“I’m not giving you the key.” Pos immediately cut that off.

  “And we’ll never ask you to,” Jes said, “but a treasure like that is enough to make even us consider abandoning our independent ventures and joining up with the Adventurer Guild’s commission.”

  Pos raised an eyebrow, intrigued by what the scholar was implying. After the appearance of the Black Tortoise Boss and its horde of monsters, the Guild has an open commission for adventurers to clear the monsters within the dungeon, but it was the former part of what Jes said that caught his attention.

  “Oh? And what independent ventures might that be?”

  “Oh, the usual. Dungeon delving, some adventurer work, and maybe a little spying on the side.” Vorma answered with an ease that Pos did not feel.

  He whistled softly. “I see you lot have been rather busy,” his gaze flickered between them, and he lowered his voice to a whisper. “I thought Maglor left. Who are you lot spying for?”

  “Anyone who can pay, apparently,” Umdar muttered, earning a glare from Vorma.

  “Let’s just say we’re monitoring certain activities in the area, and… informing certain interested parties of what’s going on.” The [Sorceress] said.

  “She means the dwarven king and the elves.” Nog cut in. Shrugging off the glares she got for her response, Nog continued. “The king got someone to replace Maglor, and we are to report if the humans truly intend to enter the Vale of Dunkal. Naturally, the elves are also very interested in that.”

  “The Vale of Dunkal? You lot want to be involved in a species war?” The flicker of unease in Pos’s eyes told the party what he felt about that.

  “By the Stones; No. We are merely keeping an eye on things.” Jes clarified. “Dwarves are not involved in the conflict, and honestly, I’m not entirely convinced it will come to that.”

  Pos shook his head. “If the Bright Empire entered the Vale, then it will be war. And keeping an eye on things usually involves sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. Which usually means trouble. This Vale business is between the humans and the elves. It’s best we leave it alone.” He paused, considering them with a shrewd look. “Unless the pay is good. What’s the going rate for information these days?”

  Nog snorted. “Good enough for us to risk our necks. Though I doubt you’d be happy with our paymaster,” she said. “Your view about the [King] is well known.”

  “Gold is gold.” Pos shrugged pointedly.

  “Our loyalties lie with the dwarven people.” Umdar coughed, clearly disagreeing with everyone’s candor.

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  Ever the diplomat, Jes simply watched Pos. “Pos, we're not looking to start anything,” the [Scholar] said smoothly. “We’re just looking. Ideally, we want to prevent a war from starting, but our job is just assessing the landscape and reporting it. War is no good for anyone, especially for a dungeon town.”

  Pos had to agree with that. When war comes, kingdoms called up every Classed they could get their hands on, and chances are all the human adventurers from the Bright Empire would be drafted. Even humans not from the Bright Empire might be pressured to join up.

  The elves would do the same, calling up every elvish Classed in the region. Everyone else would get offers to fight for either side. Pos would not be surprised if someone approach him soon with an offer. Not that he would be stupid enough to be involved in a species war, but some Classed would be tempted. War means conflict, and that meant more than just gold. It meant levels.

  However, if a war happened, there would be less adventurers going into the dungeon. That meant slower growth for it, and that’s a bad thing for Pos, whose livelihood depended on the dungeon.

  Pos sighed. “So, I take it you are here to recruit me to ‘assist’ with your observations.” His ‘assist’ hung in the air, dripping with skepticism.

  “Think of it as working for the elves if you can’t stomach working for the dwarven king. They’re even more interested in what’s happening here than our ‘beloved’ King of Stone and Earth.” Vorma said, using one of the many titles the dwarven king had bestowed on himself.

  Pos scoffed. “So, what do you want of me? Oh, and I will do nothing that directly threatened the dungeon.”

  Jes gave Pos a firm nod. “Naturally. We’re all greedy dwarves, not suicidal ones. We simply require someone familiar with the upper echelon of the Guild here in Viaggia. Someone who can ask questions without raising any alarms.”

  “What kind of questions?”

  “Any unusual requests from the capital for more adventurers to report to the border. Any alterations to the trade routes – basically anything that would suggest that the Empire is gearing up for a big war.” Umdar answered.

  “It’s not even spying really,” Jes added, “the dwarven kingdom just wants us to keep an eye out. An early warning system if you will, in case something does happen. Nothing truly dangerous on our part.”

  “Asking question is dangerous,” Pos bite back. However, there was no heat to it. He paused to let the proposition sink in. In theory, Pos wasn’t against the idea of reporting on the humans, especially if it was to prevent a potential species war. However, …

  “This doesn’t make sense.” he finally said. “Why would the ‘Dwarven’ king care about a war in the World Above? Between the humans and the elves, no less. That makes no sense.”

  The party looked among themselves once more, and this time Pos could tell that they really were silently discussing something among themselves. Then, one by one, each member gave Jes a nod. The [Scholar] was the designated spokesman of the party.

  “Before he left, Maglor gave us some information. So that we can do our job better, and to impress upon us the seriousness of the job.” Pos frowned, not liking where this was going but Jes did not stop. “The king cares about the potential war because he believes the humans’ ambitions might not stop at the Vale of Dunkal.”

  “What do you mean?”

  The [Scholar] hesitantly answered Pos’ question. “The [King] believes the Vale of Dunkal is only the first step. The army the Bright Empire put together is too big just for the vale. He thinks the humans might not stop there. He believe the humans will enter the forest. He believes the humans want all of the forest. All the lands. And they don’t mind killing all the elves to get it.”

  Pos blinked, several times in succession, in total disbelief. “What?”