Chương 49: On Its Best Behavior

A short while earlier, inside the wooden cabin at the temporary camp. Bram sat ramrod straight off to one side, cautiously watching Elias leaf through the documents in his hands. He had been dragged out of bed early that morning and assumed some urgent matter had come up. No one had bothered to tell him that the Vice Guildmaster from Adventurers' Guild headquarters had come in person. Bram quietly drew a breath and did his best to appear calm. Good grief. He was already an old man.

Why did he still have to be frightened badly enough for his heart to pound like this? Greer sat nearby, leisurely sipping the tea Fennin had brewed for everyone. Every so often, his gaze drifted toward Bram, the amusement in his eyes entirely undisguised. A vein twitched at Bram's temple. He desperately wanted to stand up as he usually did, point at the old bastard's nose, and give him a proper scolding. The words were already on the tip of his tongue when he glanced at Elias, who was still reviewing the documents.

In the end, he could only force them back down. Fine. Go ahead and laugh for now. Once the Vice Guildmaster finished his inspection, Bram would show that old bag of bones exactly what happened when he pushed his luck. After some time, Elias rubbed the spot between his brows, straightened the documents he had finished reading, and placed them in a neat stack on the table. Then he turned toward Greer.

"Master, none of the information in these records was fabricated, was it?" Greer choked on his tea and burst into a fit of coughing. He set down his cup and glared at Elias irritably.

"When have I ever lied to you, brat?" Elias rubbed his chin and considered the question for a moment. Then he nodded with absolute certainty.

"You have." Greer nearly spat out the tea he had just managed to swallow.

"You little—""You told me back then that you only needed to rest for a while, Master." Greer immediately sat straighter.

"And somehow, that rest has lasted for more than thirty years." Greer coughed several times in succession. He opened his mouth more than once, seemingly trying to defend himself, but in the end, he could not come up with a single convincing excuse. He could only glance helplessly around the room. Eventually, he shot Fennin an imploring look. Even she merely shook her head. As for Bram, seated on the other side, he had already pursed his lips and settled in to enjoy the show.

"Fine! You win. Yes, everything written there is true!" Elias continued watching Greer.

"Including the part about returning from the dead?"

"Of course. I've personally experienced it several times already—" Greer's expression suddenly froze. Damn it. He had let that slip without thinking. Bram's eyes immediately lit up. The way he looked at Greer made it seem as though he were examining a rare piece of experimental material. Greer squirmed under the stare and hurriedly raised his voice.

"The point is, the resurrection works perfectly well!"

"Even that Auric-something fellow... the bishop from that damned Radiant Dawn Church came back after he died." Elias raised one eyebrow slightly.

"Aurican of the Radiant Dawn?"

"He didn't go to the front?"

"The moment he heard about the dungeon, he brought his people straight here." Greer curled his lip.

"He arrived two days before you did." Elias's calm expression gradually faded, replaced by undisguised anger.

"The front is desperately short of high-ranking combatants, yet he brought his people to Blackstone Town to compete over a dungeon?" He let out a cold laugh.

"That wretched Church does nothing but scheme from behind the scenes..."

"It seems we need to accelerate our efforts to bring the traditionalists to power."

"The traditionalists?" Greer frowned. He had clearly never heard the term before.

"Master has been away from the central circles for too long. There are many things you no longer know." Elias leaned back in his chair once more, his tone gradually returning to normal.

"The so-called traditionalists are primarily a group of ascetics within the Radiant Dawn Church."

"They believe the Church has become excessively ostentatious and vain, and that the gods abandoned it precisely because it strayed from its original faith." Greer raised an eyebrow.

"So they chose the path of asceticism?"

"Correct." Elias nodded lightly.

"They rarely involve themselves in the struggles for power and profit within the Church. Most of their time is spent preaching in the borderlands, treating refugees, or directly fighting against the Demonic Tide."

"They surpass Aurican's faction in both practical combat experience and overall strength." His gaze cooled again as he continued.

