DD 204 Chapter 25

While Mel had been explaining the groups and guilds within Star City, a thick tension had developed between Penny and Mel.

Mel kept trying to entice me, even going as far as coiling her spaded tail around my leg and attempting to sneak it up towards my thigh.

I had smacked it away multiple times, having absolutely zero interest in the pigtail look. Everything about it just felt illegal. Not to mention Penny was already feeling self conscious and making the ladies already in my life was always the priority over anyone new.

Yet, Mel was also providing quite a bit of information. Mel's guild was rather small. It seemed to consist of just her and twenty-two young Orkai men she had seduced. The other guilds of note were the Frothy Axe Heads and the Hammers of Blood Melon. We were told to watch out for those two guilds if we were farming areas around Star City. 

Getting enough of what we needed, we managed to extricate ourselves from Mel after only two drinks. Thankfully, that wasn't so much that my stamina gave in, but I certainly felt like another would have hindered me.

Penny held on to me as we walked, her step a little less sure than when we arrived.  "I do not like her," Penny said firmly, "nor Agatha." 

"Your jealousy is a little cute, Penny, but I wouldn't overdo it." I told her.

"That doesn't mean I have to like them," she clarified. "Can you just portal us back to Crimson's house?" She paused in the middle of the street.

"Can do," I waved a hand, opening a portal.

Penny stared at it for a second, something crossing her mind before she pulled me through. 

"Penny for your thoughts?" I chuckled, only for her to roll her eyes. 

"Yeah, I haven't heard that one before." She tried not to smile, but a glimmer of one appeared.

"I thought it would be a fun one," I said, stepping into the house with her. 

"There you two are," Des jumped to her feet. 

"Here we are," I opened my arms wide, only for Des to squint at me.

"Have you been drinking?" 

"Maybe," I closed my arms, frowning back at her. "That obvious?" 

"It's obvious, Ken. You have to be careful of that Orkai stuff. Even Crimson gets drunk on it." Des told me.

I frowned, not realizing it had such an obvious effect. "Oh, well. Now that I know, I'll be a little more careful." 

Des chuckled. "Doesn't bother me. I'm sure like this, you'll be lots of fun." 

I only grunted in response. "You were looking for us?" 

"Right," Des perked up and pointed at Penny. "Your father got in contact with both Charlotte and I. Something about their safe zone getting into trouble? He was trying to get a hold of you." 

Penny blinked, a more serious expression quickly crossing her face. "I see. Did they say anymore?" 

Des shook her head. "Nope. I just wanted to get your attention on it as soon as possible. It sounded kinda urgent."

I shrugged and pulled an antidote potion out of my pocket, slugging it back to help recover from the Orkai grog. I handed one to Penny as well. "I don't suppose you have a portal there, Des, do you?" I asked.

She only glanced over at Penny, who was bringing up a map of the dungeon, at least of what the UG had currently laid out since the dungeon shuffle. 

"It's here," Penny pointed at one of the lines that seemed to come straight down from Germany. 

Des nodded and pointed at another spot. "I can get you here." 

"Good enough," I said. Des waved open a portal and shooed us. "You two lovebirds. Go see what her father needs." 

I didn't have a chance to say any more before Penny pulled me through the portal. The urgency in her steps carried me through to the other side.

"Down we go," Penny said. A monster came rushing at her, but she negligently waved her sword, cutting it in half before a purple mana crystal fell to the ground. We were in a low-level area. 

Feeling my sobriety return, I joined Penny in rushing through the zone. It was fairly hard to build up stacks of [Liminal Speed] when the monsters pretty much died when I looked at them. A few hits would clear the group, and I breezed past. 

The two of us charged the dungeon for about 20 minutes before we came to her father's safe zone.

I looked around quickly. Everything seemed somewhat normal, though as we went towards what appeared to be her parents' guild's building, the tension became far more apparent. Several members of the guild were simply walking out. 

"Please, if you'll just wait a minute, I'm sure we can resolve this situation," Penny's father, Rodger, called out after the people who were leaving as they tore off their guild patches. 

