It was indeed the merchant license that I had received from the merchant association. Elias brought it to me later, when I was in the study. It looked like things were progressing at a steady pace.

The next day, I took Elias, and we made our way towards Mr. Leighet's business establishment. I needed to finalise the acquisition papers and the payment. Due to the sale of potions, I was overflowing with cash, so the expenditure on the building didn't faze me that much. I could say the demands were even higher than before for potions. Lady Nelina was there, and she brought out a paper signed and stamped by her father. I made the payment, and after concluding the business, I received the document that established my ownership of the property.

I thanked them and made our way towards the Meisvil Construction Company.

"Sir, excellent work with the negotiations." Elias praised me.

"Haha, thank you."

We soon reached the familiar building and we went inside and asked for Reuben. The receptionist who recognized me, led us hurriedly towards Reuben's office.

"Ah, it's you. Mathilda told me about your request."

I nodded.

"So, where's the building?"

"It's inside the Meridian market."

"Hmm, I see. And, what would you like us to do this time?"

"I need you to renovate the first three floors of the building to make it easier to place items for display. The fourth floor should be remade into living quarters. And, I'd also like for you to build a workshop in the property and separate living quarters above it or beside it."

"I see. It's a lot of work. Is that workshop for a dwarf?"

"Yes, I will be employing some dwarves."

"I see. In that case, I would like to consult them. Most of them have their own preferences regarding their working spaces so I'd like to take that into account."

"Of course, that'd be a big help."

I gave him the address and he promised to meet us there tomorrow morning. I bid him goodbye and made our way towards the inn the dwarfs were staying at.

"Elias, I would like you to take charge of the construction and development of the building and the workshop. You just have to give me daily reports."

"Of course. I'll do it gladly," he replied bowing.

Once we were inside the inn, we saw Bjorv drinking with a few dwarfs. He called me as soon as I entered the inn. He directed me to sit in a chair next to him. Elias stood behind me.

"I have brought the property. I would like you to come tomorrow and coordinate with the builders to construct the workshop."

"Yeah, yesh of course," He said, his face red.

"Let me introduce you. Guys, he will be our employer."

"Yeahhh," the dwarfs cheered, clinking their mugs filled with beer.

I smiled. At least, they seemed enthusiastic.

"Would you like a beer?"

"Haha, no, it's alright. I still have work left to do."

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked.

"We'll be there."

I gave him the address and told him to be there by next morning. After that, we made our way back to the estate.

"Please find out the employment rate for dwarves. Do you have any experience in creating employment documents?" I asked Elias.

"Of course, Sir. I'll take care of it."

"Thank you."

Elias was really reliable. I felt happy that I was able to hire him.

"Please make an employment letter for all of them. I don't mind if you pay them a little more than the market rate. Also, pay Bjorv a little more."

"Of course."

The next morning, I made my way towards the market with Elias. Soon, we were in front of the building. I saw Reuben and Bjorv making their way towards us.

"I'm sorry for yesterday. I'm ashamed you had to see that side of me," Bjorv said.

He didn't look too well. I figured he was still hungover.

"It's alright, haha."

I led them to where the empty plot was.

"I'd like the workshop to be built here. Also, I'd like you to create walls surrounding the whole building. I'll leave the entrance to you."

"Hmm, alright," Reuben said.

After showing them the building as well, I left them to it and went back to the estate. Elias stayed behind.

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As I entered the estate, I could see that it had become more lively with the addition of servants chatting and doing their assigned work. I had left Alina to manage the servants and it looked like she was doing a wonderful job. I looked around the grounds and saw Ashryn training her marksmanship. She beckoned to me as soon as she saw me.

"Rayce, I found a really great quest. It's a recently discovered dungeon and the request is to investigate it."

"Ah, a dungeon, is it?"

"Yes, let's do it!"

"Haha, alright. Let me freshen up first."

Ashryn also went inside to freshen up. As I turned to head inside, I saw Revati sitting near the garden working on something. Stacks of papers were arranged neatly on a table next to her.

"Isn't it hard working with papers. Shall I buy you a tablet like the ones the people here use?"

"Sigh, that'd be great."

"Wait, we had tablets and computers in my previous world."

I bought a laptop and a tablet from the shop and gave it to her. The language was different so I didn't think she would be able to use it immediately. As soon as she saw them, her eyes shined.

"Wow, these are really well made."

"Yeah, but the language is different."

"Hmm, leave it with me. I'll see if I can make some changes."

She had mastered the new language in a matter of days. Though she could speak due to similarities between the ancient language and the current language, she couldn't understand written words. But with the help of Otien, she became completely fluent. So, I was confident that she would be able to make the computer useful to her as well.

"Alright."

Ashryn saw us talking and came up to us.

"W-what is that?"

"Ahaha, it's called a computer."

"I have never seen such a slim magical tool."

I guess the fascination for anything magical ran through the elven blood. And, it was true. The tablets used here were indeed bulky and I didn't know how they worked, having never brought one.

"Haha, it's one of a kind."

"Where do you keep getting these things from?" She asked suspiciously.

"Ah-ahaha, you know, I have some contacts." I tried to dodge the question. Revati looked on with a bemused smile.

"Hmm....." Ashryn seemed lost in thought.

