Circulated Chatter 335/05/04 #12.
Status: Thrice-Verified
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A field agent [REDACTED] had managed to obtain a new type of potion in the [REDACTED]. The potion identified by senior tread, [REDACTED] using [REDACTED] rank [Appraisal] and shown as âStamina Elixirâ. Primary effect was shown to ârefill [REDACTED] of the drinkers' stamina within [REDACTED] [REDACTED] after consumption. The circular was in the opinion that [DATA EXPUNGED]
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"What's real?"
He squeezed himself near Em, trying to read the paper from behind.
"Look it yourself," her wife said, handing the paper.
"Zhortal beard! This is..."
"Yes. The maze could be challenged now.â
Clem said, folding his hand. His eyes got this conspiratorial glee âsparkle that told him that the guy once again stumbled upon another big secret. This time it was the maze; the out of reach, all delver dreamâs maze.
That it somehow was within their grasp.
At once he turned his head. Left then right in just one single breath. The room silent still, the privacy screen, black, was hung unfurled and undisturbed. Which as reassuring as the glowing light green bubble enveloping their table.
Meant not at all.
âBud, did you hit your or something?â he felt his temple pounding âthrobbing at his friendâs colossal stupidity. Not even calendars of training could stop the sweat pouring off his back now
âWe shouldnât discuss stuff like this here!â he almost yanked the manâs collar but chose to pound the table instead. âPack it. My house. Now.â
âNope.â
âWhat?â
âNo, you big oaf. We canât go to your house.â the man just waved his hand dismissing him.
âWhat do you mean we canât? Do you think weâre safe here? Clem youâre the freakinâ rogue. [Conceal Presence] is like level 10 skill.â
âWhich is why weâre here~â his bud smiled.
âHow that makes sense!â
He almost cried, his hand just a step away from shaking his friend smirking face up and down. He knew he wasn't the smartest one on the team, but how spouting town-level secret in a room chock of adventurers somehow the best choice!
â...because weâre one of the only fourteen teams that could delve,â said his wife suddenly, staring at his friend. âIsnât that right, Clem.â
âEmmy gets it.â he looked at him sighing with his âI pity you lookâ.
âWhat?â
âLook, Ren, thereâs a very very fragile balance here. Itâs complicated but weâre safer here than anywhere else.â
âIf you want to know about the intricacy of our lovely town information network, you should come with me. Later. But for now, we have to came to decision whether we want to try the delve or not beforeâŠâ he paused, parting the privacy screen a bit. Looking at the window. â...sixteenth bell.â
â...number.â
âWhat?â
âWhatâs the number, Clem? The number! Weâre talking about maze delve here. It meant supplies. Hiring [Transporters]. Likely the brothers. You know how expensive they are. Itâll at least. At least, I tell you, eat all of our season target plus a fifth of our emergency!â
What? Did it cost that much? He didnât remember they paying that much the last time they tried delving to the fifteenthâ
âright. They didnât pay because it was sponsored run. The town handled the supplies and the guild fork up the quest reward.
âHow much of the stamina weâre talking here? If itâs only like a short break level stamina, or itâs a full night sleep stamina but took around two bells to get it done we shouldnâtââ
ââitâs half.â
âHalf?â
âHalf of the stamina in 100 breaths. Had to pay my contact fifteen golds to get that number out.â
If it half⊠Then one shot in the fourth bend, another one in⊠hmm⊠the cleft, and at maybe one more in the center fountain⊠yeah, that sounded about right.
But, it didnât mean they have to go. Heck, they shouldnât go. Let the other delve first. Or wait for the town or the guild to organize another campaign. It wasn't like the treasure would go away. It the dungeon! The thing get refilled! This was way, way over their fund!
âI see.â he saw her wife pause for a moment. He sighed. Good.. At least Em knew what made senseâ
âItâs worth it.â The group will reimburse you. Where we get this potion?â
His face fell.
â12th Agleâ â
â âwait, wait, wait!â Her light! What bad spirit possessed his team!
âEm, Clem, you canât be serious!â he said, his mouth agape looking to the pair of lunatic.
âI mean sure, if we succeed weâll become the first delvers there! Which Zhortal smite me if I say that didnât sound super awesome. And also it wouldnât hurt that we perhaps get those system title stuff, like [First Explorer of the Sixteenth] or something. But!â
âBut why we should be the first? You know how the saying goes! Be the first, and youâre accursed. Be the first, you got burnt the worst!â
âWe know nothing about what monsters are there, none of the traps, even with you Clem.â he eyed his friend. âAlso how about the terrain? Her light if the dungeon decides to throw another weird mechanism like fourteenth or fifteenth!â
He heaved, his chest was puffing up and down. His mouth was gasping for air. He stared at his wife for a full one breath. Right into her eyes. Trying to hammer a reason to her. â...and Em,â he said. âWe just four seasons away from ...you know what. Delving justâjust didnât make sense.â
âReneâŠâ he felt a touch. Em was patting his hand. âYouâre right, of course.â she smiled. âBut thatâs only if weâre out to fight. We wonât.â
âWhaâ?â
âWe wonât. This is scouting only, Rene. The only thing we do will be mapmaking. Thatâs it.â
âMapmaking?â
âTen thousand,â his friend suddenly chimed, grinning. âThatâs how much the guild pay when the Torches found the hallway shortcut.â
âWhat?! How much?!â
âTen thousand.â
âTen thousand???â
âAt least. And it just a shortcut, not a complete floor.â
âHer light...â
âAlsoâŠâ the rogue twirled his hand. âDonât forget about the rumor...â
âWhich rumor?â
âThe break rumor, you big oaf.â
âOh!â
âYes, Rene. With the town is on edge like this. Any information pertaining dungeon floor should worth a lot more. We could get at least twenty, maybe thirty.â
âTwenty, Emmy. Thirty is for complete map. I donât think weâll gonna get that in first delve.â
âTwenty thousand goldâŠâ
âYeah, I mean, there still supplies and we have to hire [Cartographer], but yes, twenty thousand,â her wife continued.
