“I think they might be other adventurers,” William said to Rena.

Rena was just following him around, so she had no idea what was going through his head. She looked surprised when she heard that.

“Really? They are?” she asked.

William walked up to the group and tried to start a conversation. He was just guessing they were adventurers — and the only way to be sure was to talk to them.

“Hey,” he said, “can we talk to you for a minute?”

The trio was walking down the street, chatting about something. When they heard someone call out to them, they looked surprised — that didn’t happen often.

They turned around to face William and Rena. Luckily, they looked somewhat friendly, which gave William a bit of relief.

“Sure, why not?” one of them said. “But this isn’t really the place to talk, is it? Let’s go somewhere else.”

William had no idea where would be a good place to talk in that city — the place was far from pretty or welcoming — but he followed the trio anyway.

He paid close attention to everything as they walked. It was always a good idea to remember the way back, in case things went south.

They were still inside the city, so it wasn’t like the trio could lead them into a trap… at least not easily. That kind of thing was more likely to happen outside.

The place they chose was a small park with a few benches and some greenery.

“This is the only spot in the whole city with anything green,” one of them said. “The rest is just stone, charcoal, and mines.”

They all sat on a surprisingly large bench and started talking. William could already feel how much better the environment was here — no thick smell of coal or smoke in the air.

“So, what do you want?” one of them asked.

William took the lead. “You’re from outside, right? Adventurers here to explore the dungeon.”

The trio didn’t look surprised by the question. Just like William could tell they were adventurers by the way they moved and the power they gave off, they could probably tell the same about him.

“We are. What do you want to know? We’ve been around for a while.”

That was the perfect response. William was glad things were going this way. The trio didn’t seem to be hiding anything — at least not openly — and they weren’t acting unfriendly. So far, so good.

“We’re looking for the portal to reach the next floor of the dungeon,” he said. “Do you know where it is? Or at least have a clue?”

Only one of the men in the group spoke. “We do know a few things, but what we know won’t help you much.”

William frowned. “What do you mean? What do you know?”

The man smiled. “We know that the portal is… here. Somewhere in this region, more precisely, in this city. And that puts you in the same position as us.”

“No way.”

William had never even considered the possibility that the portal was in that city. It just didn’t feel like the kind of place.

But then something else clicked. “You said you’ve been here for a while? So… you haven’t found anything about the portal?”

The man nodded. “Exactly. As of now, we know jack shit. But now that you’re here, it means we’ve got more people looking. So, what do you say? Want to form an alliance? It’ll benefit all of us.”

William didn’t want to give them an answer right away. “Let us think about it. We’ll give you an answer in the next few days. Sound good?”

“Sure, no problem.”

The trio got up from the bench and left. William and Rena stayed behind.

“Why didn’t you accept their offer?” Rena asked.

William wasn’t stupid. “They’re either hiding something — like the fact they actually do know more about the portal — or they’re just idiots for not figuring anything out after all this time. So let’s see first if they’re worth teaming up with.”

William didn’t follow the trio right away. That would’ve been too obvious. Instead, he focused on finding a place to stay and decided he’d think about everything the next day.

There weren’t many places to sleep in the city, and most of them were in terrible locations. William definitely didn’t want smoke from the mines and forges drifting through his window all night — that would be miserable.

To avoid that, they had to go for one of the more expensive inns in the city. Fortunately, William still had plenty of money, so it wasn’t a problem.

Besides, that city wasn’t a tourist destination or anything like that. Even the “fancy” inns weren’t all that pricey.

The tavern they ended up choosing was on the opposite side of the mines. No forges nearby — forging was actually prohibited in that area. Because of that, the streets were cleaner, and the air was clearer, without any smoke.

Everyone living in that part of town looked wealthy. The only shops allowed there were restaurants, clothing boutiques, and general stores.

People could sell forged items through those shops, but the forging itself had to be done elsewhere.

The number of guards in that area was also noticeably higher. And everyone walking the streets wore expensive-looking clothes and looked freshly cleaned — like people who bathed daily, which was a luxury in that kind of world.

These were the business owners, the mine owners — the ones who didn’t do the dirty work themselves.

Anyway, the tavern was made entirely of stone, like most buildings in the city, but the interior was surprisingly nice. William had been worried it would just be cold stone walls and floors, but it was the opposite — warm lighting, nice decor, and well-furnished rooms.

He walked up to the counter to speak with the person in charge of the rooms.

“I want two rooms,” William said, holding up two fingers.

The staff member smiled. “Welcome. Please wait a moment.”

The man checked the availability, and there were two rooms next to each other — perfect for William and Rena. That’s the one they went with.

The two of them stayed in the same room for a while that night, just to talk about their next steps.

“So, what now?” Rena asked.

William was deep in thought. “I think we could try following them. Do you think they’d notice?”

He hadn’t spent enough time with those adventurers to truly gauge their strength. It was common for people to hide their power, so William had no idea whether they were high-level or not.

Still, considering they had made it to that floor of the dungeon, it was safe to assume they were strong.

“I think if it’s just you, maybe you could pull it off,” Rena said. “I’m not very good at the whole sneaking-around thing.”

“While I follow them, you could walk around the city and see what you can find out about the portal. If the portal really is here, I can only imagine it’s somewhere inside the mines. That’s basically all there is in this region.”

“But haven’t they gone into the mines during all this time?” Rena asked. “I can’t imagine they haven’t thought of doing that.”

William shared the same thought. “Yeah, me too. But what if outsiders aren’t allowed inside the mines? What if it’s deep underground? Of course, there’s still a chance it’s not in the mines at all, but somewhere else entirely. And there’s also the chance they lied, and the portal isn’t even here…”

Basically, everything was an unknown. William had no certainty about anything. He was hoping to get more information the next day when he followed those adventurers.

Rena returned to her room, and the two of them slept through the night. After a quick breakfast at the tavern the next morning, it was time to begin the mission. They split up. Rena went to look for information about the portal from the townspeople.

Meanwhile, William went to track the adventurers. At first, it was hard to find them. He moved quietly through the alleys, hiding in the shadows, watching the city’s main streets—but still, he didn’t see the adventurers anywhere.

It was like they weren’t there at all.

“Are they still at their tavern?” William wondered.

The sky was fully overcast, and even though it was morning, it was still dark. Rain was definitely on its way. It was the perfect kind of weather to stay in bed and do absolutely nothing. Maybe that’s what the adventurers were doing?

William regretted not asking them which tavern they were staying at.

With not many options left, he decided to start asking around to see if anyone had seen the adventurers that morning. Asking the guards or regular townsfolk wasn’t ideal—that would make word spread too fast, and soon the adventurers would know someone was looking for them.

But the criminals, the shady guys lurking in the alleys, doing all kinds of illegal things? Well, William knew they were the best people to ask when it came to gathering information. And they wouldn’t exactly run to the authorities…

So that’s what he did. William began beating up a few thugs in the alleys, asking about the adventurers. It didn’t take too long before he finally got a lead.

“I saw them!” one beaten-up thug said.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep