Chapter 68

  Team

  The dinner goes very smoothly, a feast of roast boar, baked potatoes smothered in wild herbs and grilled greens. We sit at the long, low table we’d previously had the meeting over the mine at, though this time, Leuke sits next to me rather than Mayor Oshu, and I have to say it’s the far preferable company.

  Sure enough, there’s drinking, but this time, Ayre stays far away from it, sticking to chilled mountain spring water and juice. Surprisingly, Leuke does the same. Shamed, and with even Korrigan abstaining, I, too, feel pressured to skip the firewater. Chief Ronolo tries to change our minds, but Ayre refuses like he’s asking him to stab himself, Leuke insists he has watch in the morning, and I plead solidarity with my friends.

  We lay out pretty much the entirety of our adventure in the dungeon, and Chief Ronolo and his staff listen intently. They seem particularly interested in my theory that the site was once an ancient Oni temple or proving ground, and that the ogres within are likely archetypes of the facility’s original purpose. Korrigan’s grandfather is absolutely delighted with her gift, as well, swearing to cherish it, though he gives Leuke an eager glance that makes the young man swallow.

  “It is a marvel that you are so mighty at such a low level,” Chief Ronolo praises me after we finish, as I’d mentioned worrying we were underleveled and Ayre explaining that we were actually just understaffed, “but it is truly amazing that you conquered such a difficult dungeon with so few people, and in so little time!”

  “Well, it’s not something I intend to attempt again if I can avoid it,” I admit. “If at all possible, the next time Ayre and I challenge a Silver-rank dungeon, I want us to be much stronger and have more people.”

  “Ah, that’s right,” he recalls as he strokes his beard, “it’s normally just you and young Ayre.” He glances to Leuke. “Won’t you be joining with your fellow Hero now that you’ve met up?”

  The question clearly pains the Swordmaster Hero. “I really wish I could. It was a great experience working together, but our paths just happened to intersect. I’ve still got orders from the capital that I have to follow through on. Rem and I are both just passing through Giri, and then we have to go our separate ways again.”

  Korrigan, who has been looking like she swallowed a bug since her grandfather brought the topic up, finally finds her voice. “... Grandfather,” she starts formally, “I want to go with Hero Remmi. I want to join her team.”

  He looks over at her in shock. “You what?! Why?!”

  She looks down at her plate, with its fruit cake dessert. “I … I know you always say how strong I am, but I also know now how much I’m lacking. I’m worried I’ll be a burden to them, but … now I understand the trial set before the Heroes, and I don’t think I can stay here and stand by while I know it’s happening.”

  “... The trial of the Heroes …?” In his confusion, Chief Ronolo turns to look at Leuke and myself for an explanation, but suddenly, neither of us want to meet his eyes.

  “We … left out a part of what happened in the dungeon, Chief,” I offer tentatively. “Something happened that didn’t have anything to do with clearing it. Something to do with why I’m going around clearing dungeons up and down the border.”

  “... You aren’t just doing it for training? To catch up with the others?”

  “That’s … part of it,” I admit, “but there’s another reason these dungeons in particular have been selected.”

  Leuke reaches over and puts a hand on my shoulder to interrupt me. “Chief, these are matters the Throne wants kept to a minimum of ears.”

  The old man hesitates, but nods. “I understand.” He raises his hand with a flick. “Leave us.”

  The staff bow and immediately file out. Once they’re all gone, he turns back to us once more, squares his shoulders, and folds his hands before his chest, all mirth gone.

  “Now, tell me what it is that my granddaughter knows.”

  “We’re making a barrier against the Darkness,” I provide without hesitation. “The dungeons are the key. They’re the primary method by which it spreads into new regions, but once they’re purified, they repel it, instead. If we can form a complete barrier of dungeons all the way up the border, it won’t be able to enter further into the Empire directly. Maybe, if we can then get into dungeons inside the Demesne, we can even start pushing it back.”

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  He strokes his beard as he mulls my words over. “Hmm … A tall order, but a workable plan. But Korrigan said she witnessed what you’re up against, herself. Was Ogre’s Grotto infected by the Darkness?”

  Again, Leuke and I trade looks, but I answer after only a moment’s pause. “... No, but it was a near thing. We … didn’t actually defeat the dungeon lord. We arrived just as an agent of the Darkness did so and opened the way to the dungeon core.”

  Ronolo’s eyes alight with fire. “Someone is helping the Darkness to spread? Into this region? Under our noses?!”

