Whilst Bob had been busy making a new friend below ground, above ground was left in a state of near chaos. By daylight after Bob's Dungeon exploits, the entire area was aware that a situation had occurred at the Level one Dungeon. What the common person knew and believed however, was entirely different from the facts on the ground, with the authorities attempting to suppress the information and downplay it entirely. Unfortunately this had the opposite effect, and made people believe there was an even bigger threat hidden within their city.

  Parents walking their children to school, business men on their lunch break, and even low ranking policemen were discussing the rumours. Many of them believed it was a Level five Dungeon break, and many highly dangerous and intelligent monsters had escaped. The more fearful believed the monsters could even shape-shift, and so were becoming fearful of their neighbours.

  At this point, the rumours were going to cause more damage than a monster outbreak could ever do.

  The Guild responsible for the management and operation of the Dungeon, was being harassed non stop by reporters and so, had forced them to congregate covertly in the meantime.

  Henrietta found herself walking through the high-class residential district at midday, wearing a long beige coat and accompanying beret, that hid the majority of her fiery hair. Her face was mostly obscured with a white mask to stop the spread of germs, and her eyes carried a sever look of 'I can't be arsed'. With her identity obscured, she was thankful when she realised she was nearly outside the right address.

  Her mood soured even more when she sighted another person coming from the opposite direction and walking directly towards her. The tall man was wearing a dark blue tracksuit, with his top zipped up high and covering the bottom half of his face. A similar colour baseball cap, cast a dark shade over his eyes and refused to reveal his thoughts easily.

  The man came to an abrupt stop in front of Henrietta and so did she. Both of them sized each other up, before Henrietta gave a deep sigh and spoke.

  "What the hell are you wearing, you look like a drug dealer?"

  Making a big show of looking her up and down, the man tutted loudly and then replied.

  "Tut....I was on my way to the gym at first. So what's with your get up? You look like a hooker"

  Henrietta did not immediately reply, evidently trying to suppress her emotions. In the next moment, she casually withdrew her phone from her pocket and made a call.

  "Hello, yes police please...I'd like to report a drug dealer. Where? Outside the....."

  The man's eyes went wide and he quickly snatched the phone from Henrietta and put it to his ear.

  "She was only joking, I promise sh...."

  His face changed from one of panic, to a fed up expression that made him groan internally. The voice on the other end of the call continued on regardless.

  "The time is 12:03.....DING....The time is 12:03"

  Henrietta could not help but smirk as she reclaimed her phone, and then turned to walk in the building they had stopped outside of. Not saying anything more, the man followed after her and they both found themselves sharing the lift, with no other residents present.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, Henrietta removed her mask and undid the top button of her coat, allowing her some slight breathing space. Beside her, the man unzipped his tracksuit top and revealed an eccentric t-shirt. A bright yellow cartoon character in the shape of a sponge and wearing a derpy expression, attempted to bring shame to the man. Hurriedly he realised what top he was wearing and zipped his jacket back up.

  Slowly he looked to his side and spoke.

  "Did you see it?"

  "Huh, see what?"

  "Nothing"

  A wave of relief washed over the man's face, before he returned to being calm again. The elevator ride seemingly dragged on forever, and they were still only at the 42nd floor. The soft ambience gave the occupants a relaxed feeling and the soothing melody would not of been amiss when lulling a baby to sleep.

  Not wanting to be seduced by the situation and become groggy, the man engaged Henrietta in conversation again.

  "You were there, wasn't you? Did you see anything suspicious?"

  The moments passed with Henrietta not responding, but ultimately she relented, as the man had been staring at her the entire time, awaiting an answer.

  "Yeah, but me and my maid left before the attack. We would of stayed if it wasn't for that rat like prick"

  Pursing his lips out in thought, his internal monologue stretched onwards as he pondered various things. Before he could vocalise any of his thoughts, the elevator came to a halt with a melodic dinging noise replacing the music. Above the elevator doors, an LCD strip screen displayed a small pixilated man acting as a butler, and welcoming them to exit the elevator. The image elicited an inwards chuckle from Henrietta, as herself and the man both exited the elevator.

  After walking down the top floor corridor, they came to a large apartment door that looked no different than any other. Only upon close inspection would one realise it was a heavy security door, built to be fireproof, bulletproof and bombproof. The heavy door opened with a soft and fluid motion, revealing a woman with a friendly face who readily invited them in.

  Cynthia, the Sword Guild, Guild Masters personal assistant, looked at them with kind and welcoming eyes from behind her spectacles. Her straight deep brown hair was pulled back tight, with not a strand out of place. Dressed in a white blouse and black pencil skirt, she perfectly mixed professionalism with an alluring appeal.

