Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 4th Circle (1)
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The boss fight ended, leaving the interior in chaos with shattered temporary structures, scattered food, and equipment everywhere.
It was a daunting sight, leaving everyone unsure where to even start.
"We'll help you out."
The members of Dawn Guild, fresh off their successful boss fight, joined in to help clean up the boss room.
They extended a helping hand with an air of composure.
In contrast, the other guilds... especially Azure Dragon, wore shocked expressions.
They had suffered significant losses from the outpost they'd built, but more importantly...
"How did you know about this, Senior Lea?"
Azure Dragon's executives seemed acutely aware of the massive intelligence gap with Dawn Guild.
They fired off questions at Dawn's members, grasping at straws.
"I'm just glad no one got hurt."
Dawn's vice guild master, Lea, brushed off Azure Dragon's questions with a smile and promptly excused herself.
As she left the boss room, she spotted me.
"...See you later."
She spoke in a voice so soft it wouldn't reach anyone else.
With the 4th-floor boss confirmed, she'd make sure to deliver the appropriate reward.
I gave a slight nod to show I understood.
After that.
"I'll help too."
I approached Humphrey, who was cleaning up the mess in the boss room alongside Dawn Guild, and lent a hand.
Once we'd roughly finished tidying up.
"Rain, we'll visit you again this evening."
"Sure."
After parting with Humphrey, I headed back up to the 5th floor.
I'd hit level 59 during the boss fight, so I planned to hunt a bit more.
After that.
"Let's go."
I drew my staff and set out to hunt Whispering Shellbugs.
---
Bang-!
A mana stone spilled out from the exploded egg of a Whispering Shellbug.
I swung my staff to collect them all, then prepared to exit the dungeon.
I'd taken down three hives in that last fight, so that wrapped up today's hunting.
It was about time to collect my info reward anyway.
Seizing a moment when no one was around, I used a return scroll to leave the dungeon.
Back at the inn.
"You're here."
Humphrey was waiting to greet me.
From the looks of it, he'd been expecting me.
"If it's alright with you, I'd like to escort you to Dawn Guild."
"Sure."
It seemed Vice Guild Master Lea had ordered him to bring me.
I should've set an appointment time if I knew this was coming.
I followed Humphrey into the Dawn Guild building.
"""Welcome!"""
...Talk about a surprise.
They treated me like an honored guest, with Dawn Guild members filling the hall and greeting me warmly.
I'd prefer they skip the fanfare and just hand over a fat stack of cash.
Entertaining such thoughts, I followed Humphrey up to the third floor of the Dawn Guild building.
The third floor's layout was simple.
Just two rooms: one for the guild master and one for the vice guild master.
Humphrey approached the door with the vice guild master's nameplate.
Knock knock.
"Vice Guild Master Lea, it's Humphrey."
With Lea's permission, the door opened.
The interior felt like a serene study transplanted here, packed floor to ceiling with books and magic tomes.
She didn't seem too fussy about organization, as the shelves lacked any uniformity.
Yet the room itself was neatly arranged, suggesting she did pay attention to such things.
Even if someone else organized it, the mismatched sizes and haphazard arrangement screamed personal touch.
...Did she just tidy up the study right before I arrived?
"Interested in magic tomes?"
Noticing my gaze, Lea chimed in lightly.
"If you'd prefer, you can pick your reward... from over here?"
Her voice took on a coaxing lilt.
She stroked one corner of the study and gestured for me to browse.
But nothing caught my eye as essential.
There were even 3rd-circle magic tomes, but not the spells I wanted.
Spells like those could be bought at the magic tower for 3,000 platinum coins.
"I was just looking because the organization style is unique."
"...Pardon?"
"I figured you don't fuss much over tidying."
Realizing the flaw in her study at my words, Lea's smiling face flushed red.
"Ah, a-ah~ It might not look sorted, but there's a method to it!"
"Is that so."
"Absolutely! For example, this magic tome is 2nd-circle magic, so..."
Had I poked the bear?
Lea launched into a flustered defense, so I humored her along.
As vice guild master, she probably wanted to project an image of unflappable perfection.
Once she'd calmed down.
"Why don't you take a seat here?"
Lea pointed to the sofa in the center of the room.
As I sat, she took the head seat and began.
