Dungeon Annihilation 23

Evening Everyone! Hows the weekend treating everyone?

Louella

Today was the day. The Marquis was supposed to arrive in only a few short hours. We had already received a messenger hawk stating that he was traversing the pass to the valley as we spoke. I couldn’t imagine what that must be like considering he had one of the few airships that wasn’t handed down for the last twenty years. 

Airships were just that precious. If I heard it correctly, the amount of gold the Duke used to buy the airship was in the millions. I couldn’t even picture that much gold. Just my small chest sitting in my office was enough to make me smile when I put some in it. Truthfully, I was just glad I wasn’t dead broke anymore.

With Ezal leading a few parties into the dungeon we’ve learned a little about the next set of floors. The parties weren’t taking too many chances yet but I felt it was only a matter of time before we get past it. There were quite a few mysteries about the floor still.

What I found interesting was the tasks that parties could receive. If a person knocked on a random door, there was a creature inside that would ask for something. One of the few parties that had accepted the task without trying to break the door in only had to track down a lump of metal. Not that hard if you asked me.

Iveta walked into the office after knocking on the door. “The town is ready to burst. I think it might have been a bad idea to get all the taverns to offer free drinks tonight.” She sat on the couch and rubbed her shoulders while popping her neck. She and Ezal were working extra hard to help Commander Yin with my protection. I would have to remember to get them some drinks when this business with the Marquis was over.

“They need it, I think. Cassie says that the mortality rate of the dungeon is one in three parties. If it doesn’t improve, they’re going to have to raise the rank. Other than the considerable coin that is only appealing to entry level adventurers nothing else has come of the dungeon to draw higher ranked adventurers.”

“Don’t bitch to me, tell that to the dungeon.” Iveta didn’t even glance at me and checked her nails. 

I laughed dropping my head to the desk. “Have a date?”

“In fact, I do. A nice juicy fellow from the Golden Dawn. Once his shift is over we’re going to hit the tavern.” She licked her lips with more than a little sound.

“Must be nice. Last guy I went to dinner with my father wanted me to marry. Not only was he ugly. He had a horrible personality. Gold can only get you so far.” Just thinking about the nightmare of an evening made my stomach churn. I was glad that I had an aptitude for lightning mana, was the only thing that saved me. Even after five years, the thought still managed to haunt my dreams.

“You and Ezal could have went off and become adventurers. It was your decision to buy back into rank here in Thonaca.” I frowned at that, but she did have a point. It would have taken a few years, but once I reached tier two I certainly could have made a nice living for myself as a lightning user. Ezal was fairly trained as well. It wouldn’t have been hard for us to become adventurers.

“I suppose… deep down, I am used to a certain way of life. Sadly, I might add,” I replied tapping my hand on the desk as I thought about it.

“That is the case for most of us, I think. You hear about commoners wanting to rise against the nobility all the time, but in the end very few do. As long as you’re alive, you can deal with quite a lot of shit.”

“Hey, you might want to watch the mouth when you’re on your date.”

“Yes, mistress,” Iveta said with a grin. She hopped back to her feet and made her way out of the room. I laid my head on my arms for a while when I saw that it was about time for the Marquis’s airship to be docking. With a deep breath, I stood up then made my way over to the full mirror. I wanted to make sure I looked presentable for the Marquis. 

~~

Twenty minutes later, Ezal, Iveta, I, along with two dozen of the Golden Dawn were waiting for the Marquis at the entrance of the airdock. A large tower with almost a dozen walkways placed at various heights, it reminded me of a tree in the middle of winter. I noticed there was a lot of activity along the gangplanks.

“What’s going on?”

“Ah. The storm threw one of the workers off the gangplank. They’re installing rails and leads to prevent another accident.” 

“Dear Lelune. Did he survive?”

“No. Landed headfirst. Poor man was dead on impact,” Ezal answered painting me a much more graphic image than I needed.

“I think a simple no would have sufficed.” I squeezed the bridge of my nose as a headache started to form. I thought with Thrad being the best he would have thought of such a simple safety measure. At least the accident happened before the Marquis’s arrival.

