11 — The End of the Slums

11 — The End of the Slums

We headed straight for the Adventurer’s Guild upon returning to town. Kefin and his group left with the horses to report the situation to Dolstar.

“What’s happened?” Jeiyas asked a second faster than his brother next to him.

“The labyrinth was slowly reviving itself,” I said plainly. “Simply put, it was active again.”

“What?!”

Goldhus leaned forward. “How is it now?”

“Well, we reconquered it. But that’s oversimplifying it. The problem doesn’t end there.”

“But you’ve conquered it again?” Jeiyas confirmed.

“Yes, but there weren’t just the usual monsters inside. There were undead variants as well.”

“Go on.”

I placed the adventurers’ guild cards on the table. “They were on the fiftieth floor. Where the dragon used to be. They were undead.”

“This wouldn’t happen to be some kind of practical joke, would it?”

“I wouldn’t be here otherwise. We found immense amounts of miasma leaking from the floor’s main chamber. My guess is they fell victim to it.”

“A trap? But that’s impossible! I’ve never even heard of a trap like that!” Goldhus exclaimed.

“One of the adventurers... He said something, just before being destroyed by my Purification spell. He cursed me and Goldhus for sacrificing him to the Wicked One.”

“The Wicked One?!” the brothers cried in unison.

“Is there nothing we can do to keep the labyrinth quiet?” Jeiyas asked.

“I have no idea,” I admitted. “But I think it’s possible the gem that appeared on the highest floor when I cleared the main chamber has something to do with why it’s active again.”

“The core?”

“Yes, I guess that’s a good way to put it. It could be that someone mishandled it. But that sort of thing is beyond me, which is why I brought it up to you.”

“To warn us.”

“Right. Fighting is what adventurers do. This isn’t for me to solve, so I’m deferring to you.”

Silence fell. Some time passed before Jeiyas finally broke it. “Thank you for the information. We’ll need some time to consider everything. We may come to you regarding it again, if that’s okay.”

“Understood. I’ll pray that things go well.”

“We’ll let the Healer’s Guild know at once if we hear of any changes in the situation.”

In all honesty, I would have been totally fine with them keeping that information to themselves, but I had to play nice.

“Thank you. Until then.”

With my business taken care of, we returned to the Healer’s Guild.

Beneath the guildhall, I found Verdel and his men helping to build houses under Dhoran’s supervision. For...some reason.

“Uh, what’s going on here?” I asked.

“Knights said they’d handle guard duty and lent the fellas to me,” Dhoran said.

“Well, that’s fine and all. I’ve been thinking you’re understaffed for a while now. But I thought they were supposed to be doing surveillance on the rabbit-folk? I never got any report about this.”

Ketty was utterly emotionless. Translation: she was pissed. There was going to be hell far worse than the Milphene incident to pay for this. But we did have to consider that we’d been out in the labyrinth for a while, and I sort of felt sorry for the poor souls.

“We’re very sorry,” Verdel said.

“Just, if someone asks you to do something while you’re already on another job, I want you to communicate. Part of the blame lies with me this time for not preventing this from happening in the first place, though.”

That said, between house building and a vital stealth mission, their priorities were definitely in the wrong place. But if I came down too hard on them for it, it would stunt their ability to think for themselves in the future.

“So let’s do this to keep it from happening again,” I continued. “We’ll make a board where we can post notices and schedules. Of course, there will be no ‘personal adjustments’ to anything posted. Or all of you are getting a mug of Substance X.”

The team cried out in agony and disbelief.

“Don’t like it? I can always take you to a slaver, and you can find a new master.”

There. With a bit of cruelty, maybe I could spare them whatever fate Ketty would have had in store for them.

“Please, sir, anything but that.”

Verdel, however, seemed to have taken it a little too seriously. He stepped forward and bowed.

“You don’t need to apologize. You did screw up this time, so that’s a mug. But I’ll have one with you. Fair’s fair, after all. I did cause this by leaving Dhoran shorthanded.”

“I got plenty o’ hands,” the dwarf insisted. “Just gets boring buildin’ the same thing over ’n over. But I’m buildin’.”

“Don’t stretch yourself too thin. It’s probably going to get harder to find magic stones from here on out, so use them carefully.”

“I’ll, eh...sure try.”

That night, Team Verdel and I cracked open a cold one, and by “cracked open” I meant “suffered horribly over,” and by “a cold one” I meant “Substance X.” I let them off the hook after thirty minutes and spared their senses with Purification and some healing magic. Their gratitude was short-lived, however, when they had to then trudge over to Ketty, who apparently raked them over the coals.

