“Good heavens, is this real?”
Banning, with a countenance of sheer astonishment, arose in tandem with Emilia.
“Unquestionably real, our staff have checked for 10 times – the documented ‘Purple Gateway of Trials’ has indeed vanished!”
“Isn’t that… a cheerful outcome? Why do everybody from the Quest Guild seem rather disheartened?”
Banning’s inquisition struck a chord.
Emilia sighed, her expression a complex tableau, deflated like a punctured ball, she resumed her seated position.
“It’s because we have been investigating all day… yet we are still unable to ascertain who exactly had completed the Purple Trial.”
“Eh? Does this imply, someone stealthily entered and, upon successful completion, slipped away unnoticed?”
“Correct, ordinarily, a trial challenger must first apply through our guild, this individual likely seized the opportunity during the time gap post the attack on our staff, and entered the Gateway of Trials on their own.”
“That’s peculiar. Normally speaking, after accomplishing such a grand feat, they would be boasting about it everywhere, wouldn’t they?” 𝑜𝓥𝓵ℯxt.𝗇𝓔t
Upon hearing Banning’s response, Emilia heaved another deep sigh, for they too, shared this sentiment.
“Indeed, this very point has been a topic of discussion within our guild for the whole day… we are simply unable to comprehend why anyone would proceed in such a manner…”
“Could it be the same group who assaulted the staff?”
Banning inquired further.
“We have considered this possibility, but are you aware, it appears all those mercenaries have perished… scouting teams discovered their abandoned equipment in the forest, their corpses, unrecognizable, devoured by wild beasts…”
Recalling the gruesome images of the discovered remnants, a sense of unease crept into Emilia’s heart.
Banning shook his head, taking a seat, seemingly bereft of ideas.
“…No wonder you all seem so dispirited, indeed, this incident is profoundly eerie.”
“Mmm… we’ve dispatched staff to report this to the Central Guild, we await their response.”
Emilia had done her utmost, given the current absence of Branch Chief Oleg, coinciding with the busiest period at the end of each month, she had managed to deal with the unexpected incident of the Purple Trial beyond everyone’s expectations.
However, Emilia’s ambitious nature made her unable to accept the outcome of the investigation.
Banning pondered momentarily, shifting his line of questioning, “What would happen if this individual, who passed the Purple Trial, were to appear?”
Emilia perked up a bit, she attempted to envision the scenario, then answered Banning, based on her understanding.
“There would certainly be a major uproar! …The power of the King, the Four Great Lords, including our Quest Guild and other forces, they would all vie for this talent!”
Emilia began enthusiastically elaborating to Banning. She mentioned that even in other countries, those who could pass the Purple Trials were rare as hen’s teeth, the occurrence rate of one individual in five years was already considered relatively high.
Moreover, those who generally pass the Purple Trials are ones who advance from the first tier to the second, those who dare to challenge the Purple Trials above the second tier are exceedingly scarce worldwide, and those above the third tier who have the courage to challenge the Purple Trials, their numbers, in recorded history, remain at zero.
In the face of immense risks, no one is willing to stake their life for an unknown profit.
“In a nutshell, those who can pass the Purple Trials are undoubtedly national treasures,” Emilia concluded.
“Could there be impostors?” Banning posed another question.
“The probability is minute, one’s power can’t be falsified, if the pretense is discovered, the consequences would be unimaginably dire.”
Emilia’s countenance grew stern, she had heard from Branch Chief Oleg before, someone had been executed because they falsely claimed they had passed the Purple Trials, and even after the execution, the corpse was hung up for public display for a month, even when the corpse rotted, no one claimed the body.
.
While the two were engaged in conversation, time had imperceptibly grown late.
Banning informed Emilia that there were bathing facilities available on the first floor of the inn and suggested she freshen up.
Emilia paused, then moved stiffly towards the dining table. With her head lowered and cheeks flushed, she stammered something about cleaning up the remnants of their meal and needing to prepare her change of clothes…
“In any case… you should go first…!”
.
Tyler had a habit of contemplating while bathing.
Regrettably, the realm of Prison Star only offered bathtubs and lacked showerheads, preventing him from reaching that “enlightening state of mind”.
Returning to the matter at hand, from the moment Tyler decided to challenge the Purple Trial, he had no intention of letting anyone, including Emilia and Branch Chief Oleg, know about it.
He believed that although publicizing his deeds could lead to fame, wealth, status, and a plethora of resources, he would also have to give up his “freedom” in return.
Without freedom, there would be no hope of conquering the Singular Demon God, hence Tyler chose to keep it a secret.
With his vivid acting, Tyler managed to glean quite a bit of information from Emilia just now.
Now that even the Quest Guild couldn’t find out who passed the Purple Trial, he could rest easy for the time being.
As for the trial to advance from the second to the third tier, Tyler planned to challenge it in another place.
After Emilia and the others reported to the Central Guild, Sunny Town would probably soon become a hub of rumors, no longer suitable for Tyler to continue his adventures.
.
Having finished thinking about these matters, Tyler also finished bathing.
Just as he was preparing to dress, the door to the bathing room was suddenly pulled open.
(Eh? Eh? Eh? Didn’t I lock the door?)
Tyler was taken aback, looking towards the entrance.
This inn only had two single bathing rooms, one for male guests and one for female guests.
The doors to the bathing rooms were equipped with bolts and should not be able to be opened from the outside…
“Banning… I’m coming in…”
Emilia’s sweet and soft voice came from outside the door.
Through the curtain, Tyler could vaguely see her silhouette and her fluffy large tail. Then he heard the sound of her closing the door again and bolting it.
“I… I used a lock-picking spell, I hope you don’t mind…”
Tyler was stunned.
What? There’s a lock-picking spell in this world?
But that’s not the main point now, because Emilia had already pulled open the curtain and was coming in.
Seeing this, Tyler hurriedly grabbed a towel and wrapped his “male absolute territory”.
“Emilia? Why…?”
Fortunately, Emilia was still dressed.
“In… In our foxkin customs… lovers should… should bathe each other…”
Emilia took a quick glance at Banning, then looked away shyly.
“Oh, I see. Well, I’ve already bathed! Let’s do it next time.”
Tyler hurriedly gathered up all his belongings into the basin. Unexpectedly, the basin was immediately pressed onto the countertop.
“It, it’s okay, I, I, I’ll wash you again…!”
Emilia made up her mind, her eyes burning!
In the blink of an eye, Emilia reached out to pull off the only towel on Banning’s body, and Banning also brought out his real skills, avoiding Emilia’s continuous attacks with agile steps!
Just as the “battle” was getting intense, Emilia suddenly stopped her towel-snatching actions.
“Wait a minute, I’ll go and put a ‘Tier-1 Counter Magic’ on the door, so we won’t be disturbed by any mages.”
Hearing Emilia say this, only one thought crossed Tyler’s mind.
(Apart from you, no other mage would use a lock-picking spell to open the door to the men’s bathing room…)
.
Later, Tyler bathed two more times.
Why twice, you ask?
…Well, after getting messed up, of course, he had to take another bath.