Katrina was perplexed. She had been thrown out the door and not given a new assignment. Some foolish treasure hunt had ruined all her plans. Moreover, she didn't even know what it was all about. All that remained was to return to the guild.
Recently, the guild had seen new recruits. A couple of newlyweds who could barely stay in the same room together.
"Well, you're already husband and wife, why be shy?" I winced at them, imagining what they must have done on their wedding night – probably leafing through photo albums.
"This is all because of you! If you hadn't rushed us, our relationship would have developed smoothly without such sharp leaps," Leira exclaimed angrily and threw a couple of small lightning bolts at me.
"Hmm, so I suppose without me, you wouldn't have even kissed until you were fifty," I continued sipping my tea, ignoring the lightning that shattered against my protective barrier. "No gratitude at all – they're still dissatisfied."
"Ukiii! There's nothing to thank you for!" The noble girl's squeal was becoming unbearable.
"But I had to not only marry you two but also bring you into the guild."
"I would have joined anyway, probably a bit later," she seemed to calm down gradually.
"But now we have such a lively group. When there were just six of us, it wasn't as much fun," Kurone was delighted with any new additions.
"Well, Kurone, we were coming here every day even without them," Algo seemed about to object.
"But now we're all guildmates, it's almost like family," her liveliness would not be dampened even by the end of the world.
The noble girl quietly lowered her head, but it seemed like she blushed to the tips of her hair.
"I never thought the guild would be so much fun. I always thought it was a military organization," Rizel was also glad she ended up with us.
"Yeah, we have a good time here," Seleria sneaked up behind the necromancer, "and since we're family, there's no need to hide anything from fellow members." The red princess leaped onto the couch, trying to snatch the cloak off, but Rizel anticipated her move and stepped back a couple of steps, causing the princess to slip and crash into the floor.
"Imagine that's my face," and once again, only one eye and a snowy smile peeked out from under the hood.
"Oooh, my curiosity knows no bounds! I won't calm down until I take off your mask," Ragni tried to recall their recent conversation.
"About what?"
"About human mating rituals. Since you got married, you must know more about them than anyone else," the scatterbrained dragoness had no idea what she was talking about.
"Haaa!!! It seemed like Leira was about to burst from such a deep sigh. "DON'T ASK ME SUCH VULGAR THINGS?!?!?!"
Completely ignoring her screams, Ragni shrugged, "Well, I was just asking for reference."
The shouting and arguing ceased when the room was infiltrated by the grim GM, like a dark cloud.
"Katrina?" I decided to break the silence first.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, just lost in thought."
"Was there a reason?"
"I wanted to find a new assignment for us, but they threw me out, saying something about 'treasure hunting,' and closed the door."
"Lady Katrina, perhaps it has something to do with that brochure I brought you," Kurone tried to jog the princess's memory.
"Brochure?" It was futile.
After rummaging around the coffee table for a bit, the treasurer pulled out a small booklet, about the size of a notebook, which everyone used as a coaster. It had been spilled with tea in several places, and some pages were torn off, but on the cover, one could still make out the words "Treasure Hunt."
"I've never seen this before," someone remarked.
"But I brought it to you just a week ago!" Kurone marveled at our GM's carelessness.
"Never mind, let me have a look at it."
We spread the booklet on the table and leaned over it, trying to grasp its general meaning. Unfortunately, most of the text was already illegible, and some pages were missing, but the main idea was clear.
The event was organized by the rector to support new guilds. Only guilds created no more than five years ago and without experienced fighters who were not Academy students could participate. Each guild was given a treasure map, which was actually a map of Verania with specially marked locations of prepared dungeons. Each dungeon could be explored only once. Guild instructors would monitor their actions and prevent any fatal outcome. In each dungeon, there were monsters, traps, riddles, and other challenges. All dungeons were different – some only had monsters, while others were full of traps. If you managed to handle everything, you would reach a room with treasures, where... a large tea stain covered the rest of the text.
At the end of the event, the guilds would bring the treasures to the Academy, where they would be stored in special compartments. Until they reached the Academy, the treasures could be attacked, robbed, and stolen from by other guilds, trying various methods to get the treasures.
"Hey! What do you mean they can be robbed?" Surprisingly, Seleria was indignant. "So, we'll be fighting for treasures, and someone else can just take them from us?"
"I think it's done so that guilds of thieves and assassins can also participate, even though they can't kill each other, but stealing seems to be part of an assassin's job," I explained.
"Well, don't worry about that. As long as I'm with you, not a single assassin will come within gunshot," Algo assured.
"That's good to know."
"But thieves might. My father's guild had some trouble with them recently," Rizel chimed in.
"I guess that compensates for your usefulness," Seleria retorted.
"What can I do?"
"Come on, enough, here's something about rewards," Katrina interrupted our argument.
