<~> Chapter 128

The next day, Luna and I were waiting near the entrance of the dungeon along with a few of the other delvers. It was about midday, and if our measure of time was right, the moon would be overhead inside. It seems that the two of us weren't the only ones curious to see what would happen from the outside.

It started with a trickle of water that progressed into a proper flood. The soldiers had been a bit more prepared for it this time. They had dug small canals to take the water away from the entrance and used a primitive pump and water mages to stop it from overwhelming the dam. It wasn't a permanent solution since it required a lot of manual labor to maintain at this stage, but the soldiers were still working to reinforce the dam, and they didn't have a better solution for the water yet. I was surprised to see that there was a decent amount of knowledge about fluid dynamics in this world already. I didn't know a ton myself, but I was familiar with some of the basics of how plumbing worked. The fact they had a working pump at all was pretty impressive, considering how primitive a lot of other things seemed. The distribution of technological advances was all over the place, as usual.

Things got hectic once the first of the crabs fell down the stairs, but the soldiers had been prepared and barred off the stairs with a metal grate they had hastily constructed. It wasn't a great solution, but it gave the soldiers time to form lines to control the situation. We had been asked not to interfere with the soldiers, so we hung back and just kept watch. They would be responsible for holding the gate. Our role was to explore the dungeon, and we were off for the day while things got a bit more organized.

"Saltwater!" I heard one of the far-off water mage soldiers yell. She was far enough away that I was probably the only one in the group that could hear her. The soldiers shifted their efforts to separate the water from the oasis water, collecting it in large metal bins instead of dumping it into the lake.

("One of the guards said the water is salt water,") I told Luna.

She frowned. ("That means that the snake monster was indeed some kind of floor boss and hasn't respawned yet.")

("Doesn't that also mean that the dungeon will eventually make this lake undrinkable if delvers repeatedly kill that snake monster? Or if they stop it from taking the salt from the water before it drains down the stairs?") I asked.

("I'm not sure. Water mages are able to desalinate the water, but it's a time-consuming task that takes decently skilled water mages to accomplish. I'm not sure how safe the dungeon will be to traverse if that snake monster isn't dealt with either, though,") Luna replied.

("Do you think that would be enough to give up on the dungeon?") I asked.

Luna almost laughed at my question. ("No, they'll find a way... even if it involves a lot of soldiers getting killed to find a solution. I think you underestimate the sheer economic, military, and political power that comes from exploiting a dungeon. Even if the dungeon routinely kills soldiers and delvers, it's usually worth it to anyone who can maintain control over the dungeon. After everything you've gone through, you know how dangerous dungeons can be. Did that seem to stop the many people we crossed paths with on the first few floors of the Fallow or Ironcastle dungeons?")

I felt a bit of a chill at Luna's words, but it all made sense. How many people have died in the coal, metal, and salt mines of my old world throughout history? It's not that dissimilar, even if the actual challenges are different. If anything, soldiers and delvers being able to make a living exploiting a dungeon may be preferable. Over time, they become more experienced and empowered fighters. Strong delvers are probably a resource of their own, forged and tempered in the dungeons. These city-states get stronger from exploiting dungeons, then use those fighters to tame the nearby land from monsters, and then probably war with others using those same soldiers, if possible.

("If a city gets built up around this dungeon, will it eventually form its own city-state? Like Ironcastle?") I asked.

Luna tilted her head and thought about it while watching the soldiers systematically disable and kill the crabs before pulling them away into large piles nearby. The inside of the dungeon had been chaotic, but these soldiers fighting them on the stairs were able to kill the monsters one by one and cycle out new soldiers to hold the stairs closed with the metal grate. All the while, other soldiers continued to pump and pull away the salt water and dump it into large metal tubs that quickly filled and then dragged away to be replaced with new ones. I was surprised by the variety of things the soldiers had brought on this trip and how quickly they had formed such a solid plan.

("I don't think that this place will form its own city-state, but it definitely could. I think the limiting factor will be Celeste. If she's able to effectively exploit this place, she will gain considerable political power here. While she could use that to secede from Ironcastle, that probably would benefit her less than it might other people,") Luna said.

("How come?") I asked.

("Well... for one thing, the royals of Clyclostro are likely still trying to kill her. Even if she takes control of the city that forms here, she could still use Ironcastle's support. She would also have to convince all of the soldiers who have come on this trip to side with her and not return to Ironcastle and stab other soldiers in the back on the way out. I don't know how well liked Celeste is, but even if she convinced every soldier here to join her, Ironcastle still has more, even stronger, soldiers. If there was a conflict over the secession, it would only be a matter of time before Celeste lost unless something incredibly powerful or valuable could be exploited here. Plus, it would be a huge undertaking to build the city's infrastructure, attract people to the city, and protect herself from large bands of powerful delvers that may try to take control of the city away from her if she didn't have sufficient backing from other powerful people,") Luna added.

I nodded. ("When you say it like that, it does sound unlikely that she would go for it.")

Luna smiled. ("Setting all of that aside, I also get the impression that she wouldn't want to fight against the other royals. She's obviously fond of her brother Callisto, and she didn't really have negative things to say about the others either... despite the way they spoke about her. She also had children multiple times with people she didn't love, in her words, 'to protect the people of Ironcastle' through treaties. As unsavory as those arrangements sound to me, she would have to be very dedicated to her family to entertain the idea of that, not once, but at least twice.")

