Assimilate All Talents

Chapter 340 Betrayal and Pianos?

from the shadows cast by the chandelier, the shadow crawler rose from the ground and leaned casually on the table.

shadow crawler grinned as his tail wiggled back and forth. "hey. did you miss me?"

"i thought you were going to explore the city?" valerie asked, confused since commander zaman had just left.

at her question, shadow crawler made a pouting face. "well, i tried to! but everyone either ran away or tried to fight me the moment i showed my face. i couldn't even try the local food, even though i was willing to pay in gold coins. and before you ask—no, i didn't steal or hurt anyone. mother said not to."

'he has gold?' valerie thought.

though several things about what he said were odd, she understood his plight. people would naturally be terrified by the sight of a monster roaming the city, and anyone who recognized him as the boss monster of the necropolis dungeon would only panic more. she hadn't considered this problem when she initially made the deal with the dungeon.

for everyone's best interest, she knew she had to resolve this before it caused widespread panic over a supposed monster outbreak.

"i'm sorry for that. soon, i will address the people about our cooperation with the dungeon, which should calm their fears. could you and the other monsters wait until then?"

"oh, that would be nice! but i'll probably be the only one allowed to walk around and explore, so don't worry too much about it." shadow crawler didn't mind staying put, as his time on the surface was limited anyway.

"how so?" valerie asked, curious.

"well..." shadow crawler tapped his chin. "most of the normal floor monsters can't even talk, either they're not smart enough or they lack the organs to do so. as for us bosses, we can talk, but gravedigger is a musclehead who can't help but pick fights, handless fiend is completely focused on mastering his law technique, and bone hydra... well, have you seen how big he is? no, of course you haven't, since no one's reached the last floor. but he's big. like, really big. it'd be super inconvenient for him to come up. so, i'll be the one you deal with. speaking of which, why did you call me here?"

valerie's expression sobered. she clasped her hands in front of her and took a deep breath.

"i called you here because i need your help."

shadow crawler tilted his head. "help? with what exactly?"

"it's about my brother." valerie said quietly. "he... disappeared months ago while exploring a dungeon. they say he was killed in a monster house, but it never made sense to me. he was strong and had multiple life-saving items. even if he encountered a monster house, he should have been able to escape."

shadow crawler narrowed his many eyes thoughtfully. "your brother... oh! you must be talking about prince nelson, right?"

valerie's eyes widened. "you know his name?!"

the boss monster gave a slow nod. "yeah, at least that's what they called the leader of a party that came to challenge me."

valerie held her breath. since shadow crawler was the last enemy before facing real a-rankers, this could only mean one thing.

"was it you... who killed him?"

shadow crawler's eyes narrowed in thought. "before i could, he reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a teleportation gem. he used it to escape."

valerie leaned back, exhaling slowly. a mixture of relief and regret washed over her.

"so... he survived?"

shadow crawler shrugged. "if that gem worked properly, yeah. but teleporting out of a boss room is tricky. if he was lucky, he ended up outside one of the two gates. if not, well, he could have ended up somewhere else."

valerie stared at the table, piecing it all together. her brother had been betrayed by his own party—traitors aligned with the rebellious nobles. he barely survived, only escaping thanks to a teleportation gem.

but where did he go?

and why hadn't he returned?

shadow crawler watched her in silence. "so, does that give you the closure you were looking for?"

valerie's gaze hardened. "no. but i'm glad to know the truth."

she stood. "if my brother survived, i need to find him."

shadow crawler tilted his head. "sounds like a lot of work."

"it is." valerie replied firmly. "but he may need my help."

for a moment, neither of them spoke. then shadow crawler chuckled.

"well, good luck with that. say... since i helped you out, mind doing me a favor?"

valerie raised an eyebrow, suspicious.

shadow crawler grinned. "don't worry, princess. nothing bad. since i can't buy things in the city, can you deliver some stuff to the dungeon?"

"that can be arranged. do you have something in particular?"

"oh, just a few things. here." from a shadow, he pulled out a scroll and handed it over.

unfurling the scroll, valerie's eyes slowly widened as she read the ridiculously long list of items.

it started normally enough, food, some miscellaneous items, but then there were odder items...

"why do you even need two grand pianos?!"