“How much do you know?”

The mayor’s demeanor had completely transformed from the overworked civil servant he appeared to be just moments ago.

His eyes now resembled those of a spy from a covert intelligence organization handling classified information, or perhaps the leader of a criminal syndicate deeply embedded in society.

Carefully concealing my tension, I responded to the mayor’s question with a deliberately casual smile.

“I think what matters more than how much I know is who I’ve told and how much I’ve revealed.”

“…Fair point.”

“First, let me assure you that our party has no intention of blowing this out of proportion or causing unnecessary chaos in the Third Western City.”

“Then what is it you want?”

“We’d like you to share the exact location of the newly discovered Plague Dungeon with us first, before anyone else.”

“Why should I do that?”

The mayor dismissed my proposal with a curl of his lips, as if finding it laughable.

“You’ve essentially admitted you don’t know where the Plague Dungeon is. I have no interest in letting an F-rank adventurer with no notable achievements meddle and throw everything into disarray.”

“What you want, Mayor, is likely to protect the Third Western City from the threat of the Plague Dungeon, correct?”

“Of course.”

“Which do you think will better protect the city: offering another human sacrifice or preparing against the plague monsters?”

“……”

“Thirty-eight years ago, despite numerous investigations, neither a dungeon core nor a boss was discovered in the Plague Dungeon. Moreover, small-scale overflows occurred despite the dungeon not being neglected for long—a phenomenon that completely defied common knowledge about dungeon overflows.”

“You’ve done your homework, young man. And?”

“We believe there’s a hidden mechanism in that dungeon causing these unusual overflows, and that the dungeon core and boss monster weren’t found because investigators failed to discover concealed passages. Most of the adventurers who participated in the investigation were likely humans, and their detection magic and magical tools were inferior to what we have today.”

“That’s a reasonable assessment. But what’s your point? I find it hard to believe that a few adventurers led by an F-rank like yourself could discover passages and mechanisms that countless others failed to find.”

“Mayor, this isn’t about our abilities—it’s about risk versus return.”

“…Go on.”

“If we assume this newly discovered Plague Dungeon is identical to the one from thirty-eight years ago, there are only three ways to resolve this situation: fight the dungeon overflow, offer a living sacrifice, or uncover the dungeon’s secrets and eliminate the source of the plague.”

The risk of fighting a dungeon overflow is substantial.

Unlike thirty-eight years ago, the Third Western City’s pioneering spirit has long since faded, and the frontier adventurers in the west have far better opportunities than confronting an overflow here.

In other words, there’s no merit in risking their lives to return to the Third Western City.

Furthermore, the incident thirty-eight years ago was ultimately resolved through the sacrifice of Mary Grant as a living offering.

There’s no data to predict how the atypical overflow from the Plague Dungeon would have spread if a living sacrifice hadn’t been offered.

“…In other words, gathering adventurers before an overflow occurs is high risk, low return. It’s practically unfeasible, and there’s no guarantee we can resolve the situation without eventually offering a sacrifice. The worst possible outcome of this choice would be a repeat of the Mary Grant incident from thirty-eight years ago.”

“……”

“The choice to offer a living sacrifice is simpler. Since such an act couldn’t be done openly in a city with the history of the Mary Grant incident, the process of kidnapping a suitable girl to offer as a sacrifice would need to be carried out in secret. Success means resolving the incident; failure means you become the perpetrator of a second Mary Grant incident.”

“In your terms, that would be high risk, high return.”

“Exactly. But at this point in our conversation, that gamble has already failed once.”

The mayor’s plan to secretly remove a girl named Elena from the city orphanage had failed, which is why an adventurer who knew the truth had come to see him.

Simply pointing this out would make Mayor Donald hesitate to make another attempt.

This time it only attracted adventurers seeking fortune, but next time the citizens of the Third Western City might find out.

“But what about the third option? We’ll locate the Plague Dungeon without telling anyone else, investigate it, and attempt to uncover its secrets. If we succeed, everyone wins. If we fail, it’s just one presumptuous adventurer party quietly perishing—the dungeon overflow won’t be accelerated, nor will the number of required sacrifices increase. For you, Mayor, isn’t this essentially no risk, high return?”

“Hmm…”

Mayor Donald adjusted his posture, fell into thought for a moment, then asked in a low voice:

“What do you think your chances of success are?”

