I Hate Dungeon School

Noah led us through the labyrinthine alleyways quickly. I've been down in the alleys more today than I have in the rest of my time in Revenstahd put together. I had no idea how Cori kept from getting constantly lost in here. I made a mental note to either learn the alleys or avoid them altogether in the future.

In a few moments, we slipped into a doorway, looking to be the back door to a tavern. Revenstahd had a lot of taverns, so this one didn't strike me as particularly familiar.

Noah led us into a storage room which was full of boxes of empty bottles and the like.

"Miss Alta, if you wouldn't mind assisting me." He indicated a large crate.

"Got it," I said, and helped him move it. For being full of empty bottles, it was damnably heavy. As I pushed it, I heard a loud click, and a hatch on the other side of the room flipped open, revealing a set of stairs.

I looked at it and put my hands on my hips. "Really, Scarletti? You drag us down an alley to a shady tavern that has a secret basement? If it wasn't for the fact that I'm 60% sure you're not a serial killer or a crazed cultist, I'd be attempting to kick your ass right now."

"Now now, dearest, I'd help too," Eira added. I smiled at her warmly. I love that woman.

"Yeah, I know it's super sketchy, but we needed a command center that no one really knew about. Listen, there's a lot I could explain, but we've got other things to worry about, and I'm pretty sure you don't need or want to know about all the shady shit. So, please follow me into my secret basement?" He asked politely.

"Not the weirdest pick-up line I've heard. C'mon, let's get this done." Farina said with a sigh. She didn't seem even remotely freaked out by this.

That raised even more questions, but Noah was right. I probably didn't need to know, nor want to know. And from what I had learned in classes, sometimes you got to take quests from weird clients in weird places.

At least I had Eira with me. Together, we could probably win in a fight. Especially in an enclosed space like this. Though admittedly, I wouldn't put money on it.

We went down the stairs and found it was well-lit by some glow crystals in the wall. Smart.

The walls were also covered in notes and various documents. And I mean absolutely covered. There were drawings of faces, some of which I recognized. Cavendish, Carter, and some random folks I had seen around town. I stopped when I saw my parents' faces. I felt a little rage and bile in my guts at their faces. Even more when I saw little strings connecting them to all kinds of things.

It was hard to even begin with everything I saw. Crimes of every variety. Smuggling, slave trading, war profiteering, unsanctioned prostitution, gambling, and darker things I didn't even want to look at. And my parents were just a tiny cog in all of it.

I saw Mariana's family, too. It looked like she was the only one kept out of the loop there. She and I really were more similar than I thought. Which was something I hated.

I looked away from the wall of sins and focused on Noah and Adhara. The Bastetian looked frazzled. She was usually put together, but now she looked rough.

"You ok?" I asked her.

"Very little sleep. Allergies. Those two plus the investigations have me really run down." She sighed as she slumped into a chair.

"Ok, everyone, settle in, I'm going to begin explaining everything as best I can," Noah said, clapping his hands together.

"Ok, get on with it, please," Farina said gruffly.

Noah looked at her oddly for a moment before turning to the rest of us.

"So, you noticed how the guard at the station is acting odd, and the place is on lockdown, yes? Well, Adhara and I were going to meet an informant, Danica, when we saw her getting nabbed. The guards who grabbed her were similarly strange-acting. Eyes glazed, and the like. And after they brought her in, we saw a group of mages and knights we had been keeping tabs on, enter the place. Soon after, the lockdown went into effect." He explained.

"Do you think they did something to the guards?" Eira asked.

"They definitely did something to the guards. Whatever it was, though, was pretty subtle. We didn't notice any sounds of fighting or even mana expenditure. After the place was locked down, some of the knights and mages left out a side entrance." Noah continued.

"We tailed them for a little bit and found they were making their way to some abandoned manor house in the forest outskirts. They disappeared into an old green house." Adhara added.

Farina swore. And swore again. I knew exactly where they were talking about.

