Guildmaster Eliath Autumnfire was having the busiest week he had had in over a decade. After the last dungeon in their city of Bluecove had disappeared, the adventurers' guild just didn't have as many quests to accept, nor to hand out. That meant a lot less paperwork for him, but it was also bad business. Still, even if the renewed enthusiasm everyone was showing was a good thing, it was going to take some getting used to.

"I've got another stack of job requests I need you to look over, guildmaster."

The guild's receptionist said as she sat a large stack of papers on his desk. Eliath tried to offer her a small smile in appreciation as he nodded his head in acknowledgment, but it came off as more of a grimace. It would be really nice if he could just get a day off, maybe he'd go check out the new dungeon for himself, but it would have to wait until things died down again.

Despite being a guildmaster, Eliath also enjoyed working out in the field. He was a warrior class who preferred to fight with a spear, but he rarely got the chance to make use of his skills nowadays. He had chosen to settle down here and become the guildmaster after he had fallen in love with the local Lord's daughter, Ava Goldenleaf. Since he was already an A-rank warrior, he was given a warm welcome by his in-laws and his father-in-law even helped him secure a stable job as guildmaster. The position paid well, but it could get a bit repetitive at times. He missed his days exploring dungeons and had always hoped to reach the peak of his class.

The new dungeon had been like a beacon of hope, even if it did cause more than a little havoc when it first appeared. That was actually part of the reason the guild was so busy. They were still receiving job requests asking for strong individuals to help carry the stone and lumber needed to rebuild the damage the earthquakes and tsunami had caused. Luckily, their city was built with such dangers in mind, so the damage was minimal, but rebuilding still took more than a week's time.

Another one of the guild's employees knocked at the door to his office. Looking up from the paperwork he was reviewing, he called out

"Come in."

This time, it was a man. He looked nervous as he said

"Sir, we've been getting numerous reports about adventurers getting trapped in the local dungeon. It would seem the Dungeon Master put in a new challenge room. It's either too dangerous and leading to them dying or the doors are locked and they are taking too long to complete it."

Eliath frowned as he looked at the man. Feeling a bit bored, he asked the usual questions

"Do you have a timeframe of when this first began? Has anyone returned yet?"

The man seemed antsy as he replied

"We just got notice, sir. I don't have any other information to report."

Eliath sighed as he gestured for the man to leave. Pulling open a desk drawer, he prepared to write a letter to the dungeon diplomat assigned to their local dungeon. Sarah, was it? No, that didn't sound quite right. Shoving the drawer closed, he stood up. While he normally would have just sent the letter to the council, hoping they'd let whatever-the-woman's-name-is know about the situation, he decided better of it. He had been looking for an excuse to go to the dungeon and he could use the break anyway.

The secretary seemed worried as she saw him leaving the guild dressed up in his armor and carrying his spear. However, she said nothing against him taking off work early. He was well-known for being hard-working and rarely slacked off, so he didn't exactly have a bad reputation to work against him. In fact, it was likely that he would return to the guild as soon as this was handled. His wife would be disappointed by him having to work late, but even she was unlikely to say anything about it. They had long lives, so a few nights here and there of coming home late were hardly a big deal. Still, perhaps he'd pick her up some flowers later this week to show how much he appreciated her.

It took a bit to make the trek through the city and to the entrance of the dungeon. When he arrived, he noted the name of the entrance said "Veronica's Rest", just as it had been reported. The stone brick tower was also very clearly still just one floor tall as well. Seeing nothing amiss, he entered the dungeon. As it was already wearing late into the day, there weren't very many adventurers remaining in the dungeon. Curious, he ventured towards the side of the dungeon rumored to contain an inn.

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Eliath was immediately met with a cozy reception area that seemed quite luxurious, even compared to the home he shared with his own wife. This room was empty, save for a will-o'-wisp that was floating behind a counter off to one corner. Since they couldn't attack, he freely chose to ignore it as he ran his hand across the teal sofa in front of him. The material was textured in a way that made it feel coarse, but not uncomfortably so. He could tell it was padded with some sort of material underneath. It would seem, despite how fancy it looked, it wasn't much different from the luxury furniture his in-laws kept in their estate.

Amara had been gifted a few nice pieces of furniture to adorn their house with, but most of their finances were handled by him. Since a guildmaster could never be as rich as a noble, even the lowest ranking one, it was difficult to offer his wife the life she had grown up with. Their furniture was primarily wood with padded cushions and mattresses laid atop rather than built into its design. It made it easier to clean as well as being cheaper to produce and, thus, procure.

Moving further into the inn, he exited into a hallway. Trying the door in front of him, he was met with a system prompt. Something about needing to pay a certain amount of tribute in order to rent a room for the night. Unfortunately, he had left the only tribute he had brought in the reception room as his token of appreciation to the Dungeon Master. While he could probably afford to give away some of the potions or food he had on him, he didn't think that wise since he still had yet to learn what had happened to the missing adventurers. He was confident in his abilities as his warrior build was a balanced one and he was high enough rank that the dungeon shouldn't pose a problem, but he still preferred to be cautious. His days exploring far more dangerous dungeons than this one had certainly taught him that was always the best way to do things.

Turning back around, he hurried back into the entry hallway and into the other side of the dungeon. He would have to return on another day for a more in-depth look, but he had a job to do right now. He needed to focus. As he walked through the dense tropical rainforest, gargoyles moved above him. Occasionally they would jump out at him, trying to catch him by surprise, but, ultimately, failing. His senses were far too efficient for their pitiful attempts at stealth to work. Eliath couldn't blame the creatures, though, their instincts were likely screaming at them to avoid him while their connection to the dungeon was urging them to act. They really didn't have any suitable choices.

After making his way through a few rooms, he finally came to the one he was looking for. He immediately came face to face with two different adventurer parties and a solo adventurer he knew rather well. Bo was somewhat infamous around these parts, even despite his young age. He tended to have a problem with authority. He had started exploring the last dungeon to grace their city with its presence as a mere boy only to have it retire not long after. Bo was then forced to take on guild quests where he was asked to do everything from gather herbs to kill wild [Monsters]. The only problem was he was too eager to grow stronger and didn't like being told he wasn't allowed to take on quests higher than his rank would allow. That left Eliath to resolve the issue.

Personally, he didn't much care if Bo forced things and took on a quest he didn't meet the requirements for. However, guild policy said that you couldn't be rewarded, even if you could complete the quest, if you didn't meet the requirements in order to register for it. Any [Monster] corpses would still belong to the one who defeated it, allowing them to make a pretty coin selling it, but there would be no extra compensation.

"Alright, everyone, what's the problem here exactly?"

One of the female elven adventurers volunteered the information readily.

"You have to complete this obstacle course to get out of here, but none of them seem to be capable of it. Apparently, this brute has been attempting it for a few days now. My party just got stuck in here this morning."

Eliath nodded as he asked a follow-up question.

"Are there any [Traps]? Has anyone died here, that you know of?"

The girl shook her head before pointing into the distance.

"There are wall [Traps] that push you off and into the water over there. None of the people in my party or theirs have died. I assume that brute came in here by himself, I doubt anyone would be able to stand him long enough to be in a party with him."

Eliath wasn't surprised by her dislike for Bo. He had never been much of a team player, always preferring to go it alone. Luckily, despite his lack of friendliness, he didn't have a bad temper. He'd hate to have to break up a fight on top of everything else. Since there wasn't much else to do, Eliath decided it'd likely be best to just complete the course before seeing to it that everyone went home. Bo likely wouldn't be happy about it, but he wasn't likely to argue. Eliath was stronger than him and, if there was one thing the boy respected, it was strength.