Reverse Dungeon

“Is that a threat?”

“You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

Ian slid his untouched portion of food toward the elf, who had already emptied his own plate despite initially insisting he didn’t want to eat mamool meat.

The elf’s face brightened immediately.

Ding!

[Dorian’s(?) affection increases.]

Ding!

[Dorian’s(?) affection: 88%]

‘Since when was it that high?’

“The Oasis drying up has nothing to do with us. We’re leaving tonight anyway. I’m only telling you out of mercy. It would be pathetic if you all died of thirst without even knowing why.”

Ian spoke like a proper villain, but something about it still felt lacking.

‘My hands are empty.’

Threats worked best when accompanied by a weapon. Normally he would at least have a bow in hand, but he had disarmed himself to eat dinner.

Reluctantly, Ian drove the fork he was holding straight into the table.

Thunk!

The wooden fork buried itself upright in the solid wood.

The sight alone made it obvious that the same hand could easily slit a person’s throat.

“By tomorrow morning...” Otto said stiffly, “I’ll wake everyone in the village and prepare them to leave.”

“Glad to see you understand. I thought you were someone reasonable enough to talk to. Right?”

Ian looked toward the elf, hoping for support while also trying to preserve Keith’s image.

‘Although honestly, aren’t both our reputations getting destroyed here?’

Still, Keith’s reputation probably wasn’t fragile enough to collapse after a single night.

“Really, though,” the elf said happily while eating, “you’re an excellent cook.”

The completely misplaced compliment somehow made them sound even more villainous.

“If we’re done here, we should get moving,” Ian said as he stood. “It’ll probably be cooler if we leave now.”

He grabbed his gear.

Keith had already stopped eating the moment Ian stabbed the fork into the table, and only the elf looked genuinely disappointed the meal was ending.

Otto didn’t try to stop them as they headed for the door.

In fact, he couldn’t even bring himself to meet Ian’s eyes. He simply stood there with his head lowered.

Just before leaving, Ian spoke again.

“Oh, right. Could you call your daughter over for a moment?”

“...My daughter?”

“Yes.”

“...Why my daughter?”

Otto’s dislike was written plainly across his face.

Ian could practically hear the sound of Otto’s rapidly plummeting affection score, but he didn’t care.

Otto’s opinion meant nothing to him.

Honestly, the aftermath of the Desert Tower quest was far more annoying than the tower itself.

Once the tower was conquered, the ‘Book of Wishes’ inevitably disappeared.

Ian had once experimented by killing the tower keeper without making any wish at all, just to see what would happen. He completed the purification process and headed toward the exit—

Then the system notification appeared.

Ding!

[‘Book of Wishes’ activates.]

Immediately afterward, the ‘Book of Wishes’ resurrected the tower keeper by itself before disappearing.

Ian had been forced to fight the boss a second time and gained absolutely nothing from it.

In any case, the conclusion was always the same.

Once the ‘Book of Wishes’ activated, the magic sustaining the Oasis vanished along with it.

Which meant that if players wanted the people of Oasis Village to survive, they had to personally handle the aftermath too—finding the villagers a new place to settle and everything else.

‘...What an obnoxious game.’

Fortunately, Ian had already searched thoroughly in advance and discovered an ideal location.

Beyond the direction where the tower had collapsed lay the remnants of an ancient civilization.

There were empty buildings still intact enough to use, roads paved well enough for travel, and even a dry well inhabited by a dormant water spirit.

And in this village happened to live a three-star spirit master.

“Huh? Where’s everyone going?”

Lily leaned over the second-floor railing.

“I brought tons of blankets to my room! They’re super soft. You’re not leaving already, are you?”

The moment she spotted Ian’s group near the entrance, she hurried downstairs so quickly she nearly tumbled down the steps.

Then she grabbed onto Ian’s clothes.

Otto immediately went pale.

“Lily!”

“Don’t go!” Lily pleaded desperately. “There’s supposed to be a festival tomorrow. Peter’s the best hunter in the village. He said he’ll go catch desert foxes as soon as the sun rises. If it’s Peter, he’ll definitely catch one...”

She clung tightly to Ian.

Otto stood frozen nearby, too frightened to intervene.

Ian quietly opened her status window.

Ding!

[Character]

‘The Chief’s Daughter’ Lily (★★★☆☆)

Reputation

The Chief’s Daughter, Frail

Skills 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Spirit Affinity: LV.1

Spirit Magic: LV.1

She possessed the ability to awaken the water spirit sleeping inside the well.

