My Dungeon Life – Chapter 1782-1784

Chapter 1782

I woke up that morning feeling a bit lonely. I know that my girls had been holding back on account of Terra and life had been generally like this for a while, but since realizing there was still a way to be intimate with her, and thus no reason to continue this self-imposed celibacy, I found it harder to just ignore my desires anymore.

Faeyna arrived and helped me clean up and get dressed, and after she left, I was greeted by Cici, who gave me her second report. This one was a bit more thorough and went through all the key members of both groups far more thoroughly than the last. Still, it was nothing more than could be found out in the public. Anything that was considered a government secret was out of Cici’s reach. Still, she had turned out to be far better at the job than I had originally given her credit for, so I wanted to give her a chance.

“Don’t take any risks,” I spoke up as I flipped through her second notebook. “However, I would like you to find out a bit more about the lore that gives them their golem knowledge. Let me know anything you can about it. If you can find out where they have it, that would be useful.”

“Yes, Master!” She declared before curtseying and then disappearing through the wall.

I felt a little guilty sending such a young girl on such a dangerous mission, but it was exactly because she was a maid trainee of such a young age that she was so easy to overlook. Even if she was found in the wrong area, who would think she was a spy?

Just in case, I tracked her so that she showed up on my map. If there was ever a moment where she was in a questionable situation, I could portal to her quickly and resolve the issue. True Dungeon Diver had unlocked Advanced Tracking, and I now could mark several targets and I didn’t even need to see them start tracking. As long as I had something of theirs, I could get a direction.

There was a knock on my door, and then a knock on the other doors in the same hallway. When I opened it up, I found Marina standing there with a displeased expression on her face. The girls, the church, and the esmere were also emerging from their respective rooms. She had summoned everyone.

“Where did your group disappear to yesterday?” She demanded, her eyes specifically on Pait who was standing in one of the other doorways.

“Hmm? We entered the carriage that Marina ordered. The workshop we went to was an even better demonstration of the golems than I would have thought. Were we not supposed to be there?” Other than a slight look in my direction, Pait’s answer had been perfect.

Marina’s face flickered across a few emotions. It was clear she had deliberately avoided asking me because she likely already knew the answer. She was trying to create division between us, as that would make their negotiations easier. However, Pait was a skilled diplomat and had answered in a way that not only protected me and my agreement with Lady Seeired but gave Marina nothing to work with either.

“There… must have been a mix-up with the schedule.” She finally stated, although her voice was icy. “In the future, I’ll make sure another mistake doesn’t happen.”

I understood that as both a warning and a promise. Unfortunately, I had already agreed. Seeired had already followed her part of the agreement. I needed to do my part.

Chapter 1783

“Today, we’ll be looking at weapons!” Bernice stated excitedly, grabbing my arm before suddenly letting go and stepping back, her cheeks turning pink.

We were just heading down to the lobby. The girls were talking excitedly while looking at their schedules. When Bernice recalled that today was when the gun-related seminars were, she couldn’t contain her excitement. Given her upbringing, one would think she’d be into swords, but her father who had become a demon had also been a sword-user. It seemed like she was more eager to put that past behind her, which is why she took to the new weapon so easily.

“I suppose I’ll need to go as well.” Sapphire declared. “I’ve already studied the blueprints Master gave me to an extent, but some of those things are too fine even for me. Perhaps they can be substituted magically, but we’d need a skilled enchanter. That’s not easy. Enchanter is a rare job. You have to be very intelligent to succeed. Some jobs require an intellectual.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shao frowned. “Assassination requires a great deal of thought!”

“She’s not trying to offend you.” Miki cut in. “It’s just that some jobs require study and knowledge. Someone can become a spearman by practice, but some things can’t just be practiced.”

“Why do I feel like that is slight at me?” Lydia frowned.

“Ah! I don’t mean it like that. It’s just like, for example, I’m an alchemist. It doesn’t matter how high my level is in alchemy, because if I don’t practice and learn recipes, I’d never be able to succeed. Learning to read was a necessity to alchemy, which is why I knew how.”

“There are other more intellectual jobs too. Blacksmithing requires me to learn the heating, metal, and form.” Sapphire added.

“Working and tinkering also require a lot of mental fortitude.” Terra nodded as she agreed with the other two. “As much as I act as a guardian and defender to my Master, I take on the artifact creation because I believe I can help Master in more ways than just fighting. However, if I wish to become the best, it requires more than just stabbing something.”

