Four days later, the day came for the grand opening of the dungeon, as planned and commissioned by the guild. The dungeon's entrance was in a vast forest outside of town, and everyone who came out there had officially registered with the guild. Around 200 adventurers were in the caravan of wagons. They had come from around the province to join the first successful dungeon-crawling expedition.

The wagon train was led by a large man with a grizzly bear's head, wearing a brown leather vest and matching hat. He had a massive war hammer over his shoulder. His name was Balthasar, and he was the guild representative guiding the expedition.
Balthasar stood in front of a wooden sign that said 'HALTON PIONEERS' and began addressing the crowd with something that looked like a megaphone. Most of the adventurers wore expressions that showed their excitement.

I looked at my companions - Lori, Tarrant, Dodgson, Dinah, and Haigha - smiling and excited to begin their adventure together. They dressed in their usual adventuring gear with matching tabards that bore the Liddell company logo, and each wore a unique weapon and shield.

Tarrant and Haigha were dressed as stereotypical steampunk engineers and traveling rogues, respectively, as opposed to the formal attire I'd become accustomed to. The elf wore goggles on his head strapped to his trademark top hat in a strange hybrid design, a mail chest plate with valves and pipes attached to it, and an old-fashioned blunderbuss and mini-crossbow tucked into his utility waistband. Haigha wore a long shrouded coat and had a pair of daggers and a wand strapped to his waist.

I had no doubt the five of them would have tons of fun on the expedition. But - it wasn't for me.

We had three wagons full of miscellaneous staple supplies for personal use and selling: rations, oil, rope, hooks, wood, flint, tents, lanterns, torches, water, medicine, and more. Several barrels were packed with various preserved goods and pre-prepared signs with prices. Producing all of this had been a real grind, and I didn't have time to do anything but study specific material manipulation spells. Having Tarrant's replicator had turned me into a one-girl petite factory and allowed me to produce a ridiculous amount of easy-to-make staples inexpensively.

"Greetings adventurers! Welcome to a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Let's get started today - follow the rules, and hopefully everyone gets home alive and rich enough to keep your great-great grandchildren and so on fat for generations to come! The first thing you should know is that the dungeon has seven entrances, marked on your maps." Balthasar informed us energetically. "All are mapped and manned by kingdom soldiers right now, and adventurers of Rank D and above will have rights to a first pass this month for this month, and this month only. This will be our first time trying out the dungeon, and we plan on doing an extensive exploration and study. Please be civil with loot and respect the Adventurer's code. The first party to touch a chest lays claim and when in doubt, use the dice system! We'll be assigning groups of 30 to each, with 29 on the seventh entrance. Dozens of outhouses and infirmaries have been constructed here at base camp, and vendors will be available at the vendors' row. REMEMBER TO STAY VIGILANT CONSTANTLY WHILE YOU ARE OUT IN THE FIELD!"

He paused for a second before shouting again.

"Also, please do not litter! You are required to pay an extra 5 bronze pieces charged to your Adventurer's Guild transaction account if you throw waste out of the wagon. We want a clean camp this year!" He finished with an air of finality.

I glanced over at Dodgson. He wore a monotone expression, but he was cracking his neck and running through what looked like katas or calisthenics and some stretches. If I had to be honest, I found him really, really cool. Saving my life once cemented my opinion of him in my books.

I looked around and noticed Lori standing off to the side with her eyes closed. She wasn't talking to anyone. In fact, she wasn't even listening to the crowd - instead, she seemed deep in thought, and I was curious about what it could be.

Frowning, I stood up from the wagon where I was sitting to get a better look at Balthasar, cursing my lack of height.

Then, suddenly Dodgson turned his attention toward me and said, "Dearest child! You seem interested in that man's speech! Do tell me what you think of it?"

I blinked and nodded in surprise at his energetic demeanor and deep, baritone voice, "Yeah, there are a few things that stand out to me. Balthasar said the dungeon has seven entrances. Does that mean there are seven wings?!" I asked curiously. "I hope I'm not a bother with this."

The eagle man chuckled out loud, "No no no. You may well ask, dear Alice! This is what adventurers have come here for, after all. And honestly, we don't know. Every dungeon is different."

"Then, I'd like to know more about it." I insisted. "I want to learn everything I can here," I added, smiling innocently.

Dodgson raised his eyebrows. "Hmm? Has little Alice felt the call of adventure after all!?" he asked, intrigued.

I shrugged, "Not really. It seems like an opportunity, don't you think? To understand what I'm getting into?" I asked again.

He nodded, "Indeed it is!" he said.

Then suddenly, he held out his talon towards me. It was a handshake.

"By the by, it's a pleasure to meet you formally, young miss!" he stated in his baritone voice.

I stared at him blankly and then blinked once before I shook his hand with the same gesture.

"Nice to meet you too," I replied, bemused.

Dinah nudged me and laughed, "See! I told you! Dodgson is paaaww-ssibly the the coolest and most valiant friar ever!" she said to me, making a pawing motion.

