DAY 490

"And so I said, that was a real boneheaded move, but if you apologize nicely, maybe I won't give you a knuckle sandwich!"

Lyota Silverstar groans and pinches her nose. "Dragonlord, please spare me. There must be someone else I could be assigned to work with."

The magically-animated skull next to her slaps a palm against his chest in mock shock, an act which he's only capable of thanks to the enchanted armor that's been bound to his being. "You wound me! I saved your life, and this is how you repay me? I get no respect, no respect!"

Any further complaints the undead might have are interrupted as the door to their waiting room opens, and the succubus inside gives them a glance. "Those puns are bad enough that I could detect them through soundproofed walls. Come in you two, we have much to discuss."

"Of course, Lady Darktouched!" Silverstar quickly gets to her feet and follows the other demon inside, followed shortly after by her annoying companion. The office they enter is one of the most finely decorated chambers in all of Dragon's Jaw, with gold-gilded accessories on every wall and a heavy polished-wood desk sitting on one side. Given the general barrenness of the Domain the wood is perhaps one of the rarer sights in these parts, compared to the metals and stone which flow forth from kobold's mines and quarries in large amounts. The skull is more distracted by the view however, given that the office's windows lead to a balcony overlooking the capital city itself.

He takes a moment to admire the view, as his boss sorts through some of her paperwork, and is struck again by the beauty of it. Dragon's Jaw was built into a canyon but you'd hardly know it now, with the sides of the gorge now so fully packed with built and carved structures you'd think it was just a long row of stone towers. The massive cave at one end of the canyon isn't far from the building where he now stands, but that too has the form of a grand palace thanks to the walls and structures built across its former entrance. Here and there he can spot draconic citizens flying through the canyon, although most of the signs of life are the ant-like kobolds and demons making their way down the city street and across walkways criss-crossing the gap.

Eventually though Cerise Darktouched tires of her agent's distracted nature, and clears her throat. "It is quite a view, Dave, but we do have business to discuss. If you wouldn't mind taking a seat?"

"Of course, of course!" The soldier quickly makes his way over, and his enchanted armor is surprisingly silent as he settles into the padded chair provided for him. "So, what does the Evil Lord of Evil have for us today?"

Lyota stares at him before turning towards the succubus. "He talks like this to you as well, my lady? I thought he was just like this out in the field."

"Dave here is an operative of a...special and unique nature, and he seems to believe that means he can take liberties beyond his rank. I admit that I'm a little confused still about why he thinks we're evil."

The undead raises his hands. "Hey, I ain't judgin'! My last boss was a necromancer, and not one of the fun ones, either! But I just call em like I see em, y'know? I mean look at us, a couple of demons and a magic skull, plotting in the dark heart of an evil empire about how we're going to overthrow the innocent kingdoms of the world! I say, if you're gonna be evil, you gotta have fun with it, and I've been livin' it up these past few months!"

Cerise glances out at the 'dark heart' of the empire outside, where the sun is so bright that it almost makes her blink despite the fact that it's not even angled into her office at the moment. "First off, I'm offended on behalf of all demonkind, but I'm surprised you even manage to be prejudiced against yourself. Do you genuinely believe that anything you do is evil just because you're undead?"

"It is if I'm doing it right!"

"I would like to request again that I stop being assigned to work alongside this agent, my lady." The two demons share an understanding look, but Cerise shakes her head.

"Sorry Agent Silverstar, but your request is again denied. Dave is...somehow...one of the most competent operatives under my command. The success of your missions is more important than your enjoyment in doing them."

"Well I've been having fun, at least! Also, I don't know why you're so surprised. I am part Worthy, you know! A real chip off the ol' block! A rib doesn't fall far from the torso!"

"Yes, there is that." Cerise ignores the man to focus on Lyota. "As a fury demon who's been in close contact with Xenia Worthy, you know the shape of her soul. It took you what, three hours for you to tell that Dave and Xenia are...related? At that point I'm afraid your fate was sealed. If you're going to be wandering around with that sort of knowledge, then you'll be doing it where I can keep an eye on you - both of you at once, preferably. At least you're better at keeping your mouth shut about it than he is."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. My tongue's so loose I don't even know where it is!"

The fury demon sighs and does her best to move forward. "So, we have a new mission, my lady?"

"Indeed. We need you to smuggle a new artifact to a dungeon in the Valleylands - Rotwood, specifically. The fact that you can fly and that Dave here is immune to death magic makes you two a particularly good fit for this assignment, so this one will be just you two. In and out, unspotted save by the dungeon itself." Cerise leans over and picks up a wooden box which she places onto the desk in front of her.

