Chương 31: 1-30 A time for plans

Zassa and Dizzy were less than pleased after Josef explained the whole situation to them, but ultimately couldn't refute his decision to join the team headed into the dungeon. If anything, they looked more upset about not being able to do the same thing themselves, as nobody wanted to accept a future where Cana didn't come back, leaving her daughter to grow up with no parents whatsoever.

Coco herself was thankfully still too young to pick up on the danger surrounding her mother, though she still got infected by the uneasy atmosphere, making her fidgety and unable to rest. Even though she was used to her mother disappearing for days at a time, spending time with her 'aunties', as she would call them, she could still tell that something had changed from before.

Fortunately, Nibbles proved to be an expert playmate for the little lycan, helping to tire her out until they could put her to bed for the night. The rodent himself also became a topic of discussion for the night, after Josef asked whether it would be possible to leave his familiar out of the dungeon while he himself headed inside.

"Possible, me think" was Dizzy's verdict after thinking hard.

"Needs follow, or left behind. Have seen."

"Absolutely not!" Zassa was more decisive in her answer, though she wasn't exactly talking about the feasibility of the task.

"That plan of yours is already stupendously dangerous. You cannot seriously consider leaving behind one of your familiars!"

"I can't reasonably explain his abilities without uncovering my affinity, or can I?" he challenged the lamia for an answer, knowing her reaction wasn't based on objectivity, but fear.

"At least he can do some good over at Charly's while I'm away, instead of sitting around and not doing anything while I blend into the crowd. If push comes to shove and I have no other option but to use my healing magic, then I might as well cast it myself. At that point, it wouldn't make a difference."

Josef still struggled to imagine how things were going to go down during the upcoming dungeon delve, but if Vasaj was going to send his own men inside to infiltrate the team, then he would rather just leave the bulk of the work to them. The smaller his own role in this whole mess, the better. In the end, the only thing he cared about was pulling out Cana, and everything else was secondary.

In the end, Zassa couldn't do anything but sigh helplessly at his stubbornness, because he was not ready to budge on that matter. Not to mention that Nibbles could also still generate him some amount of gains in levels, and possibly affinity, while being apart. At least Josef hoped so, as he couldn't exactly test this method before putting it into practice. Still, he was confident, both in Dizzy's opinion and the ridiculous things the system could pull off.

After clearing the air at the tavern, Josef headed back out and over to Charly's shop, this time moving above ground, to inform her of his upcoming absence and to leave Nibbles with her to work in his stead. The elderly reptile had already closed shop for the night, as his departure had already been near closing time, but he could get her to open the front door after several minutes of banging on the door.

Charly wasn't happy to be called on in such an annoying manner, but gave Josef the chance to explain himself before she would twist off his ears. She still considered doing so after he was done with his story, but settled for showing mercy after explaining that he would leave Nibbles with her to care for the sick. There was a caring heart hidden somewhere below her faded scales and strict demeanor, not that he would have ever said so out loud.

Her eyes got a lot colder though, when he addressed that to enter the dungeon, he would have to go with her grandchildren.

"I will not try to stop you from asking them to join you, dragons know they're old enough to make their own decisions, but know this. If you fail to return my family to me, then no mortal or dragon will find a scale of you once I am done with your remains. Do I make myself clear?" Her voice was level and devoid of anger, but it carried a promise. A promise that he wouldn't even be able to regret it if he failed her. Somehow, he didn't feel fear from this display, but something different.

It was a determination to see things through.

"I promise to return them safe and sound, even if it kills me," he swore, looking into her eyes. She harrumphed and finally pulled his ear.

"You idiot child, all of you are supposed to come back alive. Do you think those people are going to heal themselves? Off with you, go tell them the news. I'm afraid at least one of them is going to be overjoyed by this." She shook her head as she headed back into the building, letting Nibbles pass as she did so. Before the door fully closed behind her, in a moment of slight hesitation, he heard her mumble.

"Don't die." With that, the door closed completely, leaving Josef alone on the street, or as alone as a summoner can be, at least.

"Let's go, Dusty." They headed out into the dark, towards the brothers' home. Josef had some concerns about taking this route all on his own after what happened a couple of nights prior, but compared to the challenges up ahead, making his way through the town on his own seemed laughably simple. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Still, he recognized a certain alley on his way, one that still smelled like blood to him, even though rain had already washed away most of the evidence of what had happened before. Someone had also clearly taken away the body that they had left behind that night, and he wondered what had happened to it. Was someone making rounds and collecting bodies that lay around in the streets?

