Dungeon Raider System

Lister's office was decorated with more style than luxury, something Uriel truly appreciated. He didn't have much to brag about in the social skills aspects, but he could learn a great deal just by looking at the seemingly meaningless decorations.

While everything on the city looked pompous and ostentatious, the governor's office looked homely and warm, but Uriel didn't miss how everything accomplished a purpose. It wasn't just that the style of every item combined perfectly, it was almost like the room itself was telling a story.

"I don't drink coffee." Uriel shrugged when Halstead offered him a cup.

"Tea, then?" Asked the bearded man, but Uriel ignored him.

"Not that either."

"We don't serve any alcohol, if that's what you're asking for." The conversation between Uriel and the secretary went on while Lister typed on a keyboard in front of him, paying no heed to his guests.

"I didn't ask for anything. That pretty much sums up all I have to say today." Uriel grunted.

"I believe introductions are in order. I'm Lister, the governor, and this is my secretary, Halstead." Lister said after heaving a long sigh.

"I..." Allegro attempted to stand up, yet all it took for the holy rank hunter to fall back into his seat was a meaningful look from the governor.

"I get it, you think you're here against your will. Halstead, correct me if I'm wrong but don't we have several attempts of the Dungeon Raiders company to get an appointment with me on record?"

"That is correct, Mister governor."

"That was before you tried to steal my baby." Medusa butted in, taking Lister aback for a second.

"What is she talking about? Did you really tried to steal a baby?"

"No, Sir, I believe she refers to the ship as such."

"Cut the crap, we're only here because you threatened to dissolve our company if we didn't." Nika scoffed.

"Oh! That? It was just an empty threat. If I had that kind of power we wouldn't be in this situation. The reason why this city needs your zeppelin is precisely because we can't contact any other city.

Usually, we can use Mapple corp's zeppelins like repeater antenna but you may have noticed there aren't other ships, at all." Lister finished, the sharp look on his face somehow becoming even sharper when he noticed Uriel didn't show any reaction. "Interesting."

"What's truly interesting is the fact that you sent detectives after us, despite knowing who we were. Are you so dumb to believe that hunters that survived the fall of a city would be so weak as to be defeated by cannon fodder? But you're not dumb, are you?" Uriel activated his Dash skill pretending it was to intimidate his enemy, when in fact he needed more time to process all the new information.

"Hey kid! That's the governor you're speaking to!" Halsted went to place a hand on Uriel's shoulder but immediately came to regret it when a dark tentacle comprised of pure shadows slapped it away.

"And that's our CEO." Nika winked at Halstead whose hand became so red it could glow in the dark.

"What gave it away?" Lister seemed to drop the act and became more relaxed.

"Your refusal to meet with us was nothing but a scheme to stall for as long as you could while you gathered information about us. We had detectives on our tail ever since we came, but not directly appointed to watch us or we would have noticed. Instead, we assumed they were just suspicious of us hunting cryptids at night. This means you already know there's cryptids inside the city."

"That's correct." Lister nodded, but a crooked grin hinted there was more to it.

"You sent the detectives first and then this holy rank idiot after us expecting him to give us a good scare. It was a test, if the detectives killed us we would have been worthless and you would get a ship, but if they didn't you would have our cooperation after being defeated and humiliated by a holy rank hunter. But you didn't expect us to defeat him.

This means that your careful planning went to waste, then you summoned us to your office and pretended to ignore us to make yourself look more important when actually you're trying to make a new plan."

Lister's grin turned into a frown when he realized all his carefully planned movements had been revealed so effortlessly, unaware that Uriel only managed to do so thanks to the distorted perception of time granted to him by the Dash skill.

"That is painfully accurate, so I'll just place all my cards on the table. I don't need the zeppelin. If not even the Mapple corporation can reach this city, it can only mean there's something truly dangerous going on. I can't say for sure what it is, but I'm afraid it's far worse than whatever caused Texas to fall."

"Uhm... More dangerous than a titan?" Luna's eyes brimmed with fantasy as she tried to picture something stronger than the boundless horror that besieged their city.

"Titans are forces of nature, we can do nothing to stop them or destroy them, we can only deal with the aftermath. It sounds awful, but we can deal with it and get back on our feet. Before humanity acquired the technology to conceal our energy signature behind walls it was pretty common for cities to fall due to titans, but now it's rare.

What has never happened, ever since the arrival, is the Mapple corporation failing to restock our stores. Nothing can get in the way of people who want to make money." Lister explained.

"So, you don't just need our ship. You also need our crew. You already tried to force us, then came clean and showed your honesty by 'openly sharing your plans', I guess this is the part where you ask us to help you in order to save the city, let's just skip all this and get to the reward part." Uriel bobbed his head which made a vein pop in Lister's forehead.

"There's two kinds of people I hate, handsome bastards who get all the attention from women," Lister glared at Allegro who remained sitting awkwardly in the corner then turned to Uriel. "And know it all guys who anticipate my movements."

"I get that." Uriel turned to look at Soulfire by his side who lost track of the subject a long while ago and kept himself distracted with the room's decoration.

"Medusa, heavenly rank hunter who can fight despite being blind. Luna, a petite ascended doctor that for some reasons scares even people above her rank. Nika, former Mapple corp. employee. I know everything about them..."

"If this is you trying to threaten us, I'll suggest you choose your next words very carefully." Uriel's glare left no space for doubt. If Lister dared to threaten them he would die before finishing the next sentence even if it costed Uriel his own life.

"You, on the other hand are a mystery. Judging by the name of your company it was easy to assume that Raider would be the CEO, but some refugees insisted it wasn't the case and it was actually a hunter who went by the name of Sage. Imagine my surprise when I found out they were one and the same.

All I know about you is that you started your career as a hunter and ranked up to heavenly in less than a year, that you like money and now I learned that you always assume the worst of people. This isn't a threat, It's me offering a tailor made reward for each and everyone of you."

"If your theory that something worse than a titan is responsible for missing zeppelins, then no amount of money would suffice." Uriel rebuked.

"I wouldn't offer you something as trivial as money as a reward anyway." Lister shrugged.

"I still expect it as compensation for the trouble you caused us though, continue."

"Soulfire wants to rebuild your city which will also help in keeping his sister alive and well, but there's a problem. Every city needs a holy rank hunter stationed there to absorb the excess flux its citizens release into the wild and although we know for certain that the Quill is alive, he's still missing in action."

"So, that's why... uhm... they keep the presence of cryptids inside cities a secret." Luna pondered.

"That's also correct. As nasty as those creatures are, having some lurking around in the city also helps in concealing the energy signature of a city. They kill some citizens, but it's the cost of keeping the rest alive." Lister's tone didn't shift, but his face conveyed how difficult it was to admit that they always knew there were dangerous creatures inside the city and did nothing about it.

"And where do we fit in all this? I already said we have no interest in lending you our ship, our crew and we're not interested in rebuilding the city." Uriel shrugged.

"Like I mentioned, this will benefit everyone present. Tell me, Raider, would you like to become a holy rank hunter?"