Chapter 46 - Champion of the People

“Kassandra, give me my tablets back!” I demanded. The two of us were standing in the middle of the atrium, and I admit, I was creating a spectacle. It was necessary though, somehow my naga friend managed to steal not only my primary tablet, but the backup one I’d asked Jenkins for. The most infuriating thing was, she managed to do it all sometime between the victory feast, and the next morning.

“Not until you come out to the city with me,” Kass replied with a wide smile. “You managed to avoid meeting the locals before, because you were too busy planning, but now the match is over you have no excuse to hide yourself away.”

“But… I need to analyse the battles before we lose the footage, so I know what we need to improve for next time,” I said.

“All the dungeons upgraded their crystal arrays prior to the start of the league, so you’ll be able to pull up that footage for the next year,” Kass countered. “You can stay here, if you want, but I’m still not returning your tablets until after I return either way.”

I stared at her for a few seconds, trying to figure out the best way to retrieve my tablets. Unfortunately, the best idea I could come up with was going with. “Fine, I’ll come into town,” I conceded.

“Excellent! Did Jenkins have time to prepare what I asked for?” Kass asked.

“You mean, this bag full of toy spiders she gave me instead of my tablet?” I replied grumpily. I held out an oversized messenger bag, overflowing with plush animals, so she could see it.

“Yes!” she grabbed one of the dolls out of the bag to inspect it, “These will go over great with the kids.”

“... I feel like I’m missing something here, why do I need to carry around this bag full of stuffies? What kids?”

“The people of Adrence take a certain amount of pride from having Lanivia’s dungeon based here, and because of that us bosses are as popular as many top level adventurers. Since you’ve sequestered yourself inside the dungeon since joining, you haven’t had a chance to meet your fans, and I thought it would be nice if you had something to give the kids.”

I stared at her blankly for a minute. “I have fans?” I asked.

“Yes Tali, you have fans. Even George has fans,” Kass replied, pointing at my spider, who was busy trying to pry a light fixture off. “People love animals and cute bosses.”

“I can’t tell if you’re teasing me, or being serious,” I said, narrowing my eyes.

Kass laughed. “Be as suspicious as you like, you’ll see soon,” she said as she grabbed my arm and started gently pulling me towards the exit. We went up the stairs, and into the access corridor. It took a few minutes for us to make it to the end, passing the occasional people either arriving back from town, or coming back from the gardens, before we made our way out of the employee entrance. George, of course, immediately went over to challenge one of the mythril war golems guarding the entrance. Thankfully they didn’t see him as any sort of threat, or he might have ended up easily flattened under one of their massive feet.

“This way,” Kass called from the front of the area. “We won’t take the employee carriage, and instead just go over to the dungeon plaza. Plenty to see and do over there, especially since you’ve never been before.”

We walked down the sidewalk that followed the side walls of the dungeon, and around towards the front of the complex. I’d been to the entrance of many different dungeons, but I was still surprised by what I saw. The area in front of the dungeon had a massive crystal screen, one of the largest I’d ever seen, and about a dozen shops themed around the bosses. There was a game store with Luther’s face across the front, a cafe that used Chelsea’s profile as the logo, a clothing shop which used naga shaped mannequins, and more. I stared at the little square in shock.

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“Most professional dungeons have a visitors area, it’s not that shocking,” Kass said, slowly pushing me into the area. As soon as we stepped out of the shadows, and into the square proper, about a dozen people ran over.

“Look, it’s Talia!” “Miss Kassandra, can I have your autograph?” “Can I pet George?”

I was so overwhelmed by the small crowd, that I literally ducked behind Kass to get away.

“Alright you lot, give us a little room. We’ll sign autographs and meet you all, just in a more organized setting. As you can see, my compatriot here isn’t completely comfortable with crowds yet,” Kass said, trying to settle the crowd down. She waved at someone across the square, and a handful of people dressed in uniforms walked over.

“Please set up a meet and greet area, in front of Chelsea's cafe, I think. This is Talia’s first time, so it’s better to be in a casual place.” The group nodded, then immediately ran over to the cafe and started re-arranging the outside section.

“Who was that?” I whispered from behind Kass’s back.

“Dungeon staff. Some are security, some manage events. I let them know we’d be coming out today, so they were waiting for us,” Kass replied.

“Funny, you didn’t let ME know ahead of time,” I said quietly.

“Minor detail. Come on, this way.” She pulled me across the plaza, to the area which the staff had just rearranged. There was a small roped off area, with a table and a couple chairs, and an area for people to line up. By the time we arrived, there were already a couple people waiting. Kass pushed me under the ropes and to one of the chairs, after a couple seconds someone brought us both drinks, and some jerky for George.

I just stared at the setup, and the growing line, in amazement. “I can’t believe this is happening,” I said quietly.

“Believe it. Get out your George plushies, for the kids, here’s a pen,” Kass said as she passed me a fancy pen. I just stared at it in confusion as the first person approached the table.

The kobold youth practically bounced to the table. “Ms. Kassandra, Ms. Talia, I’m a big fan! I watched your fights against the Dread Isle, and they were inspiring! I hope I can join a dungeon one day,” he said.

I blinked at him, still bewildered by the situation, thankfully Kass was a lot more experienced. “If you work hard, I’m sure you’ll make it one day.” She pulled a detailed sketch of us both out from behind the table, signed it, then passed it to me. It took me a minute to realize what I was supposed to do, before I finally signed it.

I passed it back to the kobold, who was practically vibrating. “Ummm… would you like a George plush?” I asked, passing over one of the stuffed toys.

His eyes lit up, “Thank you so much!” he said, before one of the staff directed him away, and the next person walked up.

It took me about two full cups of coffee to, ironically, settle down and get in the rhythm of greeting people, making small talk, and signing posters. I wasn’t good at it, like Kass, but at least I didn’t stumble over my words.

Occasionally someone would bring their own merchandise for us to sign. Guides to the dungeon, guides on how to get started in our classes, elementals carved out of crystal, and even our Dungeon Delve card and figures were brought for us to sign. It was surreal.

George was a real crowd pleaser, and he loved every moment of the attention. He played with the kids, showed off to the adults, and dined on the snacks that people smuggled him. I would have told him off, but he WAS behaving himself, and entertaining the crowd.

It took several hours to get through the constantly changing crowd, and when it was all done, I was exhausted. “Did you enjoy yourself?” Kass asked with a sly smile.

“No,” I replied, laying face down on the table. “But, it was fulfilling. I don’t think I can do this very often.”

“You won’t have to. We usually schedule appearances ahead of time, today was just for fun,” Kass said as she gently rubbed my back. “I didn’t think there would be so many people, but it was still a good experience.”

“I honestly didn’t believe that people actually were cheering for me, I thought that was a joke.”

“No joke! Working in a dungeon is a fairly prestigious job, and being a boss, doubly so.”

“So what now?” I asked.

“I was going to take you to dinner, but you’re looking a little worse for wear. Sorry about that. We should be able to get a ride back to the dungeon, if you want.”

At the mention of dinner, George perked up, and started nuzzling my leg. I just let out a giant sigh. “We’re already out… I wouldn’t mind getting something to eat before we go back, as long as they accept pets.”

Kass smiled, “Perfect! I know just the place, it’s a date!”