"Firenze Manor?" I asked, already knowing what they were going to say.

"You know it? It's turned into a hotbed of movement amongst the knights and mages we've been keeping tabs on." Noah's eye opened in surprise.

I sighed and then groaned as I leaned back in my seat.

"Do you mind, Farina?" I asked the bespectacled elf. She just frowned for a moment and nodded.

"What's this about, Farina?" Noah asked.

"So, that is my family's ancestral manor. And I, with Alta's help, have been investigating reports of monsters and spirits out there. And while we were out there, we found signs of someone coming and going, but didn't know any details." She said quickly.

"And we found a door in the floor of the greenhouse where there shouldn't be one. With sounds of clockworks and dungeon mana seeping out of it." I added.

"Yes. And Danica had done some digging into records and even snooped around a bit during daylight, and was going to fill me in on some findings, but she got dragged off by the guards before she could do so." Farina scowled.

"Well, isn't this interesting!" Noah said and began to pace a bit as he was lost in thought.

My head was starting to hurt again. This entire day had been entirely too much. I closed my eyes and felt myself start to drift off.

Noah suddenly spoke, shaking me to consciousness. I hated him for that. So tired.

"We need to go and check out that manor more thoroughly, Adhara." He turned to Eira and me. "Can we hire you and your crew to help? If there's a dungeon down there, we'll need experienced backup."

"How much?" I asked instinctively.

"Depends on what we're up against, I suppose. Until we know that, I can't say for sure how much to pay you." He said with a shrug. "Do it out of civic duty for the Mortal Kingdoms?"

"Absolutely not. Minimum 20 gold coins." I demanded, realizing it was a ridiculous amount.

"Deal. How fast can you get your crew together?" He said without even pausing to consider it. I saw Adhara wince at his agreement, but said nothing.

I thought about it for a moment.

"We can't do this tonight. It's too damn late, and you don't want a bunch of tired dungeoneers stumbling around in an unknown and likely deadly basement dungeon. That's stupid." I turned to Farina with a pleading look in my eyes.

She sighed. "Yes, I'll help get word to your crew. Where do you want to meet up?"

"Thank you! Have them go to the Jeweler's Bower around the time for breakfast. We'll all meet up, including Noah and Adhara. And Farina. You're not getting out of this."

"Wait, why me? You keep saying I need to help out, but I don't know what good I'm going to be!" She protested.

"I agree, Alta. Care to explain?" Eira looked me directly in the eyes.

"It's her family home. So she might have some insights as we explore. And also-" I looked Farina directly in the eyes. "I got a gut feeling telling me so, and a good dungeoneer trusts their gut."

Farina looked at me with some emotion I couldn't figure out, but I didn't really like it.

"Fine. I guess I can record what's going on for the inevitable inquiry about all this." She broke eye contact with me.

"Ok. We'll get ready on our end too. We'll meet up with Farina, and she can take us to this Jeweler's Bower. You have no trouble with that, I assume." Noah said with his annoying smile.

Farina sighed. "Fine."

"Ok, let's get going then. I need so much sleep, you have no idea." I grumbled as I felt a fresh wave of exhaustion wash over me.

"Oh, trust me, I do have an idea." Adhara commiserated.

And from there, we ascended the stairs, left the back alleys, and went our separate ways.

I stumbled a bit, and Eira scooped me up in her arms, just like earlier. I was too tired to even protest. I nestled into her as she made her way through the town, cradling me.

I fell asleep somewhere, because the next thing I knew, I was in a bed, and I felt the rays of the sun on my face through a window.

I yawned and stretched. I felt a smile on my face as I felt Eira stirring next to me.

"Wakey wakey time for adventure!" I whispered playfully.

"Kiss my ass, Marchesi." She grumbled, but I could tell it was said with love.

"Not now, we have work to do. Ask me later." I gave her a kiss, and we got up.

Time to face what was likely to be a frustrating day.