"What!" Chase loudly exclaimed not expecting Leo to tell him that the job his party dragged themselves all the way here to do had already been completed.
"What do you mean it's done?" Asked Chase's wife Yara, her expression confused and befuddled by the news.
"As you may have noticed we just came out of the monster lair." Leo pointed behind him with his thumb. "Along with Frost senpai here we explored three different areas and witnessed many species of monsters, as long as you accept my earlier request, we'll hand over the information thus allowing you to conclude your investigation." The group were stunned, with that degree of information their quest would be more than complete but…
"Why?" Chase asked, his gaze drifting towards Frost. He knew of Leo and Luna's strength, there was no way for them to effectively explore it when even the [Artic Warband] failed. Frost was probably the one who gained this information, but he couldn't understand why he would happily give up his rights for rewards and achievements.
Leo sighed before speaking
"Frost isn't from Northrend and he isn't a registered adventurer, for him to claim the rewards would be difficult and the info would be considered unreliable. Thus, the Furano household will reward him in the guild's place whereas officially it would be you who investigated. Does that answer your question?"
Leo and Luna were both quite surprised when Frost told them he wasn't a member of the adventurer's guild, an uncommon affair given his strength.
When asked why he replied with "I've lived in the Glacial mountains my entire life and never felt the need to register as one." Simple and true but they still refused to call him anything other than 'Frost senpai'. He was their senpai in life and in strength as they put it. The two then both highly recommended that he register as one when he visits Furano, that way if he does anything else noteworthy, he could claim the credit and the rewards without any issue.
Chase looked over Frost in understanding.
'He looks like an elf, he's probably from a reclusive village so it makes sense. Doesn't look like he wants any unnecessary attention either.' He looked towards his companions who nodded back.
"Very well young master Leo we accept your terms and…" He moved towards Frost.
"In regards to the monster lair's credit thank you, if you ever need the services of the [Glacial scions], we'll be there for you." Chase stretched out his hand to shake, he never was one to take advantage of people, regardless of their origins or situation.
Frost smiled, greatly appreciating Chase's demeanour and attitude before happily accepting the gesture
"I'm glad I can leave these two in such capable hands." Frost then turned to Leo and Luna in order to say goodbye. Both of them looked dispirited but tried their best to remain positive.
"Thank you for all your aid Frost senpai, I hope to meet you in Furano soon." Leo bowed his head in gratitude.
"Thank you for all you've done for us Frost senpai." Luna bowed as well; her eyes still puffy from crying.
"It was my pleasure, I should visit in a few days or so, we can catch up then." Frost waved goodbye, as did Luna and Leo. The two held back their tears as they walked away with the [Glacial scions]. His work was done, whether they made it back home or not was no longer his problem. However not everyone left, Ryuu sent his daughter and Leo ahead so he could speak to Frost alone.
Luna no longer as opposed to her father's actions acquiesced after confirming that he would only talk and nothing more. Once the group entered the trees and were out of earshot Ryuu once more regained his imposing aura and faced Frost in his official status.
"My humblest thanks for rescuing my daughter and the young master Leonardo, I Ryuu Satoru court mage of the Furano Viscounty and former B-rank adventurer owe you a life debt." Ryuu bowed elegantly as if he was greeting royalty, present before Frost was not Luna's father nor Leo's uncle but a court mage of the empire. His words carried great weight; Frost struggled to contain his smile.
'Jackpot!' Ryuu was a big fish and he owed him, how much benefits could this bring he wondered.
After saying his piece Ryuu stood up straight and looked into Frost's eyes as if he was memorising his face. He wasn't shocked by Frost's beauty as he had many dealings with elves and was good at keeping his calm in any situation.
"In regards to this incident, how much do you know?" The atmosphere around Ryuu changed, he was speaking in his official capacity. He needed to control this incident as best he could, and Frost was an unknown variable.
His glare and the presence surrounding him sent a shiver down Frost's spine, making him feel as though any lie that passed through his lips would be seen through in an instant.
"Haaaaaaa" He sighed deeply before answering.
"Pretty much everything…Leo and Luna told me exactly what was going on. They didn't wish to involve an innocent person, but I refused to listen. They told me exactly who was chasing them and why." Frost chose to be completely honest finding no benefit in trying to pass off any lie or omission, Ryuu didn't give him the impression of someone who'd return a favour with a dagger.
Ryuu sighed as he rubbed his temples and shook his head, he was afraid of hearing that answer.
"You realise that this puts you in great danger, right?"
"I do and I chose to help anyway."
"Haaaa then you might as well help all the way." Since Frost knew too much, regardless of how he acts Adam would try to retaliate. The safest place would be by their side.
'If he's going to be in the crosshairs anyway might as well rope him to our side,' Given the disparity in their abilities Ryuu was able to accurately gauge his strength, a level he believed would be quite useful in the battle to come.
"Excuse me?" He balked, not expecting Ryuu to come at him from such an angle.
'Where's my extra reward for my service, the promise to protect my identity and the assurance that Adam would pay for his misdeeds' Frost felt as though he just got played.
'Tsk' Maya clicked her tongue in annoyance but refused to speak any further allowing Frost to make his own decision.
"I don't mean to be rude kid you're strong but you're not strong enough to fight Leo's uncle alone, he'll come for you, and it won't be bandits that he sends."
