Dungeon Life

Chapter Two-Hundred Eighty-One

Olander

The tall elf hums as he walks down the street, taking in what meager sights Fourdock has to offer. It’s hardly a run-down slum of a town, but it doesn’t compare well against the Capital, unfair as the comparison may be. He might find the town more interesting if he was still with Tula, but the two had to part ways at the town gate. She had her pilgrimage to get to, and he technically needed to follow the caravan to their destination in the town.

At least he was able to let her know he’ll probably be found at the adventurer’s guild, if he’s not actively delving. He got his pay as a guard, and is now making his way to the guild he knows the way to: The Dungeoneer’s Guild.

Not only does he need to touch base and get the full up to date packet on Thedeim, but he also should make them aware he’s in the area. He’s technically retired, and they should have no reason to be unhappy at him delving, but he finds it better to let whoever is in charge at the local guild know he’s there and who he is, even if he’s intending to keep a low profile. It tends to keep misunderstandings to a minimum.

And he does intend to keep a low profile for this mission. The presence of the Crown Inspector can make dungeoneers and adventurers nervous, nevermind the ordinary townsfolk. It’s best to keep things subtle when he still has a duty to perform. If he feels the need, he can reveal himself and show off after, give some flowery speech about how good or bad a job everyone is doing, blah blah.

But that’s putting the experience before the fight. For now, he focuses on the sign down the road, proclaiming the Dungeoneer’s Guild’s presence. He always finds the sign says a lot about the interior, and the sign is already speaking well of the local guild. The paint is a bit worn and dulled from the sun, but the sign is clean and hung straight. They could probably use more funding, but they still take pride in their work.

A bell rings as he opens the door, and the elven woman at the desk speaks before looking up, putting the last couple lines on whatever paperwork she’s doing. “Welcome to the Dungeoneer’s Guild. How may I…”

She trails off when she looks up, clearly recognizing him even without his trappings of office. That makes it easier, at least. He smiles and steps forward.

“Hello ma’am. Please, just Olander. I’m hoping to not make too much noise about my mission here.” He offers his hand to shake, yet the woman continues to simply stare at him. He might even say she’s starting to glare before she finally replies.

“Then you can call me Telar. I’m the leader of this branch of the Dungeoneers. How can I help you?” she asks, setting aside her quill and capping her inkwell. She must have a powerful ice affinity to be acting so coldly. It makes business easier than being fawned over, though it’s been long enough since he’s had that kind of reception that he’s a bit thrown for a few moments.

He retracts his hand and awkwardly scratches the back of his head. “Well, I’m here to get as much information on the dungeon called Thedeim as possible, Miss Telar. The income for the town as a whole seems to be up sharply with the dungeon getting the credit. If it really is an economic powerhouse, the Crown will want to invest in the town and the roads. If it’s not, then it’d be a waste to do all that.”

She gives a short nod at that. “Understandable. If I hadn’t been here to witness it, I’d be suspicious of the growth, too. Standard price for the in-depth packet, which includes unverified updates if you’re so inclined.”

“Unverified?” he echoes as he pulls out the requisite coinage, to which she nods.

“Thedeim’s growth makes it difficult to keep the packet fully up to date, especially with him seeming to be starting a major project right now.” She accepts the money and hands over more of a booklet than a pamphlet, which earns Olander’s curiosity.

“So much to know? It’s not even a year old yet, is it?”

“As far as we can tell, he’s about a year old now, yes.”

He nods at the official line. Getting a proper age for a cloistered dungeon like Thedeim seems to be is difficult. And if the Dungeoneer’s Chief Archivist’s hunch is correct, it’s even more difficult to properly date a lost dungeon. Either way, it’s easier to simply give a date since discovery. He takes a moment to check the overview, and gives a low whistle at the number of scions.

“It really has so many scions?”

Telar nods. “There are also reports of a pixie scion. If he continues the pattern, he probably has a living vine scion as well, though I haven’t gotten any reports of one yet.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“He, huh? He’s already advanced enough to think so complexly?” He skims the nodes and territory features as he talks, feeling like he’s scouting a dungeon that’s closer to a hundred years old, rather than one.

“He was capable of rudimentary communication even before getting a Voice. He was able to coordinate with a group of adventurers to aid in attacking Neverrest, subsuming it before it could subsume him.”

Olander nods at that. “Hence him being considered Cloistered. He’d need to be at least a decade old to be that coordinated. Just quietly hiding in that manor, then?”

“That’s the simplest explanation, yes.”

He finishes skimming the overview and closes the booklet for the moment. “Where is Inspector Tarl? I’d like to ask his opinion on the dungeon.”

