The Secret of the Steelheart Family

Connie's party explored the third floor with more caution after the mishap last time.

As they were about to walk into a large chamber, they saw 4 hunters being surrounded by kobolds inside. They looked tattered and tired with one of them lying down on the floor, blood on his side.

Connie nodded at Illumca, allowing her to help them along with Nick.

They defeated the ugly beast-like monsters within minutes.

After seeing that they were saved, the hunters fell on their butts with relief.

"Thank you for saving us," one of them, a hunter wearing a long sword and buckler hobbled over. He seemed to be the leader. Seeing that the other party wore such luxurious things, he decided to bow lightly. "My name is Arnold."

"No need to thank us. It's only right to help fellow hunters," Connie said. The three companions of hers rolled their eyes at this. "Your friend there seemed to be hurt."

"One of the kobolds managed to slip past our defense. We bit more than we could chew today. It was just luck that you came," the man said, looking at his party with an exhausted frown.

"Dammit, Roy. Drink the damn potion!" a brunette wearing a mage robe was pouring a bottle of potion into his mouth, but he coughed it up immediately. "Roy! My healing spells can't heal this kind of wound! You need to swallow!"

"Let me have a look," Connie crouched by the wounded hunter's side and told him to let go of the hand holding the wound which emitted the familiar foul smell of punctured spleen. He then looked at the corpse of a kobold holding a bloodied dagger. The edge was rusty and dirty with grime. "Nasty wound. It has been infected. If he doesn't get treatment quick his innards would sour and no amount of medicine could save him."

"A-am I going to die? Linda…am I going to die?" The hunter said with trembling voice, his face pale from pain and fear.

"Dammit! If only we weren't so greedy!" the leader punched the wall in self-hatred.

"Dungeon diving is always dangerous Arnold. We all know how dangerous it is," the other hunter said. He was bald with a large burn scar on his face.

"Perhaps…" Connie winked at Illumca.

Noticing the look of apprehension on Connie's face, Linda the healing mage quickly asked. "D-do you know something?!"

"I don't know…"

Martell grinned inwardly seeing Connie's action. What a cruel Mistress. He nudged the dark elf's waist.

"Perhaps we could help," Illumca said finally in understanding. "My partner here is a great alchemist."

"I could but…it's – "

"Help us! We'll do anything to repay you!" Arnold said without hesitation. Seeing that the other party had a dark elf vouching for her, Arnold knew that she was the real deal. Dark elves are proud, solitary beings who only trusted those they acknowledged.

"You are a good leader," Connie said, pulling out a fragrant black colored pill. "This is something I made for my store. A Medium Rejuvenation Pill. It has a very strong disinfecting and healing effect when mixed with water."

Quickly Linda handed over a skinful of water. Connie crushed the pill and mixed it into the water and used the water to wash the wound. There was no sign of disgust as she did so, even though the smell should have disgusted a noble girl.

She then poured the water for him to drink. Soon the wounds closed as if he had drunk a High Potion and the color of his face returned to normal. His pained expression had also disappeared. His eyes closed and then his head fell over.

"Roy!"

"Calm down, girl," Nick went forward and felt for his nose. "He's just asleep. The pain must have exhausted him."

He shook his head left and right in amazement. "Incredible! The wound is healed even to the punctured spleen. Normally only High Potions could have healed someone to this extent."

Arnold sighed and fell to the ground. His body relaxed all at once in relief. "Thank the Goddess."

"Truly, thank you so much."

Connie asked them what made them fall into such a predicament.

"We thought about trying to reach the middle of the dungeon."

Hearing that, Nick's eyes flared. "Are you people mad?! That's where the Hunter Slayer is!"

"We know! It's just that with the dungeon as it is, most of the treasures have been looted clean up to the third floor. We had enough strength and supplies for a few days journey," Arnold said, clenching his teeth. "We have tried for the third floor three times and succeeded to return alive. I thought we are already prepared to descend another floor."

"There is a reason why the fourth floor up to the Boss Room is mostly uncharted lands. It's because the monsters are more dangerous! It's not just the monsters, mostly it's the traps that kills you!" Nick bellowed. "Finishing a floor three times doesn't mean that you can relax!"

The hunters looked down as if they were being berated by their elder.

"Good. As long as you know that. What are you going to do now?" The Paladin patted the leader's shoulders with a kind gaze.

"We are planning to rest for a while before returning to the surface."

Connie nodded. "That's the right decision. Take some of these with you. These are Rejuvenation Pills. These have lower strength compared to what I used earlier but it is more powerful than a regular potion."

"It is?! Thank you!" After seeing the effect of the unfamiliar medicine that she used before, they were ecstatic to have some more lifeline. Their potions have dwindled down to five bottles as they did not expect such a hard fight in the dungeon. It was just their luck.

She handed over 5 round pills wrapped in a cloth onto Linda's palm. "You can buy them for cheap in my store. Windlepoons Concoctions. Remember that! Windlepoons Concoctions. Tell your friends!"

"We will! Thank you!"

They then parted with Arnold's group and continued their way to the next stairs down.

