Pov Adventurer Guild Master

I needed to concentrate on my paperwork, but it had been nine days since the dungeon entered its breakthrough, and I was starting to get worried that something had gone wrong. "I need a break," I said to myself, leaning back in my chair and taking out my pipe. "Look at you, you old fool—your hand is even shaking from nervousness."

If things don’t go correctly, we will lose the most promising dungeon in this world, and I hope that the test of trust between us and the Beasts goes well. If they don’t try to steal the control necklace, then it will be a two-way war instead of a four-way, and that would save so many innocent lives. Well, there’s still a chance that there won’t be a war, but with so many secrets being revealed, I don’t know if it’s possible.

The deep drag I took from the pipe helped me focus and keep my mind from wandering. If a normal person were to breathe in this smoke, they would die quite horribly. Fortunately, I didn’t have any meetings today.

What also bothers me is that I don’t know what changes they’re planning to make to cut down on how many platinum ranks are made in this dungeon. I have some ideas, but who knows what they’ll choose to do.

Speaking of one of the most unpleasant people I’ve come across, I sensed Ace’s minder coming. He was still far off, but like always, he liked to make a spectacle, even though he, Ace and I were the only diamond ranks currently in the city. That was also concerning, as I hadn’t sensed the Beast's representative, but I guess she knew how to hide herself.

I finished smoking the pipe before he got here and made myself a little more presentable. His coming here means that the dungeon is awake and that the chains made to contain it have worked.

"Enter," I said before he could just barge in, and I liked the flash of displeasure that crossed his face for an instant. He did look a bit strange, but then he started to speak, and I was reminded of how unpleasant his voice really was.

"I see you still like to smoke that filth. As I can’t leave Ace alone here, I will task you with the delivery of the command necklace. The ship to pick it up should be here in a few hours."

It was hard not to lash out. I hated it whenever weaker people had more political power; they became really unpleasant to be around. "I believe what you meant to say was that you were given instructions to send me to deliver the command necklace?"

He simply waved that off. "Yes, yes, whatever makes you feel better. You can also report that everything is taken care of, and that Vivian will stay in the dungeon to monitor the situation and to conduct her own inquiries."

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I didn’t remember that being the plan. She was only supposed to witness the chaining, but I wasn’t privy to everything, especially in politics, as I usually messed those up. It was the main reason I was sent to this place so long ago. Yet now, I had even more political power than before, I did what I needed to do back then. But why did something feel off?

"And what are the changes made to the dungeon? As the guild master here, it’s information that’s necessary for me to know." He didn’t look pleased with my question, but in the end, he spoke, and it seemed like I would get my answer.

"The answer is actually quite simple, and yes, you would have found it out soon enough anyway. The death rate of platinum ranks and gold ranks will start to steadily rise. After I went through everything, it was simply the best solution for our problems. As a benefit, it also means that the dungeon will continue to grow faster. A win-win in my books."

It was so hard not to kill him right there. There were so many other things they could have done. And what about those who didn’t come to the surface anymore and whose guild marks had most likely faded long ago? I still considered them members. So, I was to just watch them die because they were too successful. This made me feel more anger than I expected. Perhaps this old heart of mine isn’t as cold as I thought it would be.

"Give me the necklace, and is there anything else I should report? If not, leave." He gave me that stupid smirk of his, left the box on the table, and then left.

I leaned over and pulled the box toward me; it was heavier than I expected. There was power in this box, concentrated and heavy. Opening the box revealed the necklace—it didn’t look too special, but the amulet was big and felt like a small star of power. It would be so easy to touch the necklace, take control of the dungeon, and undo the changes they made.

It would take some time before they realized what had happened, but by then I would be dead, and most likely the dungeon as well. No, I will not go against my own, even though I don’t agree with their choices.

But I was still tempted to touch the necklace. It would allow me to communicate with the dungeon; the signal would be weak, being so far from the core, but I could still communicate. I’ve always wondered what this dungeon sounded like.

No one would need to know—I could just make it so he won’t tell anyone. With a snap, I closed the box. It wasn’t my place to do such things, and the dungeon must be hurting and panicking right now. Another person speaking wouldn’t make things better. Hopefully, he will be busy working on his next floor. I wonder how Ace is taking the changes made; I don’t think he would be pleased.

Well, I only have a few hours left here before I return to that place. Perhaps some other power will try to attack the ship on our way there. A good fight right now where I could unleash myself fully would be nice.

Then I remembered what this all meant. I would be leaving here in a few hours, which meant I needed to leave someone else in charge and when I got back there would be so much to do. Well, I guess I’ve learned that I could hate someone more than I originally thought. Hopefully, I will get the chance to break his neck in the future; I would so love that.

As I was rushing to prepare everything for my leaving, every once in a while, I felt someone watching me. Yet whenever I turned my head toward that location, the presence disappeared. Was I being watched? But I didn’t sense anyone. Do they really distrust me so much that they would send some of the shadows here, at a time when every shadow should be working on infiltrating the other powers?

Once again, I had a feeling that something was off, yet I couldn’t figure it out. Also, why wasn’t that minder here? He would have loved to watch me suffer like this. The more time I spent here, the more eerie it felt. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to figure things out just yet, as I could sense three diamond ranks coming closer at high speed, most likely using one of our faster personnel transport ships.

Whatever was off didn’t feel too bad—not just yet. Perhaps I will figure it out on my trip to that place. Never thought I would be returning there. The box was always with me. Perhaps that’s why I was feeling off; maybe I could feel the displeasure of the dungeon.

“I will be leaving now as something urgent has come up.” I continued to give the speech to my staff, and who would have guessed that I could use this speech once again? Fortunately, I could add that I would be returning this time.