Inside the rebuilt Golden Yangwood Tavern.
"I'm telling you all! That giant black mushroom person back then—with just one punch! One punch! It smashed a crater in the ground that was thiiiiis big! It knocked all of us flat!"
The green-clothed adventurer speaking stretched his arms wide, desperately trying to demonstrate the width of that crater to make others understand.
However, not everyone was buying his story. A scruffy-bearded adventurer snorted with derision and questioned him:
"A giant black mushroom, fine—there are indeed all sorts of weird walking mushrooms down there now, so it's not impossible. But you're claiming it was on the sixth floor? Who doesn't know that walking mushrooms only go up to the fifth floor? Not to mention the power you're describing clearly exceeds what sixth-floor monsters are capable of. Even tenth-floor monsters would have trouble causing the kind of commotion you're talking about. Keep your bragging within reasonable limits, won't you? Going too far just makes people see through it immediately."
The green-clothed adventurer's face flushed red from being called out. He slammed his foot onto the table and said urgently:
"Everything I said is true! You can ask my teammates. If you go to the sixth floor now, you can still see that crater! Do you dare bet with me..."
Dylan picked at his ear, feeling like the giant black mushroom the next table was describing sounded somewhat familiar.
It couldn't be the one he was thinking of, could it?
Whatever, it wasn't his concern.
Smacking his lips, he drank the rich, mellow wine in his hand. The taste was countless times better than the swill from the Rotten Willow Tavern.
But... he really couldn't get used to drinking it.
Dylan thought he was being rather pathetic about this, but it wasn't something he could control.
It had already been three days since he came up.
The reason he was now sitting in the Golden Yangwood Tavern instead of the Rotten Willow Tavern was because—
That idiot Cole had actually capsized in the gutter!
His business of pilfering equipment from dead adventurers had somehow been reported.
Now he'd been arrested and his shop sealed.
Though everyone looked down on Cole's behavior, the person who should be happiest about this was probably the owner of the Golden Yangwood Tavern.
Dylan even suspected he might have been the one who reported it.
Although the Rotten Willow Tavern was sealed, not everyone could afford to consume regularly at the Golden Yangwood Tavern.
For a time, the bottom-tier adventurers who had nowhere to go complained bitterly, putting considerable pressure on the authorities above.
Word was that they were going to send someone from the guild to continue operating the Rotten Willow Tavern.
However, everyone wasn't very confident that guild people could run a tavern well.
In fact, the guild's credibility in Mute Wind Town had already hit rock bottom.
The last time they concealed information about the resonance, causing heavy casualties among adventurers.
Though they provided generous compensation afterward, it still couldn't restore the adventurers' trust.
Not to mention, the person now in charge of managing the Mute Wind Town branch was still that very instigator—Oberon!
Many people couldn't understand what the bigshots at headquarters were thinking.
Not only did they not lock this guy up, they even restored him to his position?
Various rumors began spreading among the adventurers.
Some said Oberon had a massive network of interests behind him that protected him.
Others claimed Oberon had given a large S-grade magic crystal to the higher-ups, which saved him from disaster.
Among these rumors, the most ridiculous yet most widely spread was:
Oberon had continuously sold his services to the headquarters bigshots for ten days straight, using his exceptional techniques to win back his branch chief position.
From these rumors alone, you could see how much the adventurers despised this branch chief now.
Dylan didn't care about the machinations above. He only knew that this time, he'd probably have to compromise and buy drinks from the Golden Yangwood Tavern.
After all, having something was better than having nothing, and he wasn't exactly short on money now.
He'd already sent out the boss's letter and S-grade magic crystal through the guild's postal network.
He'd used the highest-grade red letter service, which cost 3 gold coins just to send.
Correspondingly, if the letter failed to reach the recipient, the guild would take full responsibility.
After completing the boss's instructions, Dylan went to find an information broker.
He paid a 10 silver deposit, requesting them to investigate Bella's whereabouts.
Since the boss paid well and gave bonuses frequently, he was almost back to having 100 gold saved up.
It was about time to send this money, which he didn't have much use for, to his precious daughter.
Previously, he'd only inquired once to confirm his daughter had recovered.
After that, he hadn't found an opportunity to learn about his daughter's current situation. This time coming up, he took care of all these matters while he was at it.
Taking advantage of no one paying attention, he quietly sipped some magic power potion.
Dylan only hoped those information brokers would work faster.
---
The reconstruction of the Mute Wind Town Adventurer's Guild was a major project.
Even though some time had passed since the magic tide, the guild had only rebuilt half of it.
Among the completed half was the branch chief's office.
The office door was gently knocked.
"Come in—" Oberon's muffled voice sounded like his entire throat had been soaked in a wine vat.
Mirabelle frowned as she looked at the branch chief who was dead drunk even in broad daylight.
Oberon's body, which had been corroded by the three-headed snake's venom, had long since fully recovered under the effects of regeneration potions.
It was just that the newly grown skin had an obvious color difference from the old skin, looking very bizarre.
People had already started calling him "Two-Face" behind his back.
"Chief, this is the latest dungeon activity report."
Mirabelle dutifully performed her responsibilities as always.
Oberon glanced at it and asked with a wine burp, "What... what kind of... activity?"
"A report on the ecological changes caused by puffshrooms appearing in the first five floors."
"Puffshrooms again... got it! You... you can go."
From Oberon's appearance, Mirabelle knew that if she left now, this report would be written in vain.
"Chief," she deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of these two words, "do you plan to keep being so dejected? Shouldn't you be working to prove yourself again now?"
Mirabelle thought this might motivate Oberon to pull himself together, but she clearly didn't understand enough.
Oberon reacted like she'd hit a sore spot, complaining hysterically:
"Prove myself? Do you... do you think they let me return to this position because they still value me? Think I still have a chance to... to make a comeback? Wrong! I'm just here to be a target! All the resentment during reconstruction gets pushed onto me, and once order is restored here, I'll be kicked out immediately! Haha... hahahaha... Most likely, I'll be thrown to the archipelago... Who knows when I'll die in the mist. I'm finished... this life is already over..."
After saying this, Oberon couldn't be bothered to pay attention to Mirabelle anymore.
He gulped down strong liquor, numbing his nerves.
Mirabelle looked at him—he really did seem beyond saving.
She could only leave with her dissatisfaction.
As for that report?
Oberon hadn't picked it up to look at it even once from beginning to end.
He no longer cared at all about what would happen to Mute Wind Town or the Amethyst Dungeon.
He just wanted to live in drunken stupor before being exiled to the archipelago.
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