In the town of Riviera, there were quite a few people who noticed the arrival of Leon's group.
Yet unlike when they were on the surface, the people here did not gossip excessively about Leon and the others.
In this safe floor that only upper-class adventurers could reach, renowned adventurers visiting the town of Riviera were, if not abundant, certainly never few. Small squads of first-class adventurers and members of the city's strongest factions also frequented the place, so their reactions would not be any greater than when they were on the surface.
The sole purpose of these people staying here was to make money—specifically, to ruthlessly fleece their fellow colleagues who came here.
So what if it was the Loki Familia?
So what if they were first-class adventurers?
When entering the Dungeon, didn't they still have to spend money here?
In the minds of the profiteers here, no matter who came, they were all customers and fat sheep.
Especially core elites belonging to the city's strongest factions, like Leon and the others; they were the fattest of fat sheep, commonly known as giant fat sheep.
Therefore, seeing Leon and the others arrive, aside from feeling a bit surprised, they were merely looking forward to them dropping by to patronize their businesses.
Because of this, Leon did not put on his hood here, revealing his true face.
As a result, while Ais and the others did not provoke much gossip, he—the solitary green leaf amidst a cluster of flowers as a "newcomer"—ended up drawing a fair share of discussion.
"That's the rumored Leon Eligos, right?"
"I heard he's already Level 4?"
"That's so fast—"
"To think that just a month ago, he challenged the Goliath with Level 2 status parameters. Yet before this month has even fully passed, he's already Level 4. It's simply absurd."
"By the way, did you see that battle where he took on the Goliath solo?"
"I didn't see it myself, but quite a few people next door did. They just happened to run into that fight when they were preparing to return here. After coming back, they were so excited they spread the word everywhere, saying they saw something incredible."
"Meaning, that battle was real and not just a bunch of wild rumors?"
"Of course. With so many people stepping forward to confirm it, could anyone still doubt it?"
"I—I don't want to doubt it, but isn't that just too ridiculous?"
"Yeah, being able to solo a Level 4 Floor Boss Goliath at Level 2... if so many people hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, absolutely no one would believe such a thing, right?"
"Now that the guy is already Level 4, solving a Goliath again would probably be a piece of cake?"
"Sigh, I really envy these talented guys. We've trained for so many years and still haven't reached Level 4, let alone soloing a Floor Boss, yet they accomplished it so effortlessly."
"Who isn't—"
Such discussions were not very loud, but they weren't exactly quiet either, allowing Leon's group walking through the town to catch faint snatches of it.
"Do you still dare to say you're not famous now?"
Tiona nudged Leon with her elbow, smiling playfully with a fair bit of banter.
Leon could not be bothered to discuss this topic further. He merely looked at the surrounding stalls and storefronts, silently cursing in his heart about how much of a rip-off it was.
The prices here were truly exaggerated to the extreme. The price of every single item was several times more expensive than on the surface; not a single commodity was priced below five digits, even if it was just a sack of portable rations.
Moreover, the stall vendors and shopkeepers selling these items at such exorbitant prices put on an attitude of "buy it or leave it." They completely abstained from shouting or touting for business, just sitting there in a grand manner, grinning with wide mouths, looking exactly like profiteers waiting for fat sheep to come to their doors.
They simply capitalized on the facts that adventurers could not easily replenish supplies inside the Dungeon and that the luggage they could carry was limited. Being entirely unafraid of having no customers drop by, they could afford to be so arrogant.
It could only be said that it was no wonder Tiona and the others always wore expressions of annoyance whenever this place was mentioned.
Tione, however, was incredibly well-versed in this routine. She went straight to the exchange counter where magic stones and other items were traded for money, pouring out all the spoils of war carried by herself and Lefiya.
"Sell all of these."
Tione's attitude could certainly not be called pleasant, but the shopkeeper did not care either. He cast a casual glance over them and promptly gave a price.
"One hundred thousand Valis."
Hearing this number, Leon's eyelid twitched violently.
Good grief, this had to be a full five times lower than the buyback price on the surface.
Although only half a day had passed and Leon's group had primarily focused on traveling rather than earnestly hunting monsters to make money, the efficiency of this group of people killing monsters together naturally went without saying. If those spoils of war were brought to the surface to be sold, they could easily fetch four to five hundred thousand Valis. Yet here, it was only one hundred thousand Valis; it was a total highway robbery.
