[Translator: Dawn]
[Proofreader: Karane]
As Swordsman and I walked out from the mine, at last, we were able to meet Sharan and Guile who had sparkling eyes as if they had just heard our plan.
I moved towards the opposite direction that Sharan and others were heading to, as planned.
I headed in a hurry towards the Information guild in a small village named Leadwood that was located around the De Munt Castle.
Inside the small, shabby hut, I carefully pulled out the crystal ball finding it hard to withdraw the smile on my face.
Soon I was able to hear the familiar voice that came from the other side. I responded to the voice asking how I have been.
Then I got straight down to the hot business.
"I've got a mission I wanted to entrust to you."
Then, an angry voice that seemed to be scolding erupted from the other side of the call. I tried to answer as quick as I could,
"The client's name is Maxim."
I said as I hastily hung up the call. Then I walked to the reception and showed my seal to the information guild member, and he stood from his seat and bowed his way politely.
"How may I help you? Shall we go inside for now?"
The young man wearing a monocle said with a shaky voice, trying to guide me inside.
However, I whispered in an attempt to be confidential as I placed my arms on the counter.
"No thanks. I've got fresh information that I wanted to tell you."
"O-oh, is that so?"
His shoulders started to shake as he realized that this was probably an event of his life.
The young man who seemed to be intimidated by me took a seat with his eyes open narrowly.
"Please, go ahead."
The young man seemed to be standing on edge from the nerves. I told the handsome young man the information.
"You have to make sure that this information can only be given to a specific person.
The young man, who had let cold sweat flow down his neck, nodded his head dozens of times at my words and opened his trembling lips.
"And what may be the name of the recipient of this mission?"
I slowly opened my mouth to tell him with a smile on my face.
"The name of the recipient is…"
***
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Dawn]
[Proofreader – Karane]
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***
"Hm, everything seems finished."
A well-dressed man in a hat with long feathers was carefully examining the inside of the mine.
There were no traces, no sounds of the countless amount of Commuds that were found from below.
The man turned around with a satisfied expression on his face only when he reached the part of the mine where the fierce battle had taken place.
And behind him, there was Swordsman standing with a smile on his face.
The man put his hand forward, requesting a handshake, and Swordsman shook his hand.
"It was a great choice for me to sell the information to the highly reputable Silverhead. I didn't know such skilled people would come to solve the problem."
"Haha, Thank you."
There was Guile and Sharan was also there behind Swordsman as the man in a hat climbed the stairs.
Sharan stopped as if she had found something on the floor, grabbed a piece of paper that had fallen on the floor, and put it in her arms.
As soon as they reached the entrance to the mine, large men in uniforms like the man in a hat began to put down the shiny wooden crates from the wagon.
"Since you've done such a great job, we've put in some extra rewards. 6000 gold. Our lord will also find this result satisfactory."
Sharan, Guile, and Swordsman, who received such a huge reward, showed their delighted expression out loud only after they were gone.
But they were still staring at the men until they disappeared over the horizon.
"Do you think Mose is doing well?"
Sharan snorted at this.
"You needn't worry about him. I think he's not going to let us down!"
She said with a bright smile on her face. And Swordsman carefully started to put the wooden crates into his inventory.
"Let's take two crates per person for now, and distribute evenly later. We have to get going."
"Yup!"
"Okay!"
The three of them left the mine in light steps after they put the crates in their inventories.
* * *
2 hours ago.
Swordsman rubbed his cigarette on the floor of the mine and spoke up carefully to explain his plan to me.
"This game is a virtual reality, right?"
"Yes."
"A virtual reality that is truly open world and can deliver a high degree of freedom to the players, unlike those other games that have the 'extreme open world gameplay' as a slogan when they don't."
"Of course."
Swordsman continued his words with a serious expression on his face.
"So, if the ending of this quest is also within the allowable range for the game, does that mean that everything can be accomplished within what we can imagine?
"I guess so?"
"If that's the case. I would like for that person who is responsible for the misfortunes that handicapped child had to go through to pay a price. I want to release the anger that I have not been able to do in real life."
He looked at me with his fist clenched.
"Even though I would like to get the reward for this quest. Listen carefully to me, now. Mose, we absolutely need your help."
"Okay."
He then quickly continued speaking.
"Do you by any chance have a connection to 'very huge people', if you know what I mean?"
I looked at him with a blank mind for a second after hearing his question.
Then I finally realized that my class was a Sworder.
"Not a huge person, but I do know quite an amazing friend."
