Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 553: The guardian of the forest

"Yeah, laugh all you want, but they're our guests. Even if they're not entirely human, it doesn't mean we should dismiss basic hospitality."

"You know, this is the first time you sound like a proper southerner..." Nika finally let out a chuckle and then grabbed a bunch of clothes to take outside.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Uriel looked her in the eye and for a few seconds she didn't understand.

"Oh..." Nika took a quick glance at her bare legs then nodded her head and chose clothes that fitted. There was nothing that particularly fitted her style, but she seemed pleased after finding a pair of shorts. A mischievous smile drew on her face as she turned around to put them on slowly, making sure Uriel saw her struggling to make them fit.

"It seems you gained some weight." Uriel tried to mock her blatant attempt to get him to peek.

"So you activated your magazine trinket thing, eh?" She countered making it obvious that she did in fact succeeded in her attempt.

"Just get them some clothes." Uriel snarled, inwardly thanking that his ethereal presence showed no emotions.

When her shadow form first appeared in the hall, Nika was met with screams befitting the appearance of an entity level cryptid on the ship, but after realizing that she was bringing them clothes her subsequent appearances were met with gleeful smiles and thank yous from the hybrids.

Dressing so many people wasn't just a matter of money, it was a logistic problem solved easily only thanks to the combination of both Uriel's and Nika's traits.

Despite Uriel's haste, It was only after Nika informed him that the last hybrid was properly clothed that Uriel crossed the door again and the atmosphere was completely different. They were all fully clothed and they were already expecting him.

"Ah! There he is... just the man I wanted to see! I am Alessandro Dolminico." An old man spoke as he leaned in to kiss Uriel's cheek causing several shocked expressions on those present in the hall, though no one uttered a single word.

Although shaken by the foreign gesture, thanks to his knowledge about other cultures Uriel immediately understood the meaning behind it and it was quite unsettling. There were several cultures that greeted each other in this way, but judging by the man's name and by the shocked reaction the only possibility was that the man belonged to the mafia and it meant that Alessandro saw him as an equal.

"Don't worry about it, Mister Alessandro..."

"Just call me Alessandro, we're friends now," The man spoke with a wide smile. "I am forever in your debt, just ask anything you want and I'll do whatever it is in my power to give it to you."

Despite it being the first time they met, Uriel knew he had to be the head of the Dolminico family and even though their restaurant crumbled along with the rest of the city, his bank account didn't share the same fate and his eyes glinted with greed at the prospect of a generous reward.

However, there were several matters that needed to be discussed in private and Uriel decided it best to do it in the ship's cafeteria and Alessandro obliged, though he insisted that his people were the ones staffing the kitchen.

"I want ten million." Uriel sat at the table before the meal was even ready. For a brief second Alessandro seemed confused, then turned to whisper to a man besides him and then nodded.

"It will be wired to your account as soon as we reach a megacity." Alessandro's quick decision made Uriel bite his tongue for asking too little money.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" The old man's tone of voice was somber and solemn, giving an air of wisdom to his every word.

"I have a friend who is also a hybrid and she would love if you provide her with information about your races, species, hybrid nature? Actually, any information about you will be helpful." Uriel struggled to find the proper wording, something he knew Luna wouldn't forgive, though thankfully she wasn't present at the moment.

"Before we continue, may I ask what is your lineage?" Alessandro shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I'm an orphan, I think..." Uriel replied earnestly, then hesitated for a moment. If he was truly an orphan, why didn't his parents show up as revenants to try and lure him towards the fog.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

"That's not what I mean, I need to know to which race do you belong to before disclosing any information about us. It is taboo for us to reveal ourselves or to disclose any of our secrets to people outside the council. they go through great lengths to keep our existence a secret, thankfully you too are a hybrid too and I can answer all your questions." Alessandro explained.

"What council?" Uriel tilted his head.

"This might be a more difficult conversation than I expected," The sudden realization that Uriel's race might not have a seat at the council suddenly hit Alessandro.

He didn't see him fight and just went with the rumors that theorized he came from an ancient lineage like draconians or maybe even the klackon, but after seeing his reaction when he mentioned the council it became obvious that he wasn't aware of its existence. "I thought you knew about us."

"About hybrids? Yeah, I have a couple hybrids in my crew, but I don't know anything about a council and neither does she."

"I'll have to reintroduce myself it seems. I'm Alessandro Dolminico of the treefolk and I take the seat of guardian of the forest in the council of hybrids. The council is formed by representatives of all the hybrid races around the world and we have been tasked with protecting each other for generations from the society."

"I know about them, they're the assholes that drove us away from the dungeon to lay claim of the orichalcum veins."

"I'm afraid it's not so simple. You see, humans and hybrids have been fighting since the dawn of time, but it was a mostly balanced fight until the arrival. The massive release of flux energy in our world allowed us to make the most of our hybrid nature and it tilted the scales in our favor, until we entered that accursed place.

What you call dungeons are places of infinite ancient wisdom and boundless treasures and infinite possibilities. I don't know what did they find, but whatever it was gave them the confidence to openly face us like in the old times." Alessandro unpromptedly answered many of the questions Uriel wanted to ask, but most of what he said he already figured out by himself except for one thing.

The mention of the relics made Uriel think that perhaps the being that called itself father of horrors knew the society was after the relics and he silently pondered for a few seconds about whether it falling into the society's hands was more or less dangerous than returning it to the dark insurmountable darkness of a cryptid that claimed its ownership.

"Didn't you just said it was taboo for you to disclose information about yourselves? You even mentioned you're a council elder. The fact that you're telling me this could only mean one thing, you want something from me." Uriel leaned forward with a crooked grin after deciding his course of action.