Dawn was a cruel mistress.
Somehow, I'd forgotten that after centuries of sleeping until noon. The sun rose far too early, and the heroes were annoyingly cheerful about it.
"Good morning, Kaito-san!" Ren practically shouted, his armor gleaming in the early light. "Beautiful day for an adventure!"
It was just after five in the morning. There was nothing beautiful about it.
"Mm," I grunted as I locked the tavern door behind me. I'd left a sign that read "Closed for Inventory." That wasn't really a lie. I planned to count just how many bad decisions I'd made over my long life.
Current count: all of them.
"You seem tired," Yuki observed, adjusting her pointed hat. The mage had her nose in a book even while walking, which was either impressive or a sign she was going to walk into a tree. "Did you not sleep well?"
"I slept fine," I lied. The truth was, I'd spent half the night trying to remember what I'd left in that cellar. When you've lived for over a thousand years, your memory gets a little fuzzy—especially about things you did while drunk.
And I'd been very drunk when I'd sealed that cellar.
"The anticipation must be overwhelming," Hiro said ki"The anticipation must be overwhelming," Hiro said kindly, his priest robes swishing as he walked. He had a gentle face and the sort of optimism that made me feel old. "To guide us to such a legendary place, you must feel honored."ething," I muttered.
Sora, the rogue, had been quiet so far, her eyes scanning the forest around us with professional paranoia. She moved like a cat, all coiled energy and suspicion. Every few steps, she'd glance back at me with narrowed eyes.
Smart girl. She didn't trust me.
Good instincts. I didn't trust me either.
"So, Kaito-san," Ren said, falling into step beside me. "How do you know about the dungeon's location? The legends say it's been lost for centuries."
Ah. There it was.
"Family knowledge," I said smoothly. "Passed down thr"Family knowledge," I said smoothly. "Passed down through generations. My great-great-great..." I paused, pretending to count on my fingers. "...great-grandfather was a cartographer. He made maps of the region." tripping over a root. "Do you still have those maps? They'd be invaluable historical documents!"
"Tragically lost in a fire," I said. "Very sad. Anyway, we're almost there."
We were nowhere near there. We still had at least an hour to go. But I had to change the subject before Yuki started asking questions I couldn't answer without admitting I was the historical document.
"Tell me about this Demon Lord Valdris," I said, mostly because I was morbidly curious about what my former student had been up to. "What's he done that's so terrible?"
The mood immediately darkened.
"He's conquered the eastern kingdoms," Ren said, his hand moving to his sword hilt. "He's enslaved thousands. His armies are unstoppable, filled with monsters and demons that follow his every command."
"He's corrupted the land itself," Hiro added quietly. "Where his forces march, the earth turns black and nothing grows. Villages are destroyed, families torn apart."And he's searching for something," Yuki said, looking serious. "Ancient artifacts of power. The legends say he's trying to bring back some kind of forbidden magic from the Age of Founders."s."
Oh, for the love of—
Valdris, you absolute idiot.
I'd taught him better than that. Forbidden magic was off-limits for a reason, and that reason was usually that it would blow up in your face and take half a continent with it.
"The Founder's Blade is our only hope," Ren continued. "According to the prophecy, only a weapon forged in the Age of Founders can strike down Valdris. That's why we must reach the dungeon."
Prophecy. Of course there was a prophecy.
I hated prophI hated prophecies. Half the time, they were just drunk oracles making things up. The rest were self-fulfilling because people kept trying to make them come true.e blade isn't there?" I asked, because I was a masochist apparently.
"It has to be," Ren said with absolute certainty. "The Founder wouldn't have created such a dungeon without leaving something important inside. Everything the Founder did had meaning. Had purpose."
I thought aboI remembered the time I spent three months building a magical fountain that only made fart noises.ght.
"We're here," I announced, stopping at what looked like an overgrown hillside.
The heroes looked around, confused.
"I don't see anything," Sora said suspiciously.
"That's because it's hidden," I said, walking toward a cluster of vines. "The Founder was clever like that."
I pushed the vines aside and revealed a stone archway covered in elaborate runes. The entrance was impressive—I had to give my past self credit. The runes glowed faintly with leftover magic, and the black stone of the archway seemed to swallow the light.
Very dramatic. Very mysterious.
Very much overkill for a wine cellar.
"By the gods," Yuki breathed, immediately pulling out a notebook. "These runes—they're in Old Script! I've only seen this in ancient texts!"
"The craftsmanship is incredible," Hiro said, running his hand along the stone. "The magic is still active after all these centuries."
Ren drew his sword, his expression hardening into determination. "Everyone, stay alert. From here on, we're in danger."
We were in danger of finding some very expired wine, maybe.
"The entrance alone radiates power," Yuki continued, her eyes wide. "What kind of challenges await us inside?"
"Probably some traps," I said, which was true. "Maybe some monsters." That was also true; things had probably moved in over the centuries. "The usual dungeon stuff."
