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So, in the meantime, while I was chatting with Hestia about Maria and trying to convince her to be my dungeon's boss, my dungeon was attacked... as Valentyn had reported, but since Miriel was present, the challengers (some heroes and a four thousand six hundred strong army) were easily repelled.

In a summary, 
- Heroes arrived with their army from Orth's capital 
- Managed to capture the first floor with ease (there were no monsters, duh) 
- Faced Valentyn on the second floor 
- Large battle occurred
- Miriel, who was annoyed by all the noise and vibrations flew up from the third floor and took care of the enemy. 

Yeah. I really do owe Miriel one. I mean, without him, Valentyn would be overwhelmed by the power of the heroes since he was still recovering from his injury from the previous hero (the group were some of the previous hero's friends, so they just wanted revenge I guess).

They also had rifles and handguns, a surprising factor, which was the main reason why Valentyn was struggling so much. They're already making progress in developing technology from Earth and also applying Arula's unique magic system to enhance the effectiveness of the weapons. So now, a standard bullet fired from one of Arula's modified guns can pierce through barriers or shields with a DP of up to seven thousand in extreme cases. Normally though, it would only go up to around eight hundred. It's still extremely powerful, but it's nowhere near close to the maximum potential. 

But those children... I'll give it to them, they're pretty smart to design and develop these weapons independently. 

Okay, back to me. So, after we talked about Maria and the things related to her, I shifted the topic to dungeons and I mentioned that I was a dungeon master. I had expected Hestia to be surprised, but she wasn't. 

"You're a dungeon master? Well, that certainly explains your abnormal strength... I've been a dungeon master before. It was very tiresome work, and I couldn't have done it without the 'System'." she simply replied. 

Huh? What kind of bombshell did she drop? "System"? What is that? I've never heard of something like that before. I had to manage and do everything physically! And now Hestia's telling me that I could have just done it with the help of a system? Outrageous! 

"Uh... what exactly is the 'System' that you mention? I'm just starting as a dungeon master, so I would like to have some guidance from my 'senior'." I technically spoke the truth. And I'm curious to know what exactly the system is. Could it be an artificial device that allows the user to do stuff or be something entirely else? 

With a calm expression, Hestia dropped another bombshell on me. 
"What, you didn't know about the System? Then I presume that you also don't know about the 'Guide'," she looked at my dumbfounded expression before sharing a soft laugh. "Well, based on your expression, I guess you weren't aware of the Guide as well. Here, I'll show you," with a snap of her fingers a new, mysterious figure appeared right on her side. "This is my Guide. Please call him Mr. Greg." 

"I greet the new dungeon master. As my contractor has said, please refer to me as 'Mr. Greg'." he said with a little bow. 

His appearance is odd, with a refined moose's head that had the animal's magnificent antlers as his head but the rest of his body is more human-like, with two arms and legs, hands with five fingers each, etc. 

He also wore a golden-cased monocle on his right eye and wore a black and white butler's outfit. If these "Guides" are intended to be fully customisable, then Hestia has some horrible tastes, I must say. He wore white gloves and then proceeded to serve us tea. 

Like, this guy shows up mysteriously, introduces himself, then pulls out a tea set from who-knows-where and within five minutes, two cups of freshly brewed tea are ready. 

"Oh, sorry, I don't drink tea." I said when Mr. Greg tried to serve me his brewed tea. 

"If you wish. That is understandable, Young Miss." he brought back the served tea and it disappeared. I'm not too sure where he made it go, but... I don't mind. But what I do mind is the fact he called me a "Young Miss." 

He has some nerves. But I guess it's a no-brainer. My physical appearance is that of a child's. I mean, this body isn't even my "real self" and I could change it to whatever I like, but if I age up this body, then it requires ten times more energy compared to my current appearance. It would be too tiresome... but, also, I wouldn't say I like being called a Young Miss by someone younger than me. 

Ugh... what should I do?  

Then I also realised that if I tried to make a fuss about it, it would make me look very childish, so with a heavy heart, I stayed put.  

Then, without skipping a beat, Mr. Greg took out a plate from who-knows-where again. This time, he served the plate to me. Turns out, the plate was filled with desserts, such as cakes, pudding and things I didn't recognise. I was tempted to say thank you and dig in, but... I have to resist and cut down on my sweets intake. I had a little too much over the past few days. 

"While I'm glad that you're offering me some sweets, I must refuse. I made a promise to myself that I won't consume any more sweets." 

"Is that so? Very well. Then, how about some snacks instead?" he immediately replied. 

Wow. This guy is scary. I refused him twice but he still has other foods to offer. But, he's offering some snacks... like potato chips? I do love them, but they're a little bit loud. But who cares? It's just me, Mr. Greg and Hestia in this little island thirty thousand metres up in the air. 

"Yes, that would be fine," I answered Mr. Greg. Then I turned to Hestia again, "So-" 

"You're going to be paying for the damages you caused me." Hestia suddenly said, cutting me off. Is it just me or does Hestia love to drop bombshells on me? In the awkward silence that she created, the only sounds were Mr. Greg serving us some light snacks (as he called them), on some white ceramic plates with a design of little cute pink and red roses surrounding the exterior of the plates. 

"Uhm. I understand. H-how much?" I calmly asked. 

"Nothing. I merely wanted to see your reaction." Hestia softly laughed behind her tea cup. 

What a troublemaker she is. I wanted to take a deep sigh, but in this situation, I can't do that. Otherwise, I might lose Hestia's favour. But with her personality now, I think my Authority has taken some effect. I should be able to convince her sooner or later when I bring up the topic of working under me as the dungeon boss. 

But for now, let's enjoy this little tea party. Come to think of it, Hestia still hasn't told me about what the "System" or "Guides" are. 

"So, I know Mr. Greg is your Guide and all, but what exactly is he? And what are the purpose of these Guides?" 

Hestia took a sip of her tea. I presume she thought about it for a moment and then she placed her cup onto the table. 
"Hm. Well, how should I answer this? Well, this might come as a shock to you, but there's another universe apart from our own." 

If I wasn't an angel, this information would certainly be a game-changer. But I already know that it wasn't so surprising. I mean, there's not just one singular universe. There are many universes within each Multiverse and many multiverses within the Middle World.  

"So a Guide is basically someone from that other universe?"

"Precisely. Well, technically, a Guide only becomes a Guide after they make a contract with someone in this universe. A dungeon master is someone who Guides are most likely able to make a contract due to their job. They basically help you do everything once you have a contract in." 

I nodded my head. "I see," I said. "So, they're assistants. Then what about the 'System' then? I'm little confused about that." 

"Well, you know the little blue and transparent square that appears in front of you saying like 'Claim your Dungeon' when you first start out as a dungeon master or 'Defend your Dungeon!' when challengers appear? That's the System." 

Nope. Unfortunately, I have no clue what you're talking about. I've never experienced a blue transparent square popping out of nowhere and displaying those things. But what could she mean?