public fights on Floor Ten as a regular thing. It makes one wonder who organized it all, don't you think?"

Grim frowns. "Alizz was quite insistent that it was all the idea of the dungeon spirit. I trust her that she wouldn't organize something like this behind the association's back, and I also believe the canny arcanist would notice if someone else in town was running some sort of sidegig with the dungeon as a middleman. Very details-oriented, that woman."

Bandages chuckles. "Heh, I mean, did you hear the way she talked about this lounge? She could barely describe it directly, nevermind organizing the place." He shakes his head with a smile on his face, but as he notices something the smile quickly fades away. "...Yellowbelly, quiet time."

The kobold furrows her brow ridges, but she recognizes the phrase and pulls out an enchanted ring from her robes. Slipping it on, she twists the gem and the noise of the surrounding crowd suddenly dies down. "What? Something off about one of the monsters? I didn't notice anything unusual about them."

The man shakes his head again. "It's not the monsters. It's the furniture. Check out the mirror behind the bar."

The other members of the party discreetly take looks in the direction of the bar, and Yellowbelly does a few subtle magical scans as she does so. "Well, it's definitely magical. Actually, that's related to the 'bar manager' that runs this place, right? It...is kind of unusual, now that you mention it. There's possessed items, like the armors on Floor Three, but I'm not sure I've seen one that can project something that's not obviously a ghost or something like that."

"It's not a possessed item." Bandages leans forward, whispering despite the enchantment shielding their conversation from the ears of the dungeon, but his words are measured as he continues to examine his target. "There...is necromantic energy in the thing. But it's not like any undead creature or artifact I've seen in a dungeon before. In fact, I barely register the dungeon magic coming from it. It's also extremely powerful. I'd have to get my hands on it to say exactly what it does, but the enchantment level on that thing has to be one of the highest I've ever seen before. Top ten for sure...possibly top five."

Considering most members of the Scarlet Eagles have seen most of the dungeons on the continent, and a few across the seas, Grim knows that the cleric's estimation is a weighty one. It only leaves him with more questions, though. "In that case Worthy would have to be competing with dungeons along the lines of what, two centuries old or more? That's...beyond just 'fast growth'. Perhaps it could be explained by her divine favor...but why in the world would Kahlia grant a necromantic artifact as a boon? Where could it have come from?"

The human frowns. "...I don't know. There's something about the design of the thing that just doesn't feel like any signature I've seen before. Not from a dungeon, a mortal enchanter, nor a divine gift. It's beyond my experience. Granted, there aren't many necromancers around these days, so it's not as if I've ever run into one."

The group sits and considers that for a moment before Grinner eventually breaks the silence. "A gift from the Dragonlord perhaps, maybe? The extent of the dragon's hoard has never been known, no. Artifacts thousands of years old, some say, from across the ancient world."

The lizardkin narrows his eyes at the enchanted mirror. "That thing is massive. From the way the brickwork is built around it, you can tell it's trying to disguise the frame - and isn't that suspicious as well? But it's wider than Grim is tall even before you consider the frame. How would someone have snuck the thing across the border and up a damn mountain?"

"The Dragonlord could have managed a way, I'm sure. Some sort of...mega-bottomless bag, or something. Hells if I know! But however it got here, the important thing is, why is it here, and what is it doing? Bandages, you said you can't get a better guess without getting direct access?"

"I can tell it has a connection to the rabbit-eared woman behind the bar, as they said, but that's all I can tell from here."

Yellowbelly frowns. "So...how are we going to get Bandages behind the bar without tipping our hand, or pissing the dungeon off? We don't want to provoke a fight until we know for a fact that the place is up to something."

"We're going to need to get closer to the dungeon first. Get it comfortable with us. Perhaps starting with talking with the mirror's projection herself? Perhaps she'll let something slip." Grim glances meaningfully in Referee's direction, which the lizardkin notices after a moment or two.

"...Why are you looking at me like that, Grim?"

"Well...you are the most 'charming' member of the party, I'd say."

The gnoll sitting next to him takes offense to that. "Ah! I'm very charming! Many fans, lots of people love me, yes!"

"...I was thinking perhaps someone with a more subtle touch for this job, Grinner. No offense! But you can sometimes get a little...single-minded when talking to an attractive individual."

Before Grinner can complain further, Referee sighs and leans back. "Suppose I'll take one for the team, then. Wish me luck, eh?"

Yellowbelly smirks at his request. "Even if this dungeon wasn't fucked like that, I know you make your own, Ref. Have fun, though."

As the lizardkin slides onto a stool at the bar, Emma quickly comes over to greet him. "So! You're one of those VIPs, eh? You're still not getting the special menu until you've cleared the requisite floor for it, but we've got plenty of things on offer you might like. How can I help you?"

Referee gives the spirit in the form of a rabbit-eared monster his most charming smile. "An ale to start with would be fine. But then to follow - perhaps some pleasant conversation? If you have a moment, of course. I'm just curious what it must be like to run a...unique establishment like this."

Emma grins back, but there's a gleam in her eyes that makes the man shudder on the inside. "Curious, huh? Well, I suppose I've got time for a chat or two..."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.