I heard a thrumming sound coming from the pass. Turning, we saw a massive ship. While I couldn’t be sure due to my position on the ground, I would have placed it around two hundred meters long. You could fit a small army on the thing. Following next to it, was a much smaller ship that flew the Golden Dawn colors.

It was armed with what looked like magically reinforced ballistae and had a trebuchet on each side of the considerably large pilothouse. The hull was dark brown with steel plates covering sections for extra protection. That ship alone was more than enough power to take control of this valley without breaking a sweat.

The massive ship couldn’t even moor at the airdock. It moved over to the nearby cliff face and fired a harpoon anchoring the ship to the side. A smaller vessel soon launched and made its way over to the airdock. Even that vessel would have cost more than I could imagine. I couldn’t tell if it was a play to flaunt his power or just came with the position.

I straightened my dress and coughed. “Everyone ready?” 

I got confirmation from them all and we waited as the envoy exited their ship. Personally, I felt like my head was on a chopping block. If for some reason the Marquis becomes displeased, then he could have me removed from my position with a snap of his fingers. Contract or no contract. I prayed to Lelune that wouldn’t be the case. 

As if to spite me, the Fates decided to smack me in the face. All of the Marquis’s party had unloaded and were moving along the plank when the worst happened. Whether it was due to the faulty craftmanship, due to the recent storm, or some combination of the two, I didn’t know. As the last person to exit the air ship moved along the gangplank, the entire thing broke clean in two under his feet.

They were on the lowest dock, but the large man still fell close to ten meters. A roped off area full of supplies from a recent trade ship was directly under him. With a resounding crash, he ploughed his way through the boxes, and we lost sight of him.

“Son of a… Go check on him! Quickly!” I shouted rushing behind the Golden Dawn members that rushed over to the man. We arrived to a mess of broken wooden crates and goods. He had managed to get buried under everything with only a foot sticking out. The Golden dawn members quickly climbed through the mess and began moving everything to get him out.

“Mistress. What do you want to do?!” Ezal whispered harshly.

“Kill Thrad,” I replied without hiding my anger. That no good liar was going to get his nose broken no matter what if I made it out of this. Soon, the guards had managed to free the man and had pulled him to the ground next to the pile. I was relieved that his limbs and neck were all at the proper angle and he was breathing.

The sound of rushing footsteps my made heart sink back down to my stomach. I turned and took in the approaching party with more trepidation than I had anything else in my life. 

The first was a woman. She had to be somewhere between a meter and a meter and half. She was obviously a dwarf, but she wasn’t as burly as the male dwarves I had seen before. She was quite lithe, and had brown hair in braids. She had dual sabers on her back.

Right on her heels was the most handsome man I had ever seen before. Brown hair that one would want to run their fingers through. He wore the traditional noble attire of Thonaca with a black coat that went to slightly below his waist, and a silk shirt, completed by a pair of trousers. At his waist were a longsword and a wand-blade. He had clear blue eyes that seemed to see everything in a person’s soul. Given his attire, I placed him as the Marquis. 

I almost immediately had to retrack my last thought. A man came up behind them that almost made my jaw drop. With blond hair, that had tints of red, that went to the small of his back, his face seemed to be chiseled from marble, and he held a staff that must have been worth thousands with the number of augmenting gems embedded in the thing. He wore an all-white robe that declared him a priest of Lelune.

Following behind was a man and woman. They appeared to be hindered by a chain that wrapped around their waists. Something about the black instrument gave me chills. The woman was lithe and beautiful. She wore all-white armor and carried a spear and was probably one point six meters tall. I couldn’t tell much more about her figure, as it was covered with full-plate armor.

On the other side of the chain the man also wore a full plate only that was dyed red. Carrying a halberd, he finished off the party. I could tell from the aura they radiated they would be top class in any adventurer guild. I could only hope that we survived this incident.

The man dress in the priest robes strode forward and kneeled next to the big man. With a warm light, he healed his many scratches and bruises. In only a few seconds, the light died down. “He will be fine. He was only knocked out and was barely hurt in the first place.”

“Oh, thank the goddess,” I said without thinking placing a hand over my heart to calm the rapid beating. Regaining a bit of composure knowing that he was fine, I quickly moved over to the Marquis. I bowed as deeply as I could. “I am truly sorry for this to happen! I have no excuses and am ready to accept whatever punishment you see fit!”

