Chapter 74: When One Comes, They All Come

Duchess Euklid was a tall woman with high set brows. Her pitch black hair sat completely straight down her back like finely woven silk threads.

She entered Lagoon Porter City to a wide welcoming procession and the main road cleared all the way up to the central giant mansion that Duke Ashburn called home. Outside the giant front doors, both Duke and Duchess Ashburn were waiting for Duchess Euklid to depart her carriage.

The doors of the carriage swept open and the duchess swept out of the carriage with a powerful stride. She quickly straightened her dress before making way for three more women to depart the carriage.

"Hayleigh, so great to see you again," Duchess Euklid curtsied ever so briefly toward Duchess Ashburn. "I had thought by now you would have gone back into your mother's line of work."

She smiled and appeared polite, but her words were laced with venom. The two duchesses had never gotten along since long ago, so words like this were not uncommon between them.

Duke Ashburn maintained a stoic expression while watching the visitors closely, his wife nodded to the three women who got out of the carriage behind the visiting duchess and said, "And these are?"

"Oh, where are my manners. Rebecca, come here and introduce yourself."

The voluptuous blonde woman who appeared to be in her early 20s stepped forward and curtsied. She had long golden lochs and bright green eyes. Her hair was contrasting to the duchess' pitch black hair, but their eyes were the same.

"Good afternoon, Duke Ashburn, Duchess Ashburn. I am Rebecca Euklid, and it is a pleasure to meet you," Rebecca curtsied before indicating towards the other two woman, one blonde with sharp features and silver phoenix makeup on the corner of her eyes, the other black haired with some faint freckles and a homely appearance.

"These two are my close acquaintances. Lora is the blonde baroness, while the other is Dare. I hope it isn't too much of an inconvenience that they have followed along under my request."

Duchess Ashburn nodded politely in return before turning back to Duchess Euklid.

"Edna, so this is your daughter. She has your eyes too. She is to your husband, right?"

The pressure of a Third Step ranker momentarily burst out from the duchess before receding, but her smile could be seen to be more forced than before.

"Of course, who else would be her father."

"Oh, ignore my careless remark. Please, everyone, come inside and have some tea. I will have you shown to your rooms for your stay afterwards. I believe Gabralter is currently occupied, so I apologize that he isn't her to greet you and your company, I am sure he will be pleased to meet your daughter however."

Duchess Ashburn had a slightly larger smile on her face, clearly winning this bout of banter with her former rival. Her and her husband, who was trying to remain impassive, showed them into the mansion as the maids and butlers collected their belongings and took them to their rooms.

They all sat down in a large and grandiose common room where a large floor to ceiling line of windows showcased a beautiful garden. Everything from the furniture to the décor and even the flowers were carefully selected to be as visually appealing as possible.

The duke and two duchesses had a cup of steaming tea originating from the northern planes where a lot of spices were grown. The duchess carefully pre selected this tea as she knew Duchess Euklid held a fondness for the more bitter and spicy tea range. As much as they were enemies, the inability to provide proper hospitality would be heavily criticized among nobles.

Sitting beside one of the windows where warm afternoon sunlight shone upon then, Rebecca spoke in hushed voices with Lora and Dare, occasionally giggling amongst themselves and especially so when Gabralter entered the room with a strict expression.

"Gab, you're finally here," The duke sternly said as his son appeared after a butler had informed him that his presence was required. "Come introduce yourself to Duchess Euklid along with her daughter and cohort. They will be staying with us for…"

"Just a week, I can't stay for particularly long as I have a city that required my attention. My daughter may request to stay longer if she desires though."

Rebecca Euklid smiled politely in response to her mother's words before greeting Gabralter herself.

"A pleasure," Gabralter curtly said before sitting down beside his rather while creasing his brows.

Duchess Euklid was unperturbed by his disinterested impression.

"The young man who gave me timely warning and managed to save my entire city. If I didn't have a husband already, I would definitely want to marry you."

"As if having a husband has ever stopped you before," Duchess Ashburn whispered between taking sips of tea, just loud enough for the visiting duchess to hear who's brow twitched in irritation.

"It was only a lucky guess," Gabralter, who had already been briefed by his father earlier that week, responded without hesitation.

"But it was such a specific guess and happened to be uncannily accurate. It is almost like you have a divine blessing to see into the future. Tell me, how is my future love life looking? Is my husband going to remain in good health?"

Duchess Ashburn scoffed under her breath but Gabralter remained steadfast.

"I don't know."

"Oh well, I'm sure that we will both remain healthy for a long time now that this tribulation is over. Rebecca, make sure you get to know our young savior here. Perhaps we will even see a marriage between the two of you in the future."

Duchess Ashburn creased her brow while being perplexed. Whilst she didn't approve of Duchess Euklid of her daughter which may not even be to her husband. If she had kept multiple males in her own reverse harem it would have been one thing, but she was well renowned among certain circles for her unfaithfulness. Regardless of that, Rebecca Euklid was far better than the poisonous elf woman her sun had been fixated on to an uncanny degree.

"That will not happen."

Rebecca frowned briefly before asking, "Is there something wrong with me?"

"It is nothing of the kind, I'm sure many men would be lucky to be married to you."

"But not you?"

"Correct."

