At the adventure’s guild three days later:

“Excuse me, madam? We would like to report the discovery of a new dungeon located here,” Meslocicas said as he pointed to a location on the map.

“In the Cadejanocre forest? Let me quickly check to see if there are any reported dungeons there,” the guild’s receptionist says while flipping through a thick stack of documents. Moments later, the receptionist replied in a rather monotone voice, “It appears that the dungeon is indeed undiscovered. As per guild policy, you will be given 1% of the value of the goods and materials from that dungeon for the next year, as well as naming rights and the right to be the first to explore the dungeon. Do you have any particular names in mind?”

“How about ‘the ******* dungeon’?” interjected Paprufreci.

“Unfortunately, the adventure’s guild reserves the right to refuse any names deemed inappropriate, and I am afraid that your suggestion falls under that category. Please choose another.”

“What about ‘Frielute’ as the name?” asked Meslocicas.

“That name is acceptable. Then, would you like to claim your rights to be the first to explore the dungeon?”

“Yes, although we briefly went in the dungeon and the monsters seemed rather strong, so I would like to also invite other parties to explore with us.”

“Acknowledged. I will put up a recruitment request as soon as possible. What difficulty would you say the dungeon would be? And the estimated number of persons to bring?”

“Around B rank maybe? I think a group of 64 people should suffice.”

“Acknowledged. We should be able to assemble the needed persons here by next week. Would a group meeting at the front gate of the town at the second bell on Monday be fine?”

“Yeah, should be fine.”

“Then, is there anything else I may do for you?”

“Not really.”

“Thank you, and have a great day.”

““”You too,””” said Meslocicas and his party, as they headed towards the exit.

“So what do you guys want to do in the meantime?” Meslocicas asks his party members.

“Drink!” exclaims Paprufreci.

“Sleep,” mutters Slodutraka.

“Whatever you want to do. I’ll just follow,” says Frehotreha.

“Alright, well, make sure you don’t drink too much that you can’t function next week. As for you, please don’t just sleep in the middle of the street like you did last time. And, uh, I was planning to repair our armor and weapons. It’s going to be boring.”

“It’s fine, as long as I can be with you.”

And thus, the party dispersed to do what they wanted to do.

“… and may our comrades, Clalu and Mukoc, rest in peace. Please give a moment of silence in honor of them,” the police chief officer, Yetal, solemnly declares.

“””…”””

“As you may know, a civilian by the name of Wrislac has also fallen to the hands of these unknown intruders. While Clalu and Mukoc’s valiant struggle may have scared off the intruders, I say we should increase our patrol and have at least two members watching the main gate at all times. Do not let their deaths be in vain. Protect our city-state from all outside harm!”

“”“Ho!”””

“Dismissed!”

Yetal then left the police station and headed over to Clalu’s home to personally inform his family about his passing.

When Yetal knocked on the door, he could hear faintly a child’s voice saying, “Mommy, daddy’s boss is at the door!”

Moments later, a young female lizardman shows up at the door, sees Yetal’s facial expression and nervously asked, “Umm… did something happen to my husband?”

“I regret to inform you, but your husband has died valiantly during service. We at Lugomaleca’s police force are deeply sorry for your loss.”

The young female looks down at the floor, and then weakly utters, “Can I see the body? Otherwise, I will still assume that a mistake was made somewhere…”

“Errr, the corpse of your husband has been… somewhat mutilated by whatever attacked him. Although given that his badge and ID was nearby, it is almost certain that is was your husband.”

“Mutilated? Which sick pervert would do such a thing, disrespecting the dead like that?”

“We have no hard evidence, but it seems to not be a citizen of Lugomaleca, but rather some foreign invaders. Probably those savage surface dwellers, since no one else would do that.”

“Have you found the perpetrators?” she asked with a strange glint in her eyes.

“When we arrived at that crime scene, it seems they have fled outside our main gate, as we saw footsteps heading out. We also saw footprints heading in too, so it makes it even more certain that they are foreigners.”

“Hmm? How did they even get in? Did they steal the key somewhere?”

“About that, the gate seemed to have been blown apart by some powerful spell. Probably also their doing…. Also, don’t be rash. I can tell you feel like getting revenge, but if they are powerful enough to best your husband in combat and also destroy the gate like that, you should leave it to us. We too are also angry at those invaders. Well, anyways, we’ll keep you informed about the situation as it progresses, but as of now, we have strengthened vigilance around the area just in case those interlopers come again, as they are wont to do.”