I had six weeks until the wedding. That was when the Demon Prince would attempt to kill his father. Why six weeks? After all, Bernard had the sword and he has his bride. He could attack the Demon King tomorrow. No, I was certain that it would be in six weeks because that is what the narrative suggested. Bernard may think he was completely free of this dungeon, but I was certain that he wasn’t. He wasn’t a Paladin like Carmine or a White Mage and Mimic like me. Although he managed to keep his mind sorted, he was being heavily influenced by the dungeon.

I reasoned out from the safe room’s murals I had already seen that it was the Demon Prince himself who had secured the special metal and ordered the creation of that sword. Creating the sword wasn’t something Xin had done, but something the Demon Prince had attempted and failed to accomplish. He had planned to betray his father since the beginning.

However, Bernard was not the Demon Prince, and so he didn’t know that the sword was something he had come for. The result was that he followed his father and burned the village to the ground. The dungeon allowed him to do this because it wouldn’t have seen the narrative changing much since the sword was always a failure. Except, this time, it wasn’t. It was no mistake that Bernard ended up with the sword.historical

In the end, I was fighting against three different factions battling over this dungeon. There was Xin, an external force that has been influencing and trying to leave the dungeon. There is the demon king, the master of the dungeon, who is trying to preserve it at any cost. Finally, there is the Demon Prince, the one who started the war by kidnapping the princess, then tried to assassinate his father, marry his woman, and become the ruler himself. Bernard was still playing that part perfectly, even if he had no clue he was doing it.

It was time to create a fourth faction. I had started it once, but after a single setback I had convinced myself that I wasn’t qualified. It was easier to run around and play hero. My time with Garnet taught me something. I needed help. I couldn’t do this all on my own. With that thought, I stepped out of my room and then assembled all of the bandits.

I pulled out ingredients from my Inventory and cooked a meal using my Cook skills. It even went up a level after cooking for a hundred people. Their moods immediately improved as they ate. I still lacked a fondness for it since I had been in this dungeon, but I saw it as a tool I could use now. After everyone had their fill and were giving me their full attention, I stood up.

“Boss, what are we going to do?”

I looked over the crowd of eager men. In another situation, they would be enemies. Even in a dungeon, these guys should be mobs attacking me, not allies who looked at me with respect.

“I need you to start gathering others. I want everything. Supplies. People. Monsters. Steal it all.”

“People? What are you going to do with people?” One of the men asked in surprise.

I raised my hand, looking curiously as miasma poured out of it. When my Mimic ability had gone up, I had received a new ability. It was time that I tested it out.