I heard Dhoran’s report on his progress, then returned to my office and contacted Her Holiness by arclink crystal.

“Hm. I see. I will learn what I can of the Wicked One. Meanwhile, I will anticipate your very first shipment of honey. I trust you intend to keep that promise.”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

The connection ended.

“She brings up the honey every time,” I muttered. “Must be rarer than I thought.”

I picked up a pen and began writing a letter to Merratoni, partly to learn what I could about international prices for honey and sugar, and partly to let them know about my meeting with the tanukin, Smick.

Time passed, split mostly between the southern forest and the Labyrinth of Will, in cycles of one week each. In the forest, we observed and researched fauna, gathered materials, and searched for new species of monsters. In the labyrinth, we ran through the first thirty floors, racking up magic stones. Much to my relief, the place was quieter.

And then, in the blink of an eye, the next month’s council meeting arrived.

“I will be presiding over today’s meeting,” Liliard announced.

The assembly proceeded smoothly, without much of note.

“Next, the matter of the wages that Luciel brought to our attention last time. Forence, if you would.”

“We found significant disparities between the races, as well as the race responsible for the embezzlement,” the fox-man representative revealed. “The nature of the disparities is a discussion for another time, but as to the responsible party, I think it fit to demand the money be returned. Further punishment can be considered as needed.”

“Y-You’re not going to reveal the race in question?” Liliard stuttered.

“It would only cause panic if this were leaked to the public. So I’ll leave it to your individual discretion whether we ought to expel this person or not.”

Forence was a brutal politician, but I didn’t think that made him the kind of person to commit crimes—especially not ones regarding matters of business. His presence was strong, but not in a bad way.

At this rate, though, it was probably wise to consider the possibility of public outcry. And the offending individual was more than likely a high-ranking government official, so preparations would need to be made for a replacement who could handle the scandal it was going to create.

“Th-Then let’s move on to the medical district, Representative.”

“Of course. The tiger-folk and dragonewts have offered some of their territory for the sake of the medical district’s land. My own people will do so as well. Next, we move to employing workers.”

“Thoughts?” the moderator asked, looking at me.

I shook my head. Forence had updated me in advance already. And I didn’t want to come under fire for controlling the meetings, so I decided to keep quiet this time around.

“Moving on, then,” Liliard proceeded. “This was also tabled by Luciel in our prior meeting. The rumors of monsters atop the cliffs to the west. Representative Thouzer, the floor is yours.”

“Apologies, but I couldn’t find the adventurers you were after,” he said. “I will continue my search.”

“Thoughts?”

I shook my head again. I hadn’t actually expected him to come up with anything, and as far as I was concerned, it just meant one less avenue for the council to try and trip me up.

“Then to our next order of business: the slums. Luciel?”

All eyes turned to me. They covered me in an iron curtain that no lie or embellishment could ever hope to get past.

I smiled. “Progress is sitting somewhere around thirty percent. Once the residents start work on the medical district, we can begin dismantling the area in earnest.”

“You make bold claims without any proof that you have the means to follow through on them,” one of the representatives rebuked me.

“Half-breeds or not, Yenice still needs its citizens,” another added.

“Frankly, it doesn’t seem like you’ve been doing a thing.”

I had figured it was about time for them to start complaining, so I had prepared a little demonstration.

“You all make good points,” I conceded. “Will you please follow me into the courtyard?”

I stepped outside, the representatives quietly following me soon after.

“We’re currently in the middle of building the adventurers’ housing.” I summoned an entire building from the magic bag. “This is one such home.”

The representatives stared at the structure in wide-eyed amazement. I bet they hadn’t expected that to fit into a bag.

“We’re starting out with fifty of this exact model. Those, plus the schoolhouse, are currently under construction,” I explained. “Have I laid your doubts to rest?”

They were wordless in the face of my blinding smile, frozen and utterly unjustified in any snark they dared to think up. You couldn’t haze the newbie when the newbie showed results. Even if this had been the only house we’d actually finished, the sheer impact of my display would’ve been enough to shut them up anyway.

The meeting ended, and I was left with many things to mull over until the next one. From employment terms for the halflings to strategies for dealing with future threats and obstacles.

But all that thinking went to waste when two months flew by without a single threat or obstacle to speak of. Dolstar was dumbfounded by the state of things. His people were being paid fairly and on time, and they were even allowed breaks.

