Hey everyone, this is yesterday's chapter.
There is one more chapter scheduled for today, so if you are interested, keep a close eye on it.
We're now finally back on schedule, and I hope I can keep it up, especially since I'll have exams next week and the one after it as well...
Sheeesh.
In any case, enjoy! And make to tell me what you thought about these last few chapters and what do you expect to happen next.
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"There isn't much more to say anymore, everyone, if you leave the village, keep your eyes open for any irregularities, especially if you venture into the forest." Edimund said as he looked at everyone, before nodding at Testros and Misgurd
"We need to figure out what truly happened. Was it a coincidence, or is there something behind this?"
[Hidden Chain quest activated, Forest Hierarchy]
[Requirements:
Find out what is happening at the center of the forest near Resko 0/1
Eliminate/solve the source of the problem 0/1
??? 0/1
]
"..."
'A hidden quest?'
'So something is indeed happening. Since this is a hidden quest, there is a big chance that normally, no one would've found out about this.'
'However, whatever is happening in the forest would still happen regardless of who found the quest or when, so I guess this is a way to find out about the problem earlier than intended…'
'I am not yet ready to dive that deep and seek the answer, but there is something I want to know first.'
"Before we leave, I have a question." Said Dale
"Oh?"
"I know that there is the Wall somewhere deeper into the South, how close is that to the center of the forest?"
"Are you implying that the wall has something to do with this?" Asked Testros
"No, I was just curious and I also wanted to have a better idea of the environment."
"From a geographical standpoint, yes, the Wall is located in the center of the forest, although I wonder if it can be called the center now."
"Even Resko used to be located in the forest, although we cleared most of the surrounding area..."
"In the past, the entire south was lush forest and the wall was built right in the center, but as time passed, most of the forest further down from the Wall ended up being cleared, either by the creatures that came from the sea, or by us."
"And most of the Northern section of the forest has disappeared due to the dessert..."
"But after many years of misrepair, most of the cleared out area may have already regrown." Testros said as he thought deeply
"I understand."
'I don't know if there is a connection between the two. I don't even know what the wall looks like.'
'However, if there is a quest, then something is happening and that means that the next few times I go to the forest, I'll have to pay attention to my surroundings, if I'm lucky, I may even scoop out some clues.'
"Since we're done here, I'll be returning to Yumi, wish you all a pleasant afternoon." Tina said as she got up from her chair and left
"... She has no patience as always." Barme said as he rolled his eyes
Instead, he looked at the trio and asked:
"So? You went there, brough anything interesting? Apart from this creature…"
"..."
Testros and Misgurd kept themselves quiet, they didn't feel okay with sharing Dale's secret.
But he just shook his head and got up from his chair, opening his inventory and neatly placing everything they hunted on the ground.
"!"
This act surprised everyone apart from the ones that knew he had an inventory, and those were Testros, Misgurd and Edimund.
"We hunted a few Moss Rocks, collected several plants and herbs, and…"
Dale went over what they got without hiding anything, and once he was done, the elders gazed at him with a deep expression.
[Your trust in the Elders has touched them, Resko Reputation+5]
"?"
While Dale checked his notification, Ophelia asked:
"Where you also the one who skinned these?"
"Y-Yes… I am not that good…" He replied humbly
"Oh no, I am not going to reprimand you, that would be short-sighted of me, instead, I would like to give you some tips!"
"Come by when you're free and I'll give you some lessons." She said with a gentle smile
Dale smiled as well, and then he said:
"These materials are useless to me, so…"
"I know, give them to me and I'll turn them into something useful in no time." Adamante proudly said with a smile
"It's a shame, but I'm not very good at this stuff…" Said Jyter, the retired miner
"I can't do much without some ore…" Said Barme, the old blacksmith
"Pfft, pathetic." Said Adamante
"WHAT DID YOU SAY, OLD WOMAN?!" The two said angrily
"I only spoke the truth, now if you excuse me…" Adamante said as she got up
"Dear, could you pass by my house later and leave these materials there? I only have two arms and can't bring everything with me…"
"I will, give me half an hour." Dale said with nod
And like that, she left the room.
"Urg, these old bags…" Barme said as he massaged his temples
"In any case, good work Dale, thanks to you we got a few more good things and the atmosphere around the village has only been getting better, thank you." He said with a hearty laugh
"I can say the same, although I would be much better if I could do something…" Replied Jyter
"Looks like I'll have to thank you again, if this is truly a problem and not a coincidence, your actions have caused us to find out about it sooner and hopefully, prevent a disaster from happening…" Edimund said with a smile
[DING]
[Words of your recent feats have left a deep impression on everyone around you
Resko Reputation +10]
[Resko Reputation=116]
"Did this ever happen before?" Dale asked
'They are all acting as if they know what the worst possibility is, so I might as well ask.'
