Dungeon Builder's Harem Book 01 Ch. 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

Usiku opened the door to the cell for me. Halia sprang up from her bed like a wary animal, her braided, black hair flowing behind her like an animal tail. She stared at me with wary fear in her eyes that made me wince.

I wasn't a monster. How to show her that?

"Just bringing you dinner," I said, holding up one of the wooden bowels in my hand. The stew in there steamed. "Lana cooked it, so it's pretty decent."

Halia stared at it as I held it out for her. Behind me, Usiku dragged in a chair and then left, closing the door leaving me alone with Halia. The warrior stared at the food then the door. She looked hesitant. She wore the clothes we'd given her. It wasn't the sexy garb of a badass warrior chick, but a pair of tight-fitting, leather pants and a low-cut blouse.

She took the bowel from me and retreated to her bed. She sat down on it cross-legged. I grinned at her and sank down on the chair. It was wood and hard beneath my ass. This world didn't believe much in padding. I supposed if you never had it, you got used to being without it.

I spooned up some of the stew with the pewter utensil. The dried meat had softened in the stew and picked up the flavors of the spices. I chewed on it, groaning. It was rather good compared to some of the food.

"What do you want from me?" Halia asked after she had taken a few bites of the stew. She stared at me with her intense, blue eyes.

"I want to convince you I'm not evil," I said. "I don't want adventurers attacking me all the time."

"Because you know that we'll kill you?" she hissed.

"Because I don't want to kill you!" I stirred my stew around. "You know, people deserve to live. I'm not harming you, so why are you harming me?"

"Because this dungeon is a festering rot on this world," she said, heat in her voice. "You are bleeding out the very life-blood of this world and making abominations with it."

"Abominations?" I asked. "My will o' wisps and wildhounds are not abominations. They're cute monster girls."

"Dangerous fiends that will spill out of here to assert your authority. You'll be demanding trade. Tariffs. You dungeon builders always do."

"Always?" I asked. I took a bite of my stew. "There's never been one who didn't pose a threat?"

She stared hard at me. "Never!"

"Because they attacked you first, or they were just minding their business when adventurers started breaking into their domain to kill them and loot their strongholds?"

"We have every right to defend ourselves!" She glared daggers at me. "You are attacking my village!"

"I have never attacked Astovin," I growled. "I have never done anything to anyone in this world, and yet adventurers have found my dungeon and attack me. Like you. Why did you and your companions march into my dungeon?"

"To defend Astovin!"

"You said it's under attack by oozes and satyrs. Did you see any of those here?"

"That's..." She frowned. "That's not the point. You are a threat. You'll enslave Astovin if you're not stopped."

"You don't know that. You can't possibly know what I'm going to do. You're judging me on crimes I haven't committed. Have no plans on committing."

"You will!"

"At first you said that you're doing it to defend Astovin from a current threat," I said, "to justify attacking me. But now it's a preemptive attack because I might attack you. That's moving the goalposts."

"What?"

"Where you keep changing your goals when you don't like the information you're getting. It's something people do to justify their actions as righteous even when they're being proved to be the opposite. You attacked a peaceful community. My monster girls have never raided Astovin. I've been to your village with Lana. Where do you think I bought the meat in the stew you're eating?"

She stared down at it in shock.

"I heard about the dungeon builder that's causing problems." My jaw set. "He's giving my kind a bad name. He acts just as arrogantly as you adventurers."

"Arrogant!" she gasped. "Do not compare me to a dungeon builder! I'm nothing like them!"

"Oh, you didn't break into my home for the express purpose of harming me?" I asked. "You came here to do violence even after I disabled all my defenses, held back my monster girls, and tried to talk to you. Would you even parley with me? No, you just attacked. You attempted to enforce your will on me with violence. Just like that dungeon builder--"

"I'm nothing like you filthy dungeon builders!" she snarled and threw the bowl at me.

It hit my chest and splashed stew across my robe. I felt it soaking me. The bowl fell to the ground and clattered there. She bolted to her feet, staring at me, her arms shaking with rage. I stood up to face her, not wanting to show weakness.