“Watch your back,” he warned. “It’s always calm before the storm.”

“I will. Is everything finished?”

“It’s all ready to go.”

“Good. The slums will be totally gone before it’s time to clock out today.”

“It’s strange. Somehow, I think I’m actually a little attached to that dump.”

“We’ll plan on dismantling anything left behind.”

“Got it. Do your thing, Mister S-rank.”

“Will do.”

Dolstar, along with nearly the entirety of the slum’s population, headed for the medical district. Kefin led the rest away. With the help of Dhoran’s earth magic, Pola’s golem, my magic, and the magic bag, the slum was soon no more. Some of its former residents fell to the ground, wailing, but most of the outsiders only gaped in disbelief. Others stared at me fearfully, intimidated by my decisiveness.

The next day, that fear would turn to shock as they witnessed the smiling faces of former slum dwellers, living happily in their new abodes.

＊

I had originally intended for the people to live underground for about three months or so, but someone disagreed: Nalia.

“Public opinion is a difficult thing to change once minds are made up,” she argued. “What you propose is a recipe for disaster. Your reputation would be irreparably damaged across the world.”

“But if that’s what it takes to make sure the plan works...”

“It isn’t. Your efforts would be better spent drawing people to you who seek your help, rather than providing them with fuel to berate you with. And come they will.”

“There’s no way I can satisfy everyone.”

“No, there is not. But you’ve been true to your word so far, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“You have nothing to worry about.” She smiled longingly. “Allies are drawn to those with a greater purpose.”

She looked me straight in the eye and gave a reassuring nod.

＊

The following day, an emergency council meeting was called. I had the honor of being the primary point of discussion, to put it lightly.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Jhak spat with a fury I’d never seen in him before. “What the hell are the slum dwellers doing there?!”

For someone so amiable to the strong and those with the dragons’ blessing, the dragonewt clearly had racial biases.

“You said you were eradicating the district,” the tiger-man chimed in, despite his lack of right to speak out of turn.

“What are halflings doing living in such luxury?!” Sebeck cried. Apparently, the very concept of them living in a nicer house than his own was simply too much to bear.

“You played us for fools!” Cathrel seethed, boiling with the same rage as the dog-man. But there was something behind his words that I didn’t quite understand yet. “Where are the adventurers you promised?!”

“An explanation would be greatly appreciated,” Liliard said, his nostrils flared. I couldn’t blame him for loathing me after his little slush fund went and got exposed because of me. Among the flames, though, were genuine and valid concerns.

“Luciel, how did you make something like that so quickly?” Orga asked.

“This is far-reaching, isn’t it?” Forence added. “You must have taken the entire city into consideration for this.”

Thouzer shot up. “The ursans! Is this related to why they’ve been in such good spirits?!”

Silence fell. I calmly raised my index finger. “First, I did promise to get rid of the slums. I think you’ll find that I’ve done exactly that by the cleanliness of the streets.” I gauged everyone’s reactions and lifted another finger. “Second, I have also succeeded in attracting adventurers, by giving former slum dwellers the opportunity to become them. And the greater quality of life in your city will bring even more adventurers to Yenice.”

“Enough with the sophistry. You’ve given handouts to half-breeds,” a representative hissed.

“Who was it who said Yenice needed the halflings two months ago?” I fired back. “My goal is to make this city a nice and safe place to live, and that’s what I’m doing. And yes, I do have plans to build beyond the city limits and attract adventurers from abroad as well.”

My smile never faltered. I had rehearsed for this day and was ready for just about any question they could throw at me.

“Luciel, is there a reason you purchased the entire slum district?” Forence asked quickly.

“Not really. Well, sort of. I just wanted to be allowed to do what I wanted, since no one was being particularly helpful.”

The opposition surely wasn’t finished with their berating, but Forence was quicker. He was always a fast thinker.

“What about the school?” Orga asked timidly, most likely thinking of Sheila.

“It’s still under construction. We need just a little more time,” I answered.

“I’ve noticed you’re getting close with the ursans,” Thouzer commented. “Why?”

“They’ve had it rough, being a minority in the city. So I’ve been helping them with healing and food whenever I can.”

Honey technically counted as food, right?

“Is that so?”

Thanks to Thouzer’s diversion, the verbal beating came to a reluctant end. Those unsatisfied representatives couldn’t think of anything else worth adding, so the meeting was adjourned. If things had been relatively threat- and obstacle-free before, they sure weren’t going to be now.

I had a lot to think about on the way home that day.