Chapter 145: Reports on the New S-Rank Dungeons

Two months had passed since the Squad Selection.

Two months since Liam Davis had officially become the new sub-captain of the Ace of Spades Guild’s sixth squad.

And finally, he was beginning to get used to his new life.

Unlike his first month as a hunter, these past few months had been quite peaceful.

Too peaceful, even.

Most of his time had been spent dealing with paperwork, attending meetings, and reviewing reports. As a new sub-captain, he had also been tasked with selecting hunters who still didn’t belong to any squad.

After several weeks of reviewing files, conducting interviews, and considering recommendations, Liam had managed to form a squad with five more hunters.

That brought his squad’s current total to ten subordinates, plus himself as their sub-captain.

It was still, by far, the smallest squad in the entire Ace of Spades.

But Liam wasn’t complaining.

He would rather have a small group he could trust than an army of hunters he barely knew.

Besides, thanks to his new responsibilities, Liam had finally been able to stabilize his life.

He had a stable job, a good salary, a happy wife, and, above all, the building they lived in now belonged to him.

Although there was one small problem.

He was getting bored.

◇◆◇

Liam sat behind his enormous desk in his office.

In front of him was a half-eaten hamburger still inside its wrapper.

A bottle of soda sat beside it.

And behind him, the television was playing a comedy movie that had started nearly an hour ago.

For several minutes, Liam had been alternating between the movie and the documents in front of him.

Until one of the files finally managed to capture his full attention.

It was a report about new S-Rank dungeons that had recently appeared around the city.

Liam stopped watching the television.

He picked up one of the documents and began reading it more carefully.

According to the reports prepared by James, those dungeons didn’t seem to behave like normal S-Rank dungeons.

There was something strange about them, a different kind of energy.

The sensors had detected fluctuations that James still couldn’t understand.

Liam frowned as he turned a page.

’What kind of dungeon is this?’

He slowly set the hamburger aside, still inside its wrapper, and picked up the next file.

Over the past few months, most of the documents that reached his office had been related to B-Rank dungeons or lower.

Nothing particularly interesting.

And since a sub-captain didn’t need to personally participate in that kind of raid, Liam simply sent Chuck, Carol, Jordan, or Emily along with the rest of his squad’s hunters.

They handled the work.

Liam stayed in his office.

And Lydia...

Well.

Lydia had gotten almost as bored as he had.

During those two months, they had barely had a single truly interesting raid.

The only exception had been an A-Rank dungeon where they had discovered a massive volcanic area inhabited by some kind of fire elemental.

It had been an entertaining battle.

But after that, nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Lydia had barely managed to reach Level 67.

And the higher her level became, the harder it was to gain enough experience to reach the next one.

Her next evolution seemed farther away than ever.

Liam lifted his gaze from the documents.

A smile slowly appeared on his face.

Finally, there was something interesting.

And he couldn’t contain his excitement.

He turned his chair around.

Lydia was comfortably lying on the couch in his office, watching the comedy movie playing on the television.

Liam looked at her with a smile.

"Looks like we’re finally going to have some work to do."

Lydia took her eyes off the television and looked at her husband.

Then she laughed, stood up from the couch, and walked over to him.

When she reached him, she raised a hand and gently ran a finger along Liam’s cheek.

There was a small spot of tomato sauce on it.

Liam hadn’t even noticed.

Lydia placed her hand against his cheek, and the sauce disappeared instantly.

Liam smiled.

"Thanks, sweetheart."

"It’s part of what a wife does."

Lydia smiled as she gently caressed his cheek.

Then she tilted her head slightly.

"Why are you so happy?"

Liam held up one of the files.

"Look at this."

Lydia looked at the documents.

"What does that mean?"

Liam’s smile grew even wider.

"It means we have work to do."

Lydia’s eyes widened in surprise.

Liam turned the file around to show her.

"These are new S-Rank dungeons. According to James’s reports, they have a strange energy, and they require a sub-captain and their squad to raid them in order to investigate or clear them."

Lydia’s eyes began to sparkle.

"An S-Rank dungeon?"

"Several."

Lydia smiled broadly.

"It’s about time! I was getting tired of binge-watching movies in your office."

Liam burst out laughing.

"Judging by how much you were laughing, it didn’t seem that way."

Lydia puffed out her cheeks slightly.

"That doesn’t mean I didn’t want to go out."

"Sure."

"I’m serious."

"Of course."

Lydia narrowed her eyes.

"You don’t believe me."

"I believe you, sweetheart."

Liam looked back at the files, his smile refusing to disappear.

After two months filled with paperwork and small missions, they finally had something that could prove genuinely dangerous.

And that meant Lydia would have a chance to gain some experience.

Liam picked up the cell phone the guild had given him and opened the group chat he shared with the hunters in his squad.

He quickly typed a message.

"I want to see everyone at the eastern exit of the city."

It took only a few seconds for the first replies to appear.

"Jordan: I’ll be there, Boss."

"Carol: Me too."

Liam smiled.

Then another message appeared.

"Emily: Are we finally getting a mission?"

Liam looked at the message, and a smile appeared on his face.

He typed a simple reply, sending nothing but a smiling emoji.

Emily responded almost immediately.

"Emily: YES!"

Liam let out a small laugh.

It seemed he wasn’t the only one who was tired of all the peace and quiet.

He slipped his phone into his pocket and stood up from his chair.

He grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and put it on.

Lydia also got up from the couch.

Before leaving, Liam looked at the television for a few seconds.

The movie was still playing.

Then he looked at the files on his desk.

There was no doubt which of the two interested him more.

"Come on, sweetheart."

"Coming."

Liam opened the office door.

Lydia walked beside him as they both left the room.

Liam left that office with a smile that had nothing to do with his salary, his responsibilities, or the paperwork.

This time, it was excitement.

There were new S-Rank dungeons.

As he walked down the hallway beside Lydia, Liam thought once again about James’s reports.

’A strange energy...’