GILF Hunter

Chapter 339 A Mage’s Dungeon

Ian began his daily work in his room.

Recently, it had become a routine for mail and documents to be piled up from the early morning.

The mercenary group was growing in scale, and with the addition of tasks from the merchant guild and the Louise Atelier, the workload was increasing to an incomparable level compared to when it was just a small band of mercenaries.

Most of it was unnecessary news, but occasionally, important updates that required attention were mixed in, so he couldn’t just ignore them blindly.

While a quick glance in the morning had been enough until now, the volume was no longer something Ian could simply read and organize on his own as he used to.

Because of that, it had been a headache for a while, but recently, he had regained some leisure in his mornings.

It was thanks to the fact that he now had employees to handle the miscellaneous tasks, so he no longer needed to check everything personally.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

’Captain. Here is the mail from the guild today.’

One of the employees hired not long ago, Catherine the secretary, arrived with the documents.

Thanks to her simplifying and organizing only the things Ian needed to check personally, the volume of paperwork had been significantly reduced.

Ian first checked the news from the guild.

Usually, it was a place with nothing much beyond request proposals, but today, there was one document among them that particularly stood out.

As Ian examined it, Catherine spoke up.

’A designated request has come in from the guild. If you are interested, the client would like to set up an appointment time.’

’Designated?’

A designated request.

It meant that rather than being connected through the guild’s general pool, the client had specifically named the Ian Mercenary Group to handle the job.

Ian spoke with a puzzled expression.

’For what reason would they pick us?’

’The reason isn’t specified here. We’ll have to meet them to find out the details.’

Requests that designated a specific mercenary group were, naturally, much more expensive than general requests.

Usually, this was done when there was something specifically desired from that particular group.

Groups with a lot of experience or expertise in a specific field of requests often received such designations.

For example, a group specializing in long-distance transport or escorting. Or perhaps hiring a group famous for having high-level mages for magic-related tasks. Or assigning a subjugation to a group with extensive experience in dealing with giant monsters.

It was a type of request used when a client felt they must entrust the task to a specific group, even if it meant paying a premium.

...Is there anything like that for our group?

Ian thought back on their past requests with a contemplative look.

Of course, their performance so far had been excellent, and their record in Labyrinth exploration was certainly an achievement that could significantly raise the group’s evaluation.

However, there shouldn’t be a specific field where a client would feel they absolutely must hire the Ian Mercenary Group while paying a high price.

For that cost, one could hire two or more C-rank mercenary groups instead, which in most cases would be better.

When Ian seemed to be lost in thought for a while, Catherine asked.

’Shall I decline it then?’

’...Let’s hear them out first.’

After considering it, Ian accepted the proposal for now.

Since designated requests were usually special, he didn’t necessarily have to accept the job; he could decide after hearing the story.

Ian sent a reply to the guild and set a meeting date with the client.

＊ ＊ ＊

And a few days later. Ian met the client at the guild.

In one of the guild’s reception rooms designed for speaking with clients.

A middle-aged man greeted Ian as he entered the room under the guidance of a staff member.

’I am called Ellen.’

’I’m Ian.’

Ellen the Relic Researcher.

He had wondered because it was a designated request, but as expected, it was someone Ian knew.

Basically, even in this game where most characters were randomly generated, there were characters who appeared fixedly.

Representative examples were major NPCs in places like the Mercenary Guild, and people like Ellen, whom he just met, were among them.

They were experts in various fields, commonly referred to as named NPCs.

Ellen spoke to Ian with a smile.

’Thank you for accepting the proposal.’

’I haven’t confirmed that I’ll take the job yet.’

’Still, the fact that you showed up means you are interested in the content, right?’

Showing up at the meeting meant he was willing to hear the story for now.

Once you sit down at the negotiation table, from then on, it’s just a matter of terms.

True to those words, Ian decided to hear the details of the request first.

’It’s listed as an escort, but exactly what kind of location is it?’

’It’s an escort for a dungeon exploration.’

Ian gave a small nod.

As soon as he saw this face, he had expected it would be an exploration-related request. He was an NPC who always did that kind of work.

The requests this man proposed were always either ruins or dungeon explorations.

Ellen unfolded a map he had prepared in advance.