"Should we be aware of the artifact's purpose, Lady Darktouched?"

"Yes, you'll need to be the ones to explain it to Rotwood, as they don't know we're giving this to them." The succubus opens the lid of the container, and the agents peer inside to find six large crystals - although they're rough and unpolished, so certainly not the gems one would find in a treasure chest. Cerise explains before the pair can ask. "These are cores for Earth Elementals. Specially modified by the Dragonlord themselves. By applying mana, a dungeon can awaken the elementals on-site."

Lyota frowns. "Which does what, exactly? I'm aware that Worthy Dungeon uses Water Elementals as guards, but she doesn't make heavy use of them since they're just mortals like anyone else. If they die, they die permanently. Even if the elementals agree to work for Rotwood, half a dozen more guards won't do much to change the dungeon."

The Enigmatic Emissary closes the box once again as she continues her explanation. "These elementals have been modified in two ways. One, they're made of stone taken from Rotwood itself, which means this particular set will only work as we wish specifically for Rotwood. This is something of a test batch, and if things work as we hope we would like for you to recover more stones for us to use in the same way. The other aspect involves discoveries the Dragonlord made when studying Worthy Dungeon. As it happens, Worthy's unlocked a particular trait which perhaps no other dungeon's done before, and the Dragonlord's been experimenting with ways to reproduce it in other dungeons."

"Ooh?" Dave leans in. "I'm so excited, I can barely keep my teeth from rattling! What's the deal with these cores?"

"When you get to Rotwood, tell the first guardian you wish for a meeting with the avatar. We haven't dealt with Rotwood in a few decades but they should be on good enough terms for a meeting. Then offer them this deal..."

The succubus goes into the terms of the agreement, one to be presented to the dungeon as a trade, but is really more along the lines of an experiment with Rotwood as a test subject. The possibilities of the experiment's success worry Lyota but excite Dave, although the lack of facial expressions on the undead makes it hard to be certain.

After fifteen minutes to be sure that everything's been covered, Cerise hands the small chest over to Lyota and stands up. "You'll meet with one of our infiltration teams who will get you across the border, and once you're within twenty miles or so of the dungeon you can fly the rest of the way there in the typical manner."

Dave's eagerness fades at that mention. "Ugggh, I hate 'the typical manner'! How about we just walk there, like a couple of normal adventurers?"

"We'd need one of the best illusionists in Domain to be confident about passing you off as a 'normal adventurer', Dave." Lyota shakes her head as she fits the box into her bottomless bag. "And while I might not be a wanted figure in the Valleylands, I'd rather not test it. Avoiding patrols in the forests and valleys is one thing, but we'll never get to the entrance of a popular dungeon without some Challenger spotting us. So no - twenty miles out your armor goes in my bag, and I'll hand-carry you the rest of the way."

"I'm a warrior, dammit! I've been getting Challenger-tier training and everything! They won't give me an official ID, but I'm an Expert now and they say soon I could be as good as a Master! I deserve a little more respect than being carried around like a hand-purse!"

Lyota stands up and eyes Dave up and down before responding. "...No, you really don't. Just try and be quiet this time, taking a stealthy airborne approach is wasted if one of us is cracking jokes the whole way there."

Dave gets up as well, and crosses his armored arms. "It's a fear reaction! I joke when I'm nervous. I'm scared of heights."

His partner tilts her head. "...You joke constantly. I'm not sure I've ever heard you stop."

"I'm a very anxious person, alright? One might even say that - "

Cerise groans as she covers her ears.

" - Say that going on these missions makes me weak at the knees! I can't help but rib you a little when I've got bone-chilling fears working their way up my spine! I may have the heart of an adventurer, but the truth is my humerus nature is only skin-deep!"

"Keep that up and we'll find out if you can survive being put into a bottomless bag. Now come on, we'll need to prepare for our journey."

"Aye aye, ma'am!" Lyota gives Cerise a nod before making her way out of the office, but Dave pauses before following her.

"Ah, if I might ask something, Emissary? Completely serious, this time."

The apparently-genuine question actually manages to surprise the succubus. "You're free to ask. What is it, Dave?"

"We've been visiting a few dungeons these past few months, but not Worthy Dungeon. Do you think...well, if another team is put together to visit - "

"You want to visit Xenia?" Cerise sighs. "I understand, but that's...not something I would arrange casually. Nor do we have any reason to visit her at the moment. But...eventually, sooner or later, I'm sure we'll be making contact again. As for whether or not you'll be on the team to do so, I'm afraid I can't make any promises."

"Fair enough. No rush! I'm sure Xenia and I will meet again eventually! I feel it in my - "

"Please get to work, agent."

"Yes, ma'am!"

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