Reincarnated as a step-dad in a fantasy world

Chapter 254 : Nothing wrong

As the shards of broken energy hurtled towards his head, Alex stood motionless, unflinching, allowing the shards to completely engulf him.

A moment later, a brilliant white light burst from his body, illuminating the cavern for just a few seconds before vanishing.

Simultaneously, a torrent of information flooded Alex's mind. He already knew or deduced the majority of those pieces of information, though.

'So that's how it feels to be a dungeon owner,' Alex thought as he processed the information that had been directly implanted in his mind.

In most cases, even after a dungeon is conquered, it doesn't vanish instantly. The conquerors of the dungeon could then become its owner by doing exactly as Alex did. By becoming a dungeon owner, a link was forged between the individual and the dungeon, granting them the power to decide whether to keep it open or seal it, preventing any intrusions. This link allowed the dungeon master to exploit the dungeon's resources at their discretion without fear of theft.

This was precisely why Alex had only taken a handful of the purple crystals from the treasure room. Once Scarlett completed her research and he fully understood their value, or lack of value, he planned to return and harvest the rest of the crystals.

What Alex hadn't expected, though, was that he could do more than just seal the dungeon entrance.

"Come on, let's get out of here," he urged the girls, stepping out of the dungeon.

"It's freezing," Maya remarked, a shiver running down her spine as the cold air outside the dungeon enveloped her.

"Mm, it seems to have snowed while we were inside the dungeon," Amelia nodded as she opened her hand and observed as a delicate flake of snow landed on her palm.

All around them, the landscape was a blanket of white. Snow continued to fall steadily, the wind blowing it into swirling patterns. The once barren landscape was now softened by the snowfall, though only a few skeletal trees stood, their branches heavy with the weight of the fresh snow. The air was frigid, each gust of wind cutting through like a knife, making the chill almost unbearable.

Ignoring the women's conversation, Alex closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated on the newly created link between him and the dungeon. Then, he commanded the dungeon to seal itself.

Alex felt a small trickle of his mana being consumed as he issued the order. The ground beneath him rumbled, and the previous translucent barrier reappeared, but this time it was much thicker, resembling an opaque, milky white wall.

However, Alex wasn't finished. He ordered the dungeon to hide itself, and immediately, a deep rumble shook the surroundings. The dungeon entrance, which resembled the mouth of a cave, collapsed in a shower of rocks and debris. Moments later, the falling snow swiftly covered the rubble, completely hiding the dungeon's entrance.

"A dungeon that can conceal itself? That's pretty rare," Amelia noted, standing beside Alex and watching the scene unfold.

"It's not just that," Alex replied thoughtfully. "I'm sure this dungeon can do more than just conceal itself, but for some reason, I can't access any other functions... it's strange."

"We'll think about that later. Right now, can we please get out of here? I'm freezing," Maya said, her body trembling from the cold.

"Oh, you're cold?" Alex grinned, giving Maya a teasing glance. "If you want, I can warm you up—"

"That would be grea—"

"—with my body."

"No thanks, I'll pass," Maya scowled, shooting Alex a look that suggested he was acting like an old pervert.

Alex burst into laughter and conjured a smoke carriage out of thin air. 

"Come on, hop in," Alex said as he helped Amelia get inside before stepping in himself.

Moments later, the smoke carriage lifted off the ground and soared into the sky, carrying them swiftly toward the Drazen auction house.

***

"Baron!" a young man with dark brown hair, adorned in shining golden armor, cried out as he barged into the room.

"Sigh, how many times do I have to tell you not to barge into my office?" a tired voice echoed throughout the room, addressing the young intruder.

The speaker was a man who appeared to be in his late fifties. Despite his aged face though, the old man hair and beard were of a vibrant golden color. His hair flowed over his shoulders like a lion's mane, and his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, piercing and attentive.

"S-Sorry, sir, but it's urgent!" the young man stammered, his voice trembling with urgency.

The old man raised a brow and urged the young man to continue.

"We just received a letter from the Eswald family saying that someone will visit soon," the young man informed.

"The Eswald family?" the old man repeated with a frown. 'What do they want from me this time? They are not going to increase the taxes again, are they?' the old man wondered, a deep scowl forming on his face.

As of late, the taxes the Eswald family required from the lesser noble houses in their territory had been steadily increasing to unreasonable levels, negatively impacting their economy. This explained why the old man was displeased to hear that a member of the Eswald family was visiting.

"Who is coming," the baron inquired.

The moment the young man answered his query though, the baron realized that what awaited wasn't just an economic burden; it was worse.

"The one visiting is Grace Eswald," the young man answered.

The instant he heard the name "Grace," the old man closed his eyes and released a deep breath. 'What does this woman want with me?' the old man wondered with a slightly distressed expression.

Grace Eswald was the governor of the lands near his own, so it might be considered a friendly gesture for her to visit a neighboring lord, but the old man knew her too well to believe that. Grace never visited her neighbors, ever!

Usually, such behavior would be met with resentment from the other noble houses, but in this case, all of them were happy that this woman never visited them. In fact, like this old man, all of them dreaded her visit!

The last time Grace had visited a noble house that dared to complain about her, it ended disastrously for that house. Since dealing with her would cost the empire significant resources, the imperial family chose to turn a blind eye to the event, further increasing the lesser nobles' fear of her.

'I don't remember ever offending her or any of her branch members, so why is she suddenly visiting?' the old baron wondered, feeling that something fishy was going on.

Of course, he knew that Grace wasn't as bad as the rumors about her painted her to be. He had known the woman for a while now, which made him understand that someone, probably the imperial family, was trying to make people see her as a bad person.

However, the baron also understood Grace's temperament. That woman was uncontrollable, and he wouldn't bet his money on her just visiting to chit-chat about something mundane such as neighborly affairs.

"When did she say that she would visit?" the baron asked.

"That's the thing," the young man scratched his head, "she said that she would be coming in an hour."

Hearing the young man's answer, the baron released another deep sigh. 'In an hour? Who does that?' he wondered.

Usually, before formally visiting a noble family, even if you were a noble yourself, you would send a letter informing the family of your visit a few weeks or even months in advance. But Grace just stated that she would be visiting in an hour as if the whole place was her backyard.

"Make all the preparations to welcome her," he ordered. Just as the young man turned and was about to head out, the baron added, "Also, send a message to the strongest of our guards. I want them all here in half an hour."

The young man nodded and quickly left the office to carry out the orders.

Glancing at the ceiling of his office, Baron Golddark sighed, 'I truly hope there's nothing wrong coming my way.'