A while earlier. In The Labyrinth of The First, a faraway place from The Lower Catacombs, a luxurious hall in one of the human cities.
The hall was big enough to host hundreds of people, and even if there were hundreds of people, it wouldn't look the least bit crowded.
Even though it was so big, every corner of the hall was evenly illuminated by many chandeliers that were powered with mana.
The walls and the areas that close to the walls were decorated with various artworks. Paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculptures... there were even some ancient looking weapons and pieces of equipment. For guests to see, all of them were specially placed in the hall today by the master of the land.
One could understand with just a look that whoever owns this luxurious hall, he or she had to be a person who loves to make art collections.
At the moment, although it was daytime, there was a grand feast in the hall.
Usually, a banquet would take place at night. This one was no different actually because today was the third day of the banquet.
All kinds of food that The Labyrinth of The First could offer were on the three long rectangular tables. Female servants in elegant attires were serving to the guests non-stop.
There wasn't even one empty seat around the tables. All the available seats were occupied by wealthy and prominent looking people. If there weren't a few armor-wearing people among the guests, one might think of them as nobles.
Just these sights alone were enough to show the wealth of this place, and especially in The Labyrinth of The First, wealth meant power. Given this consideration, it wasn't hard to imagine that what kind of character the organizer of the banquet was.
However, none of the above was eye-catching enough compared to the giant 'screens' that were hovering in the air.
The attention of the guests was mostly on the screens. They were excitingly commenting about the images on the screens while consuming the high-class foods.
It was difficult to see at first glance, but there was a separate section in the hall. Quite a bit away from the guests and at higher ground, around a rectangular but much smaller scale table, there seated twelve people consisted of men and women. Also, some of these people had escorts at the behind of them.
There was a middle-aged man at the end of the table who was seated on a big and throne-like chair, unlike the others.
In his simple looking but of high-quality clothing, despite having pitch black beard and mustache alongside his shoulder-length hair, he wasn't looking vulgar at all. On the contrary, he was radiating a dignified and wise aura.
However, his current actions were slightly betraying his looks.
He had a 'hat' on his hands and was continuously talking about its properties. There were even traces of a child's excitement in his aged eyes.
"This mage hat is one of the two items that my men chanced upon while they were on a scouting mission. They found it in a previously undiscovered underground room near The Queen's Castle. If it wasn't by sheer luck, I'm afraid, my friends, this magnificent piece of equipment would have been forever hidden from us."
The man was talking enthusiastically, but most of the guests had irritated expressions on their faces. Some of them were good at hiding the irritation they have been feeling until now, but some of them weren't capable enough in that department.
This situation has been going on for almost two days, and because of the man's non-stop talk, the guests were unable to give their full attention to the screens despite wanting to do so.
If they had a second chance, maybe they would not come here at all.
"Ironically, its name is Hat of The Queen, but considering where it had been found, I'm sure that it does not have any relations with Queen Cornelia."
At this time, a slightly plump-faced man with fiery-red short hair couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Excuse me... Mr. Magnus*cough*... Castle Lord. I feel like the purpose of this meeting has gone out of its way. When will you finish with the presentation of your collection's new pieces I wonder?"
The fiery-red-haired man was trying to be polite with his words, but somehow it was clear that he had no politeness in his nature.
"Ha ha ha." Magnus gave a bland laugh before continuing. "Mr. Gallahan, we have been regularly gathering by turns at each other's humble domains for decades and watching the fresh-bloods in action. At a point, making some small bets among us and discovering new talents became the norm in this meeting."
All the screens that were hovering in the air were showing the newcomers from this month's batch.
Just now, the screens had started to show the skeleton-filled hall. And the bet in question was about which newcomer would kill the dungeon boss.
"I understand your impatience. In our 'small betting game', if I were the one who placed a total of five million gold coins on a newcomer, I'd also be pretty restless right now."
"However, as you wondered about something, I also am wondering about something." Magnus narrowed his eyes into slits and talked with a cold tone of voice. "How come the newcomer you placed your bet on brought out a sword all of a sudden? Considering the manner of Sunfell's townsfolk, a newcomer having a sword on the very first quest is close to impossibility."
Naturally, Gallahan's racehorse was none other than Niles. On the other hand, Magnus had chosen Ulfred.