At the end of the month, the treasures would be evaluated, and the winners would be awarded. The guild that collected the most money would be offered to keep the treasures or receive the equivalent amount of money instead. The second-place guild would receive half of the treasures. The guild in third place would be allowed to choose one treasure for each participant. Those who didn't make it to the top three could take one valuable treasure from their loot.
"What? Evaluation? What's that for?" Katrina still didn't grasp the main principle.
"Perhaps it was written on that page that got soaked in tea due to someone's fault," Seleria was angry with the GM.
"Well, what about me? I don't know anything," Katrina just shrugged.
"Alright, calm down, calm down," Kurone intervened. "The principle is clear to us. Shall we go get the map and start the hunt? Or will you argue here the whole month until it's over?"
"Let's go."
In front of the main building, there was complete chaos. Guilds gathered in groups, deciding where to set out on their expedition. Some students offered mercenary services to other guilds. Students-merchants wandered around the square, trying to trade treasures from their first raids for information. On the sidelines, assassin and thief guilds stood, listening attentively to what the others were saying, carefully selecting their next target.
"Are all these our competitors?!" Katrina shivered.
"Well, what did you think, Lady Katrina? That only Alfred and Asura would be our rivals?" Kurone was still upset about losing the booklet.
"No, but there are so many people."
"Most likely, there are only about ten to fifteen actual guild participants here. The rest want to earn some extra money by being hired as mercenaries," my guess was not far from the truth.
The rector stepped onto the platform erected in front of the main building and began his speech.
"Hello, my dear students. Today marks the beginning of the 'Treasure Hunt' month. I'm sure you've all received the booklets explaining the rules of the festival. I ask the GMs of the participating guilds to come up here, don't be shy."
"Katrina, come on, I'm with you, so don't worry."
Gently making our way through the crowd, so as not to disturb anyone, I led Katrina to the stage, where other GMs were also present. Of course, Asura and Alfred were among them.
"You will now receive application forms for participation. Fill them out and get the keys to your personal compartments and the treasure maps. I want to remind you that we don't mind guilds joining forces during the competition, just remember that you'll have to figure out how to divide the treasures after your raids."
The rector's foolish laughter only added to the atmosphere.
"Each dungeon will be supervised by our instructors. They will keep track of what you take out of the dungeons, just in case you have any intentions to cheat. And, of course, remember that on the last day of the festival, collectors from all over the world will come here, and you might be able to raise the value of your loot by selling some trinket to a foolish wealthy person."
"Oh my, Rector, you're inciting us to commit crimes!"
"Well, it seems that the leaders have already finished filling out the forms. We have fourteen participants this year, and I'll be cheering for you. Oh, right, I don't mind if you place bets on the winner."
Magically, behind the rector, signs with the names of the guilds appeared, and below them were rows of zeros. Apparently, the approximate value of their entire loot would be displayed there. But I don't understand, aren't we going for gold and precious stones in the dungeons? Why do we need an approximate value?
"Now, onward to adventures. Good luck to all participants!"
And so, this crazy festival began.
Katrina rushed down from the platform and joined us.
"So, what's up?"
"I don't even know what to say."
Katrina unfolded the map. It was a complete map of Verania, Leran, and Nordrune, with almost fifty dungeons marked on it.
"And they expect us to explore all of these in a month?!?!"
"No, that's nonsense. Even I won't be able to cover all of Verania in a month, let alone engage in every dungeon."
Kurone carefully studied the map.
"Perhaps that's the idea!"
"What do you mean?"
"The battle isn't just about strength or luck but also about tactics and knowledge of information. Soon, information traders will emerge; they will buy information from guilds that have explored different dungeons and resell it to other guilds. That way, they can also exchange information for treasures. Look, one of the guilds on the participant list is a trade guild."
Indeed, the "Romantics of the Great Highway" guild was exclusively for traders, known for accepting only merchants, even for guarding their caravans.
"Do you think we'll have to negotiate with them for information?"
"Most likely," Kurone shrugged. "I can handle business matters, but my father only traded in general goods. I know nothing about trading information or precious stones."
"So what should we do?"
"I think we should head to the nearest dungeon and try to bring back as much treasure as possible, and then exchange it for information."
There were several dungeons marked on the map, even some on the Academy's territory. The nearest one was called the "Nest of the Lost".
"Strange name. If they're lost, why would they build a nest?" wondered the dragoness, who had recently left her own nest.
"Well, we'll find out. It's only a couple of hours' walk from here."
In a small grove to the south of Rimia, on a hill, there was a cave with a spreading tree on top. It seemed to be our dungeon.
"I wonder what might be lurking in such a place."
"Stop, stop, wait! There's another group there," unexpectedly, Teacher Levris appeared in the clearing.
"Teacher? What are you doing here?" Grain didn't expect to see her here.
"Oh, I'm just guarding this dungeon. I decided to take the one closest to avoid being too far from my students."
"Teacher, did you say another group?"
"Yes, they arrived half an hour ago. This is the easiest dungeon, and many start with it to see how good they are," Levris turned to the entrance. "And here they are!"