Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Dungeon delving, part 9

Chapter 31: Dungeon delving, part 9

Grissila led them to a brightly lit room, where a crystal hovered over a pedestal.

"Why isn't it attacking?" Rina spoke, as Grissila went to the crystal, and took it off the pedestal.

"I was the boss monster," the hag told them, and it all made sense now.

"Give it here, Grissila," Thomas said in his melodic voice. The hag's lips turned up in a smile. No matter how many times she heard the voice, she couldn't tire of hearing it. She went to Thomas, and handed him the crystal.

With one throw to the ground, the crystal was broken into five pieces. Dungeon cores were truly fragile, this one was no exception. Grissila blinked, as if a spell had been lifted from her mind. She looked at Thomas, then at Rina.

"I have been guarding this core ever since it tricked me into a contract," she told them. They both waited for her next words, anxious as can be. "And now, it is no more."

"What are you going to do now?" Thomas asked. He hoped she wouldn't attack them now, that her mind was clear.

"Go back home, if my hut still stands. You freed me, although you tricked me first. Still, I am not mad. You two deserve a reward," She rummaged in a small pouch and took out a book from it. "For the siren. The elf girl already has my bow."

"I can give it back," Rina suggested. She was no thief, and she didn't want to be on the hag's bad side.

"Keep it, I can make a new one," Grissila said with a shrug. Then, she turned and walked out of the core room and back to her cavern. Rina looked to Thomas.

"How did you know that the harp was going to bewitch her?" The elf asked. It had been risky of him to do as Rina had asked of him. One wrong word and, sweet voice or no, they would have ended up in the bubbling cauldron.

"I didn't. The only thing I did was hope as I spun a child's story," Thomas told her, and then looked around the room. "There has to be more treasure in here."

They separated and looked around. The walls were covered in mosaics that had faint traces of mana on them. Neither knew if they had been a trap, before the core had been broken, but now, they were just mosaics.

Then, Rina looked closer to the mosaics. Some of the pieces looked like they were glittering in the dim light more than the others. She neared the eyes of a wizard, and took out her dagger.

It took some time getting them out of the mosaic, but she managed. Inspecting them in the light of her light wisp, she gasped. Those were sapphires!

"Thomas, the mosaic. The mosaics hide the treasure," she held up the two sapphires, and Thomas went closer to her.

"Really? So, the glittering things are gems?" Thomas took the two gems, and looked at them from all angles. They were big and well-cut. With such gems, they could get quite the equipment.

"Yes. Get the slimes to work," Rina said, and he nodded.

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"Karl, Pavos, Jar, Yar, dissolve the tiles of the mosaics and get all the gems out," the summoner commanded, and the slimes went to the walls and extended.

"It is a shame we have to destroy such pieces of art," Thomas murmured, as he watched the tiles disappear.

"It would be a bigger shame to leave all these gems behind for some other adventurer to find. But where are the people?" Rina looked around, not seeing anyone.

"We have to ask Grissila. We came for them. We can't leave without them," Thomas answered her. The four slimes were ready in half an hour, and there was a small pile of gems now safely in Thomas's bottomless bag. Garnets, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and many more precious gems and crystals.

The two went back to Grissila's cavern, only to find her packing.

"Grissila, where are the people?" Rina asked. The hag pointed at a dark corner of her cavern.

"The mana batteries are over there. Asleep," she then put her pouch around her neck and left without another word. Thomas tried to head towards the dark corner, but Rina placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Let me first summon some wisps over there. It could be a trap," she did just that, and the two strained their eyes to see what was over in the corner.

The people who were missing were lying on the ground, with tubes going out of their bodies. There were a couple of pressure plates on the ground before them, but no trace of mana was to be found on them.

"Come on, we need to get them out," Thomas said, having seen enough.

They walked cautiously to the people, and saw a handle protruding from the wall. Thomas went and pulled it. The tubes got dislodged from the people. With a start, they all opened their eyes.

"Don't hurt us," one old lady, who looked sickly and too thin by far, shielded her face with her hands.

"We are adventurers, here to rescue you," Thomas told her with a smile, his voice putting the people at ease.

"A siren that rescues people?" A man from the crowd asked. Then, he blinked. "A male fat siren?"

"I was not born a siren," Thomas protested. Honestly, they were in a dungeon, having been used as mana batteries. Was it so unusual that Thomas could be a siren, or fat, for that matter?

"Ignore my fellow villagers, adventurers. We are truly grateful. If you could only escort us to Drumm village, from where we are, we will be grateful," an elder from the crowd said, and Thomas looked at Rina.

"A small detour before we go back to the ranch?" He asked. She nodded.

"Something else can snatch them off the trails. We can't leave them behind," and with that, their first escort mission was accepted.

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