By the time they reached the stairs going down to the fourth floor, Martell had already looked like he was about to die and Illumca was visibly more unfocused.

"I think it's time we take some rest," Nick offered.

The others did not refuse the offer and quickly made a small camp in a corner of the chamber. He gathered some firewood by breaking apart an abandoned treasure chest nearby with his skill. Illumca then lit it with a fire spell.

Martell looked at the fire with a questioning look. "Wouldn't the smoke be trapped if we are making it here?"

"No. That's one of the strange things about Untamed Dungeons. Even if you burn something here, the smoke will not be trapped inside. No death by suffocation for you."

After the fire was properly lit, they sat around it. Nick opened the bag he was carrying and took out some bread and jerkies along with a waterskin.

"It's not much, but it'll hold us."

Connie took the dried, stale bread and sniffed it. She made a disgusted expression. At the stage of her cultivation. Even if she was to abstain from eating for a month, she would be fine, so she had no interest of letting such disgusting thing to enter her mouth. The others were not as lucky.

She then sighed and took out a pouch of pills she made the night before and gave it to them one each.

Nick and Martell held the pink pill the size of a meatball curiously.

"What is this?"

"This is a Fasting Pill. Have a bite."

Somewhat warily, Martel took a sniff. It smelled somewhat fragrant. Like grilled meat. There was also a trace of sweet and sour in the aroma.

The moment they bit into the pink colored pills, the fragrant aroma of grilled meat erupted in their noses. The taste of pickled vegetable and juicy meat filled their tastebud.

"What is this? It's like I'm eating barbecued pork!" Nick shouted in amazement.

"This is delicious!"

"I've never heard of something like this."

Connie plopped the pink pill into her mouth and chewed it with relish. "Smell, taste, touch. The pill tricks these senses to make you think that you are eating something. The pill itself has enough nutrients and calories to fill you up for a whole day. It's something low levelled cultivator use when going for a long meditation or journey. Anyone above Shedding Mortality has no use for it aside from hobbies," she licked her lips with a satisfied smile.

Nick looked at the rest of the pink pills with a thoughtful gaze. After so many miraculous things he saw, he no longer doubted Connie's expertise. "These pink pills…how long do they last?"

"Years. These are basically dried food."

"I see," she took one of the pills and gazed at it. "If only they have these on the warfront…then many people…wouldn't have died."

"…Children wouldn't have to be sold," Martell's words were quiet. So quiet that no one would have heard it.

"Sadly, no. Like I said, these contains calories and nutrients, things derived from real food that needed to be distilled with the same amount of food. Rules of balance. It can only solve storage and shelf-life problem," Connie gestured at Martell. "Not famine."

"I guess you don't need my food then," Nick said embarrassedly.

Connie grabbed the jerky from Nick's hand. "That does not mean I don't enjoy a good jerky. Fork them over. As for the bread? Give it to the pigeons."

After they cleaned up, Connie laid her head down on Illumca's lap, chewing on a piece of jerky.

Nick and Martell sat side by side while watching the fire.

"Tell me, Nick. Why did you invite me here?" Connie said after a moment of silence. "If you know about the sword's whereabouts, why not take it for yourself?"

"…what do you know about Grunford?"

"Only that it should be a sword that had been passed down though the family since the beginning."

"That is true. But that is not all. Grunford is a mythical sword that chooses its wielder and the sole symbol of military might in our kingdom. It was held by the First King during the battle of the Founding of the Kingdom. The one who wields it wields the full military might of Calendia."

"The Duke told me of its location," the man said. "Me, the only man who despised him more than anything."

"What do you mean?" Illumca inquired.

"…it's an old story."

"We have time. Go ahead."

Nick threw a piece of wood into the fire and began telling them about his story.

About 18 years ago, Nick was the private guard assigned to the daughter of Earl Aaron Gillenspie. The Earl's daughter's name was Marie Gillenspie.

"She was your mother," he said sullenly. "She was beautiful, warm, and kind. A bit of a clumsy little thing. And a dreamer."

"Did you love her?" Illumca asked, seeing the gentle expression on the scruffy rogue.

"Me? Nonono. Not the kind you are thinking about. It was more of a brotherly love, I think. I simply wish for her happiness."

Connie shifted her head for a better position on Illumca's lap and urged him to continue while the boy seemed to be transfixed with the campfire. The direction of his ear, however, indicated that he was actually listening.

Nick took a deep breath.

"Duke Steelheart, at the time he had just inherited the position after his father died of sourness of the stomach. He was a great knight. Charming, handsome, and beloved by all. Only, he had love for women. Many young girls of age fell in love with him and he knew it well. And one of those girls was the Young Mistress," his words halted for a second.

"Even among the girls she stood out with her qualities. And it did not take long for the two to get married."

"That was fine. She was happy. And all was fine," Nick's voice grew morose and his clasped hands squeezed tight until they were white. "Until I found out that he had no control over his fucking dick."