  "Welcome Miss Herperial, Jardon. Everyone else is already here"

  Now inside the apartment, it could be seen that it was deceptively large, with the lounge sporting a large window that near covered the entire wall, and gave an unobstructed view of the city. In front of an ornate fireplace, a large glass coffee table sat surrounded by luxurious cream sofas.

  Henrietta herself was used to this type of high class living and opulence, and so treated it as just another day at the office, whereas Jardon stood with his mouth agape.

  The Guild Master was sat on a cream leather chair at the head of the table, with two other people sat on matching sofas to his sides. To his right was the Vice Guild Master, the second in command of the entire Guild and unfortunately, a man who was romantically obsessed with Henrietta. His eyes lit up when he saw her enter the room, he instinctively straightened his back and pushed his glasses up his face.

  Sat to the Guild Masters other side, was a petite woman who Henrietta vaguely recognised, yet she could not place where from. She was at most in her early twenties, and possibly her late teens, and with a peppy personality, her shoulder length black hair made her jade eyes even more captivating. Dressed in casual clothes, her dungarees made her stick out like a sore thumb within the apartment, even amidst the eclectic group of oddballs.

  The Guild Master smiled when he saw Henrietta and Jardon, and beckoned them to sit down, before he held out a hand to stop Jardon.

  "Sorry, no drug dealers here"

  Everyone burst out laughing at the comment, with even Henrietta and Cynthia letting a chuckle escape their tender lips. The only person who was not amused, was the man at the receiving end of the comment. He wanted nothing more than to remove his tracksuit top, but his t-shirt made him internally grimace. In a flat tone he replied.

  "Yeah, Yeah. Ha ha. I was on my way to the gym when I got the call, plus this outfit is good for hiding my identity with the reporters skulking around everywhere"

  Henrietta spoke under her breath, with her comment being loud enough for everyone to hear, and forcing them to stifle a further round of laughter.

  "Disguise? No even knows who you are"

  Jardon's head snapped to the side, his eyes burrowing into the side of Henrietta's head.

  "At least I'm not an arsonist with a lizard fetish"

  Instantly everyone felt the temperature in the room increase, and not from their war of words, but the flames that were about to come into existence. Before tragedy struck, a folded paper fan smacked Jardon around the side of the face with a loud slap. The sudden impact left him shocked, but when he saw it was Cynthia holding the fan, he meekly looked down and apologised. Even Henrietta let go of her anger and did not say another word.

  They both took a seat, with Jardon next to the Vice Guild Master, and Henrietta next to the young girl. Greeting her with a handshake, the innocent aura she was producing was dazzling to Henrietta, so much so that she wanted to take the girl home and use her as a body pillow.

  "Hello Miss Herperial, I'm Jesse, but you can call me JJ. I'm a massive fan of yours!...I've actually met you once before at a Christmas party, but that was a couple of years ago"

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  Recognition flashed in Henrietta's eyes, a vivid memory returning to her of the scene she mentioned.

  "Oh that's where I knew you from! I thought I recognised you. You were the new girl who kept trying to sneak alcohol, but was too young to drink!"

  Jesse did not give a confirmation, or denial, choosing only to laugh in response.

  "He He"

  Another thought entered Henrietta's mind, she looked to the side and saw the Vice Guild Master trying to give a greeting, but she completely ignored him like he did not even exist, and looked to the Guild Master instead.

  "Guild Master, if we're all here, then where's Patrick? Shouldn't the Head of Security be here?"

  Stood behind the Guild Master, Charlene responded to the question.

  "He was let go. His position was untenable after the Dungeon debacle. Miss Jameson has taken over his position. Not to worry though, as she is extremely competent"

  The Guild Master nodded his approval and spoke.

  "She's really good Henrii!"

  Henrietta had a sudden pang within her heart, now knowing that her actions played a significant part in getting Patrick fired from his job. But when she thought about herself and Bob frolicking through a field of flowers, that guilt vanished in a burst of flames.

  Turning to face Jesse again, Henrietta gave her another warm greeting for her promotion, before asking her an honest question.

  "How good are you JJ?"

  Jesse gave a little laugh and with a wave of her hand, an electronic tablet appeared within her grasp.

  "He He....I'm the best when it comes to tech! Here I'll show you Henrii.....Wait, you don't mind me calling you Henrii, do you?"

  "Shaking her head gently side to side, Henrietta replied with a smile.

  "Of course you can call me that JJ. In fact I'd love it if you did"

  Out of the corner of her eye, Henrietta noticed the Vice Guild Master about to speak up and ask a similar question. Sensing his intent, she quickly cut him off.

  "No"

  Looking down like a dejected puppy, he remained quiet. Jesse wore an ecstatic expression on her face, with genuine happiness at making a friend with Henrietta.

