My Dungeon Life – Chapter 1548-1550

Chapter 1548

“Why didn’t you start with that?” I sat up as soon as Prince Edward mentioned Eliana.

He raised his hands, chuckling lightly. “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“You said Eliana is in danger!”

“I said that I believe she is in danger.” He responded. “She believes that she is safe.”

I frowned, glaring at him.

“Perhaps I should explain myself. You may be aware of this, but now that the Osterians left the Ost Republic, there is a bit of a power vacuum down there. The humans of the Ost Republic existed alongside, or perhaps even subservient to the Osterians. When the majority of them up and left, the humans were at a bit of a loss how this country was to continue. It was built on the premise of coexistence between all races. Although the population is mostly human and Osterian, there are also some demons down there, dwarves, as well as a species you may not have heard of named the Fae.”

I perked up a bit. “The Fae?”

“Oh, so you have heard of them? Well, most of their population lives in the south of that region, and only the humans and Osterians officially created a government. Rather, the Osterians seemed to act as a protective barrier that kept the other races in the south separated and safe.”

“Safe from Aberis…” I responded.

He gave a helpless shrug. “I don’t necessarily agree with the policies my father had before me, but we have inherited them. My sister has always been against slavery and the poor treatment of nonhumans. What you have done in the west has also begun to shift sentiment, which is why I’ve warned you that there will be resistance. The southwest has bordered the peaceful Esmore and the Dioshin slavers. However, the east has only known war with Osterians to the south, and the xenophobic ways of the Imperial Cloud Meadow in the north.”

I shook my head. “What does this have to do with Eliana?”

“Eliana is in a strange position in the Ost Republic. She’s gained the respect and love of the humans, and her voice currently holds nearly equal sway to the council. However, the other races fear that in the absence of the Osterians, the humans will start to suppress them, so tensions are starting to rise.”

I suppose that it was too easy for the Ost Republic to just reunite with Aberis. I had always known the Ost Republic as the less xenophobic cousin to Aberis, but now I understood why. It seemed like all of the species that were rejected or attempted to be wiped out eventually found themselves down there. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were pockets of deep dwarves down there at this point.

“And?”

“There has currently been ongoing trouble on the cost.” He responded. “Ships have been getting attacked at an alarming rate.  This is why I couldn’t send you aid. My forces have been sent east to help protect our borders. However, with the loss of the Osterians, the Ost Republic no longer can reinforce the coast.”

“Get on with it!” He seemed to be dragging it out quite a bit.

“Eliana has agreed to preside over a peace summit. She wants to unite the Ost Republic. The other groups in the Ost Republic would only agree to meet if it was in a neutral location outside of the Ost Republic.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What neutral location?”

“The Tearfall Isles.” He sighed. “They want to meet in a dungeon of all places.”

Chapter 1549

“I don’t think I need to describe the risk my sister is taking. She believes in the best of people. I had thought after losing you, she’d be a bit world-wearier, but then you returned, and I fear she’s only grown more determined to see the world as inherently good.”

“Sorry to inspire you sister with false hope,” I responded, only with a little sarcasm.

He snorted. “I suppose it was only inevitable with her. I have a bad feeling regarding this summit. Something feels wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“The attacks on the coast, I don’t believe it is piracy. The attacks are too perfect. There is never a survivor. Furthermore, some entire coastal towns have gone silent. It’s like Chalm and Alerith all over again.”

“Do I need to send forces?” I asked.

He shook his head. “The Tibults and the others with a trade interest are enough to protect the east. As for the Ost Republic, if we even tried to send aid, it’d be seen as an attack. That’s why I want to send you down there. Your relationship with Eliana is well-known, and no one would be able to argue about your presence. Furthermore, your diverse… ahem… party is nearly as powerful as an army.”

“My girls… right…” I coughed. “I don’t think I’ll be bringing them with me on his trip. They’ve all been through a lot these last few months and I want to give them time to heal a bit more.”

Every girl had experienced some degree of trauma in their way. Besides, they were all busy with their work. I’m sure none of them wanted to see me dote my attention on Eliana anyway. She was pregnant with my child, and the last time I had seen her, we were this close to getting married. Naturally, there was a lot for us to catch up on.

It also seemed to be a lot of forces pushing me toward Tearfall Isles. Carmine was sent there, and now the peace summit was going to be there.  I had to admit that dungeons always made me curious. Every one of them had a story to tell. I’m sure Tearfall had something more complicated than a hero looking for the strongest. After all, it was called Tearfall. Didn’t that just scream a traumatic and sad story? If things went south, I could summon all of the girls in an instant.

