What a pain...! I stopped by Hallion with my party members on the way to the capital, and here I am being stuck proctoring some silly Rank D exam!

Personally, I hate the place. Every time I stop by here, I am reminded of that bitch! Ugh! I really need to get myself a drink after this...

Normally, I wouldn't even bother with such. Rank D exams are mostly conducted by low tiered Rank B adventurers after all. For me who is one step away from Rank A, it is nothing more than chore if I do say so myself.

Then why would I waste my time here proctoring this stupid exam? Because the guild leader pulled in a favor for some relative or something. Frankly? I couldn't care less. Of course life is not that simple, cause everything works on connections. You scratch their back and they scratch yours... And sometimes that back scratching is done with a knife to the back as well, but that is another story.

In the case of the guild leader of Hallion, well lets just say we share "common interests" on some issues. So to put it one way, he isn't a connection I could decline on normal circumstances. That is of course under normal circumstances...

In a few days, I have an appointment with Duke Nostrand. Now that is a connection I can't turn down under almost any circumstances. The simple fact that this request is so close to that date is really getting on my nerves. And just when I thought I could finally scrap this request due to lack of participants. They managed to string along some catkin child... I mean seriously were you that desperate?... and... look what the cat dragged in...

Into the room came a whitish haired catkin child. With her guard completely down, she walked in without a care in the world. If I were hostile, she would have easily died at least 5 times within these 10 seconds. Not that I am expecting much from Rank E adventurers or anything, but if I'm gonna be stuck with this annoying job, might as well prospect for any worthwhile talent.

Based on what I see so far, definitely a fail in my book... still... getting Rank E at the age of 12 is not too bad... Even so, judging by the looks in her eyes, she clearly lacks experience. I activate [Thief: Observation] skill as she walks towards the back of the room completely unaware.

Hmm? She is about level 18 - 23, and based on the formation of her muscles it doesn't seem like she has done much training or combat. It is also a bit odd that she has a slave collar but even more stranger is the fact that she lacks scars that one would normally develop over the years... Even if you weren't a slave, a few scars here and there are the norms, but in her case she seems like she was almost born yesterday. Was she a pet of some noble who is into retards? But then why would she be wearing such a cheap low tier slave collar then?

Then there is that equipment... If I am not mistaken that is holy-steel... and that holy-steel is bound to her? While my skill does help tell me the quality of items to a general extent, it can only do so with items I am pretty familiar with and holy-steel is not exactly something I've come across often despite my long career in this business...

Putting all the hints together, I would venture she was probably a slave for some priest with an odd hobby. Leave it up to those priests to spend a ton of money on futile things only to save money on more pressing thing. I mean seriously, once she hits level 25 that cheap slave collar will go kaput. In my opinion, I see no difference between the priests and cultists really, especially from those dungeon worshipers. Who is going to believe there is some all might deity down in a dungeon bringing upon judgment through death upon us?

Either way, considering she has a lot of recent bruises here and there, not to mention the mud and blood all over, that lifestyle is probably no more. I don't know why she continues to wear that collar though... Maybe a memento of her better days or something?

Well at end of the day, I can only make conjectures, but one thing I am positive about is that she is one of "those" people. The annoying scum who depend on their gear... I mean just looking at her marveling at her gear without a care in the world sickens me.

These are the kind of people who are always the stain of the party, as they often lack the skills and the ability to back up their gear. This world is one that favors those who push themselves to the limits, and those who hide behind fancy gear are the ones always left behind in the end. I'd venture she wouldn't even break the first minor wall. Of course if they just died by themselves that would be swell, but these are also the ones who tend to always bite more than the can chew and get everyone killed as well.

At least I'll give her one thing, she is the only one who showed up on time... seriously... do they take this as a joke? I should just fail everyone for being late! It was clearly mentioned to show up 1 hour prior to the mission and they couldn't even do something so basic! I guess that is what to expect from 3rd rate adventurers...

Finally, after about 10 minutes, 4 people walked in. And the first person I pay close attention to is the elf girl, or pretty much the sole reason why I am wasting my time here. And the results? She is okay, but nothing too impressive. I'd say she may make it to Rank C, but that would probably be as far as she goes. Her party is also at around her level in terms of actual level and potential.

Only after another 20 minutes passed did the last party finally decide to show up. The [Shield Warrior] and the [Barbarian] have some potential... but the rest are a miss. Well not my problem...