"Aurican is a Gold-rank bishop. Yet instead of supporting the front, he brought four Dawn Knights to Blackstone Town to fight over what they could gain from the dungeon."

"His Majesty has despised those vermin for a very long time." Greer clearly had little interest in the internal conflicts of the Radiant Dawn Church. He soon waved a hand dismissively.

"Enough. We can talk about them some other time." He set down his teacup, his expression becoming somewhat more serious.

"Eli, what do you actually think about Blackstone Dungeon?" Elias did not answer immediately. He lowered his gaze to the thick stack of documents on the table and remained silent for a long time. The written records alone were not enough for him to reach a final conclusion. After a moment, Elias slowly rose to his feet.

"I would like to see it for myself." He looked up at Greer. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Would that be possible?"

"Of course." Greer stood with a smile.

"Come on. I'll take you inside." Bram and Fennin rose as well and followed the two men out. ◆ ◆ ◆ Back at the dungeon entrance. Elias and the others waited beside the white portal until the party that had entered earlier emerged. It was the Bronze-rank party that had just gathered all three Prisoner's Tokens and successfully passed through Sinner's Canyon. However, the six of them were clearly in poor condition. Two were pale and unsteady on their feet. The other four were covered in injuries as well.

They plainly had no strength left to continue and were preparing to return to the camp to rest. Elias's gaze lingered briefly on them before shifting to the slowly flowing white portal ahead. He quietly examined it for a moment. Without showing the slightest hesitation, he stepped through first.

"It has been a long time since I last entered a low-level dungeon like this." Standing inside the starting chamber, Elias surveyed his surroundings without any hurry. Unfortunately, aside from a stone doorway leading deeper inside, there was little here worthy of his attention. Greer did not linger either. He soon led Elias and Fennin onward until the group reached the two rows of confinement rooms lining the approach to Sinner's Canyon. Elias gradually came to a stop. He first looked toward the cells on the right.

Cyrus and the others remained quietly inside. Everything appeared much as the records had described. Elias nodded thoughtfully before turning his attention to the other side. The moment he saw Aurican imprisoned inside one of the cells, his previously calm expression visibly darkened. Elias strode toward Aurican's cell. Greer and Bram initially moved to follow, but Fennin reached out and stopped them. She lightly shook her head, signaling for the two men to remain where they were for the moment.

Inside the cell, Aurican was curled up in a corner, his entire body trembling uncontrollably. The disheveled man stood before him, bent at the waist, murmuring the same words over and over.

"You are guilty..."

"It was because of you that the gods abandoned all of us."

"You are a sinner!"

"It wasn't me!" Aurican clutched his head, his voice nearing collapse.

"Everyone did the same thing! It wasn't only me! I wasn't the only one!" Just then, a deep voice came from beyond the light screen.

"Aurican." Aurican's entire body went rigid. He raised his head in terror, initially believing that some new torment had come for him. But when he saw the man standing outside the light screen, the fear on his face instantly transformed into wild joy.

"V-Vice Guildmaster!" Aurican scrambled up from the corner on hands and feet, then stumbled toward the light screen and pressed both hands desperately against the pale-blue barrier.

"Save me! Please, get me out of here!"

"I don't want to stay in this cursed place anymore!" Elias did not answer. He merely stood beyond the light screen and quietly regarded Aurican. Under Elias's calm gaze, the joy on Aurican's face froze, then slowly drained away. He clenched his teeth, as though trying to use anger to conceal his sorry state, and abruptly raised his voice.

"Hurry up and release me!"

"You're Adamantite-rank! A low-level dungeon like this could never stop you!" Aurican slammed his hands against the light screen.

"Break this thing! Destroy this dungeon!" Elias still did not respond. Only after Aurican had ranted hysterically for some time did Elias finally speak.

"Pathetic, isn't it?" Aurican's movements stopped abruptly. His entire body froze in place. Elias looked at him, his eyes utterly devoid of warmth.

