After agreeing to the final tract that Princess Orchid presehe actual traatio mostly smoothly. Mordecai and Kazue could feel a slight hesitation in the magic as it started to form around Bellona, but when Mordecai focused on the agreed-upon dition of the tract, whatever rules goverhe traagic seemed satisfied, settling into pce. He still wasn’t sure if simir ditions could work with another dungeon’s tractor, but it coped with the Mark well enough.

  He and Kazue had a job for her to deal with very shortly after the tract was plete. They’d actually been putting it off for a couple of hours, looking to get into the habit of delegating some tasks. “So, a first job for you. One of the parties on the bat route is clearly not from around here. While harvesting materials from the bodies left behind by inhabitants is to be expected, we insist on a certain amount of respect, and this group isn’t behaving well.” As he spoke, Mordecai led Bellona out of the war room and to where the entrao the shortcuts were clustered at the edge of the main hall.

  “They are in zone three right now, so they will be hitting the library soon,” Kazue said over the tractor’s link, which worked much the same as their link with inhabitants but more stripped back: only formuted thoughts could be sent iructure of nguage; images aions could not be directly sent.

  “What we want you to do is vihem to behave properly. Your methodology is up to you, but Kazue has something to tell you first.” This knowledge he wao keep pletely secret.

  “Not even the princess knows this, so super hush, and we’re pretty certain she’d agree that she shouldn’t know if she doesn’t o. Anyway, with our test zone, we gained a limited ability to intervene in the death of a guest, but we don’t want to let people be too pt yet, or think we’re too soft. So if you really have to, you be risky, but we’ll have to create excuses if anyone dies. These guys are weak enough that we intervene easily, but just so you know, it would be an effort to do the same for you if you weren’t a tractor. And risky with someone as strong as any of the people with the princess. They are all about her strength, though Xarlug feels like he’s gging a touch, while your cousin feels a touch strohan Orchid or Paltira. Guess that’s why she’s been training him so much?”

  Bellona frowned and took a moment to focus her thoughts to ‘speak’ purely mentally, “Wait, you prevent people from dying, or you resurrect them? I’m not clear on which you are saying.”

  “It’s kind of both,” Mordecai replied, “If a wound is absolutely fatal, but they aren’t dead yet, we instigate an instant heal right at the cusp. If something brings them over the threshold immediately, then it’s an instant resurre in a safe location,” he hesitated a moment, partly because he wasn’t sure if Kazue was aware of this part, “We also choose to not intervene in a fatal wound, and wait for them to die in order to resurrect them in a safe space,” and to preempt a predictable question, “Also, if someone or something is hostile enough, we remove that prote altogether.”

  “Like the wolf,” Bellona said, “Hmm, what is meant by a ‘safe space’?”

  “If we were being open about the power, it would usually be the entrao the dungeon. But something like our prison will suffice, provided that they will not be endangered before they leave. We have to be careful about how we use it; all dungeons develop sets of abilities as they grow, but this is the only one I know of with the potential to be lost. And from examining the patterns of it, I think it would malform into a useless tangle, rather than unraveling and freeing up the potential to develop a different ability.”

  “So, it’s a useful safety , but es with requirements and bees a burden if you fail to live up to what it requires of you. I see wanting to keep it as a hidden resource if you don’t o use it,” Bellona waved off her thoughts to refocus on her given task, “Alright, show me the way and I’ll see what I do about this lot. What do I have in the way of other resources?”

  “Um,” Kazue said thoughtfully, “Well, ying fair, so they are getting only a standard challenge for the zone, but if they actually attack you when you are ag on our behalf this way, and not as part of their challehat ts the same as attag us. So if that happens, then other inhabitants on the floor will gang up on them, and Mordecai always head over there too.”

  Bellona was satisfied with that and followed the shortcut to be in position to intercept them at the boss room. Which gave Mordecai the opportunity to focus on Princess Orchid, he wao talk to her alone for a moment. She ceded to his request easily enough, though with several curious looks from the others. Thankfully, Mordecai had kept his offitact despite little o use it. A brief sideration of where to lead the beautiful kitsune had made him realize there were some bad options, even if there was no bad i. Optics are important for others, and additionally, Kazue had no idea what he to, so her curiosity was focused on him right now.

