'Are you seriously kidding me!' I exclaimed in my head, but kept my appearance calm and instead let out a sigh.
Tomorrow was supposed to be the day we'll raid the dungeon floor and today is the dungeon exploration for Brandon's squad. However, an unexpected situation occurred.
"So you're saying a dungeon flush happened and the supposed boss Leyla reported yesterday are now roaming around?" Sean asks in a grim tone.
"Yeah. And more than that, we lost contact with Alfen," the frustration is evident in Brandon's voice.
"And how did that happen?" Sean inquired.
Brandon remained silent for a few seconds before opening his mouth. "We were caught in the surprise so we focused on retreating, but we didn't notice that we left someone behind."
From the knowledge I've learned before, the dungeon flush is when new spawns are made. This means that the previous dungeon spawns would migrate to higher floors to give room to the new and stronger spawn.
I turned a glance to the baron who looked as pale as a ghost hearing the reports. If we're talking about the difficulty of the dungeon suddenly spiking just before the day of the raid, then I could understand why the baron's a shaken.
"Lord Bellos. What do you think?" Sean asks the baron. The baron sighed before opening his mouth, "Give me some time. For now, just take accounts of everyone here," The baron said as he walked out of the room.
That was a pretty dumb move for a noble in my opinion, but I let it be. A title of a noble is not only a title of prestige, but the result of the commutative efforts and contribution to society a person has made that earned him that title.
If only a single problem like this was already able to mess with the Baron's mentality, then it seems Sean is a better ideal noble than baron. Then again, he's rather old so it should be fine to give him a break.
Sean places a hand on his eyes before sighing exaggeratedly. "This is too much," he murmured. It wasn't the noble face of Sean, but the friendly and childish Sean that I felt as he said those words.
"For now, we'll take accounts of everyone here first. Sean, go find the baron and talk about the plans for the future," I took the lead as we aren't going anywhere if we only continued with this.
"What's done is done. For now, we need to do what is necessary to move forward. Sitri, let's take statements of everyone here individually. As for Alfen, we'll need to have the baron's opinion on that," Everyone looks surprised as I spoke up.
They probably think I'm being a little too unconcerned for Alfen, but as I have stated, we aren't going to get anywhere if they continued this gloomy attitude of theirs.
Even the normally composed Sitri looks affected as she responded seconds late after I called her, but she soon regained her calm and responded. "Yes, you're right. I'll get the town hall employees."
I nodded at her words. After the town hall employees came, we separated the remaining party for individual questioning. It's not like we don't trust their general report, but this is the most efficient way to collect data.
After all, the reports would only go as far as to what is necessary and to what might be useful. It doesn't contain smaller, forgettable details that we wouldn't be able to find out if we don't pry deeper in questioning.
This isn't as serious as an interrogation and something more akin to an interview instead.
The first up was Denis. His reports were unquestionable, but he did say he caught sight of the new dungeon boss. Although this was already described in the report, it seems that Denis was able to see a clear view of it, calling it a two-headed beast.
The second we interviewed was Brandon. His reports appear to be all in the general report that was passed to the baron, so he didn't have much to say. Because of his downcast expression, we decided to let him leave off early to rest.
For someone dependable as Brandon to have failed as a leader is probably what he's thinking. Even if it wasn't his fault, I doubt that would completely ease his self-depreciation. This is why we left him off early, so he can have a breather.
Lastly is Lester, the same man who had a match against Alfen yesterday. Unlike Brandon and Denis, Lester's answer consisted more of "I don't know" or "I forgot," which caught my interest. The usually brusque attitude of Lester was only tame whenever Sean is around.
This is why it's really unnerving that he acts tame like this as if he didn't like being questioned and acting passively. "This guy... could it be?" I murmured as I observed his mannerisms. I didn't want to think about it and nor do I want to accept the thought of it, but his just too readable.
