Dungeon of Niflheim

It was a lot of information, far more than just a few days’ worth, Bastion and Ryuu admitted that they had been keeping an eye on some of Adam’s activities either by themselves or through connections for the past few months. Since one was involved in administration and the other was head of the local adventurers guild, they noticed the changes in the territory earlier on. In fact, the merchant guild head Sebastian helped provide a large chunk of the information as he had noticed the issues on the financial side far earlier but didn’t think much of it until Bastion and Ryuu reported problems in other areas.

“Strength wise we should hold the advantage, in quality but not numbers.” At some point a large map of Furano was placed on top of one of the tables and chess pieces were being used to identify personal layouts. Leo was in charge of describing.

“Uncle Ryuu and uncle Bastion are both former B-ranks and will be in charge of the assault.” Leo then pointed to Adam’s manor on the map.

“Adam has most likely got an elite team of bodyguards and from our knowledge one of them is equivalent to a B-rank mage.” Leo looked towards Ryuu as he spoke.

“I’ll handle the mage little Leo.” Ryuu spoke with confidence, unlike with close combat professions being older doesn’t really limit your strength as a mage in fact older mages tend to be faster at casting magic given their experience.

“Good, now for the rest of the group there should be a couple high level C-rank close combat experts supporting the mage, Uncle Bastion I’ll leave them to you.”

.....

“Got it,” Bastion struck his chest with his fist saying leave it to me.

“For the rest, the strongest should be D-rank with the majority being at the same level as gang thugs. I’ll leave that to the adventurers you managed to rope in uncle.” Bastion had managed to request aid from around a dozen or so seasoned adventurers mainly all D-rank but with a couple being C.

“Luna and I will also help deal with the low level goons; Frost I hope you can assist us with that.” Leo and Luna needed some form of protection if they were going to take part and Frost would be perfect for that.

“Understood,” Frost was a little disappointed that he’d be dealing with small fry but if he killed enough it’d turn into a substantial amount of DP.

“The two gate guards will relocate to outside of Father’s bedroom where Maya and mother will be staying for the meantime.” Leo looked over at Maya still unable to truly believe in her strength.

Maya simply smiled his way as she spoke “you can count on me Leo; I’ll make sure no one can harm your mother and Father.” Douglas patted his son’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring nod.

“Ok I’ll trust you with that then.” Leo then circled certain areas of the map.

“Adam has multiple escape routes built into his manor which lead to out into these three buildings. Hopefully, he won’t try to escape when he realises, I’m involved in the attack but if he does, we’ve already come to an agreement with some of the more negotiable gangs. They will destroy the exits shortly after the attack begins, boxing him in.” Leo frowned as he mentioned the underworld gangs. He aimed to become the lord of the territory and the underworld was something to be removed yet he was requesting their aid. He even had to agree to some promises making it near impossible for him to uproot them in the near future. He felt like a hypocrite, but he didn’t have any other choice, his uncle must be excised. The most he could do was choose the less unsavoury of the bunch and drive a hard bargain.

“We’ll attack from all directions to limit the number of escapees, and once we make it to the heart of the manor, the most fortified area, where Adam is supposed to be. We’ll take him down, he won’t get a trial or banishment, we will interrogate and execute.” Leo slammed his fist onto the table as clenched his teeth. Leo planned to kill his uncle himself, he wouldn’t place this burden or crime upon anyone else. Unfortunately, even with all their information and even knowledge given by Douglas they couldn’t accurately figure out Adam’s strength. He never became an adventurer and always used others to do his bidding, so his personal abilities were unknown. Most nobles knew a small amount of martial arts and or some basic protective magic, equivalent to E-rank adventurers in strength. Leo hoped this was the case for Adam since any stronger and he wouldn’t be able to take him down himself.

“Frost-senpai, you, Luna and I will deal with Adam, while Ryuu and Bastion deal with the elite bodyguards.” In the case Adam was stronger than himself, Frost would fight him.

Frost smiled wickedly; his instincts were telling him that he’d need to be the one fighting. Would an ambitious noble such as Adam with the bloodline of the Furano’s known for guarding one of the most inhospitable territories really be weak... not a chance. He patted the cloth bound item hidden in his sleeve.

‘It doesn’t matter if he’s strong or not, he’ll suffer regardless.’

“The operation will begin after the sun sets tonight, until then we will act as per normal. Uncle Ryuu will continue acting as an administrator, uncle Bastion will perform his work as guild master as per usual and Luna and I will guide Frost-senpai and Maya around Furano as promised.” Leo smiled as he looked at Frost, he promised back when they separated outside the monster lair that he’d give him a tour of Furano. They needed to act normal in order to not arouse suspicion, repaying his saviour with a tour around his territory couldn’t be more normal.

“Only mother and father will be acting slightly differently.” Leo looked towards his father.

