The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

Lanka used the earliest opportunity available to sneak out of the Guild Hall. Despite all the commotion, she was energetic and fresh. In amazement, she realised her eyesight was much better than she remembered to have just two days ago. She looked around, wanting to find the bards who were playing the wonderful music, but she couldn't find any. With a smile, she shook her head in disbelief and sighed.

"Avalon..."

"Lanka!" she heard her sister's voice.

"Hey, Idna! I'm back." She bared her teeth in a grin.

When Idna approached her, she gasped in surprise. She stared at Lanka for a long moment and even walked around her once.

"Lanka... You look beautiful! All your scars are gone. How?"asked her sister.

"It'sss... a long story." Lanka answered with a sigh but saw her sister was looking somewhere else and pointing.

"Hey! It's our house! What are they doing?!"

Idna grabbed Lanka's hand and towed her towards their home. Lanka, with surprise, noticed that her sister was much stronger than a level one receptionist should be. In front of their house, five Avalon Guardsmen stood holding all their belongings. Together with them stood a Maid who, as soon as she saw Lanka, curtsied deeply, lifting the hem of her dress.

"My Lady." She welcomed Lanka, then turned to issue orders to the Guardsmen. "Take Lady's Lanka and Miss Idna's belongings to the manor."

"Wha… my Lady?!" Idna looked at the maid in shock. "This must be some kind of mistake."

"I assure you it is not, Miss Idna." The maid smiled and clapped two times. "Move out, guards. We can't allow our Lady to wait any longer!"

Lanka managed to break free from her sister's grip, staring at the Maid. She looked like a human woman, much prettier than average. She was wearing the same uniform as the maids Lanka had seen in the Palace; an elaborate black and white lace dress that ended just above her knees and a fancy white apron. The dress was a bit revealing, but not controversial by any means. She was also wearing that same black pantyhose Lanka had seen for the first time in the Palace and had fallen in love with. After a quick sigh and a bit longer thought, she cleared her throat and asked.

"Are you one of the servants that King Theon mentioned to me before?"

"Yes, my Lady," the Maid responded with a bright smile, holding her arms crossed on her belly.

"What's your name?" Lanka asked, ignoring the gaze of her sister.

"I don't have any, my Lady."

"I shouldn't disrespect our King and send you away, but in this case, I want to give you a name. May I name you Rin?"

"I'm most gracious, my Lady!" Rin replied happily. "Do you wish, my Lady, to change your clothes before the party?"

Lanka looked at the usual adventuring gear she wore and decided that actually might be a good idea. They followed Rin to their new home, which was located near the town park with a wonderful view. They approached a fence with a gate big enough to let through it a horse wagon. Behind the gate was a round courtyard with a fountain in the middle of it while on the sides grew lovely tall trees that would provide wonderful shade during hot days.

The manor itself was simply big. It was three stories tall and wonderfully decorated with arches, columns, and balconies. In front of the main entrance, a butler and two more maids awaited them. They welcomed Lanka and Idna and then took their belongings from the Guardsman. Rin nodded to the butler, who started issuing orders to the Guardsmen. They entered the big manor and both Lanka and Idna lost their breaths. Inside looked more like the homes of legendary kings that their mother told them about, making them feel out of place here.

"This must be some mistake..." Lanka started as she felt the hand of her sister on her shoulder.

Idna sighed with closed eyes and smiled softly. "Just flow with the river, my sister..."

Lanka laughed, hearing King's Theon wisecrack, but then looked at Idna, wondering where she could have heard that. She remembered hearing it a few times in the Palace from the King himself or as a parody of the King made by the Queen. Lanka decided to ask about it later. Lanka continued to look around. On a big comfortably looking pillow near the fireplace, she saw a sleeping wolf pup.

"What's that Rin? I did not remember asking for a wolf..." Lanka asked, puzzled.

"That's Shade. He is my familiar." Idna explained, suddenly embarrassed.

"That's incredible! Where did you get him?"

"That's a long story..."

•••

The party continued after midnight since everyone was having a great time. They danced, sang songs and ate until they were full. The only alcohol available for now was the beer, which Annika declared as a work in progress, but everyone, including me, said it was the best beer they had ever drank. Amber, Irene and I left the party early, or more precisely, after the wonderful dinner and the first toast. No matter what, both of them had fought for their lives not even two days ago and still needed to rest.

We teleported to the living room. Amber wanted to talk with Irene, so I excused myself and left them. I took a shower. The best part about being a dungeon is the power of changing anything you want. I just added a second door connecting the bathroom to the bedroom. Amber already got used to my never-ending re-arrangement of everything, which only ceased once I was absolutely satisfied. So far, she hadn’t protested even once.

I was lying in the bed for a moment in blissful silence while a calming half-darkness filled the room, with the only light coming from the full moon that shined brightly throughout the night sky. I closed my eyes and looked at Avalon from above.

