A gust of fresh, cool air swept over them as they stood before the dungeon exit, replacing the damp, suffocating atmosphere of the dungeon with the crisp scent of grass and soil. It was a stark contrast—the underground staleness exchanged for the vibrant, open wilderness.
Belle inhaled deeply, stretching her arms above her head. "Finally."
No one responded.
The group stepped out into the open, greeted by the last remnants of twilight painting the horizon in streaks of deep orange and violet. The landscape stretched endlessly before them, rolling hills and dense forests lining the road leading back to Dawnstead.
Despite their victory, an uneasy silence hung in the air.
Darin, Lena, and Garron walked ahead, their expressions unreadable. They didn't speak. They didn't look back. Belle wasn't oblivious to their stiff shoulders or the way they avoided glancing at her or Kai.
She understood why. This wasn't just about surviving the dungeon. It was about pride.
Trinity Blade—Dawnstead's so-called strongest adventurer party—had been completely overwhelmed. They had been on the verge of death, only to be saved by a new adventurer and a reckless swordsman who had practically laughed his way through the battle.
Then there was the magic.
Darin had tried to match her fire magic, only to be utterly outclassed. Garron, their steadfast shield, had watched as she tore through enemies with terrifying ease. And Lena, their healer, had seen just how decisively she turned the tide of battle.
They had never acknowledged her before. Now, they couldn't ignore her.
Belle exhaled slowly. She wasn't sure if she should break the silence—or if it was better to let them process things on their own.
But before she could decide—
"Hey, Belle." Kai's voice cut through the quiet.
Belle sighed, already sensing where this was going. "What now?"
Kai smirked, but his eyes held a sharp glint. "Let's talk about what really matters."
Belle frowned. "Which is?"
Kai dramatically pointed at her. "The piggyback thing."
Belle blinked. "Oh."
Kai's eye twitched.
"Let me make this absolutely clear," he said, crossing his arms. "That. Will. Never. Happen. Again."
Belle raised an eyebrow. "We were running against time. We didn't have a choice."
Kai gritted his teeth. "Doesn't matter! You could've found another way. I can't believe you actually piggybacked me and ran at full speed. Twice!"
Belle smirked. "Would you have preferred if I dragged you by your foot instead?"
Kai made a strangled noise. "That's not the point! Do you have any idea how humiliating this is?!"
Belle tapped her chin, pretending to think. "I mean, I guess if I carried you princess-style, it would've been worse."
Kai paled, looking utterly horrified. "I would rather die."
Belle shrugged. "Maybe next time."
Kai groaned, running a hand through his hair. "This is going to haunt me forever."
Belle was about to tease him more when she noticed the movement up ahead. Trinity Blade still hadn't spoken. Even with Kai's loud grumbling behind them, they didn't react. Not a single glance. Not a single comment. Just silent steps back to Dawnstead.
Belle's amusement faded slightly. This wasn't over yet.
The moon hung high over Dawnstead by the time Belle and her party reached the town gates. The cobbled streets, though quieter than in the day, still carried the murmur of late-night activity. Lanterns lined the walkways, their golden glow flickering against the cool evening breeze. Merchants packed away their wares, and the scent of roasted meat and freshly baked bread lingered in the air as taverns remained lively with patrons unwinding after a long day.
The towering silhouette of the Adventurers' Guild came into view. From within, muffled sounds of laughter, clinking mugs, and the occasional clash of an arm-wrestling contest painted a familiar, chaotic scene.
But as Belle, Kai, and Trinity Blade pushed open the heavy wooden doors and stepped inside, the noise came to an abrupt halt. Every conversation died mid-sentence.
Dozens of adventurers—some seated at long tables drinking, others discussing quests—turned toward the entrance. Mugs were frozen halfway to lips, dice games paused mid-roll. The hall, always bursting with chatter and bravado, stood in stunned silence.
The expressions on their faces were nearly identical. Disbelief.
"There's no way—"
"They're back already?!"
"Did they even go? That was just a few hours ago!"
The murmurs built quickly, shifting from shock to speculation. No one had expected them to be back so soon. A dungeon rescue mission, especially for a high-ranking party, should have taken a full day at minimum, maybe even longer if things went south.
Yet here they were.
As the adventurers got a better look at Trinity Blade, however, the disbelief turned into something else.
