I reach the Elke estate faster than I had hoped. I've been trying to understand what I've seen for the entire walk, and I've made only slight progress.
Looking up at the massive metal gate, I heave a sigh and enter.
No one stops me, after all, her grace has given me explicit access to the grounds.
I reach her grace's residence shortly, a servant attending to some matters nearby quickly coming to greet me.
"Sir Wilhelm, I did not expect to see you again so soon. Seeing as Lady Heidi is not with you, has she sent you to retrieve something?"
"No, is her grace available? I must discuss something with her."
The servant pauses for a moment. I see his eyebrow raise for a moment before he hides it. "I apologize, Sir Wilhelm. I am not privy to that information. However, if you give me a few moments, I will be able to find out."
I quietly gesture for him to do so, watching him hastily go inside.
I sigh once again, not looking forward to this meeting.
Her grace Hanna, is a good person. She cares for those under her command and is competent enough to keep her position. However, she can be arrogant at times and is fiercely protective of Heidi. Who has been injured under my watch.
I gaze up into the sky, pondering how this meeting may go. The cloud formations remind me of the ones I saw inside that dungeon. And remembering those clouds makes me remember the things that flew without wings or magic.
As I wait, I might as well use this time to try and understand.
They flew without wings or magic. That is a contradictory statement. To fly without magic, you need wings.
There are 2 possibilities.
1. They did have wings, I just couldn't see them from my position, or my brief glance wasn't enough to determine which part was the wing.
2. They weren't flying; they were jumping between the structures. When I looked up, I caught them mid jump.
Of course, there's always the third option. I simply can't understand what I saw.
I'm leaning toward options two and three.
Someone coughs nearby.
Looking back down, I see the servant has returned.
"Sir Wilhelm, her grace is available. She is in her office waiting for you as we speak."
I nod at him and walk inside. The servant doesn't follow. I know my way to the office.
Walking into the mansion, I am greeted with marble floors, long corridors, and guards patrolling.
After a few minutes of walking through corridors and up stairs, I arrive at the office.
Pausing for a moment, getting my thoughts together, I knock on the door.
"You may enter." The voice of Hanna comes from behind the door.
Opening the door, I see her immediately. Long brown hair, sharp gaze, black eyes, and ornate but practical clothing.
"What did you wish to discuss, Wilhelm?"
"I failed."
"You what?"
"I failed."
Hanna goes silent, her gaze drifting from my eyes to behind me.
"Where is my daughter?"
"With priest Ludwig. Recovering."
Hanna falls silent once more, her hands coming together in front of her.
"How? How did you manage to get Heidi injured to the point of needing a priest? In an E-rank dungeon, no less? Heidi, by herself, is strong enough to at least defend herself against an E-rank boss. How did you manage to get her that injured, in a dungeon so weak we couldn't detect it with our usual methods? Wilhelm. When I hired you, I expected competence. I expected strength. I expected you to protect my daughter."
Hanna takes a deep breath.
"You have 5 minutes to give me a reason not to have you executed."
"Because my instincts were right. That dungeon is more dangerous than anything I have experienced. If I were not there, Lady Heidi would likely be dead."
"Wilhelm, your time has decreased to 2 minutes. I do not want lies. I do not want half-baked excuses you made to save yourself. Give me a reason."
"Your grace, I have lived for over 92 major rotations. I have raided over 1000 dungeons. I am one of the most experienced adventurers this nation has ever seen. And I have not once lied to an employer. Even when I almost cost the prince his life, I was honest about it. Why would I lie about this?"
Hanna only sits there, looking at me.
"Also, Lady Heidi is not harmed. She is recovering from mana exhaustion."
After a few moments of silence, Hanna speaks again. "Fine. I believe you." She runs a hand through her hair. "I am stupid enough to ignore facts in my rage. And, looking back, you did warn me about your instincts. Alright, what happened?"
"I, myself, am not completely sure. What I am about to tell you is impossible to fully describe."
Hanna's eyes squint slightly. "Duely noted."
"The first thing that must be clarified is that the dungeon does not have natural mana. Secondly, the inside of the dungeon is beyond disorienting. I was blinded, deafened, and my sense of smell was assaulted by dozens of scents I can't describe. Thirdly, I believe the monsters within the dungeon are a new species. They are slightly taller than dwarves, resemble us, and, most peculiarly, were not immediately hostile."
I pause, taking a breath and allowing Hanna time to ask any questions. She doesn't.
"Fourthly, the immediate environment is... odd. There are towers of steel that stretch into the sky. Not just a few, either, I suspect hundreds of them. My only guess for their purpose would be residence. Fifthly, unknown means of flight. I heavily suspect I did not see correctly in my disoriented state, but I witnessed things flying across the sky without wings. Sixthly, I suspect the monsters possess a minor form of sentience."
Hanna's eyebrows immediately furrow. "Elaborate."
"I saw fear. As I was still disoriented from the sudden lack of mana and the assault on my senses, I witnessed 6 monsters retreat from me. They didn't run, they didn't roar. They slowly backed away from me while a warrior protected them. Additionally, they did not attack me immediately, as I have stated before. They only attacked once I used magic to defend Lady Heidi when she collapsed upon entering the dungeon."
I see Hanna look down slightly. I've come to recognize this as a sign of deep thought.
After a period of silence, she looks back up at me. "Prepare your weapons, I will be assigning you a squad of over 200 C-rank and 50 B-rank adventurers to explore this dungeon."
"Your grace, if I may."
"Yes?"
"I implore you. Do not send anyone back into that dungeon."
I see her raise an eyebrow. "And why is that?"
"There is a detail I neglected to mention, as not to interrupt your thinking. That dungeon is, at minimum, high A-rank in actual danger."
"What?"
"I do not know how, I cannot rationalize it, but the barriers I made to defend Lady Heidi were destroyed in less than 3 seconds. I had made over 30 in my haste. There is also the fact that entering it is so disorienting that I couldn ot act until my mind was forced into action by Heidi's collapse. If she were not there, I do not know if I would have made it out."
(Time shorter than 1 day will be translated)
Hanna stares at me for a second before looking down again.
A few moments later, she speaks again. "You may go. I require time to think on this. Return when Heidi has recovered, or another matter requires my attention."
I silently bow and leave the office. That went better than I expected.