On an unknown island, in an inn, a hooded young man patiently sipped his beer as he listened to a conversation happening at the opposite table.

"I tell you, it's not false!" said a crooked man dressed in poor clothes.

He was addressing his friends that sat at the same table as him.

Gulping a beer, one of his boorish friends, a female, slammed her large mug on the table, "How many times have you given us wrong information?!"

From her slurpy tone, her friends could tell that she was drunk. Yet, her words were concise and direct meaning she still could function properly while being drunk.

The crooked man cocked his head at the sight of the angry female, but that didn't mean he was backing down. 

He kept a straight face as he mocked her, "What?! It is my job to find new bounties for us to take. I'm right, most of the time. Just admit it, you are scared of this bounty. The fearsome you is scared, that's the best thing I have seen today!"

"Heh!"

Fumes escaped the female tigress' mouth when she heard that. She picked up her mug and was about to hit the crooked man when another person at the same table stopped her.

"You know you shouldn't waste your time on him," sighed the person. 

It was a burly man that opposed the eyes of a hawk.

Immediately after he spoke, the whole table went silent, signifying his role as a leader.

The man continued, "We are taking it!"

These three words confused the rest of the group. They made sure to voice it out, "Why?"

Nudging his nose, the leader argued, "Why? It's simple. A bounty of this scale cannot be a mere rumor. It was intentionally not put out on the bounty wall. This would help filter out the incompetents, who would obviously believe this as a normal rumor."

Trailing his hand on the table, the leader made a hum, "Even if I'm wrong, the price alone is tempting enough for us to risk it."

"But it is our life we are talking about. Some of us might die," carefully asked one of the few cautious ones among them.

The leader answered nonchalantly, "True, but since when did we care about our life. Our profession produces about ten deaths each day."

After he was satisfied with the marking he made on the table, the leader eyed the hooded young man that watched them, while ending the argument, "Moreover…..they are other groups that will compete for the bounty. They will help us mitigate the danger."

Being the center of attention, the leader knew that it was not only the hooded young man that watching them.

However, he wasn't scared of the bounty information leaking. In this land, the prize will ultimately end up in the hands of the stronger ones.

He just had to be the stronger one!

........

Coincidentally, the hooded young man reached his last sip as soon as he had heard all he wanted.

Downing the string beer in his stomach, he stood up and dropped a coin on the table.

He left no part of skin revealed as he walked to the upper floor of the inn.

He then found himself in front of a room. Using his keys, he opened it and trodded inside.

"What did you find?"

Before he could take his seat at a nearby table, someone asked him.

From the way, the hooded man casually gazed at the owner of the voice, it could be seen that he wasn't surprised, but instead, was expecting it.

The owner of the voice was a tall bronze-skinned man who looked to be in his thirties.

He was at the table that the hooded man planned to seat on, along with four other adults.

Taking his time, the hooded man let down his hood to reveal his long silky black hair.

He brought out a pen and a notebook from his pockets before he slumped into his seat.

The others weren't offended by this gesture. Instead, they waited patiently for the young man with the beautiful face to be at ease.

The young man scribbled some words on his notebooks. After he was done writing, he passed the book to the bronze-skinned man.

The man checked the contents and squeezed his brows constantly. When he was done reading, he passed the book to the others, who made the same expression as him.

When they were all done, the book found its way to the owner, who didn't tuck it into his pockets as he would still be needing it.

Not knowing how to react to what he had just read, Eden, the bronze-skinned man, asked, "So a bounty like this is finally out?"

One of the women among them, Renee, delicately tapped on the table as she muttered, "The [Queen Spriteheart], huh."

All of them knew the magnanimity of this bounty. They didn't even need to confirm the authenticity.

"We will need to go enter the Weeping city. I suggest we abandon all notions of picking this bounty," cowered one of them.

"No, we can't! It is too big to quit. The price alone is worth it, a secured enlistment to one of the ships leaving the continent for good. Are you sure you want to turn it down? Especially knowing how important it is," reasoned one of them.

The bounty sparked an argument that deafened the ears of the young man.

It was only until after Eden heavily knocked on the table did they calm down.

Looking at the young man, Eden asked, "Jake, what do you think?"

He waited until the young man passed a notebook to him. Reading it, he smiled, "I agree with you. The situation of the main southern continent is beyond recovery. We have to leave before we are engulfed by it. This is basically a piece of pie falling from the sky."

Using his years of experience, Eden brushed his beards as he analyzed, "But still, that doesn't mean we have to be desperate. It is currently the Wicked season, not a time for us to go into the Weeping city."

Acting his role, Eden decided for all of them, "We shall leave in two months' time when the effects of the treacherous season have diminished. You have two months to prepare. If you die even after that, blame yourself!"