Bellona strolled around the little trading post town that retending to not be a part of the dungeon itself, despite being run by the dungeon inhabitants. Irospect it seemed obvious that something , being outside of the duerritory meant there was a risk of real, perma death if something happehen again, she hadn’t thought about that when she’d first seerading post, and the rest of the world lives with that as their normal state. So maybe it wasn’t so odd that no one had caught o.

  Well, almost no one. From what the cores had told her, the kobolds who were desdants of Mordecai’s previous dungeon-born d Gil had both been able to tell they were in a dungeon’s territory. But not everyone was going to be able to notice it, Belloainly hadn’t. Oh, she could tell now, at least for this dungeon, but that was due to feeling the slight ge as her bes of being a tractor went away or came back. Being able to mentally unicate with the cores and the inhabitants was useful, but kind of weird.

  She wished that she could unicate directly with Moriko that way, she rather liked the woman from their brief meeting, but the monk was only able to talk to the cores because of her unique e. It didn’t let her talk to the rest of the dungeon when she wasn’t ierritory.

  The te summer su good, and she was gd she was only lightly armored. She had sed to her mail and had opted for simple bracers for her arms and greaves over sturdy boots instead of gaus or armored boots. Her normal shield had seemed like overkill as well, but she felt unfortable without something avaible, so she had a buckler instead. It might seem ically small pared to her axe, but it would do in a pinch. The tight, 6-in-1 weave mail would normally be rather stiff, but she’d had this set made in mithral when she could afford it.

  Though she had to admit, she was rather jealous of the armor that the dungeon could produce via loot. Haviher rivet nor solder, each ring erfectly formed piece. The ck of a oint in the rings made them much more durable. Teically, she could be wearing a suit of that right now, but if she had to step outside the territory it would dissipate, as she couldn’t cim loot like delvers could.

  Bellona was enjoying a stick of roasted meat aables when a otiohe lines caught her attention, and she quickly finished off the food as she turhat way. The source of the otion turned out to be a rather richly dressed elven woman. Bellona quickly pegged her as spoiled and possibly noble; while she was weariher armor, it looked a little too supple, and decorating it with gold pting on the rivets as well as using some sort of silver-ihread for the stitg was just spending moo show off. Of course, Fuyuko’s armor was even more supple, but hers wasn’t actually made from normal hide either from what Bellona had been told.

  And even more to the point of this woman being spoiled, she had six guards who had clearly been chosen in part to be decorative. Three elven men, and three elven women, all physically beautiful and wearing well-polished armor and shields. They stood quietly behind her as the womaed a bored-looking pair of ganthros: Kuni, the bunkin mistress of arms, and Seon, the rabkin mistress of magic. “How dare you demand to test me! I’m here to prove myself in a prht, not py with a pair of bunnies. And I saw you let that girl go by, it was clearly her first time here as well. Or does your master py favorites with his preferred type?”

  The sneer in the implied insult brought a rea from the two bosses, and Kuni’s hand dropped to her bde while Seon’s pathered in preparation for casting a spell. Bellona intervened before they could act, a growl ihroat as she closed the st of the distao interpose herself between the elf and the rabbits.

  “Watch your tongue, lest you lose it,” she wasn’t normally given to such threats, but the woman’s words had riled her blood. “In one breath you’ve insulted han fods, one of them your own.”

  The spoiled elf narrowed her eyes at Bellona, “And now an orterferes. What do you know of my gods, oh tribal one?” Behihe six guards had looseheir owheir eyes wary.

  Bellona ighe attempt to insult her ary as she replied, “You insult Ozuran by insinuating one of his priests would act that way; you insult Amirume by implying that I, one of her champions, would allow such a thing; you insult Li Zarb by implying that he would allow such harm to e to a young one who is dedicated to him; and you insult Danu by implying that one of her high priests, Traxalim, would ence that young woman to e here for such a purpose.” Her tone was cold and hard.

  “Wha-? Champion? You? And how is the old man possibly involved? You lie, orc.”

  Bellona’s lips curled up to show her teeth, and it could not be called a smile. “I’m not privy to all the details yet, and the cores are both busy with things more important than a petty thing like you so I won’t be b to ask right now, but I swear an oath on Amirume’s honor and in Ozuran’s sight that I speak nothing but the truth here. The girl is here as a guest by the request of others, and Traxalim knows and approves of it. Now, stand down or be taken down.”

  Various bunkin shopkeepers had drawn ons from their stalls, many of them bows uns, and the nearby visitors who had been preparing for battle anyway had formed a circle around them, focused on the elven group.

