DD 304 Ch 30 (Patreon)

I sat with Sandra as she finished something on her tablet, the woman was a stiff beauty. That or I was finding out that I had a thing for pencil skirts. Hell forbid that Des ever got the idea and made the party fight in the unreasonable garments.

Still, my UG secretary was attractive, Scaredy Cat had been on the right track. I far preferred dealing with her over the scarred bear of a man. Maybe I should introduce her to Ambrosia to make more things in my life easy. The gothic angel had been more of a silent presence recently, clearing the path for me without being present much.

Sandra glanced up the moment she was done, oblivious or uncaring of my thoughts. "I apologize, Ken. There were some pieces of work marked urgent. I'm sure you understand."

"No worries. I assume this has to do with the fallout from the raid?” I asked.

"Thank you for your understanding. I don’t believe there is more that you need to be informed on," she said.

"I'm sad to say I haven't been able to get very involved in the solutions." I shook my head, I’d been wrapped up in other things, it seemed my plate was full and overflowing at this point. Unlike Amatto or many of the people that worked at the UG, my priority had to stay on improving myself. For if I didn’t push ahead who else would be the tip of the spear for humanity pushing deeper into the dungeon.

"That's what we're here for, Ken. Please let me and the UG handle it without worry. Let me be your arms here while you take care of higher level matters. Now, what can I do to assist you?" She folded her hands in front of her and completely ignored the pun she’d dropped.

"Right now I have two issues, but let's start with one. My grandmother Yui has developed a stabilized drow poison that should be highly effective against the threadspawn, but she's only able to produce small quantities. I want to use the UG to help scale up production." I told her.

"I'm glad to work for someone as intelligent as you," Sandra said, flashing a bright smile.

"Flattery gets you everywhere. It seems that the old UG president was at the very least a competent recruiter," I joked.

She smiled at the compliment. "It's been said that, for all his flaws, he was good at hiring competent people," she preened as she included herself in that number.

"About the poisons, can you do it?" I asked.

"Certainly," she said, without a shred of doubt. "Given the reports on how fearful of Drow poison the Threadspawn are, I can see many in the UG getting behind this project. It shouldn’t be too hard to get the executives all on board with prioritizing it. The biggest question, of course, will come down to cost."

"Of course. The world runs on Ren, and you understand that. I've made sure not to be lacking there. Give me a price and I'll get you the money." I told her, though unsaid was I expected the UG to fund most of this if it came down to a sellable vial. But I could likely bankroll anything with all of the old SJS money.

"Of course," Sandra said. "The second problem? The one you were going to omit?" Her eyes held too much intelligence as she poked that particular hole.

"Setting up a new training regimen for the Silverfangs. I assume that's outside your particular purview?” I decided not to hide it. Given that I was about to keep this for myself, I wasn’t sure if the UG would support it or if I could offload much of the minutia to Sandra to handle rather than take it on myself.

"On the contrary," Sandra said, tilting her head. "The UG has a number of priorities, one of which is the continued growth of all adventurers. Given that my job is to assist you wherever possible, this falls well within my job. Of course, I would document this," she added, watching my reaction carefully.

"Of course," I said, none too pleased at the clarification.

"Unless you ask me not to. Even if it's policy, I believe Amatto would want me to prioritize your requests over UG procedure." She offered slyly.

“Would that case problems for Amatto, particularly with Scaredy Cat? I know she’s new to her position and don’t want to cause problems.”

“The former president will be retiring from the dungeon and the UG.” Sandra dropped the bomb.

I nodded. The man had likely been scrambling for power, only for the raid to give him a reality check. "He took it that badly?" I asked.

"Devastated, apparently. Given how long he'd been an adventurer, I expected better, though I can't entirely blame him. The idea of being infected by a threadspawn is terrifying. Not to mention, in his own words, he found that he’s grown too old for the dungeon's continued changes, and retirement would be simpler. I believe Amatto has asked that his retirement coincide with him stepping down from the UG as well." Sandra explained.

