Blacksmith vs. the System

"What's wrong?" Maria asked the moment Eleanor arrived. Eleanor said nothing, just passed a letter to Maria. From the way her face fell, I doubted that it was good news. Then, I noticed the familiar seal, a tankard with a crack, signaling that it was a letter from Rosie.

I said nothing until Maria passed the letter to me, and I read it quickly. "An undiscovered dungeon? Only three days from a breach?" I asked.

"Yes," Maria said, looking tense. "Can we trust her?"

I first thought that she was asking Eleanor, but they both turned to me, which was not particularly stress-free. It was a difficult call. I had worked with Rosie before, and she had never steered me wrong. While she had been a consummate businesswoman with an incredible ability to bargain, she had always followed her deals. Not just in the letter, but in spirit as well.

"I'm inclined to believe her," I decided.

"Why?"

"She already had a good chance to betray us during the earlier debacle if she was so inclined," I said. "Or, if she is hedging her bets, she would have pulled back her fledgling guild with the rest. It could be that she's working for Thomas, and that they are pulling a dangerous double-bluff, but…"

"It's unlikely," Maria admitted. "She had been a key supplier during all of this, even more so than what we expected."

"That's right," I said, then paused.

"Is something wrong?" Eleanor interrupted.

"Not really," I said. "It's just that Rosie has always been a very careful player. I had seen her fight. She could have done better than operating a busy inn in a small town, but she had limited herself. I had always thought that she was holding back because she lacked grand ambitions. But, maybe she was waiting for an opportunity to make a big play."

That didn't enhance Eleanor's mood in any way. "That doesn't make me trust her anymore."

"And, I'm not trying to," I said. "I'm just sharing my impression. Ultimately, my interactions with her are wildly different from what you have. But, sometimes shared benefits are all that's needed to establish a good alliance."

"And, sometimes, it's not," Eleanor said. "If she wants to forge a closer alliance, why is she not here?" I shrugged. After all, she had a point, and I didn't feel particularly compelled to defend Rosie, especially since I had no idea what her plan was, only that she had one. Otherwise, she wouldn't have sent me here, asking for a detailed report about the dungeon.

It felt like that was such a long time ago.

"Enough," Maria cut in. "What she wants in the long term, or what we can put together doesn't matter. The important thing is, do we believe her about the dungeon warning?"

"I do," Eleanor admitted reluctantly. I nodded as well.

"Then, we need to decide what to do. Three days doesn't give us a lot of time to move around."

"How far is the dungeon?" I asked.

"Flying, merely half an hour, but if we're to bring an army there, we need to move in a few hours at most," Maria said.

"We're not going to ask for reinforcements?" Eleanor said.

Maria looked conflicted. "We should, but from whom? It's clear that my family put their support behind Thomas. We won't receive anything but excuses from them. As for other guilds or nearby towns…" she added, not even bothering to finish her sentences. "No, we have to bring an army there and deal with it."

"What if they use it as a chance to attack the town?" I asked. "Or, they ambush us while we're dealing with the dungeon?"

"You suspect that it's bait. I thought you trusted Rosie."

"Not necessarily a bait," I said. "And, it's not about how much I trust Rosie. She's not omnipotent, and I'm assuming a dungeon could be discovered in many different ways."

Maria nodded. "Yes. There are some products from the System shop that could detect the presence of a dungeon, especially if they are close to a breach and leaking dungeon miasma. But…"

"But, what," I asked.

"They have relatively limited range," Eleanor continued. "It's rare for them to extend any more than a few hundred yards, and even the best one we used extended to merely half a mile. So, she has to know about it."

"Or, she expected the probability, and sent scouts to check. Scouts that found what ours had missed."

"Yes, they should have found it," Eleanor added. "It looks like we have more traitors, hiding reports."

"Not necessarily," I interrupted. They looked at me. "Is it fair to assume that the patrol schedule is quite hectic since the guilds have retreated?"

"If anything, that's an understatement. Especially with some of them assigned to your forces."