Darin, Lena, and Garron—once the picture of unshakable confidence—were in rough shape. Their clothes were torn, their weapons scuffed, and their faces worn with exhaustion. But more than their physical state, something deeper had changed.
They weren't boasting. They weren't sneering. They weren't saying anything at all. Their silence spoke louder than any words could. The realization dawned on the gathered adventurers, like a wave passing through the crowd.
Trinity Blade had been rescued.
The strongest adventurer party in Dawnstead—the ones who sneered at others, who carried themselves as untouchable—had needed saving.
The murmurs grew louder.
"Wait, does this mean…?"
"They actually needed help?"
"No way. Trinity Blade? Rescued?"
"By them?" A glance flickered toward Belle and Kai.
Kai, as usual, didn't seem to care about the stares, casually yawning and stretching as though he had just returned from a stroll rather than a dangerous dungeon crawl. Belle, on the other hand, could feel the weight of every gaze, some filled with skepticism, others with grudging respect. A few who had witnessed her strength during the previous subjugation quest only nodded, as if it made sense to them.
"Yo, Trinity Blade!" One adventurer finally called out. "You guys good?"
Garron barely managed a nod, his mouth pressed into a thin line. The reaction only deepened the onlookers' curiosity.
Trinity Blade wasn't making excuses. They weren't lashing out. They weren't even denying it. They were simply quiet. For the first time, they had encountered something they couldn't simply laugh off.
Then a deep, familiar voice cut through the tension.
"You're back. Faster than expected."
The crowd shifted as Garrick, the guildmaster, stepped forward, his sharp gaze sweeping over the group. His eyes lingered on Trinity Blade, taking in their battered forms and subdued expressions, before turning to Belle and Kai.
"You handled it?" he asked, his tone neutral, unreadable.
Kai smirked, tapping the hilt of his katana. "Obviously."
Garrick didn't seem surprised. Instead, he folded his arms across his broad chest. "Report."
Belle stepped forward. "The dungeon had signs of miasma corruption."
The moment the word left her lips, the guild hall erupted.
"Wait, what?!"
"Miasma? In a dungeon?!"
"That's not possible!"
Miasma wasn't something found in dungeons. It was something that lurked deep within the Forbidden Forest, something tied to monsters that thrived on corruption. The idea that it had appeared so close to Dawnstead sent a ripple of unease through the room.
Garrick's brows furrowed. "Are you certain?"
Belle nodded. "We saw the corruption spreading inside. The monsters were erratic—unstable. The deeper we went, the worse it got. They are adapting during our fight."
A heavy silence settled over the hall.
"If this is true, this isn't just a problem for the guild anymore," Garrick muttered. "If there's miasma spreading, it could mean—"
"A larger threat," Lena finally spoke. Her voice was steady, but there was something different about it. Something more serious. "It might not stop at the dungeon."
Another wave of unease passed through the adventurers. If the corruption extended beyond the dungeon, Dawnstead itself could be in danger.
Garrick exhaled sharply. "Effective immediately, all operations in that dungeon are halted."
The declaration sent another ripple through the room. A dungeon being shut down meant a significant loss in quests, income, and resources. But no one protested. The danger was clear.
"We'll launch an investigation," Garrick continued. "If the corruption is spreading, we may need to work with the Dawnstead Knights again."
Kai groaned audibly. "Ugh. Not those guys."
Garrick shot him a warning look. "We're not ignoring a potential disaster just because you don't like them."
Belle, meanwhile, studied Trinity Blade. Even now, they remained quiet, a stark contrast to the arrogance they once carried. Darin's fists were clenched, Lena's gaze unreadable, and Garron hadn't lifted his eyes from the ground since they arrived.
This wasn't just about the miasma anymore. Something had changed.
The Silver Hearth Inn stood at the heart of Dawnstead, its warm glow spilling onto the cobbled streets. The scent of roasted meat and spiced ale drifted from within, mingling with the cool night air. Normally, it was a place of boisterous celebration—a haven for adventurers eager to recount their battles, exaggerate their victories, and drink away their failures.
Tonight, however, the mood was different.
Seated in the farthest corner of the dimly lit tavern, Darin, Lena, and Garron sat in an uneasy silence. Their usual table, once surrounded by laughter and confidence, now felt like a prison of their own making.
The wooden surface between them remained untouched. Their mugs, still brimming with frothy ale, sat forgotten.
Garron exhaled sharply, breaking the silence first. "...We were fools."
