Even before the Iliad’s first day gave way to the next festivities were temporarily put on hold. Given the scale of the attack and importance of those in the city Rylen personally ordered that the royal knights do a full sweep of the city alongside trusted adventurers with verifiable alibies for the prior night. As they searched for the attackers, more to put the minds of the civilians at ease than anything else, all Iliad participants were kept under strict surveillance within the walls. Of course I offered my creatures to them as additional help but were refused on the off chance we were involved. Thankfully Dia and Ezekiel were locked in with us and served as excellent advertisement for our innocence for the other humans present. Ezekiel in his love struck state was more than happy to brag about his newly found beloved’s heroics while the much calmer Dia entered several debates on our behalf. They were certainly an odd pair but I appreciated their efforts nonetheless.

Thankfully all my other creatures made it safely into the evacuation zones without much incident. Supposedly Ringley had attempted to keep Almar from coming in entirely but Claire had been around to shut him up. I’ll need to deal with his provocations permanently sometime soon but as of right now he’s little more than an annoyance. Everyone knows I publicly tried to deal with him peacefully but he has officially pushed me too far. No one should complain if I teach him not to mess with us moving forward.

Shoved to the sidelines as we were I spent most of my time in correspondence with the serpent sisters back home. Progress on the 4th floor safe zone has slowed slightly without my presence but the tribes have continued to grow in numbers without issue. The Oni have been focusing their efforts on constructing homes for my sapient creatures while the lamia tribes have begun hunting for food on their respective floors and fishing in the Stocked Stream. Supposedly a few Oni have begun exhibiting specializations in their different roles in our little society. When I return I’ll need to research and compare how they’ve grown to non-dungeon sapients. I know my [Named] have leveling dreams just like humans but my other monsters may be different in unexpected ways. What feels like forever ago I’d theorized my Terracotta Golems were learning different classes like in an RPG as opposed to learning specialized skills. Maybe these specializations are something similar?

Interestingly Azura let me know in her update adventurers have officially begun farming for specific materials full time. Before they were all competing in a mad dash to sell each unique item first and reap the rewards. This attitude still existed in the powerful parties setting sights on Mulan’s [Instance] and the as yet untouched Burza but for the anyone working to train their skills the Mangle Bog and Smoldering Sequoia were more than enough to challenge them. These groups seemed to be focusing largely on the recently discovered Golden Darters, Tempest Hare horns, and Honed Hawk feathers.

It had taken a few months but it had only taken a single spotting for rumors to spread surrounding the Mangle Bog’s secret monster. A particularly devoted party managed to capture one of my living banks and began grinding quite the fortune. By honing an as yet unknown method they succeeded in hunting 6 of the small fish before word got out. That party has seemingly broken up over party infighting but the effect they had on the younger adventurers was definitive. Nowadays the bog was often filled to capacity with rookies going treasure hunting throughout the day, some even trying to book times in advance. I had no problem with this behavior of course, the Gold Darters have long been my own personal cash cows so why not spread the love? From what I’ve gathered speaking with locals currency was not a sapient invention. Rhilos have always existed and been used to trade goods whenever bartering is insufficient. Some believe the coins to be a gift from the gods so I’ll just assume the economy is being influenced by the divine. Not sure how but I trust the guys upstairs know what they’re doing. I just hope they won’t get mad if I look into making literal Cash Cows in the future.

Several inventors also seem to have begun tinkering with Tempest Hare horns as I expected. According to our network of Shady Merchants they haven’t cracked electricity just yet but are certainly making good strides. Some of Lila’s subordinates already have working prototypes thanks to some gentle guidance on my part. Even with my limited understanding supplemented by documentaries back home they were skipping ahead several hundred years just by having a basic concept to leap off from. Alongside my limitless budget and ability to create research materials I’m hopeful my dungeon town will have a working sewer system and electrical grid one day. Maybe we’ll even be ecofriendly?

Similar to the inventors several high profile weapon smiths were offering ridiculous prices to purchase Honed Hawk feathers. From what those overseeing the sales report many of the more fantastical metals such as Breonze and Feronisiam can be used to make more powerful weapons but they are exceedingly rare. My hawks in comparison grow above average swords as part of their own bodies. The blades apparently lose some of their strength when dropped as Loot but can be restored with proper craftsmanship. A few months ago almost every archer in Illia was hoping to get my bird’s feathers and now every swordsman wants their wings. Seems I’ve started a new equipment trend.

