Chapter 44: Are Wolves Friendly or Not?

Back at the Silver Wheel Investment Company, Irie was sitting in a meeting with several of the higher ups in the company who were in charge of general matters of the branch in this dungeon city.

Of the general managers, there were three women and two men, each nearly twice Irie's age. She wouldn't have even been able to sit in on this meeting unless Styx directed her in doing reconnaissance on one of the managers and getting blackmail material on them.

While her actions were technically illegal and could be reported to the local law enforcers, her demands were harsh but not career ending for the manager. Not to mention, the punishment for such a violation was relatively light, while if the evidence of him attending an illegal brothel to have relations with girls who had yet to reach adulthood.

Styx was surprised to find out the age in this world wasn't just low, but also varied.

All humans and other exotic species were not born at <Lv. 1>, but were instead born at <Lv. 0>. They remained at this level throughout their growth period, and couldn't gain experience nor skills. It was how they trained, their experiences, and lifestyle during this period which determined their initial class.

All species developed at roughly the same speed, even those with longer lifespans due to longevity. Everyone was determined to be an adult in the law as soon as they became <Lv. 1>, which could vary anywhere between when they were 14 years old all the way to 17 and was determined by the individuals body.

There were specialised schools and training regimes directly target at people who were still classified as children. They would help them achieve certain initial classes, holding a success ratio above 90 percent.

As unfortunate as it was, the exploitation of underage boys and girls continued to exist as long as there were men and women with illicit sexual desires. The law allowed leeway for instances such as both partners were 16, or similar in age, whilst one was technically still a child, but it was as rigid as iron outside of that.

For the manager of the company to be having sexual relations with a girl who was still classified as a child, not only was it heavily frowned upon by general society, but an extremely long prison sentence is the smallest punishment he would face if it were revealed.

Said manager was currently the Irie's backer and forced to aid her in climbing the ranks in the company.

"Miss Naeckle," One of the manager's addressed Irie by her formal surname with a stern expression. "Be aware that you are currently here on privilege, and that your failure in the dungeon is a blemish on your record."

"Mr. Adar, that failure was created by Kalvin, who has unfortunately passed away in the dungeon as a direct result of that failing. Not only have I secured valuable information on the monsters existing within the dungeon, but have saved half of the adventurers and earned their favor as well."

"Gold will earn any adventurer's favor!" The general manager snorted in disdain.

"Regardless, I have handled the situation. You on the other hand, have cost the company money with more than one of your decisions. Perhaps we should go over those?"

Another branch manager, an older lady slapped her hand on the table in annoyance.

"Enough! We are here to discuss the future decisions of the company, and how to proceed with the dungeon, not to bicker and attack one another!"

"Agreed," Irie's backer attached his opinion to the prior manager.

"So, what are we going to do about this dungeon? What will it cost?"

"I was there personally and witnessed the monsters. They are powerful, very powerful. Not to mention there is also a swarm of blood crystal bees. In order to conquer the dungeon, we would have to employ a full raid team of at least Second Step rankers."

"Impossible, the core will cost us more to acquire than the damn flawed thing will sell for! Nobody wants such a faulty core."

"I have another solution," Irie understood the company's reluctance to invest more money into the issue, which she supported as Styx wanted all of the company's resources rather than just more experience.

"Oh? What would that be?"

"There are still a lot of flies hanging around, looking to get information and a piece of the pie. We will sell them that action and recoup our losses."

One of the middle-aged female managers pinched her brow in thought before carefully responding, "That would also be as well as us giving up on it entirely."

"It is a necessity. The projected cost is currently far outweighing the return," Irie explained as if it was a matter of fact. "Not to mention, it doesn't entirely mean giving up."

"How so?"

"Indeed, please explain this plan of yours. You do have a plan, right? Not just some vague idea?"

Ignoring the snide words that were directed at her, the youngest member present, she shuffled a pre prepared stack of paper.

"I recently brought in a racoon beastman who is quite good at information gathering, which is what I have formulated this around."

"Many competitors and other companies are aware that we are currently chasing down a dungeon to try secure the core, but they don't know where it is. We will announce the existence of the dungeon, which is becoming less and less of a secret every day, while reaching out to others to sell valuable information on the dungeon."

"What information? Even we don't have a great deal of it on the dungeon. It's all speculation."

Irie snorted at the man who made that statement.

"Since when is it speculation? If we tell them it is fact, then fact it is. It is a dungeon which contains secrets on the magitech of demons, contains a limited amount of powerful monsters, and lots of booby traps, the most common being spike traps, pitfalls at the entrance, and poison gas. The dungeon core itself has three flaws."

Several of the managers clued on by this point and began nodding their heads in agreement.

"We need them to believe there is enough incentive to pursue the dungeon core, while also not investing too much. We will make back our investment, and while they thin out the dungeon's monsters, can also sweep in and take all the rewards."

"That is all well and fine," The manager who was her largest critique begrudgingly added, "but what is the guarantee we will profit. There is no guarantee that other companies will acquire the dungeon core before we can strike from behind."

"So what if they do? We have already made our investment back and some, and we know how flawed the dungeon core is more so than others."