Rebecca seemed to take this more personally and she excused herself from her cohort before moving to sit directly next to Gabralter while smiling mischievously. Her mother had very strictly enforced the idea that she wanted her to be wed to Gabralter Ashburn, not just out of gratitude, but she suspected there was a great deal of information being kept secret that was highly valuable.

More importantly than any of that, the recent beast raid in conjunction with the festival had caused grievous harm to her city's forces. This information was kept under strict regulation, but Rebecca knew that this marriage was imperative to being able to rely on Lagoon Porter City's guard forces to help protect her city in this time where they were highly vulnerable.

In the worst-case scenario, at least the duchess and duke's family line would be passed on, as Rebecca truly was their child.

Filled with determination and purpose, Rebecca moved closer to the duke's son until their shoulders were a hair's breadth apart and the smell of her hair was directly overwhelming his senses.

The duke shot his son a sharp glare in warning, ensuring that he didn't do anything excessive. The warning was unnecessary however, as Gabralter handled the situation without being rude.

"I must apologize, Miss Euklid, as you truly are a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, my heart is simply set on another."

Rebecca felt slightly embarrassed as to how far she had put herself out and was about to respond when the door to the room burst open and a series of royal guards along with finely dressed individuals stormed into the room.

"My apologies, Duke," A maid quickly entered the room and deeply bowed in apology, her bust jiggling as her cleavage was fully exposed due to her position. "I tried to stop them so I could announce their presence, but they simply barged in."

Duke Ashburn stood up from his seat and glared at the group of arrogant scholars amongst the guards, but noticing their insignia identifying them from the Royal Academy of Research and Technology, he didn't dare verbally chastise them.

"Who are you?"

The royal guards, all Third Step rankers lined up in sharp formation as an arrogant scholar in violet clothing with gold trimming in front of everyone stepped forward and stated.

"I am Earl Vermonte bon Housen, from the Dungeon Division of the Royal Academy of Research and Technology. I have come to see what is this dungeon you have made a request to the royal capital on assistance on. I do not wish to hold your hand in matters you should be able to attend to, but those are my orders."

Vermonte has long blonde hair that reached his shoulders with a straight fringe. He had a high set nose and icy blue eyes that seemed to disregard everything around him. About the same height as the duke, his position at the royal academy allowed him to glare eye to eye without them despite his lower noble ranking.

"I suggest you exorcise more caution," Duke Ashburn said in a tone that was ice cold. "This dungeon appears to be manipulated by an illegal and unknown dungeon lord who is either powerful enough to give Third Step rankers a sense of dread, or houses a monster capable of that."

"I assure you, Duke Ashburn, but the Third Step rankers from the capital are vastly different from those out here in the outlands. The royal guards also undergo our medicine and technology to expand their potential capacity and increase their maximum level, providing even more benefits from <Lv. 1> all the way into the Third Step."

"There is no need to boast about your medicated humans. I have heard of all the negative effects that come with that research, some even turning into nothing more than puppets."

"All matters of the past and early research. We have advanced in strides since then, and are now capable of rapidly producing large numbers of soldiers on the same level as the demon Neth'rite Demon Kingdom who have been nipping away at our borders for the past several decades."

"Well, you have a chance to prove yourself. This dungeon lord is rumored to have relations with the demon kingdom, or may even be a demon themselves. We have information that it is constantly breeding powerful and unique monsters never heard or seen of before via nationless exotic races not to mention the devil bees it is also breeding."

Duchess Euklid raised a brow curiously at this tension filled conversation between the two men while all the royal guards stood to the side impassively. Her daughter, Rebecca, as well as Lora and Dare, also strained their ears to learn about this information they hadn't even heard wind of back in their home city.

The fact that they hadn't heard anything about this dungeon meant it must be relatively new information, less than a year old at most. If the danger it presented was enough for the valiant duke, who left a resounding reputation on the battlefield, to call for royal backup, then it was a very serious matter.

Duchess Ashburn frowned at their visitors' reaction. She had hoped to keep this information private as it was a very sensitive matter and related to her son's foreboding death if it was left alone.

Earl Housen brushed off his shoulder and stated, "I am very serious and exercise all caution no matter the situation. This is one of the differences between central and the outlands. No matter what is inside of there, we will discover it and come up with an appropriate action plan. Now, show us to our living quarters. You did prepare them, didn't you? You are the ones who requested us, not the other way around."

"Show them to their quarters on the east wing."

Duke Ashburn spoke to the maid who was still deeply bowing without daring to look up. Aware that it was her being spoken to, she hurriedly raised her head and wanted to state that they hadn't prepared any rooms.

The duke shot her a warning glare and she quickly understood.

"Y-yes, right away. Sirs, and madam, please follow me. I will show you to your rooms."

As soon as she left the room of her employers and important guests, she hurriedly signalled a butler over and had them rapidly have a team of housekeepers prepare the rooms before they arrive. She deliberately took a longer route and walked slightly slower in order to give them any extra time to prepare that they could.

When they reached the rooms, several doors weren't even closed properly, a sign of how rushed the housekeepers were to put on fresh sheets and clean any residual dust since their last time through the area.

None of the scholars were idiots and silently followed along. Earl Housen nodded his head to the maid and praised her.

"A very rapid response, I am impressed. I guess the outlands aren't as bad as I imagined, but it is yet to be proven."