•••

My scions were diligent in their duties and, to be honest, I rarely had to order them to do anything specific. Galahad, with the rest of the army, was hidden in the underground training chamber. They honed their skills in preparation for the inevitable attack. I knew that an attack on Avalon was not a question of if, but when. Stella was looking for any fairy with healing aptitude, but with no luck so far. Sebastian was calmly ordering slime servants around the castle. He looked like the perfect English butler until he saw mice near the kitchen, which he then killed with a single throwing knife made from his own slime body. With fascination, I watched as the little invader was dissolved by the knife that quickly changed back into a slimy gel. The gel then flowed back quickly towards Sebastian, only to be reabsorbed. He was like the Terminator T-1000 on steroids. Damn...

Arani kept his scouts in the air. All the surrounding areas were under their constant surveillance. After the goblin ambush, their watch continued to expand outwards, exceeding even a day's worth of travel by foot from the castle of Avalon. He was sending expedition after expedition, further and further away, only to confirm what I was afraid of.

Avalon stood in the middle of a sea of green. While I could see the distant mountains in the north from the bedroom windows, in the other directions, there was nothing but a flat, green plain. The only exciting views over there were sparse small forests or a few single boulders that look like they were thrown there by some Titans during a quarrel.

There were no cities or villages. The closest things like that were within a day and a half distance away from Avalon. I had hoped that the village which worked for The Blood Dungeon would be useful, but Bolia Village was now desolated and had started falling into ruin. I sighed. That only showed how much the local people were afraid of the previous Dungeon.

All of this was essentially bad for me. So far, only a handful of adventurers had visited my grounds and just twenty of them met my minimum decency standards. The rest of them returned to where they came from, carrying with them the treasures they managed to loot. No one died, and that made them bolder. I heard their promises to return here once more.

The Respite Tavern I had moved to zone four was now occupied to the brim by groups that looked promising but were not yet ready to take on the trials. One of my Slime Maids and Slime Butler were pretending to be the owners. They played the role of a married couple of retired adventurers who had wandered into Avalon on their way to the capital and finished a Quest in the Dungeon that gave them ownership. I was rather proud of this cover-up story.

Zone four was exactly on the opposite side of Avalon from my Adventurer’s Town. It was a zone with a gate to the outside world; placing the Tavern there enticed Adventurers to stay as long as possible. So my regular income from Adventurers was laughable so far.

That left me with the Quest options. Depending on many different factors, my revenue from quests varied from okayish to amazing. I posted daily quests in the Slime Tavern. Whether they were the most hated fetch quests or 'kill x of that' quests, the Adventurers there woke up early to fish for the best ones. At first, I was reserved about it, but when they took that bait eagerly, I pumped more mana into it.

My biggest issue with Quests was their basic mechanics. Let's say I want to post a quest 'Kill 15 slimes' without any time limit, which would cost me a thousand mana and a sheet of paper. Until the quest is completed, I was 1000 mana shorter. When the quest is completed, I got a total of 1500 mana, so I earned 500. However, when for some reason a Quest is failed, I would lose all the mana I invested in posting it. The more complicated and/or difficult the quest is, the more mana I gained from it. But that also meant I may lose much more if the quest was failed.

As expected, the Trials of The Avalon quest was the riskiest quest I gave and the reason why I kept the most promising adventurers in the tavern.

Another source of income was the never-ending battle against an invading army of pests and rodents that attack my nodes. Fortunately, defences work in auto mode for this. The thought that I would need to focus on every single invader was overwhelming in the scope of the entirety of Avalon. But, it generated mana for me, which admittedly was my most basic and sure income.

I sighed. I hope that the Guild from the town starts regular exploration soon, because I still didn't know how profitable that investment was.

I explored the thought given to me by Sigismund a bit. Depending on the Town's outcome, I could consider it as a valid option. In the end, building another town near Avalon might not be a bad idea after all.

•••

I also needed to think about my latest discoveries. I summoned my memories book that I kept in the empty space between the enchanted stones of my bedroom. If I learned anything and remembered it right from my previous life, I would tell Amber about it and most probably, Irene as well. My journal might be one of the things that could create unnecessary tensions.

So let's start from the beginning.

My perception of time differs between my forms? Views? Dunno what to call it. In the RTS mode, time flows much faster than in FPS mode. I noticed that before, but now I started to understand the implications of it. In RTS mode, I have a broad overview of Avalon, but I pay less attention to details until I specifically focus on them. In FPS, I have full knowledge of the details but I lost the overview. I still got notifications about events occurring throughout Avalon, but until I teleported to the very spot they occur, I didn’t know anything more.