The marquis didn’t say anything for several long moments. I didn’t dare raise my head until he said otherwise. Ezal and the others wisely kept their mouths shut. I didn’t need them aggravating the Marquis further by them trying to plead for my sake.

“Raise your head.” I did as I was told. “Everything in your town is less than a month old yes?”

“Yes, your grace,” I replied with a nod.

“Then bring me the man responsible for this construction. He will be dropped from the same height as my companion. If he survives, I will forgive this, and if he doesn’t, well, that will be his punishment won’t it.”

“As you command, Lord Marquis.” I backed away then grabbed Iveta and Ezal. “Bring Thrad here now!”

The two nodded then took off back towards town. While we waited, the big man who I found was named Bruce, awoke. He rubbed his head groggily before he stood gingerly. With him standing, I almost had to lean back to see his face. I was a relatively tall woman in the first place. He actually made me feel short.

“Next time, can we land on the ground?” Bruce asked moving his body in various ways at the priest’s direction. When all appeared to be in working order he dropped back to the ground with a sigh. He was easily over two meters wearing enough armor to outfit two people. It must have been a lot of weight.

A few minutes later, Ezal and Iveta reappeared with Thrad and another person as they ran to reach us. It was always interesting to watch a dwarf run. They were the best sprinters in the land, but sustained running generally wasn’t for them. They quickly joined us and Thrad came to a stop leaning against one of the post around the roped off area.

“My lady. I am deeply sorry about this! I have brought the man that was in charge of constructing the airdocks!” Thrad said between deep gasps of breath. 

I looked to Ezal, silently asking if she had told them what the Marquis wanted to do. She got the message and shook her head. I took a deep breath and decided to just watch. As it was, I was already on thin ice by letting this happen. I was sorry for the man, but I didn’t want to die today.

The marquis looked the man over. “I understand that quite a bit of honor goes into construction with the Builder’s guild. What I want to understand is how this came to be. Is the Baroness not paying your guild ample coin for your services?”

“No, your lordship. She is paying above the market rate,” the man said kowtowing to the point his head was on the ground. I tilted my head at that and sent a glare at Thrad. He just gave me a tight smile and shrugged. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. They likely wanted to make sure they got something out of the work being done here.

“Then why did the gangplank snap?”

“There was a horrible storm the other day! It must have been damaged!”

“So, you’re telling me that your work cannot even survive one storm.” The Marquis looked over to Thrad. “Tell me good dwarf. What standard are airdocks supposed to be at?”

“Yes, my lord. They are supposed to be magical reinforced. Able to withstand a tier two spell of any branch for at least ten seconds. Weight tested for up to one ton.”

The Marquis tilted his head. “Interesting. That sounds exactly like the capital’s standards. Tell me good sir, why didn’t yours handle to this level?”

“Like I said. There was a nasty storm the other day that was too much for the dock,” the man said. 

“Very well. Urena if you would.” 

“Yes, My lord,” said the dwarf woman. She moved forward and grabbed the neck of the man. He immediately started to struggle, but she apparently had a grip like iron. She dragged the man up the tower to where their ship was docked. 

The Marquis channeled some mana into his voice. “If you survive, you get to walk away without punishment.”

The man yelled to wait just as Urena tossed him over the edge. He tumbled through the air before he landed headfirst right where Bruce had landed. The broken boards and other debris did not soften his landing. I only glanced over at the spot before I had to turn away due to the amount of red that splattered everywhere.

“I guess he was guilty.” The Marquis strode over to me and I gulped nervously. Would it be my turn next? “Now, where were we? Ah, yes. Lady Baron Louella Coates. It is a pleasure to meet you. I have been excited for my visit after hearing about the new dungeon.”

I cleared my throat and gave him a curtesy. “Thank you, my lord. You are most welcome. The whole town is ready to celebrate your arrival. We have a few festivities planned for you, but first, how about a tour of the budding town?” I asked with as nice a smile as possible.

“That sounds like fun. Lead the way!” The Marquis said switching gears almost terrifyingly fast. How do you go from sentencing someone to death to enjoying the prospect of a tour that quickly?

“Right this way,” I said gesturing for Ezal to lead the way.