Chapter 24: VOLUME 13: PROLOGUE
Time passed by quickly.
A month had passed since Emperor Sylvius agreed to become part of the Coalition Army.
***
[Republic of Everfrost]
The Nasty Bucket was one of the most popular taverns in the City of Quraso, the capital of the Republic of Everfrost. This tavern served not only as the gathering place for explorers, it also served as the place where they could receive commissions.
Every night, hundreds of explorers would drink and exchange information at this place.
"Kuuuah! That hits the spot!"
A man, who resembled a bear with his thick beard and hairy arms, slammed his tankard on the table. His face was flushed from all the alcohol he'd been drinking all night long.
A platinum plaque hung on his neck, proof that he was a high-ranking explorer.
The man was Emyrson 'The Red Bear' Matias. A former knight turned explorer. The leader of the platinum-ranked explorer group called Zenith.
"I'm telling you," said Emyrson, "there's nothing better than chugging down alcohol after a successful dungeon dive! Did you see the faces of those bastards from Black Arm?"
"Kahahaha! I can still remember their faces, Boss!"
"Those fools must be biting their nails from jealousy by now!"
Emyrson laughed alongside his men. "Men, drink and eat as much as you want! My treat! Tonight, we feast until we pass out drunk!"
"You're the best, boss!"
"For the Red Bear!"
"For Zenith!"
"For our successful dungeon dive!"
The party, composed of seven burly men, merrily laughed and chugged down alcohol to their heart's content. The explorers sitting at the other tables looked at them with eyes filled with jealousy and admiration.
All of the explorers in this tavern knew that Zenith had managed to obtain several ancient artifacts from the newly discovered ruins. According to rumors, the artifacts were so precious that the government offered to buy them for two thousand gold coins apiece.
Had a low-ranking party managed to get their hands on those artifacts, they would have been robbed or murdered by now. But things would be different if it were a platinum-ranked party. Each member of Zenith was on par with high-ranking knights. No sane explorer would dare rob such a powerful party of their artifacts.
"Boss, look. It's Margaret."
Emyrson stiffened when a waitress approached their table.
The waitress had shiny black hair tied neatly into a bun, and her eyes looked fearless even as she approached the infamous explorer group.
"Sir Emyr," said the waitress.
"Y-Yes!"
The members of Zenith chuckled when they heard their boss stutter. Everyone knew the Red Bear was head over heels with this woman.
"I heard you say you intend to drink until you pass out," said the waitress.
"Y-Yes?"
"So, could you please give us a deposit first? The last time this happened, you left without even paying."
The waitress was so direct and professional that the members of Zenith couldn't even get angry at her words.
"A-A deposit? Of course!"
Without hesitation, Emyrson took two gold coins from his pouch and handed them to her.
"Another one, please," said the waitress.
"Wait, isn't that more than enough already?" said Emyrson.
"Another one. Just in case your drunk members start breaking the tables, sir."
Emyrson awkwardly scratched his thick beard. He couldn't even argue against that since such incidents had already happened before.
Emyrson cleared his throat. "H-Here, Margaret."
The waitress tucked her hair behind her ears. Seeing this, Emyrson's heart raced even faster. She said softly, "Thank you, Sir Emyr."
After the waitress left, the group fell silent for several seconds. Eventually, one of them said, "Did you hear?"
"Yeah, I heard."
"The boss called her by name!"
The members of Zenith started getting rowdy again.
"Woah! How daring, Boss! You've never called her that before!"
"Did you see the Boss' hands tremble? Hahahaha!"
"He couldn't even look her in the eyes!"
"The infamous Red Bear who'd killed monsters with his bare hands was like a wet puppy in front of the woman he loves!"
"Gahahahaha!"
"SHUT IT, EVERYONE!"
Hearing the embarrassed voice of their leader, the members of Zenith laughed even louder.
After the laughter died down, one of the members asked, "But Boss, when are you going to confess? Why don't you tell her now? She probably knows about it already anyway."
Emeryson looked horrified, "W-What are you saying!"
"Look, Boss. Margaret. Isn't she pretty?"
"Why are you asking the obvious?"
"What I'm saying is this: If you don't tell her now, someone else surely will. You'll regret it if she suddenly finds herself a man."
Another party member added, "And it's not like it'll kill you if you tell her. What happened to your confidence, Boss? You didn't even cower when the Senate summoned you last time."
"Hey, don't mention that to the Boss!"
Hearing the word 'Senate', the mood of Emyrson turned sour. He remembered that time half a year ago when he was almost executed on false grounds.
"Those damn swines," growled Emyrson.
The Republic of Everfrost was a country ruled by three equally powerful branches of authority. The executive branch governed by the High Magistrate, the legislative branch governed by the Senate, and the judicial branch governed by the Five Courts.
Out of these three powers, the Senate oversaw the adventurers. To be more precise, they were the ones tasked to manage everything related to the ancient ruins located in the Republic.
To the explorers who'd been risking their lives inside dungeons and ruins, they see the Senate as nothing but greedy, artifact-grabbing pigs who'd been stealing the fruits of their labor.
Not only were the explorers required to get a permit from the Senate before being able to enter the ruins, they were also required to declare any and all artifacts they'd managed to acquire inside. Furthermore, the Senate held all rights to buy – or worse, confiscate – any artifacts they deemed should belong to the government.
