One Week Prior
The Arrival of the Mining Dungeon Refugees
THE QUARANTINE CENTER WAS chaotic and noisy with chatter,confusion, and marveling. Odd to mix marveling with confusion, but thereit was, with civilians staring in wide-eyed wonder at their temporary homefor the next week as they filed into the dining hall while the soldiers carriedthose unable to walk on stretchers and took them straight into the first floorsleeping hall, aptly named Sleeping Hall 1, where the severelymalnourished were to stay and be taken care of by the health membersalready on station and working.
Despite this facility being anything but a simple structure of a modern three-story building with a dining area, common hall, five sleeping halls,and gender designated bathrooms attached to each sleeping hall, I guessedthe people in this world viewed it differently.
This, undoubtedly, was more of a lord's manor to them, with vinyl floor
that looked beautiful like polished marble yet soft to the feet and cozy decor
and furnishings. Well, I did want to ensure the refugees were comfortable
during their stay while they recovered from the horrors of their enslavement
in the mining dungeon.
"Are we going to be staying here?" a woman asked, staring around as she
pulled out a chair to sit, as everyone else was doing.
"What is this place?" another asked. "Is this the lord's manor? But what
of that grand castle close by?"
"That castle must be the lord's main manor," a man said. "This one must
be the second, smaller one."
"Where do we stay then if this is the lord's manor?" another said. "Willwe be cast aside by Lord Norsewood, too? But he saved us, and I heardLady Norsewood said we'd be living in a lodge. Besides, there's no other lodge-like building around, let alone any cottages that we can see, so we must be living here in this manor?"
Clearly, most were uncertain and afraid, especially the women withchildren. It looked like we had better start alleviating their worries bymaking our announcement.
Aldric, Mark, Uncle Colt, Jacob, Eden, and I walked up onto the dais atthe head of the hall. Standing in the middle, Mark took a few steps to thefront. Then he cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, quiet down so we canget things underway."
Some at the front turned their attention to Mark, but those at the backcouldn't quite hear. It was a large hall, and there were just over fourhundred in here, including the Norsewood people as volunteers, so Mark'svoice was drowned out by the hum of chatter.
Uncle Colt hollered, "Quiet, everyone. Lord Mark will speak now."
Silence descended upon the hall, and Uncle Colt gave Mark a thumbs-up,
and Mark gave him one in return.
"I wonder if those at the back will be able to hear," Eden said. "Mark'svoice is loud, but..."
"Most likely not," Aldric said.
I summoned my magic, wondering why I hadn't thought of this sooner,even when I had first come to Norsewood and had to make announcementsusing my soft voice. I bet those at the back had to always strain their ears tohear or asked those at the front to tell them what had been said after.
In my head, I said, "Vicky? Loudspeakers around the hall, please."
On it, came Vicky's voice.
It was probably the invisible version, or the tiny but loud ones, because I couldn't see them anywhere, though I did notice four circles in the farcorners of the hall near the ceiling appearing for a split second, indicatingthe magic was working. With a microphone in hand, I went up to Mark andsaid, "Use this."
