"Boss!"
Oh no!
In the room, Inanna quickly covered her small mouth with her hands.
She then tiptoed to the door, pressed her ear against it, and listened for quite a while. Only after confirming there were no footsteps outside did she breathe a sigh of relief.
She had gotten so excited upon seeing the letter that she'd actually cried out...
The letter's contents were simple—someone wanted to use an S-grade magic crystal as payment in exchange for information about the Amethyst Dungeon from the Relic Association.
There was no signature, but in the bottom right corner was drawn a tiny little puffshroom!
There were only so many people who knew what her puffshroom form looked like, and among those who could produce an S-grade magic crystal, it definitely wouldn't be those few adventurers from the Silver Thorn squad.
On the other hand, Boss had possessed a whole pile of magic crystals back in the deep layers, so it wouldn't be strange for him to be able to produce an S-grade one.
Moreover, the return address given in the letter was Mute Wind Town, right next to the Amethyst Dungeon.
No matter how she thought about it, this had to be a letter from Boss.
This meant Boss had also come up? Or at least reached the upper floors.
The puffshroom Calvin had mentioned last time on the fifth floor was very likely Boss.
And this letter was something Boss had asked someone else to write for him!
As for why Boss wanted this information?
In Inanna's view, wanting to better understand one's surroundings was perfectly normal.
She really wanted to immediately go to the Amethyst Dungeon to find Boss.
But she wasn't currently allowed to leave.
She also really wanted to help Boss research materials about the Amethyst Dungeon.
But she wasn't currently allowed to leave...
Erik had only said that due to the hero summoning incident, the situation was unstable, so she wasn't allowed out.
But he couldn't say when the restriction would be lifted.
What should she do?
Inanna hugged her legs and rocked back and forth on the bed for a long time, but couldn't think of any good solutions.
"For now, let me write a reply letter..."
---
Erik glanced at Inanna, whose face mixed happiness, apology, anticipation, and other emotions.
He then looked down at the letter Inanna had placed in his hands.
The recipient was: Dylan Sleek.
A man's name...
"Understood, Miss. I'll have it sent out for you tomorrow."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Uncle Erik."
After Inanna left, Erik took several more glances at the sealed letter in his hand.
He would never do something like secretly opening the young miss's letter to peek at it.
But... Dylan, was it...
It seemed necessary to have someone investigate exactly what his identity was, sending such expensive gifts.
They couldn't let someone with ulterior motives take advantage of the young miss.
---
The Duke's mansion wasn't too far from Mute Wind Town.
So just a few days later, Dylan received Miss Inanna's reply letter.
And he read it directly himself.
In other organizations, a subordinate presuming to read a letter addressed to their boss would be courting death.
But it was different with Dylan.
Boss couldn't read, so even if he took it back, Boss would just have him read it aloud anyway. He'd have to see it sooner or later.
Dylan carefully put away the letter he'd finished reading.
It seemed Boss's commission would have to be delayed for quite some time.
Once Boss's task was complete, what remained was Bella's information.
Dylan immediately braved the light rain, stepping through the mud toward the unreconstructed section of Mute Wind Town.
These information brokers just loved hiding in dark corners like these.
More than ten minutes later.
In a relatively intact building that should still be classified as unsafe housing.
Damp, musty air wafted up through the gaps in the floorboards as the information broker sat with his legs crossed on a crooked oak barrel.
After receiving the 1 gold coin final payment, he casually tossed over a yellowed piece of papyrus.
A few sparse lines recorded the "information" he'd sold to Dylan.
"This is the intelligence you're selling?"
Just 10 seconds later, Dylan slammed the so-called intelligence down on the rotten wooden table.
"What do you mean by 'only know she went to the archipelago'?
The reason she went, the specific location, what her current situation is—you don't have any of this!
Are you playing me for a fool?"
The information broker leisurely used a dagger to pick at the grime under his fingernails, the blade glinting with dark red rust in the lamplight.
"Esteemed customer, or should I call you Dylan?
You should know that even just finding out she went to the archipelago took considerable effort on our part.
As for more details...
We do have them, but..."
Seeing his sly grin, Dylan immediately understood.
So it wasn't that they hadn't found anything out, but rather they'd even investigated his relationship with Bella and wanted to extort him by leveraging that.
After the reconstruction of Mute Wind Town, all sorts of riffraff had indeed mixed in.
The information brokers here in the past would never have been so unprincipled.
Dylan's veins bulged with anger, but in the end he suppressed it and asked:
"How much?"
The information broker's grimy sleeves rustled as he extended two fingers.
"Two gold?"
"Twenty gold!"
"Why don't you just rob someone directly?"
The sharp screech of a wooden stool scraping against the floor rang out as Dylan shot to his feet, grasping the longsword at his waist and glaring at his opponent.
The other party merely maintained a thumbs-toward-the-door gesture of dismissal, his greasy face creasing as his mouth stretched into a grin.
He clearly had the air of someone who had Dylan figured out.
At the same time, two figures wrapped in leather armor emerged from the room.
They crossed their arms and leaned against the wall, watching Dylan with mocking expressions.
Looking at the three of them, Dylan ultimately couldn't bring himself to draw his sword.
"Wait while I go get the money."
After dropping this line, Dylan turned and left.
Behind him came the information broker's smug chuckle.
Just as his heel was about to step out of the building, Dylan suddenly spun around, the ring on his hand glowing blue as he pointed it at one of the thugs.
【Ice Spike Technique】
Three ice spikes instantly condensed and shot toward the thug.
Completely unprepared for Dylan's sudden attack, the man could only manage to step aside at the last moment, barely avoiding one ice spike.
The remaining two ice spikes pierced his abdomen and thigh respectively, pushing him back until he crashed through the already flimsy wooden wall.
"You bastard, seeking death!"
The other thug charged forward, brandishing an iron-wrapped spiked club.
From his movements, Dylan could guess the opponent's strength was probably about the same as his own silver-rank bottom-tier level. In a direct confrontation, Dylan would actually have better odds thanks to his experience.
Moreover, Dylan had no intention of fighting him head-on.
His blue-green cloak billowed as wind rushed in.
【Phantom Clone】
Dylan's figure blurred momentarily before splitting into three.
The information broker hiding in back, having just drawn his bow, said in disbelief: "Two skill items?"
【Pierce LV4】
An arrow shot out, the projectile passing through the middle Dylan.
Pop—
That Dylan burst like a bubble and vanished on the spot.
【Whirlwind Slash LV5】
The remaining two Dylans attacked the thug from both sides.
In his panic, the thug could only randomly choose one side to block.
The clash of metal against metal was drowned out by the rain outside.
The thug had guessed correctly, but in his hesitation he'd missed the optimal timing to exert force, unable to fully withstand Dylan's skill.
An arm was severed by the longsword, hanging by only a strip of skin still attached to the shoulder.
"Ahhhhhhh——"
Pig-like screams erupted from his mouth.
Without bothering with the thug who could no longer wield a weapon.
Dylan advanced step by step, bloody sword in hand, toward the information broker who was now trembling uncontrollably in fear.
The information broker could never have imagined that a former silver-rank adventurer who should have been thoroughly investigated and entered his declining period...
Would actually possess two skill items!
And strike with such decisive ruthlessness!
Now, grabbed by the collar and lifted up by Dylan, he could only force out an ingratiating smile:
"It... it's my fault, I was blinded by greed.
I'll tell you all the intelligence, and you can take all the money I have on me.
Please, spare my worthless life..."
Comments