"Trying to conceal scouting reports when the scouts rotate frequently is bound to be difficult, and even for Thomas, it's a bad plan. It's easier to just sabotage the devices used for detection."

"You have a point," Maria admitted. "Those enchantments are complicated, and it wouldn't take a lot to break them consistently."

"Should we check them?" Eleanor asked.

"It's a good way to validate the report before we mobilize the case. That way, we have another evidence for or against before mobilizing."

"Are we sure we want to alert them?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Maria said. "Does it matter? They will realize what's going on once we mobilize either way."

"No," I said. "Are we sure we want to mobilize our forces openly?"

"What's the alternative? Are we going to let the dungeon burst?" Eleanor asked.

Maria paused, her eyes widening after a second. "I see. Actually, it might not be a terrible idea," she said. I smiled, while Eleanor looked shocked.

"You can't be serious," she said.

"Maybe. This is a mana-dead zone, so the danger-orienting from the dungeon shouldn't be as bad. It's probably something similar to ours. And, once it bursts, it'll elevate the danger we're in, but…"

"It won't be as bad as splitting our forces and sacrificing our tactical flexibility," I added. "The moment we spread our forces to two locations, we'll give up strategic flexibility completely, and they can attack us however they wish."

"What if the dungeon is more dangerous than we expect? Or, worse, it has a difficult-to-overcome ability like the corrosion we're dealing with."

"Easy," I said. "We just need to send someone to check the dungeon, check the nature of the creatures, and understand if they pose any danger —" I started, only to pause. "Damn, I have to be the one to go, right?" I asked.

"No!" The answer came from both of them. "It's too risky," Maria continued.

"Not that risky. I have a good mixture of combat potential and mobility, and since I'm expected to be in the dungeon, my absence would go unnoticed," I argued, which was the exact opposite of what I should be doing. They should be the ones who were pushing me to scout the area while I argued for my personal safety.

It was absurd, but it seemed like my new reality.

"But, what if something goes wrong? You're strong, but…" Eleanor said, the silent implication being I was the weakest of the three of us.

"True," I admitted, feeling no shame not being as strong as the two of them. I was closer to Eleanor, but as long as we were wearing comparable equipment, she was still better than me at a straight-up fight. "However, I'm not too far behind you, and we can't send Maria to a secret mission alone."

"Why not," Maria argued. "I'm more capable than both of you, and as long as I bring along one of those crushers, I can replenish my mana easily."

I said nothing, just turned at Eleanor. She coughed pointedly. "Well, you're not exactly … sneaky," she said.

"I can be sneaky," Maria claimed.

"Not when you're fighting," Eleanor answered so that I didn't have to.

"Fine," Maria said, her pouting too childish for a woman who could do a convincing cosplay of a forest fire. "But, it still doesn't mean that you should be the one to go."

"No, it does," I said. "Eleanor is right. What if the dungeon beasts come with a similar drawback. I'm the best candidate to assess it accurately."

"Maybe both of you should go," Maria countered. "I can hold the fort alone."

Eleanor looked split at the suggestion, but luckily for her, she didn't need to come to a decision. "No," I said. "I'm sure she has spies who are watching her moves. Any long disappearance might alert them, and it'll make it harder to approach the dungeon then. Going alone will give me better flexibility." Eleanor looked ready to argue.

"And, we need you here to train the Farmers about the class," I continued. " I promised that I wouldn't force them to upgrade early, but I still expect half of them to accept the offer and push for the class upgrade. We need you to train them to use their skills. We have three hundred spears ready, with some swords mixed in. It'll be enough for them to use when leveling up."

"Are you sure you want to leave?" Maria asked.

"That makes the most sense," I admitted. "But, before leaving, let's forge another five hundred spears just in case," I added.

"In case of what?" Maria said, her tone sharp.

"In case I have to take a detour," I replied, giving the most confident smile I could muster. "Don't worry. I have every intention of coming back safely, but I will feel better if there's no task waiting for me, forcing me into a disadvantageous timeline."

They nodded, looking as frustrated as I was feeling. The last thing I wanted was to gallivant around, but unfortunately, the situation didn't allow for anything else.