"Well, if it's any consolation, my opinion is that we should let him go cleanly. No need to make enemies if we don't have to. The business world is cutthroat enough as it is." I told her. While I could be petty on this, it was just easier to bury the hatchet, I had enough on my overflowing plate.

"I'm glad our thoughts align," Sandra said, smiling. "And that if I ever lose your favor, you won't be too hard on me," she added with a perfectly straight face.

Sometimes it was easy to forget just how much power I actually wielded, and that not everyone treated me like the college student I still was. "I appreciate your candor." I told her.

That and she was very useful, to make a full spectrum leveling path for the Silverfangs I was likely going to have to buy a few areas of the dungeon for the guild to plant their flag. I could imagine it now, specialized training safe zones surrounded by fast leveling areas.

“There was one thing I needed to bring up.” Sandra uncharacteristically hesitated. “Several executives have been making a fuss about the level of strength that Xanthana showed. Amatto’s stance is that regardless of her strength that we as humanity have no choice in it. But if you could ever weave in that there is a positive relationship between you and the demons, I do think it would put several concerns to bed so that I don’t have to note them again.”

I eyed her for a moment. “Xanthana the second highest tier of strength amongst the demons. Meaning there are seven that stand above her and many her equal. She’s… very powerful. More powerful than she showed there, because from what I understand Succubi are more supports or summoners than straight casters.”

“Support?” Sandra paused, not writing this down.

“She could charm an army and then buff them to several times their normal strength.” I explained. “But her stats are through the roof from what I understand. Many of the demons have found ways to increase their stats far past the norm.” I was guessing on some of that, but after having my [Stat Incubation], I assumed that the succubi had something as good if not better.

“And your relationship with them?” She asked.

“Business. All demons are very quid pro quo oriented. She came and helped so that I would help her with something else. Mine and Crimson’s Eyes of Wisdom is unique enough to earn us some things. Also, the Incubus King’s seat is empty because he tried to take over demon kind after the dungeon shuffle. As for concerns over them… the demons are individually power, perhaps more powerful than other dungeon races we’ve encountered but they are the most non-cohesive of the races too. Very individualistic.” I tried to paint the picture.

“They are selfish and prone to infighting while trying to further their selfish needs. Not the most reassuring, but that might give some of the UG executives what they need to feel comfortable. After all, they do appreciate someone who can be bought, even if they don’t realize they are outside their reach.” Sandra nodded to herself and began taking a few notes.

“Glad to be of help. As long as we don’t have anything too precious and don’t piss off the demons, I don’t think they’ll be an issue.” I offered.

"Of course," Sandra said. "Now, if you'll give me the details of what exactly you want out of this training program, I can put something together for the short term." She raised an eyebrow, more a question than anything, and handed me a pad of paper.

I hadn't gotten the full picture from the Orkai yet, but with the basics I could start recreating something for humanity. It would at least be a start.

Hopefully, once it had been vetted and iterated on, the Silverfangs would grow many times more powerful than they were now, without relying on luck to find groups that rose naturally through the dungeon. Perhaps we could seek out those with the right skills and raise them more purposefully into powerful adventurers. Not everyone got opportunities like Haylon offered.

***

"Ken! I’m so happy to see you," Bellaire said, opening her arms as I stepped into the crowd of visitors, watching their reactions closely.

"You didn't say you had so many guests." I shifted back and forth a bit as I took in our audience; over twenty people sat around a dining table that felt more like a boardroom right now.

"Ah, well some of them are PR staff." She kissed me on the cheek, then slid to my side, her voice dropping low. "There have been requests from people very high up that we not let the dungeon become," she hesitated, "stagnant. There's a lot of fear spreading about the dungeon, especially with so many high level adventurers coming back in body bags. It reads almost like anti-war sentiment, though I suppose it isn't entirely wrong." She lifted a brow. 

