“So… What brings you here, towing the children of Bentley along?”

“To seek refuge.”

We were currently inside my Dungeon, the Human area to be precise. I bought a table for 5 DP, and chairs for them to sit on, totaling 20 DP expenditure in total.

We were situated in a round table format, with Luke and the children sitting on wooden chairs on one side, and Merethyl sitting on another chair beside me, where I stood with narrowed eyes.

“… Let me take a wild guess,” I sighed, pinching my nose with my fingers, “Bentley was on the side that lost, and was scheduled for execution?”

“That is… indeed, correct.” Luke sighed out, depressed. His friend, the man he swore to serve for the rest of his life, reduced to a corpse due to infighting was… a hard pill to swallow. The children he brought along also looked extremely downcast.

“… Allow me to say, his order to only bring his children to safety is bullshit.” I said bluntly, causing Luke to widen his eyes at my claims. The children, however, agreed with my words.

“… I would like to agree with your words. I really do, but that would be spitting on the resolve of my former master, and friend.” Luke said through gritted teeth. His fists were clenched so hard, the knuckles were turning pale.

“And as a result, leaves his children behind with no father, and if what I’m saying is correct, no mother as well.” This shut him up completely, his eyes downcast at the thought of leaving these two poor children orphaned.

“… Then what am I supposed to do? Bring him along, kicking and screaming!?” Luke stood up from his seat, a manic glare directed at me due to the emotions he was currently feeling. The children scooted away, fear evident in their eyes.

“Quite frankly, yes.” I approached the two fearful children, fruit in hand, hoping to reduce their fear. The children, slowly but surely, let go of their fear and grasped the fruits, and took a bite. “It’s good to have pride, but if that pride hinders your connection to those you truly care about, then I’d rather throw away all of my pride on the ground.”

Luke stands in silence, contemplating my words, various emotions filtering through his face at light speed. A moment later, he sat back down, his gaze directed at the two children who were busy eating fruits to calm themselves down.

“…” Luke then directed his gaze back at me, a look of determination gracing his face. “What can I do to save my friend?”

I smiled.

“Well, that’s the hard part.” I hummed. I bought a Mass Return Dungeon Stone and handed it to him. “If you were able to escape the town without any hiccups, then it would be easy to sneak back in, right?”

Luke stared at me, before sighing. “That was the case when I left. No doubt, the town would be on high alert now that the children of the Town Lord have gone missing, or in the case of those damned zealots, escaped.”

“Hm… Then, how about any secret entrances or exits that only you and Bentley know about?” I took a seat next to Merethyl, who remained silent all the while me and Luke discussed a plan to infiltrate the town.

Merethyl picked up on this, and steeled herself for the command I was going to give her.

“I know one, and it should be possible, but it leads directly into the sewers, and for some reason, it was designed like a maze by the architects of old.” Luke shook his head, feeling pain at the knowledge of the maze-like sewer system. “Maybe it was a defense mechanism if the town was invaded, or maybe the architects were just insane, but without a map, traversing that sewer-system would be like walking blind and deaf without any help.”

“Well then, it looks like you have your map right here.” I grinned as I prodded Merethyl’s shoulder, causing her to stiffen up in response. “That scanning ability of yours does give you a layout of an area, right?”

“… Yes.” Merethlyl replied quietly, a face full of resolve glaring back at me.

“Then, a map is not your problem.” I stood back up, using DP to buy Dungeon Return Stones and Mass Return Dungeon Stones, two of each.

DP: 2675 –> 1575

I laid them on the table and gestured towards the two to pick them up. “What your problem is… sneaking in without raising any alarms.”

Both of them took the stones, and looked at me with questioning gazes.

“Those stones will teleport you back into my Dungeon once you have your targets secured.” I said when I gestured at the stones. “The big one will teleport a group of people you designate as friendly back here, while the small one will only teleport the user. Needless to say, the small one is in case anything goes haywire, and you need to leave ASAP.”

Both of them nodded at my explanation, placing the stones inside their satchels.

“Now then, a question for you Luke.” Luke perked his head up at my words.

“Ask away, Sir Jionni.”

“Are there any other people who would like to seek refuge?”

[][][][][][][][][][][][][]

~ Third Person POV ~

Nicholas was getting pretty annoyed with the official in front of him spouting off with his mouth. The contents were like this.

“Issue an urgent subjugation quest against the Dungeon East of here.”

Now that was fine and all, but refusing to pay the minimum amount for the Hunters forced to join the subjugation was the last straw. Hunters may have helped the town they were situated in, but all in all, they were glorified mercenaries.

No pay equals no work.

And for an urgent quest to be approved, the manager of the Hunter’s Association branch must be the one to issue it, not be commanded by some officials who have no idea how to run an association for mercenaries.

“Look, unless you want the whole of the Hunter’s Association to bar their services to you, I suggest you gather enough money to pay the Hunters that are going to be risking their lives for the sake of your livelihood.”

The official was now incredibly red in the face, spouted off a few more curses, then left in a huff, slamming the door on his way out.

Nicholas sat back in his seat, a bitter sigh of relief escaping his lips. The door opened once more, and revealed his daughter with an increasing number of eyebags recently, dry tear streaks running down her cheeks.

“Alexa.”

“…” She was silent. Her silent fury dominated the area with her presence, not that it affected the manager much.

“… Shitty day, eh?” Nicholas sighed bitterly once more, a grim smile gracing his face. Alexa said nothing.

How could she? After witnessing the death of one of her friends right in front of her?

Janette was a cheerful and kind girl, but to be reduced to that state because of zealotry? Having her head stuck on a pike, showing to the rest of the town the consequences for being a demi-human, or supporting demi-humans?

That was going too far.

Alexa had no idea why they were able to do just that, but once she learned the reason why…

She wanted to leave this kingdom and hoped it would burn to the ground.

“Me too, Alexa, me too…” Nicholas sat in silence while Alexa silently cried tears of rage as they waited for an opportunity to leave, bringing the remaining alive Hunters with them.