"... Yes Dale, it happened once, and it's one of the reasons why I am retired now." Ophelia said in a depressed tone
"I-I didn't mean to bring up…"
"It's okay, hopefully, this time, we can prevent anything bad from happening, but if we pray enough, perhaps nothing will happen at all."
"..."
'I would like it to be like that, but this village seems to be balls deep into trouble…'
'All around us, be it below it, behind it, or in front of it, even inside… Resko is completely filled with trouble and problems to be fixed.'
'But one step at a time I'll fix these… And like she said, perhaps God will hear my prayers and this place will one day turn into a proper city.'
'Although I wonder, would the Empire move again if such a thing were to happen? Or would it allow Resko to flourish again?'
'If we were to look at Resko's situation outside of its territory, then we have the Empire, the Church, and the communication between it and other places due to how remote it is.'
'Problems everywhere, each one harder to solve than the last one…'
Dale had a headache thinking about everything, and once everyone left, he left the room only to meet Misgurd alone.
"Is there anything you need, Guild leader?"
"Heh, cheeky kid, only in this place do you call me Guild leader huh?"
"I need to stick with the formalities…" He replied with a chuckle
/Cling!/
"Here, take it." Misgurd said as he threw a metallic object toward Dale
It looked like a flat ice cream cone, but it had many inscriptions and one symbol of a sword and shield in the upper part of it.
Dale saw many symbols on it, but he failed to read them…
'I can't read it…'
'It's to be expected... Azimuth uses a different language with their own numbers and letters.'
'I heard that it's very similar to Chinese in the way the letters are arranged, but it sounds like English on a superficial look, but to hear their language, you need to turn off the translator option…'
'The problem is that Hardcore players can't mess with this option… Either way, it doesn't matter to me.'
'As to how I can understand him? As I said, everything is being translated in real-time, and if I check the description of this badge, everything that is written on the badge will be translated to me.'
'This doesn't work for other languages I wasn't supposed to know, like the ones that appeared on some of the ruins of the Tutorial…'
"What is this?" He asked as he inspected the metal object
"That on your hand is a mercenary badge, previously you were a Rank 1 mercenary only in name, but after what you did, I had Barme make a new one for you from the old badges we had."
"Why not give me one of those?"
Misgurd shook his head and said:
"It's not so simple, every 10 years represents a generation, and each generation has a letter associated with it."
"Once all letters pass, a new number is created and the process restarts, but across the entire history of the Mercenary Guild, the number only changed once."
"And as you know, the main language used in the Empire has 35 letters, so one full cycle is at least 350 years long."
"If you flip it over, you'll see the Number '2' followed by the letter corresponding to your generation, and since I couldn't just give you a new badge, I had that old shoe make a new one by melting one of the old ones."
"..."
"... Thank you, I'll work hard to be worthy of it."
"BUWAHAHAH! Be worthy of it!? I like how well you bullshit!"
/Slap!/
He slapped Dale's back and said:
"Just live, that's already enough. A mercenary needs to stick to his codes but be sure to always have a plan B… Else everything becomes useless."
"I gave you this one due to your actions, and it means you are now officially a Rank 2 Mercenary, this is 2 ranks higher than the trainee we have, and one rank higher than the first rank, AKA 'Novice'."
"You are now a proud Rank 2 'Accomplished' Mercenary. You're strong enough to receive a higher ranking, but the last thing I want is to receive a complaint from the inspectors when they arrive…"
Misgurd turned around and got ready to leave…
"Train hard and soon enough I'll have enough excuses piled up to promote you again! BUWAHAHA!"
"..."
Dale stood there, looking at the laughing Misgurd.
Once he left, he shook his head and smiled.
"The day is still long, although I can't train due to my injury, I can still move."
'I'll finish a few things and if by the time I finish everything if my injury is still not fully healed…'
Dale left the Mercenary Guild and went directly to Adamante's house where he helped her load in many of the bodies of the creatures he slew.
In the close future, she would turn all of these things into pieces of armor and weapons, Dale was excited to see what sort of equipment she would make.
She also gave him a tip, telling him to stop by Illia's Inn since she is the best cook in the village, and all of this meat should be used for something instead of being left to rot…
After this, Dale went to Yumi's alchemy shop where he was welcomed by a surprised Tina, but once he explained that he was there to hand in some of the herbs he collected she let out a sigh of disappointment.
She thanked him in the name of Yumi who was now resting and closed the door without saying much more.
Dale wasn't offended by this though, continuing on his path.
He passed by Illia's house and saw the children playing around.
Because these young children were too young to work in the fields, Illia was given the task of taking care of them.
He soon found her and thanked her once again for the room, and after a slightly awkward conversation, he gave her all of the meat he had collected.
She did not ask where they all came from, and instead just smiled before saying she would make him a feast!
Once he was done talking with her, he was once again dragged around by the kids, and after playing with them for a good half hour, Dale went to his room to take a short rest…
He would continue on with his adventure after a short but deserved pause...
…
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Notes