I frowned. ("And she said she would have still married her betrothed in Clyclostro despite his behavior, if it hadn't been for the murder of her children.")

("Yes,") Luna agreed. ("I just don't think she would secede from Ironcastle after everything she's told us.")

("Unless the events of her time in Clyclostro changed her mind,") I noted.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Luna nodded sadly. ("True. Her children being murdered could have changed her perspective on it. Though, I assume her ire would be pointed at Clyclostro, which would only push her to build stronger ties with Ironcastle despite how they've treated her. I... We don't know her well enough yet to really predict what will happen.")

("Sure, but after talking about it with you, I think you're right. I don't see her siding against Ironcastle. Especially if Clyclostro tries to take revenge on her,") I said.

("Yes... after hearing her story, it's easy to forget that she killed Clyclostro's prince as well. She wasn't the only one that lost a child that day,") Luna said solemnly.

("Even if that prince deserved it,") I said with a growl.

Luna turned to me and studied my face. ("I hadn't expected you to defend her like that.")

I shrugged. ("I don't know her that well... I don't trust her yet... but if her story was true, it would be hard for me to side against her. I don't know if what she did was justice exactly, but in this harsh world, it's difficult to hold her actions against her... If I had children who were murdered the same way that hers were, I don't know that I would be able to stop myself from doing the same. I may have even gone further and died for it.")

Luna silently nodded and stared back at the soldiers who were still fighting off the crabs. There was a growing stack of crab bodies, but they were being efficiently pulled away as fast as they were being added. They were going to be here for a long time, but as long as they kept the soldiers on it fresh, they would have an easier time than I heard the delvers had inside the dungeon. Things would eventually get easier when the flooding slowed as well. As long as they maintained their energy and continued to rotate soldiers, they would keep this place under control.

After watching for a while longer, the other delvers began to leave, satisfied that the soldiers had everything under control. The two of us were the last to leave, though I suspected it was only because of the contemplative silence between us. Luna had a complicated look on her face as she stared out into the distance with unfocused eyes. I wasn't sure what she was thinking, but I didn't want to interrupt her either.

"Luna! Helena!" Piper called out.

The two of us turned around to see Piper run over to us with a huge smile on her face. "Hey you two! That chef said that the monster meat is edible! Come on, he wants us to be the first to try it!"

I shared a grin with Luna before following Piper back toward the center of camp where his station had been set up. When we arrived, he had already set out plates and bowls with a variety of ingredients next to them. It looked like he had lots of different things ready to experiment with.

The chef turned to me with a big smile on his face. "Helena! You're here! I confirmed it. The parts you indicated are edible! I also tested some of the other things, just in case. As expected, the organ meat you told me to discard isn't edible, but the 'crab butter' is fine despite your warning. The shells aren't edible either."

"You tested the shells?" I asked.

"Yep! Just in case! You never know for sure when it comes to these things. Anyway, that just leaves the meat, which I confirmed is fine. I've also already prepared them so that the magic inside should withstand the cooking and preparation process! Now, how do I cook it?" he asked with sparkling eyes.

"Uh..." I was taken aback. "I... don't know?"

His brows furrowed. "You... knew how to break open the shells, but you don't know how to cook them?"

I laughed awkwardly. "I saw someone on t- uh, I watched someone break open the shells before. I don't know anything about how to cook them. Except maybe that you cook the crab legs in the shell... so like, you boil them?"

The chef stared at me blankly before looking over at the pile of giant crab legs that he had prepared. "Well... at least I have plenty to test out if I get the timing wrong... I'd better craft some potions to deal with food poisoning, just in case..."

"I can tell you if it looks like it's cooked right if that helps..." I said while lowering my ears.

He sighed before taking a pot of water and putting it on his grill. "Well, it's a start. We'll have to keep the food to small batches at first. I know that there's nothing toxic inside the food, but that doesn't mean that it's safe from normal contaminants that cooking would get rid of. It'll take a bit more trial and error, but this is a fun part of the process too. I was just kind of hoping that you would have a better idea since you seemed to know so much about these..."

"Yeah, uh... sorry..." I said before laughing awkwardly.

Piper patted the chef on the shoulder. "It's okay, Alto! I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out! If it's just normal foodborne illnesses, I can cure that with my healing magic. Give it your best shot and I'll take care of it if one of us gets sick. I believe in you!"

The poor guy looked like he was going to melt under her attention, but it did seem to raise his spirits quite a lot. He smiled and lit the fire under his pot with a quick application of fire magic and started to get the water boiling.

Alto blushed as he started fiddling with a second bowl. "Let me bake some bread for all of us too. I'll need your help taste testing, especially if you can protect all of us from food poisoning."

"Sure, you can leave it to me!" Piper said happily.

The more I watched Piper, the more I was convinced she wasn't doing it on purpose. The guy looked a bit like a tomato, yet she still hadn't seemed to have caught onto how she was affecting him. Either she was completely oblivious, or she was setting up a really nasty prank. Piper wasn't that mean, right?

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