"If they don't want to stick around, then you don't need them, Dad," Penny nearly growled out, storming up to her father, who she was a match for in height. 

"Back inside, and then you can explain," I said, holding back a smirk as I watched Penny boss her father around. He did a double take at Penny and I, before he frowned. 

"I thought you'd bring Crimson.” He replied.

“What, am I not enough?" Penny put her hands on her hips. "Where's Mom?" 

"Oh, no, you're plenty enough. You're my darling daughter," her father said, seeming to regain some sense as he quickly backpedaled. 

Jerking his head to the side, we followed Rodger back, only for him to take out a still open bottle of whiskey and pour himself a glass before pouring the two of us one as well. 

"Pen," he sat down and put his head in his hands. "It's bad." 

"Well, I won't know how bad, Dad, until you explain it to me." She was clearly getting irritable with him and shot an apologetic glance my way.

"I don't know what we did wrong, but the SJS picked up all of the debts we have, except for the ones the Nagato clan holds," he gestured towards me. "So, they're coming after the safe zone. If we lose the safe zone, we're a fairly shit guild to join. Right now, the only adventurers we're getting are those that want a nice, cushy semi-retirement in a low-level safe zone, leading young adventurer parties into the surrounding floors for easy cash." He lamented.

“You have a safe zone and people to do the work.” I said. “Those people walking out were new right? Since your guild had previously collapsed.”

"I mean, yeah, the guild is expanding. We're getting level 30s coming in here to squish level 20 monsters.” He almost sounded disappointed.

“You can still squish level 20 monsters," Penny argued.

"That's not how it works, dear. Whoever owns the safe zone adjacent to the floors gets free reign. The UG tried to say no one could own parts of the dungeon, but trust me, those rules have long been eroded because of people like the SJS. Right now, we own the safe zone and the UG rents it, which means they're paying the rent by taking a portion of the profits from the adventurers here and, of course, what they're earning with their shops. But the bars on the corner?" He continued, "We own those, Penny, or we license them out and get a percent."

Penny sighed and sat back. "So if you lose the safe zone, reasonably speaking, you lose a large amount of your profits.”

“Seventy percent of what the guild makes is from owning the safe zone," her father clarified. “Thirty percent are member dues and guild portions from their hunts. We would have to farm lucrative floors at a significantly large scale to make up that sort of profit, not to mention running anything at that scale can lead to other ramifications. The ingredients become too common, so then you have to move around. Owning a safe zone gives far more leverage.”

“How many safe zones does SJS own?" I asked.

Her father sputtered, "I don't know, hundreds? Thousands? They're also contributing heavily to the re-exploration effort. They want to reclaim as many safe zones as they can, at the same time trying to claim new ones as well.”

While we were all busy dealing with Star City, it seems they were doing a land rush to claim more safe zones.

As he continued to talk, something ticked in the back of my mind when he talked about the value of a safe zone. I glanced at my CID and only half listened to the conversation. Penny was working to console him, and I was fairly sure he’d given me all the information he had at the moment.

Tapping around a bit more in my CID, I found what I was looking for. In the arbitration between the Nekorians and Crimson, I found several line items in the details, because Orkai were nothing if not incredibly thorough with details. These line items gave me pause and I went through them with a fine toothed comb. Based on the way it read, there was certainly an interpretation that we got the Leomat Clan’s safe zone as well, or at least a portion of it, as compensation from the Nekorians.

I hadn’t really been even thinking about it, mostly suffering from the sticker shock to dig into it all. But when I read through the list of things that Crimson had gotten from the Shaman, I found the rights to that safe zone.

Wait, wait. Not only did we fight and destroy everything, but somehow we got the Nekorian’s safe zone? My eyes began to bulge out. If that was true, then I needed to get back and set it up properly.

When we sort her father’s problems out and get back to Star City. I need to see if Ambrosia couldn't provide clarification.

Penny turned, rubbing her father’s back. "Thoughts, Ken?" She asked.

