Chapter 276 - Confrontation (Patreon)

Note : Chapters 278 and 279 have been written and added to the queue !

Massive thanks to TargetDrone ! For those who didn't see the note on Chapter 29 of The Dragon Imperium yesterday, my text editor just decided to replace their spell check with an incredibly invasive AI , and declared anything I wrote with it was now theirs to use or sell to train AI systems. I had to scramble for a replacement, and TargetDrone suggested LibreOffice, which allowed me to write the two chapters and save the streak !

Google Doc Link : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QDppap7HULjaAcpDWSeSAZ0kGxIuHkJtNpuOUwSavWo/edit?usp=sharing

Chapter 276

Red Sands Desert, Principality of Rebirth

Dungeon Factory, Fourth Floor

"You really are itching to get back out there, aren't you?" Said Alexandra as she leaned back against a pillbox.

CQ turned away from the group of golems she'd been organizing, and smiled sheepishly.

"I'm that obvious mom?"

"Well, when the maids start dropping hint about sending a new wave of ships to Darthar, possibly with you and maybe one of them onboard, yes, it gets that obvious."

The boss shifted.

"Sorry…It's not that it's boring but it's so, so….new and lively there!"

"I know what you mean kiddo." Alexandra straightened and walked to her daughter, patting the boss' head. "You want to see the world, don't you?"

"Yeah! And meet new people. Rice is super nice!"

"That he is. Still, he is a noble, and will soon be one of Allya's vassals."

"I mean yeah, but he told me I am a queen in his eyes! Uh…"

Alexandra got her emotions back under control, as she visibly twitched and some of her thoughts seeped into their links.

"Really now? Interesting."

"Yeah. Also the maids are super nice over there! Did you see how they upgraded the dress?"

Alexandra nodded. CQ's dress had been manufactured here before she departed, part of Emilia's obsessive drive to have their daughter always have a full wardrobe when out. But, to no one's surprise, the boss had the entirety of Darthar's palace staff wrapped around her little finger within a day of setting up there.

And they'd immediately started pampering the boss, including going through her wardrobe and helping refine it.

The Earth-born mused that she should keep an eye on it. CQ was already turning heads as it was, any more and people might start snapping their necks on accident.

"I saw." The new rubies were especially impressive. The enchantments were very simple, but it turned her dress from glittering crystal to a entire artform, with swirling light patterns, making it look like it was liquid and ever shifting. "It's magnificent."

"It is! Which is why I'm making stickers for them!"

"...Excuse me?"

CQ pulled open one of her spatial pouches, and held out a handful of sticker cards. There were stickers with 'best human maids', 'great seamstress', and so on.

Alexandra chuckled. That was adorable! And-

Her smile died as she saw the 'best Count and gentleman' one.

"That one is for Rice, correct?"

"Yeah!"

Alexandra looked at the sticker, and sighed.

"Kiddo…I think we need to have a talk. You, me and your mommy, alright?"

"Okay? Why?"

"Let's just call it interpersonal relationships."

"Sure?"

"Good. I'll go fetch vampy, one second."

And maybe by the time her girlfriend arrived, she'd have quelled her urge to turn the Count of Darthar into a thin, red mist.

Or unleash Ella upon him, which was just about the single worst thing she could think of. Uh.

Maybe there was something to sending one of the maids to chaperone CQ.

In the meantime however…well, not the birds and the bees, but a talk nonetheless.

This was going to be a long day.

*****

Allya winced as she finally pushed through the bazaar, and arrived at the guildhall in its center.

The journey had been…interesting. Since deploying tanks hadn't been an option, and the bazaar was packed even at the dead of night, they'd had to resort to a good old phalanx of bodyguards to make any progress. The fervor had died down a bit at least, though still people were throwing flowers on her path.

Damn, what would happen when they made the announcement about the city's transfer, and the dungeon branch office?

But in any case, the guildhall had clearly not escaped the troubles unscathed. It had been built as a concrete fortress to protect the guild during the city's intermittent civil wars, and it had served its purpose once again, shielding adventurers and keeping them neutral as both sides duked it out during Sunrise's insurrection. From what she'd been told, most of the damage was superficial…and actually been inflicted by Philia's knights and the Count's mages, who had bombarded the area with abandon, when the insurrectionists attempted to fall back through the bazaar and into the trade district.