"Are you certain you're not like a dungeon builder? You use violence to get what you want. You have no regard for another's land, but trespass to take what you desire by force. You attack the innocent and think you're justified. That you have the right to do it." I wiped stew off the front of my robe. "I'll have Usiku bring you another bowl."

"I'm not hungry," she hissed and whirled away from me. She laid down on her bed with her back to me.

"Okay," I said. "Sulk like a child."

"Child?" she glared at me.

I looked down at the bowl. "You didn't just throw a fit because you didn't like the truth?" I shrugged. "Seems like a child to me."

I turned for the door when she snarled, "Why are you holding me? Is this a sick game? Are you torturing me?"

"I'm holding you because I hope to convince you I'm not evil. You're a prisoner because you attacked my home. I think that deserves some amount of punishment. It's what happens to criminals."

"I'm not a criminal!"

"Breaking and entering. Assault. Attempted murder." I reached the door. Usiku opened it. I looked over my shoulder at her. "Seems pretty criminal to me."

She screeched at me as I stepped through the door. Usiku closed it behind me. She stared at my robe and what was dripping off of it. "I don't think you are very good at this, Lord Leo."

"Yeah, you're right," I said and winced and rubbed at where the bowl hit me. "That hurt. She throws hard."

"She's a warrior. You're lucky she didn't try to strangle you."

"I have my magic." I smiled at her. "And you were watching my back."

That brought a smile to my fomorian. She glanced down at the bars in the cell. I looked, also. Halia was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling. She had her arms folded before her. She was muttering.

"I shook her up," I said. "She sees herself as righteous. That she has every right to attack me."

"From what I've seen of other dungeon builders, she may have a point."

I sighed. "We have to change that, or we'll never have any peace. We'll never figure out why I was brought here. What possible reason I was given this power. It couldn't just be so I could be an asshole sending my monster girls to attack peaceful towns, or so that adventurers could break into my domain and kill me."

"Unless you're the whetstone."

I frowned at Usiku.

"You know, what you sharpen a sword with. Someone's honing adventurers on dungeon builders. Weeding out the bad ones, improving the good ones. They move from dungeon to dungeon, fighting the ones who have been growing stronger and stronger."

"Yeah, but it sounds like this has been going on for hundreds of years. If not longer."

Usiku shrugged again. "It feels like it's over my pay grade."

"Yeah. It does feel that way."

I headed to finish my supper with the others. Garnet laughed, of course, at my stained robes. Lana just shook her head and helped me out of the stained clothes. There had to be a way to reach through to Halia.

She would prove useful.

I stirred my spoon around in my bowl. Thinking. How could I get her on my side? I would have to show her my intentions. Prove to her that I wasn't a threat. There was one way I could do that. One way I could show her the truth of my actions.

"We should go to Astovin tomorrow," I said. "We're running low on food again."

"Ooh, road trip!" Garnet said, her wings fluttering. "I need a new outfit. I'm thinking leather straps that cross my torso and just hide my nipples. And a thong. I need a thong to wear. Then I can go sauntering around looking all sexy but not showing off all the goods, big bro." My succubus grinned at me. "Doesn't that sound hot?"

"Straps?" Lana asked, arching her eyebrow. "That sounds like the most impractical garb in the world."

"It would be so hot!" Garnet leaned back, her crimson eyes flashing bright. "Kweh, heh, heh, I would look like a sexy villainess in an anime. Ooh, yes, yes, just wearing next to nothing and then threatening everyone."

"We're not villains," I growled.

Garnet flinched. Her wings drooped. "I was just having fun," she muttered. "I didn't mean I would be a villainess."

I sighed. I took my succubus's hand. "Sorry. I'm just annoyed. I don't want these adventurers attacking my dungeon. But the word's gotten out. They'll be more coming all the time. It won't ever stop, will it? Not unless I can show Astovin and the adventurers that I'm not a threat to them."

"Any ideas?" my little sister asked.

"Yeah, a few," I said. "All dangerous."