âAll right, All right. You won. But scouting only right? No fighting?â
âYes, fighting should be our last option.â
âAnd Clem, you and Arlene would do triple terrain check, okay? Promise?â
âOf course, bud.â
âFine! Iâm in. So where is this store?â
â12th Aglen Street.â
âWhat are we waiting for then? Let grab those potions!â he stood up, ready to open the privacy screen.
âNot so fast!â Clem held his hand. âTheyâre not open right now!â
âWhat?â
âTheyâre closed you, big oaf! Not all stores open every day! Some like this one took a day off.â the man sighed.
âSo why didnât youââ
ââlook, that how it is all right. Itâs the stairs. They play games. My contact sold me the circular this morning, this morning.â
â...when the storeâs open, then?â
âSecond to fifth, Emmy.â
â...sigh. And they wait until seventh to sold us the information.â
âPrecisely.â
âFine, whatever. We playââ
CLANG. CLANG.
Rene jumped, his blade was half-sheathed when he realized it was just the overhang service bell ringing. The stuff was Arletâs unique ingenuity with the rope extended just outside the screen, the waitress could ring the attached bell from outside. But who was it?
âAh right.â
Clem, looked almost ashamed, parted the privacy screen a bit. He gave his trademark smiling-apologizing to Lena. The waitress was holding a steaming plate of what looked like todayâs special.
âSo-rry.â
Clem, lip-spoke the word, pointing his finger at the still glowing bubble. Lene to her credit replied stoically âleaving their booth and without a fuss brought the food back to the counter. But before she did that, she waggled her index finger. Which Rene bet was a gesture for something along the line of you-better-tip-me-for-this.
âSo, where are we, again?â said Clem, closing the screen tight.
âBuying the potion, bud.â he sighed at his antic.
âRight. Like I said, theyâre open from second to fifth. I assumed we want to buy on second?â
âYes.â
âSo I donât know when the store opened. Is it on seventh bell, ninth bell, I donât know. My contact wonât tell me. So what can we do is we should camp at the nearest inn. And do a check every half bell or so.â
âGot it.â
âAlso, thereâs this one thingâŠâ
âAnother problem?â his wife asked.
âWell, theoretically no⊠but.â
"Apparently, the seller wasn't really, hmm⊠nice? The first guy who âboughtâ the potion. ...well, âboughtâ might be too charitable of a word. He tried to steaâskimp the seller or something, I heard. Anyway, the guy almost got torn.â
âTorn?â
âTorn. Clawed to pieces. The seller keeps this big feral Growl for a pet."
"Growl?"
âYeah, I meant I almost donât believe it either. But it truth spell sworn soâŠâ
"...doesnât matter. We could always ask politely. Very politely. Which means I'm gonna do the talking, Rene." his wife eyed him.
"Ok."
"We scout first and set up plausible escape route. I think Arlene has some unused [Quickstep] scroll. But worst-case, I'm gonna use that."
"That? You don't mean your [Web Corridor] wand Emmy? I thought that thing only has one charge left."
"Em!"
"Yes but it's the maze. The maze."
"...isn't that like your dad's heirloom though?"
"Yes. But he'll understand... I know.â
"I thought Teacher Fritz offered to buy it's from you."
"That cunning jerk? He only offered Em five hundred golds. It's a tier three spell!"
"...which only have one charge. Even the Blue Court's Enchanter need at least five charges to copy dungeon spell."
"Still!!"
âItâs fine, Rene. Itâs fine.â
"...so what's the plan, then?â his friend asked.
"First, we should check on Arlene and Lydia. Convince them, Clem. I know itâs preparatory, and they only have like a month. But even with exploring, it wouldnât be more than twelve days. Tell them that.â
"And it need also be a secret. Limit your talk in the academy only. In their room if possible. Set the bubble again if you have to. The party gonna factor it as cost. We need both of them to come.â
âAlso if they know someone who trustworthy, offer them a slot. Two people maybe. Don't reveal the whole thing, but give hints. I don't care if in the end, we need to divide it seven or eight ways. The map worth that much."
"What about me?" he asked his wife.
"Contact the brothers, ask them if they have suitable [Transporters] but don't reveal anything. The rumor says the brother sometimes sells information to the stairs so be cautious. Remember. Do not reveal anything. Not even with contract. Just tell them we need someone who capable delving up to the maze."
"Alrighty!"
"And don't forget to get the quotes this time!"
"Ok. Ok!" he rolled his eyes. It just one time! Sure he got charged almost twice the market rate. Ok, it was terrible. But he wouldnât do that again! Why Em keep reminding him thaâ
POP
"And just about time." Clem sighed. âDamn, expensive stone don't even last three wicks.â
"All right, I'm going to prepare supplies. Clem, are you coming?"
"Nah. I got things left."
"Another preparation? Okay, see you atâ"
"âLenaa, my food!"
"...nevermind."
Hmm... I wonder who the seller is.
Did someone actually steal from mc or is this staged to lure customers?
Thanks for the chapter