The next three days passed in a pleasant flash, as if the world was trying to bring some semblance of consistency to Vee’s perception of time. The [Dungeon Master] busied himself around the dungeon, testing various trap configurations for the new wheel room and collecting additional bits of material for his orchestra as the fiends required them. Hanako had delivered plenty of C-Rank crystals, and Vee was pleasantly surprised by their improvement in potency and responsiveness compared to the lower ranked versions. Though he’d had nothing to do with it, really, Vee couldn’t help but feel proud of the work his intern was doing. Hanako was definitely getting better and better.

She’d also made some stronger versions of the crystals Alforde socketed into Slammy, and the armorsoul put them to good use in his dungeon bouts. The challengers who made it down to him were battered and blasted with a barrage of [Icicle Shots], [Spiked Snowballs], and [Frost Orbs]. Vee was pretty sure he hadn’t seen at least two of those before, but there was no doubting their efficacy.

Under such ranged pressure, which most of the adventurers who’d made it that far into Crestheart hadn’t ever seen before, nearly all of Alforde’s opponents failed to take a single stock and the dungeon didn’t end up having to pay out any for any losses.

Feeling good about the state of the dungeon and looking forward to the spinning wheel being properly completed so that he could actually test it at scale, Vee counted up the day’s fleurs on Friarsday evening with Alforde and Reginald and helped his friend carry the earnings into Crestheart’s vault. They’d made plenty of coin, but not all that many shards of chaos. Their shortfall of the latter was partially due to some bad luck – barely any monsters had organically dropped the shards on their demise – and partially due to Vee’s uses of [Boost Drops] being suboptimal. He wasn’t particularly worried about that though; like anything else, collecting dungeon loot came with ebbs and flows.

It was a skill like any other, and the earnings would all balance out in time.

As the next day was Saintsday and their official day off from working, Vee took an extra look around the dungeon to make sure that he wasn’t forgetting anything he’d want back at the boarding house before heading out. He wasn’t entirely sure how much free time he’d have the next day, as he was going to be on his date with Luna, but he picked up the union’s monster manual all the same. At a minimum, he could keep looking at the list of purchasable monsters, as he still wasn’t sure what he wanted to add. Sadly, neither Alforde nor Reginald had been much help. Reginald wanted to order some sort of octopode berserker that was most definitely not in their price range, while Alforde insisted on “something that can fly” and refused to actually look at the pages when Vee tried to get his input.

The [Dungeon Master] was starting to suspect they were working together to force him to make the decision and really own it. They’d been doing that type of thing more and more lately, though never as obviously as with this particular minion selection. Try as he might though, Vee couldn’t bring himself to actually be upset about their antics, as he knew that the ultimately the task of selecting the dungeon’s threats was his responsibility. It was just a touch inconvenient.

Outside the dungeon, the air was cool but not cold, and a few droplets of water fell from the roofs as Vee and Alforde made their way back to the gate. Reginald chattered the entire way, as was his habit, but Vee found himself tuning the hat out as they sloshed through the slightly wet snow.

Indeed, his thoughts were a jumbled mess centered around a single question:

What was he going to talk about on his date?

***

After some trouble falling asleep, Vee woke on Saintsday morning at the same time he always did. Though he wasn’t entirely refreshed, he was slightly optimistic. It was going to be a good day. Surely there was some value in deciding that before it got off to a proper start, right?

As he and Luna had agreed to meet before noon, Vee had plenty of time to get ready and he decided to use it to the fullest.

He bathed and spent more time than usual picking out his outfit and fixing his hair. Though he still didn’t have a ton of clothes here in Oar’s Crest – nor did he have the funds or inclination to go out and buy more – Vee settled on a nice gray pair of pants and vest that he wore over a patterned white shirt. The clothes paired nicely with his coat, and while he wouldn’t be mistaken for a [Model], he didn’t look like a slob, either.

Reginald made a sound that was suspiciously similar to a whistle when Vee walked out of the bathroom and Alforde gave his friend a big thumbs up.

“Looking sharp, Boss! Are we going to get Luna a present or anything?”

