Chapter 49

Raksha'va, the large Tiger beastfolk, tapped her fingers on the wooden table while collecting her thoughts.

"Well, obviously the good news is that we can vouch for you. You did the right thing in destroying the dungeon, you informed us right away, and you brought the crystal back as proof that it was a legitimate destroy-on-sight dungeon. That comes with pretty good rewards as well, finding a dungeon, a first explorer bonus, and the reward typically given for destroying a steel-tier demon dungeon."

She tapped on the table for a few moments before continuing. "Frankly, you girls probably got lucky the thing didn't eat you alive and spit you out... dead." She picked up a file and flipped through it a bit before closing it. "This was the second quest for the two of you, first quest as a party. You went into an unexplored dungeon with no recon and got trapped. What you girls did was stupid. Still... you signed on to be adventurers and that's what you got. Honestly it's hard to fault you for it, so many dumb recruits go into situations they can't handle and get themselves killed immediately, you were just lucky enough to be one of the ones who came back from it. Tell me honestly, how close did each of you get to dying?"

I had shrunk down into my seat a little, she was basically confirming that my decision making was dumb and I very might well have gotten us all killed. Part of me said that this was why I didn't want to be the leader, but really that was just an excuse.

I hesitated, I glossed over this bit but it was probably better to be truthful here. "I almost died to the boss, I was saved at the very last moment when... one of my party members struck the final blow and saved me. By that point I had gotten badly hurt and probably would have died if Bella wasn't a healer..."

"Hmm, any other close calls?"

"N-no, the only other person to get hurt was Morrigan before we realized the floor had mimics on it."

She nodded. "Hmm... just you then? That's honestly better than I would have expected," she said cracking a grin. "That means the four of you have skill, despite being kind of dumb..."

She sighed before continuing, "Here's the thing. You four now have the dungeon destroyer title. The adventurer's guild can vouch for you, I've determined that you were justified in your decision to destroy this dungeon. The downside of this is you four will have to be assigned to a special team for finding dungeons and possibly destroying them if necessary. This is non-negotiable, you must take on quests that we assign you for matters related to those assignments. Before you complain too much, they are fairly well paying, and we won't assign you to any dungeons you can't handle. You'll only be in first explorer teams once we're sure you're strong enough to handle them, and even then, they're usually taken by volunteers first since they pay well despite the added danger."

Raksha'va turned to Mirianna, "Do you know if the area this party was in has been explored yet?"

"This party was the exploration team. We don't have any other scouting on the area, other than some preliminary danger level scouting."

Raksha'va turned towards me with an unimpressed look. "So did you get anything of use or did you just immediately wander in the dungeon and come back right after?"

I dug through my bag and came back with the map I had been working on during the trip. "Here, I drew out a map of the area. Most of it was completed before we entered the dungeon but we filled out a little more at the end because we hadn't realized so much time had passed while we were in the dungeon yet."

The tigress took the map and unfolded it in front of her. She studied it for a few moments before looking up. "Have you been trained in cartography?"

"No ma'am."

"Hmm." She looked down at the map and kept studying it. "I only see one monster listed in the area."

"We only encountered that monster after we came out of the dungeon. We speculated that the dungeon had suppressed the monsters in the area."

"Mmm." She folded up the map. "You should go get trained in cartography. Looking at this map made me think you were a lazy cartographer but if you actually haven't studied it, that makes me instead think you have a lot of potential in the field." She began making a note of it in what I presumed to be my personal file. "Until we can get a measure of your competency I may have you come with some of our other dungeon searching teams. Even untrained, this map seems reliable enough to use as a provisionary map of the area." She handed the map to Mirianna.

Bella spoke up for the first time in a while, "Does this mean we aren't allowed to leave Traehall?"

Raksha'va leaned back in her chair and studied Bella. "That depends. As much as what you've done is in all of our interests, the adventurer's guild doesn't wield our influence to protect dungeon destroyers for free. You're on the hook if you want our protection. You weren't thinking to leave the adventurer's guild were you?" The tigress' tone was steady and even, devoid of emotion despite what could be perceived as an indirect threat.

Bella looked at me nervously before continuing, "Lilith came across a book that seemed interesting, so after we finished up this quest I was going to suggest going to the capital. We also talked about selling some of the things we found in the dungeon to help pay for our party member's slavery debt, which would also be easier there. But... I don't know how that is going to go now."

As Bella spoke I could clearly see some of the tension in Raksha'va relax a bit. "If it's something like that we can probably accommodate you. Even if you chose to relocate away from Traehall to somewhere else more permanently, we could probably do something about that as well as long as it's somewhere near the frontier. Truthfully, the titles you've gained make you very useful in finding and dealing with the dungeons that have started to pop up more rapidly as of late. Dungeons are extremely valuable, especially if caught early."

