Royman Mardeel.

The Guild's head was an outcast among the elves. Residing at the top of the Guild Headquarters, the man's duties consisted of paperwork and following the orders of his 'superior.' Elves looked down on him for his massive gut, which was barely contained in his impressive suit. Serving the Guild for a century was tough, so his mind had turned to other pleasures. He found them in debauchery and food. ​​

Royman got up from his elegant chair and walked out of the room. Each step down the stairs made him sweat, but he kept going, cursing the Guild employees on his way. Descending to the ground floor, he opened the door to the area 'forbidden' for any Guild staff other than himself. He descended another pair of staircases and opened another lock. A narrow corridor with Hieroglyphs carved everywhere appeared before him.

A figure shrouded in pitch black robes stood before him,

"Did you finish the investigation?" A voice, neither female nor male, came out of the figure's mouth. The lantern held in its hand couldn't shed a light on its face.

Royman bobbed his head. "Yes, F-Fels-sama."

"Come. Master is waiting."

Fels turned around and shuffled into the narrow corridor. Soon, they came to a dead end. Fels touched the wall with his gloves; the completely black gloves had intricate symbols carved on them.

The wall glowed before the wall slid up, giving a look into the dark chamber with four torches standing upon a pedestal. The dancing flames cast light on the giant stone-like altar on the pedestal and the imposing figure sitting on it.

Room of Prayer.

The deity of heaven, Ouranos, always prayed here to stop the monsters from pouring out of their 'home.'

Royman couldn't look into Ouranos's piercing silver eyes and lowered his head.

"My Lord, Apollo-sama's Captain got the news from an adventurer of Rudra Familia. He told us he can guide us to the hidden dungeon if we guarantee his safety."

"What is your opinion?"

"It is a cover-up. Apollo-sama will never hand this precious information to the Guild without any compensation. I think Apollo-sama is acting upon someone else's order."

Rayman had observed these deities for well over a hundred years. Apollo wasn't the do-gooder type. The sun god had been known to do anything that brought pleasure and entertainment.

Ouranos hummed. "We are on the same page. Who is this captain?"

"I couldn't find anything about this monster tamer, Natsumi Aizawa. She has a very vague history outside of Orario. She claims she was already level four before entering Orario. Nothing about her background is convincing."

"Who else knows about this hidden dungeon?"

"Apollo-sama relayed the information to Astraea-sama as the incident involved Evilus."

"Astraea and Apollo… did anything strange happen on the surface?"

Royman nodded. "There is a new star adventurer from the Far East. He rose to level two in less than a week of joining Astraea-sama's Familia."

"Certainly an achievement. Is he perhaps related to the Eastern Princess in Astraea Familia?"

"I do not think so, My Lord… this man arrived with… seven women. All are in a relationship with him. There are rumors that Apollo-sama's Captain Natsumi is seeing him in secret… and another strange rumor has been flying recently."

"Strange rumors? What kind?"

Royman scratched his cheeks. "My sources say that Astraea-sama has also fallen into his hands."

Ouranos's eyes widened a little as his stoic expression faltered for a short second. "Hyperion's granddaughter fell for a mortal? Unbelievable."

Royman gave another meek nod. "It might be a rumor… but Astraea-sama accepting a single male in her Familia gives credibility..."

Royman cut his words short, deciding not to disrespect the goddess. Astraea was the granddaughter of Ouranos's brother, Hyperion. Questioning her nature before Ouranos was beyond his class.

"Fels, guide Royman out."

"Yes, Master."

Royman was escorted out.

"Daedalus, you madman," Ouranos muttered, recalling the young prodigy responsible for building the dungeon on the surface, Daedalus street. Fels's investigation for the second dungeon in Daedalus street led to an underground maze far more complex than Daedalus street.

"Level two in less than seven days… will he rise or—"

"We never know, Master." Fels's voice echoed through the dark chamber. "The Boaz orphan adopted by Freya-sama became the King of Orario."

"Oh. You sound optimistic about this adventurer."

"Asahi Marikawa is his name, Master. His presence will influence Orario's future in unexpected ways."

Ouranos lifted his hand from the throne's armrest and leaned forward a little. It was rare for Fels to speak highly of someone.

"Your reasoning?"

Fels hung the lantern on the wall. "His life force exceeds elves."

Nobody knew the scent of life force more than Fels. After all, the 'dead' were always attracted to the 'light.'

"Hmm."

Fels took out a blue crystal from his robe.

Oculus.

The blue crystal could transmit images and voices from its twin crystals. It was Fels's handmade tool for long-range communication.

Fels imbued it with his magic power. The crystal cast a holographic image of a red-scaled lizardman. He wore a full set of armor. A scimitar and a longsword hung on a belt around his waist.

"Lyd, what happened?"

"Fels-san, Ray flew away from the village," Lyd said and squeezed his weapons. "We're going out to find them."

"Yes. We will find Ray-chan!"

Voices of agreement came from the monsters standing behind Lyd. Arachne, dragon, goblin, lamia, gargoyle—this was a whole group of sentient monsters.

Fels looked toward Ouranos for his advice. The deity took the Xenos, the intelligent monsters under his protection. Fels helped them settle in a closed, unmapped region on the 20th floor, where the monsters inside the dungeon and humans on the surface won't bother them.

"Call Hermes," Ouranos said.

"Understood." Fels looked at Lyd. "Stay where you are. We will find Ray."

"We… will wait," Lyd said. "Please find her."

Fels cut off his magic power and prepared to call the god, whose Familia delved into any business as long as it brought profit.

***

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