Chapter 9

The rest of the day went by at a relatively quick pace. My dungeon’s citizens all got right to work after Glaaki gave a sermon at the new church. He was very appreciative of having a much more official place of worship now. Some of the goblins are now working in the mine, collecting ore and gems. Others can be found tending to the fields, gathering mushrooms and moss. Yidhra has told me it is important to gather resources for trade once we get our first wave of adventurers. Glaaki informed me he should be ready to perform his ritual in a few more days, which is amazing news. I won't have to worry about another goblin dying permanently. I decided to spend the day observing everyone and offering help where it was needed. Sadly, everywhere I went the goblins told me they would not dare ask the Shiny God for anything. I'm glad they don’t want to burden me, but it would be nice to have them rely on me from time to time. After all we are all friends in this together. I think its about time to start carving out the second floor.As i go to open my menus I notice Hugh Man is approaching my core.

"So I have an idea on how to make this seem like a real town." He says.

"Perfect! Let me know what it is and I'll assist with whatever you need!" I reply excitedly.

"I have a few… associates near here that have been out of work ever since the nearby town was destroyed during the war.” He rubs his hands together, as if trying to warm them. “We can have them come to work and live here to make it seem like the dungeon is cohabiting with the enlightened races."

"Oh, friends of yours? That's perfect! They are welcome here of course. I will get ready to make the contracts!" William pauses and stares at my core for a moment before he snaps back to attention and speaks.

"That won't be necessary. They will work for silver and I'll give them some gold to take the job. I can even offer a few acting lessons to help everyone else blend in. No need to contract everyone that walks in the gate."

"But if they are not contracted I cannot respawn them when they die. I don’t like it when my friends die." I say with a hint of sadness in my voice.

"Look enlightened races don't— you know what, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could respawn them. Still, they will work for coin and they can keep themselves safe. Not everyone is defenseless you know? Besides, who is going to attack them in town?"

"But Dak killed the adventurers so easily!" I say incredulously.

“I do not need a reminder on that. Dak is not a good representation of the threats out there. They can handle other humans just fine”

"Okay but if they decide they want a contract so they can respawn, just let me know! It's a lot safer!" I affirm.

"They will be fine. I'll head out to get them right now." Hugh Man seems to be losing patience with me.

"Great! I will have Dak send some escorts with you!"

"Escorts? I'm not going to run. I'm already contracted." Of course not. Why would he need to run anywhere?

"You don't have to run anywhere, the guards are for your protection. You said you don't want to fight anyone. What if you’re attacked while traveling?"

"Ah yes I did say that. Fine." He replies.

"Yay! Good luck and be safe. Make sure you get along with the Hellclaws!" I say as Hugh Man gives a bow and leaves the core room.

Three figures travel along a dirt road, long in its need for repair. One of the figures is a simple human who has begun showing signs of his age. His blonde hair is lengthy and pulled back into a knot. His face seems to be eerily handsome as if changed by some sort of magic. He wears a simple black cloak over leather armor. On his hip rests a rapier that reflects the light off of it so well, one would think it had never been used. Most people would not be intimidated by a man who wields a sword such as this. In his hands he plucks the strings of a finely carved lute. Hanging from his belt is a cloth sack, heavy with coin. Most citizens of the Kingdom of Leconak would recognize this man as William, a famous actor of the Leconak theatre house. The creatures at his side however, would terrify those same people. The two Hellclaw Soldiers march in perfect unison. Their eyes shift direction constantly searching for threats. "I know this area like the back of my hand. You do not need to be so on guard here." Says William nonchalantly. He sighs as neither guard responds to him. "You two are not great at conversation. The master told us to get along." One of the guards speaks up, uttering through his maw.

"Dak told us not to trust you, Hugh Man. You have won the masters favor but not ours."

"Well it's good not to trust others and all but you could at least pretend to find my jokes funny. Or maybe you can sing along with me while we are on the road for entertainment? Might help others warm up to you guys." Says William.