After they settled down and got comfy, I deactivated my stealth skill and just sat there waiting to see if any of them realize. The catkin due to her position in the room and not being distracted by others noticed pretty quickly. Though instead of saying anything, she just stared at me like a retard... well that helps me...

When the time of the mission came, no one else noticed me. Quite disappointing... Either way, lets get this pain in the ass over with. I stood up from my seat and addressed the novices.

“I see that everyone is here, took you all long enough. Now then, I am Daron Valse, and I will be your proctor for the Rank D exam. Your assignments are simple, follow my orders. If you disobey, you will fail, no questions asked. Am I clear?” I declared.

Taking a quick glance around, it seems like they got the message...

“Good! Now then, follow me. We will travel part way to our destination by carriage. During that time I will brief you all on the details” I said and walked out the door of the briefing room.

We made it out of the city and headed towards our destination by carriage. During those hours we went over the strategy and the assignments for each person. Once there, the mission began.

We separated down our assigned paths and headed towards our destinations. With me came the Swordsman and Swashbuckler. Though while I say with me, more accurately, I set them up ahead as I activated [Stealth] and followed behind. The Swordsman and Swashbuckler began clashing with the guards and it didn't take long for an executive to make it through the door to see what was going on. Unfortunately for him, the moment he came out, his eyes were already apart from his body, alongside his head which rolled on the floor.

Before the body even collapsed, I already made it through the door and headed straight for the boss and the second executive. While they were stunned by the sudden turn of events, I made quick work of them. Literally child's play.

I leisurely walked out the door and saw that the Swordsman and Swashbuckler were still fighting...

"Tsk-Tsk..." I muttered while shaking my head in disapproval.

As one would expect, the reactions from both sides was quite drastic. The Swordsman and Swashbuckler got desperate and went on full offensive, while disregarding defense in desperation. Quite an amateur move if I do say so myself. Me killing the boss so quickly is without saying the difference in both power and skill, there is no reason for you to change your tactics just because of some minor verbal comments. I am not even grading you on your fighting ability, just you do your job. If I were to be grading on your actual ability, you both would have definitely failed long ago.

Luckily for them, the reactions of the bandits they were fighting were even more amateur as they were quite shaken by not only the executive with a missing head, but also me casually walking out of the boss room. With their concentration falling into disarray, things ended rather quickly.

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Once they were finished, I cleaned out the loot that the boss and the executives had into my [Item Box] and we headed for the 1st team.

Coming upon them, we noticed that they were still active in battle. Though despite them taking quite a bit of time, their teamwork was above average I would say. They focused mostly on defense as they took down any stragglers with range attacks, and despite being slightly outnumbered, it posed little issue for their group. Even when we came over, it did not seem like they were pressured and continued their work.

After a few minutes, the battle came to a close with each one managing to kill a person, so we proceeded back to the entrance.

As expected, the patrol had come back and was taken care of as well. Good! If we can get out of this quickly without any annoying issues, that would be ideal. Lastly, we headed towards the third passage to what should be the easiest assignment.

And color me not surprised... the first scene I see as I enter the treasure room is the catkin lying on the floor unconscious. That is exactly what happens to those that depend on their gear too much... That said, it is not like I missed the slightly odd behavior of the Marksman either...

On top of that, what's with the metal door? When I was here a week ago for preliminary inspection, there was no such thing. I did notice that the wall was rather hallowed, which I assumed was most likely was the escape passage... but for it to turn into a large door over the course of the week?

The problem is of course not the time it took to install the door, but its purpose... Usually you would hide the escape passage, not make it more plainly obvious... unless of course you are dealing with morons that is...

While taking in all the items in the treasury, I listened to the Marksman's story. After which I dismissed everyone outside, and went to investigate what was behind the door.

At first, there was a dark passage which then after a corner led to a large room with a huge chest in the middle. Seeing that, I walked towards the chest to see what was in there.

Hmm?

As I was about to enter the room, I felt like I sensed something... was it my imagination? It clearly felt like a trap, but it is either not operational or has already been triggered...

I stopped for a few seconds to take a quick look around. then again proceeded towards the large chest. I did not pick anything up with my [Sense Trap] skill, so I opened up the chest. Inside it was a mace of about Rank C I would say?

I put the mace in my [Item Box], and took one of the 2 passages leading out from the room. After only a few minutes of walking, I heard the sound of growling and moaning. Coming to the crossroad which splits up in 3 directions, I noticed monsters coming at me from all sides. From left and right there were 2 [Zombie Hounds] in each path, and from the front there were 3 [Humanoid Zombies].

