Rise of the Living Forge-Chapter 410: Normal

“It’s a Dungeon Heart,” Lillia confirmed. The act was somewhat pointless, as the heart thumped within the oilcloth wrapping it a moment later. “That’s… quite a gift. After all the effort we went through to get the last two hearts, it almost feels creepy to just get left one like this.”

“It’s certainly generous,” Arwin agreed. He gingerly lifted the bundle. “Giving us something like this without attaching any obvious strings sets me on edge. I don’t know what Setting Sun’s game is. Especially with the whole Twelve situation.”

“I think we’re missing some context,” Vix said with, glancing at Art to make sure he was as confused as she was before continuing. “What’s a Dungeon Heart? And what exactly is the Twelve situation?”

“Maeve and I would love to know the same,” Elias said as he scratched at an arm. “For the latter half, at least. Dungeon Hearts are powerful parts hidden in some dungeons. They can be used to create some really damn powerful items by sufficiently capable crafters. Necr— ah, Norman used to hoard them. This is a pretty expensive gift.”

His brow darkened for a moment at that thought. Eleven hadn’t given them a very good answer about why Setting Sun had allowed Twelve to remain within the guild if they claimed to be ‘good’. Then again, they hadn’t exactly asked Eleven anything directly. Rodrick had his hands full making sure they didn’t accidentally reveal more information to Eleven than they wanted to.

“It’s not just a gift,” Rodrick said. He chewed his lower lip for a moment. “It’s a show of strength. They’re saying that something like a Dungeon Heart isn’t all that important to them. It’s basically posturing.”

“So they’re full of it?” Reya asked.

“That isn’t necessarily true,” Art said with a shake of his head. “You can posture and still have the power to back it up. It just means Setting Sun is letting the Menagerie know they aren’t messing around. They’re serious… one way or another.”

“I would largely agree with that, given one caveat,” Rodrick said. “Nothing about that gift made it apparent that it came from Setting Sun as a whole. Eleven is part of the guild, but that does not make her their spokesperson.”

“The tone of your voice implies there’s a difference that I’m missing.” Olive scratched at the back of her neck. “Could you elaborate?”

“Right now, we can’t say anything for certain. But if Setting Sun has ill intentions and want to hide them, it’s not impossible for them to send one person who acts toward us in good will to obscure their true goals. That person may even believe that their guild views us in a friendly light to sell things better — but the guild master could have entirely different plans. This could all just be a way to get us to lower our guard.”

“Godspit,” Reya said, squinting at Rodrick. “That’s, uh… how do I put this?”

“Paranoid?” Anna finished as the corner of her lip pulled up into a smile. “Just a bit.”

“Don’t get me wrong.” Rodrick lifted his hands into the air. “I’m not saying that Setting Sun is trying to set us up or is doing some immensely complicated plan to take us out. To be totally honest, they shouldn’t have a reason to. If they want us gone, they’re strong enough to do it. I’m just saying we should be smart about things. Making decisions without sufficient information is a very dangerous thing to do.”

That, at least, I can wholeheartedly agree with.

“What would you suggest?” Lillia asked. “It would be a shame to throw away something this useful, no matter what Setting Sun’s intentions are.”

“I fully agree with that,” Rodrick said with a nod. “Use it. Eleven gave it to us freely. And even in the scenario that she stole it from someone and is trying to set us up, it’s better to not have the stolen good in question anymore because we’ve used it on something else. Gives us deniability.”

Okay. Rodrick might be a tad paranoid. Then again, he’s a genius at this sort of thing. Can you really be paranoid if you’re always right about stuff? I suppose this is the kind of attitude that he’s had to create to get to the level of genius he’s at for information control.

Something about that felt profoundly sad to Arwin. If this was really the way Rodrick always lived life… it must have been brutal.

I wonder if we’ll ever live to see the day where the world is a place where we don’t have to think like that anymore. I don’t know. But… until that day comes, I’ll appreciate Rodrick’s talents and be thankful that they’re on our side.

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Arwin said with a firm nod. “Thank you, Rodrick. But now we’ve got a whole new problem.”

“What is it?” Lillia asked, shooting Arwin a surprised look. “Is something happening?”

“I — no. Sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood,” Arwin said through a wince. “I meant we have to figure out what to use the Dungeon Heart for. These things are incredibly useful. They can be used to create a whole new living building. I was thinking that expansion might be a good idea, but what should we make?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The Menagerie fell quiet for a few moments as they all processed his question.

Then the doors to the Devil’s Den flew open.

Esmerelda strode in, her huge bag of potions clinking loudly as it bounced against her back with every step.

“Well, hello to you too!” Esmerelda exclaimed with a crooked-toothed grin. “I didn’t realize we were having a guild meeting. Nobody said. Didn’t anybody miss me?”

“We were literally at the tournament together a short while ago,” Arwin pointed out. “And I am pointedly not asking how you got there, even though I would very much love to know.”

“I’m sure you would, pretty-boy,” Esmerelda said with a smirk. “I’m not telling you, though.”

“She was at the tournament?” Anna blinked, then glanced from Arwin to Esmerelda. “How? I saw Esmerelda near the tavern multiple times in the last few days!”