Another branch manager agreed with her before also bringing up an important point.

"However, if we can assess the core's value and its flaws, so can they."

"They would have already purchased the information by that point, and nobody who has purchased the information is going to freely give it out. At least, not as long as we manage it well."

"I take it you are going to spearhead this?" Irie's backer, the sleezy old manager, asked with a sneer.

"Naturally, I have already put the word out that we are selling the information."

"You step above your authority!"

It was Irie's turn to sneer back at the other managers, "And it is me who will earn money for the company, recouping our losses so far. Try arguing that one to the board members and see whom they favor."

Further heated discussion ensued but the meeting eventually, and inevitably, fell into Irie's favor. Her plan was forced to be greenlit as she had pre-emptively put it into motion and they couldn't retract information they had already given. It had worsened several manager's opinions of Irie, but they couldn't do anything to her unless her actions cost the company, which they didn't look like they would.

As Irie was leaving the meeting, she uncharacteristically yelped and dropped her paperwork before hurrying off to a private spot in the building before entering and enraged tirade with Styx over shouting in her mind at inappropriate times.

~~~~~

⠀

The moment the wolf-eared woman entered the dungeon, Styx was struck by an immediate sense of fatal danger.

His conversation with Irie was cut off abruptly and all his attention focused on the new woman he had thought was a new 'minion'.

Therina looked around the dungeon as she saw Styx's mana tendrils extending out from the ceiling as his attention was increasingly focused on this area.

The wolf-eared woman also seemed to be able to see mana as she stopped walking and looked up at the movements. She watched them briefly before going back to investigating the dungeon.

Therina stopped and waved the dark elves to take the near catatonic Theo to his room before nervously addressing the woman in the more guttural human tongue.

"Why are you here?"

Just then, Styx's voice shouted in her mind, "What the hell kind of question is that!? It's bland, boring, and… she's dangerous. What if she was here to destroy everything? You have now essentially directed her to start?!"

"Then what am I supposed to ask?!" Therina complained back after being affronted.

"Ask if she wants to live here. Tell her I can make her feel… ahem, never mind, I got a little distracted. You just need to avoid giving her a reason to explain why she is here."

Therina felt as if that attraction was a little off point, but even the first part was a big warning sign.

"What do you mean if she wants to live her? She is clearly dangerous, extremely dangerous."

Almost as if by queue, the wolf-eared woman who was a moment ago delicately running her hands over the carvings in the stone, had appeared directly behind Therina.

"What do you mean?" She asked in perfect elvish. "Do you want me to live here?"

Her voice was like a spring windchime. It held an ethereal beauty to it which made Styx instantly enamored with strange, yet dangerous, woman.

"Hurry up, quickly answer her, I want to hear her talk some more."

"Apologies," Therina politely addressed the woman, "Styx, the dungeon, is currently talking to me in my head, making it hard to hold two conversations. He is currently rambling, and I ask you not to be offended."

"Why would I be offended?"

"That is… because Styx can sometimes do or say… offensive things… So I can only ask you to be forgiving toward him."

"I object!!" The voice shouted in her mind. "I have never been offensive toward you! How could you accuse me as such?"

"The dungeon is… alive?"

"…Aren't all dungeons?"

"Not like that?" The wolf-eared woman sniffed Therina before looking at her stomach which was starting to swell. "You are pregnant… with a monster."

Therina blushed with a faint smile climbing onto her face, one hand rubbing her stomach, "I am."

Either the wolf-eared woman was didn't understand the meaning behind being pregnant with a monster, held her own set of values, or perhaps both. She merely nodded in response and moved on to investigating everything again.

"Styx asked… if you want to live here… Do you?"

The wolfgirl stopped and thought about it before nodding her head.

"Okay."

"…Just like that?" Such a simple and direct acceptance left Therina feeling at a loss of words. She was having trouble understanding the woman's thought process, just as much as she found Styx incomprehensible at times.

'Perhaps they think alike?' she thought to herself in her mind.

"Like what?" The wolfgirl asked in confusion and earning a sight of Therina facepalming.

"She agreed! Haha, excellent, now she won't be a homewrecker!"

"How the hell did you come to that conclusion?!" Therina shouted as she felt her sanity start to collapse.

"Why would someone destroy the place they recognize as their home? It's very simple."

Determined to find some rationality to what was happening right now, Therina turned back to the wolf-eared woman and asked, "Pardon my rudeness for asking again, but, why are you here?"

"Bored."

"What?"

"Bored. It seemed interesting here, so I came to have a look."

"And you agreed to live here so simply… because…"

"It seemed interesting. Why else?"

"Sigh, do you have a name?"

"No."

"Eh? What? You don't have a name?"

"No."

"If you don't have a name, what should I call you?"

"The same as the others."

Styx interrupted their conversation and stated, "If she doesn't have a name, we just need to give her one!"

"What do other's call you?"

"Wolf."

"Let me show you to a room… Wolf."

Styx could still fear a deadly danger from the woman, but it was a feeling which was being overridden by his desire to possess her at a rapid pace.