The Dungeon Inn - English

B01C25 - Bad news

The next morning, Aron's group thanked Bruno for the boards for the wooden beds, that were made at short notice. After breakfast they returned home. Unfortunately we couldn't enjoy the luxury of the boards at night because Bruno didn't have the time to make eight beds. But this night it should be possible, even if Bruno didn't have the time for four more, as we could simply make use of the existing guest beds.

The days went by and you could notice how slowly the temperature was rising. Apparently it was summer.

"Master Marco, I think I haven't told you something important yet."

"What is it Sarah?"

"We snow women are used to the cold. Spring and fall still have temperatures we can tolerate, but summer is too warm for us. It's still fine, but as soon as it gets too warm, I will retreat to the cooling chamber. It will also require more energy, if it continues to bring the heat down."

"Hmm, then you can no longer fulfill your role as a bodyguard."

"Unfortunately this is the case. I will also go to sleep in high season. I think it's always about a month."

"So something like hibernation, only for snow women in the summer?"

"Exactly."

"Bruno, will you also rest for a while in the winter?"

"Yes Master. Unfortunately, my bear ancestry doesn't allow it to be any other way."

"I see, so I need a replacement for you during this time. I mean, winter is still a while away, but summer has already started, so it won't be too long before we need a replacement for Sarah."

"Master, if I could make a suggestion. I can teach you how to use a spear, but I'm more comfortable with weapons that rely on strength, like clubs, than with skills. So I think it would be good if your new bodyguard is experienced in sword fighting and introduces you to it."

"Sounds like a good idea, I'll take it into consideration, thanks. How much time do we have left, Sarah?"

"I think about a month before I have to go to sleep. I can't say, when I won't be able to stand it up here anymore."

Then I probably shouldn't take too much time. Just who should I summon this time? If he has to be able to replace both Sarah and Bruno, the very narrow criteria apply again. The creature must also be skilled in sword fighting. Hmm, I think the easiest would be a human.

I called the core and soon a slightly older man stood in front of me. He wasn't as old as Hilda, but you could tell that his best years were behind him.

"How can I serve you, sir?"

"Why can you get a guy and I can't?"

"Hilda, why are you here?"

"You probably think, I won't notice when the carrier skeleton comes by. I'm happy when there's something going on down here. That can be very inspiring, you know."

"Whatever. Your name is Sven and your job will be to introduce me and Sarah to sword fighting. Sarah will also be retiring soon and you will serve as a replacement bodyguard during this time."

"I assume Sarah is the one who has your back. If I may say so, she still looks a bit young, for soon be passing away. Did you mean Hilda by any chance, sir?"

"Hah, like I'd kick the bucket so easily. You'll have to put up with me for quite a while. Young Master, I have changed my mind, you can keep him after all."

"... No, I meant Sarah. She is a snow woman and will soon go to sleep for the summer."

"A snow woman? I've never met one before, very interesting. Sorry for doubting you, sir."

It turned out that the crystal also understood my desire for a sword master. Sven was very experienced in sword fighting and was a tough teacher. He said he had to drive out Bruno's false teachings from us. He criticized pretty much everything we did, whether it was how we stood, how we swung, or how we prepared to defend. When I wanted to practice spear fighting with Bruno after sword training, Sven interrupted after a short while and took over this part of the training without further ado. So Bruno lost his position as combat instructor, but apparently that didn't seem to bother him that much. On the contrary, he listened very carefully to Sven's instructions and would accompany me during spear training in the future. So during every training session I had someone with me who had to listen to instructions alongside me. In a way it was motivating, because it meant I also had competition. After I ran out of energy, Bruno used the time to talk to Sven about the club fight and he competed against him a few times to practice fighting. Even though Sven was a bit hostile towards Bruno at first, because he had to exorcise his false teachings from us, at the end of the day he got along quite well with Bruno. It turns out that both of them were pretty close in their food preferences. They also shared the opinion that I needed to become stronger and would now put pressure on me together. The idea that Bruno had lost his position as an instructor was probably not right after all. Both said it was important to not only train against one type of weapon at a time, but to go through as many types of weapons as possible. Sven would serve as my opponent with sword and spear, Bruno with clubs and Sarah with her ice bullets.

When night fell, Sven got another bed from the guest room. Initially there were beds for three groups of adventurers. After we got ours, it had already shrunk to two and now with him, one of the second group had to sleep without a bed. Luckily it didn't happen that often that more than one group came, so hopefully I could let Aron know in advance, that we needed more beds.

At least that's what I thought, but like so many things in life, things turned out differently than expected.