Dungeon? This Tree? Why Don't You Join Me for Lunch? (Dungeon Core)
Chapter 18: Robert

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Robert

It was an old myth. Something that had been proven wrong more than once. And yet, there was something about people knocking on your door wearing the porcelain masks of the Dark Emporium that made people open their doors.

After all, as legend had it, only those invited could go to the Emporium. And once there, they could pick whatever they wanted.

For free!

But that was just the first item. Something I was going to stress to the giant... with the goal of not learning how to fly.

"Welcome," his voice was like a thunder which threatened that the tree next to you was going to take you to the underworld.

Still, I rather liked him!

His hair was clean, with a shine to it. A lovely dark brown. His beard was trimmed. He looked so as if he slept well. No rings under his eyes.

That was someone who knew how to live! Heck, I might manage to include him in the many festivals I was going to hold.

Mana could be mined in many ways. The one I was going to do as long as King Alexios did not notice just where his mana was going was one of them.

But the truth of the matter was that the king was no fool.

Cruel, knew that mercy

was a word, but did not know what it meant.

A Lich.

He was going to notice. But by the time he did, I was going to steal away his regen!

Hopefully...

"Sir Oakheart, we are overjoyed to welcome you to..." the giant snorted, cutting me off.

"You have an enchantment which is level 1,000 on the scale," ah, he was cutting to the chase. Oh, if I could only tell him to move to my tree... "I want it."

"How much are you willing to pay for it?" Nara asked, taking off her mask. I did the same, head bowed.

My plans had a 50/50 succession rate. I should not have been surprised that they had not worked now.

But, darn, I wanted to hire this giant!

"A year when you wouldn’t have to pay for moving goods through the Main Road," he already had his system create the contract.

The idea had merit. I could start a trading network. Have my old girl begin to grow plants and animals I could sell.

But the king was not going to just skip around the countryside. He was going to cross the border.

And then, I would not be able to follow.

But...

I do not need such a trading network now. But the king did!

"How about you do this as a show of loyalty to King Solas?" I suggested. Oh, I hated helping the one who wanted to kill my old girl’s grandson, but needs must.

"To that Lich?" He snorted, shook his head. "No way!"

"We are all going to die!" Nara yelled, voicing my thoughts. "I have two children! Do you know what a Lich does to children? To orc children?"

I could feel the poison in her heart. How she knew things I did not, sheltered in my new tree.

Safe and warm.

"King Solas is a Lich," Robert snarled, standing up. "See yourselves out!"

"He is a Lich, yes," Nara snarled, packing the giant on the leg and squeezing. "But he is our king, and you owe him fealty!"

"I owe him nothing!" Robert snarled, shaking Nara off him like she weighed nothing.

Nara looked at him from her place on the floor. Her eyes showed a tale of a spirit unbroken.

"I have two children!" Nara repeated, not standing up. "Two orc children! Nathan likes to draw, but I managed to get him to do his math problems after he had drawn for an hour! And my little Nesta likes to garden! Just last year, we caught a bunny in our garden. She proclaimed it her crops’ taster! My children deserve to live!"

Robert shuddered.

I knew we had him.

"But what if the king takes your children? What if he makes monsters out of them?" Robert asked. I knew that it was the final attempt of resistance.

Still, I was not going to leave Nara to fight alone.

"The human village is in ruins. The gnomes are proud, but they are also in dire need of a helping hand!" I said, as I made a step towards the giant. Fully aware that he could just step on me to make me shut up. "And here you are, in this castle, lacking nothing!"

"Your toll road is forcing the merchants to go near the goblin camps!" Nara yelled, jumping to her feet, grabbing Robert’s leg, and pushing hard.

My eyes went wide as Robert toppled to the ground.

The only reason why I was still alive was that he had fallen on his massive couch. I said a small prayer to the divines, looking at Nara.

"Let us go," before the giant kills us by accident went unspoken, but the horror in my eyes was making the message clear.

"No!" She roared, as she packed the giant on the leg again. "I have two children! They deserve to live!"

Robert stood up, his face dark.

"You have two children, you say," I made a step back when I heard him whisper that. God, was he going to eat us? "Then why not run away?"

Nara narrowed her eyes, her hand resting on Robert’s leg. The threat clear.

"And teach them what? That they should always choose their own skins, and ignore those who were weaker than them? That survival was the only thing that mattered? They are my children! I refuse to cripple them with fear!"

She slammed her fist down on Robert, but this time, he did not go down to the ground.

"Am I crippled by fear, do you think?" The giant’s brown eyes were gentle, as he bent and looked Nara in the eyes.

"For now," she said, braver than me by far. "But I will weed it out of you!"

Robert gave out a belly laugh, Nara tugged his ear.

Did I just witness the adoption of a giant by an orc?