Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

After Simon and Adalinda entered the room, the woman seated on the sofa, closed the book that she was reading and got up from her seat to reveal a smile.

"So you two are the adventurers that old man Gill sent here to aid us? Nice to meet you I'm the client Cynthia". The woman who introduced herself as Cynthia looked at the two them.

Simon matched her gaze and greeted back "I'm Simon and she is Adalinda".

The little girl beside him rolled her eyes but did not comment, her eyes kept on staring at the ample chest of the woman in front of her before clicking her tongue in annoyance.

What was she frustrated about? He thought internally.

Cynthia did not mind the behaviour of the two people and calmly nodded her head. Although she did not mind, Alvara who quietly stood beside her, knit her bows and her gaze became cold.

"If I'm not wrong, you two are here to inquire more information about your upcoming job right?" Cynthia asked, her gaze had yet to left the two of them.

Seeing the man nod, she invited them to sit on the sofa opposite her.

Simon naturally did not bother with any etiquette and unceremoniously accepted her invite before sitting on the sofa, Adalinda sat beside him.

Alvara seemed a little discontent with his unmannerly conduct, but nonetheless, she did not voice it out. Cynthia too sat herself down, she patted at the seat beside her and looked at Alvara, the gesture was obvious.

However, Alvara simply shook her head and stated "I must be ready to guard you at all times. If I sit beside you, it'll slow me down and it will be too late before I act".

Alvara did not hide her hostility and the hidden meaning behind her words was extremely clear. It was obvious that she did not trust the two and was on her guard.

Cynthia helpless shook her head before telling the two of them not to mind. She poured tea and prepared some snacks for them and passed one to the hesitant Alvara.

"Right mister… although I'm sure that the old man back at the guild had already told you, but the trip this time could be quite risky and that is why I have commissioned aid from the adventurers guild. At first, I thought nobody would accept it since there is too much of an uncertainty on the job even with high rewards. It is fortunate that mister and this young lady have accepted the commission from my Serene Palace Merchant Guild" Cynthia explained with a little bit of surprise in her voice.

Simon arched his brows at those words, it was his first time hearing something like that. When the crafty face of the old man that had swindled him to become a provisionary adventurer he couldn't but clench his hand.

Didn't it mean that nobody at the adventurer's guild was willing to accept this job because of it being too risky instead of them being short-handed? 

Simon had a sudden urge to beat up the old man until he could no longer swindle anyone. <br/><script>ChapterMid();</script>

He smiled bitterly in his heart, the job had already been accepted, there was no way he could reject it anymore. If not for the mysterious feeling that they would be able to find the disciple of the little girl in the capital, he wouldn't have accepted the job in the first place.

Since he wanted to catch this runaway disciple as soon as possible, he even rejected the quickest possible route from Adalinda and had undertaken as much caution as he could.

Sighing internally in his heart, Simon steeled himself for whatever might come. And as for the risk, other than few high levelled adventurers, he didn't think that anybody could see through this façade of his.

Taking their silence as their approval, the woman went on further to explain their task. She crossed her legs and from those slight opening of her dress, her jade white legs that had endless allure intermittently flashed.

"Your mission would be to guard the caravan that will travel from here to the capital. You are to secure the route and deal with any trouble that may arise on the way. The trip might take a month depending on the situation".

"While the job might be risky, there are ample rewards too. Furthermore, you would also be refunded for any loss that you incur during the trip. The commission is issued by my Serene Palace Merchant Guild so there is no need to doubt its authenticity".

Cynthia smiled leisurely "If you have anything you want to ask, please do so..".

Simon closed his eyes and digested the information that he just got. A few moments ago, he sneakily used [Analysis] on the woman only to get his prying attempts blocked.

What did it mean? It could only mean that woman named Cynthia had some skills on her that blocked all attempts of [Analysis] on her. A skill that could do something like that was quite rare and other than a few powerful people that he knew, he had never come across other people possessing such skill.

The woman in front of him was an exception. He was no fool, given the appearance of the place and the fame and wealth of the Serene Palace Merchant guild, he could already predict that the trip wouldn't be a peaceful one. There would be many trouble seekers on the way who would have their eyes blinded by greed.

He slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the cat like eyes of the woman which held enough charm to tug at one's heart until they lost all reasoning.

"In the case that some trouble arise, am I free to deal with them as I wish?" a crimson glow flashed in his otherwise dull grey eyes and made him look quite fierce.

The woman knit her brows before looking at Alvara beside her.

She who had kept her silence all this while, finally decided to speak at this time "If it's an ordinary person, you may deal with him as you see fit but if it's someone who cannot be easily offended, please wait for the p… ahem Miss Cynthia to make a decision".

Simon nodded his head at those words before getting up from his seat and turning to leave.

"The time of the departure is early morning as soon as the sun rises two days from now. The caravan will exit from the eastern gate" Alvara reminded gazing at the laidback figure of the man.

After a while when they sensed that the two had exited the mansion, Alvara who was standing beside the woman all this time, couldn't help but comment in an aggrieved manner.

"Is the old man from the adventurer's guild trying to make fun of us? How could he send such careless adventurers not to mention that they lack even an iota of manner? Does the guild manager not know how risky this journey will be for you? From what I could see, those adventurers don't even look strong to me. How will they be able to secure your life when they can't even guard theirs".

Alvara tightly locked her brows and stared at the seat where the two had sat a few moments ago. She had been observing them for a while and could clearly see that they were not on their guard, had she made her move right then, it was likely that the two would have lost their lives.

How could she not complain during this crucial time when what they needed the most was powerful guards and instead they got two people with extremely negligent auras.

The woman named Cynthia on the contrary smiled and did not look fazed at all by the events. She looked at her dear subordinate and softly said:

"Clam down Alvara, the situation might not be as bad as we think it is. If those people think that my life is that easy to take, then they are clearly mistaken. Besides I feel like old man Gill was not mistaken. The eyes of that old man are even sharper than ours, he must have seen something in those two adventurers to have sent them to us".

She then revealed a helpless smile as she added "Also is it not quite good already that somebody had accepted our commission when most of the other adventurers have rejected? I did not expect that the influence of that person would reach till here".

When Alvara heard Cynthia mentioning that person, she had a smear of killing intent flash on her eyes, her expression showed clear signs of extreme hatred.

A sigh sounded in the room and the woman in purple dress got up from her seat. Although the situation looked dire for her, nonetheless, not even a trace of fear or anxiety could be seen on her face.

She gently tapped on a particular book on the bookshelf near a wall, and a secret passage was immediately revealed in front of her. The two quietly disappeared inside it.

                                                              -----

"You have been quiet for a while… what are you so intensely thinking about?" as the two walked on the streets of Mountmend, Adalinda asked turning her head. Her mood was quite good after having eaten so many good things.

"Nothing… it's just that we might have involved ourselves in troublesome matter. That woman back there, her position doesn't seem to be something ordinary. I just hope that we don't get tangled into something we don't want to be involved into in the future" Simon shook his head and mused.

When he saw that Adalinda was staring at her chest and pressing with her hands, he couldn't help but curl his mouth "Are you even listening?". .