Aaaaagh! She knew!

“Am I that predictable?” I sighed.

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea. I just think it’s something which you’d come up with, that’s all,” Lillian answered.

This is so embarrassing…

“Don’t feel bad, Kaya. It’s not a bad thing,” Lillian added.

She leaned over and gave me a hug. I didn’t try to escape, instead I buried my face into Lillian so no one could see my embarrassment. While I was busy hiding, I heard the rest of the party talk with each other.

“I wonder how we’re supposed to clear the third floor,” said Delan.

“I wonder if there’s monsters on the second,” added Karl.

“Oh, hey!” cried Merry.

The rest of the party looked over at her.

“My level went up!” she said.

I had already seen Merry’s new stats - I was the one who gave her the increase in level, after all - but she was still excited about it to tell the rest of her party:

 

Level: 23

HP: 831/831

Strength: 16

Mana: 79/79

Defense: 9

Skills: Quick Step, Blink, Enhanced Movement LV2

Titles:

By the time she was done, I had regained composure and was sitting in Lillian’s lap. (I was short and Lillian wasn’t keen on letting me go either.) I should put chairs and tables here, I thought.

“Hey, I wonder what Therya is up to,” asked Karl.

“Do you want me to ask Mother?” I said.

“...sure,”

I used the skill Mother had given me to ask her what she was up to.

Mother, the Pathfinders want to know what Therya is doing right now.

A moment later, Mother’s voice answered:

She’s having tea in the lobby of the Guild building. Why?

The Northern Pathfinders have returned to the entrance island.

Ah. I’ll pass the message along, she’ll be out shortly.

“Therya will be out shortly,” I said.

 

A couple minutes later, Therya exited the new Guild building her and Mother were working on. I got up and ran over to join up with Mother while Therya looked around for a chair. There wasn’t one, so Mother made some chairs and tables to put in the pavilion.

The Northern Pathfinders, seeing the chairs come into existence, all got up and took to them. Mother sat down at her own table, and I sat down next to her.

“So, how was it?” Therya asked.

“Well… it was pretty standard for a first floor or two?” said Karl.

Lillian elbowed him in the back as she passed behind him on her way to her own chair.

“Ow! Well…”

“It was mostly standard fare - there were some interesting things, though.” Lillian explained.

“Like what?” asked Therya.

“Well… on the first floor, there’s a monster we had no chance at taking down early. That’s something different,”

“I’ve only seen things around Asha-belôr’s entrance myself, so I’ve been curious what it’s like to deal with a dungeon,” said Therya.

“She’s the one with experience,” added Delan.

He leaned back in his chair to relax before continuing.

“Lillian’s by far the oldest one of us. Unlike the rest of us, she’s the only one to have been to multiple dungeons before… I think there’s only one she hasn’t been to?” he explained.

“I’ve been to Asha-belôr with the Northern Pathfinders… and I’ve been to Véla de Naarn and Taalya’hal, as well. The only one I haven’t been to is Meladûn.” Lillian said.

After a moment, she made a quick amendment:

“Well, and now I’ve been to Diamûn, as well.”

Internally I made connections with the dungeons Lillian had visited with the Keepers who oversee them: Kaitlyn’s Asha-belôr, Renold’s Véla de Naarn, and Sammy’s Taalya’hal. I wasn’t exactly surprised she hadn’t been to Michael’s Meladûn as his was considered the hardest dungeon. She’s well traveled, isn’t she?

“Is it aggressive?” Therya asked.

Her tone gave away that she was worried about the people who would enter.

“Didn’t seem like it. I think you have to deliberately pick a fight with it for it to attack.” Lillian added.

“Anyway… other than that, it was kind of hard first-floor fare. It was a forest with wolves - nothing too bad if you can work as a team, but anyone going in alone may have a bigger challenge.” Delan explained.

“I… see,” Therya said.

“Are you worried about who goes into Diamûn?” Mother asked.

“Uh,”

“Just nervous?”

“...yeah,” Therya said.

“Don’t be. You’ll be fine. Besides, I think you overestimate how much work you will actually have.” Mother explained.

She turned her attention to the Northern Pathfinders.

“So, are you going back in? Are you going to have some food?”

“Oh, uh,” Delan coughed.

“I’m hungry, lunch sounds good,” added Merry.

“You’re always hungry, Merry,” sighed Karl.

“So what?” Merry complained.

Mother laughed at the banter between the members of the Northern Pathfinders. She looked over at Therya.

“See? Don’t worry about us. We can handle ourselves. I think you should more worry about who you’re going to meet coming through your doors, rather than what happens when they enter ours,”

Mother stood up and walked over to Therya and held out her hand.

“I hope we can work together for a long time, Therya,” she said.

Therya looked at Mother before accepting her handshake.

“Yes, I hope so.”

After their handshake, Therya added:

“I have support staff arriving sometime tomorrow. The Pathfinders will help flag them in.”

Therya and Mother walked off from the pavilion to continue talking away from the commotion of the Northern Pathfinders. Meanwhile, Lillian approached me.

“Hey, Kaya, I was curious if I could talk with you,”

“Uh… you don’t want to talk with your party?” I asked.

“It’s not that… how do I put it,” Lillian said.

She paused as she put her thoughts together.

“Maya told me to be someone you can rely on. I’m… not sure what she meant by that, but I don’t exactly intend to decline her request,”

I looked at her, confused. I wasn’t sure what Mother wanted her to do, either.

“Besides, I think you need friends. I realize being a Keeper may make that difficult… but you’ve been alone in your life up to now. And that’s sad,” she added.

She wasn’t wrong. Before Mother accepted me, I was alone, wandering around from village to village. It… was sad.

“...thanks,” I said.

 

After the Northern Pathfinders had lunch.

“Hey, Therya, you were with Maya getting the new Guild office set up, right?” Karl asked.

The Northern Pathfinders were finishing up lunch when Karl asked his question. Therya, who was sitting off to the side eating her own lunch, finished the bite she was chewing on and answered:

“Yeah, why?”

Karl stood up from his chair.

“Well I was curious if we could take a look,” he said.

“Oh, yeah, you were working on that this morning,” Delan added.

“I wanna see, I wanna see!” Merry yelled.

The rest of the Pathfinders started gathering around with an expectant mood. Therya looked at them, surprised by their sudden energy. Mother had returned to sitting next to me, and after a moment Therya looked at the two of us. I looked over at Mother.

“It’s not my office,” she said.

The two of us looked over at Therya.

“...I don’t see why not,” she said.

She stood up from her chair and motioned for the Pathfinders to follow her. I looked as they started to make their way over to the Guild office.

“Go on, take a look too,” Mother said.