After Roland was taken outside, Jake approached the counter and apologized for the trouble his friend caused.
The receptionist responded calmly. "No problem."
Jake had a sad smile. "Roland usually wasn't like that. He was a kind and collected person. Our hobbies are buying rare stones and learning folktales to places we came across. More than a week ago, we arrived in this town. It was night when we arrived here. Near midnight. I remembered clearly; the moon was so full and white at that time when suddenly, it cried a tear of blood…"
Roy and the receptionist blinked their eyes, looking somewhat puzzled at what Jake said.
"What do you mean by it cried a tear of blood?" Roy was the one who asked it.
Jake looked at Roy. "A bloody teardrop fell from the moon."
Roy and the receptionist had a uniform shocked expression. He wondered if Jake was crazy, or maybe he was just kidding. But, who wanted to joke in this situation?
"Wait. For real?"
Looking at Jake he didn't seem like he was fooling.
"The teardrop fell to the ground. I'm not sure if other people saw it. It was near midnight so most people in the town were probably in their slumber at that time. Before I and Roland noticed it, our third companion already dashed away to find where the tear fell. We tried to call her but she was too excited to hear us. We decided to chase after her. And when we finally caught up to her, we were shocked to see her unconscious on the ground in front of the dungeon. That person… is someone very important to us, especially to Roland."
Sometimes later, Roy found himself walking on the street. After listening to Jake and the receptionist, he finally understood the reason for this gloomy atmosphere proliferating in the town. But he did not expect it to be something so unnatural. Crying moon and Witch of famine… Whether they were real or not was something hard to tell without investigating it.
According to the guild receptionist, all operations in the dungeon were prohibited in the meantime. They were waiting for the squad that the exploration association sent. They were the only people capable of investigating this phenomenon.
Roy touched his chin. "This is bad. If I do nothing and wait, I'm afraid I will have to leave empty-handed today. The promise I made to Rei Rei is bound to fail. Ngh. I can't accept it."
Roy checked his watch under the sleeve of his arm.
"It's already 2:35 PM. The estimated arrival of the exploration squad that will investigate the dungeon is around 5-7 PM."
"Hm… let's say I only have more than one hour to collect at least one rare stone. But the problem is the curse they are talking about. They said that talismans are good against curses, unfortunately, I don't have enough money to buy talismans. Moreover, since the guild prohibited all activities in the dungeon, no one was allowed to enter. Why does something like this have to happen right now? Such bad timing."
"Ugh…" Roy rubbed his head forcefully. "I'll go and check the dungeon first!"
"You!"
"Eh?"
Roy quickly covered his mouth, afraid that someone heard his mutter. He glanced to his right and saw a person in a corner wearing suspicious attire.
"Are you talking to me?" Roy pointed to himself.
"Yes."
That person nodded.
"What do you want?"
"You're planning to enter the dungeon, right?"
What?
It was hard to tell the other person's identity because her body was covered in cloth from head to toe, but Roy noticed her feminine voice. Based on her voice and her height, Roy guessed she was younger than him.
"Ha?! I'm not! Maybe you heard it wrong!" Fuck! He was discovered already? Should he run? No, wait. He didn't really explicitly say he'd enter, he said he just wanted to investigate a little. "Wha-what I mean is that—"
He wanted to fool her but she immediately said, "There's no need to hide it. Even without telling me, I can tell your true intentions just by looking at you."
"….."
Roy found himself lost for words. 'I was found out already?!' In that case, maybe he'd just go back home.
Suddenly, she said, "Let's work together."
"Ha?"
"I said let's work together, but before that, come with me, let's find a safe place to talk."
Wait. What?
Roy thought for a moment. He couldn't just go and agree. What if it was a trap? He saw it in movies and anime. Bad people used it to lure their victims into dilapidated places, not knowing few others were waiting for an ambush. Once he was surrounded, they beat him up and robbed him. What if it was her real plan?!
"Rest assured I'm not cheap to go after pieces of crap."
It didn't take Roy a minute to realize what she meant was his equipment. But how did she know what he was thinking?
She brought him inside a hidden tavern. Although it was a tavern, there were no other people inside except for the two of them.
Roy rolled his eyes and looked around.
"Relax. This tavern is owned by us," while saying that, she took off her hood, revealing her brown hair, tied in a pair of bun. She went to the back of the bar. After a minute, she came back with two cups of tea.
She placed one in front of Roy and she placed the other one on the opposite side of the table. Finally, the two of them sat face to face opposite each other. With a cup of tea in front of them.
After drinking her tea, she gently placed the cup back on the table.
"My name is Yi Su." She finally spoke. Her voice was gentle, contradicting her rudy behavior earlier.
He was right though. She was younger than him. But he did not expect her to be this gentle, honestly. Her mannerisms and even her eyes. Unlike Jing'er's fiery enthusiastic eyes and Mao Jiang's calm and smart eyes, Yi Su had a pair of soft-looking gentle eyes.
After introducing himself as well, he inquired her about what she said a while ago. About working together. Yi Su specified to him that if he intended to enter the dungeon, she was the only one who could help him.
"The dungeon is heavily guarded by the people from the guild."
"What really?" Roy was surprised. "Aren't everyone afraid to come close to it, so what's the reason for guarding it when no one even wants to come close to it?"
"Uhm, Mister Han, I think you're looking down on people's curiosity and needs. You see, even after the news of it being dangerous to approach reached all, there were still some who tried to enter it, thus, more and more fell victims. The guild then stationed more people to guard it."
"I see. So that's what happened," Roy touched his chin and sighed softly. Humans were headstrong creatures, truly.
"Then it's impossible for me to enter," Roy's tone carried a hint of losing appetite.
"Ahem!" Yi Su suddenly cleared her throat. "As I said already, I am the only one who can help you, Mister Han."
Roy looked at her. He forced a smile. "But Yi Su, even if you said that, I still can't think of a way to bypass the guards."
She silently stood up from her seat and went upstairs.
Eh?
Roy was slightly dumbfounded but he waited and didn't say anything. She came back a few seconds later, and with her, was a leather cache. She put it on the table.
Roy silently stared as Yi Su opened and unzipped it.
"Mister Han, this is the solution to your problem." Yi Su revealed the content after unzipping it widely.
"Brown cloth and a pair of leather boots?" Roy muttered.
"These are Cloak Of Invisibility and Soundless Boots. I will lend them to you, but in exchange, you will help me find a person."