***Cherise Manabella Irenthi’s POV***

She would love a dungeon? What an odd thing to say. What was there to love about dungeons? Did the child mix up his words?

Cherise shook her head to clear her thoughts. She’d end up hanging around in the middle of the road again at this rate.

She walked briskly to catch up with Rybo and her guides. While they walked, the sun priest kept up a lighthearted conversation and explained a few things about the village. He pointed out a particularly tall tree that was home to their local herbalist.

“Januiil is very skilled. It’s thanks to the powerful medicine she makes that we don’t need much of it, so we’re able to keep up with demand and not overharvest the forest.”

Cherise frowned. Was he implying that that herbalist was their only avenue for treatment if they got sick or injured? Nonsense. This place wasn’t that far out.

“What about doctors? Maybe you don’t have any surgeons, but you should have doctors, healers, and alchemists, right?”

Belsam smiled sadly. “We do have a healer, and our moon priestess Yushiil has some skill with healing and medicine, but we lack any professional doctors or alchemists.”

Rybo whistled. “If this dungeon works out, skilled people are going to swarm here.”

Belsam nodded hopefully. “That, at least, would be a welcome change around here. There’s at least one person in this village who could use professional attention.”

Cherise raised an eyebrow but didn’t feel like prying if he wasn’t offering the information.

After a few more twists and turns, they arrived in front of a tall and wide tree. This looked like the only structure around that was grown with the intention of housing more than one person. It was two stories tall, two ordinary tree houses deep, and four wide. The foliage above was so thick it blocked out the sunlight. Cherise looked up and noticed a pair of young elves trimming some of the branches back, presumably to let more light through.

“This is where you’ll be staying,” Belsam gestured. “Nithuram and Vestiil grew it for the challenge.” He chuckled, “We wouldn’t have any place for guests if they hadn’t. People don’t tend to come out here unless they’re visiting family.”

“Those two?” Cherise wondered, squinting up at the two young elves moving nimbly high above the ground. They looked too young to have grown a tree this large. Not to mention, they both looked like boys from here. She squinted harder, trying to make out a pitiful elf woman’s chest on either of them, then quickly gave up and took another look at their faces and clothes.

“No, those are their children. The only twins we’ve had in this village in a few centuries, actually.” Belsam raised a hand to his mouth to focus the sound and shouted up, “Tether, Thalam, are your parents inside? The inspector from the guild is here.”

The elf boys looked down in sync and nodded. The one closest to the trunk clambered over and leaned his head in through a window. “Mother, father, they’re here!” He then started to climb down the side of the tree. The other twin quickly trimmed one last branch and followed him down.

“This is our first time seeing beast and demon friends,” the first twin trotted over and said excitedly.

“We can show you inside,” the second followed up.

“Thank you,” Cherise answered.

“If you need anything, just ask. Any of the people here will do their best to help, or show you to someone who can. If you need to find me for any reason, I’ll be around the central plaza.”

“Thanks for guiding us, sun priest,” Cherise gave a slight bow.

Belsam nodded and turned to leave, but something was still nagging at Cherise. She quickly called out to stop him, “Um, about that boy I was talking to, Anther. Has he been to the dungeon already?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Belsam stopped and nodded.

“That’s,” she frowned and considered her wording carefully. “I would have thought that the dungeon would be off limits until after it had been inspected.”

The sun priest chuckled. “Ah, I understand your concern. Anther is the one who found the dungeon if that answers it for you.”

That boy found it? Has he gone inside yet?

“I see. Thank you, sun priest. I won’t keep you.”

He and the elders left. She vaguely wondered why they had even come, considering they hadn’t said a word the whole time. Also, after cross-referencing them in her head with some other old elves she knew, Cherise estimated that those two were roughly twice her age. Not too bad for a village that didn’t even have an alchemist, but only barely eligible to be called an elder.

With those three gone, Tether and Thalam started pushing and pulling Cherise and Rybo to come inside. They were young but not as young as that Anther and his friends. These two were already taller than she was, and they had a bit of force in their limbs. Ruther and Dilsam looked like they were caught between feeling grateful and lonely, having been basically ignored while the two exotic people got all the attention.

Inside the tree was pretty spacious, which made Cherise glad. A tree was a tree, and she didn’t trust it not to have bugs crawling over it, so she liked that she could distance herself from the walls.