"First off, thank you for trusting Dawn Guild. Thanks to the info you provided, Rain, we avoided massive losses."
No need for thanks.
Abstract intel like this could only be sold to big players like Dawn or Azure Dragon anyway.
Smaller guilds would've weaseled out with "Was it really the boss?" word games even after confirmation.
"If it's not too much trouble, could you share your source? We'd add extra compensation, of course."
"That's not possible."
"Understood. My apologies."
I voiced my refusal, and Lea backed off gracefully.
She gave Humphrey some instructions, then.
Clink-
Humphrey set down a massive sack of platinum coins in front of me.
Even by size alone, it looked a bit larger than last time.
"10,000 Labyrinth platinum coins. I added a little extra in my name as vice guild master."
"...That's more than I expected."
Even monopolizing the 4th-floor boss fight, they'd barely break even on kill rewards.
Sure, pulling their outpost in advance after the tip prevented huge losses.
But 10,000 platinum coins still felt excessive.
"We originally planned to expand the 4th-floor outpost. Expansion wouldn't take long, so it would've been finished yesterday, stocked full. Losing all that would've cost at least 50,000 platinum."
Lea stroked the sofa as she continued.
"There's another reason too? Everyone at Azure Dragon felt us surpassing them this time. Did you see their faces?"
Recalling their dejected expressions, Lea chuckled softly.
"Of course... even factoring that in, 10,000 is a lot? I just figured investing sooner is cheaper. What do you say?"
"If you're recruiting for the guild..."
"Oh, no, nothing like that. I just... hope we can keep a good relationship going forward."
Lea's gaze coiled around me like a serpent.
Well, I wanted to maintain good ties too.
"Sure."
I gave a straightforward reply and took the platinum sack.
After some light chit-chat, as I rose to leave.
"Oh, Rain. If the 4th-floor boss appeared... what about the 5th floor going forward?"
Lea tossed the question casually.
From her tone, they planned to build an outpost on the 5th floor instead.
Once the hidden labyrinth's boss on the 5th floor is cleared, it reverts to spawning bosses as usual.
I considered playing dumb, but... this much was fine as a bonus.
"It should appear soon enough."
"As I thought. Thank you."
Hearing what she wanted, Lea smiled with her eyes.
---
Back at the inn, I crashed immediately.
The next day dawned.
"Ah, Rain!"
"Yes, Miss Mei."
I stopped by the city hall to sell mana stones.
Mei, the clerk here, greeted me brightly as always.
She placed the mana stones on the scale, meticulously appraising their value.
"Total: 1,550 platinum coins! You're incredible!"
She diligently recorded it in the ledger.
As she moved to fetch the platinum from storage, I stopped her.
"Just leave it in storage."
"Ah, got it!"
I'd be spending more outside Labyrinth City soon, which meant exchanging for imperial gold coins.
No need to carry Labyrinth platinum around.
"Here, this is your storage seal, Rain."
"Thanks."
Clerk Mei handed over a seal interwoven with intricate patterns.
It doubled as a stamp for leases or contracts, letting parties withdraw funds automatically.
My inn rent could be handled this way.
"Oh, what's the exchange fee like?"
"For imperial or kingdom gold coins, it's one per 130 platinum!"
Labyrinth coins are only used in this city.
To venture outside, exchange for imperial gold.
True value: 100 Labyrinth platinum = 1 imperial gold.
So, 30% fee.
That's steeper than I thought.
"Got it."
I left the hall without exchanging.
Official rate was 30%, but cheaper black-market options abounded.
"Alright then."
Inventory cleared, I bought food for the day and headed into the dungeon.
Three days until my party with Beth, but at this rate, 4th circle looked iffy.
"...Might need to pull an all-nighter."
I had to hit the magic tower for tomes too, but time was short.
On top of that.
Clink-
I glanced at the 10,000 platinum from Dawn's vice guild master Lea.
Equivalent to 100 imperial gold, but I'd borrowed 50 from Beth right now.
Leaving me with 50, barely enough for one 3rd-circle spell.
"First things first: hunt."
I shoved distractions aside and continued hunting Whispering Shellbugs.
Time was tight, so I cut back on sleep to grind.
After two days of intense hunting.
[Level up!]
— Current Level: 59 → 60
[A new realization dawns.]
— Black Hole magic restriction lifted.
Finally, 4th circle unlocked.