I cringed and covered my face with both hands, laughing despite myself.

I peeked back over my hands, "You're killing me Dinah. Are you really always like this?" I asked her in between chuckles.

"Oh! You know I'm hiss-terical," she replied, giggling and looking at Balthasar, who was still addressing the adventurers,

Haigha suddenly appeared next to me, causing me to jump in surprise, "Oh my. My apologies for startling you, Alice. Is something about Balthasar bothering you?"

"Well...he's just a little too friendly isn't he? That Balthasar?" I commented suspiciously.

He snickered and agreed, "A fifth of the people here if not more are probably dead men walking," he suddenly said darkly. "Exploring these old dungeons is incredibly dangerous."

I looked at him, shocked, "But they have a system set up, right? And the guild's done this before, so we should be fine?"

Haigha just bit his lip and looked at me seriously, "It'll be fine because the adventurers that die will likely all have insurance. Unfortunately, for many of the inexperienced people here - it's a suicide mission." he paused for a moment, "He's basically doing a sales pitch. They're trying to get as many people into the dungeon as possible to explore and soak up traps. But - the spoils will pay well to those that survive. There is glory and wealth in this." he stated flatly.

I frowned and turned to look at Lori. She was still standing away from the group. She stared out, lost in thought. Something was bothering her, and I didn't know what.

Tarrant suddenly touched me gently on the shoulder, and I turned to look at him and Dinah. They nodded to me simultaneously, and Tarrant gave me a gentle poke.

I hopped off the wagon and walked over to her pensively, "Hey...Lori? There's something heavy on your mind, isn't there?" I asked her quietly, concerned.

She looked down at me in surprise before softening her eyes.

"Yeah," she answered slowly, "But I'd rather wait until later. I don't want to talk about it yet, okay?" she said to me, her voice a little strained.
I nodded my understanding but felt uneasy inside. I could feel the stress around her.

Lori looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't quite muster it up. Her eyes seemed to focus elsewhere as she stared at the crowd.

"Hey...sis?" I finally spoke, "Are you feeling okay? Come on umn..."

I strained over the feeling for a bit. Then, I swallowed the feeling and grabbed Lori's elbow. "You can talk to me."

She blinked. "Oh, yeah..." She muttered, "I'm good... I'm sorry, just - I've been worried for awhile now. But I'll be fine."

"Well," I shrugged. "Worried about what?"

"Just... a lot of things, really," she said quickly.

I gave her an understanding look. "Like?"

She hesitated before continuing, "Well, I've been worried about what to do with myself for a while now, actually. I haven't exactly decided yet." she admitted, "I mean - I want to think things will work out. It feels like I've peaked as a swordsman, and now I feel like I'm running out of time with our family's situation. And if I don't figure this out soon, I don't know where I'm going to be headed. I just feel lost, you know? I'm also worried about leaving you alone out here while we dive in for what might be days."

"I see," I said quietly, still holding on to her arm; she still looked tense. "...Anything else?" I prompted her.

She clammed up, and I could tell something was bothering her. Was this out of consideration for me?

"Lori," I said thoughtfully, "Please, tell me. Whatever it is, I can handle it right now. I don't want you going down there with something weighing on you." I stared at her earnestly, letting her know I could take whatever was on her mind.

"Umm," she sighed, "There's a whole thing with mother... and father. That's kind of been bothering me too, actually."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

Lori furrowed her brow, "They... sent me a letter, and I didn't want to worry you. Mother and father were supposed to be back the day before you joined the party. Well, they never came home. Tarrant tried to contact their link crystals and their messages weren't returned. So, apparently, they went missing somewhere along the way." she explained.

My heart dropped into my stomach. I knew how much Lori's parents meant to her. She had mentioned them often enough when talking about herself, but I had no connection to them. Now that she brought it up, though, I realized how serious this was.

"Do you think they ran into trouble?" I asked carefully. "Maybe they got caught by bandits or monsters and need help?"

"No, nothing like that," Lori said softly, shaking her head. "From what Tarrant found out, they vanished without any trace of where they were going." she added sadly.

I frowned, "This doesn't sound good."

"I guess so," she said hesitantly, "We don't know how long it has been since they disappeared either."

I tip-toed and hugged her, "Lori... please calm down. This is bad news, yes. But we don't know anything for certain. Don't jump to conclusions just yet. Let's worry about the now first, okay?"

I opened my arms, and she hesitated for a second before leaning down to accept my hug.

Her shoulders slumped, and she took a deep breath, "Alright. Thank you, little sis."

It was a bit hard to get my arms around her with her armor on, but I hugged warmly at her and patted her shoulder, "We'll figure this out together. Now, come on! Adventure awaits."

The rest of the party began to collect our supplies and move forward with the caravan.

I flashed Lori the best 'cute sparkles' smile I could put on and took her hand in mine, leading her toward the large crowd.