Events After Roja Stabs Elda's Hand and Descends to the Basement
Once they were certain the house was silent, a group of about seven slum dwellers stealthily crept in.
The group's leader was the brother of a man who had been beaten and coerced by Bui into revealing information about the guild's search for a black-haired child.
Initially, their plan was to break Bui' s arms and legs, leaving him immobile for the dungeon-break monsters to finish off. But upon spotting the child the guild was seeking, they exchanged glances and grinned slyly.
After struggling to pull out the deeply embedded dagger, they took both Elda and the expensive-looking blade with them.
Their original intent was to head straight to the guild for a cash reward, but with the black-haired child now in high demand—especially after the kingdom-wide announcement of the dungeon break in the slums—chaos erupted. Slum dwellers began looting anyone weaker than themselves.
With no certainty of when the dungeon would be subdued, the slums offered no shelter. Renting a place in the outer city required money, and even sleeping on the streets wasn' t an option, as soldiers would drive them out. Living outside the city walls meant starvation or being devoured by beasts.
The only option left was to travel to another city. Walking was infeasible, so they needed to rely on carts or carriages—which required money.
Carrying the child the guild sought made them a target for many. A dagger could be hidden, but a child was harder to conceal. Even covering their head with a cloth would only arouse suspicion and invite ambushes.
Thus, they sold Elda and the dagger to a broker they knew. Though the price was heavily discounted, they agreed, as the broker was also planning to flee to another city. He bought everything cheaply, selling some items to merchants also fleeing the chaos and keeping others to profit in another city.
"How much longer, damn it?! My carriage convoy is almost here!"
"Uh… oh, there it is, sir!"
"Hurry up and load everything! Get it all on! And that black-haired girl—put her on my carriage!"
*****
Laswin, Rank A Adventurer, Known as the Raging Gale
Even at my maximum speed, it took forever to get here.
To avoid collateral damage from my storm winds, I had to slow down and dissipate my speed before reaching the main guild office, which delayed me further.
I landed in the unused sparring arena, but the sound of my winds was so loud that staff and adventurers rushed out to see what was happening.
"Hey! It' s Laswin!"
"Greetings, Lady Laswin! I' m a huge fan of yours!"
"Is there an urgent matter today? I' ll handle it immediately!"
"Clear the way! Clear the way! Lady Laswin is heading inside!"
And the adventurers who came for work:
"Whoa, buddy, look! It' s the Raging Gale in the flesh!"
"Did you see her power when she landed? Absolutely insane!"
"She' s so damn cool. I wish I could fly like her."
"One day, I' ll be like her!"
"I wanna marry youuu!"
"Ugh, Rank A is a whole different league from us."
Ignoring them, I immediately asked a staff member for the head of the main office.
"Lord Rosen? He' s currently relaxing with tea in his private room. Does Lady Laswin have urgent business? I can inform him right away."
"No need. I' ll go myself."
I rushed out of the guild and floated up to the top floor, the tenth.
Finding the private room, I coated my fist with black drill-wind magic and struck the barrier with full force.
The drilling wind tore into the barrier furiously before I canceled it. The barrier was barely scratched, but it was enough to alert the room' s occupant.
Soon, Rosen opened the window to see what was going on.
"Why the rush, Laswin?"
A gray-haired man with glasses leaned on the windowsill, smiling at me.
With no time to waste, I got straight to the point.
"The idiots in the slums were raising a dungeon! It' s broken out now!"
Rosen' s smile vanished, and he stopped leaning. He returned to his desk, picked up a phone made from a rare dungeon-mined mineral that transmitted sound to matching minerals, enhanced by researchers for convenience but requiring dungeon energy stones to function.
Rosen' s phone could connect to every device in the guild offices. He activated it for a broadcast.
"Nona! Get to my private room, now!"
The announcement echoed through the office. Soon, a young harpy woman zoomed up beside me.
"Here, Lord Rosen! What' s the urgent task?"
"Go to the slums. Confirm if there' s a dungeon break. If there is, destroy the lovers' doll immediately. If you can hold it off, do so, but don' t overexert yourself. If it' s too much, alert nearby adventurers to prepare for battle. Laswin, come inside to talk."
Rosen opened a drawer, pulled out a pair of tightly embracing lovers' dolls, separated them, and tossed one to Nona before temporarily lowering the barrier.
I enveloped Nona in black wind.
"This' ll speed you up."
"Thank you, Laswin. I' ll report back as soon as possible, Lord Rosen."
Nona shot off, and I floated inside.
"Explain."
Rosen sometimes joked about wanting to be rich, avoid work, or live luxuriously in the noble district. But from working with him, I knew he was the best fit for head of the main branch due to his sharp decision-making and swift commands.
"The dungeon was found in an old sewer. The [Ghost Rat] group was raising it. They explored the first floor, unaware there' s a path to the next."
"What type of dungeon?"
"Sea."
My voice was tense, and the listener nearly dropped his teacup in shock.
But then Rosen grinned wider than I' d ever seen.