Vee smiled, a mischievous glint in his eye.

“We?”

The hat’s face twisted in horror. “Y-You’re not bringing me along? How could you not?! You left me here before your last date and I was so bored.”

Vee didn’t say anything, and Reginald’s became increasingly strangled.

“Come on, Boss! I get leaving the big guy here, he’s boring, but I’m your trusted advisor! Let me help you!”

Vee snorted and shook his head. “Not a chance.”

Reginald wheedled and whined after that, until Vee got irritated and shut the hat away in his closet. He looked at Alforde, who was reading a book in his corner.

“You going to stay here too or are you going somewhere?”

The armorsoul paused his reading and thought for a moment, rolling his pauldrons and rocking his helmet back and forth. As he had no muscles to stretch, the gesture was largely meaningless, but over the years Alforde had adopted it and other human mannerisms, and Vee waited for him to finish.

“I’m not sure yet. I was thinking about going to the library and getting some more books, or maybe visiting Glenda and Jared. I got a quest sometime back that I think they might be able to help me with.”

Vee nodded and looked over at the closet. “Mind taking Reginald with you? I’d feel bad if he was stuck in there by himself for a few hours.”

The armorsoul’s eyes glittered as he straightened up. “We’ll see. Maybe I’m too boring for him to tag along with.”

“I didn’t meant that!” Reginald cried from the closet. “You’re the most interesting armorsoul I’ve ever met, Alforde! It’d be great to get to spend some time together, you know?”

Alforde shook his helmet and closed his book. ”You know he’s going to pester me to follow after you, right? What do I do if he starts demanding we stalk you guys?”

With a shrug, Vee headed toward the door. “He doesn’t have legs, Alforde. Ignore him. If he gets really annoying, stuff him away somewhere and let him listen to his own echo. You hear that, Reginald?”

Reginald yelled something back, but it wasn’t particularly flattering and Vee responded in kind. With that all taken care of, Vee left the boarding house.

***

Tucking his hands into his pockets, Vee headed to the market. Truthfully, Reginald’s idea about getting Luna a present was a good one, though the [Ghost Maestro] didn’t really know what to get her. He knew that there weren’t many flowers in bloom this time of year, and he certainly wasn’t going to get her jewelry. Still, he’d have to find something.

To his pleasant surprise, he wasn’t nearly as nervous about this time around as he had been before their last date. Sure, his throat still felt a little scratchy and he swore his palms were sweatier than usual, but the feeling of his skin being too tight for his body was nowhere to be found and his heart didn’t feel like it was auditioning for a job as a [Blacksmith].

Small victories.

He smiled at the people he passed by, and stopped when an older man walking with the help of a cane called out his name.

“Hi there, can I help you with something?” Vee asked as the man hobbled over.

A crooked grin answered him and the man held out his hand.

“Cornelius Boll. Pleasure to meet you, [Dungeon Master]. And not as much, I was just hoping to talk to you a bit about your dungeon.”

Vee raised an eyebrow, unsure of how to respond, but thankfully Cornelius continued talking without pause.

“See, I’m a dungeon sports enthusiast. Beyond enthusiast, really. More of a fanatic. Ever since I was a kid I’ve loved watching and reading about the contests between adventurers and [Dungeon Masters] like yourself. Even went and visited some of the bigger circuits back before my hips turned traitor. I watched Mathius the [Stridebreaker] take on the Seven [Spitting Sailors]! Can you believe that?”

Having never really been much interested in dungeon sports before founding Crestheart, Vee had no idea who any of those people were, but the reverence with which the man said their names told him that they were probably pretty famous. He made a mental note to do some digging into dungeon sport history at some point. At a minimum, there were probably good ideas that’d been forgotten and misplaced throughout the years.

Wanting to be polite, though, Vee nodded and said, “Wow, that’s incredible. I bet that was quite the sight.”

That may have been a mistake, as Cornelius’ eyes twinkled and he grew more animate, launching into a full description of every match he’d ever seen and dungeon he’d ever visited.

