My Dungeon Life – Chapter 1716-1718

Chapter 1716

“Time? What does that mean?” I asked after Alysia’s declaration.

“It’s just a feeling.” She sounded uncertain. “I’m able to see the strands of souls, bonds, mana, and so on. It’s necessary for me to be able to cut through them. I feel like there are threads of time within those colors. They are out-of-sync… distorted. I think we might be seeing the essence of time.” Alysia explained.

As we were having this discussion, Celeste immediately perked up. She flew off the edge of the ship, looking down at the ground below. Our spot on the ship gave a good view of the forest on one side and the Abyss on the other, but anything directly under use couldn’t be seen unless we hung out heads out uncomfortably over the railing. That area wasn’t really interesting anyway, because it was just dead space. However, Celeste was scanning below was carefully.

“What is it?” I asked, walking to the edge and looking down.

“I heard someone scream…” Celeste declared.

Celeste had a great affinity for wind, and that had also given her a great affinity with sound. Not only could she move incredibly fast, but she was also very sensitive to vibrations in the air. She could tell when someone was lying by the inflections in their voice, and I did not doubt that she could hear voices from extreme distances we couldn’t fathom.

“There!”

She declared, pointing to an area in front of the ship. I ran to the bow of the airship and looked in the direction she had pointed. My eyes were far better than they had been. I had a couple of skills to amplify them, although I still access my dungeon store and then put some points into a skill called Farsight so that I could see what she was talking about.

In the distance, I could see a group of people. They appeared to be soldiers and they were mounted on those lizards that were used as horses in Dioshin. There was a person who was running from them, but they quickly caught up and surrounded them. I couldn’t make anything out about the person other than that they were wearing robes.

“Let’s go check this out.” I declared, feeling like this was at least an interesting diversion.

The Abyss was only an oddity. I didn’t want to dwell on it much more, as it would only be an annoyance. Thus, I gladly went for the distraction. I put a hand on the edge and then jumped right off the edge of the ship. Some of the men cried out in alarm, but then they remembered that I was the one who had rescued one of their crew when he had fallen earlier.

There was a time when leaping off a ship would have been terrifying, but this distance wasn’t too crazy for the current me. I created a barrier and then pushed off of it, using momentum to send myself toward the group of soldiers. I saw Celeste fly next to me. Although Celeste seemed simple, she often became the most bored when things dragged on. I wondered if her speed caused her perception of time to differ or what.

The guards had surrounded the person, and just as they pulled their weapons on the cloaked person, I landed right in the center, causing a cloud of dust to rise.

Chapter 1717

“Halt, identify yourself immediately!” As the cloud started to clear, I heard a soldier bark such an order at me.

Now that I was closer, I had a better look at the guards. I realized that they were all rabbitkin. Were we in the rabbitkin territory then? I only had the vaguest idea of which territories were where. I knew the foxkin had been pushed toward the wilderness on the east of the country, which put them up against Chalm and made it easy for them to cross the border and join my city. I also knew that the west against Jespain was the lands of the apekin. A lot of their ingenuity came with their close relationship with that place. The wolfkin was naturally in the southeast, and the catkin was located in the northeast and middle of the country. As for the rest, they were scattered around somewhere, but I hadn’t remembered their exact positions.

“I’m just someone passing by.” I gave such a vague answer as Celeste landed on my shoulder.

“This is rabbitkin territory! No trespassers!” The man glared at me with hostility.

“I have special permission.” I pointed up at the airship, which was only now starting to appear overhead.

The soldiers all looked up, making various sounds of surprise. The leader seemed to recover the quickest.

“W-wait… you’re not… are you the lord of Chalm?”

He asked, his voice shaking slightly.

“I am,” I admitted.

“What does that matter? He’s trespassing!” One of the other soldiers yelled out impatiently.

“Quiet, fool! He’s the one who took out King Roth!”

“Ah!”

“Seriously?”

As the leader made that announcement, the other soldiers all let out noises of shock and surprise. The hostile atmosphere seemed to shift quickly, and I saw eyes that were intrigued, awed, and even a bit fearful.

“You’ve heard of me?” I asked with interest.

