~ CHAPTER 288

As much as I would have loved to continue the little orgy we had going, we didn't have all that much time. All in all, we spent a little less than an hour playing around with each other before we managed to get ourselves back on track, and it took another hour to get our other affairs in order. Well... my team was back on track. I didn't know if Tenna, Meena, and Kino would be able to get back on track today from the way they looked. Eira's group was a bit more disciplined than most of the succubi that had come from the brothel, so I didn't doubt they would be back in good shape quickly too, but it wasn't my problem to deal with regardless. Eira is in charge of wrangling her group together. We would be leaving the market team here with Tenna for now, using the smithy as our home base of sorts while we searched for the new dungeon.

Gwen, the Arctic fox succubi, had done smithing work in the past, and she was interested in working with Tenna. Since she had originally been a human, she didn't have any of the issues a foxkin might have working with a mousekin. Quinn had gotten pretty close to Gwen, and I frankly hadn't had much time for him lately, so I was glad he was getting along with someone. I still would need to sit down with the guy and see what his plan was. He had been following us since the capital, but I didn't have a good sense of what he was after. Cecilia had found an inn near the smithy that would be able to house all of us, including Eira's team. This wasn't the best neighborhood, but it was close, and I wasn't worried about anyone since all of us were pretty strong now, as long as Eira had someone keep an eye on our market team. It was better not to let anyone go anywhere alone. Right now, Cecilia, Fellia, and Maddy were checking out what was left of the markets and nearby shops that were still open despite the chaos.

"Searching for this dungeon and the cultists protecting it is going to be dangerous. Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Silva asked me as she looked over the weapon Twill had sharpened for her.

"I don't think there's much other hope for this city if we don't. Besides, we're here now too. If we don't do something, we'll be just as trapped as everyone else," I replied.

Morrigan and Torien walked through the door in their updated maid outfits. Since we were in the area, I gave the two of them some money to get their equipment fixed up and refitted to their curvier bodies at Ameliana's tailoring shop. It was the same place I had originally commissioned the outfits for them, so it felt like a good opportunity.

"We're back!" Morrigan said happily. "How do we look?" Morrigan's blue and white maid dress looked as good as it had originally. Its long sleeves and mantle, which had been fraying, had been fixed up as good as new. The most significant difference was that the apron, which really made the outfit look like a maid outfit, was gone and had been replaced with a tight-fitting pseudo-corset. Morrigan smiled when she saw me looking at it. "Torien and I thought that it would be better to have our outfits changed to look less like servant's uniforms... I asked Ameliana to update my outfit without changing the look too much."

When she said that, I looked over at Torien, whose outfit looked considerably different by comparison. Her dress had been opened up in the middle and redesigned to look more like a jacket after being reinforced into something much sturdier. Her gloves and tights had been replaced with form-fitting pants and arm guards that would give her more protection when shooting her bow. Her outfit still retained some of the femininity of the old one, but she now looked much more like a tomboy ranger than a maid despite the blue and white colors of her outfit. Torien smiled and looked down at her new clothes. "Do you like it? I like it so much better than before. I didn't mind the dress, but I feel a lot more comfortable like this."

I smiled. "Both of you look great. I'm surprised Ameiliana was able to fix them up so quickly. It hasn't even been an hour yet."

Torien scratched the back of her head. "Well... she had been really happy for us. Getting freed from slavery and Morrigan becoming one of your lovers made her quite excited. We told her that we were about to head out on a mission to help free Traehall, so she insisted on doing this work for free. She was really nice about it."

Morrigan nodded happily. "You should have seen it! It was amazing to see her work her magic so quickly. Most combat mages don't have the level of fine control she has with her telekinesis magic."

"Are they enchanted?" Tenna asked from the side as she came to look over the tailoring work. She grabbed the hem of Morrigan's sleeve and looked at it closely.

"Oh, uh, no. She's not an enchanter, just a skilled tailor," Morrigan replied.

Tenna nodded. "We could use a skilled enchanter in our group. Maybe Gwen would be interested in working enchantments into weapons and armor rather than just doing the actual smithing work herself."

Torien nodded. "Having enchanted gear would be a good upgrade, but we don't really have the time to think about that now."

Tenna shrugged. "Just thinking about the future. I'm not worried about your chances of making it back from your mission. At this point, I'd be a fool to bet against you and your friends after seeing all of you in action."

"You think so? You're that confident in us?" Morrigan asked.

She grinned. "I am. I wouldn't have thrown my lot in with all of you if I thought it would be a risky bet. I'll need to hone my craft further to keep up with all of you, but now that I'm young again and have this new [Karmic Smithing] ability, I'm sure I'll be able to make some great things soon. Come back safe, all of you. I've hitched my family to yours. I'd hate for it to grow smaller again so soon. For the first time in a long time, I'm excited for the future."

Tenna yelped in surprise as I pulled the shorter woman into a hug. "Thanks, Tenna. We'll come back safe." She was blushing when I let go of her and had a bit of a dopey looking grin on her face.

Silva peeked out the door. "Sibyl's team is coming back. We should get ready to go now."

