"I have yet to discover any signs of the cult's influence, my Queen." Shadow reported through her emco. "Either Karmaria is better at hiding their affiliation than those at home-" Shadow had been locating and capturing the mind controlled cultists located in and around the Palace before getting her new assignment. She couldn't be sure she hadn't missed some, but she was good enough at her job to have caught a dozen in two weeks. "-or everything actually is as they say it is. Windin even sent a representative here to discuss the unicorn offer with the locals."

"How can we know for sure?" Queen Enania asked.

"My suggestion is to observe what happens when confirmed cultists enter the area, my Queen. But that would require me staying here for a longer period, leaving Them without my ready aid."

The Queen didn't say anything for a moment, taking Their time to consider Their options. "Observe. I'll 'allow' Windin to send their prisoners to Karmaria, but ask them to keep their unicorns for now. With how disparate Windin sounds, they have likely already started moving them towards your location, so We doubt you'll have to wait for long."

"As you wish, my Queen!"

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

The Queen's servant had clearly approved the deal at some point outside of my range, as not even a whole week had passed before the prisoners from Windin arrived.

342 prisoners, that is. Which was a lot for them to guard, even if they had been forced to sleep through the journey through potions. The Paladin and his sister took it upon themselves to help the guards with their prisoners as they were brought into my Dungeon in batches.

The sister likely did it due to it being a part of her job, but her brother did it as a part of his self-imposed debt.

Shortly after his reappearance he had approached my 'mistress' to ask how he could repay me for freeing him from the cult.

Not Zina. Me. I was the one he owed the debt to, even if he considered me closer to an animal than a person.

So, I had Zina tell him two things: That killing bad guys and freeing people from mind control helped me grow and as such his debt was paid in the instance it appeared. And if he still wanted to help me out he should first join my Tribe to learn more.

With my massive growth spurt and with entire nations now depending on me for my services, I no longer feared someone deciding to kill me or stunt my growth by not allowing bad guys access to me.

That. And I had finally realized that I really would outlive them all.

I had survived my Dungeon Core childhood and I no longer feared for my own safety.

But still… I didn't think it was smart to tell just anyone about my sapiency.

The new knowledge was enough for the Paladin to lay his quest to repay me to rest, only for a new one to appear in its stead: He had made it his mission to have everyone mind controlled enter my depths, both for their own sakes, but also as a way to thank me for my services.

He had also approached my Tribe about possible membership as he fully intended to settle down here.

For the most part, he had passed with flying colors!

The only thing keeping him from being able to join, was his seemingly inability to keep secrets from his sister. Most things he wouldn't even try to keep from her, but the moment he did, she would simply raise her eyebrow and he would immediately surrender.

And she always seemed to know when he was keeping secrets from her too!

At this point it was decided he could only join if she joined too. But she was clearly a spy.

… Well it was clear to me. She would only enter my Dungeon alone or with her brother, so it wasn't super obvious to everyone else. Identify Identity had simply made it undeniable to me, and unlike 'Shadow' she didn't seem to be able to fake her identity.

She hadn't even tried. I would have let her if she had. I had only made the Dungeon Rule in the first place, so I could know more about my guests back when I didn't have the ability to ask.

Back to the prisoners, most had already been freed by the time they arrived due to Charm or Enthrall wearing off over time without having been reapplied. So, most were simply woken up and sent back out.

The remaining 19 I freed myself.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

"Officer Baxter here, with five other officers present. How is everything going, Agent Alvarado? Have the prisoners arrived yet?"

Katrin had made sure she was outside the hearing range of others before answering the call purely out of habit. She wasn't on a secret mission right now, so it was unlikely she would be informed of any secrets or have to share any with a superior. And if a secret had to come through, she would be requested to move somewhere private.

But there was no harm in indulging in a habit like this. And it was a good one to enforce!

Kat had never met officer Baxter herself, but she knew he was her current supervisor. Additionally she had heard good things about him and his work for public safety.

"Officer Baxter. The prisoners arrived about four hours ago. While still unconscious they were carried into the Dungeon. Here the dungeon's mistress explained how the mind freeing happens. It is mostly a passive process where a mind is slowly freed from its binds simply by staying in the Dungeon. How long it takes depends on the mind controller's mental power versus that of the victim's, any relevant Abilities if either have any, as well as what tier of mind control was used."

"So, that wasn't simply a last ditch attempt at getting out of prison after having been captured?"

"No, sir." Kat replied as she began walking on the edge of what was still a forest. Far enough away from people that they wouldn't overhear, but close enough that a shout would come through. "Not entirely at least. It is still possible that some of the prisoners who used that excuse were under the effects of one of the higher tiers, but at least some of them were the truth. I would advise testing any who claim to suddenly be free of their mind control with unicorn exposure."

