Chapter 228

Morning arrived gently, sunlight slipping through the inn’s narrow windows and pooling across the wooden floor like pale gold. Every one of them had slept deeply, the kind of rest earned only after long travel and constant vigilance. Muscles that had ached the night before now felt loose and ready.

The innkeeper prepared a simple but hearty breakfast. Bowls of steaming soup were set before them, thick with vegetables and bits of meat. Warm bread followed, its crust crackling softly when torn apart. Laughter and chatter filled the dining hall as the group ate, energy returning in waves.

For a brief moment, they almost looked like ordinary young folks on a simple vacation.

A knock echoed through the inn.

Then another.

It had already happened a few times that morning. Curious travelers or regular patrons, surprised to find the doors of the inn barred. Each time, one of the boys stationed near the entrance explained that the entire inn had been rented until noon.

So when the knock came again, no one reacted at first.

Toby, still riding the confidence of a full stomach and good rest, hopped to his feet and strode toward the door. He opened it just enough to peer outside.

“The whole inn is privately rented until noon,” he said brightly.

A man stood beyond the doorway.

He wore worn armor, scratched and dulled from frequent use. At first glance, he might have passed for an adventurer. His eyes didn’t wander like someone curious or impatient. They calculated.

“I know,” the man replied, his voice rough, scraped raw by either age or habit. “I’m Terd. From the Deck Mercenary Group.”

Toby hesitated.

“We noticed your carriages,” Terd continued. “If you’re going beyond this town. I’m here to offer our services. The roads today are very dangerous.”

From inside the room, Kana frowned.

“Let him in,” she said.

Terd stepped inside, boots heavy against the floor. His gaze swept the room once, taking in faces, weapons, and posture with ease. He didn’t linger, but Kana felt the weight of that glance anyway.

He seated himself across from the adults.

Kier let out a small chuckle, jerking a thumb toward Kana. “You’ve got the wrong person. That gi—” He coughed. “Lady is our leader. Business goes through her.”

Terd turned toward Kana.

Kana met his gaze calmly. “Why would we need a mercenary group?” she asked. “We’ve already hired two certified adventurers.” She gestured toward Kier and Monde.

Lex, as expected, was nowhere to be seen.

Terd leaned forward slightly. “Then you haven’t heard what’s been happening here.”

The noise in the room faded. The students slightly leaned in closing to them, curious.

“Travelers have been going missing,” he said. “Some vanish without a trace. Others are found dead along the roads. Just these past few weeks.”

Several students suddenly tensed in their seats.

“There are rumors,” Terd continued, voice lowering, “that some of the missing were found later. Sold as slaves in cities across the empire.”

A cold silence followed.

“Whatever’s behind it,” he said, “it’s powerful. Dangerous. My group has fifty members. Hiring us would make your journey safe.”

Kana listened without interrupting. Then she shook her head.

“Thank you for the warning,” she said. “Our destination isn’t far. We won’t be hiring you.”

She added calmly, “And we trust the adventurers we’ve already paid. They weren’t cheap.”

Kier nearly choked on his soup.

Terd’s expression hardened. “We’ve warned you,” he said. “Most of the missing are around your age.”

Then he stood and left without another word.

The door shut behind him.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Elle finally broke the silence. “Should we… reconsider? Hiring them, I mean?”

Kana’s expression tightened. “No.”

She leaned back slightly. “He reeks of blood. I could smell it the moment he walked in.”

Suri nodded. “Kana’s nose is more reliable than a dog’s.”

Kana pinched the bridge of her nose, but Suri caught her wrist. “Stop. And that man is probably one of them.”

“One of them?” Yuri asked quietly.

“Two days before we reached town,” Kana said, “someone started tailing us.”

The boys erupted at once.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“That’s important!”

Kana raised her hand. “They’ve only been observing. No hostile action. I didn’t want anyone to panic.” She glanced around the table. “Suri and I are watching them closely. Don’t worry.”

Elle swallowed. “Kana… he said there were fifty.”

“Boris and Adam are enough for the likes of them,” Kana replied evenly.

Most of them nodded without hesitation. Even Thorne bobbed her head copying them, chewing noisily on a strip of raw meat atop the table.

Only Elle remained unconvinced.

“…Am I the only one who finds that strange?”

Kana didn’t answer.

She was already listening for footsteps outside using her [High Awareness].

They left the town before noon, the inn already shrinking behind them as they followed the eastern road out into open land. Lunch had been quick and quiet.

The two carriages were left behind, entrusted to the innkeeper with a small payment and a firm warning. If the group vanished for several days, unattended wagons would be little more than bait for thieves.

From there on, they traveled on foot.

Snow thickened as they moved eastward, not heavy enough to blind them, but persistent. It clung to boots, crept into seams of clothing, and muted the world into a pale hush. The rocky terrain forced them into narrower paths, stone jutting from the earth like broken teeth.

Boris and Adam walked at the front, each carrying a massive container of food strapped tightly to their backs. The packs creaked with every step, packed with preserved meat, dried bread, and emergency rations. Sweat steamed faintly from their shoulders despite the cold.

Elle walked close to Kana.

“…Are they still watching us?” Elle asked quietly, eyes flicking toward the ridgelines and tree cover.

Kana didn’t slow. “Yes.”