"This one does not need entertainment. This one only seeks to serve its master." The group travels in silence on the road for hours. Finally, the group passes over a large hill and their destination comes into sight. The ruins of a small farming village comes into view. Most of its buildings have been turned to rubble and offer little in the way of shelter. The fields that the farmers used to work are barren, having been reduced to ashes years back. As the group moves closer to the village, William's guards immediately become alert and assume a combat stance. Five men who were set to ambush the group as they pass come out of hiding and approach the group from the front, now knowing their ambush has failed. The five men approach the group with weapons drawn before one breaks the silence.

"Wait is that William? By the gods we thought it was a group of monsters. What's up with the crabs?" He asks in surprise. William raises his hand and the two hellclaw guards immediately drop their combat stance and return to an idle position at guard to his sides.

"Personal guards assigned by my new employer. Probably here to make sure I don't runaway or get myself killed." Says William. The five men look at each other and begin to laugh. One of the men begins to speak up.

"Isn't running and not dying all you are good for? Besides acting that is." He says trying to hold back his laughter." William's face slips into anger momentarily but snaps back into a charming smile before anyone can notice.

"Hilarious as usual Paul. Is the boss in? I have a job for you guys." Asks William. The men finally stop laughing long enough for the one now known as Paul to give a reply.

"Yup we will escort you to the boss. You know the rules no weapons." Paul says before glancing at the giant sharp claws of William's guards."Nevermind not like we can disarm those guys anyways." He points to the Hellclaws.

Two of the men return to their hiding places chuckling as Paul and the other two begin escorting the group into the village. "I see not much has changed in the last few years." Says William trying to break the silence.

"Right? It's takes all we got just to make a few coins and survive. We got no fields to work now and we don't exactly have the funds to go rebuilding." Says Paul. As the group walks into the village they pass by a dozen onlookers who stare in wonder, or possibly horror at William's guards. Some of the children in the group approach William. He pauses and pulls out a handful of silver coins before kneeling down and handing one to each of the kids. They stare at him, eyes wide open in surprise.

"Is..that was silver. You throwing money around now William? Those kids can eat good for a month with that. Thanks for that." William stands and pats the dirt off of his pants.

"Hey even I have a heart." The group approaches a building in the middle of the village. It seems to be the building that is in the best working condition, though it still is not something one would consider habitable. Its walls are scorched black from fire. And a portion of the roof has collapsed in on itself. A man, heavily injured with bandages all over his body stands guard near the entrance. Paul walks over to the guard and speaks with him for a few moments before returning to William.

"The boss is inside. You are cleared to enter but your...guards need to stay out here.” As William begins to speak one of the Hellclaws interrupts him.

"Your request is denied Hugh Man Paul. We are under orders to guard Hugh Man. He is not to leave our sight." William and Paul stare at the creature for a few moments before Willam breaks the silence.

"I doubt we can convince them otherwise Paul, once these guys have orders they follow them to the bitter end." Paul sighs and shrugs his shoulders.

"Well it was worth a shot. I'm sure if you were here to harm us they could have already wiped us all out by now. Go ahead and talk to the boss." Paul says as he motions to the door.

“Thanks Paul." Says William.

William opens the door, which is in surprisingly good condition, and enters the room. The room itself is mostly empty aside from than a large table with maps and books sprawled across it. A rug made of wolf skin lies next to a fireplace that is burning. A woman stands at the table, her attention has not yet taken away from the documents she's sorting through. The two Hellclaws salute William and take up guard at either side of the door. William nods at them and turns to walk towards the table. The woman looks up at him. She is a living monument of strength. Her muscles are even larger than the barbarian William worked with when they raided the dungeon. Her long red hair rests in front of her shoulder in a braid. Her face is covered in various scars and burns.

"William." His name escapes her lips without hiding the anger hidden behind the word. William gives a formal bow before turning his head up to her and gives a wicked smile.

"Hello Clara it is a pleasure to see you!" Says William in an exaggerated excitement. Clara walks towards him and he begins to extend a hand in greeting. She promptly ignores it and quickly punches him in the gut which sends him flying across the room. The two Hellclaws immediately charge towards the woman, each placing a claw around her neck before she can react.