"W-well, we should delay any longer. Let me quickly freshen up and we'll start heading towards the adventurer guild."

"Ah, yes."

I quickly ran inside and after washing myself and putting on armour, I went down to meet Ashryn, who was waiting for me talking to Revati. We came out of the estate and hailed a car to take us towards the adventurer guild. Ashryn told me that the dungeon was inside Frithrin forest.

(Master, it will be a great experience.)

(I-I guess.)

There was a different receptionist this time. Ashryn seemed to know her. We showed her our ID cards and registered for the request Ashryn wanted us to do. I could feel the eyes of the adventurers boring into the back of my head. It seems Ashryn was more famous than I anticipated.

We left the guild and hailed a car to take us towards the forest. Soon, the familiar forest came into view. We got down near the watchtower and made our way towards the forest. There were many adventurers on the outskirts of the forest today. I could see many parties setting up tents nearby and some even venturing inside the forest.

"Shall we go in?" Ashryn asked.

"Yes..."

As we headed inside, we were soon engulfed by the familiar gloomy atmosphere of the forest. This time, I could see a dirt parth heading inside. I figured that it would have been made by early explorers. As we slowly proceeded on that path, we passed countless adventurers going the same way. They were wearing armours and navigating the forest using a compass like tool.

"Wouldn't we get lost without that compass?" I asked Ashryn, pointing at one of the adventurer holding the compass.

"Hah, who do you think I am. An elf never gets lost in a forest!"

"I-I see."

Understandable. Soon, we reached a diverted path and as we continued along it, the sight of adventurers became less frequent.

(Airi, how far inside are we?)

(About four percent.)

(Haha. This damned forest.)

(Do you have a map of the forest?)

(Yes, but dungeons aren't shown. It will be registered once you find them.)

(Alright. Please open it.)

We continued along the path, with me glancing at the map from time to time. Soon, we reached a clearing and a big cave came into view with vines having reclaimed most of the outer walls. It had a foreboding aura.

"This is it," Ashryn said.

We slowly made our way inside.

"Be careful. There might be traps," Ashryn warned me.

(Airi, can you check for traps?)

(Yes, master.)

As we passed the grimy moss covered walls of the cave and headed deeper inside, I could feel eyes on me as if someone was watching us very intently. I looked around but I couldn't see anything worth noting. Even Airi couldn't detect anything.

We soon reached a dead end. Luckily, we didn't come across any traps.

(Master, that's a false wall.)

I went near the wall and tried to put my hands through it and it slid in. I informed Ashryn and we crossed the wall together. The inside was a huge cavern with spiderwebs and vines growing everywhere. It was dark with a small ray of light pouring in from some stones that were shining.

(Master, there is a trap to your left.)

As Ashryn was about to take a step forward, I quickly grabbed her and pulled her back.

"R-Rayce, if you do it so suddenly," She said, averting her gaze.

"Idiot, look."

"A-ah, I see."

(Master, be a little tactful.)

(Sigh.)

Airi seemed to be enjoying it. There was a false floor. I prodded it with my sword and the floor gave away revealing metal thorns on the floor below.

Guided by Airi, we slowly made our way inside the cavern.

Suddenly, I could feel the intensity of the gazes directed on us becoming concentrated.

(Master, above you!)

I signaled to Ashryn and we both assumed defensive positions. I looked up and I could see large holes on the roof and through them spiders were coming out. They were much larger than normal spiders. If I had to measure it in terms of sizes of Earth animals, it would be about the size of a mature bear.

Soon, dozens of them surrounded us. I looked at Ashryn and she was visibly shaking. I could see fear and disgust on her face.

"I-I don't really like spiders." She said.

"I-I see."

I took out the sword from the scabbard and waited. The spiders were making screeching noises. I was sure that they were thinking of devouring us whole.

One of them lunged at us, while two of them shot spiderwebs, trying to restrict us.

I jumped to the side, and Ashryn did the same. She fired an arrow, and it lodged itself on the head of one of the spiders. It died with a painful cry. The others became wary and didn't lunge anymore.

I created long icicles and shot them towards the spiders. Most of them were impaled and died with screeching cries. I looked around, and the rest of the spiders had fled. They went back the way they came.

I sighed and looked at Ashryn. She seemed shaken up but maybe that was because of her disgust.

"Shall we proceed?"

"Y-yeah, sure."

Soon, we passed through the cavern and came to a long passageway. As we continued inside, around five goblins charged at us. Ashryn didn't seem afraid any more and she chanted a spell along with firing her bows. Pointed stakes were shot from the ground along with her arrows and hit the goblins. They died immediately.

As we continued, we soon came to a chamber made of stones that were shining. A large throne was crafted from the same stones and sat on the far side of the chamber. The whole room gave off a dense overpowering aura.

(Master, it's the dark energy seeping through from the rocks.)

(I see.)

I looked at Ashryn and she seemed unfazed. So, we took a step forward. Suddenly, the area next to the throne began to ripple, distorting the space around it and a large gate was formed. As we waited, holding our breaths, a glowing skeleton equipped with armour that covered his whole body except his head came out of the rift. He had a large sword that was bigger than his body. He struck the floor with the sword with such force that the sword became lodged on the ground.

Then, he looked at us with his red glowing eyes and laughed at us, mocking us.