With that in mind, I agreed to head down to the Ost Republic to protect Eliana and make sure the peace talks went peacefully. It wasn’t a difficult task. My map which could detect hostility would make ferreting out enemies too easy. Of course, I wouldn’t say I was down there to protect her. Eliana would immediately reject my assistance if she knew. We both agreed on that. However, why wouldn’t a loving father want to check on the developing pregnancy of his woman? She’d be showing clearly by now.

“Ah… just one more thing before I go.”

“What’s that?” He asked.

I dropped a bag of coins in Prince Edward’s hand. “You know the local orphanages. I want to buy them. All of them.”

He poked an eye into the bag and then nodded. “I’ll make them an offer they can’t refuse, but I must tell you the orphanages cost a fair much.”

“I don’t mind.”

He smirked. “You’re not a bad match for my sister, I think.”

I shrugged and then glanced over at Cici. “What was the name of your Orphanage?”

The maid jumped at suddenly being addressed. “W-west Capital.”

“And the lord that tried to buy you?”

“L-lord Dredomos.”

“Is he a particularly influential or important lord?” I asked the prince.

“Not really. He’s just a baron.”

I nodded. “Put the west capital orphanage under new management. Someone trustworthy. As for Baron Dredomos. Strip him of his position, his power, and his wealth. I want him living on the street by the end of the week.”

Prince Edward’s eyes widened. “It’s not like I won’t do what you asked, but what happened?”

I shook my head. “I’m just clearing out the trash. You can thank me later. I’m sure once you raid his place you’ll find more than enough questionable content to justify it. If you don’t mind, I’ll be heading out.”

“M-master… will you be leaving us?” Cici asked, and Chance suddenly looked ready to jump on me if I left without them.

I reached out and patted Cici’s head, causing her to close her eyes and push her head against my hand. “I guess I’ll need the pair of you to travel with me a while longer.”

Chapter 1550

I stepped out of the portal with the two girls at my side. The last time I was in this city, I had died. At that moment, my hand glowed, and form appeared next to me.

Alysia took a deep breath and smiled. “Home.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been rather quiet lately.”

“Master hasn’t been needing me lately, so I’ve kept myself busy tending to your soul world. You haven’t bothered to fix it since it was destroyed. You do remember that place is my home, right?”

“Ah! That’s right!”

When Alysia wasn’t in her sword form, she used to reside in a dark place free of senses. However, once I formed a soul world, she had seemingly relocated there. Yet, I had destroyed my soul world when fighting King Roth and the lionesses. The world was a dried-up husk of the beauty it could be. I started allowing some mana to leak into the world. Now that I was providing it energy, it was slowly coming back to life.

Alysia had built a small shack that was far shabbier than the building I had already created, and a small garden that had nothing alive in it. She wasn’t a farmer or an architect. That was for sure. It was a pretty pitiful sight.

“L-looks good.” I smiled, practicing the art of white lies.

Thankfully, Alysia wasn’t focused on me and was instead looking around her former city. She had never really got to say goodbye to her home when we left before. As turbulent as the city was, she was born here and had grown up here. She was a princess and would have ended up with a life married to some noble had I not shown up. Instead, she ended up becoming a sentient soul weapon, and her entire people and their way of life were resettled near Chalm.

The two younger women managed to keep their cool despite a woman suddenly appearing next to them. I supposed with aunties like Celeste, Astria, and Shao, who could seemingly appear from anywhere, the thing that stood out most from Alysia was her height and her wild red hair. I reached out and took her arm, and the pair of us headed toward the castle she had once called her home.

“Alysia, is that you?”

“It’s Alysia! You should have told us you were coming.”

As we approached the former Osterian headquarters, I was surprised to see a couple of Osterians walking out. I had been told that not all of the Osterians had up and left the Ost Republic with that first group. Others stayed behind to help settle things in the Ost Republic, and a few trickled in every week. Still, there were some either too old or too involved with the Ost Republic to just up and leave. So, while a significant chunk of Osterians, were in Chalm now, that didn’t mean they weren’t still people here.

These were women that I appeared to remember. They were part of Alysia’s prior party, Titan Fall.

“Faith! Marice! What are you doing here?” Alysia called back, running up to the other girls and giving them hugs.

It seemed like I wasn’t the only one who would be having a reunion.