No, even I was wrong with Sitri, so I'm probably only thinking too much about it like usual. Sometimes, I just want to stop thinking too much, but I guess old habits really do die hard.
After the interviews, we had our dinner in the baron's mansion. Usually, Sitri would happily start a daily coup d'etat in the kitchen around this hour, but it seems everyone is still gloomy about what happened.
After dinner, I headed to my room to wash up before resting. As I got in my head, I thought of sleeping early to cool my mind off, but the earlier thoughts just kept on bugging me.
Ever since I was born, everyone looked at me as a crown prince. This may seem like a joyful experience, but that was what sharpened my sense of people's intentions.
It was fine somehow since only a few of those nobles can enter the palace, so even if I had to meet them, it wasn't as strenuous as when I actually went around the continental empire when I was eighteen when I really had to deal with more two-faced noble scum.
Because of that, I can't help but feel like I'm the one who's denying my thoughts. Why would I deny it though? I didn't have a reason to do so, and I would have normally told Sean or Sitri about my inner perspective towards things like this... Tell them.
"So that's how it is..." I murmured to myself. I got up from my bed and headed to the kitchen. I don't know for how long I had been thinking alone in my room, but it seems that everyone in the mansion is already resting at their quarters.
Even Sophia who comes to rest in my room after helping out with the maids of the mansion at midnight has already returned to my room. To prove that I was so engrossed in my thoughts, I didn't even seem to have noticed her.
I went to the drink bar where some tea, wine, and liquors are available. I didn't need a strong one, but I was feeling pretty parched and distressed with my thoughts, so I grabbed and made tea using chamomile lemongrass.
Weirdly enough, after I served myself hot tea, I wanted it cold. Unfortunately, there wasn't any ice available in the kitchen. If I wanted some, then I would have had to buy straight from a store in the town where they sell actual ice.
I observed my surroundings through though mana fluctuations, and it seems that no one other than me is present. But in case of emergency, I didn't stop observing the mana fluctuations in case.
It's not like I'm planning on breaking my promise with the old man, but I guess a piece of small ice for my drink wouldn't be bad, right?
With that thought in mind, I raised a finger and circulated mana through my body. One's the mana reached my crux, a blue chilly fire ignited above my finger. Controlling it to the best of my abilities, the blue fire froze into a piece of solid ice that exuded frosty air.
I grabbed hold of the ice and threw it into my tea. Instantly, the feeling of heat that came from the tea dissipated and was replaced with a wintry sensation.
Contented with the results I headed back to my room with the iced tea in hand. However, the cold tea I initially enjoyed started turning into chamomile-flavored snow which left me a little sad.
But just when I was in front of my room's door, I caught sight of Lester just outside the window talking to someone I don't know. No, I know who he was talking to, it was the same person Anna previously tranquilized. The same person who tried to attack Sean from behind.
When Lester and Alfen were chosen, they were provided lounging in the baron's mansion. Although they still have their private lives to themselves, it wasn't like they had much time on their hands to go out with other people.
So if he really did come in contact with other people, much more a previous volunteer, then that would have been reported to either Sean or the baron, and I would have been able to hear of that one way or another.
But what concerned me the most is that guy who's there with him. As someone who isn't chosen like Alfen or Lester, why in the world would someone be in the baron's manor, which is literally walled off by the town hall.
Although visitors are allowed, it's late at night and there is no one here to accommodate guests. After a few seconds, they left together with full gear in hand.
At this point, I didn't have to voice out how suspicious I was of Lester. I thought of calling Sean to help trail those two, but my earlier thought kept me from doing so.
The reason why I was unconsciously denying my thoughts was that I am feeling guilty. If only I had told Sean about Alfen's case, then something like this wouldn't have probably happened. But thinking of that now would only be a waste of time.
I took a sip of my chamomile tea of snow, but it fully transformed into a ball of hail in a cup which left me even sadder. Taking deep breaths, I entered my room to suit up before following after Lester.