Esmerelda’s grin grew wider and she held a finger to her lips. “Hush, lass. We women have to keep our secrets. You should know that more than most. Now — what’s this discussion about that tasty little thing on the table?” freёweɓnovel.com

Ah. So that’s why she’s shown up. Can Esmerelda sense the Dungeon Heart somehow? I guess that has to be the case. Sound doesn’t make it out of the Devil’s Den because of Lillia’s magic, so she couldn’t have been eavesdropping.

“You know, you could have just been here for the whole party,” Olive said. “Nobody would kick you out. If you only show up at the end, it feels a bit suspicious.”

“What? Suspicious? Me?” Esmerelda sounded genuinely surprised at the accusation.

“Very,” Art said. He examined Esmerelda intently, then exchanged a glance with Vix before returning his attention to the old woman. “I don’t think we’ve had a chance to properly get acquainted.”

“You’re too young for my tastes,” Esmerelda said with a wave of her hand. The skin around the old woman’s eyes crinkled as her gaze landed on Vix. “But your sister… I like the looks of her.”

Art’s cane thudded as he moved to stand in front of Vix. His eyes went as cold as ice. “Don’t. Hands off my sister.”

Esmerelda let out a snort. “Don’t you worry your boney little ass, boy. The only interest I have in her is strictly professional. It’s not every day you see a warlock wandering around in broad daylight. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it before. You had your magic all bound up, didn’t you, girl?”

Warlock? That’s a class pretty much entirely reserved for dark mages in the Monster Horde.

Arwin blinked in surprise. The rest of the guild looked just as confused as he felt — all of them but Reya. Judging by the look on Reya’s face, this somehow wasn’t a surprise to her. She’d known.

“I — goddamn it, can we do one thing at a time?” Arwin asked tersely. “First off, Esmerelda, we’re not giving you the Dungeon Heart unless you’ve got a damn good plan for what to do with it.”

“I was going to eat it,” Esmerelda said without a hint of shame. “But I am now suitably distracted. Really, you should find another person with an interesting crafting class and invest in a building for them. Poach ‘em from whatever guild they’re currently with. That’s the best use for it.”

Arwin opened his mouth. Then he closed it again. Esmerelda’s suggestion was pretty evil… but it was also quite clever.

Now that I think about it, I suppose that encapsulates Esmerelda pretty well.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to go around poaching people from other guilds, but using the Dungeon Heart to recruit a competent person to the Menagerie was actually a brilliant move.

The only move is we don’t know if we can properly trust them. Still, definitely worth keeping in mind.

“What’s this about a warlock?” Rodrick asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Later,” Art said. “There’s… a lot we need to think about. I don’t think now’s a good time. Vix isn’t evil. A class doesn’t make somebody.”

“It’s fine,” Arwin said firmly. Reya’s expression told him everything he needed to know — and he didn’t feel like Art and Vix were about to turn on them just because Esmerelda had revealed Vix’s class. They’d worked with literal monsters. A warlock wasn’t going to be the end of the world. “The Dungeon Heart is more pressing. I don’t care what class Vix has right now. Ideas, please. What should we use the heart for?”

“Maybe we should build a second tavern. There are a ton of people coming now, and taverns need space,” Olive suggested.

Lillia shook her head before anyone else could speak. “I don’t need that. Expanding the Devil’s Den happens naturally, and I can do it without an extra Dungeon Heart. Even if we could upgrade the tavern… I don’t think I need it right now. Natural expansion works fine at the moment. Using the heart for something else would be better.”

“Some kind of training arena?” Reya offered.

“Interesting idea,” Arwin said, scratching his chin. “That could definitely work. Let’s keep it as an option.”

“A lot of it depends on if we find somebody that has a talent we could leverage,” Anna said. “If we do, then the Dungeon Heart would be much more useful for them specifically. We don’t want to rush ahead.”

“Definitely true,” Arwin agreed. “We won’t be making any sudden decisions for sure. We have options.”

Could I possibly use it to help Vix? That could be another option. I don’t know if I can replace someone’s real heart with a Dungeon Heart, though. I’ll have to look into it and figure out more about what her and Art’s situation is.

“What about a place specifically for Anna?” Lillia asked. “She’s been doing a lot of healing. Can’t keep doing that from a cart forever.”

Anna blinked. Then she hurriedly shook her head and lifted her hands into the air, palms first. “Oh, no. I don’t need anything like that. I couldn’t.”

A place to gather healers… that might be a good one. Definitely worth keeping it in mind. Anna is too kind to ask for it herself, but it still might be a good investment.

“It’s a possibility,” Arwin said. “But if Anna doesn’t want one, we won’t push. Let’s just focus on ideas for now. We can narrow our options down later once we’ve got a bunch of them.”

Everyone seemed more than fine with that suggestion. They were all spouting off more suggestions within moments, ranging from a tannery to a bakery. Even Esmerelda pitched in a few ideas that weren’t potion related.

A smile drifted across Arwin’s face as he watched the others toss ideas into the ring. The air felt lighter than it had in a long time. For just this moment, the rest of the world didn’t matter. This was the way things were meant to be. No Adventurer’s Guild. No threats. Just a group of friends and a goal.

It does feel like there’s something missing, though. I wonder what—

There was a knock on the door of the Devil’s Den. Before any of them could move toward it, the door creaked open of its own volition.

Standing outside was Madiv.

He cleared his throat.

“Would somebody please let me in?”

Ah. There it is.