It was no wonder the explorers didn't look at the Senate in a favorable light.
The conflict between the two organizations had been rising ever since the discovery of a new ruins which seemed to belong to an ancient civilization.
"If we were mere bronze ranks, those damn pigs would have forcefully taken the artifacts from us," said Emyrson.
"But we're the best of the best, Boss."
"There will be a bloodbath if they tried."
The members of Zenith looked fearless as they said those words. All of them were willing to murder anyone who tried to rob them of their hard-earned treasures.
Emyrson nodded. His face was grim.
"That's why they offered to buy it from us instead. But do they think we're stupid? The newly discovered ruins is said to be the tomb of a powerful, ancient magus! How dare they swindle us! Two thousand gold coins for an artifact obtained from that tomb? I'd rather sell it to the black market merchants! Heck, even the pirates would probably offer us a better price!"
The artifacts were obtained from the upper floors of the newly discovered ruins. And according to one of their members who had detection skills, the ruins probably had several more floors below it.
In short, more riches were awaiting them at the deeper floors of that dungeon.
"The problem are the arachnias," said Emyrson.
Their party was forced to halt their exploration when they entered the second floor of ruins. Dozens of arachnias were residing in that place, and even Zenith would suffer great damage if they tried to fight those giant spiders.
"Even the army would have a hard time penetrating that floor filled with calamity-class monsters."
"That's why they're trying to cooperate with us, Boss."
Emyrson chugged down his mug. He burped loudly, put the mug down, and said, "But we still don't have any information on who Evander Alaester is."
The name of the ancient magus was Evander Alaester. Their party didn't know anything about him, aside from the fact that he was a powerful magician back when was still alive.
"We're still looking into it, Boss."
"But one thing's for sure, Boss. He's one rich bastard!"
The members of the party nodded their heads in agreement.
Emyrson grinned. "Imagine if we manage to reach his tomb! The artifacts we've obtained near the entrance are already worth so much! How much more precious would the items be inside!"
What a wonderful dream!
If they manage to wipe clean that tomb of all artifacts, the members of Zenith would no longer have to work for the rest of their lives.
They would no longer have to exterminate monsters near villages, and they would no longer have to dive into ruins and dungeons and face unknown dangers.
"We just need to find a way to deal with those giant spiders that made the second floor their nest," said Emyrson.
After discussing matters related to the newly discovered ruins, their topic shifted to the recent events in the continent.
One of the party members said, "Boss, what do you think of the recent events in the Empire? I still can't believe that psychopath Emperor agreed to be under an organization."
Another member replied, "It's not just an organization, moron."
"Coalition Army! That's basically the same, right?"
"How could you say it's a mere organization when it's literally an alliance of five nations!"
"Bah! Organization or alliance! They're basically the same!"
"Tch. This damn muscle brain!"
"What did you say?!"
"Hey, that's enough," said Emyrson.
The squabble died in an instant.
"The Coalition Army," said Emyrson. "The demons." He leaned back on his chair, looked up, and sighed. "We're living in a dangerous era."
Half a month ago, the Republic of Everfrost heard of news of the recent happenings in the Empire. The opening of the portal in Cattlewood Plains, the death of Harris Mavis, the fall of Meredith City and Volkheim City, and the appearance of the Coalition Army.
There were also rumors that Sword Saint Isaac Segarus had died in the hands of the demons, and that the imperial capital nearly fell overnight, but they were so absurd that people found it hard to believe even now.
And the most preposterous rumor of all was the existence of Lark Marcus.
According to the rumors, the King Regent from the Kingdom of Lukas brought the Coalition Army to the Empire. On his own, he successfully defended it from the demons, preventing the capital from falling into utter destruction.
And the rumors did not stop there. There were also people saying that the King Lark went to the United Grakas Alliance and leveled a mountain with his spell, killing nearly all of the demons that came out of the portal there.
Of course, due to the distance, there was no way for them to verify this.
"What do you think, Boss? Lark Marcus. They say even the Dragons of the Dwarven Mountain Range follow his commands."
Emyrson opened a new bottle of alcohol and chugged it down.
"That's stupid," said Emyrson. "Dragons are creatures of legends. Even if they do exist, there's no way they would follow the orders of a mere human. The rumors must have been blown out of proportion. Listen, men. Don't believe everything you hear. Scrutinize, analyze everything."
Emyrson added, "The only believable news is the one related to Prince Quinn. The others are hogwash. There's no way they happened."
Days after the imperial capital had been cleared of demons, the demons in Volkheim and Meredith retreated on their own. No one knew why the demons did it, but most attributed this success to Prince Quinn and his army stationed in Kreceir City.
After the demons retreated and the portal closed, the Quinn Army marched to Meredith City and successfully killed the Corrupted Tower that had taken root there.
"Well, enough of the stupid stories about those Empire bastards. Just hearing about them makes my mood sour."
Emyrson raised his mug.
"This feast is for all of you! Men! We'll keep drinking until we drop!"
"Yes, boss!"
From night until morning, the party merrily drank and ate to their hearts' content.
In a couple of days, after enough preparations, they would attempt to enter the ruins again. Hopefully, they would be able to reach the heart of the tomb of Evander Alaester.
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