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Death’s Daughter Chapter 210

“Author” FoodLovingPanda”

CHAPTER 210

***VITOU’S POV***

It has been a week since the dungeon was created, and we have all been quite busy. As soon as the seal was lifted I sent Taichi, Daisuke, Mia and Marc to explore with the Archduke, while I stayed with Naoko to make sure she doesn’t ditch all of us. For now I decided that all dungeons are off-limits to her.

Luckily there was no need to keep watch over her because three days ago the first adventurers arrived and that meant she became extra busy. I swear I could see her eyes sparkle when she saw them. That night the price for the night fell to thirty silver coins and the next morning I was surprised because the inn had doubled in size. I don’t know how she was able to do it without alerting anyone else, but I knew for a fact that all of the rooms would be booked in the next few days as more people arrive. I cannot help but slightly worry about her obsession with making money. I mean this is not the first time she pulled something like this near a dungeon.

And right now the reinforcements from Kapitalia have finally arrived. The one thing I did not expect was my father to be among the soldiers sent here to guard the area. What does he think he is doing? Who’s taking charge in the castle? I doubt that the Queen is the one doing it since she is most likely still angry at the two of us. Please gods, just don’t make it so that he put everything on hold and that there will be a ton of paperwork to deal with once I am back.

“Vitou my dear son, how glad I am to see you. It is really fortunate you were here when all this happened otherwise locating this dungeon would take that much longer. How is my daughter-in-law?”

“Father, I think that if we weren’t here, this would not have happened at all. Nao-chan is currently busy, it is lunchtime as you can see. She’s really expanding her business.”

I pointed at the building behind me. The immense three storey inn stood there overlooking the entire valley. It was not only an inn, but also worked as a restaurant during the day and a public bathhouse for those that wanted to clean themselves after a long day. I took my father to the conference room to report everything that has happened and all that was discovered about this dungeon.

“That is really unfortunate, especially since the dungeon was sealed at the beginning. If they were able to take control of it, none of this would be necessary. So what do you plan on doing next? I will remain in this area for a while until everything is set up, after all someone needs to be in charge here. Hopefully, my dearest would calm down as well by that time and it would be safe to return to the castle.”

That is true, someone needs to be in charge, but did it have to be him. Someone also needs to be in charge back at home.

“I don’t know what is next, it all depends on Nao-chan. If you ask me, I really want to return to Kapitalia as soon as possible, but she would not stand for it. Oh, I almost forgot, Nakamura was able to find out more of her stats and skills, but you will not like it. She has a way for her base stats to increase drastically in battle. So that means that we cannot estimate her strength solely off of her stats. I suggest we add in a procedure in the wedding ceremony where we need to show stats to each other as a sign of trust or something like that. It is the only way we can truly grasp how strong she is and learn about all of her skills and titles.”

This could easily be arranged, since a long time ago this was a part of the ceremony, but over the past two hundred years or so it became obsolete since a lot of people were against showing their status in front of every single guest present for the ceremony. But seeing as we are planning for a traditional wedding, slipping this in can be done.

“Those are some troublesome news. Also you shouldn’t worry about it, as I said it will be a traditional marriage done exactly as the laws intended it to be. Down to the last word and act. But from the past information you gave me, she seems something like the heroes where she is able to gain new stats with level ups, but unlike her, the heroes get much less of it. It seems like she has more abilities as a hero, than they do.”

“I really don’t want to hear about it. According to Nakanishi, she wasn’t picked up by any of the twelve gods, so who would be able to give such a blessing to her and let her arrive in this place. I thought the gods were supposed to be the strongest entities that rule over this world. How can they miss someone like Naoko and let someone else mess with their heroes like she does?”

“That will remain a mystery. Long time ago I asked her how she arrived here and she only said that gods were responsible for her dying and you heard it yourself in court that she said she was dumped here by some shameless person. Since she was talking under the pressure of the sword, it must have been the truth. Now that I think about it, I don’t remember her saying that person’s name. I don’t even know if she knows his name. I mean she made it clear to me that she does not like that person at all. Even said he took advantage of her when she was confused over all this happening, so there is no doubt it wasn’t a pleasant meeting.”

I suddenly had a memory flash past my eyes about black haired man I met when drinking with Nao-chan, but I simply couldn’t recall what he looked like, only that he had black hair and was able to treat her like you would treat a pet and she was unable to go against him. Could it be that man that brought her here? I should look into it once I am back.

Deciding to let it drop for now I told my father about what happened with Nakamura, or better say, what Goddess Syrina told me that night since the next day he had no recollection of anything he said while being possessed by the Goddess.

“I don’t know what she is talking about, but I shall be careful. If the goddess herself spoke about it, then I should take these words to heart.”

My father left and I was left standing alone. I really need a break. At first I thought I would be able to relax since I was away from the castle and all the paperwork that needs to be done, but right now I kinda miss being in my office and dealing with all the boring things. At least there are no worries about what kind of disaster I would be met with the next day. I really hope that for the rest of this ‘break’ that we have left, nothing will happen and that we will be able to return to Kapitalia in one piece.

***ERIK’S POV***

That was close. I think that I should put all my plans on hold. I wanted to use this opportunity that Vitou was travelling with Naoko to increase the power of my country, but since the Goddess warned me personally I should rethink my strategy. I should also seek more guidance from the temple and once the signs are showing time for my fortune, I will make my move.

“Naoko dear, can you give me a room in this inn. You’re working really hard, you should be relaxing now that you are on vacation.”

“Your Majesty, the cost is 35 silver for the night. This is our time limited offer, considering the dungeon was just created. I do have to inform you that you can only pay for a single night upfront. This is after all a ‘Lost Inn’ and it could disappear at any moment.”

3500 Lyr for a single night at the inn? I don’t think you can even call this highway robbery with how expensive this is. Well, I’ll indulge her this time. I don’t want her to have any more reasons to not like me.

“Here you go Naoko.”

“Thank you for choosing to stay with us. I will be showing you to your room. It is equipped with fine beddings and furniture. The dinner is served between six and nine and breakfast starts at seven in the morning. You can use the bathhouse free of charge as a guest of the inn. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

I wanted to complain about something, but it really was finest bedding and furniture in the room. It was to a point where I decided to ask her to sell it to me later on. The following day I spent overlooking the soldiers and workers building the hut where dungeon control team would stay and also where information could be bought and sold. Thankfully Vitou’s party was able to provide us with some maps and details about the monsters in the dungeon so those going in for the first time wouldn’t be going in blind.

The day was long and arduous, and halfway through the day, dense fog descended upon the valley. I heard from Vitou that they were planning on going to Orzak next before heading back to Kapitalia. Apparently Naoko said she wanted to go back because of clan issues and will continue adventuring in Vilikis during the trip to visit the royal family.

I was really looking forward to sleeping again in the inn, but when the fog cleared out I was left with huge disappointment along with a few dozen other people. The place where the inn once stood was completely empty aside from a small sign planted in the ground.

‘Gone until further notice’

This story soon spread and became known as the ‘Mystery of Red Lake’ in the chronicles of sightings of Lost Inn.