The sun was setting when the two groups returned to the settlement, tired out after their long day. Goliath’s stomach grumbled in response to the delicious smell of food wafting from where supper was being prepared. Something was already bubbling in a pot over the fire, and strips of meat were roasting beside it. A second pot sat in the coals, containing more of Becta’s fantastic bread, unless Goliath was very much mistaken.

  ‘Golith!’ Mirabelle cried, being the first to spot them and rushing over.

  He picked her up midstride and swung her around as she laughed. That didn’t last long. She gave him a disapproving look as soon as he set her down. ‘You stink,’ she noted, wrinkling her nose accusingly. He laughed at the disgust on her face while inwardly marvelling at how easy their relationship was becoming. He had never been that comfortable around children, but Mirabelle was different. I guess it’s because she’s mine, he thought, slightly amazed at how natural that thought seemed now compared to the beginning when he didn’t know what to do with the crying child he found in Tia’s care.

  Mirabelle’s cry had alerted the rest of the settlers to their return, and they also rushed up to them to catch up on their day.

  ‘Oh, thank the Gods,’ Granny Manon called from her seat beside the fire. ‘Gwyn, get over here, Benji’s been hurt.’

  ‘I’m fine, Granny,’ Benji responded from where he was reclining beside her, sounding a bit hazy.

  ‘We’ll let Gwyn be the judge of that,’ Granny Manon huffed. ‘You just keep quiet where you are.’

  ‘What happened?’ Goliath asked, taking a closer look at Benji as Gwyn started her examination. The youth had a darkly coloured bruise on his forehead and looked, despite his protestation, slightly disoriented.

  ‘I can explain—’ Isaac said.

  ‘There was a spy,’ Tia interrupted. ‘Goliath, we cannot have spies.’ Her eyes flickered from Mirabelle to him.

  ‘Now wait a moment, let me hear the full story. Please explain, Isaac.’

  Hearing Isaac’s tale was quite concerning, not only because Mirabelle had been present, but also knowing that strangers were watching them.

  ‘Could you see anything about the man?’ he questioned them.

  ‘It happened so fast,’ Ana responded, ‘it was hard to tell much about him at all. His clothing reminded me of Mayor Marbles’ guards’ uniforms, but I would hesitate to say he was definitely one of them.’

  Goliath nodded slowly, remembering what Samuel had told him he had heard when his group was turned away from Marbleville. Samuel was also frowning in concern. ‘It would make sense from what we have seen of Mayor Marbles so far, but I agree, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. What is clear is that we need to be more vigilant around the settlement. I hereby call for our first official settlement meeting around the fire …,’ he once again noticed Mirabelle’s disgusted sniffing and Ana, too, who was, very politely, angling herself to be downwind from the group, ‘… in an hour. We’ve had a long day. Let’s give our groups and me a bit of time to clean up, and when we return, we’ll go through everything.’

  <>

  Later, everyone had taken a seat around the fire. The food was delicious, especially Becta’s savoury bread, which they dipped into the stew alongside the barbecued strips of meat. Once everyone had a helping of food, Goliath called the first settlement meeting to order. Then he frowned as Tia appeared with a scroll and pen beside him.

  ‘What is this, Tia?’

  ‘According to settlement regulations, all meetings must be documented. I am here to document.’ This was a rule Goliath was aware of, only he had never seen an assistant do it manually before.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  ‘But don’t you document everything in your memory, anyway?’

  She flickered slightly. ‘Yes, I do. But since I’ve lost some of my memories, I’ve decided to add a manual documentation rule to my function.’ Again, there was a slight flicker.

  Goliath nodded, ‘Yes, that seems prudent. Please proceed. All right, everyone. As Founder, I now call our first settlement meeting to order.’ For the second time that evening, he noticed Tia’s eyes flicker to Mirabelle, who was seated on his lap. ‘Do you agree, Mirabelle?’ he amended.

  ‘Es,’ Mirabelle said, nodding, getting into the settlement meeting spirit.

  ‘I have several issues I want to raise,’ Goliath continued. ‘They are mostly administrative and about the roles we’ll need filled in our community. I suggest that once we have worked through all of those, we have a broader discussion where I can also hear input and suggestions from all of you. However, there is one matter I would like to start with, concerning Mirabelle, that we should address before her bedtime.’ He looked over to Michael. ‘Do you still have it?’