I nodded and turned around, only to have Eira crash into me. "Lilith! Be careful! We'll take care of things here and look into that building like you asked! Be safe, okay!"

I laughed and patted Eira's shoulder. "I'll be careful, I promise."

"Good! I still wanna hook up with you. You promised me a night and I still haven't gotten it! Me and some of the girls have been excited to play with you, but we haven't had the time!" Eira said rapidly.

"Okay, okay, Eira. I get it," I said with an awkward laugh. "I promise I'll make some time for you and the girls when I get back."

"You better! All of you better come back safe!" Eira pulled away reluctantly and fiddled with her hands. "I'm serious. You better come back..."

"I'll do everything I can to make sure all of us come back in one piece. I promise," I told her seriously. I looked over everyone in the smithy and nodded. "You guys stay safe while we're gone too. Things might get crazy here in the city."

I heard mumbles and whispers of agreement before turning around and leaving the shop. All of my friends were gathered here now, checking their gear before we left. It was still morning but a bit later than I would have liked to leave already. There wasn't helping it, though. As silly as it was, we needed to have enough sex to keep all of us in top condition before leaving. We didn't know how long it would take to find and clear the dungeon, to say nothing of defeating any cultists that were guarding it, so taking the time to ensure everyone was ready for this was critical.

Team one, my team, would be Me, Silva, Torien, Morrigan, Bella, and Mimi. Team two would be Sibyl, Raya, Lorriene, Nelly, and Kal'daeryn. As much as Lori would have liked to come with our team, her skills overlapped with Torien's too much. Sibyl's team really needed a ranger and scout as well, so it made a lot of sense for her to work with them. Kal'daeryn would be their frontline, the way Silva was for our group, and Nelly would be their healer. It was a well-balanced group, despite their members being less experienced than ours. We didn't intend to split up right away, but it was nice to have the option if it became necessary. Until we had reason to, we would be working as a large eleven-person group.

I adjusted the strap on my backpack. "Alright, let's go talk with Raksha'va before heading out. We need to get a look at the map before we go looking for that dungeon." After a round of agreements, we returned to the adventurer's guild.

The moment we entered, Mirianna waved us over. "Raksha'va told me to look out for your group. We have the map set up in the meeting room behind me. Please follow me."

All of us entered the room with a large table in the center. Spread across it was a large map of the surrounding woods near Traehall. A few other people were looking over the map when we entered, but they excused themselves when they saw our group coming in.

"This is the road you came in on, and this is the parts of the forest that have either already been explored or are impassible because of the fire," Mirianna explained as she pointed to places on the map. "This stretch was the next section to search. We intended to send someone else with the [First Explorer] title since they can sense nearby dungeons, but we lost contact with him when all of this started."

"Do you think he's dead?" Silva asked.

Mirianna sighed. "I hope not. Regardless, this is the area we need you to search. If you find the entrance, and it's safe for you to do so, signal the location with this scroll. It shoots a blue flare into the sky. The magic shouldn't draw monsters to it, but demons may be attracted to it, so be careful. Getting information on the dungeon's whereabouts is important, but don't do it if it would put you at too much risk. Raksha'va and I would prefer you to return and mark the map yourselves, even if it takes longer, than you going into the dungeon and dying when we don't even know where you are."

"What if there's cultists?" I asked.

The guild receptionist pursed her lips. "I'll leave that up to you. If you think you can take them out and stop them from summoning more demons, it may be worth the risk to fight them. If you aren't confident, return and give us the location, and we'll see if we can do something about it."

"This is a large area to search," Torien noted while looking at the map.

Mirianna nodded. "It is, but the [First Explorer] title you have should help a lot with finding the dungeon."

"What if there is no dungeon?" Sibyl asked.

"If you can't find anything, return before sundown, and we'll tighten the search area. We think that it has to be a dungeon causing this, based on the way many of the demons are dying, but I admit the situation is strange. Just do your best," Mirianna said.

I spent a few minutes copying down a quick and rough copy of the area we needed to search in one of my notebooks. It would be helpful to use some of the indicated landmarks to search the area and mark the dungeon on the map instead if it was too dangerous to use the flare.

While working on that, I glanced at Mimi. "Are you confident in maintaining that wind spell you learned to keep the smoke away?" I asked her.

Mimi nodded. "I'll be able to keep it up indefinitely, but it takes a lot of focus to maintain. I won't be able to help you fight, someone will have to carry me.

Mirianna raised an eyebrow. "Carry her?"

I waved it off. "I have a spell that can summon a magic mount construct. We can carry her that way." That wasn't actually how I intended to carry her, but we could carry her that way. As much as I liked Raksha'va and Mirianna, I didn't want to tell them about Mimi's origin. Maybe someday, but not now.

"Do you have any more questions? Need anything else before you leave?" Mirianna asked.

I looked around at everyone before shaking my head. "I think we can handle this. Just make sure someone is keeping a lookout for our flare."

Mirianna nodded. "Take some of these potions, at least. Because you have healers with you, I've stocked this box primarily with mana potions. May Fortuna smile upon you."

I smiled wryly at that. I think she would, whether I liked it or not.

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