“No, they’re looking down on us!” Shao whined to Lydia.

“Shao, don’t mind it. Put your knives up.” Lydia sighed.

“Hmph… making commoner jobs sound like they require so much effort. You haven’t had the challenge of being a noble. We must understand a little bit about everything.” Bernice sniffed.

“Can I at least stab her?” Shao begged.

“You can try, but are you faster than a bullet?” Bernice declared, pulling her guns.

The tensions in the group explode. Usually, Lydia would placate things, but it seemed like Miki, Terra, and Sapphire’s random musings had caused her to fall into her thoughts and she wasn’t paying attention to any of them.

“We have an enchanter,” I spoke up.

“Huh?” My words seemed to catch all of the girls off guard, and Sapphire immediately leaped on it. “We know an enchanter? Who’s that?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it Celeste?”

“I’m an enchanter?” Celeste cried out.

“How do you not know?” Terra shot back.

“Yes…” I cleared my throat. “You’ve reached level 30. Elaya and Astria have been showing you how. They say you’re a natural, and far superior to their middling ability that couldn’t even unlock the job.”

“They have?” Celeste scratched her head. “You don’t mean those squiggly letters they keep showing me, do you?”

“Y-yes… that.”

“Oh, that stuff is super easy. I thought enchanting would be hard.”

“…”

There was something about that revelation that ended the conflict right there. The tension was replaced by a somewhat dreary mood. Even Shao and Lydia didn’t gloat over the mud thrown on the other girls.  Thinking of Celeste as an intellectual savant was just too depressing.

Chapter 1784

Once again, the front of the hotel was lined with carriages that were traveling to various locations.

“It looks like we will be going in this one.” I pointed at a certain carriage.

“Your group is being moved to a new carriage.” Marina suddenly stepped in front of the door, like she thought we might fight her to the carriage.

“Huh? I thought you were desperate to stick to your schedule?”

Marina’s eyes flashed before her usually placid expression returned. “There has been a change in the schedule. Please follow me to this carriage.”

I frowned, but that’s when I remembered how we were taken away the last time. They had managed to reprogram the driver golem so that it took us to a new location. Now that I thought about it, Lady Seeired had promised to show us a gun factory too, and so if she pulled the same trick, then we’d be taken out of the city again. Marina and her faction must have figured that out, so they set it up to randomly change the carriage at the last second. It seemed like Marina planned to escort us herself this time.

I felt slightly picked on because this sudden change only happened to my group specifically. My group consisted of different people than the last time. Mary and Pait were no longer in my group, but they also weren’t be directed to knew carriages all of a sudden. Thus, I knew I was being singled out. The group today would be Celeste, Sapphire, Bernice, and Miki. Celeste only came because I asked her to. Miki only had a passing interest in the guns. Her main reason for coming was that a few of the workshops included alchemy.

“W-wait! Why are you guys going this direction?” A wolfkin girl suddenly emerged from the doors, crying out with concern.

“Hm?” Marina blinked as she was ushering us into the carriage. “The other carriage needs maintenance. It’s nothing you should worry about.”

Rea looked frightened. “N-no! They must take that carriage. Ah… I mean…”

“They will reach their destination safely, and no one will be able to stop that.” Marina’s eyes narrowed.

“Y-you…” Rea appeared stunned. “It’s just, this carriage… it’s…”

“So, this carriage has been fixed after all!” Marina’s eyes flashed.

It was clear that she was thinking Rea had something to do with what happened the previous day. They were misunderstanding each other completely. I was laughing quietly to myself about it, but that’s when the door slammed shut and I heard a click. Marina started walking over to the other carriage with intent in her eyes.

“W-wait! Stay away from there!”

“Hmph! Don’t act like you can stop me from finding out the truth now.” Marina declared, her usually cool demeanor replaced with an almost desperate look.

I tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. I hadn’t realized these things had locks on them. Cursing my bad luck, I adjusted my jobs and did a Phase Shift, appearing outside of the car. At that point, Marina had grabbed onto the golem driver’s head, seemingly like she was checking it out. Rea leaped at her, grabbing Marina and desperately trying to pull her back.

I used my explosive movement and bridged the distance. Grabbing both girls, I spun just as the carriage exploded. All three of us were enveloped in flame.