Near the front entrance, there was something like a reception desk, grown up from the ground below, where a fully grown elf man was sifting through some drawers. He was one of the most masculine elves Cherise had ever seen, with a jaw that wasn’t too delicate, and lean muscles that weren’t entirely hidden under smooth, tan skin. Of course, “masculine for an elf” really wasn’t saying much, but he might have looked good with a goatee--if elves could grow facial hair.

“Hey there, friends,” the man grinned. “I see you’ve met my boys. Name’s Nithuram. My, what do you call it? Wife? My wife, Vestiil, is on the second floor, putting the finishing touches on your rooms.”

Cherise briefly marveled that he went out of his way to call his partner “wife” when elves didn’t marry the way demons and beast people did. She brushed it off as an awkward attempt to be culturally accommodating.

“Nice to meet you,” Cherise dipped her head. “I’m the junior inspector from the guild, Cherise Manabella Irenthi. This is my bodyguard, Tketh Rybo, and my guides, Ruther and Dilsam. We’ll be in your care for the next few days.”

Nithuram grinned and fished around in the drawers again. Finally, he pulled out a pair of colorful ribbons and held them out for the two exotic people to take. Cherise and Rybo accepted the vibrant strips on instinct, only inspecting them after. There was a pair of black horns embroidered on Cherise’s purple ribbon, and a pair of red wolf ears and a tail on Rybo’s orange one. She glanced into the drawer to see a few other such ribbons with near identical patterns but different background colors.

“You can hang those on the curtain outside your room,” Nithuram explained. “I hear you friends are a little more territorial than us elves.”

Cherise frowned and muttered, “Territorial is a little much. We just have a sense of privacy is all.”

“Nope, I’m territorial,” Rybo chuckled, gripping the ribbon in his fist. “And they should probably invent a harsher word for you.”

Cherise frowned and held back a retort. They weren’t alone here, and it would be bad to make a scene. She was here as a representative of the guild, after all.

The twins guided the four outsiders upstairs just as a comparatively full-bodied elf woman ducked out from one of the rooms. She grinned when she saw them and hung a simple feather duster on a belt around her waist. “Hey there, friends. Name’s Vestiil. I’ve got your rooms all cleaned up.”

These two aren’t secretly twins as well, right? How uncanny.

Cherise went through the process of introducing everyone once more. It was getting to be a bit tiring if she was honest. Finally, they were allowed to rest in their rooms. It was incredibly nice to lie on a bed again, even if the decor made it feel like she was still outside. Cherise’s tired body compelled her to sleep, but it was still light out. She pulled a small disk out of her waist pocket. There was a violet crystal on the back and a metal face on the front, with delicate little arrows that occasionally twitched and moved, and the whole thing was encased in glass.

Cherise smiled at the device: another example of demon technology at its finest. The magical and mechanical instrument, known as a timepiece, was able to accurately keep time even where the sun couldn’t be seen. It was more accurate and convenient than timesands, timebowls, candles, natural light, and even most timekeeping spells. It was one of the best things they had ever accomplished, in Cherise’s opinion. Even better was the pocket-sized timepiece she held, which was small enough to carry on one’s person.

According to her timepiece, she was wasting time. A better use of it, she decided, would be to do some stretches and light exercises, considering she’d ridden in a carriage for most of the past several days. It wouldn’t be too late to clean and rest her body after that. Someone would surely come for her at dinner time, so she didn’t have to worry about oversleeping.

Cherise looked down at the naturally formed wooden floor. It was clean but unsettling. She took a deep breath and shook her head, sitting down to begin some light stretches.

***

Cherise stepped on the grass, Rybo walking beside her. In front was a local elf guide, there to show them to the dungeon. Cherise looked around at the wild trees and plants and felt her psyche sink.

There’s really no difference between the forest and the village! I don’t understand elves.

Even beast people built their homes out of chopped wood. Sure, it wasn’t metal and stone, but it was a large step in the right direction. And speaking of metal, there was almost none of it in the whole village. Even the dishware was made of wood or clay.

Is the land here devoid of ores, or do they just not have the care or technology to process them?

Technology shouldn’t be the issue. The elves in cities had the same love of clay and wood as the people in this backwater village, but they had relented and taken to using metal where metal worked best.

If Cherise had the time and money, she would build an entire house made of nothing but metal. Something so smooth and elegant was a gift from Usain to the ones who could process it. Those demons who pierced and plated their horns with metal were a bit tasteless, but she completely understood where they were coming from.

There was some shouting back at the edge of the village. Cherise looked over her shoulder to see the elf child from yesterday, Anther, being restrained by an adult who had been passing by. It looked like he’d been trying to sneak out and follow them.

