Since Franziska addressed the crowd a few days ago, I am glad to observe that the number of people meditating in the gymnasium reaches twenty-three. Not all of them are meditating at the same time and some only meditate for short periods, but there is always someone meditating during the day. The amount of women in meditation here is greatly superior to the number of men, especially the pregnant women. It can maybe partly be explained by the fact that more women live in my town than men do, but not to such proportions.

Unfortunately, none of the adventurers - safe for Grundy - have started meditating. I think they are more wary of becoming a citizen, because they fight daily against my creatures, but based on what I hear of their conservations this situation should change soon. I think the brothers, Charles and Mickel, and the men from the all-men party will be the first, even if only for the loot.

However, of the twenty-three people working to become Citizens, eighteen of them are women, including ten of the pregnant women, that’s half of those with child. I think the fact that I promise security for them and for their children works wonders in convincing pregnant women to join my Citizenship.

Amongst those women, there is one I find quite interesting. She has blond hair and green eyes. While her skin looks quite soft, her undeniable beauty is hidden by the scar on her left cheek and her intimidating height. She is the tallest woman in the whole town and even if she is rather slim, she still has some muscles that cannot be denied. From what I understand, she got her scar by resisting the pirates that wanted to rape her and, even if they got it their way in the end, she at least made them pay for it. The reason, she gives to everybody asking her why she doesn’t join one of the adventuring group, is not that she wants to make sure that her child is safe - she is only something like four weeks pregnant, I think - by avoiding activities too straining on the body, which is an excuse other women use.

No, she went into the maze once and punched or kicked all the rodents she found to death with ease, proving that she is one of the best warriors inside my Domain. Instead, she claims my maze is too boring for her. So boring that she didn’t even try the second level. I can believe her, the creatures I put in my maze are no match for her and, while I do have some that could give her a good challenge, I prefer to keep them safely outside the maze for now or use them for other tasks. Her name is Clara Hilltop and I remember her being strongly opposed to abortion, when the women were arguing on the subject a few days ago, after I announced my Laws. I think I can make her a powerful protector of mine in time.

For that purpose, I want to help her to become a Citizen as fast as possible, which leads to me improving the quality and quantity of mana permeating everything around her to increase her passive absorption of it.

But she is not the one I focus most of my attention on. No, my main focus is on another of the pregnant Citizen prospects. A little and feeble one. She seldom speaks to anyone, but always looms around the crowd. She is quite gloomy, with long and black hairs hiding her brown eyes. Her petite stature helps her hide in the shadows, allowing her to follow groups of people while staying mainly out of sight. And, just like Clara, I think she could become quite useful, at least if she survives her encounter with Bertrand.

He is ready to act on his plans. His stupid plan to ‘cleanse the world of a follower of the Dark Gods’. As if I couldn’t see it coming and prepare a counterplan.

-

Laura had a painful and sad childhood, but in a typical way, and she knew it.

Her parents died when she was young. Afterward, she was taken in by her uncle and his family. They did not take her in because of kind-heartedness, instead, they mistreated her. They despoiled her of her inheritance and forced her to do the most menial tasks in their home. Her uncle and her two cousins not only physically abused her, they also raped her numerous times, when her aunt wasn’t there obviously.

The only bright things in her life were the few occasions, in which she could read books. Indeed, on some occasions, when she accompanied her aunt going to do some grocery shopping, Laura managed to snatch a book or two during some of these excursions.

One of them was a storybook full of fables, one of them, in particular, moved her. A story about a young woman with a background similar to her - if one was able to overlook the sexual abuse - that was bullied by her step-mother and her three step-sisters. She read this story again and again, until she knew it by heart, dreaming of the days she herself would be freed of her ordeal, just like in the story. But unlike the character in the story, no fairy godmother or prince charming ever came to her rescue.

No, what freed her of her despicable family was just another simple consequence of her torments. She was with child. When her aunt noticed and learned that its father was either her own husband or one of her own two sons, she decided it was too much. But the cold bitch would not let her anger take the better of her. She had Laura drink a potion to kill the unborn child in her belly and then she sold her into slavery, she sold her to the most despicable men she could find in a short time amount of time, before she lost control of her anger and a potential profit. At last, she found some pirates that would be able to take her niece far away, which was all the better. On the pirates’ boat, Laura was raped again and again, like the other female prisoners for days and days.

But one day, the pirates disembarked their slaves in a troglodyte village. Without food or anything else to support themselves, they were left behind, while the pirates sailed away. Fortunately, a young girl freed her of her shackles, one called Lucia, no family name. A few days later, Laura learned that she had been freed from the pirates thanks to a sapient dungeon and that all the sweet fruits growing on the numerous trees are also his doing.