  “You dare insult a h a threat of violence? I’ll bring the wrath of the kingdom upon you if you try to y a hand ohe woman’s own mana was gathering tight, and that slight tug of power was enough to let Bellona know she faced a mage of some sort, though clearly oested in battle.

  In response, Bellona lifted her left hand to show the back of it, willing the Mark to e to life and dispy the elemental symbols around a protective shield. “If you feel insulted, then know it es from Kuic’s liaison to the Azeria Mountain Dungeon, who also officially acts upon the dungeon’s behalf as their tractor. Oh, and I have a title as well. Lady Bellona, at your serviow, stand down and back off, you’ve lost your privilege to delve the dungeon without being sidered a hostile invader.”

  She paused in thought as she watched the shocked woman, who had stepped bad was looking around at all the gathered and very hostile faces. “But Mordecai and Kazue have a vested i in keeping up diplomatic retions. So a promise: yuards may explore, but only all of them together, and without you. As for yourself, hmm, you only go down the non-bat path, and only with a group of at least three others who are willing to help you, other than yuards.” Belloured to one of the bunkins, who dashed to the official entrand crossed the supposed threshold before making a show of listening to something before returning.

  “The Master and Mistress both agree with your proposed penalties, Lady Bellona.” The dispy had been just for show, Bellona had already checked with them after she’d e up with the idea, but she felt better making sure it didn’t look like she was ag uniterally.

  The noble groueeth angrily, but the reality of the situation had cut through her arrogance as she clearly realized that there was nothing she could do. After a moment, she turned on her heel and stalked off, headed back to the inn. Bellona didn’t know if she was going to stay or was just pig up traveling gear, but either way, the immediate issue was solved.

  Bellona sighed and rolled her neck as she allowed herself to rex, then turo their uests. “I’m sorry about the interruption folks,” She really hated what she was going to say , but it felt like the responsible thing to do, rather tha rumors run rampant, “And I imagine a lot of you are very curious about the dungeon's guest. I talk about the little I know, within the limits of privacy, but I don’t feel like being swarmed and we o let the lines reform and go. So I’m going to go take a table at a tavern and will eain three people at a time with questions. Anyone who o knht now, you figure it out amongst yourselves who is going to be buying me food and drink.”

  She really wished Xarlug here with her, she could use his pany, but he seemed to be unfortable with being in this sort of public socialization. Bellona retty sure that part of it was his fiend-touched bloodlines, as there were always some people willing to assume the worst, but there was something else too, and she wasn’t quite sure what else was b him.

  To a certaient, he uzzle she wao figure out. He wouldn’t talk about his past beyond some of his travels with Orchid and Paltira, and he could vacilte between being bold and brash one moment, and being uain and shy the . He was rather cute when he was like that too, though she certainly hadn't told him that!

  He also seemed quite tent to take things slowly, which she didn’t mind at all. Mysteriousness was intriguing, but she only wao go so far with someone she didn’t know better. Really, if it wasn’t for the pany he kept that clearly knew Xarlug’s past, Bellona would be much more suspicious. Instead, she felt more tent to wait until he was ready to share more.

  Wheook a seat at the tavern, she dismissed those thoughts to dwell upoer. It was time to deal with people who had questions, not that she had a whole lot of answers. The few groups that she had the patieo deal with got pretty much the same information: “The girl’s name is Fuyuko, she’s an orphan who took up a suggestion that she e here, she met Traxalim on her way through Riverbridge, and traveled most of the way with a wandering ons master she met on the road. The cores are sidering taking her in as a ward until she reaches her majority, but nothing has been decided yet.” It wasn't a long story, and most people were a little disappoihat all this fuss was over something so mundane, but that was life sometimes.

  Really, no one would have been so ied in the luponi girl if it hadn’t been for that damn brat of a noble making such a fuss and then insinuating those sorts of motives just because she set that she wasn’t getting her way. The bloody woman had shown her nature by trying to insult Bellona as well. Sure, it was only a few geions ago that her own family had been part of one of the nomadic tribes to the south, but she had no personal issues with that and found it weird that some of her kin were ashamed of it.

  Of course, the ones who were over-proud of it were pretty weird too. They didn't live iribes, why did they feel the o put orappings and pretend to be living like the tribes did?

  When she'd reached her limit of repeating the same facts to new faces, Bellona rose from the table and thahem for the food, but insisted she had to get back to 'patrolling'. There wasn't really anything so specific waiting for her, she was just present to be the face, voice, and/or hand of the dungeon as needed, but she wahe excuse to escape the questions.

  Zagaroth