While they all rested, Ford sent Ace in to investigate the adventurer’s guild; using the senses skill Ford could see, hear, smell, feel, and taste everything in the guildhall. It smelled and felt like someone put New York City inside a frat house. The smoke from tobacco made her want to cough up her lungs and made her skin feel like it was covered in oil, and the beer that had been spilled, who knows how long ago, made the floor unbearably sticky. That wasn’t the worst of it, though. Looking at the people walking in and out of the guildhall, Ford used linchpin to determine everyone’s level and classes. She counted to half a dozen teams, at or around level one-hundred. Which meant they couldn’t fight their way through to the basement.

Ford tried calling Ace back, but he was busy being pet by one of the waitresses and several other guild members, so he didn’t listen. She sighed and turned to her now rested team, “Well, I got bad news. I have no idea how to get to the dungeon.”

“Why’s that?” Mizu asked.

“Because there are several teams of level one-hundred adventurers sitting right on top of it.”

“That’ll do it,” Kii agreed.

“Is there possibly a way that doesn’t require going through the guild hall?” Farah asked.

Ford thought for a moment, “Maybe. Ee, can you tell how far underneath the guild the dungeon is?”

Ee nodded, “Best guess, about three meters underground.”

Ford nodded, then spoke over comms, “Ace, come.”

“But I’m getting chest rubs.”

“Come now, or I will put the cone of shame on you.”

Ace gasped, “What’s the cone of shame?”

“A cone you will not like wearing, and you will feel ashamed to wear it. Come, now!”

A sense of sadness washed over Ford through their connection as Ace got up from his chest rubs and made his way out of the guildhall. When he sauntered up to Ford, he asked, “Is the cone of shame that bad?”

“Yes, it is that bad,” Ford said, scratching him behind his ears. “Alright, I have a possible plan,” she said, turning back to the group, “We go into the sewers and find our way underneath the guildhall.”

“It won’t work,” a strange childish voice said from above them.

Ford nearly shot a volley of spears at the voice on instinct when she heard the voice; it sounded so similar to Tanashi. She looked up and saw a young child with long dirty brown hair, covered in grime and soot and wearing dirty, tattered clothes lounging on a ledge. “Why not?” Ford asked.

“Because there’s no plumbing in the guildhall. Or it has a separate sewer system; I’ve never been able to find it, so you never will either,” the child answered, “Why do you need to get in there?”

Ford hesitated, then spoke over comms, “Should we go with the monster story or a partial truth?”

“I think the truth would help us here,” Max answered.

“We can’t trust him. Go with the monster story,” Farah said.

“Very helpful,” Ford said, “I’ll go with the monster story for now, but then we’ll tell the partial truth.” She looked up at the child and said, “We’re hunting a monster that hunts down people who won’t be-”

“NOPE! Try again,” the child interrupted, “I heard that story you fed the guard from a friend of mine. I got to hand it to you. I’m surprised it worked, but it won’t work on me. So, why do you need to get into the guildhall?”

Ford stared at the child, speechless, then Wrath spoke up, “I don’t like this kid. Can we kill the child?”

‘NO!’ Ford thought in the answer, then said, “Fine. There’s a dungeon underneath the guildhall, and we need to get in there to complete the dungeon.”

“I’ve never heard of a dungeon in the guildhall. Is this another story you’re feeding me?”

“No, and it’s a new dungeon. So, I’m not surprised you don’t know about it.”

The child rolled over and looked up into the cloudy sky, “So, say I believe you, what do I get out of it?”

“Well,” Ford almost offered gold when words flashed across her vision, reading pocket watch. She pulled the pocket watch out of her void space where she had stored it a week ago. “How about this pocket watch for payment?” she asked.

The child turned, and their eyes widened and dropped down to the ground gracefully, snatching it from Ford’s hands. “Where did you get this?” the child asked.

“I bought it from an old lady in Mammoth well over a week ago. Why?”

The child opened the pocket watch then pulled off its back, revealing the gears that kept turning and an inscription that read, for my love. A tear appeared in the child’s eyes, and said, “This is my fathers pocket watch. The inscription proves it.”

The crying child pulled on Ford's heartstrings, and she said, “Well, it’s yours now. But really, I do need away in there,” she gestured toward the guildhall.

The child nodded and wiped the tears away with a sooty hand and, as they put the pocket watch back together, said, “Okay, I can get you in. My name is Tanya, by the way.”

Ford down and looked into Tanya’s reddened blue eyes, “Hello, Tanya. My name’s F-”

“DON’T TELL HER YOUR REAL NAME, IDIOT!” everyone yelled over comms.

“F-Violet V. Vermillion. You can call me Fives. Nice to meet you,” Ford caught her mistake and stuck out a hand for Tanya to shake.

Tanya took the hand and said, “That’s a fake name, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I read it in a book.”

“Was it any good?”

“Don’t know. I only had time to read the prologue before I had to travel.”

“You’re lying again, aren’t you?” Tanya pointed out.

“Okay, change of subject. How do we get in there?” Ford said, clapping her hands together.

“I really want to kill this kid,” Wrath said.

“First, we wait till night; then we break-in. That’s when the people in the guildhall are drunkest. I’d say five hours before we go,” Tanya said.

“Five hours, huh,” Ford said, then turned to everyone else, “That sounds like more than enough time to cultivate some soul while we wait,” everyone groaned as they sat down to start meditating.

***