They hadn't made it.

Unlike the first time she and Pyn had come, there were guards in front of the hall. Not all of them were adventurers either.

The guild's vaunted neutrality had taken a hit after Starvak's little reveal. Though, to be fair, there were fewer city guards than adventurers.

There was also a small desk by the side of the entrance, under an awning to protecting from the sun, with a guild attendant, receiving a steady stream of people. Above her was a sign reading 'Rebirth Transfer Desk'.

Well, that made sense, adventurers always wanted to get to the dungeon. It wasn't the small army of attendants that had been needed to hold back the tide back when they'd announced Alexandra's very existence, but it was still interesting to see it.

Allya veered off, and took the time to greet the attendant, exchange a few pleasantries, and even welcome to Rebirth the adventurers in the queue. Some of them might have been only thinking of moving out but…as she left, she was certain every single person in line would now.

A single look at the golems accompanying her got those immune to her charisma drooling. They couldn't think of the danger they represented, only the power it would give them, or how much that equipment would sell for.

She was waved in by the guards before the doors, the city guards outright saluting her, which she returned with parade ground snap.

Then she was in.

She took a deep breath, and Pyn chuckled as she elbowed her girlfriend.

"Hey, remember what happened here?"

"I do. I had to drag your comatose butt to a room."

"Hey! You were only coherent because you got Artok's elixir."

"Perhaps, perhaps." Allya smiled, as she shook her head. Artok…she barely saw the dwarf anymore, but the was still the leader of the assault guild in Rebirth, though now he mainly handled administrative matters. He wasn't high ranked enough to really do the necessary delves anymore, besides which there was a pressing need to get the map of the labyrinth organized and posted ASAP each morning, which gave him plenty of work, and a sizeable income stream.

"Lady Allya, Lady Pyn, welcome!" Said one of the attendants, waving at them from behind the desk. Every head in the hall turned towards them, and total silence descended upon the room. "Guildmaster Starvak is waiting for you."

"Thank you." Said Allya, as the attendant motioned for them to follow her. If she was destabilized by their sizeable, and highly diverse escort, she wasn't showing it.

When Elkaryos said 'a show of unity', he fucking meant it. They had four of their own bodyguards, four combat golems, three city guards, three of Elkaryos' personal troops, two of Alfyris' royal guards, an entire squad of the Count's household troops, a representative of the Merchants Guild's armed wing, two royal knights, courtesy of Philia, a survivor of the Kaidan ducal guard, and last but not the least, one of the World Mage Court's own enforcer, a terrifying man buried under dark robes that looked hideously uncomfortable in this weather but exuded frost regardless.

Oh, and the enforcer apparently thought that walking was for lesser beings, as he simply glided everywhere effortlessly, his feet hovering a few centimeters off the ground.

But Allya didn't doubt for a second that Starvak was even now being told the exact composition of her escort, if he hadn't been informed already.

They were ushered through the administration part of the guild hall, and finally into Starvak's office. It looked every bit as she remembered, save for the dwarf's medallion now showing the glow of Eternium, not his previous, false, Adamantium rank.

And the fact that the guildmaster looked so tired she almost winced in sympathy.

"Hello baroness, hello knight." Said the guildmaster, softly.

"Greetings guildmaster. You wished to see us?"

"Yes." He nodded at the attendant. "Thank you, Elisa."

The attendant nodded back, and left, closing the door behind her.

"You seem…tired, guildmaster."

"That is because I am." Starvak paused, and licked his lips. "Allya? I'm going to be candid here. Very candid."

The baroness froze.

Uh oh.

"Of course. May I ask why though?"

"Crystal killed the death squad sent for her, didn't she?"

The silence was deafening.

Allya hesitated to lie, but…she saw it in Starvak's eyes.

He'd seen her steel immediately. He knew she knew what he was talking about.

"Were such an enormously stupid mistake to be made, I'd think that the dungeon core would be more than expected to defend herself and massacre any intruders sent to execute her." She finally let out.

The guildmaster nodded, softly.

"Thank you for your honesty." He whispered. "I…did she go after Malvarok?"

Allya blinked, and looked at Pyn, who simply shrugged.

"I literally have never heard that name before in my life." Simply said the baroness.

