I ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED A DUNGEON

On the way back home, Felix stopped by one cook shop and bought two boxes of some roasted and heavily spiced stuff, not wanting to cook tonight and tired of the same handful of dishes eaten every night.

Once he was in the room, he put the box down on the bed, took off his coat, and suddenly remembered the earring.

He sat down on the bed cross-legged, eating slowly while holding the earring in his hands. "Well, the platinum’s definitely real, I have no doubts about that."

He examined it carefully, looking for any sign on the surface. "It’s just the platinum and the red stone. Nothing special about the craftsmanship itself, though. On one hand, it seems to match the necklace, on the other – it really bothers me the reaction of Marcus."

He ate slowly, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds. "I doubt that this necklace lay in the drawer just because of sentimental feelings. I don’t even want to know where the hell it comes from; there’s just something wrong about Marcus. But I’ve taken the job; I’ve already received the advance. There’s no way out now."

He opened his eyes and made a fist with his free hand. "Let’s find out where you’ve come from."

Felix fed the thread of the Numen into the earring, and it rushed directly to the red stone right in the middle of the earring. He had flashes of memories flooding him all at once: wagons rolling over uneven ground, yelling in the distance, trees tightly surrounding the forest, and finally a dark hole in the open ground.

He opened his eyes, feeling as if he’d been beaten by a huge blow. It had all happened in a fraction of a second, but his head started hurting from the overload of information. Felix checked the earring in his hand – it looked completely normal, without any signs of damage. "Maybe I should go there and investigate the issue myself."

Felix quickly finished his meal and put the black coat on. Putting the earring safely into the pocket, he went to Dune’s room and knocked twice on the door. "Dune, are you already asleep?"

No answer.

He paused, his mind sorting out the information that he had gotten. There could be no doubt about it; the forest was the Death Forest, and that hole was fifty or sixty miles north of the forest.

"Dune, I have to talk to you." He turned the lock and opened the door. She was already sitting up, rubbing her eyes.

"This isn’t the time for sleep." He moved towards her.

"It is nighttime." She replied, half asleep. "People sleep during the nighttime."

"Yeah, well." He decided not to bring her along. "I am going somewhere for some time. Probably won’t come back until the morning."

"Alright." She replied, lying down again.

"Don’t ’alright’ me." He shook her shoulders lightly. "You should stay awake as well and keep guard outside the house. If anything unusual happens or someone is around the house, I want you to let me know about it."

"Yes." She nodded, sitting up straight now.

"Good." He straightened. "No get up. I am going out."

The town emptied quickly behind him, the street lights giving way to open road, and Felix broke into a jog immediately after the last house disappeared, his feet landing with authority on packed earth.

Fifty miles or so, maybe a little more. Doable if I don’t stop for anything.

The speed stayed consistent, his breath syncing with each step, his coat billowing wildly with each movement. He took the curve of the road that led past several farmhouses, dark houses, the occasional bark from the dogs who lost interest just as quickly as they found it. He was away from the fields altogether, the first line of the trees of the Death Forest on either side of him.

Can’t go in there again if I can avoid it.

He turned and jogged wide of the forest, taking the open space around it, much quicker and easier to run where there were no roots and no branches.

Around an hour in, his legs began to burn and he had to slow to a quick walk, pressing a hand to the pain building in his side. "Should have taken some water."

He didn’t bother addressing anyone because he knew he had been talking to himself the whole way. He searched the dark road for any signs of the place in which his mind had placed this place, the hills to his left rising gradually.

Good thing it isn’t too late at night.

By this point the moon was nearly overhead, but he didn’t seem to be getting close to anything. He ran past some boulders that looked a little bit familiar, but he didn’t stop to consider why.

Come on, come on, it’s got to be close.

Soil gave way to more loosely packed earth some time after two hours and Felix halted his run to catch his breath as he surveyed the area. Wagon ruts. Deep and fresh ones, forming a very distinct line in front of him, just like the flash of memories.

He continued walking following the trail, which took him between two hills and opened up to an extensive clearing.

And there it was. A deep mine shaft, complete with mining scaffolding around it, exactly how he saw it in the earring.

Felix dropped to the ground near the edge of the forest and leaned forward trying to catch his breath as he looked into the darkness. "There you are."

They came into sight rather slowly, a small group of men going around the shaft, swords sheathed but hands always ready for a fight. Felix crouched behind several boulders and watched for a little while until he began walking around the clearing, approaching the area slowly.

Metal ringing against the packed earth reached his ears when he came closer to the shaft and, along with it, sounds of ropes creaking under strain as they hauled ore out of the ground.

What the hell, why have I not known about this place? They’re hauling out this amount of ore while the rest of Death Forest is absolutely dead.

He flicked one of his cards into the air and sent it spinning into the tree next to the man guarding the area. The man turned around quickly and tried to find the source of the sound but didn’t see anything.

"Something over there?" His partner’s voice came from a few feet away.

"Nothing." He dragged out the word, unable to believe what he was saying. He lifted the lantern off the ground and began moving towards the trees, walking over dried leaves with the sound of his footsteps.

Five paces later and the lantern’s light hit the card that was firmly pressed into the bark of the tree and his hand clenched around the hilt at his side, raising the light up even further to see better.

There was a snap coming from a little bit to his right. His head whipped around to see who made the noise. "Who is there?"

The man had only gotten a fraction of the words out before a rustling sounded above him, and his gaze flew upward where he saw a thick trunk falling straight towards him. Instinctively, he stepped back, his boots skidding on dirt, and the tree limb fell and knocked the lantern right out of his hands.

"Podri! What’re you doing over there?" His friend started jogging towards him.

"Nothing." Podri stood up quickly, grabbing the still lit lantern from the ground. Holding it up above the tree trunk, he scanned the branches for whatever had caused the noise.

"What happened?"

Podri shook his head, looking up one more time at the fallen branch before turning back the way he had come. "Nothing."

Podri’s friend made an incredulous sound, starting to walk back the way he had come. "Are you drunk or something?"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!