Boris glanced back. “Should we just go and beat them up?”

Kana scratched the back of her head, thoughtful rather than annoyed. “I don’t feel any killing intent. We can’t just attack people because they’re suspicious. Right?”

Boris snorted. “You beat me to a pulp once. Remember?”

Kana laughed softly. “You’re still holding a grudge over that?”

“There are only three of them,” Suri said calmly. “The man who called himself Turd earlier is one of them.”

“Terd,” Yuri corrected weakly.

Suri waved it off. “Doesn’t matter. They’re not a threat.”

Toby adjusted his scarf. “Hmm.. I remember. There’s a type of group like that,” he said. “They help travelers, then demand payment afterward. Usually outrageous amounts.”

Leo nodded. “My sister ran into something similar. They saved her company once. Then charged them enough coin to bankrupt a small merchant.”

Kana glanced back at the group. “With you, Andel, and Elle around, coin won’t be an issue.”

“…”

“…”

“….”

Leo, Andel, and Elle all stiffened at once.

The commoner students noticed immediately and nodded in agreement.

“…She’s jesting,” Andel said after a second, forcing a nod.

Elle followed suit. “Yes. Jesting. Our parents are rich but we are not.”

Kana smiled faintly and kept walking.

Two nights passed.

They camped beneath sparse trees and rocky overhangs. Watches were rotated carefully. Snow fell thicker at night, blanketing their footprints by morning, erasing signs of passage.

Their pace was fast. Faster than it should have been.

By the time the second night ended, the land itself seemed to change. The ground darkened, stone veins breaking through the earth. The air grew heavier, carrying a faint, unfamiliar warmth beneath the cold.

When they finally reached the dungeon entrance, no one spoke at first.

According to the map, it should have taken three days.

They had done it in two.

A jagged opening yawned at the base of a fractured hill, stone blackened and smoothed as if something had breathed fire through it long ago. Heat seeped from within, subtle but undeniable, warping the air just beyond the threshold.

Before approaching, Kana led them to a nearby river.

The water was clear and painfully cold, fed by melting snow upstream. One by one, they refilled waterskins, hands numbing within seconds. Kana gestured for them to soak the inner layers of their clothing.

“The dungeon is hot,” she warned. “Too hot. You’ll regret it if you go in dry.”

No one argued.

As they worked, steam rose faintly from the riverbank where warm breath met icy air. Kana crouched, fingers brushing the water’s surface, eyes narrowing toward the dungeon entrance.

This was where preparation ended.

From here on, everything depended on judgment, trust, and how quickly they adapt to the dungeon surprises.

….

Terd watched them for a long time.

Long enough to memorize their pacing. Long enough to note which ones laughed too easily, which ones walked like they expected trouble, and which ones carried themselves with the quiet confidence of people who had already survived things that should have killed them.

Only when the last of them vanished into the mouth of the dungeon did he finally look away.

He spat into the snow.

“Mid to low level dungeon,” he muttered. “Probably.”

He didn’t really care what level it was. That was never the point.

Terd class was a [Hunter]. Outside the walls, tracking was not a skill so much as an instinct. Broken twigs, disturbed snow, the faintest compression of soil. A whole group moving together might as well leave a glowing trail behind them.

Tracking them had been effortless.

A shadow passed over the ground.

Terd raised his arm, and the large bird descended from the sky, wings folding with grace as it landed. The falcon’s talons gripped his leather bracer, sharp and steady. Its eyes were keen, intelligent, and utterly merciless.

He stroked its feathers once.

“Good,” he whispered.

Mercenary work had been drying up for years.

Since the war ended, adventurers have taken everything worth taking. Dungeons. Escorts. Protection contracts. Even the border skirmishes had faded into nothing. Peace was a blessing for most people but a slow death for men like him.

They told themselves it wasn’t their fault. That the world simply changed the rules.

It would have been easier if the rich looking kid group had accepted their offer earlier. Poison slipped into a shared pot, or beat them while they slept. It would make the stranger’s men's job effortless and it means more rewards for their group.

But refusal didn’t mean impossibility.

Just inconvenience.

His thoughts drifted back a few months.

A stranger. Wrapped in fine travel cloaks. His accent was polished, unmistakably imperial. The man hadn’t threatened them. Hadn’t begged either.

He had simply explained.

Supply lines lost. Contacts gone silent. Demand unchanged.

They needed people.

Young ones. A new source. 

Terd hadn’t asked what happened to the old source. He didn’t need to.

The falcon shifted, letting out a low cry.

Terd reached into the pouch tied to its leg and unrolled the small parchment it carried. The message was short. 

We are coming.

His grin widened, teeth yellowed by years of bad ale and worse decisions.

“Two adventurers,” he murmured. “Warned them about that.”

That would raise the price.

And then there were the kids.

He counted again in his head.

“Eleven,” he said softly. “Eleven young ones.”

His fingers curled slowly as he rolled the parchment back up.

The dungeon entrance loomed in the distance, silent now.

Let them fight the dungeon monsters first.

Let them weaken.

All he needed to do now was to wait and watch those strange men in cloak to get the whole group when they came out. He wasn’t sure about the two adventurers if they were going to live because most of them were killed.

Post note:
It was Kana who ended their previous source.
Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