A little while later, Karl came to join the rest of us outside the restaurant. Following behind him was a young woman with horns on her head. Her brown hair was relatively short, but her standout feature truly was her height. She seemed to be just slightly taller than even Delan.

“Hey,” I called.

“Hey Kaya,” said Karl.

He stepped to the side and motioned for the woman to move in front.

“This is Therya, the assistant manager who’s coming with us,” he said.

Therya looked down at me. Her brown eyes looked down at me sitting in my chair.

“You’re Kaya?” she asked.

“Yes… hello, Therya.” I said.

I stood up to shake her hand - and then quietly regretted it. I was already a little shorter than Merry, but standing next to Therya made me feel objectively small. She held out her hand anyway and I shook it.

“I’m sorry, I got unlucky with my height,” Therya apologized.

“Don’t apologize to me,”

Merry giggled. Both me and Therya turned to face Merry after her sudden noise and said:

“What?”

“I’m sorry, you don’t know Therya, Kaya. She’s a very kind person.” she said.

“Merry.” Lillian said.

She looked at Merry with a cold look.

“Wh… what?”

Lillian gave Merry’s head a light whack.

“I know what you’re thinking, and I want you to stop. Not now, please.”

“How about we get some food? That’s why we’re here, anyway,” Delan said.

 

We had found ourselves a table inside the restaurant. I was figuring it’d be fancy, however it was more of a pub and inn, rather than something fancy. The inside was clean and lit by magic stone lamps. The overall layout was much less planned - just tables and chairs, with us in a corner near the front. I turned my attention to Delan.

“Why did you choose here?” I asked.

“It’s a personal favorite of mine. No frills, no fancy etiquette, just good food.” he explained.

“Ah,”

We gave the waiter our orders and began to wait. I felt a little out of place - I looked like a teenage girl in a group of well-traveled adventurers with my dress on. To be fair, I very much was a teenage girl. Looking around, there were plenty of other groups that all seemed to pay no mind.

“Nervous?” Therya asked.

“Sorry… I’m not used to places like this. Also, I feel like I stand out.”

“It’s fine. I think you’re not the worst offender on standing out as far as the people here are concerned.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what the worst offender was. Regardless, Therya did help me calm down a bit.

“So… if I’ve understood things correctly… Diamûn has been found?” Therya asked.

Her voice was loud enough for us at our table to be heard, but not loud enough for the other tables. It helped that we were in a corner of the place.

“Well… kind of. Kaya, would you?” Delan said.

Therya looked at me sitting next to Delan. This is my time to talk, I thought.

“Uh… yes. I know where it’s located. I didn’t get a chance to show the Northern Pathfinders at the time, since they were on an escort… mission, was the word?”

“I think you meant ‘contract,’ but close enough. I was told you knew where it was, but that was about it… how’d you come to know about its location?” Therya asked.

I thought about what had led me to meeting Maya and-

“Therya, let’s cut to the chase. The Keeper of Diamûn is Maya, and Kaya here is her daughter,” Lillian interrupted.

She was shaking her head to signal ‘no’ to Therya as she jumped straight to the end point of the story. Thank you, Lillian! Therya looked at Lillian with a confused look - I wasn’t sure if it was her interjection or her statements that confused her more.

“Kaya’s… her daughter?” Therya asked.

She looked at me for confirmation. Apparently, it was the ‘daughter’ part that was confusing. I nodded ‘yes’ in response to Therya’s question.

“Oh… well, I suppose that would explain why Tokra said she was important,” she said.

“Kaya talked with me privately the other day, she… would like to leave the past in the past, for now.” Lillian added.

The rest of the Pathfinders looked at Lillian as she explained this with a serious look on their face - Lillian evidently had not said anything about our late-night conversation to them, for which I was grateful for.

“...but yes. I am Kaya, daughter of Maya, the Keeper of Diamûn. I believe the plan is that we leave tomorrow for Diamûn, yes?” I said.

I wanted to bring the conversation back on track - well, forward really - which is why I asked to confirm the plan.

“Hmm.. yes, quite. Delan, you said that it was roughly a day’s travel away?” Therya asked.

“Yes. Kaya said it wasn’t particularly far from where we first met her to Diamûn, and if we travel reasonably fast, we should be able to get there by day’s end, as long as we leave in the morning.” Delan explained.

“I see. I suppose you’re planning on exploring at least a little of it?”

“That’s the plan, anyway. We’ll have to stay at least one night, anyway - rather not enter after a day’s travel. I hope you’re not afraid of a field trip,” Delan smirked.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Therya said.

Therya paused to take a breath, then turned her attention back to me.

“So… what can you tell us about the dungeon?” Therya asked.

I sighed, having been asked the same question again.

“It’s ten floors… and that’s about it.”

“Ah… I’ve heard the Keepers can be pretty secretive about what they do,” Therya said.

I suddenly remembered something which I had forgotten about previously. Mother had said I could mention something else.

“Oh, actually, I forgot, there is one other thing. You can’t run the entire dungeon solo,”

The Northern Pathfinders looked at me - this was genuinely new information to them.

“What do you mean? Is it too hard to do so?” Therya asked me.

Her tone was a mix of curious and nervous. Oh, I think I should clear this up, I thought.

“No, no, it’s not about difficulty. The seventh floor requires at least two people. The entrance to that floor will actually reject anyone from entering alone,” I explained.

“Really… huh,”

“I wonder what’s so special about the seventh floor, that it ‘requires’ two people,” Karl said.

“Unfortunately, you’re going to have to get there to find out,” I added.

“Well, we aren’t going to find out tonight.” Therya said.