I am not sure how I wound up in this situation but, I am standing just outside the front door of the adventurer’s guild, and Belinda has her arms wrapped tightly around me. Her face is buried in my chest and she is crying.

Lilah: “Master? Who is this?”

I don’t know what to do, so I mimic what Thirty-seven always does with Lilah. I run my hands across her head petting her.

“This is Belinda.”

Lilah: “This is Belinda? Lilah thought Master said she was scary? Slobbery maybe but not scary…”

“She is not normally like this…”

Belinda manages to calm down and lets out a small laugh. She then manages to let go of me but for some reason grabs my hand.

Belinda: “I am sorry for losing it. I have just been holding it back, and when I saw you I couldn’t help myself.”

She then reaches with her other hand scratching Lilah under the chin, she then pets her behind the ears, but never does let go of my hand that is in her other.

Belinda: “This little one must be the one you told me about, and what do you mean scary?”

Belinda puffs out her cheeks, her ears and face still red from crying so hard.

Lilah: “Master?”

Lilah looks to me with fearful eyes. Belinda turns to look at me as well.

Belinda: “Yes “Master”, why don’t you tell me what you mean by scary.”

She says it in a serious tone of voice but her soft expression shows that she is not actually angry I can tell, and when I say that I know that expression well I mean it…

“Thirty-seven is waiting on us we better get back…”

Belinda: “Thirty-seven will be fine back in the dungeon, I want to know what you mean by scary.”

“Actually Thirty-seven is waiting for us just outside the village.”

Belinda: “Don’t try to sneak out of answering the question, you expect me to believe Thirty-seven is here in Tobes.”

“Well she isn’t in Tobes, but she is waiting right outside of town by that old gate leading up the hill.”

Belinda: “I don’t believe you, I got to see this.”

She then heads though Tobes dragging me along by the hand Lilah looks at me questionably then follows behind. When we reach the edge of town and Belinda spots Thirty-seven she calls out to her raising both her arms in the air.

That however causes my arm to shoot in the air as well. The sudden voice spooks Thirty-seven but she calms down once she sees Belinda, her eyes quickly lock on to Lilah though and she starts moving toward us.

Thirty-seven raises her arms to give a hug, and Belinda does the same, but once she gets near Thirty-seven ducks under Belinda’s arms wrapping her arms around Lilah. This however unfazed Belinda as she turns to hug Thirty-seven anyway.

Now after being dragged though Tobes I am now forced into an impromptu group hug… After a few moments Belinda releases Thirty-seven but not me, then she begins heading up toward the dungeon. Once we cross the threshold of the dungeon a message pops up.

Monsters have returned from battle

Battle Results:

Monster Belinda (Boss) has gained 3 levels

Acquired: 10 tiny magic stone, 3 small magic stones

Losses: Monster 1 has perished, Monster 2 has perished, and Monster Tanya has perished

12100xp gained from external source. 1210xp bonus for Belinda (Boss) participation, 1210 xp bonus for xp acquired in another dungeon, 121 xp bonus for battle lasting more than 1 week, -605xp for attacking neutral dungeon, -121 for monster death, -121 for monster death, -121 for monster death.

13,673 XP total rewarded

“Not bad Belinda.”

Belinda: “What’s not bad?”

“I just got the results from your trip. If it wasn’t for the loss of the golems it we could have added another floor to the dungeon.”

Belinda: “I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright, besides we need to fill the third floor with monsters before adding another floor anyway.”

Even after transferring to Thirty-seven’s room dropping her and Lilah off, then returning to the core room Belinda has still yet to release my hand. She even uses [Menu] with just the one hand as she stores her things.

“You know you got a pretty good grip on my hand…”

Belinda: “I did good, did I not?”

“Well yea I said as much when we got here right?”

Belinda: “Then I deserve my reward?”

“I guess, yea that’s fine, but what’s that have to do with my hand?”

Belinda: “Then that’s what I want. At least for tonight, don’t let me go…”

“…That’s all?”

Belinda: “Is that ok?”

“Its fine, but I am already about to go to bed.”

Belinda opens [Menu] with her free hand, and her clothes quickly change from her normal clothes to her nightgown she turns her face avoiding eye contact while blushing.

