“Ahh, was the quantity too much?”

“Yes, that much would normally take around two months for a party of your size.”

Sol wasn’t too surprised at being caught. He should have known the ridiculous amount of materials would raise an eye or two over how they acquired so much. Yet there was something that didn’t add up.

“How did you know we had conflict with Urian and his group? Couldn’t it have been with another party?”

Ingrid shook her head, “Urian Stillmore and his entire party have been missing for almost an entire week. They tend to return every 5 days. They are currently the only large gathering party, and their absence was noticed by many. Other gathering focused parties are also unable to gather anywhere near the amount you brought in. Now could you please recount the events that took place?”

Though Ingrid was being patient and answered his questions, Sol knew that he would get in big trouble if he didn’t start explaining soon.

Sol recounted his side of the events and made sure to omit details like the void root. Instead of Urian’s party hunting them for the void root, it was instead them trying to avenge their allies who died in a scuffle with the duo. It wasn’t that he was worried over the guild knowing he had a legendary material; he was more worried about outside parties that may uncover that information. Sol knew the guild would never try to directly take something from him, at most they would offer to buy it.

“After we thinned their numbers with sneak attacks, the amount of people guarding the exit was thinned enough that we could take them on. It was a hard fight, but we managed to win in the end.”

Ingrid didn’t interrupt him at any moment, and once he was done, she only gave an understanding nod.

“Thank you for explaining the events; that will be everything.”

“Really? You don't have any questions?”

Sol found it weird that Ingrid had no questions at all; he kept some parts especially vague as he didn’t want to reveal more than necessary.

“If you wanted me to know more details, you would have already said it. There is no way for the guild to validate any claims over what occurred in the dungeon, and the other party is dead. Taking into consideration the previous actions of Urian Stillmore’s party in other cases, it’s not surprising for them to be the instigators.”

“I see… we’ll be heading out then.”

Ingrid gave a polite bow along with a few other pleasantries as Sol and Amber walked out of the meeting room.

…

Once Sol and Amber left the meeting room, Ingrid headed towards the third floor of the adventurers' guild. That floor is mostly reserved for administrative personnel and offices, including the office of the Guildmaster. Normal receptionists didn’t tend to enter this floor, but Ingrid wasn’t a receptionist. She was the Guildmaster’s personal secretary.

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“Excuse me, Guildmaster. I have come to report the Urian Stillmore’s gathering party case.”

As Ingrid entered the office, it appeared as if she had teleported into the middle of a forest. Plants grew everywhere, on the floor, walls, and even the ceiling. Natural light flooded the office from the glass ceiling that allowed these plants to thrive in an indoor environment.

Sitting behind an elegant desk with a beautiful yet natural design was the Guildmaster of Crestal City, Orion. A young man with vibrant green hair sat behind his desk as he held a clay pot in his hands.

“One second, Ingrid, I’m almost done.”

Focused on the task at hand, Orion placed a small seed in the pot and held his hand above it. A powerful energy full of life descended from the young man's palm into the clay pot as it was infused with his incredible energy. Once he was done, the Guildmaster placed the pot on the side of his office and watched as his mana nurtured the little seed.

It didn’t take long for the seed to sprout and grow. It didn’t stop growing and eventually broke free from its pot and latched itself onto the floor. Though there was no dirt, the small tree didn’t need any as it already had all the nutrients it would need for the rest of its life. It continued to grow until it nearly reached 8 feet, and its flowers began to bloom. Blue and white flowers covered the top of the tree that shimmered beautifully under the sunlight.

“Sir, what did I tell you about growing trees indoors?”

Orion chuckled, “You said not to grow any because it would collapse the floor, but what if I grew a plant that reinforced it instead?”

Just as he said that, the tree’s roots spread and drilled into the floor in a pattern while its main trunk merged into the wall. The main root traveled through the inside of the wall all the way into the first floor where it spread its roots again, attaching itself to the foundation.

Though Ingrid couldn’t see what the tree was doing, she could tell by Orion's expression that he succeeded, and what was more worrying was that he looked like he wanted to go even further.

“If I allow it to spread through the entire guild, it would reinforce the entire building as well. Not only that, but I can use it to attack from anywhere at any moment… It may cause a few—no, a lot of cracks in the bricks, but it should be fine…

“Please don't go overboard, sir. It would likely break the rune defenses we already have in place.”

Ingrid tried to be a voice of reason, but she knew if he truly wanted to do that, there was nobody who could stop him.

“My defenses would be stronger than those silly runes, but fine. I don’t want the engravers complaining I ruined their work. Now tell me about the Urian case.”

“The adventurer duo admitted to defeating Urian Stillmore’s party over…”

Ingrid perfectly recounted the entire set of events that Sol said without missing a single point. It was when she was done that Orion asked a question.

“So how much of that do you believe?”

“65%, sir.”

“Oh? What stood out to you?”

“There were no contradictions or obvious lies in their story, but it simply isn’t realistic for a party of two B-Rankers to defeat 34 B-Rank adventurers, even with surprise attacks. Additionally, it was odd how relentless Urian Stillmore’s party was in chasing the two. Urian Stillmore’s party only kills other parties who don’t back down against them; something else must have happened for them to resort to such extremes that they blocked the exit. The most likely possibility is that the two adventurers obtained something special.”

“I see, doesn't matter though. Just close the report and call it a day.”

Ingrid nodded her head. While she personally would have investigated further, she would follow the orders of the Guildmaster.

“Yes, sir. By the way, sir, will we try to encourage a large resource gathering party to form? The loss of Urian Stillmore’s party will impact our total revenue by 0.03%.”

Orion looked at her with an amazed look. His secretary was sometimes way too numbers oriented.

“No, we don't have to do that. Adventurers will notice the void left by Urian’s party and quickly fill it up. It will resolve itself within a week.”

“Understood, sir.”

Ingrid gave the Guildmaster a small bow and left to write up the case report and change the status of Urian’s party from missing to dead.