I looked up from my CID. "Well, if they're pressing you by trying to call your debts, then we could probably pay those off? And then turn around and put you more in debt with the Nagato clan.” I offered, continuing to think through options.

“Or we could just have your guild absorbed by the Silver Fangs?" As I spoke the words, I wished I had held that option back.

Penny's father shot to his feet, slamming his once again empty glass on the table so hard that it shattered. "I will not give up my guild." There was a fire in his eyes.

Penny glared at me and patted the air. Apparently, I had touched upon a sensitive topic.

"Kidding, kidding." I put my hands up with a big smile, trying to disarm him. "I didn't think he'd actually take that offer anyway. I was just trying to say that there are options. “Given you are Penny's father, we'd be happy to help."

He huffed. "You make it sound like I'm selling my daughter for this."

"What? That's not what I'm saying at all." I couldn't follow his logic. "No. Literally, we just learned that you needed help, and I'm coming to help. We can just throw a little money at this one to make it go away."

Rodger scoffed. "Is the Nagato clan all that different from the SJS?"

Now it was my turn to be offended. "The Nagato clan and the Silver Fangs have stood by a strict moral code, something you won't see in any financial institution."

He laughed. "Moral code. Sure. Let's pretend that's what keeps people in check. How bad are you going to rake me over the coals to help me with my SJS problem?" 

I shrugged. "I'll give you a better interest rate if we can find a way to screw over SJS even more. Trust me, they have no friends in me."

My face held a harsh glare that wasn’t meant for him, but I realized he was interpreting it differently as he shrank back. 

"Sorry, that wasn't for you." I blinked it away. "Like I said, SJS would be better off as an empty shell of a company. You may not know it, but I allegedly killed their president recently." 

"Yeah, but they put another royal in the role. And since then, he's been going on an absolute financial rampage. I'm not sure exactly what you did, but they are pissed and taking it out on the world as a whole." Penny’s father reported.

I frowned. Something like that was bound to cause trouble for them sooner or later. I just hoped it was sooner so that SJS would be completely out of my hair. 

"Alright, how much do you need? I'm sure we can write up a contract and get someone to send it over. The Nagato clan has come into a considerable sum as a settlement from the SJS, and I would love nothing more than to use the money to rob them of a safe zone they were targeting.” I was ready to wrap this up.

“Well, as you know, dungeon floors are a considerable expense, not to mention running a guild." He hesitated, and I squinted back at the man.

"Oh, don't tell me you have an absolutely colossal debt.” I was starting to regret my offer.

“Interest is a thing," he informed me, "and I didn't start with money." He seemed particularly bitter about that fact. 

"My guild was started with a 25 person raid and formed by those founding members. When they left, they were all entitled for the guild to be paid out their share, and we did not have the reserves to do that without debt. Then of course, there was the interest, the dungeon shuffle." He continued on.

He was really building this up, and I was almost sighing at the size of the check I would have to write.

"In total, we're talking about 200 million." He looked away, not wanting to meet my eyes.

I paused, blinking. "That's it?" 

"That's it?" He gasped.

"It’s just a drop in the bucket for us nowadays.” I wish I could have had the money in physical form to make a fan for myself right now and act like I was filthy rich. Because our guild, our clan, could easily spare that.

“Great, so we'll help you with that. We won't touch your safe zone and we'll let you get it back." I offered with a smile. "You just need to call up the SJS and make sure they understand that we'll take over the debt. And then we'll just wipe it out. Perhaps if we do it that way, we can even do it cheaper than 200 million." 

The man blinked, at a loss for words.

"All right, that was easier than I expected.” I shifted around, ready to leave.

“See? You didn’t need Crimson,” Penny said, getting up. “If you'll excuse us, why don't you make some calls, Dad?"

Rodger was still staring at the spot I’d been in, clearly processing everything.

Penny got up and grabbed my hand to leave with her. "Sorry about that," she leaned into me as we stepped outside. 

"Oh, no, nothing to be sorry about. A man has his pride after all. I think if someone struck me straight in the pride, I'd be just as jumpy." I told her.