The guildmaster seemed to deflate.

"I see…Thank you…"

"What…is happening, Starvak?"

"Malvarok is…was, a guildmaster. He was like me, in many ways." Meaning he was another hidden archon, most likely. "He was slain in Starcore recently. I was afraid Crystal wouldn't be responsible."

"You overestimate Crystal."

Actually he didn't. He was coming dangerously close to judging her accurately, which was…terrifying.

"As I said, I was afraid she wouldn’t be responsible. Which means that there are only a few groups with the motives and the resources to do it."

"Crystal-"

"I know she had high technology." Interrupted Starvak. "I'm no one's fool, I know we failed to keep it out of her hands. You made a show of giving her the missiles you looted, I doubt you haven't snuck her an ample supply of other salvage as well."

Allya held her peace. If that was what the old guildmaster wanted to believe, then far from her to disabuse him.

After all, the truth was far, far worse.

Seeing that she wasn't answering, he nodded, and picked back up.

"But if it isn't the dungeon core, then the deepest chasm is before us."

"The deepest chasm was opened when someone may or may not have tried to murder her."

The guildmaster shook his head.

"You are too young to have seen the last of the United Dungeon Wars. I was there." He met her gaze, and she saw the cold, burning flame of a zealot. "I watched the world I knew burn when the dungeons marched to war. And I would do anything, anything at all to stop it from happening again."

"And you thought Crystal would start one."

"She already is."

"Her death would solve nothing."

"It would buy time. Time for other solutions."

"Bullshit!" The guildmaster recoiled as Allya stalked across the office, leaned over his desk and slammed her index finger into his collarbone. "Bullshit, through and through! You cowardly bastards thought you could take the easy fucking way out, but truth is, the UDC has been collapsing for over a century, and you knew it! But the current status quo benefits you, doesn't it? You created this fucking situation, set up the council so it would be incapable of protecting its own people, and when that lead it to start disintegrating, you just did more and more extreme shit to try to keep the status quo up. After all, if the dungeons are off yelling at each other and stuck in political infighting, they can't challenge you now can they?"

Starvak looked away.

"Thought so." The baroness sneered. "And now, you're terrified of the pendulum swinging back. And your allies within…you're terrified they're the ones that killed your colleague, aren't you?"

The guildmaster gave her a startled look, and her smile turned positively nasty.

"Yeah. We figured it out. Doesn't take a fucking genius to realize that this particular mess was done with dungeon support. You plotted to assassinate Crystal, and then blame it on Sunrise, or failing that, the UDC. But now you've realized your so called 'allies' have gotten ahead of you, and are setting you up to take the blame, aren't they? Killing another one of your hidden archons to destroy your credibility were you to blame them, and divert suspicion towards you. After all, if you're willing to hide living superweapons in plain sight, you'd sure be willing to assassinate a dungeon core by proxy, right?"

Starvak's face went between an entire spectrum of emotions in the span of a few seconds.

"...Yes. That is what I am afraid of."

"Then why the hell have you asked to meet with us?"

"I wished…I wished to ask you to stand down. To help convince the dungeon core to stop this madness."

"By what, letting her get killed? After what happened, you're lucky she isn't coming after you!"

"I know. But I have to try."

Allya's gaze hardened.

"Well, there, you tried."

The tension ratcheted up. Allya knew that the guildmaster could kill them with a gesture.

She also knew he wouldn't. Killing her and Pyn would already be catastrophic for the guild.

But with all the witnesses they'd brought, the guards, the representative of the Merchants Guild, the royal knights, the WMC enforcer?

The adventurers guild would implode as the rest of the world ganged up on it. Besides, killing her and Pyn would solve nothing. Starvak knew that, push came to shove, the dungeon core could find someone to take their place. Allya knew Alexandra would really, really prefer not to have to do that, and would avenge them, but if she had to she would find a new ally, a new figurehead.

The silence stretched for a full minute, and Starvak let out a long, shuddering sigh.

"I did, didn't I? Well. I thank you baroness, for indulging me. And I wish you good luck. There are…dark times, ahead."

"Times are what we make of them guildmaster. They're a reflection of ourselves. I, for one, intend to carve out a new age of light."

And with that, Allya stormed out of the room, Pyn in tow.