The Dungeon Inn - English

B1C01 - The Beginning

"Protect me."

That was the only thought that echoed in my mind when I opened my eyes and saw a small, slender crystal lying on the floor. As I looked around, I realized I was at the end of a cave.

As soon as I moved away from my position, I felt uneasy. My eyes were magically drawn back to the crystal. Then it dawned on me. Not only should I protect myself, but also this crystal. Both of our lives would depend on it.

I took the crystal and the discomfort disappeared. The cave wasn't particularly big. It was roughly made of three parts, a small side cave at the end, where I had woken up. A larger cave in the middle and a small passage leading up to the surface. But I couldn't go upstairs. Something invisible stopped me from going outside. The core couldn't leave its territory and wasn't willing to let me go. My duty was to protect him from now on.

But I wasn't a fighter. How was I supposed to protect him when adventurers stormed in? Both I and the core were weak, we would probably be easily eliminated even by newbies. The cave only housed a few harmless slimes that posed no threat. So our danger came only from outside. Whoever would discover the hole at the top of the cave is the source of our problems. Is that so? Is the discovery of the dungeon not more the source? How can I hide the fact that this is a dungeon? How about I put a disguise in front of it, to distract from it.

I've always wanted to run a small inn, it would be a good cover. Okay, then that's decided. From today I am working hard to open a inn here. However, I'm tied to this place, how do I get utensils? There was a small water source at the back of the cave. So water is not a problem. The slimes and mushrooms here could serve as my first ingredients. But that won't work cold, I need a small fire and for that I need wood. But I can't find any wood here, only stones.

If I remember correctly, as a dungeon master I can summon allies. Skeletons would be pretty easy, but if they were discovered while they were bringing in wood, that would be it for me. What else was there? Slimes? Hmm, not as noticeable as skeletons, but their speed is slow and when they are spotted it is immediately clear that a dungeon is nearby. Which slime transports wood? Dogs are known for fetching sticks. I should get a dog-like creature. But they aren't cheap, my gut feeling is that I'll have to wait a while, before I can get one. Okay, then we'll do something else until then. It's not like wood is the only thing I need. There would still be seating. To do this, I would have to rearrange the main cave a bit.

Someone doesn't seem to like it when I move around too much. Then I'll just put you somewhere. What? You don't want that either? It's very annoying when a stone can cause you such discomfort. Where do you want to go? Here? Or there? The side cave? Hmm, maybe it's not so stupid after all. Then your resting place is the side cave and we entertain our guests in the main cave.

Now that the crystal was happily lying in the corner, I used the time, to tidy up the cave with the slimes a bit. Why with the slimes? I just didn't have anything else available. I didn't want to scratch the ground with my bare hands, so I used the slimes for that. Even though they are slimes, they don't leave any behind and that's how I can keep all the dust at bay. Not ideal, but I had to spend some time anyway, until I could summon a dog using the crystal.