Frost felt iffy, but couldn't exactly argue, Ryuu himself could kill him without much issue. It stands to reason that Adam would have some powerful affiliates if he's fighting against the current Viscount.
"Unfortunately, you've already picked a side." Ryuu sighed for a third time before turning around to join up with his daughter.
"When you visit Furano come to the lord's mansion, we can discuss it more in depth there." He said one last thing before vanishing into the Northrend forest.
Frost clenched his fists as he watched Ryuu walk away.
'Tsk he certainly has a way with words.' Although he was annoyed, he didn't dislike Ryuu's actions.
'Unfortunately, he's not wrong, that Adam will quickly find out your involvement and try to eliminate you. Unless you stay couped up in the Dungeon, you'll always have a target on your back.' Maya didn't sugar coat the situation, laying the facts bare.
Her blunt approach instead of filling him with fear made him laugh wildly, an evil, predatory smirk forming across his lips. "Let him come then, I'll teach him all about a Dungeon core's wrath." Frost had already made his decision to get even with Adam due to the wyvern poison. Having the aid of Leo's family would just make it easier and more enjoyable. He didn't fear being targeted, he had confidence in his strength, strength that was growing every day. Plus, it would feel rather boring to leave the Dungeon without any danger.
'Hahaha that sounds like fun young master, let's get him back 10 times over hahaha.' Maya laughed evilly within his head; a shame she couldn't act personally but assisting her young master in his venture would be no less satisfying.
"Brrrrr" Leo suddenly felt a cold shiver rush down his spine causing him to look back.
"What is it?" Luna asked seeing him stop.
"Nothing just a shiver." Leo couldn't help but feel weird, his instincts were telling him something, but he didn't know what it was.
Back in the Dungeon's private space Frost had returned to the lounge and was being brought a cup of lemon tea by Maya.
"Should we run through our current situation." They needed to see how much DP the Dungeon gained from this mass slaughter before deciding on how to spend it.
"Sounds good young master." Maya walked over to the table and placed a cup of tea in front of Frost before blowing on her own.
Frost brought up the Dungeon menu and moved towards the DP records section. "Let's see we've got, wow over 7000DP almost half of what we started with." That's a lot of DP, still a fair amount away from getting a second floor which was 10,000DP, but they could easily enlarge the current sections and even buy several D-rank monsters.
'Killing intruders certainly has a lot of perks, it's a shame that opportunities such as the bandits won't come around often.' He couldn't constantly kill his intruders otherwise they'd increase the threat level of the Dungeon attracting foes that were too powerful. If someone like that Ryuu was influenced, he'd be a dead Dungeon core. He only had access to D-rank monsters for now, attracting anyone ranked higher would be akin to shooting himself in the foot.
"Hmmm that's weird." Maya spotted something unusual. The menu was currently displaying the fully itemised DP records allowing Frost and Maya to see every single change.
"What is it?" Frost moved closer trying to get a look at she was seeing.
"There" Maya pointed to a time several hours ago, it was while he was suffering from the wyvern poison.
"Luna and Leo's daily income was only around 40, right?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
"Then why did it jump to 120 here." On the menu it showed that for at least four hours Luna and Leo's DP had tripled.
"That's?" Frost didn't know how to answer; he had no clue. The Dungeon guidebook didn't mention anything like this either.
'Father did say that there were features that I'd have to figure out on my own perhaps this is one of them.' He thought back, trying to remember what was happening during those four hours. The two sat in silence as they thought of a reason.
"Ah!" Maya suddenly exclaimed in realisation
"You thought of something."
"They were locked in." Maya smiled in triumph, sure that she was right.
"This timeframe is when you were fighting against Alex and suffered from the wyvern poison. During that time Luna and Leo had locked and barricaded themselves within one the third section's rooms. That must be it. Victims being sealed or locked in must generate more DP." The more she spoke the more sure Maya became.
Frost wasn't sure, there wasn't enough data to make a solid hypothesis however if what Maya said was true.
'This could dramatically increase DP income for people staying long periods of time.'
"We'll have to test it to make sure." By locking people in and not killing them they could recoup the same amount in just over 3 days instead of 10. Images of an adventurer prison filled Frost's mind before quickly being erased.
'That's a bit too risky, besides where would it go.' He scrubbed the idea of a prison at least for now, who knows how the locals would react if it was discovered.
"I can't wait for another intruder." Maya was eager to test this theory, hoping for an adventurer to appear right now while Frost continued to think of methods of increasing their DP gain through this method.
'Pit falls that lead to a sealed room, locking rooms when something is taken or moved, hell I could even open up some kind of hotel.' The ideas just kept flowing. Eventually Frost manged to return to topic, how to spend the 7000DP they had.
"First off replacing the lost monsters?"
"5 goblins, a horned rabbit and an artic fox."
"That's all? That won't even take 300DP." Frost was more than surprised by Maya's answer. Considering the number of opponents and the strength of Alex and Redhawk he expected to have to spend at least 500DP.
"Yeah, I pulled back the scouts fairly quickly once Alex made his move, and the bandit underlings were pretty useless only luckily killing a few." Maya shrugged as she answered as if it was expected.
Frost smiled feeling a sudden urge to go shopping.