  "Yay! Thanks Henrii!"

  Jesse quickly began tapping away on her tablet, her speed was blistering, leaving everyone in the room surprised that the machine could even keep up with the level of her input. With a raise of her hand and a theatrical finger press, she looked at Henrietta and smiled.

  "Done"

  From the other side of the coffee table, the phone inside the Vice Guild Masters pocket began to vibrate, before a loud ringtone made everyone shocked.

  "I'm a creep....I'm a creep....I'm a creep....I'm a creep"

  His usual upright posture and professional attitude was abolished in one swift motion, as he hunched over and futilely struggled to remove his phone from his pants pocket, and turn off his ring tone. Henrietta had fell into genuine laughter, with a solitary tear needing to be wiped from the corner of her eye.

  Jesse waved her hand and made her tablet disappear, while she spoke.

  "I just hacked into his phone and changed his ringtone to a setting that reflected his personality. Told you I'm the best when it comes to tech! I even placed 1st in my university on my cyber and physical security course....Do you wanna see his search history?"

  The Vice Guild Masters face was beet red, the veins that permeated his neck bulged, and a string of profanities were on the tip of his tongue. Swallowing most of them down, he launched into a tirade.

  "This is an encrypted phone you little bitch! Guild Master, is this the way a member of staff should behave!?"

  The conversation did not go the way that he was planning, initially expecting the Guild Master to agree with him and punish Jesse for overstepping, in actuality it was the opposite. A murderous aura emanated from the Guild Master, sat with his hands clasped together, the noise of his knuckles cracking could be heard from the strain. Behind him on the far wall, his Great-Sword was vertically hung on the wall, and it responded to its owners emotions, shaking about in its confines.

  Staring at the Vice Guild Master, he exerted enough pressure on him to make him regret his life's choices.

  "Speak ill of my little niece again and even the police won't be able to find your body, Michael!"

  At that point, Henrietta, Jardon and the Vice Guild Masters eyes went wide, now understanding that Jesse was the Guild Masters family. A constant stream of sweat made its escape from Michael's chin, collectively pooling on his pants, and giving the impression that he could not contain his bladder any longer.

  Jesse let out her usual laugh, and then easily defused the situation with a few words.

  "He He...Calm down uncle, I'm fine, I'm fine"

  The mood instantly switched and the pressure subsided, giving rise to the notion the killing intent was a figment of their imagination. Smiling happily, the Guild Master looked at Jesse with eyes full of familial love.

  Jardon who had been remaining quiet the entire time since he sat down, now had only one thought, that this meeting was way more trouble than it was worth. Of course, he kept those thoughts entirely to himself.

  Charlene who was still stood behind the Guild Master, handed him a file over his shoulder and spurred him to get the meeting underway. With a quick clearing of his throat, he began to address them all.

  "Now then, sorry for having you all come to my home for this meeting. The amount of reporters around our Guild is just ridiculous....First to assuage your worries, there was not a monster outbreak like the rumours suggest....This incident was caused by the Golden Light Guild, we believe they were trying to obtain the Dungeon Core for themselves, and something happened inside the Dungeon.....We do know that one of their number managed to escape, we assume with the Dungeon Core....At that time inside the Dungeon, we can only guess until the guy who escaped is caught. We believe they either had an internal conflict and a fight broke out, or the other option being the Lizardmen killed them....The Dungeon obviously collapsed afterwards"

  Everyone in the room was in shock at the revelation, but each person being affected by a different part of the explanation. For Jardon, the mention of an internal conflict within the Dungeon made him sit up straight. The Vice Guild Master became concerned over the mention of the Golden Light Guild, and Henrietta was focused on something else entirely.

  Why is he saying a member of that Guild was the one who escaped the Dungeon? I saw it clearly and it was definitely Red! Is it a coverup? ...If it isn't though, that means they're not looking for Red, and that makes my life a million times easier...Oh my precious Red.

  Henrietta's errant thoughts were cut off when she heard Jesse speak up from beside her.

  "Someone from the Golden Light Guild, or their backer wa....."

  Upon hearing those words, the Guild Master flashed Jesse a look and made her cup her mouth mid sentence, before starting again.

  "The Golden Light Guild were responsible for the EMP and gas bombs that were detonated, in an attempt to cover their tracks. Thankfully I managed to capture some footage from a cash machine security camera from across the road....Then with a little technical wizardry from yours truly, we got this image!"

  Placing the electronic tablet on the table, everyone could clearly see the image that was captured from the security camera. Although it was a low quality camera, taken from a large distance, and it was the dead of night with no external lighting, the subject was still clear. A singular image of a person running from the Dungeon portal and wearing a black cloak, with a golden sun motif clearly visible. The persons face was not visible however, with their head turned away from the camera, and their hood obscuring any details.