"Very well. What have you learned about the different tiers, Agent Alvarado?"

"The 1st tier is Charm. It needs to be reapplied daily, will disappear if the controller dies beforehand, and only gives a minor mind control effect. More akin to hearing someone make what they themselves think is a good suggestion."

"So, a simple one day isolation would suffer here."

"Indeed, sir." Kat agreed, absent-mindedly brushing a branch away from her face as she continued walking. "The 2nd tier is Enthrall and a week-long isolation would work for this one as it needs to be reapplied weekly. Like Charm its effects will likewise disappear if the controller dies before the end of the timeframe. It is stronger than Charm and similar in effect to a group of your best friends telling you to do something stupid. You know you shouldn't do it, you don't really want to do it, but you'll do it anyway, just to please them. But if they ask you to do something completely against your morals, like killing your own family, then you can resist the order."

"Aha," Officer Baxter mumbled thoughtfully in reply.

"3rd tier is Hypnosis. Both the 3rd and 4th tier are permanent unless someone competent manually undoes it, which can potentially be the controller themselves. Otherwise The Dungeon of Karma needs to be involved. Unlike the two lower tiers, the death of the controller doesn't cancel the effects."

"Troubling."

"Indeed, sir. Hypnosis can convince you that the sky is on fire. No one here seems to know if it's powerful enough to make you kill your own family, but from what I garther, it's not quite that powerful."

"That's a relief at least."

"It is, sir. What isn't, is the 4th tier: Brainwash."

"Let me guess," Officer Baxter intercepted. "This one can make you kill your own family?"

"Unfortunately yes, sir. Reportedly there is no way to resist any of its commands. The only way to retain parts of your personality and wants is for the commands to not involve those aspects. Everything else is overwritten in favor of the controller."

"Terrifying. Good thing we're now prepared for them!"

"Yes, sir. And I have some good news to add to this."

"Wonderful, Agent! We could use a bit of good news."

"You have to be at least a 5th tier to use even the weakest of them and an 8th tier to use Brainwash! With insane requirements like this, they can't have all that many cultists actually able to mind control. And most of those will be unable to use the two higher tiers, which are harder to undo."

"Brilliant news! And I take it, most of the prisoners were already freed, mentally that is, upon arrival?"

"Indeed, sir! All but 19 of the 342 prisoners have already been cleared as mentally themselves. Several individuals were angry or displeased that they hadn't been believed, when they informed their guards, back in normal prisons back home, that they had regained their senses after either a day or a week of imprisonment, and instead 'dragged to the middle of nowhere' while unconscious. But at least most people seem to understand the necessity of making sure."

Officer Baxter simply made a grunt to inform her they were still listening.

"What else…? Right. The Dungeon forces words to appear above anyone entering its depths, which correctly depicts each individual's name, species, Class, and level. It does the same for its own monsters, unless they're ambushers. And for the cultists it adds both what type of mind control they're affected by as well as a countdown to when it'll be undone. If that person stays in the Dungeon for the duration, that is."

"So, we know exactly when the last prisoner has they're mind back?" Officer Baxter asked, inviting Kat to tell him the actual number.

"Yes, sir, though I'm not currently in the Dungeon. In about 11 hours, sir. So, sometime in the early morning hours before the sun rises."

"Hmm… You should stay in Karmaria for a couple of days to rest up and such, before escorting the civilians back home. We'll relay the order to the rest, that's not your job. You did a good job, Agent."

"Actually, sir." Kat had now found a clearing, still close enough to potentially hear shouts from Karmaria, and she immediately began pacing it. She knew she had to ask, she knew they couldn't actually stop her, but she didn't want anyone to think she was deserting.

And she also really liked her job and hoped against hope she could somehow keep it. Even if slightly modified.

"Yes, Agent Alvarado?"

"I would prefer it if I could stay here. Surely a place this important needs to be kept an eye on, and I'm already here." Please let that be enough.

"Agent… What is your real motivation for staying?" Officer Baxter questioned. "I don't doubt your dedication to Windin or your belief that Karmaria should be watched. But something tells me there is more to it than that."

At least he sounds open to my suggestion. I might as well be honest then. "My brother was one of them, sir. He was Hypnotized and disappeared all of a sudden. He's my twin! We hadn't truly been apart before. I finally have him back and I refuse to leave him so soon. He intends to stay here to protect the Dungeon against attacks from the cult. So, I would like to stay here with him."

"... Good reason. Request approved. At least for now. I'll have to hear what several others think of this before it's truly approved, but I doubt there'll be any objections."

With that, Kat stopped pacing and let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you, Officer Baxter. Thank you."