Forget the books, Vee thought as he listened to an almost blow-for-blow retelling of a bout between Samper and Agas – more people he’d never heard of – I should just talk to this guy. He can tell me everything I want to know about dungeon sports and more. Wait what was that?

Between Cornelius’ flapping hand gestures, Vee had noticed a small flickering movement on the wall of a building across the street. However, it was gone now and no matter how he looked he didn’t see anything there. Blinking several times, Vee returned his attention to the conversation just in time to hear about another group of adventurers and [Dungeon Champions] from the distant past.

It was interesting, in a dusty kind of way, and while Vee actually found himself wishing that he had more time to stay and chat, he was also eager to gracefully exit the conversation. It’d been several minutes already. Despite still having plenty of time to make it to his date, getting Luna a present would be cutting it close if he didn’t wrap things up soon.

He coughed into his arm and looked around, and thankfully Cornelius fell quiet mid-anecdote.

“I’m so sorry,” Vee said. “But I’m afraid I have another appointment I must be getting to.”

“Oh, of course, silly of me not to realize,” Cornelius said, visibly deflating. “Forgive an old man his rambling. My wife always tells me I go on too much.”

The Expectation tightened around Vee’s shoulder and the [Dungeon Master] decided to proceed carefully with what he said next.

“No need to apologize,” he said kindly. “I’d be happy to talk to you again about dungeon sports another time. Perhaps next Saintsday? Crestheart is closed then.”

Cornelius brightened up once more and gave Vee another firm handshake.

“That’d be great. I usually hang out at the Fiddler’s on Saintsday morning. Some of us older guys from the Cockatrices club go there to play board games and drink coffee.”

Vee nodded. The Cockatrices were an old fraternal organization that his grandfather had once been a member of. He wasn’t surprised that there was a chapter in Oar’s Crest; their so-called “nests” were pretty much everywhere, though he wasn’t entirely sure what they did. The chapter back in Bardis, for example, had mostly just put on potlucks and organized vacations to wine country. He’d heard that others did more community oriented things though, and Vee kicked himself for not seeking them out earlier. Maybe they could be a resource for helping with civic stuff once spring came around.

If only Reginald were around. I could tell him to remember for me. He wished he had a pen, that he might jot down a note on his hand, but alas he did not. Fiddlers, next Saintsday, Cornelius Boll. Dungeon sports history and stuff.

“I’ll see you then,” Vee promised. “It was good talking to you. Have a good rest of your day, Cornelius.”

“You too, young Vales. I’ll look forward to our chat. Let’s hope Crestheart starts getting some real challengers soon, eh?”

Vee grinned and waved as he headed down the street.

[Public Relations +1]

Huh. Go figure.

Whistling something that probably passed for a tune if your definition was wide enough, Vee continued down to the market.

Main Character Sheets:

Primary Class: Ghost Maestro (Locksmagister University), Level 29

Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 21

Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 5

Might: 13

Wit: 33

Faith: 21

Adventurousness: 7

Ambition: 14

Plotting: 19

Charisma: 14

Devious Mind: 23

Leadership: 17

Guts: 14

Intimidating Presence: 10

Citizenship: 20

Public Relations: 6 (+1)

Determination: 2

Persuasiveness: 1

Alforde Armorsoul:

Primary Class: Hammer Afficionado (Self), Level 22

Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 14

Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 14

Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 5

Might: 41

Wit: 12

Faith: 28

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 8

Endurance: 20

Intimidating Presence: 12

Heart of a Champion: 9

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 8

Vigilance: 6

Vanity: 2

Reginald :

Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ???

--~%@(%[email protected] &% (*$ #&#e !i$$ (#$%#$%#[email protected]!)~--, #[email protected]& ????

Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 38

Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 15

Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 8

Might: 1

Wit: 33

Faith: 14

Ambition: 27

Greed: 22

Deceptiveness: 27

Manipulativeness: 38

$#&*[email protected]!!: !!! (+ !)

Loyalty: 46

Patience: 8

[#&%%%@%!#@__--#%]

[email protected]#!! @#[email protected][email protected]#

@#[email protected]%%^

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 7