"Now, I am sure, this is all very interesting and all, but I don't think now is the time nor the place." interrupted us guild master and I realized that just now we probably breached all rules of the etiquette.

I couldn't read the face of city lord, but his wife and Ramella were obviously annoyed.

"Sorry," I said while blushing.

"Daniel." William looked at the guard.

"This way please." and the guard started to lead Aurora outside.

"But I need to talk with her, you can't just kick me out," she complained and when guard showed no signs of stopping, quickly looked over her shoulder. "Let's see what Lariel has to say about this..."

"Lariel?" Ramella gestured for the guard to stop. "Lariel Lightheart?"

"Yes." smiled Aurora and the dryad quickly looked at William.

"You can wait for her in the guest room," she finally said and led her outside personally.

This time Aurora had no objections, but from her face, I could tell she wasn't pleased. When she was near the exit, she looked in our direction and winked at Jack, who was following her all this time with his eyes.

Lariel... must be a new sage of Silver Sword Order, right hand of the Goddess. It was a different name from what I read in the books, but each time new sage is selected, their surname is changed to Lightheart. As this happens only when previous sage has passed, it's almost like a title...

"Now then..." started to talk William when Aurora has left. "Since Ramella is temporarily unavailable, allow me to finish introductions, this is my wife Duchess Catherine Aresdil Calmont."

Catherine looked a bit older than William and was wearing a long blue dress, inflated skirts reached all the way to the ground. This looked very hard to move in.

"I am sure you are aware why I invited you." William looked at me again.

"To give me reward for saving the city of course." I smiled immediately and heard guild master suppressing a chuckle.

"Mmm... I believe you should talk with Sile'dur about that," William said while looking at Phoenix. "As your party leader, he received it a week ago. If there are some conflicts..."

"No, I am sure he just forgot to mention," I said with a quick glance at Phoenix. He was smiling at the moment but also looked a bit uncomfortable, Tia avoiding my eyes was totally not a good sign... don't tell me nothing was left?

"Anyway. You have no idea how many troubles your disappearance has caused." William started to speak again. "With the risk of you landing in the hands of enemy, the dungeon has become a huge threat. I had to permanently station three companies of soldiers to the guard duty and keep four more nearby. All just in case the dungeon suddenly became more active than usual."

"This isn't known to the public, but he also tried to destroy it," joined guild master.

Destroy it?!

"The risk was too high," continued William. "But it seems that nothing works on that thing..."

As I heard him saying this, I quickly checked the dungeon through the link. The core was intact but was no longer buried. The ground around it looked almost like a glass, probably melted from spells of high temperature. Not far from it I could 'see' scattered remains of stone. Hmm, I think those were pillars used for a portal. Seems they tried to teleport the core outside the dungeon as well... without any success.

"...It's well known that Champions destroyed them in the past, but it seems none of them have reached necessary level yet." he continued.

So he requested even for their help... If what he said is true then using devour soul on that Harbinger was the only way to stop that attack... not that I knew it back then, but still...

"I don't think there should be any troubles now that she is back," I heard Phoenix and stopped observing the dungeon through the link.

"This is where you are wrong, Mister Sile'dur." Catherine joined the conversation for the first time. "Her ability to control the dungeon is well known by now and once the word spreads she is back, many will do everything within their power to get her on their side. Rumors about her being a dragon might discourage some, but that still leaves us..."

Phoenix leaned closer and whispered me in the ear. "Darson said he recognized some of city lord's men helping to spread those rumors."

"What?!" I almost shouted.

So this is why even guards thought I am a dragon...

"Why are we here again?" yawned Elmor. "From the looks of it, they could do just fine without us."

"We are here to help Melissa in case city lord tries something stupid," whispered Tia.

"But it's so boring..." complained minotaur. "And, if that was the case, shouldn't have let them take our weapons."

"Oh? You mean you are powerless without them?" she smiled mischievously.

"Of course not!" he quickly replied and looked at each guard in the room. "I could tear them all apart with my bare hands..."