Most interesting in my opinion though are the groups farming Irwin for Biting Brews and the smaller group hunting the Piranha Queen repeatedly. Despite the painful after effects my Biting Brews are far and above easier to obtain than potions of similar strength. From what I understand the Illian military has been buying the potions up at an increased rate to send to the northern border. I feel bad for anyone who ends up needing the potion but I find some solace knowing they’ve already helped quell the effects of a viral outbreak in a coastal town to the east. Regarding the Piranha Queen Necklaces I’m slightly worried about too many of them existing in the world at once but I can’t exactly remove the queen given my floor structure. In the future I’ll consider buying them off adventurers at a significant financial loss to keep them off the streets. Eli would owe me big for stopping them before they become a problem.

While I kept myself focused almost entirely on personal matters my monsters all had a single goal in mind. The Iliad’s annual tournament nicknamed “The Tiff” by the citizens, as it largely exists as a quarreling ground for nobles, was announced to still be held. Rylen sent word the Illian people “would not hide in fear after an attack against their pride” and likely figured a tournament showcasing some of the countries strongest would bring some of their confidence back alongside a feeling of safety. Naturally I won’t just be sitting in the stand like everyone else. While everyone else has their eyes on the battlefield mine will be working with Mary to find our mystery culprits. The right to participate is limited only to those sponsored by an Iliad representative but viewing is free to the public. It’s almost assured they’ll be present even if only to maintain their cover.

After verifying I could actually let my monsters participate I went about selecting who could fight. Naturally everyone wanted to demonstrate their strength for me but I would need a few of them on hand for my own mission. To ensure our enemies don’t grow suspicious I permitted all my lamia and oni to enter. They are indeed present to meet with different officials but in a country that values strength like Illia I’m sure some “politicians” putting on a show won’t turn too many heads. Besides, they need the confidence boost as they haven’t felt very useful to me yet. Giving them some time in the spotlight will do them some good.

As for the [Named] I had to spend over an hour getting Mary to calm down and agree to be my spymaster. Obviously she couldn’t compete as she’s not supposed to be in the city, not to mention the attempted murder accusation over her head, and her skills were needed elsewhere. Eventually I convinced her by saying a fight with my final boss is worth more than simply entering a tournament. Thankfully Noire simply nodded her head in slight disappointment and agreed to serve as my bodyguard in place of my other [Named] competitors.

Since it is public knowledge my [Named] are my strongest and direct subordinates it would be strange not to have any of them enter so we decided Almar and Mulan should fight independently of my oni and lamia. Naturally the others were slightly apprehensive about potentially going against their [Boss]’s but I urged each to push themselves. Maybe they could learn something from the fight even if they can’t win? Each of my [Named] was looking to train themselves against the others after all.

Almar asked to participate only after hearing the initial fight would be a free for all to eliminate half of those competing. After becoming leader of The Cascade and serving as a [Commander] during the war he’s hoping to enhance his abilities as a leader on and off the battlefield. Perhaps due to his persona as a prince or a respect for his innate desire to improve I’m hoping Almar can one day serve as a general of sorts in my place. He may be a bit nonchalant and overly casual most of the time but when things get serious I know I can count on him to keep a level head and make his own decisions.

Looking to prove herself in a vastly different way is Mulan. Since leaving the dungeon she’s felt an ever-present sense of failure while guarding me. She wasn’t the one who incapacitated the bandits, she couldn’t keep her cool in front of the rioters, she felt useless against Lady Ouroboros and Retic, and now she hadn’t even managed to catch the assassins. I didn’t hold any of that against her but Mulan values her pride as a servant to me likely above her own life. To that end she’s looking to find what she lacks by competing alone in the tournament. Different to Almar who’ll lead the dungeon representatives in the initial battle before breaking off she has decided to fight independently, all alone against the wave of humans eager for an excuse to cut down some monsters. I have hopes she’ll regain some confidence once The Tiff is over and done with. I know better than anyone she has no reason to be so hard on herself.

The tournament itself is to be held around noon when the Iliad’s third day of meeting would have broken for a much needed rest. Supposedly Rylen has been making the rounds speaking with those possessing particularly urgent affairs to discuss but I’m fearful for when we meet on the fourth and fifth day. With so much time lost everyone present will be ferociously fighting for the chance to speak. Hopefully they won’t include me as much by that point...

Having trained and slept within the interior wall my monsters and I were finally allowed to leave on the dawn of the third day. Perhaps it was the inner teenager in me but I decided to let everyone kill some time at the slightly cut down festival around the city. After Rylen’s words reached their ears the people of Illia seemed to have personally sworn this festival would be held in protest of the assassinations. So much so the stall attendants didn’t even bat an eye when we came around buying goods and playing games. No matter how much I wished those fun times spent with my creatures would last though the bells rang out at around 11 for Tiff participants to make their way to the colosseum in the western half of the city. The time for our personal battles and hunts wouldn’t wait a second longer.