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

"My Queen. Shadow here, ready to finish my report on Karmaria." Shadow had used her connection to the Queen to borrow the office of the local dungeon mistress for the report.

Officially at least. And she did indeed do as she had stated she would. No need for the young mistress - she's only 204 and already a dungeon mistress, impressive! - to know Shadow had gone through all her notebooks and paperwork, before making the call to the Queen.

While the notebooks had given great insight into the mind of Mistress Acacia and truly emphasized how unusual The Dungeon of Karma was, for the most part there was nothing new. The young elf had been quite thorough in her report on the Dungeon.

The paperwork had only shown one odd thing, which Shadow intended to point out to her Queen during her report.

"One moment," Queen Enania replied. Shadow knew this meant the Queen was in the middle of something - likely a meeting of some kind - and wanted to politely excuse the other people, so they didn't distract Them during Shadow's report. It couldn't be for secrecy's sake, after all, as only those a part of Shadow's conversations could hear them.

They want to give my report Their full attention.

It is nice to be appreciated!

"Your report, Shadow."

"They speak the truth, Your Majesty. The Dungeon can undo mind control just as they claim." The sound coming from the Queen was that of silent, almost disbelieving relief.

Then the Queen spoke up again, desperately clinging to the good news. "Truly…?"

I've never heard the Queen this emotional…

But after what happened to her Highness…

"Truly, my Queen," Shadow confirmed, using the most comforting voice she could muster.

"Then-" The mother was suddenly gone with the Queen back in her place. "-We'll accept Windin's offer of a unicorn. Just one for now, see how both the unicorn and Our people react to each other. If it goes well, we can see if we'll borrow any more of them, to flush out this despicable cult!" The last sentence ended in an angry shout as the Queen was reminded of the cult and its actions against the crown, forcing Them to take several calming breaths.

"If I may, Your Majesty."

"Always, Shadow."

"Mistress Acacia mentioned that unicorns aren't the only option for a cult-detecting animal and the Windin representative here reluctantly agreed. Unicorns are simply the prefered one in Windin. The young mistress even demonstrated it by leading a… friend's bonded kirin to the prisoners before they were freed. It reacted with sudden aggression where before there was none, just as the unicorns reportedly do."

"Oh? Unfortunately, kirins aren't the easiest creature to find."

"Mistress Acacia gave me a list of animals with the same ability. None are particularly common, but combined there'll be enough to force the cult out of hiding."

"Wonderful! And how did Mistress Acacia hear of these beasts, when the Palace hadn't?"

Shadow had to hold in a snort at that.

She had asked the same thing!

"When I asked the very same question, Mistress Acacia replied, and I quote, 'this is my Dungeon's specialty', end quote. So, presumably she learned about them through monster descriptions given to her by the holy System as a dungeon mistress."

"Very well." The Queen paused a bit in thought and Shadow waited respectfully. "We still desire to learn more about this newly discovered ability of the unicorns, even if it's not entirely unique to them. And well… We may have realized… In Our anger over Our mother's death, We have never actually met a unicorn. And perhaps it's time to rectify that."

"Yes, my Queen."

"And this friend of hers? The one with the kirin? You didn't seem too pleased with them," Queen Enania asked, the topic and mood changed at once.

Of course she would notice.

Not that I really tried to hide it.

Well… It's as good a segue as any.

"According to paperwork signed by Mistress Acacia, the local Sheriff, Dakath Fraxinus, and the local High Priest, Travaran Ginkgo: Karmaria created a ban on what they refer to as 'beastkin slavery' a couple of months ago. The High Priest was involved as reportedly the 'System blessed Dungeon of Karma' was the one to point the 'heresy' out to them." Disbelief, confusion, and hints of disgust was clear in Shadow's voice as she spoke, at times reading the wording straight from the paper in front of her.

"They did? How odd…" Queen Enania began humming thoughtfully, clearly not as disgusted and disbelieving as Shadow. "Have Mistress Acacia give Us a full report, and We mean full, sparing no details, on everything which happened to have this ban come to pass. Specifically why and how they reached this conclusion."

Shadow blinked confusedly at her Queen's sudden passion. "Yes, my Queen! At once! But… May I ask-"

Queen Enania interrupted before she could finish, having guessed what she was about to say. "They have been right about everything else, so far! As a System sworn Queen it is Our duty to investigate a reliable claim like this!"

Oh… Understanding hit her. "Yes, my Queen!"

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Did they split up the prisoners and sent them in groups?

Or maybe more cultists were discovered afterward?

Either way, I should probably report this to my 'mistress'.

…

Sorry, girl. But I'm gonna have to interrupt your make out session!

…

At least I think that's what the sounds are…