The Dungeon’s Magical Residue (pt 1)

“Good Morning Miss, are you here to sign up at the guild as an adventurer?”

Miho looked confused and checked her outfit, wasn't it clear to them that she was wearing a cleaners’ uniform?

I guess they could sense I am an otherworldly adventurer.

“No Miss, you are mistaken. I came here for a request since I need two strong warriors to defend me on a job I got the other day.”

She handed the guild master a piece of paper.

“I see… I see,” the guild master said.

“This looks a lot like an adventure, doesn’t it? You know you need to register as an adventurer to take quests from our Lord Cedric, right?”

Miho shook her head.

“He said nothing of that sort,” she stubbornly responded.

“Well, it is never too late to register if you want to. This country is in need of the br-”

Miho zoned out, her attention grabbed by two though-looking figures arguing at a table.

“It’s completely inappropriate for a girl like you to carry such a gigantic sword. Dad will get mad at you if you don’t return it,” a boy yelled at his sister, putting his hands on the table.

Next to the girl stood a leather sleeve holding a massive broadsword. Her presumed brother, however, only had a slender rapier-like weapon.

“Calm down Lorian. True strength lies in the heart, not the sword. I just bought this because it looked cool, it doesn’t automatically make me a better warrior than you.”

The boy's cheek turned red.

“Still… it’s a bit embarrassing that my little sister carries a sword much bigger than mine….”

The sister playfully tapped him on his shoulder.

“Shouldn’t you worry about getting us a job? We have been idle for a week, and it wouldn’t surprise you that I am a little short on cash after making this big purchase.”

They look quite capable, exactly what I was looking for, Miho thought as she turned away from the guildmaster.

“Excuse me, I think I already found the warriors I need,” she said before approaching the brother and sister.

“Hello, my name is Miho and I am looking for two people to assist me on this job, are you two available?”

She handed them the piece of paper.

“You have a quest from Lord Cedric himself? How wonderful!” the sister responded.

Miho nodded.

“I was tasked with cleaning this dungeon - cleaning is my specialty. Sadly I have no combat abilities so I need to form a party to protect myself.”

The sister grabbed her hands.

“Please pick Lorian and me, we have been looking for a job for ages!”

“We? I’ve put in all the effort, you were only busy looking at ridiculous swords,” Lorian growled.

I guess some bickering is expected from a sibling pair like this.

He looked Miho straight in the eyes.

“Still, Karen and I will accept this job, of course”

A slight smile formed on Miho's face.

“I need to do some preparations, can you meet me tomorrow morning by the city gate?”

Karen nodded.

“See you tomorrow, Miss Miho!”

She turned to her brother.

“Now let's look at even more swords!”

“I said you should stop already… you just bought one!”

X

The next morning, Miho got up early and made her way to the city gate, where she patiently waited for the siblings to appear. In the meantime, she ate the first of Hanna’s carefully wrapped sandwiches. She felt bad for the girl, who she didn’t allow to come along.

It would be way too dangerous for her, even with the guards I hired.

After Karen and Lorian had arrived, the group made their way up the mountain. The dirty path soon started to narrow, making it necessary for the three of them to walk after each other. Miho walked up front, holding the backside of the note where Cedric had drawn a simple map.

“Please go left of the fork and you will see a rock overhang in the distance. The entrance will be below that overhang,” he told Miho.

“Our last party left the dungeon in a bad state. All the leftover trash, broken equipment, and redundant drop items still lay scattered on the floor, preventing new monsters from spawning. We figured it would take ages to carry it out all manually, so we had to come up with a clever plan. And then I remembered what you could do with your cleaning magic the other day. So You claimed you could clean everything, so let’s put that power to the test… for a good reward of course.”

“Look, I can see the entrance of the dungeon!” Karen yelled.

“Be quiet, you could cause an avalanche,” her brother responded.

Standing before the dark cave entrance, Miho felt a bit uneasy. A flock of bats came out, passing her from all sides. She lit the lantern she had bought, and transformed Clarice into her broom form which she started at her back, like a kind of sword for some made-shift protection.,

It is better than nothing, Miho figured.

“Let me lead the way,” Lorian said after which he entered the chilly dungeon.

At the end of this narrow passageway, the dungeon opened up. They were met with bigger rooms and higher rock ceilings. Miho browsed the rooms carefully, searching for the items Cedric mentioned.

Nothing yet, Miho concluded.

Suddenly, she heard a growl coming from the distance. Two red eyes glowed up in the dark cave corridor.

“Please stay behind Miho, I will take care of this,” Karen said while running to the front, passing by her brother and slinging the massive sword with ease.

The monster let out a final scream and fell to the ground.

“Don’t you worry, it was just a simple cave wolf,” she said with a smile.

Lorian crossed his arms.

“I said I was leading! How can you steal the kill from me like this!”

Karen chuckled.

“I am sorry, I have been waiting so long to test out Chopzilla!”