Belinda: “Ok, I am ready.”

“…”

After I crawl into bed Belinda crawls in with me, she then pulls the blanket over us. In the small bed it’s rather hard to get comfortable with both the two of us. I try turning several different ways but with her hand still firmly in mine I can’t find a comfortable spot.

I finally find a pretty good position if I could just…I try scooting Belinda over a bit. She doesn’t say anything but whatever I grabbed manages to cause her to squeak. I hear her breaths getting more ragged and I can feel her heartbeat quicken.

My face and ears begin to feel like they are on fire, and it feels like my heart is now in my throat. She then shifts position, then turns completely over, than crawls halfway over me. With the leg that in on top of me she entwines it with my leg, she then slides her free hand into my shirt resting it on my chest.

She then rests her head on my shoulder. Her hair begins to tickle my nose so I reach with my free hand brushing it to the side, and this causes her to look up at me, she then beings to blush as she asks me.

Belinda: “Can I ask one more favor?” –She then looks down quickly embarrassed as she says.- “Your shirt is rough and scratchy, will you take it off?”

I don’t know if my heart could beat any harder or faster than it is right now, when I begin to raise my arms she lets go of my hand just long enough to raise my shirt off over my head, dropping it to the floor beside the bed. She then quickly grasps my hand again then runs the other across my chest before laying her head back on my shoulder.

Belinda: “Much better.”

She says as she runs her free hand across my chest a few more times, her breath tickling my skin. I bring my free hand across her spine, causing her to shiver a bit, but when I stop she lightly breathes the words. “Don’t stop.” So I resume rubbing my fingers gently up and down her spine for a few minutes until her grip on my other hand loosens and her breathing, and heartbeat slow.

Bringing my hand to a stop resting it on her waist I manage to drift off to sleep myself.

[Menu] wakes me up far too early the next morning with an alarm and a message.

Intruders have entered the dungeon.

The one day I would have liked to sleep in the adventurers decide to get up bright and early... But right before I close the screen I notice the time in the bottom corner showing it to be past 11am.

“Belinda it’s time to get up.”

Belinda: “I don’t wanna.” –She says tightly wrapping her arms around me burying her face in my chest.-

“But there are intruders in the dungeon.”

Belinda: “Let them have it.” –She says while giggling.-

“Come on, it’s time to get up, it’s after 11 o’clock.”

She places one finger on my lips while saying. “Shhhh, they don’t know I am back yet so I’m not late.”

Even when I start to sit up she quickly wraps her other arm back around me, and even when I stand she just wraps her legs around me. With her strength and agility she easily maintains her grip on me as I bend over picking up my shirt as she clings to me.

Even when I put the shirt on she just hugs me tighter so that I pull the shirt on over her.

“Come on Belinda we both got…”

I try to say “work to do” but her hand shoots out from under my shirt sticking it out of the neck hole, she places her finger against my lips again. I then try to shake her off by bouncing up and down, but she giggles while holding on to me.

After a few more bounces however a moan escapes her mouth and she quickly drops to her knees on the floor. She quickly covers her mouth and turns her body away from me, then opening [Menu] she changes into her normal clothes.

I move over to the chair sitting down watching the screens. Even after that much time has passed the group of adventurers has just made it to the square cave room.

Belinda: “I am going to take Thirty-seven some food, then head down to Tobes.”

“Ok, make sure you take enough food for Lilah too, I know she doesn’t have to eat, but Thirty-seven will feed her all of her own food, and not eat anything herself if you don’t take enough for both.”

Belinda: “That sounds about right.” –She then leans over my chair causing me to blush while she whispers in my ear.- “I’ll see you later.”

And with the Belinda quickly transfers from the room, but not before I noticed she was blushing as well. I watch both groups wage war in the dungeon. The adventurers in the dungeon, and Belinda and Thirty-seven over who gets to feed Lilah… While they argue Lilah quietly feeds herself.

The adventurers are losing their battle as well. Still feeling a bit bitter about being woken up I send in extra kobolds from the side rooms instead of letting them take one group at a time.