"The usual dungeon stuff," Sora repeated flatly. "This is the Dungeon of Eternal Shadows. There's nothing usual about it."
"Right. Yes. Very unusual. Very shadowy." I pushed open the stone door, which groaned dramatically. Past-me had definitely enchanted it to do that. "Watch your step."
The interior was dark, lit only by the same faintly glowing runes that lined the walls. The air was cool and smelled of earth and old magic. The entrance hall stretched ahead, disappearing into darkness.
"Stay close," Ren ordered. "Yuki, light."
Yuki raised her staff, and a ball of light appeared at its tip, illuminating the corridor.
I could have told them the runes gave off enough light if you knew how to use them, but that would mean explaining how I knew that.
We moved forward slowly, the heroes treating every shadow like it might contain a monster. I just walked, hands in my pockets, trying to remember the layout.
Wine cellar, wine cellar… I'd had the reds on the left, whites on the right, and the experimental stuff in the back. Or was it the other way around?
"Kaito-san, wait!" Hiro hissed. "There's something ahead!"
I stopped, looking down.
Oh. Right. The pressure plates.
I'd put those in to keep my drunk self from stumbling into the good wine. If you stepped on one, it set off a minor alarm spell. Annoying, but harmless.
"It's a trap," Sora whispered, crouching to examine the floor. "Pressure-sensitive. Probably triggers something nasty."
"We need to disarm it," Yuki said, kneeling beside her. "But the mechanism is ancient. One wrong move and—"
I walked across the pressure plate.
Nothing happened.
The heroes stared at me.
"What are you doing?!" Ren shouted. "You could have been killed!"
"It's fine," I said. "These old traps don't work anymore. Time degrades the magic."
That was partly true. The trap didn't work because I'd set it to ignore my magical signature. They didn't need to know that, though.
"That was incredibly reckless," Yuki said, though she looked more fascinated than angry. "You're lucky the degradation was complete. A partially functional trap would have been even more dangerous."
"Lucky," I agreed. "That's me."
Sora was still staring at the pressure plate, her expression thoughtful. "How did you know it wouldn't work?"
"I didn't," I lied. "Just a hunch."
Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't press the issue.
We kept going, and I started to remember more of the layout. There was the corridor where I'd stored the barrels, the side room for the brewing equipment, and the...
A growl echoed through the darkness.
Everyone froze.
"What was that?" Hiro whispered.
Another growl, closer this time. Then another. And another.
Oh, right. The shadow wolves.
I'd forgotten about those.
"Monsters," Ren said, raising his sword. "Everyone, formation!"
The heroes got into a practiced formation: Ren in front, Sora on the side, Yuki and Hiro in the back. They looked professional and competent.
They were going to get eaten.
ShaShadow wolves weren't very dangerous to me, but for a group of young adventurers, they were a real threat. The wolves were fast, vicious, and could move through solid walls.hree of them emerged from the walls, their forms made of living darkness, eyes glowing red.
"Shadow wolves!" Yuki shouted. "They're immune to physical attacks! We need magic!"
Ren swore, adjusting his stance. "Yuki, Hiro, focus your attacks! Sora, stay back!"
The wolves circled, growling. They were sizing up the party, looking for weaknesses.
Then one of them looked at me.
And whimpered.
The other two followed its gaze, and I saw the exact moment they recognized what I was. Their growls cut off, their ears flattened, and they backed away slowly.
"What's happening?" Ren asked, confused. "Why aren't they attacking?"
Because shadow wolves were smart enough to know an apex predator when they saw one.
"Maybe they're not hungry?" I suggested weakly.
One of the wolves turned and fled back into the wall. The other two followed immediately.
Silence.
"That was…" Hiro trailed off. "Unusual."
"Very unusual," Sora agreed, looking at me with open suspicion now.
"Maybe they sensed something," Yuki said slowly. "Some kind of protective magic in the dungeon? A ward against monsters?"
"Sure," I said. "Let's go with that."
We kept going, and I started to feel uneasy. It wasn't the dungeon—I knew this place inside and out. It was because I was starting to remember what I'd left in the deepest chamber.
The experimental wine wasn't the problem.
The problem was what I'd been experimenting on while making the wine.
"Kaito-san," Ren said, "you've gone pale. Are you alright?"
"Fine," I said. "Just remembered something."
"What?"
I looked at the corridor ahead, which led down to the lowest level. That was the level I'd sealed with my strongest magic, designed to keep things in rather than out.
"I might have left something dangerous down here after all," I admitted.
"How dangerous?" Sora asked.
I thought about the last time I'd been down there. The experiments. The magical research. The thing I'd been working on before Valdris had been born.
The thing I'd sealed away because even I wasn't sure I could control it.
"Very," I said quietly. "Very dangerous."
Ren's expression hardened with determination. "Then we'll face it together. That's what heroes do."
These kids had no idea what they were walking into.
And the worst part?
Neither did I.
Not anymore.
"Right," I said, starting down the stairs. "Heroes. Let's go be heroic."
I really should have just stayed in bed.