Chương 101: (B2.37)

37) Militia Ellen Leona had helpfully flown down to scout out what was happening, despite the high cost of the spell. Her report had been worrying in some ways, but relieving in others. By the time she got there, the crowd had dispersed, but even the scholarly mage could tell that there had been some kind of fight. The look ahead had been enough that the Ellens who had rushed down to help had not felt the need to be reckless.

Thus, it had taken a few hours to get from Onroc down to the Treetop Inn, and by that time the situation had calmed somewhat. Most of the adventurers had retreated to just outside the village to camp and figure out what they wanted to do. Several of the more sympathetic adventurers had taken watch over the troublemakers, for now. They'd be taking them back to Merriweather after the guilty parties were healed enough to travel, where the Guild would be informed of the issues.

It was very likely nobody would be seeing those adventurers for a very long time, if ever. Only two small parties—one with three and one with four—had been let back in. Ellen looked both up and down, but she hadn't rushed herself in getting a Tier 2 Class yet, so she didn't have any real sizing up Perks. She was a normal Fighter, even if she was approaching the Tier 2 selection. Her read on them was purely from the memories of being in the Adventuring Party.

"Stop staring at them, they're fine," Village muttered, jolting Ellen out of her thoughts. Village was not looking well, even with her rapid healing at work. Her face was a sickly green and purple from the bruising cycling through the healing, and she had a faint lisp with her words. Most of her teeth had grown back in, but they were still fitting properly in her mouth. Ellen winced as she saw the other Ellen's side though. Lycanthropic regeneration was amazing at getting the body functional…

but the last little bit of healing took longer. It was much faster than natural healing, but she was forced to wear a bandage around her side and it was already showing red seeping through. Even if Village would be perfectly fine in a couple days, those days would be miserable as her body adjusted rapidly-grown bones and shifted scarred muscle. In fact, Ellen wasn't sure how well the healing worked. Village had never gotten injured this badly before, and her guesses were only as accurate as what Priestess had said.

She trusted Priestess, of course—she was one of her seven sisters—but they'd already grown apart to the point that their once-powerful syncing ability would be difficult now. She found it hard to understand the gentle healer.

"It's fine," said one of the men at the table nearby. He smiled, though there was no mirth in his voice.

"She's just watching out for you. Can't blame her. Though if she's anything like you in a fight, we definitely wouldn't want to cause trouble."

"It was still rude of me to stare," Ellen admitted quietly. She sighed as she looked the table over more casually. Three men, probably in their late twenties, with battered gear. Not one of the wealthier adventuring parties, then. Of course, adventuring had gotten a lot more difficult without very many dungeons. If they were still at it after this long, they had to be somewhat competent.

One of the other men—a slightly younger-looking one with a hook nose and odd, pale hair that was almost white—took the opportunity to speak up.

"What's odd to me is how you're clearly set up to be more of a fighter than her. Nobody's going to want to mess with you after seeing what she did, but you look pretty worried. Are you a lower Level?" Ellen glared at the man, but asking her Level wasn't entirely rude in this context. They were both adventurers. Reluctantly, she shrugged and answered, "I'm about to go into Tier 2. Not all of us are the same Level, but most of us are well into Tier 2. I'm sure once the dungeon opens up again I'll soar right into it."

GROWL!

"Sorry," Village mumbled sheepishly.

"I've been so hungry ever since the fight. Lauren's cooking me up something in the back, it should be ready soon. I don't know why, I've just been starving and eating everything in sight."

"High-powered regeneration can require a sudden intake of sustenance," a firm voice stated from behind Ellen. She didn't whip around, but she tensed for an instant before her memories clicked with who it was. A moment later, Theodore walked around from behind her, heading for a seat at one of the tables. One of the men at the far table—the one with four who had been quiet thus far—leapt to his feet with a clatter.

"G-Grand Mage Theodore!" he stammered, face going pale.

"What are you doing here? If I had known you were about I would have… um…" Theodore gestured for the young man to sit down, even as he slumped into a chair.

"You are not in class, Mister Chester. Your departure from the Academy was regrettable, but it is good to see you alive. I'm not angry, please go back to your… carousing." The pale-faced youth dropped back into his seat with the rest of his party, all of whom were visibly older. The younger man was definitely a mage, to be valued that young… although his reaction to Theodore made that obvious. Even Ellen, who was hardly a detective, could make the leap from the reaction to the logical endpoint.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Village Ellen's stomach growled again, and she made a face.

"Well that's just another reason not to get beat up too much. Fighter never mentioned this! Did she ever have that problem?" Ellen looked at her distant cousin-self and scratched at her head.

"Not to that amount, but thanks to having a Lifekeeper we- Fighter never really got that injured anyway." She quickly corrected her slip, then relaxed as nobody even looked at her sideways. She'd have to be more careful about that… the aftereffects of thinking as a unit like that were a lot deeper than she'd realized.