By the time Belinda and Thirty-seven stop arguing Lilah has managed to finish her meal, and both of the girls pout… Thirty-seven gives Belinda a mean look when Belinda hugs Lilah then after saying farewells she transfers to the exit of the dungeon.

With a skip in her step she works her way down the mountain side, and before she is completely out of the view the adventurers as well begin their own retreat.

With the amount of xp Belinda brought back we are finally in decent shape again, so I decide to work on the dungeon a little. I start off by looking at the bed across the room… If Belinda plans any more sleep overs it would be a bit better with a bigger bed, so I decide to spend some xp on a bigger bed, while I am at it I make it a bit more comfortable as well.

I start with a crimson kobold mage rift to fill out the group in the old prison area, leaving it with no equipment at the moment. I place another crimson kobold mage rift on the third floor + shaped hallway to finish out that group as well. I then place a full group of rifts in Thirty-seven’s old room.

With my remaining xp I decide to outfit the kobolds in gear leaving the other room still empty. I summon a new halberd for Belinda costing 600xp for master quality, and after it’s all said and done I hold on to just under 200 xp.

As evening rolls around, I take Belinda’s halberd, Thirty-seven, and Lilah, and we head down to Tobes. Lilah and I desperately try to convince Thirty-seven to join us in Tobes but she can’t bring herself to enter the village. While Thirty-seven waits in her normal hiding spot Lilah and I head to the adventurer’s guild.

Belinda’s eyes light up when I enter the building, when she sees the halberd she heads over to us.

Belinda: “Where did you get this?”

“You said yours broke, so I made you a new one.”

Several of the adventurer’s in the room begin to whisper to each other… Maybe I should have kept it at home and gave it to her there.

Belinda: “It’s simply beautiful, thank you!” –She leans forward kissing me on the cheek causing both of us to blush awkwardly.-

Denova: “What’s this? The princess has returned?” –Denova says as she enters the adventurer’s guild.-

Lilah makes a rude gesture to Denova then hides behind my legs, this causes Belinda to smile and pat her on the head.

Denova: “I heard you bought that little runt, I would have never believe mister goodie-two-shoes would buy a slave, but to each their own I guess.”

Belinda: “Can I help you today Denova?”

Denova: “I know I am not exactly your best friend, but don’t think I deserve a spear waved in front of my face.”

Belinda: “I wasn’t waving in front of your face. Mine broke while I was adventuring so Two-Twelve brought me this replacement as a gift!”

Denova: “An ex-slave that is able to afford one of Beastkin Edward’s slaves, and even able to buy a weapon like that? Just who is Two-Twelve?”

Belinda: “You’re changing the subject, was there something you need, or do you just take pleasure in ruining my day?”

Denova: “I actually wanted to post a commission.”

Belinda: “Really, what for?”

Denova: “I heard of a client in the capital that has “particular” tastes. I want to try to help him out, but to do that I need to see if any adventurers will grab me a female kobold from up in the dungeon.”

Belinda: “I don’t even want to know…Besides all the monsters in the dungeon so far are male.”

Denova: “All of them? How do they reproduce?”

Belinda: “Do you even have a clue how dungeons work?”

Denova: “They don’t? No wonder monsters are so angry all the time…”

Belinda: “Is that all then?”

Denova: “Can I post the commission anyway, after all it doesn’t have to be from the dungeon, I am willing to pay 50 gold to anyone that brings me a female monster of some kind…”

Belinda: “…Fine, but don’t expect it to be completed. There is also a fee of 10 gold to post a commission.”

Denova: “Really? I never heard about that before.”

Belinda: “Well do you want to post it or not?”

Denova: “Fine fine, I’ll pay, but let’s put the reward as 25 gold.”

Belinda then heads back over to her desk, pulling out a commission form filling it out, after showing it to Denova, she nods then pays Belinda. Belinda then posts the commission on the board.

Belinda: “Now, I am going home.”

Denova: “I thought you lived here? Had a room set up in the back and everything from what I heard?”

Belinda blushes then says. “Well… You heard wrong.”

Denova: “Oh I see. I’ll leave you to it then.” –She says with a sly smile then leaves.-

Lilah: “I don’t like her, she’s mean. She said Lilah was worthless.”

