From his vantage point above, Bell had waited a long time, but now he finally saw the adventurers gathered at the inn’s entrance begin to move.
He could clearly sense the adventurers of the City of Rivira rushing quickly toward the central square.
Even several members of the Loki Familia were carrying items from the inn as they headed that way.
Bell’s eyes scanned the square swiftly. Most adventurers were wearing armor and equipment of various styles. The armor stolen from the deceased wasn’t particularly distinctive—unless someone was intimately familiar with it, it’d be nearly impossible to recognize.
Of course, that didn’t mean no one could. Any adventurer who’d previously met the deceased might be able to spot it.
’So that’s why she stole his armor?’
Bell now understood why the woman had taken the dead man’s armor—and why she’d worn it into a crowd.
It was all deliberate.
If the key item wasn’t found on the body, it likely meant someone else had taken it. To retrieve it from the adventurer who’d met with the deceased, she first had to identify that person.
That’s why she wore the deceased’s armor and mingled with the crowd—to bait the contact into revealing themselves.
’To pull something in front of so many adventurers in the 18th floor’s safety zone... She must be incredibly confident. Which means whatever she’s after must be incredibly important.’
Still, even as he admired the strategy, Bell couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for her luck.
It was a solid plan. If she had the strength of a Lv. 5, she probably would have pulled it off.
After all, there weren’t usually any adventurers stronger than Lv. 5 in this safety zone.
But Bell sighed because today wasn’t like other days.
Today, this zone just happened to be hosting three Lv. 5 adventurers and two Lv. 6s—meaning her plan was doomed from the start.
Sure enough, as more adventurers crowded into the square, Bell clearly sensed her aura growing restless.
’Seems like Finn and the others showing up caught her completely off guard.’
But soon, her agitation began to settle.
Bell was slightly impressed by how quickly she calmed herself.
To recover composure that fast—knowing she was facing two Lv. 6 adventurers—meant one of two things.
Either she had resigned herself...
Or she had prepared for everything.
Bell’s brow furrowed. He extended his senses once more—and almost immediately caught a stench in the air.
His eyes narrowed. He quickly traced a pair of Runes, enhancing his perception, and marked the foul odor in red.
’No wonder she calmed down. Those Violas... they’re clearly meant for the Lv. 6s.’
’She’s a shrewd one.’
Below the cliffs surrounding the City of Rivira, Bell spotted clusters of Violas he recognized from before.
He knew just how dangerous those Violas were—without weapons, even a Lv. 5 couldn’t take them down.
Their stems and buds were as hard as armor, perfectly designed to counter First-class Adventurers who lacked magic swords or high-tier weapons.
Which meant Finn and Riveria would be forced to split off and deal with them—because if they didn’t, the Violas would massacre every adventurer in Rivira.
The strategy left Finn and Riveria no other option.
In the middle of the square, Finn sat with his spear in hand, his brow furrowed tight.
He glanced across the adventurer-packed plaza, a growing unease churning in his chest.
He had expected some sort of commotion before the adventurers gathered, but nothing happened. Instead, all of them assembled neatly in the square.
Finn didn’t mean to brag, but he was confident—there wasn’t a single person here who didn’t know he and Riveria were present.
If the enemy was only a Lv. 5, then with the strength he and Riveria possessed, capturing them wouldn’t be out of the question.
In fact, the moment the culprit revealed themselves, it would be over.
So why hadn’t they run?
There were only two plausible explanations.
First, it was already too late. They missed the best moment to stir chaos and slip away in the confusion.
But Finn quickly dismissed that.
Hashana had been killed two hours ago. Even if the goal was to find out which adventurer had been in contact with him, there was still more than enough time to prepare both for action and a clean getaway.
Which meant the real answer had to be the second possibility.
That woman had everything planned out. She was confident she could get away, even if she had to face him and Riveria head-on.
"Finn, what’s wrong?"
Riveria walked over and asked in a low voice after noticing the heaviness in his expression.
Finn didn’t reply. His expression only grew darker.
"Riveria, Hashana’s armor was stolen too, right?"
"Yeah, that’s right."
"Then what did Bors and Villy say about it?"
"They said it was a very ordinary, common style of armor—not eye-catching. That kind of design is seen all the time in the City of Rivira."
But Finn shook his head slightly at that answer.
"It’s not that the armor was common—it’s that they don’t remember what it looked like."
"Bors and Villy saw both Hashana and that woman, but their attention was drawn entirely to her. So they remember her in detail, but when it comes to Hashana’s armor, they just dismissed it as ’common’."
That wasn’t unusual, really. Even adventurers didn’t always have perfect memories.
Sometimes, when someone more eye-catching enters your view, it’s only natural to overlook what didn’t stand out before.
"Bors and Villy didn’t notice the armor’s details because they had no reason to fixate on a random adventurer’s gear. They didn’t know Hashana was going to die."
"But there’s someone who would remember it—someone with the same mission. In order to meet up with Hashana, that person would’ve memorized what his armor looked like so they could identify him."
"So now that we’ve made his death public—what if that contact is here, and they suddenly notice someone in the crowd wearing Hashana’s armor?"
Riveria’s expression shifted instantly.