DD - Book 2 - Chapter 8 - Sylvia

Not super happy wiht the last line, but enjoyed the rest of it. I'll think if there's a way to change it later.

I was so surprised by the comment that I sprayed water across the table before breaking into a coughing fit.

“You did that on purpose,” Kass grumbled as she leaned over and patted me on the back.

“I won’t deny it, I really wanted to see her reaction,” Sylvia replied, grinning slightly. “Worth it.”

While I recovered she reached out and grabbed a roll out of the basket on the table, opened her mouth unnaturally wide, and threw the entire roll inside. Instead of choking, she casually chewed on the thing like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Did Kass happen to mention anything else to you? Why I wanted to meet you?” I asked once I’d recovered.

“She mentioned that you wanted to recruit me to work in the Wailing Manor,” Sylvia replied. “Although for the life of me, I can’t imagine why.”

“It’s because once the Manor started participating in the confrontation matches it became exceptionally clear that we lacked reliable healers. Calliope tries her best, but she’s just one person,” I explained. “I’m sure we could just hire some new staff for one of the floors and no one would bat an eye, but I wanted to find someone who could contribute to both Confrontation matches and Delves without completely disrupting our existing setup. It’s surprisingly difficult to find someone that’s both a free agent, and fits our existing setup.”

“I can imagine. I’ve seen some of your matches and even though the floors are very different from each other, the entire dungeon has a cohesive feeling,” Sylvia agreed. She started reaching out for more rolls, then paused. “You don’t mind if I eat while I talk, do you.”

“By all means, I understand your circumstances,” I replied politely.

Sylvia nodded, grabbed three rolls from the basket, and threw them one at a time into her mouth the same way a normal person would eat berries.

“Anyway… I asked around, to see if anyone had suggestions, and Kass brought up your name. The more I learned about you, the more I was convinced you would make an ideal choice,” I said.

“How so?” Sylvia prompted. 

“Well… first of all, even though you’ve earned your adventuring certification, and you’re authorized to participate in delves up to the expert level, you’re practically unknown in the circuit. Our friend, Bella, is a dungeon maniac and she needed a picture before she could remember you, but once she remembered she vouched for your skill.”

“I must not have made a big impression if she needed prompting,” Sylvia muttered.

“On the contrary, she was super excited once she found out, it’s just that you always participated in full plate mail, so no one ever saw your face,” I replied excitedly. “And because of that there’s an air of mystery around you, and most of our opponents won’t know what to expect when they come up against you!”

Kass patted me on the shoulder. “Alright, calm down now, you’re starting to sound like Bella when she finds a new upcoming team.”

“Sorry,” I murmured.

While I was gathering myself a dainty girl stuck her head into the room. “Are you ready to order?”

When I turned to look at her, I noticed that she had a seal skin around her neck. It was rare that a Selkie worked in public, they were usually fairly paranoid about letting someone near their skin. Before I could answer, George shot out from underneath the table, and rushed towards the girl, causing her to shriek. 

“George! She said order, not deliver,” I snapped. “Give her some space.”

The spider skidded to a halt, then looked the girl up and down. Once he was convinced she wasn’t carrying any food he huffed, and began trudging back to his place under the table. 

“Sorry about that. George gets a little passionate when it comes to food,” I told her.

“It’s alright,” she replied as she gathered herself. “Anyways… are you ready to order?” 

“I haven’t even looked at the menu yet,” I admitted quietly.

“We’ll have two specials, and an order of ham,” Kass immediately declared. When I looked at her she just smiled. “Cassey’s daily specials are always good. Trust me.”

“And I’ll have the usual!” Sylvia announced.

The girl nodded. “All at once, or in several courses,” she asked, jotting everything down.

“Split it in half,” Sylvia replied. “Cassy can decide what to send up first.”

“Alright! The food will be up soon,” the girl declared before disappearing down the stairs.

When I turned back towards the table Sylvia was already stuffing more bread into her mouth, and the basket was more than half empty.

“Where were we?” I asked.

“You were explaining why you were so excited to meet Sylvia that I was able to extort you into taking a couple days off,” Kass reminded me.

“You didn’t extort me, I agreed to your challenge willingly,” I pouted.

“Would you have agreed to the challenge if I hadn’t threatened you?” she asked.

“Probably not…”

“Then it was extortion,” Kass declared. “Carry on.”

“Right…” I sighed. “Anyways, I reviewed dozens of other people, but you were the only one that fit all the requirements. You both have the physical strength and martial skill to press an entire team of adventurers, and between your unique constitution and magic you’d be able to help us during Confrontation matches.”

“And where, exactly, do you think I’d fit?” Sylvia asked between bites.

“You’d be an ideal candidate as the subboss of the training hall,” I exclaimed. “Sulivan has already decorated the entire place with fake corpses, and blood. A blood knight would fit right in down there!”

Sylvia sighed. “Look Talia, although I’m flattered that you sought me out, there’s a reason why I’ve only done contract work as an adventurer instead of joining a team. My physiology makes it difficult to keep a steady job, so I have to take high paying jobs wherever and whenever I can. I’m sure Kass would mention that during one of your previous discussions.”

“She did,” I admitted, “but instead of giving up on you, and looking for someone else to fill the position, I did some research. You may not know this, but the Manor has a magic that dampens the effect of harmful racial traits and abilities. It took me a while, but I did confirm this would help suppress the effect of your endless hunger.”

Sylvia paused for a moment, and stared at me wide eyed. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely. I think it would have been irresponsible to invite you without knowing all the facts,” I replied.

“Huh,” Sylvia grunted. “Well that certainly sounds enticing. Still I’m not sure…”

“What if I told you that food in the cafeteria is complimentary, and Lanivia has authorized an unlimited food budget?”

Sylvia’s stomach growled. “Really?”

I nodded.

Sylvia went quiet. “So why are you here, instead of Lanivia anyways?” she asked.

“Because I was the one that approached her after the first two confrontation matches, and suggested that we hire another subboss to shore up the weaknesses in our lineup. She’ll want to talk to you before the process is finalized, but she authorized me to select someone,” I explained.

“The boss trusts us to keep the dungeon’s best interests at heart,” Kass added. “I’ve told you that.”

“I know you did, I guess I just brushed it off at the time because I thought it would never apply to me,” Sylvia admitted. Her stomach growled again, much louder this time, and when it did she nearly doubled over. It looked like she was in pain. “Let me think about it.”

“There’s no rush,” I said quietly. “If you plan to take us up on the offer just come to the staff entrance and give them your name, someone will let you in.”

The tall woman had her head down and one hand clamped over her stomach, but she still managed to nod. 

“Who’s hungry?” Cassy’s jolly voice asked, as she emerged from the stairway carrying an absolutely enormous platter. As soon as she saw Sylvia her smile dropped, and she rushed forward and pushed the entire thing under the girl’s nose. “Goodness, I didn’t realize you’d run out of rolls so quickly. Here you are dear, eat!”

Sylvia’s hands darted towards the piles of meat, greens and assorted sides and started shoveling them into her mouth. It was only after she’d pretty much inhaled a full chicken that the look of pain on her face faded, and she sat back.

“I’ll be back with your meals in a moment,” Cassy said, turning towards Kass and I, completely ignoring the sight behind her. 

“Take your time,” Kass replied. “We know better than to get between a Windigo and their meal.”