Also, I feel like time doesn't affect me. I know it flows and I see its effects around me, but I'm just the observer. That initially messed with my mind and caused my mood swings, but I regretfully ignored it. And that ignorance, mixed with my all-mighty feeling of invincibility and overabundance of mana, made me a very easy target for Lord Dickhead and his schemes.

When I showed up in this world, the time pressure of 48 hours of free build, from which I already lost a few for being unconscious, made me focus on my current problems more than reliving memories of my previous life.

But from my point of view, my situation was clear.

I died. Period. My family was set for Heaven, according to my deal with the Angels. So simply put, I was never meant to see them again. That... Sucks. But Heaven was the best outcome, so I was happy for them.

Yes, I missed my family but... I was 79. My children had their own lives and had children of their own. Even more, I saw my oldest grandson's daughter. So I would have to be insane to wish them all to join me here. Instead, I made a deal for a place in heaven for them. However, I'm not sure if my later descendants were included. I can only trust Angels.

That left me with only one person that I might have wanted to see again. My wife. I looked at that one sentence from my memories book.

"...her soul followed... But she has forgotten already..."

This could mean anything. From my initial 'what if Amber is my reincarnated wife who has forgotten about her previous life' to anything else, like my wife died not long after me, went to heaven, and has already forgotten about me. Dunno.

All in all, I was sad that I was not going to see my family. However, at the age of forty-something, I understood that my children walked their own paths. I also would have to be some kind of psychopath to wish my wife to join me in this dark world. I'm the Dungeon, and if I can trust the World System, I could live forever as long as I had mana. And living forever alone would earn a new, more dire meaning.

And that's why I was not that unhappy about the whole situation I put myself into with Amber. I was a little surprised, maybe puzzled, but in the end, open to new perspectives. She, as my Queen, was bound with my fate and she was going to live as long as I was alive. I couldn’t tell how much my feelings were forced or inspired by the system and how much of it was my simple fascination with her person. She, on her part, was also using all her charms to conquer my heart, which... did not help with clear thinking.

I sighed... Right now, I'm writing two journals. One is about my past and contains all my thoughts and memories. The second one was about my current life and also contains everything, including my feelings and their descriptions.

I have no idea how Lord Dickhead or another unknown enemy managed to steal- or worse, erase- my memories, but these journals would help me remember what my mission is. Funny enough, it was Amber who saved my current personality from being altered by forces of evil. I remembered my mission given to me by Eriar and all my initial plans. I'm also sure I didn't change a bit since the day I fell from the sky.

But what if I remember this only because I spoke with Amber about that so many times? What if I forgot other things because I never spoke about them? It's yet another thing to think about.

With a sigh, I returned the memory book to its secret vault, where it was guarded by one of my hunter slimes. After that, I connected back to my body and noticed something unexpected.

While I got used to Amber sleeping in the bed, I started already thinking it was more 'ours' than 'mine'. But why was Irene here?

•••

They both breathed peacefully, snuggled into my sides...

That's interesting. I can see a difference between my two states. In overview, I was able to think more clearly, and I thought I was affected by the World System enforcing its effects at a much slower rate than in human form. I made a quick note on a loose paper sheet and sent it to my book. It was a strange feeling that I never expected to have in such a context.

Many times I asked a question out loud only for my brain to 'remember' the correct answer on its own and I had this moment of self-enlightenment.

However, this time it was a bit different. It was exactly the same feeling but at the same time, I was certain that the answer was produced by the World System, which suggested it to me as my own memory.

She slept here because she is your wife.

Normally, it was a situation that most guys could only dream about. I would be lying if I said that I never, ever dreamed about something like this. But instead, I felt incredible fear.

Amber had chosen her fate for her own. It was her own choice that the World System was trying to enforce now. But here was the thing. Amber had charmed me since the moment I first saw her. What? It's normal even for married guys who find themselves with a young body once again to have that sort of fascination. The system enforcing its effects on me could be blamed for this.

But with Irene, it was a different thing. She was the closest person I could call my friend, since the deal with Amber was much more complicated. But Irene wanted to save Amber, not become my wife...

I think... Anyway...

I knew they became best friends since the day Irene found a new home in Avalon. But that still does not explain why the System was forcing her to be my wife as well. The system was also convincing me and changing my perception to acknowledge both of them.

As I mentioned before, she had a crush on me since the first or maybe second of her day in Avalon. So what? I can easily say I had a crush on Amber and I still had mixed feelings. I could only hope the World System gave Irene some choices. When they woke up, I would ask Irene what she could have chosen from.

However, the current state of things was a direct outcome of my own actions. Love aside, I was now responsible for the happiness of Amber and Irene. I was responsible for them and I would protect them.

The only bright side in this mess was the thought that offering a True Name was the direct trigger that started this all. It wasn’t a single-side action that could trigger the World System into enforcing its effects. But, nonetheless ...

"What a fucked up world..."