Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Being the guild manager of Adventurers guild, he too was once an adventurer back during his prime, now although age had grabbed hold of him, the aura which only a veteran that had undergone numerous battles should have, was still present within him.

"Brat even if it was an accident, you cannot hide your guilty conscience since I saw you with my own eyes running away. As such you only have two choices, first either you compensate the guild by handing ten blackgold coins, or you accept a condition of mine. Which choice will you make is up to you, however, you can forget about running away without taking any responsibility".

A pressurising aura came from his body as he eyed Simon.

Simon on the other hand frowned over the words of the old man, as he quietly weighed his option. Previously during their conversation, he had quietly used [Analysis] on the old man and was shocked by the result he got.

Although the old man did not look like it, but his level was 434 [Yellow Guardian Knight] with many skills in his repertoire.

A level difference of over a hundred and not to mention his level was around the same as the Diluvian High Orc General Berigard whose might was enough to even shock Simon. 

Plus there was also a 359 [Guardian Knight] named Chuck beside him. If he wanted to get out of this situation forcefully, it was likely that he would have to show some of his cards and even reveal his identity in the process.

There was no way he could count on this little girl who was the source of all this trouble in the first place.

"Sigh… before we agree with you, can you tell us what this condition of yours is?" Simon asked appearing to be extremely calm.

Gill knitted his brows and glared at Simon before revealing the contents of the condition he had previously put forth.

"The condition is simple… snort, since you weren't able to compensate the guild for the damage with money, naturally you have to remunerate us in another way. Oh and it's very simple, you just have to accept a task that our guild is currently short-handed to complete. Of course, once the task is complete you naturally have no more obligation to pay us"

A peculiar glint flashed in his eyes but was quickly concealed.

Chuck's eyebrows twitched the moment he heard those words, it seemed that he was aware of what the old man was thinking.

Simon failed to notice that as he was busy delving in his own line of thought "And what is that task that we have to complete?".

He was no fool, there was no way he would readily agree to something that he knew nothing about.

Gill smiled, he was not surprised by the question of the unfamiliar looking man, on the contrary, it looked like he was expecting it.

"As I said our guild is currently short-handed to complete this task or else there was no need for me to ask the help of some strangers whose integrity is something that I doubt. The task is to guard the caravan at all costs till it reaches the capital from here". <br/><script>ChapterMid();</script>

"Naturally, you must also secure the life of members and passengers riding that caravan. The journey will take about a month, obviously you have to see it through the end. I can only tell you about the client and further details when you accept the task. So what will it be?".

Chuck silently shook his head, the moment he heard the old man bringing some task forward, he knew that was the real intention behind the old man Gill for asking such a high price. Though he knew it, he did not comment, this was the matter between Adventurers guild and them.

When Simon heard the detail of the task, the first thing that he did was make an ugly face, that was because he was again tangled into something that he didn't wish to be involved with.

As if the situation with Adalinda wasn't enough, fate had to get him involved in something once again. Just when he was about to reject the condition, Gill added as if suddenly remembering something.

"It just so happens that the 'Battle of the Finest', the tournament which is making quite a lot of uproar across all the region of the kingdom will be held on the capital 40 days from now. By accepting this task you would be able to witness the tournament and have a look at the upcoming and rising heroes of this kingdom".

The old man stroked his beard and smiled vigorously when he thought about the upcoming event.

A bizarre light flashed in the depths of Simon eyes as he mused for a moment. It was clear that the guild manager was trying to trick him into completing a task that currently the guild couldn't complete due to being short-handed.

However, there was something about the words that the old man and even the guy named Scott he met back at the hall had said that gave him a mysterious feeling. The feeling was something that Simon had difficulty putting his hands on.

Plus there were also those words from Scott.

"Ah that reminds me, there was also another person asking the same question as you not so long back"

"Haha, even the swords that person used were the exact same. They similarly asked me 'if there was anything big or interesting happening around here'. Although I must say that person was quite peculiar. A black-robed covered their entire figure and their face was covered with a hood, even their presence was next to nil. However, from that person's voice, they appeared to be a woman" 

Simon glanced at Adalinda who was for some reason behaving quite well before speaking towards the other occupants of the room.

"Can we get a moment alone to discuss?".

His words had an added depth of solemnity which caused the other two to be quite surprised. After a moment of deliberation, the old man left followed by Chuck and the room soon descended into silence.

Simon closed his eyes and fell into a deep contemplation, earlier he had asked them for some time to discuss and weigh their options, but even after a while there was no hint of either of them uttering a sound.

Time passed just like that and before long Adalinda who couldn't take this silence any longer broke the quiet.

"What are you thinking so hard for? Don't tell me you are thinking of accepting this task? Have you already forgotten for what purpose have I brought you with me? We have no such time to dilly dally for. Just reject them and be done with it. Hmph, if they think they can detain me Adalinda one the two vene… ahem anyways there is no need to speak nonsense with them any further".

Saying that, Adalinda got up from her seat and was just about to approach the door when Simon suddenly called out.

"Wait".

It was at this time that his tightly shut eyes opened and an intellectual light flashed between them.

"Huh?" Adalinda couldn't help but turn around while making a confused face.

"Our objectives may coincide… there is no reason for us to hastily reject this task" he said staring particularly at nothing.

The words he uttered, made the little girl even more confused, she tilted her head and looked at him for clarification.

"What I'm trying to say is that we might be able to find your disciple in the capital" Simon stated, there was an unusual tone of confidence in his words. Adalinda trotted back and sat beside the seat near him and asked with big wide eyes.

"Really? My disciple is in the capital city of this Kingdom? But… even I'm unable to find any trace that she had left behind from here, how is it that you sound so sure?" Adalinda asked voicing her doubts.

She was unconvinced that he was able to find some traces about her disciple which even she couldn't find any.

Simon naturally knew that it was very hard for Adalinda to believe him based on random person words and that was why he further backed his reasoning with some facts.

"As I have already said, I have met your disciple back inside the Ghastly Winding Forest. At that time, when the Lightning Draconic Serpent and the orc general were having an intense battle, if she deliberately didn't release her presence, I wouldn't even be aware of her existence".

"However, she chose not to hide her presence and show herself in front of me. At that time I didn't have enough time to think over her actions but now when I look back, she seemed to have told me her motive behind coming to the Ghastly Winding Forest was just to have fun. Additionally, she must have taught me that technique of yours just because it would be more fun to do so. The time I spent with her wasn't long but even I could see that the woman had a very playful disposition".

Adalinda nodded her head when she heard those words, she was the most familiar about the nature of her disciple and knew that she was a very lively and spirited person who even dared to sneak out of her home because it was too boring.

"Indeed you are right but what has it got to do with her being in the capital?" Although she did not find faults in his opinion, it did not mean that she was convinced.