  He nodded, pulling out a wriggling creature from his cloak, and Goliath held his breath, dearly hoping that this was the puppy. It was the moment of truth. Tony, Gwyn, and Ana all tensed, looking from the creature to Mirabelle in expectation. Mirabelle, however, didn’t show a moment’s hesitation, as she took one look at it and lit up. ‘Puppy!’ she cried, rushing towards it.

  Goliath breathed a sigh of relief as the quest completion message appeared.

  Quest completed: A puppy for Mirabelle

  A puppy for Mirabelle has been found! Due to the essential nature of this quest, all rewards have been boosted accordingly.

  Quest reward allocated:

  +10% [&*@$# (*@#^&] immunity for Ana, Benji, Gwyn, Michael, Tony

  ‘Essential nature of this quest? Why is a puppy so important?’ Ana wondered. Goliath just vaguely shrugged in response.

  Luckily, another detail concerned Tony and helped draw their attention away from why a quest for Mirabelle was so finely rewarded. ‘We have immunity from what?’ he asked, as astonished as the rest. ‘And, why do we need immunity?’

  ‘Tia?’ Goliath asked, guessing that if anything, she might know since he suspected she had a good deal to do with the quest in the first place.

  ‘What? It’s a very good reward. The previous town’s people constantly competed to get more of it. You should consider yourselves lucky the system thought the quest valuable enough to award it.’

  ‘The previous town that reverted to an abandoned settlement called “Cursed End”, right?’ Gwyn asked.

  Ranca looked nervous. ‘It’s not immunity from a plague, is it? Did the town have a plague?’

  ‘No, it’s not from a plague. At least, I don’t think it is,’ Tia responded.

  ‘Well, I like it. I’ve never had immunity from anything before,’ Benji stated.

  ‘Hush, you, Gwyn said you’re concussed and need to be still,’ Granny Manon scolded, looking shrewdly at Mirabelle laughing at the jubilant creature in her arms. Its long body wriggled from side to side while it licked her face. It had a reddish-golden coat of wiry hair, a long snout, rounded floppy ears, and black button-like eyes.

  ‘Wait, I can see something about it with my physician’s sight,’ Gwyn said. ‘Its back isn’t correctly configured for its length.’

  ‘You mean we got a bad puppy?’ Goliath asked.

  ‘No, it’s normal for its species, but we all must be mindful of its back. Look, Mirabelle, when you pick up the puppy, you must do it like this.’ She picked up the puppy, demonstrating to Mirabelle how to support its back and keep it aligned in her hold. ‘Now you try,’ she said, letting Mirabelle practise it, while cautioning her to be careful when she picks it up.

  ‘Mirabelle careful with puppy,’ Mirabelle solemnly nodded, holding the puppy in her arms. Goliath made a note to himself to keep an eye on Mirabelle and the puppy. Once Mirabelle put it down, it gave a small yip and started racing in circles, Mirabelle running off after it. He smiled, letting them go their way under Ana’s supervision.

  ‘Physician’s sight, eh?’ Granny Manon added. ‘Something tells me your group also had some experiences today, aside from finding the puppy.’

  ‘Experiences indeed,’ Samuel said, as the rest of the groups launched into their description of the day’s events, taking turns at narrating while the rest of the settlers ooohed and ahed.

  ‘A dungeon?’ Octa said, the middle-aged seamstress looking quite intrigued.

  ‘Yes, can you believe it?’ Samuel replied.

  ‘It’s amazing. I’ve always been fascinated by dungeons, and now there is one right in my new settlement. And one that has a mystery to solve, no less.’

  ‘And I’m sure we’ll leave the dungeon diving to the professionals,’ Ranca said pointedly at her sister.

  ‘What professionals? We’re the ones who’re here now,’ Becta interjected unhelpfully at his aunt.

  Reminded of his list, which included appointing a dungeon keeper, Goliath took control. ‘All right, well, now that everyone is caught up with the day’s events, let’s continue. I still have quite a few matters to discuss.’

  <><><>

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