Chapter 186: False Alarm?
"Okay, let’s do it." Arthur sounds genuinely excited now. He had been feeling bored and frustrated earlier, but with a new solution in sight, his energy rebounds imdiately.
"But I don’t know if I can make it really big," Arthur frowns slightly. "How big are we talking about?"
"As big as you can," Theo answers simply.
"The fire tornado needs balance," Theo adds. "Width, strength, and height. All three matter. If one is lacking, it won’t wipe out all the haelions."
"Understood." Arthur exhales slowly. "Give
a few minutes to recover. Say... five minutes?"
"I’m fine with that," Liam replies.
"Sa," Julian adds.
"Yeah, I don’t see a problem with it," Maeve agrees.
"Okay," Theo smiles faintly. "We’ll take five."
------------------------------
Outside the dungeon, at the gate, inside the giant tent, Linus has already set up a temporary office.
He doesn’t want to leave. He’s worried about Liam. But he also can’t stop working. So he compromises and works on-site.
Captain Chambers watches Linus in silent awe.
"How can he still be working at a ti like this?" he mutters to himself. "Isn’t he worried about his son?"
Claudia, sitting not far from him, smiles and answers without looking up from her laptop.
"That’s my dad. He’s worried about my brother, but he can’t not work. So here he is."
She continues typing, clearly handling paperwork for Rhaenas.
Captain Chambers does a double take.
"Dad? You’re his daughter?"
Claudia looks up. "Yes. I thought you knew, Captain. I’m Claudia Monfort. The only daughter. Youngest child."
She grins innocently.
"But... but... but you said you’re the manager." Captain Chambers still looks unconvinced.
"Yeah, I am. Why?" Claudia tilts her head. "I can’t be both?"
"You’re already rich. You don’t need to work," Captain Chambers says honestly. "Why do you want to?"
Claudia thinks for a second, then answers calmly.
"You’re right. I am rich. But that doesn’t an I’m not allowed to work, right? I’m very fortunate that I don’t need to work to survive. But I still want to dedicate my life to making the world better."
"And you chose to work as a manager?" Captain Chambers asks.
Claudia laughs freely.
"Not just any manager. A manager for the greatest dungeon-clearing team in the world."
Captain Chambers chuckles. "Seriously? You really believe that?"
Claudia ets his gaze, steady and unwavering.
"I do. My brother and his team aren’t ordinary people. This is a level eight dungeon. You know the statistics better than I do."
She continues evenly, "On average, how many people get injured entering a level eight dungeon? There are almost always casualties. More than half are badly injured. And it takes days to clear."
"If there’s a team that can minimize that risk and spare those lives, wouldn’t that be worth believing in?"
She looks straight at him.
"Tell , Captain. How many tis have you had to inform a family that their loved one didn’t make it back?"
Captain Chambers’ breath hitches.
"Too many tis," he whispers.
Claudia nods. "I’m sorry to hear that. But that’s exactly why a team like Rhaenas is needed."
Captain Chambers falls into silence.
Claudia shifts her attention back to her screen.
Captain Chambers blinks several tis and looks at what Claudia is doing.
"What are you doing? You look busy. Full schedule? Lots of clients?" he tries to joke.
Without looking up, she pouts. "Lots of clients my ass. I’m trying to register Rhaenas as a dungeon clearing team. You know, for the permit? But it turns out the paperwork is no joke." She growls.
Captain Chambers’ jaw drops.
"What? You don’t have a license yet?"
"License? Not permit?" Claudia freezes. "Are you telling
I’ve been doing everything wrong?!"
She looks up at Captain Chambers, clearly hoping for guidance, but finds him staring at her like she’s an alien.
"What?" she snaps. "A girl can’t make a mistake? You said it yourself, I don’t need to work. Well, I’ve never had a real job. This is my first."
When he still doesn’t respond, she clicks her tongue.
"Tsk. Don’t just look at
like I’m an idiot. Help . Tell
what I need, how to get it, and where."
Claudia scoots over and pulls Captain Chambers down to sit beside her.
"Show ," she orders.
And for the next forty-five minutes, Captain Chambers ends up guiding Claudia step by step on how Rhaenas can beco a full-fledged dungeon clearing team.
Any subordinate who happens to pass by either rubs their eyes, drops their jaw, or outright refuses to acknowledge what they’re seeing.
Their captain.
Their I’m-too-impatient-to-deal-with-won captain.
Sitting beside a beautiful redhead.
Patiently explaining paperwork. Step by step.
So mutter, "I must’ve seen it wrong."
Others whisper, "That’s not our captain."
A few simply conclude, "He must be drunk."
After forty-five minutes—
"And that’s it," Captain Chambers says, leaning back slightly. "Now all you need is to submit a letter of recomndation."
Claudia smiles, clearly satisfied.
"Would one from my dad work?" she asks casually.
Then she tilts her head and adds, "Or better yet, you give
one."
Before Captain Chambers can reply, Claudia cuts him off.
"You know what? I’ll get both. So when can I get yours?"
"O–okay. Hold on." Captain Chambers quickly gets to his feet and takes a step back. "I can’t just give you one. I need to know if Rhaenas is really like you said."
Claudia rolls her eyes.
"Fine. You give it to
when they’re out."
She snaps her laptop shut and heads straight toward Linus.
She’s only halfway there when an alarm starts blaring.
It cos from the table of monitors.
Captain Chambers snaps into action.
"What’s going on?"
"The dungeon’s energy just spiked, sir. Alarmingly high."
"Do we know why?" Captain Chambers asks, scanning several monitors at once.
Claudia steps up behind him. "What’s going on?"
Captain Chambers turns and sees both Claudia and Linus standing there.
"The dungeon’s energy suddenly spiked. We don’t know the cause yet."
"Does this happen often?" Linus asks.
"We don’t usually monitor dungeon energy," Captain Chambers explains. "But ever since mutated dungeons appeared, we’ve started tracking it. Based on existing data, a spike like this usually ans the dungeon is mutating."
Linus frowns.
"A mutated level eight? That’s extrely dangerous."
"Yes, sir." Captain Chambers doesn’t sugarcoat it.
"So," Claudia asks calmly, "is it the gate’s energy spiking... or the energy inside the dungeon?"
Captain Chambers blinks. "Does that make a difference?"
Yes, it does, Claudia answers inwardly.
I don’t think the dungeon is mutating.
I think Rhaenas is just having way too much fun in there with their powers.
And what you’re reading... is their mana.
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