Chapter 423 Shocking News And A Dangerous Dungeon
Out of nowhere, the lady guild master told us some rather shocking news! Apparently, there was a certain dungeon in this mountain which was discovered and promptly sealed by the best mages around the country. This was because it didn\'t just had some nasty monsters inside, but had a sea of pure Miasma inside, alongside what many speculate to be one of the Fragments of the Evil God which had been sealed in this mountain long ago.
"So there\'s Miasma down there…" Partner said. "Ugh, this is bad, the last time we fought with someone that used Miasma, we almost all died!"
"Yeah… But we had grown stronger from back then, right?" Emeraldine sighed. "I\'ve developed new magic that could be of help as well…!"
"You two are optimistic, I see." I sighed.
"Wait, what\'s with this enemy with Miasma?" Wondered Aquamarine. "Come on, talk a bit!"
"Well, you already know I am an Ancient Dragon and that we have a Vampire and a Ghost, I guess we can trust her a bit more information, right, Maria?" Lucifer asked. "I also want… to explore that dungeon, I think there\'s something down there… My memories are coming back a bit, maybe I might be able to remember something about that place."
"Huh… Well, I guess we can tell her… But how can we really trust you, Aquamarine?" I asked.
"Hmph, you\'re really untrusty of people, huh, Beelzebub?" Sighed Aquamarine.
"Name\'s Maria, thank you very much." I said angrily.
The old lady waved her hands as if saying "yeah, yeah" and then took out a strange paper imbued with a lot of magical runes.
"This is a special item we produce named Magic Contracts. There are three variety, Mortal Contracts, Magic Contracts, and Soul Contracts. This is the Soul Contract, the strongest of them all. With this item we can make a promise tied to our souls. Because of such a power, the one that tries to disobey the promise will receive a strong attack into their souls that might kill them on the spot. It is too lethal, so it is not used that much unless it is a special promise… if you don\'t trust me, how about using this?" She asked.
"Uuuuuh, yeah, no. I won\'t…" I said. "I doubt I am at good keeping promises and I don\'t want you dead, old hag…" I sighed. "I\'ll just trust you for now. If you dare betray me I\'ll come haunt you and your next generations."
"A fitting response for a ghost, I suppose." She sighed.
"Well, we can tell you a bit about it. We are in kind of a Vampire Hunt." I said. "We lastly fought a powerful Vampire that was given something named Demon\'s Heart Core… It transformed into an absolute aberration."
"A-Aberration? And Vampires? So those bastards that had been tormenting the humans are still going strong, huh? And you defeated one that used a fragment of the Evil God? So the Albraun Kingdom is really holding into this item and using it, huh…"
"I don\'t know the details…" I said, half-lying. "But I know the Vampires are controlling that Kingdom… As a ghost, I was a witch burned in there, due to my resentment and amazing magic power, I ended turning into a ghost, tormented the place, escaped, and I\'ve been freeing slaves ever since then. I made a small town near here where those bastards can\'t easily get to us… and that\'s about it. I\'ve been slaying any Vampire behind this since then. You could say they\'re my nemesis."
"I see… So those children who have different features… I thought they were halflings, but what are they?" Wondered Aquamarine, looking at my two twins who were wolfing down sweets without a care of the world.
"They\'re my precious children! Don\'t go questioning what they are so rudely, old hag!" I roared angrily.
"A-Ah… Sorry, I am just… too surprised about everything, the more I talk to you the more I learn about many things I had no idea of…" Said Aquamarine.
"But… Well, they were once humans, but their souls were used for an experiment and put into bodies created through alchemy and dark magic using fragments of the Evil God… They\'re something known as Homunculus. I think the plan of the Vampires was to create living beings fueled by the Evil Miasma that the Fragments possess." I sighed.
"Impressive… So that\'s how it is." Aquamarine said. "I\'m sorry for offending your kids."
"Ah well, they were not even listening?" I sighed.
"Huh?" Takeshi suddenly looked at us as if he had heard something.
"Nothing honey, just enjoy the sweets." I said, petting his head.
After that, I continued talking with the old hag about various things, I kept giving her small clues about who we were, but never being too direct about it either. And in exchange, she also continued explaining to us about the dungeons, the mountain, the guilds, and everything else.
As of now, we were given ID Cards as temporary citizens, which need to be paid for every few months, but due to special "VIP privilege" due to bringing the three dwarves back, we are absent of paying this tax for the next hundred years… Yeah. Anyways, aside from that, we were given special treatment without the requirement of joining any guild.
I would had probably joined one of the guilds, or even the two of them, but remembering Helga and her family and friends, it would feel bad for me to just abandon them to go the premium guilds…
"It is fine, Maria, you should join these guilds if they\'re giving you so many benefits, don\'t be foolish now!" Said Helga.
"I can\'t." I said.
"Eh? But…" She said, feeling confused.
"Helga, you\'ve been too nice with us, and I am already fond of you even if it has been just a day. Due to that, I kind of want to join your guild instead. I would feel bad if I betrayed a friend I just made, right? Amongst the things I hate the most, is betraying other people\'s trust and expectations."
"M-Maria…"