“H-how could we not have heard of such a great lord?” The leader’s tone had changed considerably, and he all but lowered his head. “I apologize for not recognizing you. We have been informed that you would be taking airship passages through our territory. There is no issue with your presence.”

“Good, good.” I nodded, but then glanced back at the person behind me.

They hadn’t moved since I had landed. Instead, they stood there. The cloak covered their face, but now that I was close, I could distinctly see they were a female. Also, there was a white bushy tail which told me they were an animalkin too. That made sense, as it was extremely unlikely to see any humans besides myself this deep in Dioshin.

“Ah, sir… I don’t believe this woman is with you. She Is trespassing in our territory. This is a serious offense. A wolfkin like her has no place in our tribal lands. If she was visiting, she would have proper identification and papers. When we attempted to question her, she fled.”

“I see…” I looked down, trying to get a better look at the girl. “She is a friend of mine. It seems she was separated from our group by accident. I won’t let it happen again.”

I quickly made up an excuse. My Mimic job helped with the deception. However, no sooner had I tried to help than the girl finally raised her eyes and glared at me.

“Mind your own business, human! I don’t need your help!”

So much for trying to do a good thing.

Chapter 1718

I had tried to pass off that she was a friend of mine, but the girl didn’t seem to get the hint, and she immediately threw it in my face. The guards were now looking at each other, just a bit confused by that interaction. When the girl glanced up, I was finally able to get a good look at her face. She was surprisingly young. If I had placed her, she was only about fifteen or sixteen. While her features were youthful, the look in her eyes felt different. She gave the feeling of a vicious animal, someone who had to fight to survive.

She was a white wolfkin, and that immediately made me feel some nostalgia. The only other white wolfkin I had ever met was Raissa. In some ways, this girl looked a bit like her, but there were some noticeable differences, especially with her body shape. She wore robes that tried to cover her body, but it was undeniable that she had a large chest and voluptuous body. Her chest was about the size of Celeste’s chest despite her youthful age, and she had a very pretty face even if it was twisted with anger.

“I’m trying to help you out.” I hissed. “Just play along.”

“I don’t have time to deal with someone like you.” She responded, glaring at me. “I am here to complete a mission. Anyone who gets in my way can die!”

I couldn’t help but feel my eyebrow twitching. What was with this girl? The soldiers also shifted awkwardly. This little girl had just threatened them all. She might be a wolfkin, but when it came to the atmosphere, she couldn’t be more different than Raissa. Raissa was docile, submissive, and kind. This girl gave off an angry, aggressive aura. If Raissa was a loyal dog, then this girl was a starving mangy wolf that had been backed into a corner.

“It’s pretty clear that you and this woman have never met each other before today.” The soldier spoke quietly. “If you don’t mind, we will be apprehending her now. She will be questioned and then imprisoned. We will send a missive to Lord Duran. If he wishes to negotiate her release, you can speak to him.”

“N-no! I do know her.”

I didn’t know why I felt like helping her. She had clearly already shown that she didn’t want my help. If there was a reason, it probably had to do with Raissa. She looked enough like her that I couldn’t just leave her alone. I had never managed to find the mother of my child, and it was something that still caused me stress until that day. In some ways, helping this lone wolfkin felt like giving her the help I failed to give Raissa.

“Really…” The guard looked at me dubiously, and the woman only glared at me.

“It’s true!” I quickly came up with an excuse. “C-can’t you feel the miasma on her? She’s been hit with a karmic infection. Her behavior right now has startled me as much as you. She’s not in her right mind. Thankfully, I am a white mage adept at such things. As long as she comes with me, I should be able to treat her.”

I had scanned the girl, and my words weren’t completely false. She did have a lot of miasma in her. She wasn’t a miasmic creature yet, but she gave off the impression of someone who had been in a dungeon a lot. It only made me more curious about her.

“Is that true?” The soldier looked suspicious, but even he could tell that some of my words were true.

My reputation as a dungeon expert seemed to proceed me.

“It’s no-” The girl began.

“On my honor!” I declared. “I, Earl Deek Deekson of Aberis, ruler of Chalm, verify that I am speaking honestly.”

As I said this, the girl suddenly spasmed. So many emotions seemed to spread over her face in an instant, but then her expression disappeared, and she looked on expressionlessly.

“H-he’s right.” She declared. “I must travel by his side!”