“Not entirely incorrect," I agreed. "And I assume, since you called me over while you have guests, that means I can be of help?"

Bellaire's smile was a clear answer.

"No need to worry about asking for a favor. I'm not Crimson, after all." I told her.

Bellaire chuckled, then suppressed the laugh. "I have no idea what you mean," she stated diplomatically.

"Of course you don't. Crimson would never cause anyone any trouble," I said smoothly.

"Of course not. Crimson's an absolute saint." Bellaire added, laying it on a touch too thick, then pecked my cheek again while eyeing several of the others in the room with a smug look.

Bellaire was very good at managing any situation.

"Well, now that we have Ken's agreement," she said calmly to the room, "let's decide how best to use his time. Unfortunately his schedule is limited. If you'd like to go take care of other matters, we'll have a script ready for the five o'clock news." She turned back to me. "I'll see you at four."

I kissed her, then gave everyone else in the room a look that made it clear what would happen if they upset her before turning and heading out.

***

I spent some time trading messages back and forth with Sandra as I worked through the training options. I found planning my training was a useful way to kill time, short of jumping into the dungeon and actually training. But going to the dungeon was better done in a larger, focused session with party members who could complement my strengths. Going in solo now would be close to a waste of time.

"Ken, we're ready." Bellaire stepped into the room. I'd made it easy to find me.

Bellaire held out a small packet. "We have several news crews lined up and getting into place."

"And the message?" I asked, taking the document from her. I started reading it, my eyes threatening to glaze over at the sight of the massive paragraphs. I focused and read.

It instructed me to focus on the fact that humanity is entering a new age of strength, and that the younger generation, including myself, have stepped up to help solve the new threats.

"This makes it sound like I knew this was coming," I said.

"You're not a prophet, Ken, and I sincerely hope no one expects you to be one. Though, I'm sure someone will try to put far too many expectations on you because of this. Controversy sells and if done right makes people sympathetic to you." Bellaire somehow made it sound as though arguing with me was about to become a business of its own.

"All right," I said, reading through the script. "Seems harmless enough." I set it down and checked the clock. "We've got time to kill, Bellaire. What color has your tattoo turned?"

[Stat Incubation] hadn't been entirely uniform across my ladies, but one commonality we'd noticed was that the stylized heart on their abdomens shifted from pink to red as the incubation fully matured. For those that stayed out of the dungeon it took longer.

Bellaire grinned and showed off a bit of her toned stomach. "Looks like it's ready. But you'll have to make it quick, Ken." She gave me a sharp look. "You will not be late for this press conference."

"I will not be late for this press conference," I repeated.

She fell into my arms with a smoldering kiss.

"Then let's be quick. But not too quick. I wouldn't want to ruin my reputation," I joked.

"Don't worry. If you ever have an off day, I won't be the one to spread the rumors." She grinned, and I swept her off her feet.

"Well, then I'd better impress. After all, you're the one who controls what most of the world thinks of me." I teased.

***

I stood at a podium in front of a massive crowd, lights flashing, threatening to blind me. The trick, Bellaire had told me, was not to stare directly at the crowd, but just over the tops of their heads. That would be enough to keep my eyesight through the whole session.

I leaned forward into the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming and listening to what I have to say. For those of you who don't already know, I'm Ken Nagato, leader of the Silverfangs and a forerunner of the next generation of adventurers. Even as a student at Haylon, I've already made significant progress. Most of my class has reached level sixty. We've explored the dungeon far deeper than our predecessors. And where the dungeon was once an unlimited treasure trove for our people, where it was once something to dive into and rip as much profit from as we could like it was an untapped vein of gold. That has all changed. We have to accept that fact. We are no longer alone in the dungeon.”

