[Golden Sunwood Tavern]
As one of the only two taverns in Dumbwind Town — the settlement closest to the Amethyst Dungeon — the Golden Sunwood Tavern was completely different from its counterpart, which sold cheap booze and was constantly packed with all sorts of shady characters.
The wine cups here always contained rich, fragrant, and smooth premium liquor.
Naturally, the rather high prices meant that the patrons who came here were all adventurers with some real strength.
However, today the adventurers, who would normally be scattered around the room, were strangely clustered together on the right side. This made the four people sitting alone on the left look as if they had reserved half the tavern for themselves.
After all, they were the Silver Thorn squad — a full diamond-rank adventurer team where every member was above LV50.
It wasn't that Silver Thorn was particularly overbearing, but anyone with eyes could see that their atmosphere was off. No one wanted to risk poking a hornet's nest at a time like this.
Everyone on the other side drank in silence, feeling both cowardly and curious, secretly hoping to overhear some juicy gossip that could serve as conversation fodder for the next few days.
The most eye-catching member of the Silver Thorn squad was undoubtedly the half-dragon Garl. Even while seated, his 2.3-meter height made him taller than most people standing. Combined with his reinforced heavy armor, he looked like a walking fortress.
In fact, he truly was the shield that protected his teammates. In countless battles, he had stood at the front, blocking the surging waves of enemies and creating a safe space for his companions to output damage.
The only flaw was that Garl had not inherited the breath attack ability from his dragonkin mother. Otherwise, while tanking enemies, he could have suddenly unleashed a breath attack that would make even a barbarian warlord regret ever being born.
However, the words coming out of this half-dragon's mouth at the moment held no trace of bravery:
"We're finished. We probably can't stay in the United Kingdom anymore.
Boss, I say this quest is impossible to complete anyway. Why don't we just slip away to the archipelago while they're not paying attention?
Once we head into the dungeon this time, we won't have another chance to run!"
Clang—
A sharp throwing blade shot out and bounced off Garl's chest armor, landing on the table. The shadow walker, Night Owl, casually played with two more blades between his fingers.
This elf, who had slit the throats of countless monsters with his flying knives, was now staring at his frontline teammate with the same disgusted look one might give to goblin feces.
"Have you forgotten how you almost puked your stomach out after just sitting on a boat for two days last time?
Run to the archipelago? You'd probably die halfway on the ship.
Besides, the quest hasn't even started yet. If we complete it, we'll be rewarded with an entire city!"
When Night Owl mentioned the city, his eyes sparkled with greed. No one knew why a proper elf would be so interested in obtaining a human city.
"But only if we actually complete it!
They said we must bring the person back completely unharmed, but it's already been half a month!
Don't tell me you don't know what happens to adventurers who get trapped in the Amethyst Dungeon but somehow don't die.
It's either the parasitic trees on the fifth floor or the tentacle nests on the ninth floor. Even if we rescue them, their brains would already be rotten. Do you think the Duke would accept that as 'unharmed'?
The best-case scenario is that she was captured by wandering barbarians and turned into reserve food. By now, her limbs have probably been chopped off.
And even then, we'd have to pray she hasn't had a mental breakdown from despair.
This quest is almost impossible to complete!
When the Duke personally comes to hold us accountable, Night Owl, you can just shadow-shift away, but the three of us are going to get hammered to death!"
It was no wonder Garl was so afraid of Duke Alama. Ten years ago, when the four of them were still only Gold or Silver rank, Alama was already a LV70 powerhouse standing at the peak of humanity.
Although the four of them were all over level 50, the gap with Duke Alama was still more than ten levels. In reality, even if the four of them were tied together, they would only be enough for a powerhouse like the Duke to warm up with.
The higher the levels, the more obvious the gap became. Not to mention that a fully maxed-out expert like the Duke would have numerous high-level skills. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to hold back the Empire's pressure on the border for so many years.
"Stop, stop, stop. Garl, enough."
Seeing that Garl was about to continue spreading defeatism, the team leader Nova had to interrupt him:
"There's still a chance we can save her. If her brain is damaged, there's nothing we can do, but if she's just missing a few limbs, we can just pour a limb regeneration potion on her.
The risk is indeed high, but the reward is equally tempting.
We can't just give up before we've even seen her.
Let's treat it as a gamble. If we only manage to rescue a vegetable, I'll go face the Duke alone. You guys can take the chance to escape."
In truth, Nova also knew that his warrior was speaking facts. Ten years ago, he would have chosen to run away as well. Whether fleeing to the Western Archipelago or into elven or dwarven territories, even Duke Alama wouldn't have been able to do anything to him.
But not anymore. The United Kingdom and the Hermit Empire were in constant conflict, and full-scale war was imminent. At a time like this, neither the elves nor the dwarves would easily allow high-ranking foreign combatants to enter their lands.
The only place they could go was the Western Archipelago. After all, as humans, they couldn't exactly run to the Hermit Empire and willingly become blood servants for those vampires.
But the archipelago wasn't exactly a safe haven either. The mist in the far west was constantly expanding and swallowing islands. The slave lords there were all panicking.
If a desperate diamond-rank adventurer team showed up at such a time, they would definitely be coerced into helping resist the mist.
That kind of work had an even higher death rate than exploring dungeons.
After weighing the options, it was still better to take the gamble — either bet on rescuing the Duke's daughter intact, or bet that even if they only brought back a broken shell, the Duke wouldn't immediately hammer them to death.
However, the team was not a dictatorship. The final decision still required everyone's vote.
"Same old rules, let's vote. I vote we enter the dungeon."
"I want to become a city lord!" Night Owl also voted in favor.
"I still think we should run right now," the half-dragon clearly didn't want to gamble.
"Ivan?"
The three of them turned their gaze toward the fourth member of the team, who had remained silent the entire time and was fiddling with something under the table — Ivan Nets.
The halfling mage's small stature was almost swallowed by the edge of the wooden table. When he wasn't speaking, he had almost no presence. But as the team's main damage-dealing mage, his opinion was naturally just as important.
"Finally got it out!"
A broken and deformed discarded magic crystal was tossed onto the table. Ivan eagerly took out a brand-new Grade B magic crystal and with a crisp "click," inserted it into the empty slot in his abdomen.
The surrounding mana surged wildly toward him, flowing through the magic crystal into every part of his body. The violent torrent of mana washed over every nerve synapse, throwing him into a dazed, trance-like state.
"Ahhh~"
The entire tavern heard the halfling mage's comfortable moan. The gazes of the others instantly turned strange.
Night Owl gripped the blade in his hand tightly to stop himself from throwing it into his embarrassing teammate's neck.
"This magic-addicted idiot…"
Looking at the great mage across from him whose eyes had rolled back and who had even started drooling, Nova felt exhausted from leading such a troublesome team.
"The quest cannot be delayed. Even if it's 2 against 1, Garl, you carry Ivan on your back. The first few floors should be fine with just me and Night Owl."
Garl sighed and didn't continue to object. He simply stretched his hand out toward Nova.
"?"
"Anti-magic potion! Have you forgotten the time he cast a point-blank magic explosion on my back and nearly sent both of us to the afterlife?"
"…"