My Dungeon Life – Chapter 1758-1760

Chapter 1758

“This place is a bit crowded.” Lady Seeired waved her hand in front of her face. “Perhaps, we can speak somewhere more private?”

“She’s taking away? What a cradle robber!”

“You’ve already been married. Give us a chance.”

They had been quiet and respectful at first, only making comments intermittently, but the more Lady Seeired and I spoke, the less patient and the bolder they became. Lady Seeired appeared to have particularly thick skin, as all of those words seemed to roll off of her. Yet, as they grew louder, a single steely gaze was enough to quiet them down.

“Lord Deekson, are you okay which such an old woman?” One of the girls grew the courage to say.

I gave a smile. “I very much like older women. The average age of the women I bed is over 40!”

That was technically true, but only because a few outliers like Terra caused that number to swell rapidly. Most of the girls were truly in their late teens or twenties, like me. My words had silenced the young ladies, who could only stare at me with their mouths open. Even Lady Seeired seemed a bit taken aback. I wasn’t trying to come onto her though.

I had no interest in Lady Seeired, and I understood that her interest in me was only about politics. The main reason I had come to this country was that there were things that I wanted, and the reason they had accepted my arrival was that there were things they wanted. Lady Seeired offered me something I didn’t feel I was getting from Marina, and that was the capacity to get meaningful things done. They were perfectly willing to wow me with gestures of kindness and generosity, but I was starting to realize it was all just a trick.

They wanted me to put my guard down so they could take advantage. Even these daughters being thrown at me was merely an attempt to lure me into this false sense of complacency. To these old foxes, a daughter cost barely anything, and the advantage of binding themselves to me was priceless. Rather than meeting at the negotiation table, they’d rather I partied and succumbed to pleasure. Then, they would have their claws on me, and I’d have no choice but to work for them.

Such a thing might have worked on me in the past. However, I had been with so many women this last year, and all of them were beauties. Such an obvious honey trap wouldn’t thrill me anymore, and I was steadily becoming better and reading and understanding people’s true intentions. I wasn’t sure if that came with the lore I had absorbed from all of those dungeons, or just my personal development as I matured into adulthood.

Lady Seeired chuckled at my words, recovering a bit quicker than the others. “Since Lord Deekson has shown interest, how can a lady say no?”

She gave her arm, and I took it. She led me away from all of the batch of girls, who could only stare on in indignancy and confusion.

Chapter 1759

“If I may be frank, I am a woman who knows what she wants and is willing to make the sacrifices I need to make.” Lady Seeired spoke suddenly as she led me deeper into the room and away from the crowds. “If Lord Deekson desires, I would be willing to throw away propriety and give myself for a night or a week, as long as we can come to an acceptable agreement.”

“Doesn’t that make you as bad as the other girls?” I asked, mostly joking.

“Those other girls are inexperienced and naïve. They approached you because their families told them to, and they use each other as a group to bolster their confidence. I think you’ll find if you settled on an individual girl, her enthusiasm would quickly crack and she’d flee shamefully. I have far more experience than I can provide. The refluents have been struggling for far too long. If giving my body of experience is what is required to give us a break, I’ll gladly give it.”

“I’m surprised you’re telling me such things so blatantly,” I admitted.

“You’ve already shown you have some understanding of our situation, and I’m not a woman who likes to mince words. Shall we find a bedroom then? The house of lords has many such rooms, and then ten of us have the right to use them for any purposes we may have.” She stopped and turned to me, her brow arched and a completely serious look on her face.

It took me a moment to realize she was genuinely asking. I had been thinking her words were mostly a smokescreen before we got to the real talking, but she was completely serious! I let out a cough, trying to hide my blush.

“I’m sorry, but when it comes to your experience, there are things I value far more than just your body.”

“I see…” She responded, showing very little on her face. “Then, I must ask what I can do for you.”

“I came here for several reasons,” I admitted. “And so far, Jespain has been fully amendable in fulfilling them.”

I wasn’t great at talking politics, but I did have the Merchant job and I could haggle, upsell, and barter when I needed to. Adding several levels of Advanced Learning, I was able to know when to give and when to take. At the moment, I didn’t want it to seem like I needed her for anything. If I gave that away, then I’d get the worse end of the deal.

She gave a light snort. “You and I both know that those so-called modules are merely a show of smoke and mirrors. They won’t teach you anything substantial there. The instructors are all skilled people who plan to extract as much from you and your group as possible. Of course, you’ll find out the truth of this tomorrow when the show begins.”

So, it was like that. I knew those classes were too good to be true. They were just a means of forcing us to give up information they wanted while giving very little of themselves. I had to make a deal that was advantageous to Chalm and me, and the bargaining had already begun!

Chapter 1760

“I take it the class idea was created by the prepotents?” I offered some information as a ruminated.

She nodded. “They don’t need your support. They just need you to not support the refluents. They will create whatever leverage they can with you. If you hope to accomplish any gain from this country, your best bet is me.”

I found myself liking her direct way of speaking far more than Marina, who always spoke with a phony smile and smug superiority. I also already knew what she was saying was true. If I wanted to get the things I needed, my best chance was to depend on the refluents, even if it put my party in the crosshairs of the more powerful prepotents faction.

“I see… then before I tell you what I want, I’d want to know what you’d expect from me,” I responded after a bit of careful thinking.

Her face hardened slightly, and she looked in both directions before she lifted her hand and cast a spell. I could see the mana and thanks to my increasing levels and experience, I was pretty sure it was a spell that prevented sound from entering or leaving the barrier. I had seen Celeste use very similar magic, although Celeste had it from having air magic while this woman might have gained it from some political job. I didn’t want to suddenly use God and Devil Eye on her though. I had heard that such a thing might be considered an invasion of privacy and rude should someone be caught doing it.

“What I’m about to ask of you is something that could be considered treason if it got out. This is why I haven’t chosen to act alone. You can consider this something not connected to the refluents, but me specifically. The others are not involved in this request.” Her expression grew serious.

Although we were still in the hall and could be seen by everyone, I realized that she had guided me to an area that had been set up beforehand. I still hadn’t noticed it on my own, but I had asked the girls to keep watch, and it was First who had filled me in.

“There are at least ten people around you who are keeping you apart from other party guests. Anyone who approaches you is immediately intercepted by someone. At the moment, no one can get close to you.” First explained through Slave Communication.

“The lords have been watching you out of the corner of their eyes. They pretend like they aren’t interested in your discussion, but you’ve been their main focus.” Lydia added.

“I can no longer hear anything coming from Master or that old lady,” Celeste complained. “Ah, even your mouth movements seem distorted!”

Thanks to their attentiveness, I had a better idea of the situation I was in. We were making a play publicly, but it was also something that was being kept quiet.

“So, what you’re saying is the refluent sent a woman hoping I wouldn’t be as ready to turn on you, and should you fail, only you would fall.”

“You’re more informed than I would have guessed.” Her expression turned slightly bitter. “In Jespain, women are excused from the death penalty. I will merely be imprisoned in my manor on house arrest for the rest of my life. This is why I was sent to make a move, rather than my five allies.”

Since she decided to put her cards on the table, I decided to indulge her.

“What you ask will be a secret just between you and me.” And Alysia… but that was a different topic.

That seemed to relax her slightly. “Very well, then I would request that Deek do a little investigation of his own. You may not realize this, but this entire city sits on top of a dungeon that supports our entire economy!”

“Y-you don’t say…”