Chapter 169: Shutdown

POV Eliza

We made our way back to our inn. There, Duke briefly summarized what we wanted to do next.

“Is everyone still in favor of leaving town?” Duke

Everyone nodded.

“Good. But we need money to do that. Our best bet is with the hunters. But to do that, we have to become members. I suggest we go see them today.” Duke

“But let's wait until later, when the sun is lower. I'm still worried about Leo's sun allergy.” Betty

“I agree. We should start preparing and make a list of things we still need.” Bishop

“You do that, Bishop. You have the most experience with that.” Duke

“All right.” Bishop

Somewhere else

POV Cornelius

I set off for the mercenary guild with Ansgar. Since we were hoping to get information about one of their members, we went straight to the headquarters. In addition to the headquarters, there were two other branches on the outskirts of the city.

Ansgar took several deep breaths in front of the entrance. I could see that he was getting visibly nervous.

“Calm down. No one's going to eat you.” Cornelius

“I know, but still. This is my first time doing this. Phew.” Ansgar

We entered the main hall. Inside, I immediately noticed the trophies on the back wall behind the large counter. The huge skull of a minotaur was particularly striking. The two large, long horns were very impressive. We knew the shape because we had defeated the final boss of the labyrinth ourselves.

The next thing I noticed was the atmosphere. It was hectic, almost chaotic. There were many people in front of the counter, very, very many people, talking loudly to the receptionists.

“What's going on here?” Ansgar

“I don't know. Let's go closer and listen.” Cornelius

We went closer and heard many angry voices.

“There were hardly any monsters on the first floors. I can't meet my quota like this.”

“I found nothing on floor 7, nothing at all.”

“On floor 17, the monsters ran away from us. I've never experienced that before.”

“The Minotaur isn't where it should be. We waited for several hours, but it just didn't show up.”

“It wasn't there yesterday either. What's going on?”

“Please remain calm, please remain calm. Our specialists are taking care of it. Please remain calm.”

Apparently, there were currently problems with the monsters in the labyrinth. What could it be? I couldn't really understand what the problem was. Unfortunately, this meant that all the counters were occupied and we couldn't get our turn.

“What are we going to do now? How am I supposed to find the woman of my dreams?” Ansgar, slightly panicked

“I have an idea. There's a woman standing back there who looks like one of the receptionists. I'll just go talk to her.” Cornelius

There was a staircase on the side that led upstairs. A receptionist was just coming down. I wanted to intercept her and ask her a question.

“Excuse me, I need to ask you something.” Cornelius

“Is it about the labyrinth? Then please go to the counters.” Receptionists

“No, that's not what it's about. We're looking for someone and hope to get some information from you." Cornelius

“We don't have time for that right now. Can't you see we have other problems to deal with? If you have a request, please put it in writing and submit it. As soon as we've solved the problems here, we'll take care of it. Please excuse me. I have work to do.” Receptionist

She then turned around and went back up the stairs. Slightly annoyed, I stood at the bottom of the stairs for a moment and then went back to Ansgar. Even though I didn't like the delay, we couldn't get any useful information here today.

“So, how did it go? What did you find out?” Ansgar

“Unfortunately, nothing. She didn't want to help me.” Cornelius

“So what do we do now?” Ansgar

“We need to come up with another plan. It's probably not enough to go to one of the branches. They won't help us either. Let's go to the others. We need their help.” Cornelius

“Okay.” Ansgar, disappointed

We were already standing in front of the exit when it got loud again behind us. I turned around and saw a man standing on the stairs, raising his arms. The man was around 40 years old and had a striking snake tattoo on his left cheek that extended over his eye. When he raised his arms, it became noticeably quieter in the hall.

"Calm down, everyone, and be quiet for a moment. We at the guild know that there are currently some problems with the labyrinth. We need some time to clarify and investigate the situation. Unfortunately, this means that none of you will be allowed into the labyrinth for the time being. The labyrinth will be shut down until further notice." Man

I thought it was loud before, but what was happening now was nothing compared to that. A commotion broke out among the mercenaries. I was convinced that it wouldn't be long before the first fisticuffs broke out.

“Ansgar, we have to get the hell out of here. Quick, let's get outside. Cornelius

I pulled my friend out onto the street and around the nearest corner. We stopped there for a moment.

“They're closing the labyrinth? Isn't the labyrinth the city's biggest source of income?" Ansgar

"Yes, it seems so. A very large part of the city's economy revolves around the labyrinth. Closing it down means a huge loss, but they obviously have no other choice. As far as I understand, there are hardly any monsters left in the labyrinth. That's why there are hardly any monster parts. In addition, the entrance fees will be lost. It's going to be dramatic." Cornelius

“But doesn't that mean they won't help us with my search?” Ansgar

“Most likely, yes. So we'll have to look elsewhere, but we were planning to do that anyway. We have to go to the other two, now more than ever.” Cornelius

We walked back to our lodgings, talking quietly. We had to hurry.