The Dungeon Inn - English

B1C07 - Victory celebration

The snake was dead. We had won. But what if she had ignored Bruno and stormed straight towards me and the crystal? Then I would be trapped and maybe die. That was the big disadvantage in our current situation. The cave gave us protection, but at the same time it was a danger to us, if the enemy ignored Bruno or was stronger than him. It wouldn't do any good, if Bruno lured the enemy away or bought time for us, since the core wouldn't let me escape. We are tied to this place. But I should at least leave a second option open. If necessary, I run in circles until the enemy is tired. This is my last hope. But the circle should be big enough and protected, so that they can't intercept me. I should probably connect the guest room with the side cave, but then Karl would have to keep an eye on two entrances, when we have guests. Bruno could guard the other entrance. However, today we saw how deep his sleep is. Maybe he can at least block the entrance with his body. I should probably test, whether I can get over him unnoticed while he is sleeping or whether it will wake him up. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about it that much yet, I don't have the mana necessary to expand the dungeon again anyway. I feel a renewed increase. Presumably killing the snake strengthened the crystal. Maybe I should then ask Bruno and Karl to kill the horn rabbits in here. However, that would make hunting more difficult for them. Bruno in particular is happy, if he even hits the rabbit. I think catching is still too far away. But maybe Karl could. I think way too much. We should first celebrate the victory and what better way is there, than to prepare the meat of the fallen.

I dismantled the snake and cut the meat into pieces. If possible, I will probably use the meat for the soup in the future, as it was much easier to use than that from the little horn rabbits. When the soup was ready, we celebrated the victory with it and Bruno posed several times next to the squished head.

When Bruno returned with Karl the next day, they were not alone, four unknown adventurers followed them.

"I bring you new guests, Master."

"So you're the one Aron recommended to us. I thought he had bad eyesight, when I met Bruno and thought he meant him."

"Welcome to our humble cave"

"Hmmm. He was really right, that you still have a long way to go. We would spend one night here and according to Aron you are more interested in utensils than money. Would this be enough payment?"

The adventurer showed a wooden spoon and a ladle.

"For 4 people, that seems a bit small with food. Can you offer more."

"How about that?"

He added a metal hand axe.

"That would be enough, feel free to make yourself comfortable in the side cave there."

Like Karl, the adventurers preferred meat dishes and were not tempted by salads. Unlike their predecessors, they weren't interested in what was in the food. I kept all the ingredients in the cave with the crystal so it wouldn't be obvious that the soup meat was from a snake. I was glad that we had guests again, not only because they brought the hand axe, that would be very useful to us, but also because I was worried, that the snake meat would quickly go bad, if we didn't eat it in time.

The next morning the adventurers said goodbye again. But their absence was not to last long. In the evening they stormed in again, or rather three of them. One was being carried by the other two and appeared to be seriously injured.

"What happened?"

"Isn't that obvious? The forest has taken its toll!" hissed their boss.

They brought their colleague to the cooking area and I lit the fire for them.

"Tsk, he won't make the trip to the city. We'll stay here until he's better. Do you have any medicine here?"

"Sorry, I don't have anything like that yet."

"Damn, that was clear. He'll spend the night here by the fire, it's his best chance."

As if the weather noticed how the adventurers were feeling, it began to rain heavily. The rain came in through the hole and soon formed a small river, which then dissipated through small cracks in the floor, before it could go deeper into the main cave. This continued the next day too. I didn't want to send my companions out in this weather. However, our wood consumption was higher than usual, normally I turned on the fire for cooking and in the evening for lighting. But now it was always lit, because the adventurers insisted on it.

When I told them, that such a large amount of wood was not planned, her boss pulled out his weapon and held it to my neck. The whole thing happened so quickly, that my companions couldn't react in time. Bruno reached for his weapon, but didn't draw it. Karl growled.

"Listen to me carefully. I lost one of my boys out there. I don't care what you want, I'm not taking the risk, that there will be another one. You're lucky, I didn't kill you straight away. I don't trust you. You live here near this cursed forest and you also have a Demi working for you. So if you value your life, be calm and do what we say. Otherwise, that's it for you."

"I just meant, that we have to get wood in good time and should therefore use it more sparingly."

"Hah what do you think this is."

He stomps his foot on the log that served as a seat.

"We have more than enough. So we are clear?"

After I nodded, he put his weapon away again and at my signal my companions also relaxed. However, the mood was tense. Both sides kept their distance and remained silent.