A smirk appeared on my face as I ignored them and casually walked forward towards the [Humanoid Zombies]. The hounds already made it to the crossroad and started to charge at me from behind as the zombies sped up to assault me from the front.

I subtly pulled out my legendary [Twin Zerian Daggers], and darkness began to seep out of the blades forming whips of shadow! With a slight flick of my wrists, all the monsters from both front and back were shred into smithereens.

These daggers are not things even a Rank A adventurer can get their hands on, let alone a Rank B one. This is why having connections makes all the difference. And even then, procuring these was no walk in the park.

After traveling a few more minutes and killing off a bunch of zombies and hounds, my [Sense Trap] picked something up. It was similar to the entrance, but this one was clearly loaded... and as I thought... a [Summon Monster] trap.

This eliminates all other possibilities and leaves only one... a new dungeon!

But not just any dungeon... no... this dungeon is tuned towards the darkness and earth attribute. Which means this dungeon is like a gold mine!

While dungeons can have multiple attributes, they tend to favor one attribute or another based on the terrain they are in. Thus, they both absorb and release mana of that attribute, while at same time create monsters of similar attribute. Once the guild or country gets their hands on a dungeon, they will store materials in that dungeon to absorb magic power and eventually become the foundation for making magical items.

What makes this dungeon special though is that it is of the darkness attribute. Which means that things like Demon-steel can be produced here! And while those who can make things like Demon-steel are somewhat rare, it still does not change the high value of this dungeon.

The reason for that is even in a wind attribute dungeon, the magical items gain neutral affinity to magic. Simply because the 4 basic elements despite some contrast can share. The light attribute and darkness attribute are the exception. So items of those affinities can only be produced in their independent dungeons.

This makes this dungeon far more valuable than most dungeons. I can easily get 100 platinum coins for the discovery of this dungeon, if not far more. And if I play my cards right, I may even be able to negotiate a percent commission. Of course getting such a favorable condition would require pulling quite a few strings... but it should be well worth it...

However, there are some issues I need to deal with... specifically... the 2 pests...

I already have quite a few ideas, but first I should gather information to be sure. As I leave the dungeon, I walk back to the catkin lying on the floor and begin examining her with my [Thief: Observation] skill.

"* Hmpf * What an amateur..." I mutter in amusement.

The scratch marks' angles are off, and there is a discrepancy in width between the claws. Hmm... what do we have here? There is a mark on her neck which clearly came from a blade... considering the angle... either a knife or a dagger? And unless zombie dogs learned to wield weapons that could only mean one thing...

I already got the general idea of the situation. It seems like they got attacked by a monster via that trap... Considering it is too early for the dungeon to eat up the remains, and the fact that this dungeon harbors undead, more than likely it was of the ghost type.

The catkin must have somehow dealt with the ghost with her holy-steel armor's assistance, but not before the ghost deteriorated her [Mental]. Since the [Marksman] chose to run away, he most likely decided to kill her and claim it was due to possession. He then changed his mind at the last minute, which was the only good choice he made... well... for me it is more like a bad choice... but regardless, even if we ignore the Holy-steel armor which would have offered protection. If you kill a ghost type at such a close range, that is like asking to be possessed. Effectively, he would have a hard time explaining why he wasn't possessed right after.

Now that I got all the information on this end, lets see what I can do on the other end... I took the catkin and headed out of the cave.

“I-Is everything okay?” the Marksman asked nervously as I exited the cave.

“Hmm… Oh, yes everything is fine and your story checks out as well… Let's head back to the guild. Though I will warn that from this point on, communication between party members is prohibited to prevent fabrication of any stories. Once we make camp for the night, during your shift, I will confirm each party member’s stories and combine it into my final evaluation. There is no need to worry as this is standard procedure” I announced.

As we turned and headed back towards the carriage, I activated [Thief: Observation] and took a look at the Marksman's body carefully. After noticing some sort of expensive item hidden, I came closer and activated [Steal]. With my high proficiency, no one even noticed a thing!

When we stopped by for camp, I assigned an order for the shifts. Choosing to first gather information, I first talked to the companions of the Marksman. Particularly the ones who seemed like they have a loose mouth. Once I learned everything I needed to know about our Marksman Todd, I had a nice and friendly chat with him... which turned out rather pleasing I would say. It was good that we could "understand" each other.