Belinda: “That’s ok, I don’t like her either. Let’s go home.”

On our way out of town, I then ask. “Is it true? Are all the kobolds really male? I never really paid attention.”

Belinda: “As far as I know, I mean I haven’t “checked” but I mean I think so. It wasn’t intentional?”

“I really never put any thought to it. You think if we got some females we could breed them to lower the cost in the dungeon?”

Belinda: “I don’t really think that would be very effective, I mean it would take years for them to mature, if dungeon monsters can breed at all. They don’t age so would it be possible for them to breed?”

“I don’t know, I never put thought into it, I might have to ask Thirty-seven about that.”

Lilah: “What about Lilah, is she not going to grow up?”

Belinda and I look at each other but we both seem to be asking ourselves the same question.

Lilah: “But Lilah doesn’t want to stay little forever…”

“Don’t worry, we will figure it out, I promise.”

We finish our trek out of Tobes, meeting up with Thirty-seven. Once Thirty-seven sees Lilah, she rushes to her cuddling, and petting her.

“Hey, Thirty-seven have you noticed all the monsters in my dungeon are male?”

Thirty-seven: “That is not true, Lilah and Belinda are neither male.”

“I mean the ones summoned from [Menu].”

Thirty-seven: “As I haven’t seen all of your other monsters I can’t speculate, however the ones I have seen all have appeared to be male, including the monsters you summoned during your training.”

“Is that normal?”

Thirty-seven: “Unless you specify during the summoning process I believe it is random. However that might be an option your [Menu] lacks, as when I helped you fill your [Menu] with the items it was missing that was something I didn’t mention as I didn’t think of it as relevant.”

“So even if for some reason mine is defaulted to male, if I specify female during summoning it should be female?”

Thirty-seven: “Your [Menu] always has been rather different than most, so I cannot be certain, but if it is just due to the lack of knowledge as it was for [Communication] then that should be correct.”

Belinda: “You’re not planning on filling your dungeon with female beastkin now are you?”

“Why would I do that?”

Belinda eyes me suspiciously then says. “I wonder…”

Lilah: “What about Lilah?”

“Yes, we were also wondering if dungeon monsters don’t age, then does that mean Lilah won’t grow up?”

Thirty-seven looks terribly sad then says. “A monster’s age is determined on summoning just as its sex, but unfortunately if they are summoned before reaching an age of maturity they will continue to age until fully mature.”

Lilah: “Yay! Lilah gets to grow up!”

Thirty-seven then pouts cuddling Lilah and petting her.

“Does that mean dungeon monsters are capable of breeding?”

Thirty-seven: “Yes that is correct, although very few bother as it takes too long to see results, and offspring of dungeon monsters are not bound to the dungeon, but still do not grant xp until they are four generations removed from the dungeon.”

“So there is no point in breeding monsters then?”

Thirty-seven: “For normal monsters it is highly ineffective and can even result in a loss in xp, but once you reach monsters in the hundreds of thousands of xp, an offspring can be bound to the dungeon at birth at a reduced cost, meaning it is possible of savings hundreds of thousands of xp on breeding rare monsters.”

“What about species do they have to be the exact same species?”

Thirty-seven: “That’s the only reason I see for breeding monsters. Of course many monsters are incompatible with others, but when mixing species that are compatible you are able to discover new species.”

“In other words, information that is useful to know, but nothing I am going to be able to put into practice for the next 50 years…”

Belinda: “Wh…..What about the dungeon core? Is the dungeon core able to breed? –She quickly asks while blushing.-

Thirty-seven: “I have heard of dungeon cores taking mates, but never heard of one baring offspring however.”

Belinda looks a little sullen as she says. “Oh…”

“What is the purpose of taking a mate then if not to produce offspring?”

Belinda & Thirty-seven: “…”

Lilah: “To make Master happy!” –She quickly states.- “ When Lilah grows up she want to become Master’s mate to repay him!”

Belinda: “Now now, that’s nice of you, but I am sure your master will already have a mate before you grow up.”

Lilah puffs out her cheeks angry, then quickly smiles again and says. “That’s ok! Because more mates will make master more happy!”

