“Your boyfriend?” Dagon was taken back.
“That’s…an unexpected news,” Sabrina digested it before adding, “So, who is that unfortunate fellow?”
“Mom!” Lily pouted.
Natalia snickered and said, “Don’t worry, he is also crazy like our Lily.”
“Well, that sounds like a worry on its own,” Dagon wryly smiled.
Lily rolled her eyes.
“Haha, don’t worry about that. He is not a bad kind of crazy,” Natalia laughed.
“Well, this unknown young man is piquing our curiosity more if even Natalia says that,” Sabrina chuckled. “Right, honey?”
“Indeed,” Dagon said, laughing. But he stopped seeing Lily’s expression. “Alright, alright. Let’s see what’s the matter. We are all ears now.”
Sabrina nodded.
“Ok, so Almond…killed Jacob and two others. But they almost killed him first-“
“Wait, Lily,” Natalia interrupted her. “Let’s start from the very start, like who was Almond in our academy and then him in the Labyrinth.”
“Right.”
Dagon and Sabrina patiently listened to Natalia and Lily as they jointly began telling their story.
…
[Draven: Let’s get out. I need to attend the meeting.]
[Rufus: If what we are perceiving is indeed that rumored project, then we can talk about it in the meeting and ask Mr. Han if he can talk to the GAA’s top brass and let us have a look.]
Both of them had discovered the existence of Arcane Eyes, a type of monitor device that could directly relay everything it captured on the Labyrinth’s floor to the outside.
Arcane Eyes were deployed hurriedly on the last three days of the previous month’s Labyrinth cycle. For one, the GAA’s top brass wanted to see what was happening inside while the Labyrinth remained close.
And second, they wanted to start observing Adventurers inside. This way, they would be able to observe newbie adventurers and pick out some talents while also discovering nasty individuals to punish them.
…
Draven and Rufus arrived at their Wildhunt Guild’s base, a magnificent wooden-metal castle reflective of modern and magic tech in the mix.
Entering the hall, he sat down on the couch and lit up the cigarette, his heart unsettled.
“Rufus, send someone to the academy with party invitations for all the students and their parents from the same batch as my son,” Draven ordered, a cold glint passing through his eyes. “And get me the status of every student who entered—who’s returned and who hasn’t. I want to know about each one.”
“Alright,” Rufus nodded and took out the phone, but before he could call, he received a call.
“Hello, Mr. Han. Yes, we are at the guild base….yes, understood.”
Draven looked at Rufus, who promptly said after cutting the call, “They are coming here in ten minutes.”
“Got it.”
Afterward, Rufus contacted a guild member to work on the part invitation plan while he and Draven waited in the hall.
Several minutes later, three people arrived at the guild base. A middle-aged man, a black-brownish-haired woman in her thirties, and an old man in his sixties, all wearing different colored professional office suits.
To grow the guild further, Draven had made a deal with GAA to get some Dungeon Doors owned by GAA in the forest fifty kilometers away from the city.
As the biggest guild in Frostar City, the Wildhunt guild had many members.
Entry into the Labyrinth was limited, but the same was not true for the dungeons. There were riches and power to be earned by exploring the dungeons, making them important resources for overall growth in the world.
The deal was already done, so these three from GAA were here to give the locations of Dungeon Doors and finalize the deal’s terms.
After an hour of peaceful meeting, the old man in his sixties, Mr. Han, spoke as his eyes slightly narrowed, “You seem to be in distress, Mr. Draven.”
Draven leaned back and lit up a cigarette as the meeting was finally over. After puffing once, he took a deep breath and said, “My son didn’t return from the Labyrinth.”
“And I’m certain something bad happened to him because he was supposed to come out,” Draven closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening again. “I’m worried.”
“Did you send people inside?”
“I did. I’ve sent over a hundred people inside. All of my Silver-ranked and five gold-ranked Adventurers are looking for him.”
Draven stubbed the cigarette on the ashtray to his left after taking a long puff and looked at Mr. Han in his eyes.
Everyone could see his bloodshot eyes.
“Mr. Han, I need a favor.”
“It seems you went inside and discovered it,” spoke the middle-aged man—a known Platinum-ranked Adventurer ranked 78th in the Global Leaderboard—Austin Wern, Ironheart Crusader.
The woman adjusted her rims and said, “I’m afraid access to Arcane Eyes is not possible.”
“I want to know what happened to my son,” Draven said, his fist clenched tightly. “If the Arcane Eyes are deployed, I’m sure someone at the top is watching everything. It’s fine if you can’t show me the video screens, but at least tell me what happened to my son.”
“Mr. Han,” Draven looked at the old man, his eyes almost pleading, “I will forever remember this favor.”
Mr. Han stood up and sighed, “I will try to see what I can do. But please know that only three people are allowed to watch the video screens right now. Not even I have access to it, so don’t keep your hope on me and try investigating your way.”
“I’ll pass down the order to this city’s GAA branch to cooperate with you as well,” he added.
“Thank you, thank you very much,” Draven stretched his hand for the handshake.
After leaving the Wildhunt Guild’s base, Mr. Han said, “Let’s go to the GAA branch here and have a talk with Dagon and Sabrina. It’s been a while since we last talked.”
…
On the other hand, Lily and Natalia also had been speaking for the past hour and finally relayed everything.
“So he is that impressive,” Sabrina was slightly dazed, especially at the last part.
“I can see why your heart settled on him. He must have rocked your so-called chemistry meter,” Dagon dryly chuckled and rubbed his temples, “But this trouble is serious…”