Soren peered his head up from his ancient tome, the look on his face was that of both shock and displeasure. He had already assumed that Myrin wouldn't take long to uncover something, but this was still sooner than expected.

"Why would you say that?" He asked plainly—eyes sharply gazing into Myrin's distant figure. The handsome elf looked back at him through the reflection in the mirror—his frown showed that he was serious.

"Ever since we entered this city, you've been fairly absent minded. Your gaze shifting all around as well as your reluctance to assist me today—choosing to immerse yourself in spellcraft research… It's all fairly obvious. You're anxiously preparing for something, right? Even without reading your mind, I can tell."

Soren's lips curled up into a wide smile. He glanced back down at his book casually for a while, letting the silence shimmer in the air… He eventually answered back:

"Yes. I am planning something. Something that will not only endanger me, but everyone else within this Safe Zone."

Myrin tensed up—the words he had heard were enough to invoke fear… His lips twitched, as if wanting to say something, but he found it hard to speak in that moment.

Soren sighed. "You're not the only one who will notice. Rodrick… He may be a murderous machine that finds joy in battle, but he is not at all stupid. That man will sooner or later also become suspicious of my movements. That is why I'd rather us operate separately—having you operate on behalf of the Dungeon Slayer while I work out the details of my plan should buy me some time…"

"So you're telling me to not ask any more questions, right?" Myrin crossed his arms, as if the answer had already formed in his mind.

Soren confirmed with a nod. "Yes."

The silence between them stretched once again, until it was broken by Myrin's sigh. "The news about the dungeon becoming safe has spread to the surface—more and more people are coming to the Safe Zone faster than we had initially anticipated. I suspect that Rodrick will also accelerate the process of heading back to the Hall of Death. Opting out from going might make you more suspicious."

Soren shook his head. "You're partially right. He wants it to seem like we have no choice but to go, but that's not exactly what he's hoping for."

"What?" Myrin tilted his head. Seeing this, Soren chuckled. "You're still underestimating how shrewd he is. Think about it—why has he not negotiated a better deal over the relics we will find there? You and I both know just how valuable the treasures in the Hall of Death are… And yet, not once did he push for more benefits… The treasures we brought back ourselves were occupied by us, but everything else left behind in the Hall of Death should have been fair game…"

It took Myrin a moment to realize what Soren was implying.

"Are you saying that he's trying to gauge our reaction?"

Soren nodded, "Correct. He wants us to negotiate with him—not the other way around. Remember, we only brought back with us the most valuable things we could carry. The Ossuary Pages that I found on the lich's corpse as well as that golden dagger and many other relics you sold at the market… None of these items were ever inspected by him or the guards. He let us keep whatever we found without asking any questions. Isn't that suspicious?"

As Myrin thoughts spun chaotically in silence, Soren continued:

"This is a test. Rodrick knows we obtained a lot of valuable things, but he is unaware of what those valuables are or whether they are as important as he assumes them to be. He also knows that we will likely question why he hadn't asked anything about it, and will use our willingness to go back to the Hall of Death to figure out the answer to his question. Everything depends on our actions…

"If we both head back to the Hall of Death, Rodrick might assume we're after something we missed—or worse, that we want him to believe that. But if it was only you heading back, he'll wonder if we're pretending what's left behind there is worthless now—or if it actually is… Either way, he's using our decision as a litmus test for our intentions. It's not about what choice we make here—but why he thinks we're choosing it."

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Soren chuckled, "Back in my world, we had a term for this—Game Theory."

"I don't understand," Myrin shook his head in confusion. "Why would he bother with all of this? He's a 5th Class Sentinel. Neither of us stand a chance against him. If he was this suspicious of us, shouldn't he have already taken care of us?"

Soren smiled softly. "Indeed… But again, you seem to have misunderstood him. That man… Although he portrays a persona of a bloodthirsty hound, he is far more careful when choosing his prey. After all, he is no regular dungeon explorer… The man came from a family of nobles—that is his primary identity.

"Even without [Eyes of the Fairy], I can tell just from the way he set up his office room that he is the type to assign value to all things around him. I've met many people just like him in my previous world…" The disgust in Soren's voice was easily detectable.

"Although he is suspicious of us," he said while crossing his arms, "he also knows just how valuable we are… We have already proven ourselves during the Dungeon Break. Him allowing us to keep whatever we found in the Hall of Death is his way of 'investing' in our value. In his mind, antagonizing us would cost him more than if he let us simply keep the things we found."

Hearing this, Myrin finally walked toward the sofa and sat down next to Soren. His sigh was evident of his mood.

"No wonder he allowed us to stay in the estate… No other dungeon explorer has been allowed to sleep in this building aside from Rodrick's personal guards. I had initially given it the benefit of the doubt, thinking that it was his way of thanking us…"

Soren nodded. "He probably intends on monitoring us closely. Though, he is also aware that magi like us are able to notice such things, so he hasn't resorted to fully spying on us yet."

"I've confirmed it with my inherent ability as well. No one in the estate has thoughts of snooping on us." Myrin leaned back and closed his eyes.

"However," Soren continued—this time, his voice was rather serious. "There is something else we must consider. His suspicion toward us… It's not simply in regards to the treasures we found. But rather, it's likely in relation to our survival."

Myrin's elf-like ears perked up. "Survival?" The frown on his face was palpable.

Soren confirmed, "Yes… Don't you remember how shocked everyone looked when we returned? That woman commanding the Soul Skinners… She was too powerful for even Rodrick to handle. And yet, she arrived from exactly the same direction we arrived from."

"Are you saying Rodrick is suspecting that we might be colluding with that woman?"

"No, not exactly." Soren shook his head. "But likely—he might be under the assumption that this is all a trap. After all, that woman didn't enter the Safe Zone even with Her immense strength. I assume that She probably didn't even bother—Her objective was something else. But to Rodrick, that may have been confirmation that the Safe Zone's protection is really just that powerful…

"And since we arrived shortly after that woman left…"

"...He thinks that we aren't who we say we are." Myrin finished the sentence before him. "I've heard about this before—some dungeons use illusions of other explorers to lure more victims into traps… The Hall of Death might be a trap—at least from Rodrick's perspective."

Soren nodded, "A trap to lure everyone out of the Safe Zone."

Myrin couldn't help but slam his palm against his forehead. "How frustrating…"

"Indeed," Soren sighed. "But we can still use this whole situation to our advantage. Rodrick knows that my abilities allow me to turn invisible. That's why I am proposing to stay behind."

"To lessen his suspicion?" Myrin asked, to which Soren answered:

"Exactly. He's going to be suspicious of us no matter what, so we might as well control that suspicion as much as possible. If I am out of the picture, it lowers the perceived threat—he won't be on edge wondering if I'm waiting to ambush him or sabotage the expedition. It will also make him less suspicious of a trap—after all, if we were just illusions created by the dungeon to lure him in, why would one of us stay behind? That inconsistency might ease his paranoia, even if only slightly."

As he said this, Soren finally stood up and walked toward the door of the room. He turned back to Myrin one final time:

"We have two goals here: reduce Rodrick's immediate suspicion just enough to avoid further scrutiny, and buy me the time I need to finalize everything while you're gone… For a while, all his attention will be on you. But once he realizes there's nothing dangerous in the Hall of Death, the doubt will shift back to me—the person who stayed behind… Hopefully by then, I will have everything ready."

Myrin watched as Soren cranked the doorknob and left. Silence returned to the room. He laid down on the sofa—his gaze trailing to the ceiling of the room… Though anxious, his lips still crept up into a smile.

"We will counter the butcher's net, with a snare of our own… How exciting... and foolish..."

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