Neither Darin nor Lena refuted it. Because they knew it was true.
For years, they had believed they were Dawnstead's strongest adventurers. The elite. The ones people admired, envied, feared. Their reputation had been their pride—no, their shield. They took the most dangerous quests, faced the most powerful monsters, and returned victorious every time.
But tonight, that belief had shattered. They had been rescued. And not just by anyone. By Belle.
Lena finally broke the silence, her voice quieter than usual. "It all makes sense now."
Darin, who had been staring blankly at his untouched drink, looked up. "What does?"
Lena's fingers curled around her mug, gripping it so tightly her knuckles turned white. "That subjugation quest."
Darin frowned. For a moment, he wasn't sure what she meant. Then it clicked.
The emergency subjugation quest.
It had happened over a week ago—a sudden surge of mana-overloaded monsters, so severe that both adventurers and the Dawnstead Knights had to be mobilized. Trinity Blade had been urgently summoned back from an expedition, expecting to jump into a battlefield.
But by the time they had arrived, it was already over.
Not just handled—completely resolved. The town stood untouched. The guild hall was calm. The streets carried no signs of battle. At the time, they had assumed it was some sort of clerical error, or maybe a cruel prank.
They had tried asking around, but no one gave them a straight answer. The more they investigated, the stranger it became. Everyone avoided the topic. Sidestepped the details.
Lena scoffed. "Belle was there, wasn't she?"
Darin felt a chill creep up his spine.
Garron, who had remained silent until now, muttered, "...She was the one who ended it."
The weight of that realization settled heavily on them.
Darin swallowed, forcing himself to voice the question clawing at his mind. "If that's true—if she ended it so fast—then what does that make us?"
They had always considered themselves the peak—unrivaled within Dawnstead. But if Belle could resolve a crisis in seconds, while they had struggled against mere remnants of miasma-infested monsters—Had they ever been strong at all?
Lena let out a bitter laugh. "No wonder the guild doesn't talk about her."
Darin exhaled, rubbing a hand down his face. "It's not just that." He met her gaze. "They know how strong she is. That's why they don't say anything."
Lena frowned. "What do you mean?"
Darin hesitated, then leaned forward, lowering his voice. "Think about it. If people outside Dawnstead found out what she can do, what do you think would happen?"
Lena's breath hitched. Garron straightened. For the first time, they saw the bigger picture. Belle's strength wasn't normal.
It wasn't just above theirs—it was on a level that defied everything they understood about magic and combat. If she was strong enough to silence an entire guild about her existence, to resolve conflicts before they even began—She wasn't just an adventurer. She was a weapon.
And if the wrong people discovered her?
Lena clenched her jaw. "They'd want her."
Darin nodded grimly. "They'd try to monopolize her."
A force like Belle? No kingdom would ignore that. No noble would turn a blind eye. The moment word of her true power spread, she would no longer be free.
Lena leaned back, her expression unreadable. "...And we've been treating her like she was beneath us."
Garron let out a heavy sigh. "And here we were, acting like we were the best."
Darin forced a chuckle, but it was empty. "Yeah. Thought we were untouchable."
For a while, none of them spoke. The noise of the tavern faded into a distant hum. The crackling fire at the hearth cast flickering shadows against the walls, wrapping around them like the ghosts of their arrogance.
Then Lena spoke again, her voice quieter—but more determined than before. "...I don't want to be like this anymore."
Darin and Garron looked at her. She stared down at the table, fingers still clenched into fists. "I don't want to be the kind of person who thinks I'm strong just because no one stronger has put me in my place."
She lifted her gaze. The firelight reflected in her sharp, ice-blue eyes.
"We got lucky this time. But if we stay like this—" her fists trembled "we won't survive next time."
Darin leaned back, running a hand through his hair. He had always believed in their strength. In himself. But tonight, that belief had crumbled. They had been overconfident. Arrogant. Blind. And in doing so, they had nearly died.
Garron sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before nodding. "...We need to change."
Lena nodded, determination settling into her features.
Darin let out a rough chuckle. "Well, first step is probably stopping the whole 'we're the strongest' act."
Lena shot him a look. "That's the easy part."
A small smirk twitched at Darin's lips, but it faded just as quickly. For the first time, they weren't sitting in silence because of defeat. They were sitting in silence because they had seen the truth. And now, they understood just how far behind they were.
The only question left was—What were they going to do about it?
End of Chapter 46