The rest of the conversation with the village boy flowed pretty smoothly. With Salome's Trait at work, forcing the man to believe her offer to protect Ophelia to be genuine.

Well, maybe that was actually true, Vale didn't really know, but either way, the information Salome wanted, while not entirely strange, was a little out there.

After slowly delving into the topic, she got the man comfortable talking about the village, its past, as well as yearly procedures and everything else. Just when Vale thought she was done, she'd ask who they traded with and what a typical day looked like for them.

The man seemed confused at first, but as their conversation progressed, he became increasingly forthcoming.

In the end, Salome learned enough about the village to the point that if she had taken on the man's appearance and showed back up, the people would have been none the wiser. Most of the information seemed meaningless, but perhaps it had a future use.

They even learned the man's name: Laertes.

It's not like Salome could transform her entire body and become this boy…

'Right?'

'She can't right, right?!'

'Well, she can shapeshift…'

'She's not planning on returning as this man and claiming to be the one chosen by the lady of the lake… right?'

When Salome was finally done with Laertes, it was Vale's turn for questions.

With the novelty of the situation gone, everyone went about their various tasks. Salome and Toy exited and patrolled outside, taking a few workers to pick up valuable materials.

Ximena watched over the man and Vale, in case Laertes had some ace in the hole. The rest of the Workers frolicked about, continuing their work mining out the path, which was near complete. At least in length, it had to be expanded some more, but it almost reached Vale's intended distance.

Vale sat a little away from Laertes. Sadly, since the man couldn't see in the dark dungeon, Vale knew all he could make out was his glowing eyes.

"Laertes, tell me all you know about the other Dungeons of Vice."

The subdued man replied without question, but his eyes begged for the release of death.

"Yes, the closest Vice Dungeon and only one on this continent is Envy… only one until now, it seems. This Dungeon of Envy, which appeared only a few months ago, lies on the southern edge of the Teracotta Scar, its entrance nestled in the tarn basin of a cwm which makes raiding it nearly impossible without the right equipment."

'So, a similar situation to me…'

But, if what Laertes said is to be taken at face value, then that means Envy's dungeon is…

'Underwater?'

'How does that work?'

'Is Envy's dungeon constantly flooded?'

Laertes continued:

"The next one whose location is known is Wrath, but thankfully, that dreadful place is on the exact other side of the world. At least if what Pa said is correct."

'Then how are we supposed to help each other…'

And how in the world did they meet face to face?!

Something weird and mystical was definitely at play — something Vale needed to understand if he ever wanted to trust the others.

Laertes briefly paused and let out a slight grimace, then he continued:

"Then, finally, there's the traitors of humanity… the Kingdom of Hearth. Otherwise known as the Kingdom of Pride. That bastard's kingdom and dungeon are a little above Wrath's dungeon in the center of that continent. Truthfully, I don't know much about it other than traitors of humanity bow down and follow him, assisting in Pride's ambition to conquer the world."

'Kingdom?'

Laertes said something that piqued Vale's interest to no end…

Pride seemed to have extended his influence outside of the dungeon. Surely, that had major drawbacks… But the amount of resources he has compared to the other dungeons must be insane.

"As for the rest… Sloth has never been found, but we know it exists. Rumors say it is in the far reaches of the world in a tundra, but no one has ever confirmed. As for Greed and Gluttony… They ceased to exist a year ago and haven't reappeared since, along with the last Lust and Envy. I, nor anyone else, actually knows what happened, but it seems like if Lust and Envy are back, they're somewhere in the world as well…"

The reason why only Sloth and Wrath were in that weird place to greet Vale was starting to make sense…

Pride was prideful, after all. Even if he was in the alliance, he definitely didn't cooperate. And, the way Wrath had said his name, there was some obvious bad blood.

As for the other four…

Envy is new as well. Greed and Gluttony… they may not even exist.

While Vale didn't have an answer now, and this village boy only knew stories and fables from travelers, he would learn in time. After all, the timer on the black door was steadily decreasing.

Vale stood up and looked down upon Laertes' face.

"Thank you…"

***

Laertes began to silently cry as he watched the pink eyes float up into the air and take a slight step back. Then, he saw the subtle gleam of pink reflected upon an almost rusted metal — the metal of a blade.

'Ophelia… For your sake, I hope they keep their promise.'

'...'

'Damn it!'

'Why did it come to this!'

'Why do we suffer like this while the people who can actually do something sit back and watch?!'

'Why have we been killing ourselves for some non-existent deity?!'

'You know, all I ever wanted was for my sister and mom to be happy!'

'I tried my best, I really did!'

'Did my efforts mean anything!'

'Did my life mean anything!'

'Damn it! Damn it all!'

'I just hope…'

'I hope my sacrifice means something.'

'I hope.'

'I hope…'

'I hope you don't become their plaything…'

'I hope.'

'I hope they keep their promise.'

'I hope…'

'I hope they kill you swiftly.'

After all, Laertes had not asked them to spare Ophelia's life, but her dignity.

The Dungeon of Lust was the weakest of all the Vice Dungeons, but it was the most despicable and insidious. The Masters tended to have the ability to control things to their will. The last thing Laertes wanted was his sister to suffer mindlessly and be ravaged by such dreadful, lifeless bastards.

Laertes stared into the shimmering metal blade as it shot straight toward his eyes.

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