  Ohey were alone in his offid she’d taken a seat, Mordecai moved straight into the topic he wao ask about, “So, as you should already be aware, dungeons read a person’s aura, it's part of our awareness of our territory. There is skill and experien interpreting auras, however, and there’s something I’ve been aware of sihe three of you entered our territory. At the time I sidered it none of our business, so I haven’t mentio to Kazue or Moriko yet. But if Xarlug and Bellona are w toward the start of a retionship, I think it bees our business, given that she’s our tractor and loyalty o be a mutual thing,” He shrugged slightly, “On the surface, I have no objes to them w out whatever, but there are some secrets that might be damaging to a retionship. I’d like to be sure there’s nothing she o know.”

  Orchid sidered him for a long moment with her lips pursed, sidering her reply, “I will tell you the most basic parts, which should suffice. If things progress enough, I will be tellihe eory myself, but I think it is best to not influence her thoughts right now. In short, Xarlug is a new-soul e of a dangerous person, with impnted memories. He’s boo me for his own safety as well as for others, because of modifications that would otherwise make him vulnerable to external trol of a more malign nature. I believe that this should be transferable, given that things progress enough with the two of them, though I admit I wouldn’t mind some help w out the ritual. And I would in fact be quite happy to release us both from the bond, there are certain aspects that make both of us unfortable at times given the ck of a retionship. This particur bond is not designed for non-intimate panions.”

  That didn’t tell him quite enough to satisfy all of his curiosity, but it was enough to assuage his s, and he now expio both Kazue and Moriko, “They have a bond that has marks suggesting intimacy, but it also appears to be strained, which is reinforced by her final ent there, they are not being intimate. She has a simir bond with Paltira, but that one is stronger and has more reinfort. I didn’t feel it was my pce to say anything, but now it potentially affects us.”

  To the princess, he said, “Thank you. I admit to more curiosity, but that suffices to reassure me that Bellona is not at risk of getting caught up in something that could create a flict of i. I think she would avoid Xarlug if she thought he was involved with you, and I o be sure I uood the situation.”

  Orchid smiled slightly, “And thank you for your discretion. Mm,” She bit her lip before tinuing, “To be clear about something, in case there was any fusion from the point I made when Bellona arrived. While I absolutely will use myself in any way o forward the is of Kuic, what makes me happy is being with Paltira alone. I have mahat for quite a while now, and I do io keep it that way. Xarlug has bee a much more det person than the man whose name and memories he shares, and I would be gd to see him happily attached to someone else. Holy, I thought that Kansif and he might hit it off, but she has taken a rather big-sister attitude toward him.”

  After she’d departed, Mordecai checked on Bellona briefly before fog on Kazue’s and Moriko’s questions. Kazue was satisfied the quickest as he could show her the markers on the auras that he’d been talking about, but they had to be vaguely described to Moriko, sihe effects didn’t transte exactly to normal vision descriptions. They both uood the reason he’d not said anything, and agreed with it, but o talk about it to get over that initial emotional rea to having a ‘secret’ kept from them. He’d had simir experiences from their side before, so he uood where they were ing from.

  As for their new tractor, Bellona was doing quite well. She was being stern, and just a toutimidating, but also very calm as she gave her warning and short lecture. He wouldn’t have thought to focus on reminding them that this was a unique culture and civilization, and about Amirume’s expectations that oreat all other persons with due respect. His approach would have been focused on the rules they’d agreed to by entering the dungeon, and his willio extract a price from oath breakers.

  But that was why people with different skills and points of view made for a stroeam, and he was happy to have her aboard.

  And the day he went out with her to the trading post town to introduce her, and spread the word that the Azeria Mountain Dungeon had a new tractor, who was a champion of Amirume and a liaison from Kuic. It helped improve their reputation, and would probably keep away a lot of those people the dungeon didn’t want to deal with anyway.

  Still, even with Bellona helping to take care of some of the social things to keep the dungeon running smoothly, Mordecai was feeling busy. There were stant tweaks to be doo their massive wetnds floor as everythiled in, including the introdu of the winged ursavianes as retively minor threats until they got bigger.

  It was a couple of days after Bellona became their tractor that the dungeo a weighty presence approag. “What is that?” Kazue practically shouted into Mordecai’s mind, “Okay, scratch that, it’s a who, but wow, that’s got to be the tallest person I’ve ever seen. And I thought Bellona was tall!”

  This wasn’t the extreme pressure they’d felt when the divine avatars had arrived on their first day together, but it was just as intense as Aia’s or Traxalim’s, if not more so. But it was far more obvious, just because the person to whom it belonged was far more careless with his presence.

  “Oh, what in the frozen hells is he doing here?” Mordecai muttered, “And oor soul has he dragged into a mess this time?”

  Zagaroth