Part Forty-Nine

“Haaah, it’s over. Wow, that is a lot of corpses. Like seriously, we killed so many monsters, that I’m genuinely afraid of us. If this wasn’t a Dungeon, we would’ve absolutely wrecked the local ecosystem. Wait, do monsters have ecosystems?”

“Why wouldn’t they? They prey upon each other, so it makes sense for monsters to have something of an ecosystem.”

“Guess so. We should probably stop bantering about monster ecology and go check on Cameron.”

“You know we can’t. We have to wait until we’re dismissed.”

“Stupid rules. I’m pretty sure this counts as an emergency. They’d probably be fine with it if we explained.”

“Just be patient. We can’t leave until they’re sure the monsters have fully retreated. It only takes a minute, and we don’t have a meeting to attend today, so you know what that means.”

“I know you’re just trying to take my mind off of Cameron by mentioning loot, but I’m too anxious for that to work. Come on, come on! Just signal already!”

*BRAAAAAWW!*

“Let’s go!”

We were already waiting by the stairs, so it took no time for us to leave. I ran down them as fast as I could without breaking my neck. And once we burst out from the stairwell, we were off towards Cameron’s room.

I held back so I wouldn’t leave Alicia behind. I had momentarily considered carrying her, but something had held me back. Something about it just felt odd, like I would cross a boundary I wasn’t supposed to. Also, I’m certain she’d bitch at me later about it.

On the way there, I heard the odd sound that accompanied a Scenario Update. Updates usually appeared like the results from Analyze, as panels I could view in my mind. You could view the most recent update at any time, so I decided to ignore it and pushed it to the back of my mind. Cameron was more important.

“We’re almost there!”

With everyone else at the walls, there were no obstacles to our mad dash through the fort, so we were making excellent time. It usually took ten minutes to get to our barracks from the walls, but today it had taken half that. Though that might also be because we were posted closer this time. Either way, we reached Cameron’s room in record time.

*Slam!*

“Oh god, Cameron!”

He’d collapsed while still wearing his armor. He was still alive, I could hear rasping breaths coming from him, but he wasn’t conscious.

“Go get help!”

Alicia ran off in search of aid, while I stayed behind to take care of Cameron. My first task was to get him out of his armor and off the floor. Never thought I’d have to strip someone. Good thing he’s wearing clothes underneath. Hm, I don’t see any wounds or anything that sticks out to me. Is he sick?

“Lad?”

Maybe it was me lifting him onto the bed that did it, but he woke up. His voice was crackly and hoarse, as if his throat and mouth were completely dry,

“Cameron, you’re awake? How are you feeling?”

“Bad. I can barely….move, and I feel so…weak. I can’t feel my arms or legs.”

“Alicia’s gone for help, so just hang in there. Here, drink this.”

I brought a vial filled with Recovery Tonic to his mouth, which he sipped at. As far as I could tell, he wasn’t injured, so I was hoping that the Tonic would stimulate his immune system to help fight off whatever was affecting him. I didn’t know for certain that he was ill, but it was as good a guess as any.

But what a time to get sick, huh? This actually fits into a fear I’ve had for a while. Do monsters carry pathogens? Some of them live in absolute squalor, even mucking around in their own filth. It wouldn’t surprise me if their weapons and claws were germ-ridden dangers that could infect you with all kinds of diseases. We might need to be more careful from now on.

I could hear a series of footsteps hurrying through the hallway. Alicia must’ve been successful. I’d sent her instead of going myself because she was more liked than I was. Aside from a few people who tolerated me, most of the other mercenaries avoided me. The only question was whether it was fear or hatred that motivated it. Not like it bothered me regardless though.

“What’s happening? Alicia told me it was an emergency.”

“K-Kalia? Uh, I don’t know. We found him unconscious on the ground, but he woke up for a few moments, long enough to talk to me.”

“Okay, give me room.”

She immediately began to cast magic at him. This was the first time I’d seen her casting magic while I wasn’t either in horrible pain, or distracted by something else. The look of concentration and pure focus on her face was a far cry from her normal demeanor. She normally looked more like she was unsure of herself.

“Hm? That’s odd. He’s not wounded. Is it..? Yes, it’s definitely…”

Whatever she’d found had set her off, as she kept muttering to herself in a voice so quiet that I couldn’t hear. It did seem that she’d come to a decision though, as her mana began to form glyphs.

*Whooom*

Cameron’s breathing eased almost as soon as her spell finished, and she quickly began a second. Whatever she’d found must’ve been serious to require two spells from her. She could heal fractured bones with a single one after all.

*Whooosh*

The second spell must’ve done it, as she quickly relaxed after it finished. She put her staff away before turning around to face us.

“There, he should be fine now, though I would still take him to the infirmary just to be sure. He lost a lot of stamina and should be monitored closely for any changes in his condition.”

Alicia surged forward as soon as she was done speaking and wrapped her up in a bear hug.

“Thank you Kalia! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Dangit Alicia, calm down! You’re crushing her!”

“Aahhh! I’m so sorry!”

Jeez this girl. I know she must’ve been worried, but she didn’t react like this when I was the one who got injured. Er wait, didn’t she try to barge into the infirmary? Is this a habit of hers?

Alicia hurriedly let go of her while apologizing profusely, but Kalia waved her off of course. She was too nice to complain about something that small. But there was one thing off about her. She wouldn’t meet my gaze.

“Um well, I’m needed in the infirmary, so I should be on my way. I’ll see you two later!”