"Hahaha! This kingdom' s set, and so am I! Hahaha!"
"Set, my ass! Stop joking! This is an emergency!"
Rosen shushed me with a finger.
"Listen first. If it' s really a sea dungeon, the king will order the slums cleared and turn it into a salt market. You might not know, but we import massive, expensive amounts of salt from the south. A sea dungeon within our kingdom' s walls is like a divine blessing. If it were outside, we' d be fighting other kingdoms for it."
He was rambling, so I slammed the table with a loud crash to snap him out of it.
"What did I say?! The dungeon' s broken! We don' t know how many floors it has! All the monsters except the boss are pouring out, and it' s still inside the walls!"
"Adventurers can handle it. Several guilds are already in the slums looking for that kid. Big guilds will probably be thrilled to hunt fish monsters for free. Everyone knows imported fish is so expensive only nobles and royals can afford it."
Have I been wrong about him this whole time, thinking he was smart and suited for this role?
"Want some tea? …No?"
I was stunned by Rosen' s complete personality shift as he kept babbling.
"Don' t stress. I' ll nominate you as the first discoverer to the king. You' ll get a reward so big you won' t need to adventure for years. Or you could use it to start a business in the inner city, become a fat cat, and never risk your life in dungeons again."
What a waste of time. If not for guild rules, I' d have flown to the slums to deal with the monsters myself.
What I reported was serious. Per the rules, the reporter must be detained. If it' s false, I' d be imprisoned and tried immediately for inciting panic or destabilizing the kingdom.
Leaving now would mark my report as a lie and an attempt to escape punishment.
Rosen would mobilize forces to arrest me per the rules, wasting time that could be spent fighting the escaped monsters.
So I had to sit through Rosen' s endless talk of money, money, money, and his position.
He must be dying to become a noble. I never thought his joking was his true desire.
Since I was stuck waiting, I asked, hoping for an answer to ease my mind.
"What if the big guilds can' t handle it, and the monsters breach the walls or enter the city?"
"Oh, worried about that?"
Rosen sipped his tea and waved dismissively.
"One person can handle it. Easy."
"And if they fail?"
Rosen cut me off.
"No way. Impossible. No matter how many floors, a water-type dungeon is just a pastime for her."
"Who' s this person?"
"Well…"
At that moment, the lovers' doll screamed and crumbled to dust.
"Awesome! Hahaha! Great job, Laswin, for reporting to me first! Well, you' re supposed to anyway, right? Hahaha!"
CRASH!
Furious, I coated my fist in black wind and smashed his desk to pieces.
"Adventurers and civilians are about to die out there! And you' re laughing?! Why don' t you go fight them yourself!"
"Sigh… No wonder you' ll be an adventurer forever. Even if you get that reward, you' ll probably donate it to an orphanage."
"What' s the plan?! Get to the point! Call that person you mentioned, now!"
"Why bother? You' re the one who needs to tell her."
"What' s that supposed to mean?!"
"The only person in this kingdom who can solo a water-type dungeon is the adventurer nicknamed the Frozen Field, Lady Lera."
I was speechless.
"A water-filled dungeon like that? Lady Lera can freeze up to the tenth floor in one go. Whether she lets those monsters die slowly or kills them outright is up to her. Even if they escape, water-type monsters in this winter season? She could turn the entire］
System: slum into a frozen field with a single spell. See? One person can end this. It' s a pity she' s aged; otherwise, in another decade or two, our kingdom might' ve had a true [Rank S] adventurer, not those [Rank S] mercenaries hired for their name."
I grabbed his collar and yanked him close.
"Listen, you bespectacled idiot! Contact the king or someone in the royal family now. Tell them to order an evacuation and send troops immediately!"
Rosen brushed my hand off, effortlessly dispelling the black wind around it.
"I' m in a good mood, so I won' t punish you this time. But don' t ever touch me with those filthy hands again, especially when I' m about to become a noble."
I never imagined he' d be this rotten.
"Lady Lera' s dead. She passed recently. Contact the [Resonant Magic] guild now and stop daydreaming. If the city falls, you' ll be the one the king executes."
I spoke in an icy tone before shooting out of the room, ignoring him.
"W-Was that a joke? Haha…"
*****
Rosen Nillian, Supreme Head of the Main Adventurer Oversight Office, with Authority Over All Branches
No way that' s true. Laswin' s just pissed and messing with me, right?
It' s not true, is it?!
She' s not the type to lie or joke around.
I grabbed the phone and ordered the communications department to contact the [Resonant Magic] guild about Lady Lera.
The three minutes that followed felt like a lifetime.
The response came through sobs and grief: Lady Lera had indeed passed away from old age at the [Resonant Magic] guild.
The phone slipped from my hand as I collapsed to the floor.
I' m screwed… my life…
I snatched the phone back, activated the broadcast, and shouted at the top of my lungs.
"Contact the palace immediately! Request the king' s permission to declare a state of emergency! We' ve confirmed a dungeon break in the slums!"
The entire office descended into chaos.