I think I could see where this was going. Our titles made finding dungeons easier, and eventually, exploring them easier. Dungeons are probably unique sources of new resources and experience. If we want to leave the guild now they could hold their protection over our head and potentially force us into working for them or else. Raksha'va doesn't seem like she would want to do that, but I wouldn't doubt she would do it if she had to.

"We don't intend to leave the Adventurer's guild any time soon if that's what you're worried about. But, hypothetically speaking if we did want to leave the guild eventually, how long would we be on the hook for to secure our protection?"

Raksha'va crossed her arms. She didn't seem upset per se but she definitely read to me as defensive now.

"The guild would never hold something like that against one of it's members. But as a member, the guild would have many more ways of intervening in conflicts that might arise from such things." She looked to be choosing her words pretty carefully now. "Members of the guild can be much more selective in the missions they take as they increase in rank. A steel or copper member of the guild, C or D rank members, would be able to retire or be trusted to go inactive for long periods of time without any issue. Provided they respond if there's an emergency. Any higher than that and they probably wouldn't need our protection anymore and even if we did want to force the issue it would probably be unenforceable by that point..."

She relaxed back into her chair and tapped her fingers on the arm rest. "In your case, if you can make it to steel rank, I will personally give you my word the guild will protect your status within reason. Whether you go inactive or even private to claim a dungeon of your own, we won't force the issue. Until then I would like you to work in this area or another frontier town to uncover any dungeons you can find. If you need a few months to go to the capital I will allow that with prior notice."

She looked away for a moment while continuing to tap her chair before looking back at me. "Actually, if you go to the capital to be trained in cartography I'll pay for it, including your travels. Provided you come back here within six months."

I looked at Bella who nodded to me. "That would be fine, unfortunately there's one pressing issue still. Two of our party members were taken back to the slaver's guild and apparently have a buyer. I was hoping to... intervene. Either buy the other person out or work out a deal with their new owner. Would you be able to do anything on that front?"

She sighed. "Unfortunately there's not much we can do. This situation is going to be a headache. We're going to have to set up a meeting with some of the higher ups in the slaver's guild and work something out, especially if the buyer doesn't intend to use the slaves as adventurers anymore." Raksha'va looked meaningfully at Mirianna who had been sitting here quietly this whole time. "If the new slaveholder is a member of the guild, things will be less complicated but people will still have to be warned when working with them. If not, there's going to be a dispute about whether or not the adventurers guild damaged the value of the slaves. If the guild is blamed for it, the senior guildmasters in the region will instead push hard to take custody of the slaves. Then there will be another dispute about how much each side will think they're worth. It'll be a huge mess full of paperwork and infuriating meetings if it goes that way."

"What about the reward money? Will we be able to get that soon enough to do something about it?"

"No. While I personally believe everything that you've said is true, it will take time for us to verify both your map and poke around in the dying dungeon. Since there are demons inside we'll probably have to send a few groups in after you to kill everything they can find. That will also give us a chance to verify the locations you told us and have the crystal you brought back independently verified. Probably by the Tamin church as much as it makes my tail fur stand on end."

"Why them!?" Bella slammed the table but was quickly cowed back into her seat by the glare the large tigress gave her. I was shocked by Bella's outburst.

The moment stretched awkwardly until Raksha'va decided to end it. "I'm not any happier to have those bigots in my town either deer. But it's precisely because they hate me that they're the ones I always have to call for this shit. If I try to get around it, some of the other guildmasters that don't like me because I'm a beastkin will cause problems. It's politics, necessary whether I like it or not."

Raksha'va took a deep breath before looking over to Mirianna. "I'm sorry for taking so much of your time Mirianna. Please draft a letter and send a courier to the slaver's guild to get that side of things started. I also need you to update the files for these four." She looked back over to me. "Give me a few days warning if you intend to go to the capital and Mirianna will sort things out for your trip. This meeting has gone on long enough. Dismissed."

I felt a little awkward as Raksha'va stood up and left the room without another word.

Mirianna stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, the guild master is... intense, but she really is an amazing person. I can honestly say I've never worked under a better leader. It's getting late, the slaver's guild will be closed to visitors by now so you should go get some sleep and confront them in the morning.

The two of us stood up and I couldn't help but sigh. "Thanks Mirianna. I'll talk to you tomorrow after I see what we can do about Torien and Morrigan."

She smiled sweetly, "Good night you two. I'm glad the four of you seemed to hit it off."

We stepped out of the adventurer's guild and into the street. It really has been an exhausting week.