“Mmm,” said Verity. She sat down at the counter, which was slightly crowded with three people. Hannah looked at the straightness of her back and the poise with which she picked up a fork and began eating tiny little bird bites of venison and egg. “Thank you, it’s very gracious of you.”
“Common courtesy,” replied Mizuki with a shrug. “How’d you sleep?”
“Like the dead,” said Verity. “I cannot say enough how much music takes it out of me.”
“Well,” said Hannah, “no cause to be singin’ today, I’d think, or for a few more days after, since it’ll take some time for Alfric and Isra to come back. There’s a question of what we’re doin’ with ourselves until then, I s’pose.”
“I was still planning to go to the Fig and Gristle,” said Verity. “I have a standing offer from Cynthia, and I’d like to keep from paying room and board for as long as possible.”
“Mmm,” said Mizuki. Hannah looked at her. The offer of a room had been made quickly, and Hannah was still mulling it over. She was wondering whether that same offer was going to be tossed to Verity and how many bedrooms this place had.
Verity dabbed at her mouth after another small bite. “And as I’ve said, I’m not entirely sold on dungeoneering.”
Hannah and Mizuki were both silent, but just for a moment, and then they began talking at the same time.
“I don’t think—” began Hannah.
“In terms of—” started Mizuki.
They looked at each other.
“Go ahead,” said Hannah.
“It’s not actually that dangerous,” said Mizuki. She looked at Hannah. “We talked about this last night some, but I think drink affects Verity more than me.”
“I remember,” nodded Verity. “And I said
“There are all sorts of reasons to do it,” said Hannah. “You could get a higher elevation.”
“Frankly, elevation has always been a bit murky to me,” said Verity.
“It’s bunk,” said Mizuki. “Magic items—now, there’s something valuable and hard to get any other way unless you’re willing to shell out a lot of money, which you would also probably have to get by going into dungeons, unless you can score yourself a sweet gig playing music.”
“I probably could,” said Verity. “Though my skill has been rotting away here, and the people I was up against in the conservatory have probably blown past me. Not that my relationship to the profession hasn’t markedly improved.”
“You think elevation isn’t… true?” asked Hannah, looking at Mizuki. She wasn’t sure she could let that pass. “I don’t see how that could be.”
“I mean, it was all made up by the Editors long ago, right?” asked Mizuki. “At some point, hundreds of years ago or whatever, they decided they needed a number for every man, woman, and child on the planet, and they figured out a bunch of complicated rules that no one gets to see.”
“Is that all it is?” asked Verity. “I mean, I knew we had an elevation, but it was never really relevant to my life.”
“It’s a measure of power,” said Hannah. “And the exact metrics are secret, but that doesn’t mean they don’t work.”
“They go up the more dungeons you do,” said Mizuki, frowning at Hannah. “How can you explain that?”
“Well, I don’t know,” said Hannah. “Perhaps the people who go into the
dungeon grow more powerful more quickly?” She wrinkled her nose. That
didn’t seem quite right. The other obvious option was that dungeons
“Because no one knows,” said Mizuki. “But people use it for things anyway. It’s nuts.”
“Anyway,” said Verity, who clearly had no enthusiasm for the conversation.
“Right,” said Mizuki. “Anyway, at least one more dungeon?”
Verity nodded as she chewed, then cleared her mouth before answering. “At least one more. Probably.”
“Wonderful,” said Hannah, with real enthusiasm. “Let’s hope that Alfric is doin’ well with Isra, but I wouldn’t count on it, so we might have to find one of the others. Wouldn’t be bad to know who they were anyway, ay? If Verity’s out, we’d need to bring them in, and better to get them on board before we need them.”
“Others?” asked Verity. She had paused with a forkful of food in mid-air.
“He went to the censusmaster,” said Mizuki. “Found everyone of the right age and elevation and not in a party, and then I’d guess he weeded out people who weren’t going to be suitable. I can’t make any good guesses about who the alternates would be.” She shrugged. “Maybe one of the Pedder boys?” She didn’t seem pleased with that thought.
“Well, either way, better to know who Alfric was thinkin’ of,” said Hannah. “Isra got the bow and seems a bit skittish, not like a rabbit, all afraid of things, but like a cat ready to scratch anyone the least bit threatenin’.”
“She’s got skills,” said Mizuki. “Though I don’t know how much hunting translates into going into dungeons. She certainly seemed to handle herself well.”
“We’ll see if Alfric drives her off,” said Hannah. “And if Verity is out for the third dungeon, then better to have someone lined up anyhow.”