But Tione looked completely accustomed to it. She did not even bargain—or rather, she understood that bargaining was fundamentally impossible here—so she very cleanly exchanged the goods for the money.
The shopkeeper of that exchange counter was actually an Amazon dressed as a dancer, belonging to the same race as Tiona and Tione.
"In light of your generosity, I'll tell you a piece of news." The Amazon shopkeeper struck a mischievous pose and smiled. "Today hasn't been very peaceful in town. Most people have run off to watch the excitement. If you're interested, you can go too."
Hearing this, everyone was instantly taken aback.
"Excitement?" Lefiya asked in confusion. "What kind of excitement?"
The Amazon shopkeeper glanced at Lefiya, and a cold smile immediately appeared on her face.
"Someone died inside the town. Would you say that's exciting or not?"
The moment these words were spoken, the air instantly became deathly silent.
Ais, Tiona, and Tione knit their brows, while Lefiya revealed a look of shock.
As for Leon, his eyes flickered slightly, harboring emotions that others could not decipher.
"How could someone die inside the town?"
Tione spoke in a heavy voice, breaking the silence.
This matter might sound like it was no big deal, since people could potentially die at any given moment inside the Dungeon. Deaths were fundamentally nothing new, let alone some major event.
But that was under the premise of being at enmity with monsters.
Yet this place was a town. Although it was a town established inside the Dungeon, theoretically speaking, unless monsters raided this place, it was highly improbable for someone to die here.
And if it were a monster raid, how could the town be so quiet?
A monster raid here usually yielded only two outcomes: either a lone, uncoordinated monster occasionally attacked and was subjugated after being discovered by the adventurers in town, or a mass army of monsters attacked, and the adventurers in town, seeing things turn sour, fled directly, leaving this place to be destroyed.
Now things were different; someone had died inside the town for no apparent reason, which could fundamentally not be the work of a monster.
The Amazon female shopkeeper spoke with a completely indifferent expression.
"Who knows why that unlucky ghost died inside the town? I only heard that the manner of death was quite wretched; the head was completely stomped to pieces, to the point that even now, the identity of the deceased cannot be recognized at all."
Saying that, the Amazon female shopkeeper opened the coin purse she was preparing to hand to Tione, scooped out a large handful of gold coins, and handed the coin purse back.
What "in light of your generosity" before telling them this news? This was fundamentally a transaction deliberately made with the intention of collecting an information fee!
"So, that unlucky ghost was murdered by someone?"
Tione simply threw the entire coin purse to the Amazon shopkeeper, continuing her inquiry.
"Eight or nine times out of ten, right?" The Amazon shopkeeper caught the coin purse, saying cheerfully, "Although monsters can also smash a person's head to pieces, sneaking into the town like this, smashing a person's head, and then slipping away quietly is fundamentally not the kind of intelligence a monster should have."
"So, aside from being murdered by someone, there's fundamentally no other reason that person could have died."
"Perhaps the killer is still wandering around this town right now. You'd better be careful."
As the Amazon shopkeeper reached this point, she patted her forehead as if suddenly snapping out of a dream.
"I almost forgot that you guys belong to the Loki Familia, and you're first-class adventurers to boot. Others might be afraid, but you don't need to be at all, do you?"
As she spoke such words, the Amazon shopkeeper glanced at Lefiya and grinned.
"Of course, it's always best to be cautious in all things. The killer might not dare to do anything to Level 5 first-class adventurers, but it might not be the same for certain delicate Level 3 girls who look easy to bully at a glance."
Hearing this, Lefiya's face turned almost white from fright.
The group looked at one another, and in the end, they left the exchange counter.
"Murder, huh—"
Walking along the streets of Riviera, Tiona muttered as if talking to herself.
"Though it's not exactly anything new, hearing about it still makes one feel uncomfortable."
In principle, an adventurer killing another adventurer was strictly forbidden. Once confirmed, it was an inescapable crime; at the very least, the Guild and the city guards would not leave it unmanaged.
To the Guild, every single adventurer in the city represented a vital asset for exploring the Dungeon and was an important combat force within the city, which could not be lightly lost.
Consequently, although conflicts between adventurers occurred frequently, it rarely escalated to the point of costing lives.
Once a life was lost, it could potentially cause the two involved familias to go to war directly. The Guild naturally could not pretend not to see it and had to intervene.