"Stop," Williams voice is rattled, but he gets the words out without much trouble, "I probably deserved that." He says as he rises to his feet, coughing up some blood. He quickly uncorks a potion and pours it down his throat. The two guards pull away from the woman and return to their posts. "You know that could have killed me. Luckily, I have potions." He says.

"Oh I really did hope it would have, William. It would have been worth getting killed by those crabs to watch your smug face turn to horror as you bleed to death internally." She replies. "Why are you here?" She asks in anger. William sharpens his gaze, putting up an air of intensity unexpected of him.

"I'm here for business." Clara, bursts out in laughter at the notion of such a thing. After a moment, she is able to reign in her cackling enough to continue the conversation.

"You want to hire us? You come waltzing back to your hometown after you left us all here to die?" Asks Clara. William shows his usual smile but allows a hint of animosity to slip into his voice.

"Oh do let the actor fight on the front line. We both know it would have changed nothing."

"That's not the point,” Clara lets out a tired sigh, as if she’s had this exact conversation before, “You coulda helped us afterwards. You coulda used some of that actin’ money to help the town get back on its feet." William runs his fingers through his hair, taking hold of a tuft of it as he tries to reign in his annoyance.

"Look, I'm not here to argue with you. I don't want to be here either. But I’m… working for someone who needs to hire you." She scoffs at him.

"Fine, but I'm billing them extra on account of having to look at you."

"That will not be an issue." Says William in return. Clara raises an eyebrow at him before pulling out a quill and paper.

"How many men do you need and for how long? We may be bandits now but we can still do good work." She says, suddenly more authoritative.

"The boss is going to want all of them. Duration of the contract is permanent." Says William. Clara puts the quill down and and rubs her temples.

"You want all of my men? Look we still need to take care of the kids and the wounded here. And what do you mean permanent? What is the work?"

"Permanent means permanent. And we are hiring the sick and wounded as well. The work is well… living in a town." William looks around the room and sighs. "Obviously not this town. A new one." Clara looks momentarily confused but then begins to put her quill to the paper and starts documenting information.

"So your boss wants us to relocate to this new town. So we are to do what exactly? Be guards?" She asks as she continues writing.

"No, I'm fairly sure my boss has that covered already. "Says William as he motions to the Hellclaw soldiers at guard near the door. "I'm not selling us as slaves if that's what your getting at." Says Clara. William sighs again.

"Hey, my boss just wants you all to live in the town. You will be full citizens. Exempt from taxes for five years and you will be paid for the relocation. You aren't slaves, you will be free, other than that you have to live in the town. You can work the fields like you guys used to or you can open shops. Hell, you can even drink all the money away in the tavern if you want." William explains.

"This is a lot to organize. When does the job start?" Asks Clara without looking away from her continuing documentation.

"Today. You will move there immediately. I would like to be back before the morrow." Says William. Clara puts her quill down again and looks up at William as she crosses her arms.

"William, your boss cannot afford this. This is a logistical nightmare, and you want us to move thirty people to some town that may or may not exist. On top of that, your boss employs some weird race of crab people. I need a few weeks to see the town first and give my people some time to be exposed to these creatures so they don't live in terror." William's grin spreads ear to ear as he pulls a heavy sack from belt. He throws it on the table and gold coins spill out.

"It’s not just crab people, there are goblins too. This should be more than you need even with the tax of having to see me now and then." Clara's eyes bulge as she sorts through the gold coins.

"William just where did your boss get so much money? You could buy an entire town with this. You wouldn't even need us. Actually, don't answer that I don't want to know."

"So I take it you accept the job?" William’s usual smirk has grown to become an inviting grin.

"Yup, we will leave behind anything we can't take. We can leave in an hour." As she counts the coin, a veil of blue shimmers from the shadows and the figure of a man appears out from it. William stares at him in surprise but neither of the Hellclaws react, almost as if they knew he was there already.

"Relay the orders to Paul and get everyone ready to go." Clara commands.

"Yes ma'am." Says the man in black robes before he disappearing again after a salute. William nervously asks, "Assassin job? Who is that?”

"Can't be too careful these days William. Although I'm surprised your guards seemed to know he was here. This new boss of ours must be pretty powerful." William lets out a sigh that transitions into a groan halfway through.

"You don't know the half of it."