I paused, letting dramatic quiet descend across the crowd before continuing. "We'd already encountered the elves, and that spurred no small amount of concern. There are people who, out of fear of the world changing, did their best to fight against it. But the world is changing. Willful ignorance won't stop what's coming. We've already had hostile races come to Earth. They have already invaded us when we were unaware. I'm sure many of you in the news remember the recent attack on New York. The fighting spilled out into the populace, affecting all of you who've chosen not to dive the dungeon. For this fight, we chose to handle this problem within the dungeon to spare you the collateral effects of a fight at this magnitude. And it is worth remembering that these creatures, if left unchecked, were already planning to come to Earth and cause another incident like the first.

“To join this fight, the UG requested the most powerful adventurers on earth to go fight for humanity. At the end of the day, we are the UG. We can't pull people out of retirement, or conscript new ones. But we will make sure to do our best to keep conflicts between adventurers within the dungeon. That is what we have done, and that is what we will continue to strive to achieve. I hope you'll support us. I hope future adventurers will cause fewer problems amongst themselves, realizing there are now greater concerns lurking in the depths of the dungeon than we've ever previously known.

“Now, if there are any questions…" Dozens of hands shot up in the crowd. "Please." I nodded to a woman in the front row.

"There are concerns that you're actively creating an army that could destabilize any of the political establishments." She told me.

"Probably," I said, staring her dead in the eye before letting my gaze sweep over the rest of the crowd. "The dungeon is incredibly dangerous, and the adventurers who dive through it are becoming increasingly powerful. So powerful that even modern technology can't keep up with them. So yes, if I build a team of level-sixty adventurers, I'd expect some shift in power in the world. They won't always stay in the dungeon, and though the UG will do its part to police adventurer activity outside it, we all know that not everything is perfect."

"So you admit to sticking your hands into politics?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"Pardon my French, but hell no. My sights are solely on the dungeon. Earth is beautiful, and one day I might like to retire up on the surface, but I figure I'll be in the dungeon for as long as I can hold a blade in my hands. And if we're being honest, chances are I'll die in there with a blade in my hand." I told her.

"Can you speak more on that danger, sir," another reporter spoke up.

"It's the reality, as many of you are no doubt aware, that the operation didn't go smoothly." I nodded my head, letting my true pain show in my face. "Working alongside the Orkai, we discovered a number of threadspawn infested dwarven hives mobilizing within the dungeon. The Orkai took on most of the hives themselves. However, they pointed out there was one close to Earth, and asked us to clear it out ourselves. That was this operation."

"If the Orkai are so powerful, why didn't they just clear all of them out themselves?" the next reporter asked.

"For all their strength, unfortunately, it wasn't enough either. Three of their teams didn't come back. The entirety of those teams perished. In fact, our own survival largely depended on calling in assistance from another race within the dungeon. The Orkai have apologized for all of this, but there's of course no way to make it right with just words. Instead, to help humanity, they'll support an initiative to create better training programs for our adventurers. It's high time we rose up and joined the other races we've met in the dungeon. We must stop using the dungeon as an economic engine and start using it to build real personal strength."

I gave the Orkai more credit than I needed to for some of the leveling program I was going to create.

The reporters began clamoring more questions, but I held up my hands. "Thank you, everyone. That's all the time I have today," I leaned away from the microphone, and several people Bellaire had sent with me began politely clapping behind me to signal it was done.

Bellaire grabbed me and gently guided me off the stage. "That was fantastic, Ken."

"Just glad I could help," I answered as smoothly as I could manage.

"Of course you helped," Bellaire held a slight smirk. "Though it's important, like you said, to keep developing everyone for humanity." Her smirk shifted into something I couldn't quite read, until she pressed a hand to her abdomen with a smile that told me exactly what I needed to do. It seemed she hadn’t been satisfied yet.

I smirked back. "Of course. After you." I ripped open a portal and stepped through, Bellaire following, her fingertips dancing along my shoulders as the portal closed behind me.

"I'm sure I'll have a few items to take care of soon, so let's make sure we keep up our training." I swept her off her feet and kissed her deeply as I carried her deeper into her home.