“Where is Alexander?” The question was practically a growl. Conrad was beyond furious. I could understand why; Reginald had admitted to conspiring to use illegal persuasion magic on the king. The fact that he’d then had the gall to get the princess in trouble for accidental misuse of persuasion magic due to being untrained, and was being granted immunity from prosecution for his own deliberate attempt to do the same... Well it was pretty infuriating.

His ploy had ended up being a trick, and had resulted in something even more serious than a little persuasion. The only reason he was cooperating now was because he knew we’d soon trace the king’s condition back to him, and he’d been afraid for his life.

“I don’t know,” Reginald replied, “All I know is that his communication device stopped working. The magic isn’t making a connection.”

“Truth,” Blackwing cawed.

“That means it’s either been destroyed or he’s entered a place the magic can’t reach. For example, a dungeon,” James mused.

Every communication device was paired to another device, so far, no one knew how to make a magic communication device that could connect to a wide range of other communication devices, though research on the topic continued. This meant that if one of a pair of such devices stopped working, it had to be a sign that something had happened to the other one, otherwise, the device would automatically connect.

“Then our next stop should be the adventurer’s guild or the security checkpoint at the entrance to the dungeon,” I observe, “to confirm that Alexander has gone back to the dungeon.”

“Why would he though?” Conrad asked, “It’s a dead end. I could just post guards at the main entrance and the back one-way exit, there’s nowhere else someone could leave the dungeon.”

“Could it be that he has unfinished business inside the dungeon?” I suggest.

“Like what?” James asks, sounding curious, “I think you’re the only wizard in the room who’s ever been inside a dungeon. What do you think Alexander could be doing, taking the king’s soul inside?”

I think about it for a minute, “What if… the dungeon offered him some sort of deal?”

“A deal? Dungeons don’t make deals,” James snorted.

“This dungeon did,” Lance observes, speaking up for the first time, “It agreed to let Blackwing come find Jason. The price was that Jason would have to fight a tougher opponent.”

Our eyes turn to Blackwing, who sighs, “Don’t like dungeon. But, talk to dungeon. Have to be inside.”

“The dungeon did talk to me, when I fought the sixth floor boss… it took control of one of the orcs, turned it into an avatar. It said it was the voice of the dungeon core.”

James looked interested. “What did it say?”

“It claimed to be able to see what was happening on the surface, and it wanted to be entertained,” I explain.

“Is this all… for the dungeon’s amusement? Why would Alexander cooperate?”

“Well, and this is just a guess, but two days ago he was trapped on the eighth floor, unable to return to the surface. What if he struck a deal? The dungeon let him go if he did the dungeon a favor?” I ask.

There was a long moment of silence as everyone considered that.

“I refuse to believe he’d agree to throw the entire kingdom into turmoil, steal the soul of his uncle, and then go back into the dungeon, just to survive,” Conrad objected. “How would such a deal even be enforced?”

“A geis would do it, and it would also explain why the king’s defenses were almost triggered. A person under a geis is basically mind controlled and mental wards would react slightly to their presence. It might even possible be to use that response to detect someone who is under mental control as a layered enchantment. I could probably make something like that...” I muse.

“We need to talk to Theodore, the Adventurer’s Guild Guildmaster,” James opines, interrupting my thoughts. “To confirm that this theory is actually possible. I am fairly sure that this is not normal behavior for a dungeon, but don’t know enough to speculate further...”

Blackwing returned to my shoulder. “I will ask the dungeon, see what it says.”

“None of us can go inside the dungeon without the Adventurer’s Guild’s permission, well except maybe Blackwing who can probably just fly in…” James says, giving Blackwing a speculative look.

“No,” I say shaking my head, “I’m not putting her at risk. We will go talk to Theodore first,” I decide.

We all head outside, except Reginald, who is told to stay put. Our party, now including three familiars and five humans, can barely squeeze into a single carriage. I find myself awkwardly sandwiched between Lance and Conrad, with the two inquisitors on the other side. Our three staves are bundled in a corner on their side of the carriage.

As we prepare to head off, a third raven flies in. “Mom!” he caws, landing on my other shoulder, as it is the closest unoccupied real estate.

“Lazywings,” Blackwing replies with a snort, by way of greeting.

“I’m Idlewing!” he protests, “I'm good at gliding!”

“Why you here?” Blackwing asks.

“Looking for a human,” The familiar says.

“So lazy! Look on your own,” Blackwing replies.

“Is that an unbound familiar?” Conrad asks nervously, “Are they dangerous?”

“Rude!” “Rude!” Both Blackwing and Idlewing caw at the same time, sounding very similar.

“Not really,” James says with a chuckle, “Most familiars act like scouts, seeking out any self-awakened mage with a large mana core. Usually they find someone among the commoners, since there aren't many nobles and aptitude for magic appears randomly in the entire population. It’s generally accepted that if a familiar attaches themselves to someone, the academy will offer that person a scholarship if they can pass the entrance exam. We even offer to apprentice them to a wizard for training, if their familiar can’t train their partner themselves. Most nobles don't actually need a familiar, if their mana core is average sized, they never awaken magic unless someone tutors them and helps them. Result of that is most wizards who don't have a familiar are nobles, and most wizards who do are commoners. I'm actually one of the exceptions to that rule; a noble wizard with a familiar.” He explains.

“Know human, large core, need familiar?” Idlewing asks.

“Maybe,” Blackwing replies, non-committedly.

“I’ve never seen familiars do this.” Amanda says.

“Blackwing has a lot of kids, she’s an unofficial matriarch. Basically, if familiars had a chieftain, she’d be it. They tend to flock to her when they can find her, but I agree it's unusual,” James observes.

Blackwing snorts. “I hide? No. Stay away from Mage Guild, no find me. Too lazy to look.”

I did recall Blackwing had many visitors while I’d been in the academy, but I hadn’t really thought about it. Mostly they’d shared stories with me about their time bound to inquisitors, warning me not to accept the recruitment offers. Blackwing herself seemed to want nothing to do with inquisitors, but had left the choice of whether to join them to me.

“Hungry, need mana, find partner,” Idlewing complained.

Blackwing glances at me. “Which one? Fire girl or princess?” She asks.