There was not much variety in their bets. Six people had their bets placed on Dante, four on Ulfred, and the other two remaining people had their bets placed on Nathaniel and Niles.
Gallahan didn't fret or become frustrated at all. He talked back calmly. "We have been monitoring every move of the newcomers since they entered The Sunfell Town. If a participant involved in this matter, we would easily see it from here. Furthermore, the bets were placed when the newcomers were at the dungeon's entrance. I have chosen that young man based on his leadership capabilities."
His words sounded logical, but his manners belonged to a liar.
If there was no evidence, he was innocent. That's how Gallahan's brain was working. Therefore, he didn't even try to put on a facade.
"In short, I'm as surprised as you are," Gallahan added.
"But we can't monitor the area around The Elevator." Magnus continued to pursue the matter.
"Ha ha ha!" Upon hearing the words of Magnus, Gallahan let out a wild laugh. "It seems like you have gotten old, Mr. Magnus. Even I wouldn't dare to involve myself with that crazy woman. Naturally, I also don't want my men to be killed by her either. That would have been what I get in the end if I had done something like you said."
"Ha ha ha!" He let out another wild laugh. "Mr. Magnus, now you can continue with your presentation. My boredom disappeared in thin air all of a sudden."
All of these twelve people had equal status in The Labyrinth of The First. They had a certain amount of respect toward each other, but the likes of Gallahan wouldn't know the meaning of the word 'respect'.
Except for a few things -Guardian of The Elevator for example, because of a bad memory-, he wasn't afraid of anything under the vault of heaven.
Magnus gritted his teeth in secret. He never liked the man in the first place. On top of that, Gallahan was laughing at his face in his own place and in front of his other peers now.
Any man would be angry in a situation like this.
However, there was no change in the expression of Magnus.
"I'm glad Mr. Gallahan is no longer bored."
"Heh! Whatever you say." Gallahan snorted and leaned back to his chair with crossed arms. Nobody knew what he was thinking. The same was valid for Magnus too.
In normal circumstances, considering their polar characters, these people would never come together in one place. But because of their status, they had to solve some problems together. The betting game and recruitment of newcomers were secondary reasons for these monthly meetings.
Magnus didn't spare another glance to Gallahan. He turned his gaze to 'an unwanted existence' seated at the right of him.
A woman in black was sitting there. Because of her overly covering clothes, gloves inlaid with silver lines, and the black veil on her face, it was impossible to see even the smallest part of her skin. She also wore a hat similar to Hat of The Queen. So her eyes weren't visible either.
However, despite all these, no one would ever doubt that this woman was as beautiful as a goddess after seeing her figure.
This woman was known as Black Ink in human cities.
Rumors say if men see her face even once, they would be charmed by her beauty forever. Those men's feelings toward her would torment them day and night as if a black spot that suddenly appeared in their souls. It would corrupt their minds and thoughts bit by bit.
Thus the name 'Black Ink' arose in the labyrinth.
Rumors were exaggerated things, but they always contained a certain amount of trueness.
Naturally, no one would want to be in such a situation willingly. That's why, men or women, nobody would want to look at her, more likely retaining themselves from looking at her.
Thus she was a dangerous and unwanted existence, and her racehorse in the bet was none other than Dante.
Black Ink's personality was very mild and indifferent. Because of that and the rumors, she would rarely be part of conflicts. So the others wouldn't invite her if it's not absolutely necessary.
However, a person among the twelve was an exception. Magnus. That's why she was here today.
He was thinking of gifting the hat to her in order to see her face once. He didn't believe the rumors, but he believed in art and beauty.
Magnus put the hat aside and took a sword from the hands of his attendant. It was a simple looking sword. So simple, it couldn't be any simpler.
"This is the last item that I want to show you today. It's fairly useless for participants at our level, but it has incomparably unique properties. It's called Sword of The Silence and..."
"Is it only me or everyone else is thinking that this month's batch has some unusual and talented newcomers? And if I'm not mistaken, that door wasn't there last month." Another man cut the words of Magnus while pointing the daylight-filled room with his forefinger. His indifference was clear in his tone of voice.
In just a few minutes, two people had cut his words, he should have been angry, but this time, Magnus didn't feel irritated at all. Instead, he felt shocked after looking at the screens again. That room was definitely not there last month.