The Festival and the Spy

Adrian stared into the glass orb on his desk, anger flashing through his eyes. The scene playing out in front of him showed Gwen Vanderick—a noble who had thus far been a thorn in his side, knowingly or unknowingly setting back another one of his plans. He wanted to knock the crystal ball off his desk was strong, but he resisted.

The worth of buying a new one far exceeded the money he had on hand at the moment. His bat familiar kept its gaze trained on the group below, but Adrian ignored everyone except Gwen.

“Despite her giving up the engagement to the Prince, she seems to still be trying to interfere with me,” he growled, cutting the connection to the ball. “Why else would a noble lower themselves to a status as low as an adventurer?

He leaned back in his chair, thoughts raging through his mind. I guess the rumors weren’t enough to force her from the capital.

As overseer of the dungeon, Adrian knew which jobs were ‌posted at any given time. He’d hidden jobs and buried reports specifically to keep adventurers from going past the second floor. All so the dungeon could eventually overflow and flood the city with monsters.

“Maybe I should arrange for something to happen to her,” he mused, then shook his head.

No, the best course of action is to monitor her and make sure she can’t reach the boss room. It’ll take the dungeon another month before it breaks and monsters start pouring out. There were already reports about monsters growing stronger, causing adventurers not to want to go into the dungeon.

It’s also sending the prince on a foolish endeavor to discover the cause.

Hopefully, he would die inside the dungeon along with his lover; then Adiran would only have to deal with the king. By the time the first prince returns, the capital would be his, with all the royal family dead and one left to oppose him.

His best course of action is to sit back and wait. If Gwen makes it past the third floor, then he will act.

The royal family had spent centuries pretending to protect the kingdom. They had no idea they were only delaying the inevitable.

***

Gwen rushed forward, spinning her staff to create a shield of flames that pushed back the wolves surrounding Chris and Claire. Ten of them moved around as a unit, but the fire deterred them long enough for Chris to catch his breath and rest his shield arm.

Rock Wall, she thought, channeling more magic through her catalyst and tapping the ground.

Rocks shot from the earth, locking the wolves' ankles in place before they could react. “Now! Guys, attack!” she roared, dropping the flame shield.

Without hesitation, both charged. Chris ran through the fading embers, sword thrusting forward, impaling the nearest wolf. He ripped the blade free and dispatched another one by cleanly cutting off its head. Ignoring the blood dripping from his weapon, he hunted down more targets.

Claire refused to be outdone. A dagger flew from her hand, burying itself deep into a wolf at the rear. With her remaining weapon, she sliced open another that lunged toward her.

Two minutes later, the pack lay dead. Their teamwork was top-notch, though Gwen hated not being in the back.

Shaking off the negative thoughts, Gwen clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Good job, team. For our first day together, that was good teamwork, and we couldn’t have done it without Kira.”

At the sound of her name, Kira’s cat ears turned red despite the scowl on her face. “Yeah, whatever… You guys gotta stop killing monsters so fast. I’d like a break in between skinning and gutting.” There wasn’t much bite to her tone.

“We are only able to hunt this quickly because you’re such a good porter,” Chris said, smiling despite the blood staining his armor.

“Whatever.”

Gwen ruffled her hair. “Once you finish gathering the stones, we can head back to the guild. If you’re quick, I’ll buy you food!”

Kira’s ears perked up instantly. “Are you serious?”

“Very!”

Knife in hand, Kira rushed forward to begin her work.

Gwen chuckled softly and turned to the siblings. “If you guys would like to tag along, we can make it a group outing.”

Claire shook her head quickly. “I’d like to shower and wash the blood off, so maybe next time.”

“Hmm, if you don’t mind, I’ll tag along since only my armor got dirty,” Chris said after a moment’s thought.

“That's fine.” Gwen nodded at Chris, then turned to Claire. “If you’re free tomorrow, feel free to find Kira and me. We will be attending the festival.”

Claire's eyes clouded over. “I don’t know…”

Chris put a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, my sister is not really one for groups or big gatherings due to some issues in the past.”

“I’m sorry,” Claire murmured, her tone low. “I’d understand if you don’t want me at the party if it’ll cause any problems when you expand.”

Gwen waved her hands dismissively. “No, that’s not a problem. Maybe we can celebrate in a small way by cooking at home instead,” she offered a reassuring smile. “At the moment, I have no plans to extend the party past us four.”

“Thank you…”

“No worries! Now cheer up; we earned a lot of drops today, which means we made plenty of money!”

Claire gave a watery smile as she slid the daggers back into their sheathes.

Chris patted her shoulder one last time before stepping aside. “Tomorrow, before the festival, would it be okay if I find you early? I’d like to take you to a blacksmith I know that might be able to make you a stronger weapon for cheaper.”

Gwen nodded her head in excitement. “Yes! We can meet around noon in front of the Guild. I’ve been thinking about buying a new weapon anyways.” She held up the staff in her hand; that crack in had grown worse over the past day.

“Perfect! That works!”

With plans settled, the conversation quieted. Gwen turned her attention to Kira’s precise movements as she cut into the wolves. It didn’t take long for her to finish up, and the bodies disintegrated shortly after.

The party of four finally made their way out of the dungeon.

Kira led the way back to the teleporters, a forty-minute walk with minimal monster encounters making for an easy exit. Soon they stood in front of the guild, where Claire parted ways.

“I’ll meet you back at the apartment, Chris, and don’t worry about bringing me food; I’m not really hungry.” She turned to Gwen and Kira. “Thank you again for letting us join your party. I can’t wait for us to go on more adventures.”

“I’ll see you soon, Claire.”

“Yeah, bye, Claire!”

Claire gave a small wave over her shoulder before disappearing into the crowd. Gwen glanced down at Kira.

“So, since it’s Chris's first time eating with us, he gets to pick the place.”

Kira frowned. “Aww, come on, you promised you’d buy me anything.”

“I did, but he gets to choose since you’d just go to the fish restaurant anyway.”

“Actually, fish is fine… yeah, not that big of a deal; she wants to go there,” Chris spoke up.

“Nope, the pipsqueak always chooses that place, so you get to pick something new for us.”

“Pipsqueak,” Kira roared and lunged at Gwen.

Gwen laughed and just held her in place with one hand.

Chris looked between them. “Hmm, then I know a little place. Tasty food and sizeable portions.”

“That works!”

“Aww, my fish…” Kira groaned, glaring up at Gwen.

“Alrighty, with that out of the way, let's go turn the stones in,” Gwen said, ignoring Kira’s attitude.

Colorful banners swayed above the entrance to the guild. Gwen paused, a sense of completeness settling over her that she hadn’t felt since coming to this world. Tomorrow is the festival, and her first real chance to enjoy this world without worrying about monsters, nobles, or survival.

She smiled. Hopefully, nothing goes wrong.