He’s an adventurous one, she marveled. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was looking at a future explorer.

Cherise faced forward and focused on not tripping over tree roots. The latter part of the walk was on a bit of an incline, making her glad she’d stretched out her body last night and this morning. This walk would be a little unpleasant if she were still feeling stiff and sore.

Cherise could feel the dungeon mana before she could see the entrance. She could nearly see wisps of blue floating around. For ambient mana, that was quite excessive. Just how fast was this dungeon converting ether?

Their elf guide parted some foliage so they could see the entrance. It was built into a cave in the side of the mountain, with a small amount of flat land in front to stand on. And… there really was a puzzle door sealing the entrance.

Cherise was slightly surprised to see it for herself. It wasn’t often that such an intelligent dungeon appeared. It didn’t seem to have slacked off when carving the door and the tile pattern on it, as everything was smooth and straight and built at right angles. Though, if she was honest, it was harder to find a lazy dungeon than a perfectionist one. The senior inspector where she worked, her superior, had once mentioned that dungeons weren’t very compatible with the abstract. Cherise wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but she didn’t like abstract things much either, so she could respect it.

She looked above the door to examine the sign. “How eccentric,” she muttered.

The puzzle door, though blocking the way inside, was still in the dungeon, as were the few inches of earth she was standing on. Thus, technically, Cherise was inside the dungeon, and, for the inspection, that was all she really needed. She was actually glad; the dungeon’s own defenses seemed like they would keep her safer than her bodyguard could, by blocking the monsters from inside.

Cherise spread her feet apart a bit and stood in a very steady stance. She was a proud demon: a member of the race which birthed the most advancements in magic and technology and was the best in the world at burst magic. No matter that this was an ancient, vast, and intelligent dungeon; with her surveyal magic, she would see through everything, all the way down to its core!

A well of mana surged out of Cherise’s body, swirling around in thick black ribbons. Rybo, who was standing a few feet back, felt his mane stand on end. Beast people couldn’t use magic, nor were they as sensitive to it as elves or demons, but he could still feel it when something so dangerous appeared so close. He instinctively took a step back but kept close enough that he could protect her if anything happened.

Unless if her mana exploded. There was nothing he could do if she was stupid enough to let that happen.

Cherise focused hard. She was skilled for her age and could execute a wide range of spells, but doing anything else at the same time was too much to ask. She shaped her mana into the correct pattern, assigned it the correct properties, and unleashed it toward her target: the dungeon.

The black ribbons of mana whipped about and raged as they searched through every corner of the first floor. Her spell acted a bit like a parasitic virus in the sense that a dungeon had no natural defense against it. It was lucky for the dungeon that the spell wasn't meant to damage anything along the way. The particular spell she'd used was called surveyal and, just like its name implied, what it did was gather information. What materials were in the dungeon? What kind of monsters? How many traps and where? Most importantly, it would tell her how many floors the dungeon had and if it was doing anything dangerous.

Cherise could feel the echoes of her mana thrashing about inside the dungeon, searching. After a minute, a few wisps started to return to her. She stood still and focused as she digested the information piece by piece.

Hmm… It uses ordinary building materials and monsters up through D Rank. No poisons or curses. Oh, that’s interesting. There’s a Biome on the first floor. Seems like it isn’t lethal. Lots of traps and puzzles, just like this door here. Not much in the way of treasure, but there are some good herbs and game.

Cherise noticed that the information flooding in was becoming less and less. That didn’t make sense. Where was the rest of it? She waited, but all of the mana that was meant to return had. Her spell had gone all the way to the core and back, exploring every room and hall in the dungeon, and it had revealed something shocking.

This dungeon only has two floors?! Impossible!

Cherise was outright shocked, and soon, she was overcome by curiosity. Was this dungeon really as young as the elves said it was? How was it so intelligent? How had it dug its second floor so quickly? On the other hand, if it was ancient, why was it so small? She had to go inside to see what made this dungeon tick; surveyal magic wouldn’t cut it. Maybe, this dungeon was so intelligent that it had found a way to block her spell partway. If that was the case--!

Cherise gritted her teeth and stomped up to the puzzle door, moving her hands all over its surface, searching for a mechanism.

“Cherise, did you snap?” Rybo stared at her with his jaw loose. He came closer, but he wasn’t sure if he should pull her back or not. “Is there something wrong with the dungeon? Or,” he trailed off, “maybe there’s something really good inside?”

