Chapter 118: Confrontation

They found one relatively quickly.

It wasn’t particularly luxurious, but it was clean, and the amenities were reasonable for a price lower than that of many low-end hotels in the capital.

"I’m sorry, gentlemen. We only have one room left," the manager apologized. "But it has three beds."

Zaid nodded. "We won’t be spending much time in it, so it’ll work for us." He said to John and Erick.

The two nodded in agreement.

"We’ll take it." Zaid nodded.

"That room is already reserved."

The voice came from behind them. A tall man entered the hotel, wearing a black cloak and light armor. On his chest, the Church’s motto was emblazoned in purple. The sword at his waist was unusually thick and quite long.

Several people nearby took a step back as soon as they saw him.

"Garrick the Executioner," they murmured.

Zaid frowned. ’Even though his clothes are different, he’s one of those seven we ran into on the road.’

The man approached the front desk. "Right? That room is mine."

The manager swallowed hard and glanced at the other guests. Feeling a twinge of guilt, she was forced to nod.

"I don’t think a receptionist would make a mistake like that these days," Zaid said suddenly. "What do you guys think?"

Erick and John nodded.

"Right. I think the room is available, and since we got here first..."

Zaid stepped in front of the newcomer and handed him several bills. "Here you go."

Garrick frowned and stared at him. "Didn’t you hear me?"

Zaid didn’t react, which infuriated him.

"You bastard, that room..."

"That room wasn’t taken, and since we got here first, we have priority."

"So? You think I care? In this city, I’m the one with priority."

The two stared intently at each other. Sparks of energy flared up between them as tension filled the air.

Garrick laughed mockingly. "You want to fight?"

Zaid remained silent, watching him. The aura emanating from this guy was strong. Zaid had recently learned to recognize certain things in energy so he wouldn’t have to rely so much on the system; thanks to that, he could tell that this guy was a Rank C.

Quite powerful, even for him.

But he still roared mockingly. "You’re not worthy."

"Hm."

Garrick’s energy slammed into Zaid’s impassive body, rattled his clothes, and knocked over several pieces of paper, but it didn’t move Zaid one bit.

"Rank D," Garrick muttered, his lips curling into a sneer. "With that pitiful strength, you dare to talk so much?"

"Those who talk a lot have no power at all—just as I expected," Zaid muttered.

"What did you say?"

"I don’t think I said anything."

"I heard you!"

"Then why are you asking me?"

"You...!"

Erick burst out laughing.

Several people around them laughed too.

Garrick frowned. "What an annoying group."

"You seem pretty nice," John replied.

"Do you know who you’re talking to?"

"No."

Erick said, "Should we?"

Garrick put a hand on the sword at his waist.

Erick and John did the same. Only Zaid stood there staring at him up close, seemingly with a thousand questions.

But Garrick trusted this last one the least.

The pressure on Erick and John mounted. They stopped smiling when they realized the guy was stronger than expected. They hadn’t recognized him.

Zaid remained impassive despite everything. He knew who he was and understood that, even though he was an Executioner of the church, he had a public image to maintain. Besides, his S-Rank talent was very well-suited for cases like these. Someone so close to him couldn’t outwit him, unless he vastly surpassed him.

Garrick couldn’t push any further. He thought that his uniform might intimidate his opponents—maybe he’d even find out their identities—but in fact, he couldn’t make any more headway. He had no trouble with the others, but the one standing in front of him was a real problem.

Garrick snorted.

"I’ll be watching you."

He turned around and walked away.

His sudden departure caused the murmurs in the hotel lobby to grow so loud that they could be heard.

It was quite unusual for an Executioner to walk away from a conflict like that.

"These three might not be so normal..." someone muttered.

Zaid kept his gaze fixed on the door. ’He knows something,’ he thought.

’He certainly does,’ Valia replied. ’From the moment he walked in, he had his eyes on you.’

’I noticed. What do you think he knows?’

’Your identity, perhaps.’

’Why would the church care about my identity, to begin with? Its rulers are true Monarchs.’

’Who knows?’

Zaid realized he’d asked a stupid question, so he kept quiet. This could become a problem, but they didn’t have time to worry about it.

After settling in, the three of them gathered around a small table in the room.

"We need to level up," Erick said.

His voice sounded urgent.

Zaid agreed.

"We need a dungeon," John said, pulling out a map. "There are several nearby."

He spread it out on the table.

"I think this one’s the best. I told you about it last night."

"Is it the Harpy Eagle’s Underground Dungeon?" Erick looked at the map.

"What do we know about it?" Zaid asked.

"Not much, but just enough," John replied. "It’s an E-rank dungeon with a D-rank boss. It has three floors."

"A scalable dungeon?"

"Downward, but yes," John confirmed. "It’s just that here, each floor has real significance within its own internal world."

"What do you mean?" Erick asked.

"The first floor is full of desert wolves. You have to kill them and fill an altar with blood to unlock the second floor," John tried to recall what he knew about the dungeon. "I think the second floor had golems, but I might be wrong. I haven’t heard anything about it in decades."

"And the boss is on the third floor," said Zaid.

"Right. It’s not alone—it has tiger cubs with it. But I don’t remember exactly what role they play."

Zaid nodded. "I think it’s perfect for us. A Harpy Eagle is dangerous because it’s Rank D, but we can handle it."

"I think so, too."

"Then let’s go for that one."

A dungeon of the rank they were looking for, with three floors filled with various beasts, was the best way to level up. It offered a good amount of experience, but wasn’t too dangerous. Since John needed to reach Rank E, starting with wolves—which they were very familiar with—was the best option.

"Shall we go now?" John asked, a little impatiently.

"No. We’ll go tomorrow."

"What about today?" he asked, folding up the map.

"Let’s go explore the city. Don’t you want to?" Zaid joked. "It’s essential to get to know the area where you’ll be working for the next few months."

’Although this might speed up my return to the past, but... so what? If I manage to level up to Rank D and confirm a few things, this attempt will have been worth it. In any case, I have to figure out a way to obtain Rank C beasts—ones that could kill me if I tried to face them right now.’