Belinda: “...I’m not sure it works quite like that…”

Lilah pouts again, but this just causes Thirty-seven to hug her tighter.

“Don’t I have a say in this matter?”

Belinda quickly shoots me a glare that is clear to me that’s it’s time to keep my mouth shut. The rest of the trip back to the dungeon is dead quiet. When we enter the dungeon we all transfer to Thirty-seven and Lilah’s room.

After they are settling in Belinda transfers to her room to put up her new halberd. When I then transfer to the core room Belinda has already arrived. She is staring at my new bed while blushing bright red.

Belinda: “Wh…Wha…What is this?”

“It took work to get comfortable last night, I figured if you plan on making that a habit, it would be easier if the bed was bigger.”

Belinda: “Wha….I…..Your…What makes you think I would make a habit of sle..sleeping…with…You?

“After Lilah arrived, Thirty-seven no longer wanted to sleep alone, and she even flat out refused when I tried to get Lilah a bed.”

Belinda: “This and that are totally different things!” –She says loudly while blushing, and then lowering her voice and turning her face to the side she says. - “But…You wouldn’t mind?”

“I’m not going to let you every night like Thirty-seven and Lilah, but I don’t see the harm in it if you want it every now and then.”

-She nervously says. - “I’m going to go get ready!”

“You did it just last night, I said not every night!” –But it's pointless she has already transferred out of them room. - “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea…”

After a few minutes I begin to get nervous for some reason…”Come on last night she just used [Menu] and that was it. What’s taking her so long?”

I go and set on the edge of the bed… I shake my head, stand and go sit in the chair in the middle of the room… “Wait, she said my shirt was uncomfortable.” I begin to remove my shirt then stop, I then put it back on…

“Argh what is wrong with me… I got nervous around Thirty-seven, but I managed to get over that… Why is Belinda any different? I have seen her naked and it was no big deal…

I get up again pacing the floor.

“But once she joined the dungeon…Her hips didn’t sway that way before right? And when she smiles, laughs, or when she blushes…Argh this is stupid.”

I angrily pull off my shirt throwing it to the floor stomp to the bed and crawl in. As I lay there I can hear my heart beating loudly, my face and ears feel like they are on fire, I roll left, then right…

Laying there in the bed the only sound in the room is the pounding of my heart, and then she arrives…

Last night she opened [Menu] put on the night gown I seen her wear before, it was like a dress, but simple like a giant shirt that draped down to her knees, tonight however…

The gown she is wearing is of a shade of red that is only matched by the brilliance of her hair, it has no sleeves, and neck is open wide where only a small thin stripe of the soft crimson cloth holds it on. The neck’s opening extends down to her chest, causing her bosom to partly fall out from within.

The gown has no sides, with just a lacey material crisscrossing back and forth every few inches holding it together. It extends like that all the way to the base of the gown. Where her old gown extended to her knees, this one does not.

It barely extends down where all of her legs are visible along with a pair of panties matching the gown. Her legs seem to go on forever, with her soft seemingly glowing in the light from the screen. Her eyes that turned blue when joining the dungeon now seem like deep pools that devour my very soul as I stare into them.

Her ears and cheeks are of a cherry red as she nervously approaches the bed while biting her lower lip. Once reaching the side of the bed I can hear her heart beating, nervously I pull back the blanket, and she crawls into bed with me.

She huddles up to me running her fingers across my chest, her heart beating hard against me. I raise my hand to her face brushing some of her hair out from in front of her face while peering into her eyes. She slowly slides forward placing her lips against mine.

After a short kiss she pulls back saying. “I have made up my mind, even if we can’t have children. I want to be right here, with you, forever.”

“It’s a little late for that isn’t it? I mean you were mine forever the moment you joined the dungeon.”

-Belinda shakes her head and says. - “That’s not what I mean. I mean to say… I love you Two-Twelve.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

A tear appears in Belinda’s eye but she shakes her head and places a finger against my lip.

Belinda: “It’s ok, I’ll teach you.”

She then wraps her arms around me burying her head in my chest, and after lightly brushing my chest with her fingers for a while she slowly drifts off to sleep.