“Fifty-fifty on finding the hidden passage, and as for successfully conquering the dungeon—we’ll have to see once we enter the depths.”

“…Very well, I accept your proposal. But I have two conditions.”

“What conditions?”

“First, you must return to report your progress by noon on March 24th, two days from now. If you don’t, I’ll assume your party has been wiped out.”

“Understood. And the second condition?”

“Regardless of your investigation results or success in conquering the dungeon, you must remain silent about all facts related to the Plague Dungeon.”

“If we succeed, does it matter? We could even make a grand announcement to reassure the citizens.”

“For this city, the Plague Dungeon and the Mary Grant incident are sensitive topics we’d rather not revisit. Just the knowledge that it has reappeared would cause great anxiety and confusion. Even if we announced it had been safely cleared, I doubt people would readily accept that story.”

Mayor Donald’s point is valid.

Despite numerous adventurers participating in the investigation thirty-eight years ago, the Plague Dungeon that appeared back then ultimately met the worst possible end without any discoveries.

If we announced that a D-rank mage and three rookie adventurers had entered such a place and successfully cleared it, people would be unlikely to believe it.

Most would suspect the mayor had sacrificed someone and was making false announcements to cover it up, leading to speculation that the Plague Dungeon would someday revive and demand another living sacrifice.

“So you’re saying it’s best if the people of the Third Western City don’t even know the Plague Dungeon has reappeared.”

“Correct. And this means that even if you succeed in conquering the dungeon, I cannot officially acknowledge it or provide appropriate rewards.”

“I understand the circumstances and will keep the secret. As long as no one mysteriously disappears from the Third Western City without a trace.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

With those words, Mayor Donald handed me a folded piece of paper.

After confirming it was a map marking the location where the Plague Dungeon had been discovered, I pocketed it and left the reception room.

After finishing my meeting with the mayor, I returned to the forest where my companions were waiting and shared the results with everyone.

“…So Elena can return to the city without worrying about being offered as a sacrifice?”

“That should be the case. I’ve essentially threatened to expose the truth about the Plague Dungeon if another girl kidnapping incident occurs. Of course, if we can’t trust the mayor, we could stick with our original plan—have her come with us to the Plague Dungeon, and if our investigation yields nothing promising, head straight to Zemest.”

“No, we’ll return to the Third Western City.”

“Are you sure?”

“Given how things have developed, the mayor won’t attempt to kidnap a sacrifice before waiting for your report. In that case, it’s safer to be in the city than wandering outside.”

“What if something happens to us and we can’t return to the city by noon on the 24th?”

“Then I’ll spread rumors about the Plague Dungeon’s appearance. Will promised confidentiality, not me.”

“True, and if that happens, citizens will be concerned about the safety of young girls, so the mayor won’t be able to do anything rash.”

As Mina pointed out, exposing the truth about the Plague Dungeon’s appearance is a crude but effective measure.

Given the painful history of the Mary Grant incident in the Third Western City’s past, the welfare of girls who might be offered as living sacrifices would inevitably become a public concern.

If a girl of suitable age disappears after it’s revealed that the mayor concealed the revival of the Plague Dungeon, the first person to fall under suspicion would be none other than Mayor Donald himself.

“Alright. Let’s all go to the Third Western City together to purify the dark mana we’ve accumulated, then the four of us will head to the dungeon.”

“What about the carriage? I can lend it to you if you’d like.”

“According to Will’s map, the Plague Dungeon has appeared in a place difficult for carriages to access. We can’t abandon it along the way, so even if it takes longer, it’s better to just take Ancestor with us.”

The dungeon’s location marked on the map was about 6-7 kilometers southwest of the Third Western City, inside a narrow valley where two hills meet, beyond a dense forest.

It’s such a remote place that not only ordinary travelers but even most adventurers wouldn’t venture there.

Finding a dungeon that appeared in such a location before an overflow occurs could be considered fortunate.

“We should hurry. If we stop by the city and then walk to the dungeon, we’ll probably arrive around dusk.”

“OK. Let’s stay in the Third Western City for just 30 minutes before departing. We’ll be back in two days at the latest, so that should be enough.”

We quickly hitched Ancestor to the carriage and headed for the entrance gate of the Third Western City.