"You fled in the face of battle. You thought only of yourself. And when things went wrong, your first instinct was still to make someone else clean up the mess for you."

"Aurican, you truly have managed to broaden my horizons once again."

"Th-that was the Patriarch's order!" Aurican hurriedly defended himself.

"I'm only a minor bishop. I had no right to refuse—" Elias let out a derisive laugh.

"Excellent."

"It seems there is one more item to add to the list."

"You have no backbone, and you lack even the courage to accept responsibility." Color came and went from Aurican's face. His lips trembled, but he could no longer form a complete sentence. Elias raised his eyes and swept his gaze over the surrounding confinement rooms.

"When you compare the two, this dungeon trains adventurers and can even bring the dead back to life." He looked back at Aurican.

"It has likely done more to help us than your Radiant Dawn Church ever has."

"I am beginning to wonder whether all of you are spies planted in the human world by a dungeon." Aurican said nothing more. He merely slumped to the ground, utterly dispirited. When the disheveled man saw this, he immediately leaned close again and continued murmuring beside Aurican's ear.

"You are guilty!"

"Admit your sins!" As Elias watched the scene, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"It seems this dungeon even went out of its way to find you a teacher—someone to remind you of your mistakes at every moment." With that, he turned and walked away. As for the Dawn Knights held in the other cells, Elias only gave them an indifferent glance. He made no attempt to speak with them. He knew perfectly well that Aurican had been the one directing the entire affair. Once he returned to Greer and the others, Elias gave them a slight nod.

"My apologies, Master, Mr. Bram."

"That took a little longer than expected. Let us continue." ◆ ◆ ◆ From the moment Elias entered the dungeon, Owen's entire core had been hovering inside the Core Chamber like a cat with its fur standing on end, trembling uncontrollably. All the while, he kept muttering one empty threat after another. Unfortunately, no one could see what he looked like right now. When Aurican shouted that Elias was Adamantite-rank, Owen nearly believed the end of the world had arrived. Adamantite!

Just the name alone told him that this was not a monster he could afford to provoke! For a moment, Owen even felt an urge to give up resisting altogether. Fine. Destroy me. Get it over with. Fighting back would mean sacrificing part of his Core Integrity to generate an Orichalcum-rank guardian—only to bring the entire Adventurers' Guild down on his head afterward. He might as well lie down and let that monster dismantle him. But then the situation took an unexpected turn.

The moment Elias said that the dungeon had done more to help humanity than the Radiant Dawn Church, Owen stopped trembling. His entire core floated over until it was practically pressed against the screen.

"Mister! Mister!"

"I'm completely harmless!"

"I-I only want to train the adventurers properly and watch the fun from the sidelines! That's all!" Once Owen learned that Elias and the others intended to continue deeper into the dungeon, he immediately made every Desiccated Corpse in the canyon freeze in place. They did not merely refrain from attacking. They did not even offer the most basic resistance. Elias looked at the completely motionless corpses and, for a moment, had no idea what to say.

Fennin, on the other hand, bent down, picked up a small stone, and casually tossed it at one of the corpses. The stone struck the corpse squarely in the forehead with a soft tap. The corpse remained where it stood without reacting in the slightest. The group fell silent for a moment. Now they could finally be certain. The dungeon clearly knew they had arrived. Inside the Core Chamber, Owen watched Elias and the others gather together and speak in low voices on the screen, then silently began to pray.

Heaven only knew how long it had been since he had last done anything like this.

"You've confirmed everything you needed to confirm, haven't you?"

"I'm just a quiet, well-behaved little core! I would never do anything bad!" In his mind, Owen desperately begged every god he knew for help.

"So please, heavens above!"

"Make them leave already!" The next moment, Elias raised his head and decided to continue deeper into the dungeon. The light immediately drained from Owen's blue core. His entire core dropped out of the air and landed on the stone pedestal with a soft clack, lying there as though it had turned into an ordinary gray rock. Eventually, when Elias and the others reached the circular plaza, the Gatekeeper awaiting them looked anything but imposing despite his High Gold-level strength.