She practically ran out the door before either of us had a chance to say anything else. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to ask what was wrong with Cameron. Though since she hadn’t said anything, I guess I could just ignore it for now.

But unfortunately, I hadn’t been the only one to notice Kalia’s odd behavior.

“Well Michael, anything you want to confess?”

I had kept certain details of my misadventures to myself. I hadn’t wanted to tell them about the drastic things I’d done to ensure Kalia survived. They didn’t exactly paint me in the best light. And it looked like Alicia had figured it out, as she was giving me her signature death glare. Been awhile since I’ve had this directed at me.

“Well, not really. I might’ve been just a little rough when I was trying to get us out of the forest. She’s probably just being overly conscious about it.”

“Michael, when you say you were a little rough, I immediately suspect the worst. Knowing you, you probably said or did something highly inconsiderate to her and now she doesn’t know how to talk to you.”

It took every ounce of self-control I had, to not flinch or show a reaction to that. She was closer to the truth than she knew.

“Remember the carpet-bombing I mentioned? Well I kinda carried her through that. Maybe that’s why?”

“Carried her how?”

Craaaaap! Why is she angrier now? Um, how do I get out of this?

[Kalia’s POV]

Contrary to what Michael and Alicia believed, it wasn’t Michael’s treatment of her that caused her abrupt departure. Well, not completely at least.

Ooooh, I can’t believe I did something like that! Now they’re going to think I’m weird. I know Braddock asked me to invite them to work with us, but I just got too self-conscious to do it. They were both looking at me so gratefully that I couldn’t do it. It would’ve felt like I was holding that over them and trying to use it to persuade them. And I still don’t know how I feel about Michael.

A part of her was still scared of him, but a bigger part was just as grateful. He’d helped her when he hadn’t needed to, and even if it was in his own self-interests, it was still worthy of gratitude. And he’d saved her life.

Well what do I do now? She’d lied earlier when she said she had to go to the infirmary. Not only were there very few casualties this time around, but the NPCs had practically forbade her from helping after she’d exhausted herself before. She had been wandering around when Alicia found her and requested her help. At least she was able to pay him back, even indirectly. It would’ve taken hours for Cameron to recover on his own.

Geez, Mivians sure are vile, using poisons that take so long to take effect and only physically weaken you. What kind of use would that have?

[Protag’s POV]

“Hmph, I’ll believe that you didn’t do anything wrong, for now.”

“Well thank you for that. Jeez.”

I’d somehow convinced her that I hadn’t done anything wrong, but it had been quite the ordeal. In the end, I’d had to lie my ass off to accomplish it.

Haah, I haven’t lied this much since the time Rina caught me sneaking in after our curfew. Why I went to that party, I don’t for the life of me know, but it wasn’t worth the looks she kept giving me afterwards. Damn you Clint, that was all your fault. He was the one who convinced me to go.

Come to think of it, didn’t a lot of the things he convinced me to do get me in trouble? Hm, was he actually a bad friend? Should I punch him the next time I see him? Yes, yes, and hell yes. Though I do have to find him first. All right then, it’s decided. After we get out of here, I’m going to hunt him down and punch him in the face. What a good idea.

*Beepbeepbeepbeep*

“Oh, that’s right. I’ve got to go. I have first watch tonight. Yay.”

“Well get going then. I’m gonna get Cameron to the infirmary and keep an eye on him. Someone should be there for him.”

***

So bored. There’s nothing to do. Wait, didn’t I do this bit before? Yeah, when that Shadow Fox was bugging me. Oh, I never checked the Scenario Update. I should keep up on that.

::Dungeon Scenario Update:

Remaining Challengers: 892.

Mid-bosses remaining: 3 of 3.

Monster Army Remaining: 77.87%

Time until escape is possible: 3 Days 14 Hours 07 Minutes.

The Dungeon Boss will arrive one day after all Mid-bosses and 90% of the Monster Army are killed.::

Huh? Aren’t the casualties kind of low? Maybe this means all of the weaker mercenaries are already dead? I think it was less than thirty death this time. Hm, a mystery huh? Maybe Kalia or Braddock knows. Or not, tough to say.

Guess I’ll do some more training. I really want to use [Seize], but again, no target. Where’s a mouse when you need one? Is that animal abuse? Should I instead use a monster? Would that be animal abuse?

What weird questions will I ask next? Tune in next time to find out!

…

……

………….

What the hell was that?

[Sávos’s POV]

“You complete and utter fool. You had one task. One. Task. How did you fail? How could you make such a simple mistake as mixing up the rooms?”

“I-I.”

“No, do not answer. I fear that if you do, I will strangle you. Begone."

The pawn hurriedly fled from the room. If he’d stayed, he really would’ve been killed. Sávos was in no mood to make idle threats, his very livelihood was on the line. Finnél would actually dispose of him if he didn’t kill Michael tonight and it was getting to him.

To be fair to the pawn, it wouldn’t have mattered if he’d gotten the rooms right anyway. Michael had already left his when he’d slipped the aerosol poison-ball under the door. In fact, it was a good thing, as this way, one of his allies was out of commission, but Sávos was too livid to realize this. He was about to attempt the one thing he didn’t want to do.

“We proceed to plan B. Is everything ready?”

“Yes Sávos. We’ve thoroughly scoured the area and placed the barriers to keep the others out. No one will interfere, not even the NPCs or the System.”

“Good. Half of you are to come with me. The rest are to complete Master Finnél’s orders. Do not allow yourselves to be discovered.”

***

It was time. The schemes made in the shadows were about to be revealed and a struggle for survival was about to begin. By the time dawn came again, all would be decided.