  But Korrigan reaches up and takes hold of his arm. “It wasn’t a person, Grandpa. It looked like one, but it wasn’t. It was just shaped like one. It was made of the evil stuff.”

  “The being was called a Phantom of Corruption,” I provide. “It’s the second form of the pure essence of the Darkness that I’ve personally encountered. Do you remember that Undead Abomination I talked about?” I call his attention back to the night of the celebration and wait for him to nod. “That thing was animated by a Heart of Corruption. It can possess things and people, but can’t really do much on its own but tempt you.”

  “And this Phantom was different?” he asks.

  It’s my turn to nod. “It acted on its own. It fought us. And the System called it a projection. I don’t know if it has its own will, but it’s definitely formed by something else’s.”

  He leans closer to the table now. “... But you were able to defeat it and save the dungeon?”

  For the second time, we all break eyes from the oni chieftain, but, again, I answer, anyway.

  “We saved the dungeon, but we only succeeded in driving the Phantom away,” I explain. “Its level was so high, Identify wouldn’t even tell me what it was, and it was incredibly powerful.”

  Chief Ronolo’s gaze goes stormy at that. “And that is the kind of beast that I would be sending my granddaughter up against?”

  Korrigan is at his side again, tugging on his arm. “Grandpa, you said I’m as strong as they are! That I’d even be Gold!”

  But the large man sighs and lets his head hang. After a moment, he raises it again and puts an arm around her shoulders. “My beloved girl, I said that you are as strong as a Silver-rank adventurer, and I hold to that, but that is not the same as a Hero. And a Silver-rank clearly isn’t strong enough to face that kind of opponent. Given that it even beat two Heroes, I’m not so convinced that even a Gold-rank could defeat it. And if even such heights can’t deal with this foe, how can I send my only granddaughter to her death against it?”

  “I won’t die,” she insists. “I’ll get stronger. Stronger than a Gold-rank.”

  Chief Ronolo stares down at his granddaughter for a long moment, then turns away from the table, rotating her before him, as well, so they are facing each other. He kneels as far down as he can to be as close to her eye level as he’s physically capable of.

  “Tell me, sweet child, why your heart is suddenly set so strongly on this.”

  She, too, takes her time answering, but she’s not gathering her thoughts. The child is fighting back tears. “It’s a horrible thing, Grandpa! If you had seen it, you would understand! And I … I can’t stay here, I can’t sleep in my bed safe and sound at night, knowing it’s out there hurting people, infecting them, infecting the land! That thing isn’t a being like you or me or the wolves that prowl the hills. It’s a walking plague!”

  But then she looks to me, and turns her mind from the horrid thought of the Phantom with a sniff. “And … And Hero Remmi needs people she can trust, right? People she can tell stuff to that won’t spread them around. I know I wouldn’t do that. I know I’m someone she can trust.” She turns back to her grandfather once more. “I want to go with her, Grandpa, because she needs someone like me and because I can’t stay here.”

  He’s clearly moved by her speech, but as he faces the table again, he’s mulling the matter over with his fingers twisting his beard. “Perhaps we’re advancing too quickly. Young Remmi, you have not actually stated a position on my granddaughter joining your mission. This whole discussion is pointless if she does not actually fulfill a need for your team.”

  At that, Korrigan’s pleading eyes turn to me, as well, but mine go to Ayre. It’s not out of avoidance, however. My best friend understands immediately that I’m seeking his input, and though he gives it thought, he soon smiles and nods back to me.

  I, for my part, beam brightly as I face Chief Ronolo and Korrigan again. “Korrigan has growing to do, Chief, before she can help to the full degree she is capable of, but I do believe that capability is something our team can use, and that we can bring her to that level. She’s a powerful, gifted mage, and we’d be delighted to have her along.”

  Korrigan’s face lights up like a fireball, and Ronolo is nodding along to my words as if they confirm his own bias for his granddaughter.

  “Then it seems I have little choice,” he concludes, “though I have but one stipulation.” When his eyes meet mine again, they’re full of competitive fire. “You’ve denied me my brawl once already, Young Remmi, but now, I must know if you are able to protect my precious granddaughter! Do you think you can prove yourself more able to protect her from the great harms you will face than I?!”

  My smile hasn’t dimmed at all. It doesn’t even flicker as I draw my pistol. “Great and wise Chief, I can drop you in a single blow.”

  And I casually point my weapon at his chest and pull the trigger as he crashes to the floor, seizing as yellow bolts flicker across his form.

  I’m not too worried. After all, I can just use Cleanse to remove the paralysis early. He doesn’t need to suffer like Oshu’s guards did.

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