The junior inspector rolled her eyes and kept trying at the puzzle. She found the tiles that could move and started testing them out. “The dungeon’s fine: there’s no reason to blacklist it. The rewards aren’t anything special, but it seems pretty low risk. All the traps are inactive; the puzzles are the main challenge.”

“Then what are you doing, exactly?”

A key tile stuck in place before Cherise had intended it to. She clicked her tongue and stomped away from the door so it could reset, dragging Rybo with her when he hesitated. She stood at the border and watched the tiles slide back into their starting positions.

“This dungeon is only two floors deep,” she practically spat. Rybo’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’ve never heard of a young dungeon this smart and fast or an ancient dungeon this small. I want to go inside and see if anything stands out that my surveyal didn’t show me.”

Rybo shared a look with the elf who had guided them there.

“Well,” he hesitated, “if you didn’t detect anything dangerous, I guess it’d be fine to look around a little.”

Cherise didn’t particularly care that she had her bodyguard’s permission. She was going to go in even if he tried to stop her. As soon as the puzzle reset, she hurried over to try again. She repeatedly failed and reset the puzzle, over and over, as her nerves continued to wear down. After the sun had risen a notch higher in the sky, she snapped a bit.

“If I say I’m coming in,” black ribbons of mana started to swirl around Cherise’s hands and forearms, as she pointed her palms toward the door, “I’m coming in!”

The ribbons gathered in front of her hands into a swirling purple and black orb. With a burst of power, it shot forward, colliding with the stone door and blasting it to dust. While panting, though it was likely more from rage than exertion, she started to stomp forward, but Rybo grabbed her coat collar. Cherise felt herself choking as her feet continued forward without the rest of her. Her body inevitably snapped back and she rubbed her throat with one hand, hitting Rybo in the arm with her free fist.

“What was that for?!” she yelled angrily. The beast man silently gestured to the ground where she was about to walk. Now that the dust had started clearing, she noticed the potentially deadly fall waiting for her.

“Oh. Thanks, Rybo. I thought I detected that that one was disarmed. What a nasty dungeon to put something like that here.”

Her bodyguard shrugged. “Maybe it was disarmed. The sign says brutes and fools beware. I think if you had patiently solved the puzzle, this pit would be covered and safe to walk on.”

Cherise felt her temper flaring, “But that would have taken too long! Look! There’s another one already. I’ll just—”

He caught her hand, which was already gathering swirling black ribbons of mana. “We already know this dungeon is intelligent. Why are you antagonizing it?”

Cherise stopped to consider her actions and how they might affect how this young and clever dungeon chose to grow. The longer she reflected and calmed down, the more ashamed she felt about her own actions. How could she break away from protocol, and even lose herself to her temper? Worst of all, she had to be corrected by a beast person! Which of them here was from the more civilized and advanced race, exactly?

“I,” Cherise took a deep breath, “You’re right. I’ve put on a shameful display. A junior inspector should not act like this. To lose my temper over some puzzle, I--” she shook her head.

Rybo raised a wild eyebrow and silently approved her admittance. “I know you’re curious, but prying too much is rude, and you don’t have the patience to pry here correctly. For now, this dungeon hasn’t done anything to blacklist it, and it has a unique theme. Let’s just send word to the guild and have a branch built in Genenwell village. This place might become popular.”

Cherise sighed and looked at the shattered hinges where a pair of sturdy and intricate puzzle doors had once been. “Your right, our job here is finished, but,” she held a hand up, black mana ribbons swirling from her wrist up. Rybo almost reached out to stop her again, but he could somehow tell that this one wasn’t anything harmful.

Cherise formed the mana into a small orb above her palm and let it drift off to float in the hallway. “I’m very sorry for my earlier behavior. I caused you damages without any good or respectable reason. Please accept some of my mana to expedite its repair. I hope it’s enough to cover the damages.”

Cherise bowed her head for a moment before looking up at the ceiling. “I’m sure you’ve only seen elves until now. I’m a demon. My name is Cherise Manabella Irenthi, and I’ll most likely be the senior inspector in charge of overseeing your growth, as soon as a new guild branch is built in the nearby village. Once again, I apologize for my earlier outburst. I hope our relationship can be amicable in the future.”

Cherise bowed again and turned about, starting back down the mountain. The elf guide quickly returned to her side. Rybo, who still stood at the dungeon entrance looked at its ceiling and chuckled. “Well, she’s just a kid, so cut her a little slack. See ya.” Rybo waved over his shoulder and trotted to catch up with his ward.