The princess had decided my safety came first. She handed me some money, told Kierra to stay close, and made it clear the emissary arriving today was not someone she wanted me anywhere near. She would not be moved on it no matter what I said.
There went my chance to earn bond points.
We made our way to Veyra's house instead.
"Did you not have something important to deal with today?" Veyra said when she opened the door.
"It got postponed. If you are free we can continue the treatment."
"I have somewhere to be."
"Then can she stay here while I handle a few things?" I said, gesturing toward Kierra.
"She is welcome to—"
"Where exactly are you planning to go, Nolan?" Kierra stepped forward before Veyra could finish.
"I have things to take care of."
"I know exactly what you are thinking."
Veyra leaned against the doorframe. "Just let her come with you. Once she decides she is not letting something go, she will not stop until you give in."
I conceded.
We stopped at the guild first to clear the remaining compliance requirements and collect my adventurer card. I also picked up a few basic tasks to log as my first completed quests. On the walk over I asked Kierra about her time as an adventurer. She had worked as both healer and scout for her party before the princess's condition had deteriorated enough to pull her away from it entirely. She mentioned, almost as an aside, that she had been thinking about returning to it now that the princess was improving.
We reached the city labyrinth.
Ten floors. Special grade, which meant that even clearing the boss monster would not dissolve it. The treasure floors had long since been stripped clean by previous parties, but the labyrinth itself remained.
I showed my card and we stepped inside.
[LABYRINTH DETECTED.]
[INITIATING DUNGEON STORE.]
[ACTIVATING EXPERIENCE SYSTEM.]
Finally something new.
The dungeon store ran on monster cores as currency. I could convert them into dungeon store coins and spend those on combat items. The exchange rate was more generous here than outside, the A-rank core I was carrying would convert to 2000 dungeon coins. The catch was that anything purchased from the dungeon store could only be used inside a dungeon. Of course there was a catch.
The experience system was straightforward. Every monster killed generated experience, and accumulated experience could be used to upgrade my stats. More mana capacity was the first thing on my list. It would make extended treatment sessions significantly more manageable.
The atmosphere inside shifted the moment we crossed the threshold. The humidity changed, the air thinned slightly, and there was a smell that did not belong to anything I had encountered before. Not unpleasant, not pleasant either. Just entirely unfamiliar.
The labyrinth had a cave structure beneath it, but the interior was dense with trees and undergrowth. No natural light reached down here, but it did not need to. The vines climbing the stone walls and the moss spreading across every surface glowed with a steady, soft luminance that lit the space evenly. It was genuinely beautiful if you could set aside where you actually were.
As we moved deeper the monsters began appearing. I tightened my grip on the sword at my hip. I had no real ability with it but keeping it visible was part of looking like someone who belonged here.
I let Kierra lead. She had equipped her bow and moved through the space with the ease of someone for whom this was simply familiar ground. My objectives today were straightforward: collect the herbs listed on my quest, and test whether Anatomical Insight and Healing Finger had any effect on monster physiology.
Healing Finger amplified the natural healing capacity of whatever it was applied to, proportional to the mana I fed into it. Combined with Full Body Restoration I could direct it to specific locations with precision. I had a theory it could also be used offensively if applied carefully enough, accelerating processes inside a body in ways that were not helpful to the body. I could not test that on a person. Monsters were a different matter. Veyra would be the better long-term test subject given her physique, but today I wanted to start with something simpler.
The first floor monsters were all plant-based. Thornhide Boar, Moss Stalker, Vine Creeper, Hollow Spriggan, Glowcap Slime, and the floor mini boss, the Verdant Fang. The Thornhide Boar was the one I wanted. A beast armored in dense overlapping bark plates lined with thorns, tough enough to survive a controlled test without falling apart.
"Can you injure one of the boars without killing it?" I said. Kierra was crouched over a downed boar, extracting the core with practiced efficiency.
"Why?"
"I want to see if my healing works on monsters."
She looked up. "Is that the actual reason you wanted to come here?"
"Yes."
She grinned. "Whether I help you depends entirely on what you offer me."
"Wine."
"Will it be the same wine you shared with Maren?" She stood and wiped her blade clean. "Or Eivara. Or Seivyn."
Do not react. Do not react.
"You were eavesdropping."
"I did not mean to, I just—"
"No wine. And your sweet treats are cancelled."
"No, please, I did not want to listen but—" She clasped her hands behind her back and looked at the ground.
"But what?"
She looked up. "I saw her go into your room and I got curious."
At least it had only been conversation and warmth that night. Nothing more.
"And naturally you told the princess everything," I said, keeping my tone flat.
"I did not." She looked genuinely sorry about it.
I needed to get ahead of this. A contract with carefully set terms would be the cleanest solution. The penalties could not be too severe or the contract would collapse on its own terms, but they needed to carry enough weight to hold.