  Henrietta had been having palpitations the moment she heard about a picture of the suspect, knowing full well the only person it could be is Red. She was also confused, as the difference between a Human and a Lizardman, is astronomical and easy to spot at just a glance. Thankfully the various elements combined to conceal this fact, with even her not being able to tell it was Red, if she had not of seen him with her own eyes.

  Thinking of something, and striving to not let her inner thoughts be easily read by the people present, Henrietta spoke up.

  "This Golden Light Guild, who are they? Why wasn't it anyone from our Guild managing it?"

  The Guild Master let out a low grumble upon hearing her words, himself feeling partly responsible for it.

  "They aren't a Guild like ours, they're a much smaller one who is more akin to a large Adventurers party....Because of some Central Government legislation, we had to outsource it so we didn't fall foul of the monopoly law.....We had heard some unsavoury things about them beforehand, but nothing concrete, so we couldn't deny them the job. We was going to send an observer, but they refused, and now we know why"

  Everyone understood his words, knowing full well they could not decline the Central Government, or fall foul of them, especially with them being a prominent Guild and having control of a District.

  After hearing his words though, Henrietta had another thought, one that would clear up a niggling doubt of hers.

  "Is that why that useless git was at the portal? I forgot his name, I can never be bothered remembering it"

  Jesse, Jardon and Michael all wore confused looks, but their expressions changed to one of understanding and slight humour when the Guild Master spoke.

  "Ah, the Overseer, Nathaniel. He was probably in a bad mood after being denied entry when you saw him Henrii. I apologise on his behalf....He's currently on suspension though until the case is cleared up, as the Golden Light Guild was able to set several bombs right under his nose. Not to mention the video that's now circulating.......I have to ask Henrii, but why were you there at that time?"

  The Guild Master had posed his question as casually as possible, but he could not hide the slight accusatory undercurrent, that held doubts about her intentions. She could feel the air in the room slightly change, this in of itself made Henrietta quite angry that they would suspect her of wrongdoing. But, then she remembered she is actually guilty of wrongdoing, so her anger subsided.

  Looking at the Guild Master, Henrietta replied as if she had not picked up on the accusatory tone, and was the epitome of innocence.

  "Because that idiot acted like that to me, me and my maid ended up just leaving. There's no way I was breathing the same air as that lecherous creep....I'm guessing they waited until we left before they did anything....I was initially seeing if anyone from District 4 tried anything. I have a grudge with Qihorn from that District, and if anyone came from there, it would be that fat sack of crap"

  The Guild Master looked at Henrietta, and now all of his doubts had evaporated from that simple explanation. He knew full well of the animosity between Henrietta and Qihorn, another S-Class Adventurer from District 4. He was not fully aware of all the specifics of the grievance, but he knew on the couple of occasions they had crossed paths, she had always attacked him with the intention to kill. It was only pure fluke he avoided death those times.

  Jesse was the only one of those present who was not aware of these things, and so she did the same thing she always did when faced with an unknown, she researched it. With her tablet in hand again, she enacted a mode that made the screen completely black to anyone viewing it, apart from her. In a matter of seconds she had found the information she wanted.

  Across the table from her, both Jardon and Michael watched Jesse's face go through a roller coaster of expressions, from surprise, to disgust, and then finally anger. They knew full well what information she had most probably viewed, and they could not blame her reactions.

  Before Jesse could say anything to Henrietta, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Charlene was staring daggers at her from behind the Guild Master. After successfully gaining her attention, she shook her head side to side in the slightest movement, and conveyed what was needed.

  Henrietta saw this and turned to Jesse, placing a warm hand on her leg, she spoke with a somewhat forced smile.

  "Don't worry JJ. I'll tell you all about it one day when I'm drunk"

  Jesse looked up at her with watery eyes. The tender touch on her leg, and the reassuring tone that Henrietta used, coupled with the dependable aura of hers, made Jesse imagine this is what it is like to have a big sister. Without uttering a word, the young girl dove at Henrietta and wrapped her arms around her, with her head buried into her chest.

  Accepting the impromptu show of affection, Henrietta looked down at her head of hair and gently stroked her mane. The Guild Master looked at the touching scene and smiled, fighting the urge to take out his phone and take a picture, just so he could send it to Jesse's mum, his sister.

  Within Henrietta's mind, she was feeling guilty for manipulating the innocent girl she was currently fawning over. But going off how much she was enjoying this warm feeling, the notion of guilt was seemingly eradicated. Henrietta was more than aware that when trying to deceive someone, displaying vulnerability and garnering sympathy, was an ideal way to extinguish suspicion.