"Well, you were trying to help him and that was the wrong way for him to act." It meant quite a lot for Penny to stand by me and against her father in this.

"He's quite attached to his guild." Penny grunted as she continued. "You may not know this, but my parents didn't attend a dungeon college." She gestured around the guild building. "No, they all started out as just adventurers diving straight from the public entrance once upon a time." 

"Really?" I was impressed. It took a lot to figure out how to navigate the dungeon on your own, especially when surrounded with peers with more resources.

"Mm-hmm," Penny hummed. "Yeah. My grandparents have a small farm outside the city. Or at least, they did. Right now it just sits empty. My father lavishes them with gifts and an opulent French estate."

I gave her a look. "He has a French estate and he's asking for a loan?”

“That's not the point, Ken. We both know selling that thing wouldn't make a dent in his debts. Not to mention, I think that's the last thing that goes when you're in debt. It's his primary residence. But yeah, he built his guild up from scratch out of people he found diving the public entrance. They all felt like they had hit the jackpot. They could buy into a shared business that none of them expected to retire from.”

I waited, letting her continue.

“After the Naga attack, when his guild split up, it was a devastating blow as he tried to keep it all together. In a lot of ways, the guild and its continued success is what my father is most proud of." Her voice trailed off, the words filled with a tinge of sadness.

I paused, considering what she had said. "I can see it. So he started diving from a public entrance, fought his way tooth and nail down to the 40s, where he stalled. It explains a little why he was so eager to get counted amongst the high-level adventurers.”

“Yeah, he likes to think that reaching as deep as he has gone is more impressive than, say, the Renards or the DuVells, who all went to dungeon colleges and slid easily into some of the most powerful existing guilds.” She offered.

“In a way, he's very wrong, Penny. I don't think just because they had an advantageous start makes diving into the 50th floor any harder. Being an adventurer isn't like sitting in a cushy boardroom. They all put their lives on the line to go one layer deeper in the dungeon every time." I told her, feeling a little defensive for my own journey.

Penny kissed me on the cheek, surprising me.

"What was that for?" I put my hand over the warm spot that lingered from her lips. 

"When you get all passionate about diving the dungeon, you're just too handsome." She blushed.

"Well then, remind me to do it more often. A reward like that is worth it." I flashed her a smile and shifted away from that topic. "I like how your father has done his best to provide for you. He gets a little more respect despite the chip on his shoulder."

Penny raised an eyebrow.

“What? You went to a dungeon college, but more than that, I remember you were a few levels ahead of everyone at the start of the semester. Not only did he take you to a dungeon college, but he made sure you had a little experience before you even stepped a foot into the dungeon. If that's not a father trying to do best for his kid, I don't know what it is." I offered.

Penny nodded. "Yeah, he's a good dad. A little overprotective, but a good dad."

"Overprotective how?" I asked.

Penny hesitated.

"You're not about to tell me that he doesn't like me or something, are you?" I frowned.

"No, no, of course not. Of course not." Penny attempted to assure me, but she was a terrible liar. She kept stammering as she tried to recover. "I think you just caught him a little off guard. You know, he sent me to an all-girls school, and yet I came home with a boyfriend.”

“Well, your cousin is coming home with a girlfriend." I pointed out.

Penny shushed me. "He doesn't know about Harley. Besides, the cousin is on my mom's side."

The thought seemed to make her think about her blue hair. She twirled a finger around hers as she looked at it. "Do you think I should keep growing it out?" She asked.

"It's perfect how it is, Penny. You're perfect how you are." I tried to reinforce the words.

The moment was broken as there was shouting from the room behind us where her father was on the phone. It sounded urgent enough that Penny opened the door. 

"You can't do that," he repeated with a raised voice, only for Penny and I to slip inside. "Threats won't work on me. Yeah, it's a threat because you won't back it up." It seemed his conversation with the SJS had not gone to plan.

I waved a hand at him to get his attention. He noticed me and spoke loudly into the receiver again. "Yeah, if you do that, I've got Crimson's protege here with me. Nothing will happen." He blinked and looked at the phone. "They hung up on me."