Since her release, Laura has a great deal of respect for Lucia, she is a model for her, just like some kind of fairy godmother or at least the notion Laura has of what a godmother is. And adding to the great part the Dungeon played in her newly acquired freedom, he even promised to protect her, as long as she becomes one of his Citizen. She knows the Dungeon is not a Human, so he can’t be her prince charming. She also knows that becoming a Citizen is nothing like a wedding. But he had liberated her, and he is even promising to protect her. No one ever promised to protect her before. This is why she had decided to do it, to become a Citizen.

Right now, Laura is exiting the gymnasium after a long period of meditation. She walks in the direction of the habitations district while reciting in her head the story that she took refuge in when everything was going bad in her life and enjoying the dim light of the fake stars in the cave roof. Now that things are better, the story she built her mind around is still at the first place of her mind, but she does not focus her mind on the same part of the story, she previously did. Instead of living out the suffering and dreaming of the rescue, she is now living the rescue and can dream of the next step, the happy ending.

So lost in her dreams as she is, she does not see the shadow following her, while she starts walking between the houses, nor does she notice the diminishing fake stars’ glow. She passes in front of two unoccupied houses before making a turn into a dark alley, completely oblivious to the danger she is in. After all, everybody here is the same situation, right? There are only friends in the Dungeon. What should she be afraid of?

She walks into another obscure alley, happily humming to herself the words of her story. Happiness slowly building in her heart at the realization, that it has been two whole weeks since she last was abused in any way.

Her growing happiness is suddenly halted by the sound of fast footsteps. Bewildered, she looks behind her, just in time to see a shadow running at her. But just before the shadow reaches her, another form jumps from the side and collides with the assailant, throwing it out of its way and on the wall behind Laura.

“Kya!” A small cry escapes from the woman’s throat as the shadows pass by beside her.

Startled by the sudden, attempted attack against herself, Laura turns and looks at her assailant. She sees the blond hair of the man that rises to his feet as his poorly made hood has slipped off his head. She recognizes Bertrand, the man who was accusing the Dungeon to be after their souls. She thinks he is a fool for thinking that, the Dungeon is clearly a good entity that wants to protect his friends. And Laura wants to be his friend. Before being able to think any further, her remembrance is interrupted by his voice.

“You have betrayed all that is sacred. You’re going to die.” The man says in a low voice oozing with hatred.

A dark form appears between the two Humans, a form that looks similar to a dog. Out of the shadow appear two more of these creatures. They growl at Bertrand, and Laura can see fear starting to appear on his face, while he positions the pointy stick he is holding between himself and the creatures

“Demons!” Bertrand screams as he throws himself at the forms, who are obviously protecting the woman against his attack. He tries to stab them, but it is evident that he has no clue how to fight, while the canine creatures work in tandem, dodging his attacks and biting his arms and legs, pushing away the fool.

After a few bites, the man turns away and runs into another poorly illuminated street. He disappears into the night, hounded by two of the creatures.

The third one turns to look at Laura. Her first instinct is to take a step backward, away from the creature. But before she can react, it walks in an out of place small ray of light, she had not noticed before and she sees the red fur of the beast. She knows what kind of fur it is, as she has seen her aunt wear a lot of them. It is a fox. Not some kind of shadow monster.

The incongruity of this animal’s presence here, makes her hesitate, as the fox reaches her and sits down in front of her, tilting its head to the side in a curious manner. Seeing this, Laura helplessly waits, not sure how she should react.

While the fox and the woman are looking at each other, a scream can be heard in the now even darker night. A few seconds later the two other foxes come back, one sits down next to the first one, while the other walks a step closer to Laura and drops a wooden stick in front of her. Her flabbergasted mind recognizes the stick as being the one Bertrand intended to use to hurt her. Finally understanding that the foxes really acted to protect her and that it was not just a dream, she makes a step in their direction and bows her head to them.

“Thank you for saving my life.” She says in a soft voice.

The foxes bow their heads in response and then run away, disappearing quickly into the night, leaving the woman alone with her mind.

A mind that quickly starts to wander, ignoring the fact that the night is not as dark as during the attack. She was almost killed by a Human, while animals came and saved her, not another Human or someone else living in the Dungeon, animals. But all the animals here are supposedly controlled by the Dungeon himself. Does that mean that the Dungeon protected her? Why? Why would he protect someone like her? She could not understand. She was no lost princess, waiting to be saved by a prince charming, just a simple girl. She had just been of the lowest nobility, the only daughter of a small Baron, a title her uncle had claimed after the death of her father, and she already had been saved once due to the Dungeon.

But is it not the duty of a hero to protect the damsels in distress? She may no longer be a proper damsel, being twenty-seven years old and pregnant, but she is clearly in distress. Well, her hero is not a conventional one either, as he is a Dungeon. He saved her. He protects her. He cares about her.

She resumes her walk, going to her home under the bright fake stars of the roof. The pointy stick still in her hand. And while she walks, her mind keeps repeating the same few thoughts, solidifying her conclusions. The Dungeon saved her. The Dungeon cares about her. She will become one of his Citizens. She will do whatever she can to help him. He saved her. He cares about her. He is her hero. He saved her. She would be his wife.

He is her prince charming.