Cassandre was kneeling obediently in the center of the plaza, both hands resting flat on his knees, his head lowered. He looked even more well-behaved than the prisoners in the confinement rooms. Even while kneeling, he was still nearly a full head taller than Elias. Inside the Core Chamber, Owen frantically adjusted Cassandre's posture. This was obedient enough, right? Or should he lower his head a little more? Should Owen simply make him lie flat on the ground? No. That would be far too obvious!

Along the way, Elias had already taken in every abnormal detail within the dungeon. Now, looking at Cassandre kneeling obediently in the center of the plaza, he finally could not help chuckling softly.

"That will do, Master." He turned toward Greer.

"I believe I have seen enough for this inspection." The moment Owen heard those words, he breathed a sigh of relief. The Core Chamber, which had been dim and oppressive moments earlier, suddenly lit up with a riot of colors, as though someone had set off an entire row of celebratory fireworks. Convinced that he had finally escaped disaster, Owen floated back into the air and excitedly spun several circles around the Core Chamber. He also heard every word Elias said next.

"Although this dungeon has shown us goodwill so far, I will remain at the camp for the time being under orders from headquarters, to ensure the safety of both the dungeon and the adventurers."

"Unless headquarters issues new orders, I do not expect to leave anytime soon." At that, Elias turned toward Fennin, apology surfacing on his face.

"I'm sorry you have to stay with me in such a remote corner of nowhere." Fennin gave him a gentle smile.

"Is it truly any better in the Royal Capital, where I can go the entire day without catching even a glimpse of you?" The apology on Elias's face deepened. Watching from nearby, Bram and Greer simultaneously pinched their noses and silently retreated several steps.

"At your age, and you still stink of young love." Bram, Greer, and Owen said the exact same thing at almost the same moment. Owen froze. Then, as though he had suddenly discovered kindred spirits, he burst into loud laughter inside the Core Chamber. However, Owen had not been laughing for long when his entire core abruptly stopped in midair. Wait. What had he just heard? Remain stationed at the camp for the time being? Until headquarters issued new orders?

"So... he isn't leaving?" The riot of colors inside the Core Chamber instantly went dark. Owen remained frozen in place, silent for quite some time. What was this supposed to mean? An Adamantite-rank powerhouse was going to live outside his front door starting today? From now on, whenever Owen updated the dungeon—or secretly conducted some strange experiment—would he have to worry about the man showing up for a surprise inspection? At the thought, Owen's entire core began trembling faintly again.

But he soon started trying to reassure himself. At least Elias had shown no hostility. Not only that, he had even acknowledged the help Blackstone Dungeon was currently providing. Thinking about it carefully, having an Adamantite-rank powerhouse stationed near the entrance for the long term might not be entirely bad. If another ill-intentioned bastard came looking for trouble in the future, Owen would not even need to send Cassandre outside. He could simply close the door. And let Elias handle it.

"A free Adamantite-rank security guard..." The more Owen thought about it, the brighter his core began to glow.

"Maybe this isn't so bad after all?" Just as he was about to become cheerful again, the scene on another screen suddenly caught his attention. Inside Graywood Town, Rayne and the others had already crossed more than half the town. The five of them stood before a tall, gray-white building. Dark-brown vines crawled across the mottled outer walls. Beyond the shattered windows lay nothing but darkness. Although there was not the slightest breeze, the wooden sign hanging above the doorway still swayed gently.

Only a few barely legible words remained upon it. Graywood Almshouse. Rayne raised his head and looked at the tightly shut doors before them.

"This should be the place." Barton tightened his grip on his shield and stepped forward first, pressing one hand against the door. With a scrape that set their teeth on edge, the heavy doors slowly opened inward. A cold, decaying breath rolled out from the darkness. Inside the Core Chamber, Owen—convinced that he had temporarily escaped destruction—once again floated diagonally through the air.

"... I nearly forgot."

"The real show on Rayne's side is about to begin."