"You should go to Tier 2 as soon as you settle on a Class," Theodore advised, leaning in toward Ellen so the other adventurers didn't hear.

"I know you can level up quickly somehow… at least up to a point. You need to be stronger." Returning to his upright position, Theodore spoke up more loudly.

"These problems are going to happen again. Maybe not exactly this one—I doubt the dungeon will stay closed that long or close itself often—but adventurers can be a volatile lot. Most towns that service dungeons maintain a pretty healthy guard contingent."

"I'll see what I can do," Ellen sighed.

"Right now I'm the whole militia. We haven't really needed one because Village Ellen here has been taking care of it all, but I think for now, if I push myself to get a few more levels, I can take care of it. And if it gets bad enough that I can't handle it… well, that problem will solve itself." She grimaced as she said that. The obvious solution wasn't pleasant to her, but it would work. She just needed some way to distinguish herself so people knew who to come to.

"I think I'll start braiding my hair," she said aloud, thoughtfully.

"That would be lovely," Lauren said, stepping out of the back room with a huge plate of ribs. That was an odd choice, given Ellen hadn't seen an animal slaughtered for their meat lately, but she hadn't been keeping track of the inn. Village didn't seem surprised… just hungry. One of the older adventurers in the corner finally cleared his throat to speak up, glancing at Theo before he said anything.

"You know, there is a temporary solution. The adventurers here, we don't think you're messing with people… but it's true that everyone came here expecting loot and experience. You could find some of the more reasonable adventurers and pay them, if you have the cash." Ellen frowned at them.

"We could, but it's harder than you think getting money out here. We do get loot from the dungeon, but despite the rumors we haven't been down very far. It also hasn't been open long enough for our fees to have built up a lot of savings. I could be wrong, though… I don't handle the money. It's a good idea if we do have the money." Theodore's expression showed a raised eyebrow and mild amusement. Ellen resisted the urge to stab him… partly because she had left her spear at the back of the inn.

She quelled the frustration and oddly violent tendency, then closed her eyes and grumbled to herself.

"I really should be back up helping the others." Whisper Dungeon Ellen, as she wanted to be called, was annoyingly cheerful. Whisper wasn't sure what to think of the attitude. The girl didn't have her memories—at least not many of them—but she had a familiar personality that reminded her most of the second Adventurer Ellen. Her sibling from a few generations back had been… energetic. The worst part was that she wasn't sure if she could trust her at all.

Sleeping in shifts was just good practice, but now they all had to keep an eye on the strange creation. The only upside was that Dungeon Ellen apparently did need to sleep… and she slept like a rock. It was unnerving how deeply she slept.

"Are we there, yet?" the dungeon complained. Oh right, she was also incredibly childish for someone who had murdered multiple people in cold blood before gaining her "freedom" as she called it. That was worrying to Whisper. She was pretty sure the fake-Ellen didn't have the respect for life the others had. In all, Whisper was beginning to regret defending the girl's existence.

Not seriously enough to want her dead, but those intrusive thoughts were definitely telling her it would be easier if she'd abandoned the girl.

"Just a couple more hours," Anroll replied in a terse tone. Even he was getting fed up with the constant questions and scurrying about. Whisper sometimes wondered if this was how he'd seen her when she was younger. Or Ellen when she was younger. Whisper still wasn't sure if she should claim the same name after the things she'd done. Stage didn't seem to have a problem calling herself an Ellen, but Whisper still balked. Stage had been pretty quiet during the trip… unusually so.

When she finally spoke up, it was an odd question, Whisper thought.

"Hey Dungeon… do you think we could get the uh… dungeon to share the mana plume? We heard it could be a problem for a dungeon to rely on one too much." Dungeon abruptly stopped, forcing Anroll to step around her as the redheaded not-quite-person frowned.

"I don't know what a mana plume is yet," she answered, falling into step beside stage.

"But I don't think the dungeon likes sharing. It really doesn't like you Ellens though, so maybe that's the more important part. Why?" Anroll glanced backward as well.

"Doesn't it just let the dungeon grow faster?"

"According to Gaspar, no," Stage said, echoing what Whisper was thinking.

"They're caused by another kind of natural effect to stabilize mana, but it's not as chaotic as a dungeon. So the dungeon eating it will just make them both unstable. It's nothing to worry about for a few years, he said, but I'm thinking our dungeon is a lot different. Maybe we should think about how to handle it." Anroll shrugged, "Maybe we can cut it off from the dungeon somehow. Let things settle." Whisper flinched, and this time she replied, "No that's a terrible idea.

I think the Adventuring Party was thinking about it, but we'll have to warn them not to." Dungeon Ellen frowned again, casting a worried look between Whisper and Stage.

"Why not?" Waving a hand, Whisper shook her head.

"Nothing I can explain quickly. Has a neat name though. So long as we wean it off and don't have any sudden surges it should sputter out on its own, but I have to admit the name was really impressive.

"Who wouldn't want to see a mana volcano?"