’We recently discovered a dungeon entrance in this area. It’s near this city.’

Ian checked the area Ellen pointed to. Indeed, it was a location not far from Labyrinth.

’We are currently checking the scale of the dungeon and preparing for the exploration. We plan to enter as soon as the preparations are finished. If the research takes a long time, it seems we’ll have to set up a base in this city.’

’There are indeed many relics in this region. I managed to obtain one recently as well. It was a divine statue.’

’Is that so? I’d love to take a look if there’s an opportunity.’

This was a kind of recruitment request to make Ellen settle in Labyrinth.

These were NPCs residing in the city, a slightly different type from the supporters directly hired by the mercenary group.

When such figures settled in a city, they exerted various influences across multiple sectors of the city.

They might run special high-end shops selling rare items, develop certain fields of the city, or provide bonus stats. In some cases, if their personal combat prowess was exceptional, they could help by directly participating in city defense.

The way they contributed varied depending on their specialty, but regardless, the more such figures stayed in the city, the more profitable it was.

Ellen’s primary specialty was relic excavation.

Once settled in a city, he would open a relic research institute and continuously excavate relics to bring back to the city.

Occasionally, he would excavate things like divine statues to sell to the player, or donate relics to provide buffs that applied to the entire city.

When a player obtained a treasure map but didn’t want to explore personally, they could entrust the exploration request to this person and just receive the excavated items.

Since Ian intended to make Ellen settle in the city, he asked for details with the intent of accepting the request.

’What kind of dungeon is it exactly?’

’I’m anticipating it to be a Mage’s Dungeon.’

If it were in the middle of an investigation, it would be information that should be kept secret, but he had already finished confirming the location and had even received excavation permission from the city.

Since he was in the middle of recruiting personnel to enter, there was no reason to hide it.

A Mage’s Dungeon.

It was a hideout where a mage had hidden their treasures.

It was too modest to be called a dungeon, but even the place Ian had discovered in the underground waterway previously could be classified as a Mage’s Dungeon if one were to be technical.

’Have you secured the key as well?’

’...You know quite a lot about dungeon exploration, don’t you?’

’I’ve just heard the name before.’

Ellen said as if he found it unexpected.

He had checked Ian’s record before commissioning him, but there was no history of him performing similar requests. If it wasn’t from experience, it seemed to be knowledge obtained personally.

Ellen shook his head as he answered Ian’s previous question.

’We don’t have a key.’

’Then there will be many traps.’

’The possibility of that is high.’

A dungeon where a mage hid treasures or research materials. Naturally, traps were installed there to stop intruders.

However, even the mage himself couldn’t always navigate through traps every time he needed to.

In the end, he had no choice but to create a key that could bypass the traps or a separate private entrance for himself.

If that existed, the exploration would become very easy, but in that case, there would be no reason to find a mercenary group for an escort.

Without a key, there was no choice but to break through the traps directly and intrude to loot the place.

Having followed that thought, Ian guessed the reason Ellen had designated the Ian Mercenary Group.

There was something he wanted.

’You needed the Crisis Detection Potion, didn’t you?’

’...I heard such an item existed. If we could use it, the exploration would become much easier.’

Ellen smiled with a nonchalant face.

Inside a dungeon that would be full of traps.

If they had that Crisis Detection Potion which was currently the talk of the town, the exploration would be several times easier, but there was currently no way to get it.

Most of the supply was going to the defense forces as a top priority, and even the items released to the market were still sold as soon as they were put out.

A large quantity of potions was needed for use in exploration, but it was impossible to obtain that much volume now while a shortage was occurring.

But even in this situation, there was someone who could obtain as many of those potions as they wanted without any problem. It was Ian, who held the production rights.

Ellen didn’t explicitly demand that Ian supply the potions.

However, if Ian were to go into a trap-filled dungeon for an escort, he would naturally bring those potions along.

Since there was a convenient and safe method, there was no way he would walk into dangerous traps without bringing the potions on purpose.

It was a rather clever use of his head.

Well, he did pay a high designation fee too.

Since it wasn’t a potion with a very high cost price, he could bring enough to provide for the exploration.

’Alright. I’ll accept the request.’

Ian nodded.