Once he wasn't busy saving his friend, he would have to find out where they buried bodies like that, so he could go there and pay his respects. Maybe then he could finally rest at night without thinking about those cold, dead eyes. Josef reached his final destination of the day, as hopefully those two would host him for the night. Not that he doubted Zippa's willingness to do so, but Bezzo was definitely going to be difficult about it, he imagined.

That was if the two of them were even willing to go along with this entire plan, as everything hinged on them joining up with the adventuring team that set out tomorrow and taking him along as their apprentice. He suddenly felt like a little kid, going home to ask for forgiveness for something stupid he had done. Something stupid like putting everything into action without even asking the brothers first.

Sure, they were the furthest away from the black market, so visiting them last wasn't illogical, as he only had so much time to get everything in order. However, if they didn't agree, then everything else he did that night was entirely pointless. With a sigh, he got ready to knock on the door, hoping the two of them were still up and willing to hear him out. Just as his fist was about to rap on the door, it opened on its own, revealing the younger of the two brothers.

"Come on in already," he rumbled in his usual exasperated voice. They hadn't even met today, but somehow the reptile was already done with his presence. Has Zippa been difficult again? Probably.

"I heard you arrive out front minutes ago. Whatever got you glued to our door, you might as well move it inside." Josef morosely followed inside.

"How did you know it was me?" He was curious, realizing that Bezzo's senses must be a lot sharper than he would have expected.

"You have the same flat steps as an elf, but sound too heavy for one." He was about to get interrupted for basically calling Josef fat, but already continued.

"Also, your familiar sounds weird. It's like there's a storm brewing inside of it. Unsettling little thing." In response, Dusty produced a noise that sounded like snapping metal, while showing off his teeth. Wait, were those pointy fangs further inside his mouth? While Bezzo looked startled by the display, Josef didn't hesitate for more than a moment before he ignored the rabbit and closed the door behind him. He knew better than to use logical thoughts on the bunny, as those were never effective.

To his surprise, the two of them clearly weren't getting ready for bed yet, if the gear spread out on their table was any indication.

"So…" he tried to gather the right words, catching the attention of one very thoughtful looking Zippa.

"You wouldn't have heard about that expedition into the dungeon tomorrow, have you?" He received two synchronized nods as his answer.

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised, since you are signed up with the guild after all. Going by how this looks, I guess you are already planning to join?" Zippa looked a little uneasy at the question, as if he had been caught doing something illegal.

"Sorry Jo, I swear we wanted to tell you, but the notice for it came in very suddenly. And granny said that you had already left when I went to her place. I didn't plan to leave without saying anything." Josef tuned out the rest of the apologies that came out of the reptile's mouth like an avalanche, as he realized how the guy in front of him had somehow stressed himself out over something he had no fault in.

"Stop!" he finally interrupted him before that could continue any longer.

"You did nothing wrong, Zip. In fact, it's my fault for just running off. I left the clinic because I heard the same thing and went to get more information, and to make a plan on how to help my friend out of the dungeon."

"I understand that you are worried about your friend. Many people are in the same position right now, with no one returning from the dungeon, but what are you planning to do?" Bezzo's voice cut into the conversation with its usual leveled sharpness.

"You of all people should understand how stupid it is to join an expedition when Sanctum is taking part. Do you have a death wish or something? You cannot be that desperate to get down there with us." There was some concern hidden within the sharp words the lizard had for him, telling Josef that there was some thought about his wellbeing. He was thankful for that, understanding that the younger of the two brothers didn't easily show his heart, but he couldn't be deterred by that.

Those two clearly didn't trust Sanctum, not after what had happened to Zippa's arm, but they probably weren't aware of how deep their corruption already went. Or maybe they were, considering their grandmother seemed to know Zassa personally, but he couldn't be sure of that. At the very least, they didn't know that those people couldn't be allowed to find Cana, or she would never return home to her daughter. They also didn't know what they were walking into.

Not that Josef had a much better idea of what was happening inside the dungeon, but his encounter with the slimes at least told him that things were going to go differently from what anyone could expect. Even if they had already settled on joining that expedition, he didn't want to let them head in there blind to the danger they were running into. Not if he could help them prepare even a tiny bit better, to save them from the trouble he himself had caused.

That's why he had to make sure they knew about what had happened between Cana and the healers of Sanctum, about his first foray into the dungeon, and about his heartstone. He trusted Zip implicitly with those secrets, knowing that there wasn't a single mean fiber in that guy's body. As for Bezzo? He trusted in the love he had for his brother, which had to be enough not to spread news about his friendship with someone who is both a healer and a Drake.

In fact, with his composed nature, he was probably more trustworthy than his older brother.

"The truth is…" This was going to be a long night, and he wasn't even looking forward to the next morning.