The Dungeon Inn - English

B02C09 - Future plans?

Future plans? I was so distracted by building the house that I had completely forgotten to concentrate on the time afterward. Didn't Bruno say something about hibernation? The guild also said that we would be snowed in during the winter.

I called the residents together at a suitable time. It was time for a consultation again.

"Bruno, what should I know about your hibernation?"

"It's similar to Sarah, master. I'll be sleeping soundly for about two months. However, I can't hide as well as she can. To get through the time, I'll also eat a lot in the month before. More than usual."

"I thought so. Regardless, we have a small problem. According to the guild, we'll be snowed in during the winter, which means we should prepare for that time. I'll probably ask Albert's group to stock up on plenty of fruit from the forest. The meat is currently needed for the craftsmen, but as soon as consumption drops, we will also store some for the winter."

"Sir, may I suggest buying some food from the traders as well."

"Hmm, I think I would only want to resort to that in an emergency. We do have some money, but we are already getting into a lot of debt. So I would like to solve it without it for now. The problem is also that the cold storage room has already been expanded a bit, but it will not be able to hold the entire supply. So we need a much larger storage facility."

"Didn't you say that you can absorb things from the dungeon and summon them again, master?"

"That's right, but I don't yet know what the mana situation is in winter. I'd rather not rely on it, because the summoning only works if I have enough mana. I was thinking more about the second level of the labyrinth. It doesn't have any function yet and I've been building it for a while. But how do we organize the cooling and transport? The latter is probably best solved from the dungeon. The current cooling chamber holds the things we need in a timely manner. If something is missing, the core should send a skeleton from the second level up with the missing things. So that leaves cooling. Sarah, that is your specialty. I don't think you can cool down an entire level on your own. What would be best suited for that?"

"Master Marco, there are monsters that can survive well in snowy areas, but I think almost none can summon the cold. You are right that my powers are too weak to provide an entire level with icy temperatures. If there is a being for that, then only one. The Lord of Winter. Do you think you have enough mana to summon someone like that?"

"Things are still looking very good. The core keeps pushing me to use up more mana. We are currently receiving a lot from the craftsmen, especially on the construction site. So I would like to try it. So Lord of Winter is the name of the being I shall summon?"

"That's one of his titles. He is also known as Father Frost."

I took the core from the carrier skeleton that had brought Hilda to the meeting and tried the summoning. I felt quite some mana being used up. Apparently I was summoning someone really strong. But that also meant that it would work.

An old man soon appeared before me. He had long white hair, a long white beard and was wearing a white, slightly bluish coat. Unlike Sarah, his eyes were not red, but a cool blue. His skin had something slightly grayish about it and was also very white, like Sarah's.

He looked briefly at those present and when his gaze fell on Sarah, he nodded.

"Ah, a snow woman. That's nice. Then I'm not the only winter creature here."

Sarah curtsied.

"It's an honor to meet you, Your Reverence."

The Lord of Winter nodded contentedly and then looked at me.

"Your name is Friedrich and you are to bring winter to the second level of the labyrinth. Do you think that's possible?"

"Hoho, didn't the snow woman tell you? I'm the Lord of Winter. Bringing cold and snow is easy for me. In the second level we will be far enough away from the surface that I can make it wintery there even in summer. But if you want me to do the job well, you will have to give me some help."

"And what would that be?"

"I like walking through the forest in the snow. But that's only slowly possible at my age. You spoke of a whole level. I don't know how big it is, but I think a sleigh with draft animals should make it much easier to travel around it."

"I understand. Draft animals should be possible, but I'm not sure how well we can organize a sleigh."

"Young master, I think I have a solution for that."

"You?"

Hilda smiled and pointed to herself.

"Yes, I. *ahem* I warmly recommend riding a skeleton, dear Friedrich. Or should I say coldly?"

"...You're not really suggesting that Friedrich should ride a skeleton like you?"

"Why not? I do it too. So why shouldn't he be able to?"

"That... is indeed an unusual suggestion. I'm used to riding in a sleigh. If the lady has already had good experience with it, I want to at least try it."

"You don't really want to try it, do you?"

"Don't listen to him. He's too young to understand."

"Of course I'm not convinced yet. The experiment will show which is better. Please summon one of those riding skeletons for me."

Where has my beautiful fantasy of Father Frost with a sleigh in the forest gone? Hilda, what have you done?