Mari would’ve gone red in the face if she had one. She supposed that was one advantage to being a giant floating blue crystal. As it was, her response conveyed her embarassment.

  [A q-queen?! O-oh. Um… Sorry. Aren’t you a shaman?] Mari used [Review] again on Miradeen, not believing how the ability had betrayed her.

  Well, that was a lot of text! Marianna didn’t really have to time to read the whole box since she was speaking with the queen, but she did have a chance to confirm that Miradeen was indeed a shaman.

  “Yes, my lady,” Miradeen responded, keeping her head bowed respectfully. “I am a shaman-queen. If there is anything I can do for you, please do let me know.” Mari looked away, self-conscious at being called “my lady” by a queen.

  [Umm… Okay. You don’t have to call me that, but do you need anything to live here? Food? Water? Lights?] She didn’t want the group she’d just adopted to suffer anymore. Surely there was something a dungeon core could do for them.

  “We require nothing, my lady, but I am eternally grateful for your kindness.” It seemed as though the queen wiped away tears from her eye. “The Rats can find anything outside we might need during the nights. As long as we have shelter, we will thrive. Thank you.”

  Mari wasn’t sure how to end the awkward silence that followed after that, and she just sat trying to figure out if there was really nothing she could offer. But after glancing into the other viewport, she could see that the Ratmen were already setting up camp in the side room with equipment the burly warriors had apparently managed to keep in sacks across their backs. She figured they would be comfortable enough on the dirt floor, and turned back to the queen.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  But Miradeen was already bowing her way out of the room, having interpreted the silence as the end of the conversation. Mari was about to shout after her, but realized the queen probably needed to be with her people.

  And I had just gotten somebody to speak to! Aww. It wasn’t until that moment that Marianna had realized how lonely she had been feeling. She’d been floating there as a immobile rock for almost a day and a half, and that was incredibly boring when you weren’t doing anything especially cool. But it had its highlights. Particularly that she knew nothing about where she was, and she got to explore it all and learn new things!

  Like rat people! Who would’ve thought such a thing could exist? But after everything that had happened already, Mari wouldn’t be surprised if a giant narwhal that swam through the sky existed in this world. She enjoyed discovering new things, but learning about her dungeon powers was really tedious!

  Ugh! Why isn’t there just a menu for all the stuff I can make!?!

  And of course a time like this was when Mari’s frustration would earn her a cold slap of irony.

  Marianna was, of course, happy to find that she could create various things, and she was about to look into the other basic building, but she became immensely distracted by an intense hunger pang that gripped her. Her mental body clutched her stomach ferociously.

  Gah! Wh-why am I so hungry?! I’m just a rock!

  That explains it… But… I’m going to die??? What can I even eat?!?

  Her stomach suddenly erupted in pain, and it felt as though it was eating her from the inside out. She screamed mentally, looking around desperately.

  Marianna looked around in panic and pain, and her eyes rapidly shot from one thing to another. What could she possibly eat? That? No. It wouldn’t work. What about--?

  Yes. Her eyes settled on the only possible solution. And she didn’t care if she had to eat it. It would have to do.

  Sorry...