Chapter 6: I really quit

Inside the Riverside Tavern.

Countless adventurers gathered here, most of them burly men.

Yet Red didn’t seem out of place among them.

Brian took four or five bottles of ale from the front counter and sat across from Red.

“You really aren’t going to be an adventurer anymore?”

In the short time waiting for the drinks, no fewer than ten adventurers came over to ask Red about his situation.

Some offered comfort, some tried to recruit him, some wanted to drink with him, and there were even those trying to give him a Succubus One-day Experience Card.

Brian poured a large mug of ale for Red.

“You really scared us when you suddenly said you weren’t going to be an adventurer anymore. Everyone here’s pretty concerned about you… You’re sure you’re done?”

“I’m done.”

Red’s voice was low but carried a calm finality, like dust settling after a storm.

“Tired.”

Those two simple words made Brian and the adventurers listening in nearby fall silent for quite a while.

Tired?

Which adventurer isn’t tired?

But when those words came from Red’s mouth, they carried a very different weight.

After all, to outsiders, he was the man of Dawn’s Edge who always silently handled everything.

Logistics, front-line damage soaking, combat command, tactical deployment—he did it all to perfection.

He was the universally acknowledged, ever tireless cornerstone of the team.

At least, that was what Brian’s Scarlet Legion believed.

Brian was a rough, straightforward man.

He didn’t fully understand what Red’s vague answer meant but still raised his mug and said to Red,

“Let’s drink first. Tonight, all expenses at the Riverside Tavern are on me.”

At Brian’s words, the gathered adventurers burst into cheers.

Putting that matter aside for the moment, the tavern’s atmosphere grew lively.

After several rounds of drinking, Red had been poured quite a bit and was starting to feel tipsy.

Under normal circumstances, he would never drink so much.

Getting plastered would affect the next day’s work, and since the team was mostly women, smelling of alcohol wasn’t exactly pleasant.

He might even get scolded by Liz, finger pointed at his nose.

Come to think of it, this was the first time he’d drunk this much?

“Red,” a rogue slung an arm over Red’s shoulder with a grin, “there are plenty of fish in the sea.

Why pine for just one flower?

Here, I’ve got a membership card for a succubus shop.

Once you’ve tasted a woman’s touch, you won’t be like this anymore!”

“Do I look that sexually repressed?”

Red silently pried the card from the man’s hand.

“Besides, I didn’t quit the team because of stuff like that.”

“But no denying, the women in Dawn’s Edge are all beauties. Except for little pudding Letia, the rest are seriously hot.”

“Hahaha!!”

When only men are around, the topics are always this straightforward—starting with women, but ending up about something else entirely.

Brian leaned in as well, his weathered face fixed on Red.

“With your talent, it’s a waste not to be an adventurer. Why not join the Scarlet Legion?”

“No need.”

Seeing Red’s firm refusal, Brian sighed, turning his disappointment into a breath.

“You’re something else… Fine, I may be the dumbest, but brothers are brothers. Your decision stands, Brian respects it! But if you’re not going to adventure anymore, what’s next? Go home, get married, have kids?”

“Not sure yet,” Red shook his head and raised his mug to clink with Brian’s.

“Maybe I’ll rest a few days, see the sights, think about the future. I’m honestly a bit lost right now.”

“Hey! If you can’t figure it out, just try the ‘Succubus One-day Experience’! You don’t know, the ladies at that succubus shop are insanely gorgeous!”

A burly man nearby winked and elbowed, trying to break the slightly heavy mood, causing a wave of suggestive laughter.

Red could only chuckle bitterly.

“Please, no more about the succubus shop. It’s not my thing. I appreciate the kindness, but really… let’s just drop it.”

“Don’t tell me you really can’t let go of Liz?”

Everyone was a bit drunk, so their words were more straightforward.

“Think about it, she was the one who brought you into Dawn’s Edge in the first place. And she’s not bad looking, so some feelings are natural.”

“It’s just a pity…”

Brian clinked his mug against Red’s again and sighed deeply.

As fellow members of adventurer teams, Brian naturally kept tabs on Dawn’s Edge.

Even though the Scarlet Legion’s dungeon progress was faster, Brian still felt a chill regarding this rival team.

The dungeon’s structure was like a pyramid, with difficulty increasing layer by layer.

This wasn’t just about monster levels rising—the dungeon itself got larger, traps more numerous.

Its difficulty grew exponentially.

The deeper you went, the bigger the dungeon, so the adventurer teams had to grow in size and replenish, or else exploration was impossible.

How many died along the way, no one knew.

Even Brian’s Scarlet Legion lost nearly fifty men by the twenty-seventh floor.

Now the Scarlet Legion had expanded to eighty members but still only reached the twenty-seventh floor.

In contrast, Dawn’s Edge had just five people from start to finish and had never lost a single member.

Such a terrifying record made Brian think of only one other team from twenty years ago—six members who fought their way to the forty-sixth floor.

Brian even believed that with time,

Dawn’s Edge could reach that level too.

But alas…

“Drink! Why think so much? Tonight we drink till we drop!”

Everyone raised their mugs again and drank heartily.

After a while, Red remembered the white-clad nun he’d met that morning, so he turned to Brian and asked,

“By the way, Brian, has the White Church come to Nightbright Town recently?”

“The White Church?”

Brian paused.

“There was indeed a White Church envoy team that came to Nightbright Town. Why the sudden question?”

“Nothing…”

Red finished the mug of ale in one gulp.

“So they just arrived… No wonder I never saw them before.”

He muttered softly, more to himself than anyone else.

That pure, flawless, suddenly appearing ‘angelic’ presence now made a little more sense.

After some time, Red stumbled out of the Riverside Tavern, still fuzzy-headed from the drink.

Because of the over-attention from the adventurers inside, he’d drunk even more than Brian and was thoroughly drunk.

He didn’t even know how he’d gotten to bed.

Only when the next morning’s sun shone on his face did he wake up, clutching his throbbing head.

“Ugh…”

Just as he was about to figure out where he was sleeping and if his clothes were still on, a gentle voice, soft as spring breeze, came to his ear.

“Adventurer sir, you’re finally awake.”

Turning around, he saw the white-clad nun from last night standing before him, still like an angel.

“You drank a bit too much last night. Would you like some sobering tea first?”