"The bastard had mistresses on the side. Not just one or two, but several. This included that bitch of a stepmother of yours. I confronted him about it and he simply brushed it off. So, I took a shot at the bastard and decked him some. We got into a scuffle and I was forced to serve as a soldier at the frontline against the demons."

"The battle was fierce, and many of my men died under the demons' hands. Some of the new recruits were so scared that they lost their minds. I spent more than more than 3 years serving in that hellhole, until one day I received a letter."

He put a hand into his inner breast pocket and took out a piece of paper so worn down it almost disintegrated from moisture. He handed it over to Connie, who read the content carefully. The letter was short and the drag of the ink on the letter looked like it was written in a hurry. The remnants of the Duke Steelheart's seal could still be made out at the bottom of the paper.

The letter was about her mother's death. She vaguely remembered her, though not her face. At the time she was about 2 years old and the distinct disappearance of her mother was very upsetting.

"I've long wanted to burn the damn thing but never found the courage to."

He took the letter and put it into the fire. The flame gobbled up the paper in no time at all. A feeling of relief made his taut expression loosen a bit.

"That night I stole a horse and ran back to Cairula and broke into your father's office with a sword. The damn bastard then told me that he had her buried in the family lot in the Capital. That was also the first time I met that Carell bitch."

"On that same day he told me the location of Grunford."

"Then I asked him why he would tell me. As you understand, there is no one I wanted to kill more than him."

"And then he said, "Because this pertains the real cause of her death."."

"Over the course of the next few days, I was kicked out of military service for deserting and into Steelheart's employment," he gritted his teeth. "Normally, deserting is grounds for execution. But the shithead used his connections to stop the matter from escalating in exchange for my loyalty."

"How come I've never met you, then?" Connie asked.

"I asked to be stationed at the Capital. To guard the grave of your mother. But after his death I decided to return. And who did I see? A naïve child who believes anything that she was told."

Connie did not refute this. For indeed Cornelia was foolish girl. She simply said. "Reasonable."

"However, I owe it to your mother to protect you. That is why I stayed under the Steelheart's employment while tracing this dungeon. When you were kidnapped, I was still in the fourth floor, trying to find the hidden portal that goes to our destination."

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"…I did," he paused for a while, clenching and unclenching his fist. "I was planning to give the map to you and leave. Leave everything behind and start a new life. But then you changed. For better or worse you changed. You survived against a B – Rank monster and even managed to wipe out a full party of hunters. And then you dare to fight against that bitch. With all that, I want to see if you have what it takes to do what I can't do."

"And what is it that you want to do?"

"Find out the truth of her death. With what my status, I cannot fight against the power that plotted her death."

"You have suspicions," Connie stated. It was not a question. A statement. One that she gave after seeing his determined look.

"Yes. The leader of the Nobles Faction in the Capital."

"Gladstone," Illumca blurted out. Memories of Kelly's employer surfaced momentarily. "The assassins sent after you were also looking for Grunford, Connie."

"What assassins?!" This was news to Nick.

"Raoul Gladstone sent assassins after me. They thought I know where Grunford was. They made the mistake of thinking they were enough to subdue me," Connie reached out and caressed Illumca's cheek with a grin.

"We took care of them," the dark elf added with a grin that was as dark as her skin. "We took care of them very well..."

Martell and Nick felt shivers going down their spine when she spoke those words.

"I…see. Then that suspicion might be correct…"

No one said anything, waiting for the middle-aged Paladin to finish. He shifted uncomfortably before staring straight at the daughter of his dead Mistress.

"I have to say. I harbor resentment against the whole family. Including you," he said straightforwardly. "But that does not mean that I wish for your death."

"I understand," For Connie who had experienced the complexity of a cultivator's life, it was easier to accept someone so forthright with his goals.

"In exchange for the location of the sword, I ask this of you."

He bowed towards her. "Please. Find out what happened. Find out who killed Marie Gillenspie."

"You'd trade the sword of the First King for the sake of a woman who you did not even love?" the young boy asked. "I don't understand."

"Love comes as many things, boy," Nick replied.

"But isn't she the daughter of the man you hate?" the boy asked again.

"She is also of her blood."

"I – I don't understand," for the first time in his life, Martell was shaken. Many have declared their love for him in bed. So to him the word love was something without meaning. Without substance. Yet the words Nick said went contrary to his view. How could one love someone if not because of desire?

Was love not about owning someone and inflicting their desires upon him?

Was love not about lust and pain and pleasure?

As he was struggling with this new concept, he felt dizzy and disgusted. He wanted to puke so he ran to the side and emptied his stomach.

"What's with him?" Nick scratched his head.

Connie did not answer. It was too bothersome to explain what the boy had been through.

After the beastfolk boy returned, they went to sleep with Connie staying up guard the others. She had little need of sleep so she chose to try absorbing the energy contained within the Essence Crystals while keeping alert for any changes in the environment.

Her Poison Core greedily absorbed the energy, only for her to then realize that a good part of it was not absorbed, seemingly vanishing from her body.

She tried to find out what it was yet could not find the cause.

After a while she gave up and continued refining and meditating until the time for the others to wake up.