When guards overheard him, some tightened their grip on their weapons, though just a few. Others were confident in their skills and only chuckled in response.

"You should realize my predicament." William continued when his wife stopped. "Should you ever decide to help my enemies, they will have an infinite army right at my doorsteps..."

"You don't have to worry about that, I have no plans to do that." I quickly joined the conversation when noticed where it's heading.

"And we can solve most of the problems with a contract." joined guild master withdrawing a few scroll from his coat. "As she is an adventurer, it's within my rights to ensure the interests of the guild." he continued with a smile.

"That's not enough." William shook his head. "If someone forced her..."

"Forced me?" I quickly interrupted him. "I can protect myself just fine."

"Yet your disappearance says otherwise, but that's not what I meant. Have any of you heard the name Benjamin Riverstone?" he asked while looking at each of us and when even guild master shook his head, continued.

"He was a merchant from Heriko that recently managed to make a name for himself, a year ago he was imprisoned and later even sold as a slave for attacking a baron. Few are aware that his downfall was caused by bumping into a stranger on the streets. None expects for a baron to dress like a beggar. When worded right the crime was made more serious than it should... He was just a baron, and I am sure you can imagine what someone with more influence can do."

"Is this a threat?" Phoenix asked while frowning.

"No, just an example of what you might face. I can't trust the future of my city to a piece of paper. Especially when a simple plot of my enemies can render it useless. I need something more reliable, a bond in blood. My son might be a bit young at the moment, but it's not unheard of. The marriage could..."

"I refuse!" I hissed through the teeth.

I can't believe it! Did he really think he can force me into a marriage? I might have been powerless when the devil forced me against my will with his plans, but this...

"I think you don't understand..." still insisted city lord.

"I said..." I glared him in the eyes, and saw my reflection in his.

My eyes were glowing.

Intimidation has reached level 5.

I quickly stopped myself when realized that I started to use my heat absorption from a habit. This... this isn't good. I can't lose control again.

"...I refuse." I finished a bit calmer and even smiled when saw Phoenix shaking with anger.

"Nobles... I am not even surprised," whispered Tia then looked around while trembling. "Is it just me or did it got cold there?"

Yes, a very dangerous habit. I might have stopped heat absorption in time, but the temperature in the room was now barely above zero... and enchantments on the walls glowed like a Christmas tree. I... I need to do something about this. I can't allow my emotions to influence me like this...

For a while, there was a deadly silence in the room. My bloodlust leaked only for a moment, but it was enough to paralyze city lord with fear.

"Mister Nider, maybe you could help with this?" his wife Catherine decided to take matters into her hands and looked at guild master. "If she was at least B rank adventurer, she would be considered equal to nobility. We wouldn't be in this predicament if knew she has immunity to most of the schemes."

"I am afraid not... rank C and above can be issued only at the capital."

"Surely as guild master, you could make some exceptions," she asked again but Averon shook his head.

"Before she has disappeared, I have already used my authority to promote her to rank D, more than this is outside my power. Even Rei Era'dor would hesitate to do that, and he is the head of the Guild. The rank must represent strength correctly and he won't make exceptions based on some rumors about a dragon. The control over a dungeon is unprecedented, but I doubt that even benefits to the guild would make him change his mind. Hmm, unless..." he smiled at the end.

"The Tournament," I heard Phoenix, he stopped glaring at William and hugged me by the waist.

Tournament... I almost forgot about it. Before all that business with the devil, I was so eager to participate. But now... now I am not so sure...

"Yes." smiled guild master and started to stroke his beard. "Rei will pay a lot of attention to this Tournament. I heard that Champions make an official appearance and plan to participate. Probably just a trap of Silver Sword Order to lure Harbingers into an action. Anyway, I will get in touch with Rei and if our Dragon managed to impress the audience, he could raise her rank as a reward..."

*

In the end, we signed a contract as initially planned. The main accent was my allegiance with the city and promise to provide an army in case of emergency. Also, if I wanted to use them for my personal agenda, had to gain permission from the guild and head of Calmont household. Other technical details covered how many rare monsters the dungeon should normally spawn, or how many of them I should deliver to the city. Usually, those were either for training purpose or ranking tests of the guild.