It wasn’t especially important information, but one of Lily’s ancestors had apparently been an elf, which allowed her to inherit abilities unique to the elven race.

Ian had only uncovered that fact after an absurd amount of effort while handling the quest aftermath during a previous playthrough.

If players searched through the books stored in the chief’s house, they could find a family record with one ancestor’s name deliberately erased.

Using a restoration item on the damaged text revealed the truth:

An elf had once existed in their bloodline.

Whether players learned this or not made little difference to gameplay.

Still, Lily’s status window clearly showed spirit-related talents.

‘This actually works out perfectly.’

Ian crouched slightly and whispered into Lily’s ear.

“When you leave tomorrow, tell your father to keep traveling past where the tower used to be. If you continue for about a week, you’ll find a village with a dry well. Go talk to that well. Since you’re thirsty, ask it to fill with water.”

Lily’s eyes widened.

“Will water really come out?”

“Yes.”

“Amazing...”

She looked genuinely awestruck.

Ian found the reaction somewhat underwhelming.

“You have to do it yourself.”

“Okay! I’ll definitely do it.”

Lily nodded with complete determination.

Ian wasn’t entirely convinced she had actually understood him.

“No other questions?” he asked. “Like why you suddenly have to leave the village? Or how you’re supposed to survive a week crossing a dangerous desert?”

“Why do we have to leave?”

“The Oasis is drying up.”

“Wow, that’s really serious!”

“Yeah. It is.”

“Then we should hurry to another village!”

“...Exactly.”

Apparently, that was enough explanation for her.

“Take care, then.”

“Lord Ian.”

Lily tugged on his clothes again.

“What now?” Ian asked flatly, still bent down toward her.

A moment later, Lily stretched upward and pressed a kiss against his cheek.

“Thank you for saving us,” she whispered. “My father, the villagers, me... and Peter too.”

‘Did she figure something out?’

Ian looked into Lily’s wide eyes, but unfortunately he couldn’t read minds.

“...Take care.”

He patted her gently on the head.

Lily beamed.

Then she hugged Ian, Keith, and the elf one after another before waving energetically.

“Have a safe trip!”

Otto hurriedly pulled her back into his arms.

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Ian’s group mounted the camels waiting behind the chief’s house and quietly left the village.

The guard at the gate was asleep.

No one stopped them.

As they traveled through the night, Ian glanced sideways at Keith.

‘About time this guy started asking questions.’

Questions like why Ian had spoken that way.

Or whether he had already known the Oasis would disappear.

Ian was fully prepared to explain himself.

Sensing Ian’s stare, Keith turned toward him with a puzzled expression.

“...Are you thirsty?”

“No. I still have water.”

“Any discomfort anywhere?”

“None.”

‘Not me. You. I’m talking about you.’

“Wouldn’t it have been better to rest in the village for a day?” Keith continued calmly. “You look tired.”

Keith pretended not to notice Ian’s obvious attempts to provoke conversation and instead fussed over him with concern.

How could he even tell Ian looked tired in the middle of the night?

Ian couldn’t decide whether Keith’s silence was ominous or simply proof of the absurd amount of trust he placed in him.

Though honestly, the second option felt harder to believe.

“Why did you suddenly start acting like a villain?”

The question came from somewhere else entirely.

“We did something good, didn’t we?” the elf continued. “The magical energy in the desert has weakened so much that the creatures here will struggle to stay active now. Mamools hate light in the first place. They only come out at night because of the desert conditions. With the magic diluted this much, they’ll probably retreat underground or into burrows.”

Moonlight filtered across the elf’s hood, turning his pale hair silver.

“The villagers are safer now. Not only them—other races too.”

He looked directly at Ian.

“You even told them where to settle next. So why deliberately make them resent you?”

“You heard what the chief called me.”

“A benefactor?” The elf tilted his head.

“Yes. But even that wasn’t enough to describe how highly he thought of me.”

“That sounds accurate to me,” Keith answered before the elf could speak. “If he failed to recognize a miracle after witnessing one himself, then he would be a man with eyes who still cannot see.”

Keith sounded as unwavering as ever.

Ian felt oddly relieved hearing it.

“I am ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) obviously a great person,” Ian said. “But I don’t want people praising me.”

“...?”

“Oh...”

‘What’s with those reactions?’