NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1747
I opened up a portal and stepped through, and like that, I was no longer in Jespain, but Chalm once again. I appeared in the familiar field near the pond that had become the dungeon's boss room.
"Daddy!" Eliza ran up and threw her arms around me. "I missed you, daddy. Hmm? What's wrong?"
"N-nothing!" I had just let Lydia's words get to be a bit more than I should, and being hugged by Eliza felt a bit awkward.
I quickly put such thoughts away and gave her a proper hug and kiss. The kiss was on her forehead, as it should be.
"Daddy arrived so suddenly, it surprised me. What did you bring me?" She immediately asked as soon as our embrace broke.
"Ahhh… um… I just came back for a little bit. I'll be returning to Jespain shortly." I hadn't bought her a gift.
It wasn't like I wouldn't have thought to do that. It was just that I still had a week in Jespain. This had just been a very quick return. I had been away for a little less than two full days, and I had just wanted to see her and use the dungeon a bit. However, to the newly born Eliza, she wouldn't recognize that. When I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, Eliza's eyes started to form tears.
"D-did daddy forget about me?" She sniffled.
We had even been shopping the whole day. I had boughten something for every girl there, but I hadn't considered getting gifts for the girls left behind. That hadn't even occurred to me yet. We had been spending so much money that I didn't buy anything on my own. It was all dresses, jewelry, alchemic supplies, and even bobbles that the girls had asked for. That stuff was still on all of them, so I didn't even have a single thing from Jespain.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Wait! There was one thing. I quickly pulled the coin from Jespain out.
"I found this!" I declared, feeling like the worst father ever.
"Hmm?" She looked at the item in my hand as I started to sweat. "It's shiny!"
She reached out and took it, and I let out a breath as a big smile appeared on her face.
"Y-yeah… it's a coin from Jespain." I explained like this had been my big plan from the beginning.
"Hehe… daddy gave me some lore. It's perfect!" She admired the coin happily before it suddenly disappeared in her hand.
The one nice thing about Eliza having only existed a few days was that her sights were rather low. It turned out she was easy to satisfy. That's when her words caught up with me.
"Lore? What do you mean? Did you absorb the coin?"
"Mm!" She nodded. "It was rather easier because it was already made by a dungeon."
"What?" I cocked my head. "You're saying that coin was found in a dungeon?"
"No, daddy…" She shook her head. "The coin is created by a dungeon. It's not a material object, but a small piece of dungeon lore, like all of daddy's guards."
"The mobs? You're saying the coins are like a dungeon monster?" I asked.
"Something like that…" Eliza paused like she was having trouble coming up with the right words. "It's like a dungeon created an object tied to itself, like a weapon that disappears when a mob dies."
That kind of made sense. Monsters could leave drops, but those drops weren't always the items they had on them. Most monsters had some level of clothing, weapons, or even armor. When they died, those things would disappear with them. It turned out items could be created similarly to mobs.
"Mobs die when they leave a dungeon for too long though…" I reasoned.
Eliza nodded. "True, but these aren't alive. Their presence is dependent on the dungeon that made them though. If they get too far away, then they would disappear. Had daddy not teleported directly into our dungeon, the coin would have likely shattered the second you ended up too far away."