Chapter 15: Pie in the Sky, Drawing a Big Pie

"You mean, right after defeating two Stone Statue Ghosts and entering the next area, even before exploring, you fell off a cliff and died?"

Bed City, City Lord's Manor, the topmost room.

An authoritative old man pushed his glasses up and scrutinized the Elf before him with a skeptical look.

Steeran's face was flushed with shame.

"Is that even true?"

Steeran wished she could just find a crack to crawl into.

"Aren't you Silver Rank?"

Steeran felt like dying.

"My second son hasn't even emerged yet, and you died before him? He doesn't even have a Mid-tier profession..."

Steeran nearly bent down to the ground, loudly saying:

"We are truly ashamed! We can't face taking the commission fee!"

"Sigh,"

The city lord of Bed City and the head of the Bed Family, Philip Bed, sighed deeply, removed his glasses, and rubbed his brow, a look of weariness spreading across his face.

"Never mind, the commission fee will be paid as usual. The Bed Family never goes back on their word, especially since you indeed had some gains,"

Other than Wild and Charon, the rest of Steeran's team made it back. Although everyone had a look of terror, surprisingly, each had some gains.

The map expert sketched out a portion of the swamp area, providing intel on how to open the fortress gate by lighting the beacon.

The medicine expert brought back multicolored Moss Balls, proving that these inconspicuous little things had detoxifying effects comparable to Upper Tier Potions, though it seemed different colored Moss Balls could detoxify different poisons.

The ore expert, having accidentally triggered a Teleportation trap and ending up in an underground mine, was sliced in half by a Molten Furnace Knight, yet before dying, he spotted Blood Essence Ore scattered all around, and even a rare purple Blood Essence worth a hundred times more.

Other experts... encountered different monsters, bringing back information; it was a hard-won achievement.

Besides protecting the experts, Steeran and other adventurers' achievements were quite similar to those of the other experts...

That's why she was overwhelmed with shame.

Those she was supposed to protect had died, marking this as a major blunder in her adventurous career.

And she even ended her Dungeon journey with a rather embarrassing death.

Turning back time to when she and Huynh first entered the Dungeon, stepping into Sick Village, they immediately felt an overwhelming sense of creepiness, discomfort all over their bodies.

Within a few steps, they were besieged by monsters—large rats covered with abscesses that squirted fluids when hit, and meat clumps similar to but more disgusting than Slimes, concocted from unclear meat parts. The mere proximity of these monsters was enough to smell their nauseating stench, let alone fight them.

Steeran practically sprinted all the way out, feeling a great mental strain.

She used to hold a peculiar fondness for monsters, thinking the majestic ones looked cool, and even if not handsome, they had unique characteristics worth admiring.

But after coming to Sain Dungeon, for the first time, she realized monsters could be both abstract and revolting.

I, Steeran, am a monster slayer—no mercy, no forgiveness for monsters!

Actually, both the large rats and the meat clumps were a piece of cake, initially startling at first glance, but one gets used to them after a while.

What truly was unbearable occurred when she encountered a monster on a suspension bridge...

Those were several agile monkeys, and with her exquisite shooting technique, hitting them was very challenging.

Most importantly—

They would throw feces.

Lump after lump of warm, freshly made poop...

They would even pull out jars filled with feces to smash people...

When Huynh was forced to use his precious shield to block the feces, Steeran clearly saw him shedding tears...

...

Facing the sky full of fecal rain, just as a large blob of feces was about to hit her in the face, Steeran chose to actively jump off a cliff to commit suicide.

Huynh followed right after, the honest and simple strong man showing a face of relief.

After returning, he threw away his shield.

Steeran also changed her entire outfit.

The two of them never spoke of this experience, only mentioning that they fell into a trap halfway across a suspension bridge. Otherwise...

They would likely have spent the rest of their lives amidst people's laughter.

It's entirely reasonable to believe that the burst of spiritual power from the two when attacked by the monkeys was equivalent to the death of an ordinary person.

"Cough, cough,"

Count Philip's coughing brought Steeran back to reality, and she realized there was nothing left to do and it was time to leave.

Originally driven by a sense of duty to return the money, she was pleasantly surprised that the generous Count Philip refused to take it.

"Well then, we will take our leave, wishing you all the best, Mr. Philip,"

Steeran elegantly curtsied and turned to leave, her mind now full of thoughts about the Sain Dungeon.

If she didn't clear it once, it might become a lifelong obsession she could never shake off.

But with their current strength, they might have to die dozens of times to clear it.

Waste time on clearing a dungeon? Wouldn't that mean forsaking opportunities to earn money through missions? Without money, they couldn't even afford a Teleportation Crystal!

So, she thought of a good plan—to seek help.

"Dear sister:"

"How is everything in Elf Forest? I trust the Warrior Team you lead is dispelling all dangers... Is our mother still serving as the Queen... Sister, I've encountered something I absolutely want to accomplish..."

"Bang,"

As the door of the drawing room closed, Count Philip put on his glasses and once again started reading the experts' report.

"We've discovered that this area resembling a mine has an astonishing reserve of Blood Essence, massively clustered together, even forming lotus-shaped crystal clusters, something unimaginable before. I remember the old Sain Dungeon, where miners had to work hard with picks for hours to extract a palm-sized Blood Essence from the rock walls, then walk a long distance to the next collection point, achieving very little in a whole day. The next day, after the dungeon had refreshed, they had to start digging again, wasting labor on fruitless tasks,"

"If a quick way to reach the mine area can be found, the production of Blood Healing Potions would explode, and your wealth could rival a Duke. Even the proudest Prince Pasi from the southern empire would invite you to his banquet,"

A gleam sparked in Count Philip's eyes.

"However, the monsters in this area are too powerful. I encountered a giant lizard covered with blue crystals, and even more horrifying, the Mysterious Knight. Even using an Upper Tier Defense Magic Scroll, I couldn't block his attack. With just one sword strike, I lost all consciousness. He will be the biggest obstacle to your Blood Essence mining efforts."

"Yet, my lord Count, please do not give up, never give up. I've discovered Purple Blood Essence, purple! You surely understand what that means; with that, we might be able to produce that supreme potion which exists only in theory! Remember the strange illness of Lord King? It might work for that! If it truly works, you would become the first Duke after the war ends!"

"What we're saying is, don't let the miners stop working. We need to send in more people, even if only one can luckily bring back Purple Blood Essence, it'll be a sure profit."

"Our expert group unanimously proposes that at least five hundred miners be sent into the Sain Dungeon every day."

Count Philip set down the report in his hands, picked up the teacup intending to take a sip, but noticed his hand trembling.

He was excited; he believed in the grand promise painted by the experts.

"Go, everyone can go; I'll recruit all the miners within my domain!"

"Thump, thump, thump—"

Just as the door was suddenly knocked and Philip's thoughts were interrupted as he was about to shout in anger, a familiar voice came through:

"Father, I'm back."