Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Apparently, one of the main perpetrators behind the subjugation of Forest Spring Spirits, came up during the conversation. Simon was quite wary of them since they were aware of the existence of Cecilia and Forest Spring Spirits.

What happened to that guild? What was the incident that occurred at Morgress all about and whether the information about the Forest Spring Spirits was leaked out? Simon wanted to know more about what had actually happened.

However, unfortunately even for Scott, the information was out of reach.

"This is all a big waste of time. What is this man babbling about from that time, none of this information is useful to us".

While Simon was in trance with all of the questions bombarding his mind, Adalinda who was bored out of her mind, complained. All of this information was unnecessary to her who was only interested in finding her disciple.

Thus seeing that the man was simply giving irrelevant information she couldn't take this anymore and voiced out.

Her cranky words snapped him out of his thoughts and Simon couldn't help but come to terms with his present situation.

Adalinda was right, he was currently here to look for any clues or tracks that can lead them to her disciple. Worrying about something that he could do nothing about, was simply a distraction.

Scott Green locked his eyebrows at another piece of information that accidentally leaked out from Adalinda.

Simon gave a bitter smile before asking "Do you have any other information which should be of quite some interest or making waves around here?".

Scott closed his eyes and went into contemplation for a long time. It was then an adventurer who was intently listening to their conversation from the nearby seat, chipped in as he drank his beer from his mug.

"The Battle of the Finest… gulp… gulp… haa.. if you are talking about news that is making its wave all over the kingdom then it should the opening of the coliseum in the royal capital".

"The coliseum?" Simon repeated.

"Hey Berry don't go stealing other's customers" Scott said annoyed by the unwanted interruption from the adventurer.

"Oh shut up Scott, you can keep those money to yourself. I'm just providing some information to this friend here… you can also treat it as some drunkard's ranting" saying that, the adventurer got up from his seat and exited the hall.

Simon couldn't help but frown at this display "What was all that about Coliseum?".

Scott sighed, Berry had ruined his business. He had planned to sell this information for a few more coins but now that the customer was more or less aware, he wouldn't be able to dupe them anymore.

"It is as the title suggests 'Battle of the Finest', a completion held by the kingdom every decade to test the prowess of the future and the upcoming heroes of the Kingdom of Ellesmere. Anyone who is above level 200 and is not more than 50 years of age, can participate in it. But the requirement is that they need to be a resident of the Kingdom of Ellesmere".<br/><script>ChapterMid();</script>

A never before hint of excitement flashed in, Scott's eyes as he talked about the competition. "Various guild from all the places of the kingdom, also visit this event looking to recruit some rare genius or in hopes of having their members make a name for themselves. Even the Royal Family, the top five guilds and the representatives from other kingdoms and empires would also be present there. After all, the 'battle of the Finest' is the place where the legends and heroes of the kingdom rise from".

Simon nodded, a peculiar glint flashed in his eyes. While Adalinda grunted appearing to be frustrated out of her mind.

"The 'Battle of the Finest' is an event that is eyed by the whole kingdom and various people that are now the heroes of the realm, made their name renowned through this very event. According to my sources, this year's competition is going to be even fiercer than the previous ones as there are many seeded candidates from each of the top five guilds".

"Not only that, as per the rumours it is said that the grand reward for winning the competition would be something so incredible that it had never been heard of before in the history of the completion attracting multiple people and raising the difficulty to unheard levels".

Simon tapped the table with his fingers as he processed all the information in his head. 'Battle of the Finest huh… it is worth keeping count of' he thought internally'.

"Where is the food, why hasn't it come yet?" Adalinda grumbled, she was no longer interested in the talks that was going around.

Ignoring her boorishness, Simon glanced at Scott and asked curiously "So this 'Battle of the Finest' when is it going to start?".

"Hehe friend it seems that you too are interested in it huh? Alright, I'll tell you… there are still more than fourty days for the event. But if you plan on attending the event, I suggest that you leave immediately and find a caravan for the capital. The attraction of the competition is so that the capital would be flooded as the days go by and the day of the event approaches closer".

Simon did not deny nor agreed with his words and simply nodded his head. More than fourty days for the event, that is to say, that there are less than two months for the event held at the capital.

"Ah that reminds me, there was also another person asking the same question as you not so long back" Chuck suddenly uttered remembering something. 

"Is that so... what kind of person were they?" Simon asked offhandedly however the answer he got, suddenly roused his interest.

"Haha, now that I remember it, even the swords that person used were the exact same. They similarly asked me 'if there was anything big or interesting happening around here'. Although I must say that person was quite peculiar. A black robed covered their entire figure and their face was covered with a hood, even their presence was next to nil. However, from that person's voice, they appeared to be a woman" Scott recalled while drinking the ale from his mug. 

In the meantime, while they were conversing, a bulky man with a thick beard and sharp eyes who seemed to be the barkeeper, came to them before asking "Your orders?".

Simon carefully observed the man whose build was that of a warrior before replying in a casual manner "We'll have anything you get us as a recommendation".

The Barkeeper did not seem amused and nodded before looking towards Adalinda "What about the child? Will a juice and apple pie suffice?".

At that moment, Simon instinctively felt that something that was already to their limit, finally snapped.

The barkeeper had no idea that he had unknowingly stepped on a landmine, one which might even cost him his life. Hearing the words of the man, Simon who had a bad premonition, hurriedly turned towards Adalinda before making an 'Oh Shit' expression. 

His feeling was right, at this moment Adalinda had a murderous look in her eyes as she glared at the barkeeper and her aura that she always keeps restrained leaked out just a little.

However, just that tiny bit of it was enough to bring a disaster onto the hall. The building trembled and a pressure like never before descended onto the guild.

The drunk adventurers who couldn't take this pressure, immediately collapsed onto their tables and the weak ones immediately fainted. Bottles collapsed and spilled on the floor, the entire building creaked and there were cracks quickly spreading on the wooden floor everywhere.

"You… stop it right now before you make the situation even worse" Simon tried to snap her out of it. But it seems that all was for naught, the barkeeper had clearly earned her ire and she was not going to stop before she vented it out.

"Wha-what is going on?" Scott who was seated near them, sobered up and cautiously looked around his surrounding. However, how could an ordinary human bear the slightest bit of presence that Adalinda had allowed to emit out?

Right after saying his words, his feet staggered and he fell onto the floor unconscious.

As if all of this was not enough, the Barkeeper who was the main target of her ire, collapsed onto the floor with froth coming out of his mouth. The pitiful man did not even have time to realise what wrong he had committed.

The pressure enveloped the whole building and Simon was not spared from it, he distinctly felt that the whole place slightly sinking down. Although he had difficulty resisting her aura, it wasn;t like it was his first time being under such a powerful force of suppression.

He hurriedly stabilised his footing, and resisted his body bending down.

"Hmph" At this time, he heard a snort coming from Adalinda. She had a refreshed expression on her face as if her action had released all of her pent up vexation.

Being on the level that she was, she had a very haughty and prideful attitude, so how could she take this remark lying down? Releasing a tiny fraction of her aura, was her way of warning others not to take her lightly.

After what felt like a while, Adalinda finally withdrew her aura and basked in the silence. Well, with all of the adventurers down, it would be a miracle if it was not silent.

"W-what have you done?" Simon who could finally move his body as he wished, looked all around himself and saw the shocking condition of the place.