“Inspector Tarl is currently indisposed.”

“Is he hurt?”

Telar smirks and shakes her head. “No. He is currently establishing a Dungeoneer’s Outpost in the subterranean town of Silvervein. It had a murderous dungeon that called itself the Maw, and was worshiped by the emancipated dwellers that make up the town. It was making hostile moves against the Southwood, a different dungeon just barely within the jurisdiction of my branch. Thedeim was approached by the Southwood and they allied to stop and eventually subsume the Maw. Not long afterward, a new dungeon coalesced, so Inspector Tarl is tending to it in the hopes of steering it towards a more beneficial attitude.”

Olander frowns at that. “He didn’t just subsume the new dungeon, too?”

Telar smirks again and shakes her head. “No. That’s not how he operates. Besides, it’d be exceptionally rude to subsume his ally’s new protege.”

“He didn’t want his own protege?”

“He already has one.”

That earns a surprised look from Olander, who reopens the booklet to examine it closer. “A protege and a vassal?” He squints in suspicion as he continues to read. “And a recognized ally. Not just a temporary arrangement? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.”

Telar’s smirk turns predatory. “I would recommend getting the full packet on the other local dungeons, too. Thedeim has a close relationship with all of them.”

Before Olander can contemplate the damage to his wallet or business stipend, the bell dings again as a catkin enters.

“Alright Telar! I got everything apr- oh! Uh… hello?” The catkin quiets as he steps in properly, more like an employee who doesn’t want to interrupt his boss, rather than someone recognizing who Olander is. The elf smiles and offers his hand to shake.

“Ah, hello! Are you one of the inspectors? I’m Olander.”

The catkin takes the offered hand. “I’m Berdol, and I’m just a junior inspector, apprenticed to Tarl.”

Telar speaks up from her desk, looking calculating as she does so. “Mister Olander here is a retired Inspector, and I believe he’s looking to do a bit of dungeon tourism. If he agrees to be your subordinate on the upcoming inspections, I can waive his fee for information.”

The Crown Inspector doesn’t know what to say, which gives the junior ample time to offer his own input. “Oh, that’d be great! An outsider’s perspective will help me make sure I’m not missing anything, and if he’s strong enough to retire, he should be able to put the dungeons through their proper paces better than I can!”

Now wait just a moment! He raises a finger to start listing his objections, but falters in the face of Telar’s utterly unflapped gaze. He supposed to just be looking into Thedeim, not all the other dungeons around here!

But… what about his cover? He doesn’t want to draw any attention, and if he contradicts Telar on this, it will definitely come out that he’s the Crown Inspector. Then he’ll be crushed under the need to make appearances, give speeches, and generally have to be a public figure! He glares at Telar as she sips from her cup of tea. Where did she even get that?

He’s experienced enough in a fight to know when he’s beaten, and tries not to sag as he turns back to Berdol. “That sounds like just the thing to help me knock the rust off. What’re your plans?”

Berdol smiles with excitement. “Then lets get your gear appraised! And how are you at fishing?”

Olander gives him a confused look at the nonsequetous response. “Fishing?”

Berdol nods as he leads the way towards the exit, while Olander can feel Telar’s eyes on his back. “Yeah. Hullbreak has a lot of fishing nodes, but I’m a terrible angler. If you can fish, that’ll make it a lot easier to delve him.”

“...isn’t Hullbreak a rather nasty belligerent?” he tries, glancing back to the elven woman sitting at her desk, looking like a lioness watching her cub take down a wounded gazelle.

“Berdol will fill you in on the details, Mr. Olander. I’ll have your reimbursement prepared by the time you return.”

He lets Berdol drag him out, and feels less and less abused by Telar’s manipulation as information pours from the eager catkin. Thedeim basically rehabilitated Hullbreak, even after it threatened to wipe Fourdock off the map? Not only that, but his conduit somehow redirected the energy of the hurricane back onto the scion that summoned it, before Thedeim vassalized the older dungeon.

That kind of cunning and creativity is beyond a cloistered dungeon, even a fate affinity. Maybe the Chief Archivist wasn’t insane by entertaining the theory of Thedeim being an ancient lost dungeon. Communicating before a voice, forming a recognized alliance, and wielding magic like that… there is definitely more to this than he was expecting. He hopes he and Berdol delve Thedeim last. He’d like to have a bit of time to try to plan how to handle him, and delving the other dungeons should help with that.

As long as his influence isn’t too impactful on the other dungeons. He gets the feeling he won’t be that lucky.

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