A day later.

Stepping out of the carriage, Templar looked at the front gate of the church. Along with the name The Church of Eternal Dawn, the engraving of the sun was carved in, which was sitting in the carriage, moved by the seven horses.

Bowing to the sun, Templar pushed the door open and stepped inside. Instantly, the feeling of warmth filled his being as the scent of incense and burning oil overwhelmed his nose.

At every corner, long banners hung from the walls, each marked with the symbol of the blazing sun.

As he walked forward, rows of white statues stood beside the path, their faces calm and proud. He met a priest along the way, which were constantly mumbling a prayer.

Moving deeper in the church, the Templar entered the basement and moved toward the resting area of the inquisitors. Pausing beside a door with the name Marty written over it, he glanced around for any disturbance.

Seeing nobody around him, he lightly knocked on the door, but no reply came. He knocked again, but the same thing happened.

"Ser.." Muttering, he knocked with some force this time.

"W-who..."

Someone with a soft and groggy voice said from the inside.

"It’s me. Lucas Ser"

Saying he waited for the permission.

"Ohh! You come on it." Getting the permission, Lucas pushed open the gate and moved forward.

Even when everyone here had devoted their entire life to worshipping the god of light, the room was in complete darkness. Except for a small candle flickering on a desk, nothing emitted any light.

Focusing mana in his eyes, the Templar activated light vision and entered the room. Looking around, he finds Marty sleeping on his bed, totally carefree about anything.

Getting out of bed, he put on some clothes and sat on a chair. Running a hand through his hair, he looked at his assistant and asked, " What is it, Lucas... weren’t you there on the mission to close the dungeon. Has it been done?"

Shaking his head, Lucas informed, "I think something had gone wrong in the dungeon, Ser. The hunters haven’t come to inform anything."

"Even now." Frowning his brows, Marty asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Nodding his head, Lucan remembered how his subordinates hadn’t sent any positive message yet.

The shock was enough to wake him out of his sleep.

"What they aren’t able to clear it. How so, when the dungeon was just a common rank one? Let’s suppose the boss was really strong, but they can at least get out of it after killing the guardian."

"Even I’m baffled by it, Ser... I think the only answer is either the start of the dungeon is really tricky... we have seen an increase in a trap-based dungeon more and more."

"Did you choose someone incompetent... was there no pathfinder among them?" Marty asked, looking at him with a disappointed gaze.

"As you have told I specially asked the director for his best students."

"Tsk!! Did we waste our artifacts for no reason?"

Failure to close the dungeon didn’t pain him as much as the loss of the artifacts. The dungeon was of common rank, so it can be closed anytime.

As for its growth because of the hunters, well, it wasn’t any problem either.

The first lesson the hunters learned is to always burn the corpse or destroy the items they can’t use. It is done so as not to let the monster use their item. Of course, there are exceptions, but that’s it, the exception and nothing more.

But those artifacts, all of them were his except for the book. It was provided by the church to aid him in his battle. It was expected to return it with the report. Now, he had to find a way to justify its disappearance.

’I could lie about them having completed their longings or finished their pages...’ After just a moment of thought, he realized how stupid it sounded.

’... No, that won’t work in front of the bishop... let alone the council members.’ Pausing, he moved around the room thinking of many ways to tackle the problem.

’Should I contact that man?’The first person who came to mind was the mysterious man he had met recentaly. He was the one who had given him such a valuable opportunity, that it was worth it to miss the chance of entering the dungeon himself.

From his gesture, he could guess that the man was of prestigious standing.

’Hmm!! Yes, I should contact him... he could be able to help me with artifacts and even the people who can enter the dungeon.’

Seeing that the week was about to end, Marty knew he didn’t have much time left on his hands. He had to not only clear the dungeon before the end of the week, but also create a comprehensive report on it.

Obtaining the core was only the beginning. After that, one had to make a detailed list of the monsters inside, examine how the dungeon’s entrance was structured, and determine whether there was any connection between the boss and its guardians.

They also had to record any rare resources or unusual beasts found within, along with whether the monsters dropped any artifacts.

There was a mountain of work to do, and why wouldn’t there be, when society relied so heavily on dungeons for its resources? There was an entire bureaucratic procedure that happened with every dungeon closer.

"Let’s not worry too much about it... they are lucky to have gone into the embrace of light. Let’s pray for their salvation."

Closing their eyes, both of them maintained a minute of silence.

After a minute, Lucas looked at him and asked, "What should we do now, master. I don’t think the director will help this time."

Hearing it, Marty sighed and nodded his head, "He won’t help... but we have to meet with him." After thinking for a moment, he added, "...He is part of this as well."

Understanding what he was talking about, Lucas asked, "Next step?"

Marty nodded, pinching his left thumb out of habit, and opened his mouth, "Go arrange a meeting with the director. I have to meet someone."

Hearing this, Lucas looked at him in confusion. He couldn’t understand what could be more important than this.

’How is Ser soo calm, even if we clear the dungeon now. If the information leaks out and we get blamed for these deaths... A whole lot of complications will arise... should I deal with it myself?’

A thought appeared as he remembered the surname of one of the students, ’let’s hope it doesn’t spiral out of control.’

Sighing, Lucas moved out of the room and the church. Arriving at a station, he boarded the tram moving in the direction of the academy.

’It won’t be good.’ Shaking his head, he began enjoying the view outside.