NOVEL NEXT Chapter Sixty-Six Consequences
Delilah looked up from Michael’s face. It had been a while since a couple of workers, the healer Aidera and the Guildmaster Phillip had swept the platform at the top of the stairs leading to the door into the dungeon. Rescuing the pair of them from Richard. Something she was quite happy about. It had not been fun watching that traitor rape Michael and be unable to lift so much as a finger to help. Delilah had felt so helpless. First he had violated her quite a bit, but what she had watched him do to Michael had been so much worse.
It was no wonder, Michael was a crying mess. Having that done to him? That would break anyone. At the moment the two of them were in a waiting room, in the guild tent. As the building was still very much under construction. The guild tent was a massive tent they could set up quickly. It had dividers that split it up into a main room, an office and this waiting area. At least this sofa was kind of nice.
She watched the guild master, with a strained look on his face, cross the space and settle on the other sofa. “So, Miss Delilah? I’m sorry to ask, but could you fill me in on what happened?”
She had rather expected this and didn’t blame him for putting it off. In fact she was happy for the wait. It gave her time alone with Michael. Even if all she did was cry herself to sleep. Idly she stroked the now sleeping redhead before letting out a breath.“Well, our run was going fairly routine, aside from Richard being unusually irritable. Perhaps we should have taken that as a sign.” She began. Delilah figured it best to start from the beginning so she did.
She detailed their full run of the first floor. How they swept through it and discussed the floor. It was a good floor, decent rewards and a fair challenge for rookies.
“I see, and when did things go wrong?”
She sighed, “I didn’t realize it at first, but in hindsight it’s rather obvious. The dungeon has potent pheromones. They weren’t even noticeable on the first floor, but once we got to the second floor they began to affect us. Not quickly, it took time. I didn’t even realize what was happening until I was inviting Michael for sex, which is also about when things went wrong.”
She took a breath, as Phillip patiently waited, letting her take her time. “I was on the floor outside of a puzzle room on the left hand side of the dungeon’s second floor. Richard and Michael had gone in. I was supposed to be keeping an eye out, but instead, I was trying to relieve the burning heat in my loins. That was when Michael came out. Next thing I knew I was mounting him. We were in the middle of the second round when Richard showed up and he snapped. It’s the only way I can describe it.”
She paused before describing the worst part of things. Reporting how it had all gone down. Even as her ears turned red. None of this should have happened. They were experienced adventurers. They should have known better and Richard? He was their comrade. Now here they were a beaten party, Michael was a mess and they had to report a failure for what should have been an easy quest. Worse, Michael had been raped and if not for Phillip? She shuddered at the thought, glad she had been spared the indignity, but what happened had been almost as bad.
Phillip sighed, “Thank you. I’ve had lodgings prepared for the two of you.” he glanced at Michael. “I figured he, well, she, would need you, so it’s a shared tent. Best I could do on short notice.”
“Um, thank you.”
“Now before you go, I’ve made arrangements regarding Richard but now is your chance to change them.”
She nodded, “What’s his punishment?”
“The standard. His guild license will be revoked, effective immediately. All guilds he is affiliated with have been informed and already agreed to revoke it. I have him in chains now, and he will be castrated by tomorrow. Day after that, he will be shipped to the Empire to be sold on the market. As per the rules of compensation, you will receive 65 percent of his sale price as compensation with the guild taking a small portion as a handling fee. The rest will be used to pay the parties involved in his sale.”
Delilah nodded along. That sounded pretty normal. She glanced down at the sleeping face in her lap. “Just make sure we can watch that castration. I don’t have any objections to the plan.”
She really didn’t and honestly she didn’t care for the money. She doubted Michael would either, but they both needed to see him punished. Delilah really wanted to see him pay for that.
Phillip smiled, “Great. I’ll have Sarah show you to your arranged lodgings. Alright?”
Delilah nodded. She knew who Sarah was. Sarah Sky was a younger elf that had come along to be part of the staff for the new guild here. In fact, she was the only staff member other than the guildmaster. From what Delilah had heard, she had been recruited by Guild Mistress Sierra to help Phillip Greybeard get his guild started.