“Don’t worry son, I may be old and sick but I’m still the viscount, cleaning my own house is still within my abilities.” Douglas thumped his chest lightly causing him to cough.

“You’ll do no such thing you old brute! You’ll lie down in your bed and not move a muscle; I’ll do the cleaning.” Cassandra glared at her coughing husband and harshly admonished him. She couldn’t have this useless old man up and about less he keels over; she wasn’t ready to lose him yet.

Douglas felt all his bravado and his fatherly impressions being quashed. He looked at his wife meekly unable to argue.

“Yes dear,” his deflated appearance caused everyone to laugh out loud. The great an honourable viscount Douglas, nothing but a kitten in front of his wife. Only Leo shivered slightly at his mother’s actions, he too knew of her authority within the house. When he was younger and misbehaved it wasn’t his father that punished him but his mother.

He turned to his future bride to be, Luna who was staring at his mother in admiration. He gulped recognising the similarities between the two.

With the plans in place and everyone aware of their tasks the group split up. Ryuu returning to his office within the manor, Bastion heading back to adventurer’s guild (taking a different carriage) and Lady Cassandra preparing to clean house. The rest of the group well they needed to go on a tour.

“We’ll take the same carriage as the one we arrived in.” Leo announced as he called for one of the servants to bring out their carriage and arrange for a certain driver.

A moment later the group were once again within the luxurious carriage, the driver arranged was one of the few people Leo trusted, a young servant by the name of Edwin.

Meanwhile from the window of the Lord’s bedroom Lady Cassandra watched her son and his friends leave in the carriage. She smiled happily as they drove off but once the carriage was out of sight her expression became cold and harsh. Douglas who was lying in bed nearby couldn’t help but shiver.

‘She’s going to turn this house into a shit show.’ He sighed deeply before shaking his head and pretending not to know anything, there wasn’t anything he could do anyway but sit and watch. Besides a shit show was what was needed.

His wife Cassandra approved of her husband playing the fool and not getting involved, she sent a smile his way that sent shivers down his spine before calling out to one of the guards at the door.

“Summon the head butler at once!” She’d start with the worst of the bunch, then make her way through the rest. An evil smile adorned her lips as she waited in anticipation. She was going to enjoy this; she hadn’t let loose in a while. Maya wasn’t the only woman the head butler had perversely ogled; she too had felt his disgusting gaze from time to time. It was time to get some revenge.

Within the luxurious carriage, Frost and the rest were truly acting normally as if their earlier secret meeting never happened. Leo asked the driver to bring the carriage to the central section of the town first.

“Furano is split into Five different sections, north, south, east, west and finally the central zone.” Leo began describing the layout of Furano with Luna occasionally chiming in.

“The north zone faces the Northrend forest and contains mainly things related to adventurers such as inns, bars and a few stores. It also contains several workshops for smithing, tanneries etc... it could also be considered the manufacturing district. On the opposite side is the south zone which holds the lord’s mansion as well as the residential district of the populace, there’s also a few inns and grocery stores.” Adam’s manor was also in this district but closer to the southern gate whereas the lord’s manor was near the central zone.

“The western zone is the shopping district holding pretty much every shop you can imagine; the merchant guild is also located there. To the east is another residential district albeit less well made as well as a few of the less skilled workshops.” Leo had awkward look on his face as he tried to explain the east zone situation. Luna however didn’t.

“It’s the slum district as well as the red light district with a few shops and workshops dotted about.” Luna spoke without a hint of embarrassment causing Leo to sigh. The zone was split up fairly well so as the odour and uncleanliness of the slums didn’t interfere with the red light district in anyway. Closer to having two zones instead of one, southeast for the red light district and northeast for the slums and workshops.

At the mention of the red light district, Frost couldn’t help but raise his brow in instinctual curiosity. This was met with a frosty gaze from his partner sitting by his side quickly dousing his interest.

‘I’d be a dead dungeon core if I went there.’ He gave Maya a reassuring smile, trying to appear innocent even though his face was still partially obscured by his mask.

“Cough cough” Leo released a few coughs to get back on topic.

“Finally, we have the central zone where we’re heading now. The central zone is known as the government district, as it contains administration buildings, banks, the adventurer’s guild as well as an embassy for foreign visitors. It’s the brain of Furano which manages the other zones.” Leo spoke with pride about the central zone, during his father’s reign-excluding the past two years- the government district had grown to a great degree, more and more people were becoming educated and taking part in assisting in the towns management from welfare to imports and exports.

‘With strong and stable leadership comes a strong and steady territory.’ Douglas would say that phrase to Leo from time to time before explaining how one man or one family could not effectively control such a large area. To be a great lord one must be able to delegate tasks otherwise the territory would never grow. His father’s words repeated themselves in his mind as the carriage passed one of the most important administrative buildings in town. The Furano council building.