No one asked if I could stop monsters from spawning completely. I couldn't do that... at least not for long, but that wasn't the point. Seems that even with all the danger they bring to the city, monsters of the dungeon become an inseparable part of city life. They kept a certain amount of adventurers within the city, even when there were fewer requests. They also allowed training the troops and many parts of monsters were used as materials...

The deal wasn't one-sided, of course, and in return, I received many benefits, with monetary income being just one of them.

By the time we finished, Elmor was mad from boredom and started to pester the guards.

"...and you call this armor? All those useless decorations... even my woman would be embarrassed to wear something like this..."

"Stop harassing... them..." Tia tried to keep him from causing the trouble, but her gaze then was glued to the guard in question, and... "Hmm, I think you are right... wait a second. What do you mean 'your woman'?!..."

"And done." announced guild master after putting his signature on the last paper. "Now that each of us has a copy the deal is officially complete."

I looked at the scroll in my hands one more time and then passed it to Phoenix.

"Hmm?" he looked at me surprised but put it in his dimension. "Don't you want to keep it in yours?"

"It doesn't work at the moment," I whispered back, though that was probably useless. Guild master was an elf and no doubt heard every single word. Enchantments of the room could record everything that happened so others will probably know as well.

When we left, Ramella greeted us on the way with Aurora and a few guards were following them from behind.

"Seems the meeting is over, I hope the wait wasn't too uncomfortable. Now if you excuse me." the dryad nodded to us and then left in the direction we came from.

"Stupid bitch," cursed Aurora the moment the dryad was out of the sight. "Why I had to sit with her all this time? Isn't she a right hand of the Lord? That meeting looked quite important, but she was just..."

"I am sure she was just worried you will cause another scandal if left alone." answered her guild master. "You have... hmm, quite a 'reputation'. It would be bad if guards of the Lord were caught in indecent activities with a member of Silver Sword Order."

Aurora smiled for a moment and the faced me. "Anyway, I am glad there was no need to blink all over the city to find you. I knew visiting city lord was the correct move. Lariel requested you to visit her as soon as possible, and since your boyfriend was so nice to escort me to the capital once, I am sure you will have no problems getting there as well. Hmm, now that my task is complete... I think I can take my time to stroll through the city. Last time I was there, I was either in a cell or was just passing through while in chains..."

"What?! That's it?" I looked at her surprised. "If this is all you wanted to say, could just tell it back then, why all that drama with 'wait till Lariel hear about this'?"

"Ah, but I don't like when I am ignored and this brings attention every time... and if not for a certain dryad, this was a perfect opportunity to have a bit of fun." she smiled again. "You should see Lariel's face when she learns about my adventures. I am sure she regrets making that deal every time..."

Aurora then looked at guild master. "Hey, maybe I could persuade you to escort me around the city? I am sure that as guild master you know the city quite well."

"I think I will pass..." Averon chuckled while waving his hand.

"But why? Don't tell me you are scared of some silly rumors?" still insisted Aurora.

"Maybe, I also remember how someone called me a 'stupid old fart', yes, I think those were exact words..."

"Oh, cmon. That was ages ago, we were still enemies back then, surely you..." and she continued to flirt until we left the mansion. When Phoenix suggested we say our goodbye, I eagerly agreed, well, most of us.

"That... bitch." hissed Jack while looking over his shoulder.

"Hey, I was saying that from the start." joined Tia. "I still can't believe you slept with her while she was our prisoner. Don't even try to put the blame on her scent, Reveon said it was negated perfectly..."

Not far from the manor Phoenix used teleportation circle and transferred us to a new location. As I later learned, he was there with Tia and others when felt my presence. As he was very eager to meet with me, didn't even bother to find Darson and the rest.

After teleportation, I looked at our new surroundings.

We were not far from a road leading to the city and a few caravans were heading there now. I could see our destination on the horizon. Huge walls of the city were striking even from there. Reikurius, the capital city of Lodelia.