Dungeon? This Tree? Why Don't You Join Me for Lunch? (Dungeon Core)
Chapter 16: Mael’s arrival

Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Mael’s arrival

It was just a stroke of luck that Mael had not started his journey from his village to my tree on the day of the storm. Orc shamans must really be something.

But there was a slight problem.

I had promised Mael a home and an easy life as a delivery man.

The forest was a mess, the gnome village took up my days, and I had no idea what had happened to the humans.

And Mael had not come alone.

Next to him was a stocky orc woman wearing a brown dress which showed off her muscular arms. The two children, a boy and a girl, looked at me so, as if they were considering how to fleece me for sweets.

And I was covered in ash, picking up what had survived from an apple tree.

Which was not much.

"King Solas has declared war on the Necromantic Union," Mael told me, as he joined me on my doomed quest to salvage as much food from the gnome mini farms as I could. "He rode off with 10,000 strong. Most of them undead."

I closed my eyes. That dumbass...

"Those zombies are going to turn against him," the woman, who could only be Nara, snarled. "And then he is going to be left with only 2,000 soldiers!"

Oh, that shit for brains had only 2,000 living soldiers?

"We are all going to die," the gnome chief said, spitting on the ground.

"No, we are not!" I said, for I had a plan.

My tree had deep roots. It could sense the barrier stones around the country.

If that airhead wanted to invade the horror lands which were the Necromantic Union, he was welcomed to do so. He was also welcomed to dig his own grave and jump right in!

That organ harvesting piece of...

I shook my head. There were kids present!

"We will make a barrier around our country. As soon as he gets out of it," because, if the king died, then Pan would not have to hide anymore.

Thea would be pleased. Or maybe not. She had a heart of gold, my old girl. Surely, she would insist on saving the king.

My mantra came to the forefront of my brain.

Darn it, the king was making a hypocrite out of me!

"And the king?" Mael asked, as he found an apple that was almost baked, but did not smell of rot. "May I give this to my children?"

It was nice of him to ask. I just knew that he would get along with the gnomes!

"Sure, go ahead," the chief said.

I watched on as Mael split the baked apple in half, giving each of his children equal halves.

How was I supposed to disappoint such a person? To fall in his eyes?

Darn it all, I was not a murder dungeon! All I knew was how to cook. Healing food, not poisonous food.

Only 2,000 soldiers...

How was I supposed to save them?

The king could hang, though, I thought to myself, feeling as someone tugged at my ear.

0000

I was a dungeon.

Not a murder dungeon, but a dungeon. Even Thea had used her mobs to fight, even if it was just once.

The schema of the worker ants was something I had to get from Marinus, for Thea did not want to speak to me.

The problem that I did not have enough mana to send these reinforcements to the king remained.

The truth was that I could help the gnomes rebuild their village, but they would not want to abandon it. And the humans had not come to visit.

Too busy rebuilding to bother with me.

I needed something big! I needed a feast to charm the mana out of them!

But who was going to come to a festival at such times? When their homes were smoking wrecks with their windows broken by the hailstorm?

But...

The king was yet to invade the Necromantic Union. He was still within our borders! The undead were too slow. His soldiers probably were busy with stopping them from eating the brains of the villagers on the way to the Road of War.

Soldiers loved free food and wine. They also loved music.

Surely, if I played my cards right, I could convince them that the festival was just a way to say thank you for the fact that they were committing mass suicide?

I looked at the dream catcher. I was yet to pay for the first delivery of food. Not to mention that 2,000 soldiers would eat much more than a single village.

I needed food, the gnomes had none.

I needed mana, everyone needed it as well.

I looked at the moss once more. Well, when in doubt, cheat.

0000

Mael and Nara found me over a pot, stirring the moss and water mix. Mael chuckled, Nara took a ladle from somewhere and hit me over the head.

"That’s a forgery!" She said, as she prepared to hit me again.

"Yes," I told her, not a drop of shame in my voice. "But it will save lives. Besides, no one will notice!"

I placed the single silk band in the pot, smiled at the tree, and then heard Thea beginning to grumble, as Grumpy Pants got down to enchanting the ribbon.

"What is it going to do?" Mael asked, barely holding in his mirth.

"Well," I said, more than a little proud of myself. "This is a Quick Shot and Air enchantment. Level 1,000 on the scale."

Nara blinked.

"And to whom are you going to sell it to?" She asked, trying to imagine who was rich enough to buy it. "The king?"

"Goodness no! He is broke. Heck, I think I have more money than him right now," wars were expensive. A war against someone ten times your size even more so. "To King Alexios!"

Nara blinked.

"Are you... going to make the man fund the war effort against himself?" She asked so, as if I were about as bright as a rock covered in tar.

"Precisely, dearest Nara!" I told her.

Well... I was not like that, normally, but...

Morals were nice to have, but not when lives were on the line!