Based on the description he gave of the ghost, it was mostly likely a Wraith. Unfortunately my [Thief: Observation] skill could only infer that it was a ghost type monster between the level of 30 - 40 which is a pretty wide range. If I were to guess, it was most likely a [Lesser Wraith] in the low 30s. Considering that the base level of a [Wraith] is level 40, Its [AGI] stat would surpass 300. Even with the [Wraith]'s flight sealed by the narrow passage, at such high speeds there is no way the catkin would even be able to lend a hand on it, let alone kill it. At best maybe a quick attack when it spawns but that's about it...

That said, such things don't really matter too much as I have all the information I need to put together a plan. Now all I have to do is tell the duke something came up... or so I would like to say... but you can't exactly stand up a duke now can you...

Such a pain... I guess I have no choice but to leave this matter to others.

The plan is quite simple really, while Todd seems to know a bit about there being a bounty for new dungeons, he did not seem to know all the details nor understand the true value of that dungeon. And with a bit of convincing, I got him to yield for the time being. That said, I am pretty sure he is going to attempt to report the dungeon once he gets out of Hallion. There is no way someone like him wouldn't try to make a quick buck when they can.

Unfortunately for him, he doesn't truly understand the game he is playing. At the moment, there are two things that are protecting his life. The first one being that I am on a mission and if I lay a hand on anyone of the group, I would be held responsible and hunted down by the guild. The second thing that is protecting him is that until you report to the guild, things like killing others who discovered the dungeon with you disqualifies you from the qualification for obvious reasons.

Of course considering Todd abandoned someone who was with him also disqualifies him from the qualification, but my goal is to kill two birds with one stone.

The moment Todd steps into that guild and fails to report about discovering the dungeon, his protection pretty much vanishes. The reason is the protection only lasts until you make your first report to the guild.

So effectively, the moment Todd and the catkin report to the guild without reporting on the dungeon, they are fair game as far as the guild is concerned. There are of course the laws of the country, but getting rid of a few Rank E or D adventurers is nothing more than an everyday occurrence.

That is not to say I plan on leaving a trail either...

Judging by my experience, that catkin is definitely the type to hold a grudge. When she finds out she fails she is most definitely going to explode in anger and start blaming Todd. And since she likes that slavery collar so much, it wouldn't be noticed if we swap it for a working one. Then when Todd leaves for his little adventure, have the catkin ambush him and kill him, only to be then slain by his companions.

With that, both of them will be out of the way while leaving no trail. And even if by some slim chance it is discovered, it would have no impact on my claim to the dungeon since they would be outside their protection period.

Good... I smile as we arrive back at Hallion.

...

A few days later in the capital, I finally get a report of the progress, and looking at the Ron's and Shawn's faces I can tell they managed to fuck it up somehow... * sigh *

"Get to the point, I don't want to hear any excuses!" I declared.

"T-That is... uhm... well when we followed the catkin to where she lived, it ended up being in the Blacksmithing Guild..." Ron explained hesitantly.

"The Blacksmithing Guild? That's rather strange, but that shouldn't be enough to derail the plan now is it?" I inquired while putting pressure on Ron to get to it.

"W-Well no its just that after she went out of the guild... she ended up being taken..." Rod added.

"Being taken? By whom?" I questioned.

"T-That is..." Ron said only to shut his mouth mid sentence and stared down at the floor.

"I asked you who took her... I don't have the patience for your antics!" I stressed, seeing no response I looked towards the man on the right "Shawn?" I questioned.

"W-Well... that is... it was Ariel sir..." Shawn muttered while shaking.

"..."

* BOOM *

The desk shattered all over the room...

"THAT FUCKING BITCH!" I yelled.

I clenched the large scar on my face just remembering the humiliating memories... one of these days I'll shred that bitch and serve her as pig food! No... that is too good for her... I'll kill that bitch in the slowest and painfullest way possible until she begs me for death!

After cursing and destroying the room for about an hour to get my stress in order, I finally calmed down and sat down...

Looking at the door it seems Ron and Shawn have already made themselves scarce... Damn it! Useless!

No matter... it shouldn't be too much of a concern... the time period is only 3 months and based on the guild's history reports I got on her, it doesn't seem like she is the type to even know about these things. In any case, being around that bitch is probably the safest place she could be, and at same time the most dangerous place... If she survives for a month I'd be surprised...

Now as for our friend Todd... well...