Chapter 158

The attack had put everyone on edge even after it was handled so swiftly. Half of the team was made up of newbies who weren’t accustomed to this and the other half weren’t much better only having done a few delves before. This was the disadvantage of having dungeons with low floor jumps, you wouldn’t really see teams that spent a decade on the same level range to build up experience as they would move to the next floor much quicker. The most experienced person here was the head healer who came to make sure the healers were learning properly and doing their share to gain experience from the dungeon.

Even with the lack of experience nobody was hurt. Having ten healers meant that every single scratch was patched up fully, after all the more they contributed the more experience the dungeon would funnel into them. This split in experience is why the Adventurer’s guild and the Healing Union worked so well together outside of the capital.

“How the hell do you do it?” a gruff voice called out to Ajax.

Ajax had scouted ahead of the party and was keeping an eye out for snakes or moles. As he explored the floor the previous days he discovered that the rabbits wouldn’t actually run away from him until he actually intended to do them harm. Approaching to pet them with [Persuasion] and [Deception] was actually the best workout his skills had gotten this entire delve.

“You can’t let them feel any malice.” Ajax said with a sigh, it must have been about the fifth time he had explained the same thing. He also didn’t stop petting the bunny, even when it was the size of a bear its fur was still very fluffy due the mana coursing through it.

“Why don’t people raise these?” Ajax asked. “We could just catch them when we exit the dungeon and let people raise them.”

“Feeder monsters don’t exit the floor if they are alive when the team exits.” The man replied as he approached.

Ajax felt the bunny tense up as the man got close enough to spook it and quickly drew the blade to kill it before it had the chance to run away. The floor was mostly clear at this point and the team was heading back after five days in the dungeon.

“You know it freaks some people out how you can approach them like that even when you fully intend to kill them, right?” The man asked as he got close to Ajax. “As I was saying, feeder monsters have special occurrences and come with different rules.”

“What different rules?” Ajax asked.

“Under normal circumstances if a delve team is overwhelmed by a floor, the survivors are to try and make their way to the exit. On a feeder floor that’s no longer the case. Since we don’t know how long it might take them to get back to the exit it’s actually preferable for them to try and get to the next floor and instantly exit as the monsters might be lower level then the ones who have been feeding for who knows how long.”

“I doubt it would take that long to get back to the exit even if we were avoiding everything.” Ajax said.

“True it doesn’t make much sense here.” the man nodded “ But on higher floors their size also increases. Finding a feeder monster on floor seven or eight is much different than these rabbits. First thing that happens when a team gets out not just alive but successfully too. It crashes the market. Such overabundance of high level materials always leaves its mark, the last one happened twelve years ago with pigs.”

Ajax quickly dismissed everything as the team finally got back to the entrance arch. As the team went out one by one Ajax was left alone on the inside. He got a deep urge to stay, nobody could come and get him and he could go clear another one, maybe even two floors and get additional stat points.

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He dismissed the urge as quickly as it came. He knew even if he could overpower most things, going solo into a floor out of impatience was a good way to end up dead, he didn’t even have most of his equipment since he knew he was heading into an open field floor.

With that Ajax stepped out of the dungeon. The outside was much the same as when he got here. Unlike the large clearing that surrounded the dungeon arch near Lessis, this dungeon was akin to being in the center of a prison yard.

A hard reinforced floor surrounded it to inconvenience any monster that might try to burrow, tall tower and manned walls surrounded the place with people that were ready to shoot down anything that came out of it at a moment's notice. Runes were placed all around the arch and glowed with the mana charged inside them.

Ajax was quickly moved out of the way as the people watching the dungeon made quick work of the dozen or so monsters that came out after them. These defenses were meant to be able to hold if a team over level one hundred was to fall in the dungeon and Ajax still avoided stepping on any of the runes on the floor even if he was assured multiple times that they were safe. The amount of mana he felt in them made him not want to that one in a million chance it just accidentally fries him.

The team was leaving the area where the arch was when two guards approached the team, or more specifically Ajax.

“Ajax, from the city of Lessis. You are to come with us.” One of them said as the other approached and put an arm on his shoulder.

Despite the action not looking like much Ajax could feel the strength of that grip belonged to someone at least level fifty from the way the fingers so easily dug in his skin.

“And why would he?” the lead healer stepped up to ask. After all he had also gotten a good look at Ajax’s performance during the delve and wanted to recommend him for promotion.

“He is wanted for questioning in regard to the disappearance of five of house Steelboot’s retainers.” the guard’s answer made the healer sigh regretfully and step back, his eyes further widened when he saw how calmly Ajax was taking the accusation.

“I am happy to go with you but would you mind not digging your fingers into my shoulder, I can feel you through the leather.” Ajax said calmly.

“I got to give it to you kid, that’s a calm and collected attitude you got there.” The guard holding him eased the grip on his shoulder but didn’t let go completely. “But I have to say it doesn’t bode well for you.

The trip to one of the guard barracks was quick and silent, neither of the guards said anything else on the way there and their presence dissuaded anyone from trying to strike up a conversation. Once he got to the barracks he was quickly led to a bigger room though one that all but shouted it was used for questioning. He was told to have a seat while one of the two guards went to inform the right people he had been brought in and the other stayed to watch him.

Not more than five minutes of silence later the door opened once again as four people entered the room each wearing a different distinctive sigil on their clothes. The first to enter wore a guard uniform but the rank on his shoulder marked him as a captain. He was a tall, somewhat skinny man with a severe face and a deep frown and looked to be in his early forties.

The second person to enter wore the royal family's sigil along with an elegant robe. She looked to be in her mid twenties and didn’t even spare him a glance as she headed straight for the chair in one of the corners of the room looking bored.

The third person to enter the room wore house Steelboot’s sigil and was clad in jewelry. While he wasn’t ugly he had a big protruding belly that his clothes couldn’t completely mask, his eyes shone with greed as he threw Ajax a malicious smirk as he took a seat next to the captain across the table from Ajax.

The last person to enter wore a Healing Union official uniform that showed their sigil in multiple places. She looked like a woman in her late fifties giving the air of a kindly grandmother as she took the seat next to Ajax. She looked at him warmly but Ajax could detect an undertone of worry in her look.

“Hi Ajax, I am Samantha and I am your lawyer from the Union in these proceedings.” the old woman introduced herself. “Captain Jacobs will be asking you a few questions, the crystal in the middle of the table will determine if your answers are truthful. Please give me a moment to interject before answering any question, okay?” Ajax simply nodded at her words. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Oh just get on with it.” The man wearing Steelboot’s sigil said loudly “We all know he’s guilty.”

“Due process must still be followed.” Captain Jacobs said curtly as he waved the man to silence, Ajax did note that both the captain and his own lawyer didn’t deny the allegation. “Guard, what can you report regarding the suspect's behavior upon his apprehension?”

The guard stepped forward to place his hand on the table. “The subject was calm and compliant throughout, he also didn’t seem at all surprised by the charge.” As the crystal in the middle of the table shone blue a defeated look appeared in the old woman’s eye.

“Can I talk with my lawyer before the questioning begins?” Ajax asked when the captain turned back to him.

“Yes.” The capitan answered. “But you will have to do so without privacy.” Ajax was surprised but that was to be expected.

Ajax nodded and turned to look the old woman in the eye. “This would be a good reason and argument for self-defense right?” Ajax said as he pulled out the contract the five had been trying to force him to sign that day. From the way the fat man’s face paled he knew this proceeding was about to get much better.