Although Riviera was located inside the Dungeon and the Guild could not manage things all the way down here, once a matter blew up and the news spread to the surface, it would still attract attention and even be taken seriously.
Therefore, as crooked as Riviera was, homicides rarely occurred.
Now that someone had suddenly died here, and was clearly murdered by someone else, this undoubtedly cast a shadow over everyone's hearts.
"Clap!"
At this moment, Leon, who had been silent all along, clapped his hands, snapping everyone out of the heavy atmosphere.
"Alright, this isn't something we should concern ourselves with, and you'd better not think too much about it either." Leon spoke calmly, as if to brush away the shadow in everyone's hearts. "We aren't Guild employees, nor are we city guards. For something like a murder case, it's better to just leave it to professionals to handle."
"As long as the deceased isn't a companion from our familia, and the killer isn't someone within our familia, then it has nothing to do with us."
Although these words from Leon were somewhat cold and detached, none of the people present were meddlesome do-gooders. Being told this, their expressions brightened up somewhat.
"Leon is right, this matter has nothing to do with us, there's no need to dwell on it too much." Tione patted her own face, saying to Ais and the others, "If the Captain were here, he might harbor some interest in that murder case, but there's no need for us to get mixed up in it."
"—Sigh, what you say makes sense." Tiona scratched her head, saying, "But since such a thing has happened, are we still going to stay here?"
"Uh—" Lefiya shrunk her neck, saying somewhat timidly, "Le—Let's not stay here, shall we? It's quite scary—"
Clearly, Lefiya had not forgotten what the Amazon shopkeeper had just said.
In her view, the killer definitely would not dare to look for trouble with Ais and the others. Leon was already Level 4 as well, and even possessed the record of soloing a Floor Boss; unless the opponent was a first-class adventurer themselves, they likewise would not dare to look for trouble with Leon.
In this way, the person most likely to be targeted among the group, and also the most endangered person, was without a doubt herself, who was only Level 3.
She was also a widely known back-row mage. As long as she could not use her magic, she was just a young girl who looked extremely easy to bully; the probability of the killer fearing her was infinitely close to zero.
Thinking of this, Lefiya did not want to continue staying here at all.
"Then—"
Leon was just about to say something when he noticed that Ais was staring intently in a certain direction.
"What's wrong? Ais?"
As Leon inquired, he followed Ais's line of sight to look over.
With this look, Leon instantly spotted a suspicious figure.
It was a young Chienthrope girl.
The Chienthrope girl possessed wheaten skin and carried a medium-sized travel bag on her body. Her outfit was not particularly conspicuous and under normal circumstances should not have caught Ais's attention, but she was currently moving in a fair bit of a hurry, swiftly departing as if fraught with suspicion and unease. No matter how one looked at it, her appearance was incredibly suspicious.
"Miss Ais?"
"Ais?"
"What are you looking at?"
Lefiya, Tiona, and Tione also noticed Ais's abnormality, and they all looked over together.
"That person—"
Ais did not shift her gaze, still staring intently at that Chienthrope girl who was moving in a hurry.
Not only because the other party was very suspicious, but also because for some unknown reason, Ais felt an inexplicable concern regarding her.
Or rather, she was inexplicably mindful of a certain item the girl was carrying on her body—?
Ais pressed her hand against her chest, merely feeling an inexplicable restlessness.
Looking at Ais like this, Leon fell silent for a short while, before calmly speaking up.
"If you're concerned, let's follow her."
After saying these words, Leon did not wait for Ais's response either, stepping out directly to walk toward that Chienthrope girl who was moving in a hurry.
Ais was startled, hesitated for a brief moment, and then followed after him.
"Hey, what's wrong with you guys?"
"Where are we going?"
"Wa—Wait for us!"
Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya looked at one another, and could only follow in succession.
That Chienthrope girl who was moving in a hurry seemingly discovered that someone was following her. As if startled, she immediately began to run.
Without a second thought, Leon and Ais swiftly gave chase, which caused Lefiya and the others to start running inexplicably as well.
The group chased after one another, quickly running out of the streets and drawing the attention of those with ulterior motives—
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Dear readers, due to my university studies and current financial circumstances, I have decided to take a temporary break.
Thank you so much for reading and supporting me over the past year—I hope to return and continue this journey with you soon!