So she knew exactly who she was looking at when an elven woman slipped into the room. Delilah couldn’t help shuddering when she saw her. A memory of the last time they met surfacing and how she had ended up in the other woman’s lap. Worse was how the petting session that followed felt.
Sarah seemed to tower over her at 165 cm. She had lovely hair that she kept loose, a well built frame with modest breasts and decent curves. Making her a fairly pretty woman, if a bit intimidating. Especially with those sharp eyes that made her feel like a kid standing in front of her.
Sarah gave her a smile, one that seemed meant to be reassuring, “I heard what happened. If either of you need support, I’ll be available to offer it.”
Delilah returned the smile, While feeling a little... awkward, “Um, uh, thanks.”
Sarah gestured out, “I see, well if you would follow me. I’ll get you two settled.”
Nodding, she picked up the larger girl Michael. It was a little awkward but with her dwarven strength easy enough to manage. Taking only a moment to make sure the sleeping redhead was comfortable before following the dangerous receptionist out the door.
The following walk was somewhat silent. Neither party had much to say as it seemed and she was soon led to a tent that was rather out of the way. Delilah also noted that wards had been placed around the tent. As they drew close Sarah finally spoke, “I’ll be leaving you here. Phillip and I figured you would want some privacy. So we went ahead and prepared some wards. They will keep unwanted people away, especially men.”
She smiled, “Thanks.”
With that Sarah left, leaving her and Michael alone to explore a tent. A few days ago, she would have really enjoyed this. Now it came on the end of a rather sour note. It was hard to actually be happy that she was alone with the man... woman she was interested in. Delilah glanced down at Michael’s sleeping face. It was going to be weird getting used to this. Her mind flashed to Richard's with a surge of anger. That fucking traitor! She hoped his every moment as a slave was a living torment and then when the gods take him they would cast him into the Abyss.
For a moment she wished she could go back and demand that she could personally castrate him rather than merely watch. Then her anger passed... mostly. More like she got it under control. Delilah stepped into the tent and looked around. What was left of their belongings were here. Two bedrolls and a divider curtain in the middle were included in the decently large tent.
Sealing the entrance behind her, she laid out Michael on his... her roll. Making sure she was comfortable and adjusting the poorly fitting dress they had put her in. Delilah did the same for the simple dress she was wearing and then settled down beside the larger girl. All at once the toll of the day took her and she drifted off.
The young girl walked down the newly packed road. There was a certain buzz around the tent town and people seemed different than normal. Did something happen? Behind her a tiny little chicken followed along. It reminded her of her little problem. She wasn’t looking forward to telling mom what happened. She blushed at the thought.
Pausing for a moment to push the thought aside. Then she took a turn and headed for the biggest tent on the road. Mom was going to be a receptionist for the new guild and given the time, she figured mother would be at the guild.
As she soon found out that proved to be the case. Stepping into the guild tent she was greeted to quite the commotion.
“NO! I keep telling you, we can’t wait. We need to send in another team now!”
A younger woman, um, Amy she thought, spoke up, “Who would we even send? YOU?”
“What? No! My team is barely level twenty, we can’t do the entire dungeon.”
“Well it’s the same with mine.”
Her mother interjected, “Settle down people. Guildmaster Phillip is working on the issue.”
The first guy spoke up, “Well? What are we going to do in the meantime?”
Her mother replied, “Until further notice only the first floor will be open to exploration.”
The crowd started speaking rapidly. To the point she lost track of what was going on. Before she knew it they slipped out and her mother turned to her. “AKA! How were the woods?”
She smiled happily, “I had a lot of fun!” she paused gesturing at the chicken, “I even got a pet!”
Her mother glanced at the chicken, then frowned. After a moment she muttered, “Tina’s gift?” Mom blinked, “Uh, sweetie, did anything strange happen when you got her?”
Deciding not to mention her weird class she said, “um, no?”
Her mother just gave her one of those looks.