Lorian started laughing out loud.

“What did you call it… this is ridiculous!” he said while passing her.

But Karen wasn’t coming along.

“Let’s continue already,” he said with an annoyed tone.

“Please let me clean him first, he’s all bloody now.”

She pulled at a cleaning cloth and started polishing the sword.

“Hurry up, we can’t let Miss Miho wait.”

But Karen persisted.

This is going to be a long day… but I guess I can’t blame her for trying to keep it clean.

After she had wiped her weapon sparkly clean, or it at least appeared clean under the flickering lantern light, the makeshift party continued deeper into the dungeon. After slaying a couple more low-level monsters, they arrived in a big stoney room with a small stream of water passing through it. A small slit in the ceiling let through just a sliver of light.

That is a beautiful little place.

Sadly, it was littered with trashy remains from previous raids held here. Broken swords, abandoned drop items, and burlap bags filled with an assortment of trash. The floor was smeared with weird substances leaking from these.

Miho grabbed Clarice from behind and started scrubbing.

“Please give me cover, I have the tendency to get so involved in the cleaning that I lose total sight of my surroundings,” she told the protectors.

“At your service!” Karen yelled, taking a defensive pose next to the frantically scrubbing Miho.

Lorian sighed and sat down on a large boulder.

“Why do you always have to take these things so literally… just chill out and look at your surroundings,” he said.

“I… NEED… TO… BE…. READY,” Karen stated with conviction.

Meanwhile, Miho had almost finished sweeping the floor. With Clarice’s magical powers, every spec of dried liquid it touched instantly vaporized.

“Wow Miss Miho, I have never seen someone clean so efficiently like you. What type of broom are you using?” Karen said with an admiring voice.

“A broom from my country, I only moved here recently to start my cleaning service,” Miho responded while cleaning the last bits of liquid.

She grabbed Clarice and started to transform it into a sprayer she used before to make Arnold’s body disappear. The cave was briefly illuminated with the pink-purple light eliminated from Clarice’s morphing body.

Karen stared at Miho with gloating eyes.

“Where did you learn magic like that?”

“You know if you become a mage you can’t use a sword anymore, right? Which might be the better outcome anyway…. so please can you teach her Miho?” Lorian added.

Miho laughed, looking at a frustrated-looking Karen.

“Me a mage… never,” she whispered.

“I am afraid I can’t, this magic is personal to me only. Now please excuse me,” Miho said as she started spraying the first bits of trash.

“Personal magic… wait does that mean you are a-”

“KAREN! Please stop being so nosy and concentrate on your job.” Lorian yelled.

“Like you are one to talk, you haven’t even lifted a finger since we came here!”

Lorian stood up and stood before his sister.

“Only because you took all the kills for yourself, with that ridiculous sword of yours.”

“Ehh guys, there is a big bat with sharp teeth flying toward us,” Miho said while the siblings continued their argument.

Oh shit, this isn’t going to turn out well, she tried to reach for her broom for protection, but then realized she had transformed Clarice into the sprayed.

“KAREN! LORIAN!” she yelled, the siblings turned around and sprung into action. Lorian stretched out his arm and the rapier impaled the bat, after which Karen chopped off its head with a swipe of her broadsword.

“We are so sorry,” the two of them said in unison while bowing before Miho.

“Please pay better attention going forward, otherwise I would be forced to cut your pay,” she responded with a stoic voice.

Miho continued spraying the final bits of trash, with the siblings attentively standing beside her, ready to protect her from any incoming attacks.

She turned to the siblings and asked them a question.

“Do you notice this layer of green dust hanging over the dungeon floor?”

“I thought that was just my eyes getting hazy,” Karen said while rubbing her eyes.

Miho crouched, trying to touch it, but she was unable to.

It is like some magical residue left after removing the trash.

She looked at Clarice’s crystal which was glowing brightly.

“Can you transform in something to get rid of this residue?”

Clarice started glowing and morphed into the shape of an old-fashioned-looking vacuum, lined with brass pipes and a burlap bag to collect the trash in. Immediately, it started sucking the floor, moving on its own.

“Wow, I’ve never seen a device like that,” Karen said while looking at Clarice sucking up the magical residue.

“Clarice?” the concerned Miho asked in confusion, noticing the attached bag becoming fuller and fuller.

The crystal started growing an unusual green, the green light was so strong that it illuminated the cavern in a strange green glow.

Crap, it seems like Clarice is malfunctioning.

She sprinted after the vacuum cleaner, trying to catch it, but it was too fast.

“Take cover!” Karen screamed at Miho, as the burlap bag attached to the vacuum seemed like it could burst at any moment.

Miho hid behind a rock covering her head with her arms. She heard a big explosion and carefully turned around. She found herself eye-to-eye with a giant green dust monster, filling the center of the cavern. Clarice, now returned to its broom form lay beside it, the crystal no longer glowing.

What in the world have we gotten ourselves into?