“Well hello Zayaan.” He began talking to Zayaan like they were friends. “Do tell me about this dungeon.”
He was around my height and decently well built man in his mid thirties I would say. His eyes are blue and his hair is blond. He was wearing a white shirt and black trousers. Did we bother him too late and he just put on something in a hurry or is this some kind of daily wear for him? I mean I like simple clothes the best, but I thought that nobles want to keep up appearances.
With a bow Zay said: “I’m sorry to bother you this late.”
“This much is fine. Did you really locate a dungeon?” the baron responded.
“I didn’t. He did.” Zay said, indicating to me.
“Oh, and you are?” The baron asked, looking at me.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Watchman. My name is Brian.” I said and also bowed like Zay did earlier.
“Stop being so stiff. In this town it’s not necessary. I’m Brandon Watchman, the current head of the Watchman family.” The Lord gave me a not so stiff card and his name. His name is kinda close to mine. I mean Brian to Brandon. It’s close, right? “So, do tell me about this dungeon. And take a seat while at it.”
I sit back down and give a simple answer. “I found it today in the forest south-west of town.”
“I see, so it’s in the forest. Can you give me an estimate on how far it is?”
(System, help me out here.) (Brian)
(A trip on foot would be six hours one way. If you take a carriage to the edge of the thick forest it should take four hours.) (system)
“It should take around six hours on foot. Out of that around two hours are in the overgrown forest so no carriage available. I’m not even sure a horse would be able to ride there at a good speed.” As I repeat the information that I got from system support to the baron, I decided to add a little bit of extra information on it. That forest was so overgrown that it would be difficult to ride a horse there.
“I see. And is the dungeon still in operation?” the baron asks.
(You should answer no. You did eliminate the rogue dungeon.) (system) Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel⦿fire.net
“No, I eliminated it.” I answered.
“I see. And why did you decide to do that? Also when did the elimination happen?” The baron seemed a little angry hearing that I eliminated the dungeon. He might have wanted to do it himself. Well it’s not like I could not have done it. I was stuck there.
“As I made my way into the dungeon's core room, the dungeon lowered a wall behind me. I couldn’t get out without eliminating the core.” (Brian)
“I see. Well it can’t be helped then. You will be the founder, right?” (baron)
“Of course. I made a mistake in going too deep into the dungeon so I should at least be its founder. Also the elimination happened this morning.” I’m not sure the baron’s question was a question or an order, but I don’t have any reason to refuse.
“Good. So we have all of tomorrow to get to the dungeon and reactivate it. Now we just need a good magic stone.” The baron was immediately coming up with a plan.
“There is a c-rank magic stone at the guild. I asked William to hold on to it.” Zayaan took part in our conversation. So that is why he went to the warehouse before we ran here.
“That might work but,” the baron looked at me: “How large is the dungeon?”
(System, how should I answer?) (Brian)
(Best answer would be 7 rooms and the core room.) (system)
I take the system's answer and tell it to the baron. “It was seven rooms and the core room.”
“I see,” the baron pondered for a second. I took a glance at Zay and he was also thinking. “A c-rank core will not work for a dungeon of that size,” the baron continued.
“I agree and did consider it. The b-rank party ‘Diamond sword’ is currently out of town hunting a wyvern. I expect them to come back tomorrow. We could use the core from that wyvern.” Zay gave a suggestion.
“No,” the baron didn’t agree with him. “We don’t have the time to believe that they should make it back tomorrow. I will not risk a dungeon for that. We will use an a-rank core from my vault.”
“Isn’t an a-rank core a little overkill for this?” Zay asked.
“It might be, but that should give the dungeon more power. It is worth doing. The dungeon will make back the value of an a-rank core in half a year or faster. Depending on what it can generate.” The baron gave his reasoning for wanting to use an a-rank core.
“Of course. So who will be the escort for Brian?” Zay asked the baron. “And who will be the dungeon master?”
“‘Prime Rib’ will come as the escort party right? You will talk them into it wont you Zayaan.” The baron is applying some pressure on Zay to force him to work like he wants him to.
“As long as you can promise a reward we will have no problem. I mean I could get Alex and Lua to agree even without it, but Rico would get salty.” Zay answered.
“So that kid is still greedy. He really should grow up. And still blowing all his money on alcohol, correct?” So the baron even knows Rico. Well I guess that his father is a guard so he might know by affiliation.
“He says he does but Mario says that he has a secret hoard somewhere.” (Zay)
“I’ll pay five gold. Per person.” The baron gave his offer. I don’t know how much they got for the bison killing quest, but the bison's sale price was 9 gold. At least it should have been sense I should have gotten half of it. Well next to the a-rank core it might not be so much.
“As the leader of ‘Prime Rib’ I accept this job.” Zay gave a calm but immediate answer. I guess 5 gold is a decent amount for them.
“So we will leave tomorrow at the second bell. I will head back to the guild and informe William and the rest of my team. We will be waiting by the south gate.” Zayaan gave a summary of our plan and rose up to leave.
Our group would be myself, ‘Prime Rib’, the baron, his butler and four knights. We would move on two carriages and the knights on horses.
I also got up and was about to follow Zay, when the baron called out to me. “Where are you going to find a place to sleep at this time of day? I don’t think inns will be happy to have customers come in after sunset.”
“I…” I didn’t really have an answer. The sun had set during our planning session and it was getting darker quickly. It was not like pitchblack but the half moon didn’t give much light for me to go walking through an unfamiliar town.
“I was going to let him stay at our team house.” Zay said. Thank you Zay. You really think things through.
“He will stay here. Henry, prepare a guest room for him.” The baron gave his order to the butler.
“At once Master. I will also tell the kitchen to prepare dinner for our guest.” The butler answered. I might just fall in love with him. The berries I ate in the forest and the few cookies that I ate right now just weren’t enough. He must have noticed that I got sad when the cookies ran out.
“A dinner would be nice, thank you.” I say. I don’t want the baron to give a command to cancel my dinner. Food is important.
“Well, that is fine. I’ll take my head to my quarters now. Zay you should get a move on as well.” The baron dismissed us with that.
“Yes. I will be off. We will see you tomorrow.” Zay said and walked off.
I was left alone in the room for a little while until the butler returned.
“Dear guest, please follow me.” He said to me.
“Sure. Also you can call me Brian.” I answered.
“Of course, lord Brian. Please call me Henry.” (Henry)
“Just Brian is fine.” (Brian)
“I cannot do that to a guest. Lord Brian will also become a dungeon founder and that title is treated as an honorary noble in this kingdom.” Henry gave me a small shock with that. I will be a pseudo noble. Isn’t that what honorary nobility is?
This is my first day in this world and they are already trying to make me into a noble.