Post Reflection and Plots

The raid party fled from the entrance of the dungeon with their hearts still in their throats, not daring to look back for fear of seeing their death chasing after them.

They finally reached the abandoned ruins of a nearby destroyed village, elven by appearance, and hid in one of the more intact houses.

"W-what the fuck were those monsters!?" One of the surviving members seemed to have a mental breakdown.

They had all signed up for treasure, and even expected deaths, hoping they would eventually win with numbers and that those who died wouldn't be them. Should they have succeeded, their reward would have been unimaginable, enough to live lavishly for the next decade.

However, the dungeon monsters were nothing like what they had been briefed on and had instantly demolished the parties frontline defense, the remaining members not far off from death too.

Not even Kalvin, the Second Step ranker, could protect them from this onslaught as a giant over-armored golem was cunningly used to hinder him.

"Those are… unique monsters that come from breeding," Irie said while pinching her brow.

She was completely unharmed, but this was due to the sly commands Styx gave to the monsters to make them always target someone else, leaving her to "luckily" survive without suffering any injuries.

"Wasn't the report that most of the monsters were killed last time?" The beastman asked while bandaging up the injuries under his blood matted fur.

"Yes, we believed that."

"Not to mention, the monsters were also armored this time too."

"That was also a surprise."

"Do you think it was purposeful, so as to lure us in with the wrong information?"

Irie seemed to think on it, and whilst she was in communication with Styx, not even she understood the dungeon's plans or its forces.

"It is possible. Whoever is the dungeon lord of this dungeon seems to constantly be a step ahead of us."

"Is it that elf which is in the reports and appeared in the attack? She is very skilled, Alan didn't even have a chance to defend himself before he was killed."

"It's also possible, but we have no concrete evidence. There is also the unknown dark elf that appeared, but we hold no information on her either. No matter how I look at it though, the dungeon appears to be as far from elvish design as I can think."

The beastman nodded in agreement at this and shuddered momentarily before stating, "We all saw those designs on the walls. Could the dungeon lord be a demon? I know our kingdom is at war with them, and they must have sent spies deeper into human territory."

"…I don't know," Irie shook her head in ignorance. "They would most likely just bribe humans, it is far more effective, but I will add it on the report."

The healer who was sitting off to the side in an eerie silence finally raised his head and spoke sorrowfully, "What about us? Surely we should be getting some bonus compensation, right?"

All the other remaining raid members hastily agreed with him and joined in the seeking of better benefits, the pressure of which solely fell onto Irie's shoulders now that Kalvin was gone.

Even though it was against company policy as this is what they originally agreed to and were paid a base enlistment fee, she had her own agenda and naturally wanted them happy.

"Please don't worry, I understand how you are all feeling and will do my best to ensure everyone is fairly compensated. I may even be able to give you good paying jobs later too, but I will need everyone on my side, though."

The adventurers lived and died for gold, and at the scent of money, they rapidly agreed to whatever she wanted and aligned themselves to support her opinions. She could have told them that there was zero evidence that there was a demon controlling the dungeon, and they would all instantly nod in agreement by this point.

Later that night, when everyone was resting after the healer had tended to all their wounds with magic, the racoon beastman approached and sat beside Irie and spoke with her in a voice the others wouldn't be able to hear.

"Excuse me Miss Irie, the thing is, I have some concerns."

"What's the matter?" She asked back equally quietly.

He pinched and stroked his whiskers nervously as if unsure how to express a difficult question. "Kalvin was a Second Step ranker, a Hunter specializing in dexterity and ability to move around quickly nonetheless. He wouldn't simply trip for no reason. At the same time, I sensed some actions that were done in secret."

Irie instantly understood what he was getting at. The beastman was hinting that he knew that she had a hand in leading to Kalvin's death which was far less accidental than it seemed.

As for why he was bringing up this knowledge in secret with her, she also understood immediately. He acted concerned over the act but was instead aiming to use this knowledge to secure better benefits for himself.

To put it simply, it was blackmail.

"It is sad that he fell in the dungeon, but he made several poor decisions and someone needs to take responsibility for today's failure. Whilst he won't be able to take that responsibility personally, his actions led to the complete failure of our raid when we could have retreated earlier and not confronted the monsters head on."

"…"

"Of course, while this is a sad matter, it does free up some of the company's resources so we could take on some fresh employees. Those who can take care of the company's matters and grow in a safer environment."

"Miss Irie, perhaps I would be able to fulfil that role."

"Competing for resources is hard, after all. Who wouldn't want that role. You are a beastman, and have many natural advantages over humans that are highly valuable. I also think you could fulfil that role, but I believe we need to be at an understanding."

"Of course."

The racoon beastman quickly bobbed his head in agreement. Whilst he was naturally stronger than Irie, she was the most valuable member of the party and held far more authority than him. He hinted his agreement to be supportive of her and in turn she hinted that she will provide him benefits of rare resources.

~~~~~

The human dungeon raid party were entirely unaware, as was Styx, of a certain female beastkin lurking outside the dungeon.

In the treetops above the ruined elven village, the strange beastkin sat in pure silence while looking down toward the half ruined house where the remaining 6 members of the raid party were camping and hiding for the night to rest and recover.

She was 5'9" with long milky white legs and thick thighs. She had full, f-cup breasts which defied gravity even without a bra with their firmness alone, and a supple yet not too large pair of hips.

Her messy hair seemed to be a color darker than black, as if sucking in light itself, which curled and twisted as it extended down her back and below her waist. Two oversized, pitch black scruffy wolf ears extended from the top of her head, one with several brass earring loops through it.

Her face was the personification of beauty itself, with an angled chin and slender nose. The only flaw was her eyes which were the same light absorbing black as her hair but held a lifeless, or emotionless, quality to them.

The greatest blemish to her beauty was the old, tattered robe she wore. It was so worn out the dye of the cloth itself had begun to fade to white while loose threads were all over it. There were even a couple small tears in which her flawless milky white skin could be seen through.

She sat as still as a statue on a branch of the tree save for the occasional twitch of an ear as she focused on the conversation the adventurer party were having.

She showed no desires toward the humans and beastman. If anything, she seemed to be present out of sheer boredom itself, with nothing better to do. The interactions between the people did seem to stave off that boredom though as she was very content just listening to their interactions.

Another portion of her attention was on the entrance to the dungeon, which she was equally curious about.

What seemed more important to her in the present though, was the small plots the humans played out among themselves, their actions based upon lust or greed – desires which she hadn't felt herself for a very long time.