"Then while we receive the reward for this quest, you go give the information about how the lord of the De Munt Castle is brutally suppressing his people."
"And then?"
"Have that mission entrusted to your friend, so that friend can complete the mission."
"And you and the others will go right back into the DeMunt castle to prosecute the castle lord?"
"That's right."
Swordsman then said in a firm manner,
"I've been doing all kinds of jobs before I met you in this game of Circuit, such as carpenter, porter, and coachman.
And I've learned naturally how this place runs, in terms of the law that is. And apparently, the Saint is the one that is in charge of the laws related to human lives."
"The saint?"
"Yes, the only organization that even transcends nationalities. And that would mean the laws apply at a universal scale that applies to all, and according to the content of that law, an individual cannot exercise any discretion over the lives of others. Well, adventurers are an exception from that law."
"Then forcing his people to get rid of children with disabilities must be…"
"The biggest son of a bitch I've ever seen. An 'individual' is controlling the lives of 'others', isn't it?"
"Indeed."
Swordsman's experience and wisdom were definitely something to be mindful of.
He was just a man with a family within the framework of society, but the power of his age and experience met with the degree of freedom of this virtual reality was truly beyond my imagination.
I too felt some weird sort of pleasure when I heard his words.
I was even envious of his amazing insight.
Still, if I were to watch Swordsman frown at his own greed, it makes me realize that this is a noble thing that cannot be achieved without sacrifice.
* * *
I was able to finally reach De Munt Castle by the time when the sun hid behind the mountain.
This quest was undoubtedly an ideal situation to catch both rabbits, in other words, the best result.
It felt like a dream to me to be able to avenge the abandoned hunchback, who was the starting point of this quest and at the same time, still get a clear reward.
I felt like I was being rewarded for thinking that there was something to be learned from the party members as a player.
In such a quiet city within the walls of De Munt, there was nobody on the streets, an unfamiliar sight for this time of the day.
It almost felt like a ghost town as there was not a single household with their light on in this gloomy atmosphere.
But now, things will be different.
Arriving at the place we promised to meet, I joined the party.
We had small talks about what happened while waiting to watch the scene that will soon unfold outside.
Not long after, the door to the outer castle opened.
A person showed up riding a black horse with many others following after that person.
The person removed their veil, and I was honestly glad to see her again.
"Lord of the De Munt Castle, Larie! I am here to thoroughly investigate your wrongdoings!"
She pulled the rapier from her waist with all her might and pointed to the castle.
Then the lights in the neighboring houses started to turn on one by one.
And after a moment,
"Ma'am! Please listen to what I have to say!"
A middle-aged man who came out of a house despite his wife's attempt to dissuade him began to cry with tears.
"My daughter was born with a harelip, but she had the most beautiful eyes ever! I had to drop her into the mines with my own hands! He said, otherwise he would kill our whole family!"
His cry thundered through the quiet city. And it became the foundation of the storm that was about to come.
In an instant, the people of the city rushed out to the street and began to release the anger and sorrow they had hidden inside.
Khea, who was holding the rapier in the midst of this mess, got off her horse and looked down at them.
Soon, the person in a black veil walked slowly and stood next to Keah.
"My, it seems that we don't really need to go search for evidence now."
The man, who took off his veil, was wearing a pure white uniform and had curly blonde hair.
And I realized that Khea had made this into a bigger issue the moment I saw the face of the man.
Hire.
It was Hire, one of the strongest in the continent. I don't know why she brought him all the way here, but things were starting to escalate pretty quickly.
At that moment, the gates of De Munt lord's castle opened and dozens of soldiers in black cloaks started walking out in harmony.
And after a moment, Larie, the man in a red cloak, appeared on horseback among the soldiers who had completely blocked the gate.
"What a pleasant surprise! To see such noble guests visit this squalid place."
Hire put on his trademark strange smile that nobody knew what it truly meant, and slowly approached Larie, as he passed by the residents kneeling on the ground, crying out loud.
"Is everything that these grieving people here say the truth?
Hire asked quietly as he reached to the front of the soldiers. Larie opened both his arms and said in a proud tone,
"This is merely a policy in my feudal territory! I simply put my priority on becoming a stronger country.
Great soldiers make a great country! Children born with a curse and a filthy body have no use for this feudal territory, furthermore, our country."
The lord of the castle lifted his chin even higher after he blabbered his nonsense.
"And this was done by, no other than I, the lord of the De Munt Castle, Larie, and therefore nobody has any authority nor reasons to interfere with this law."
Hire turned back with a smile on his face, staring at Khea.
"My, I've only followed my way here because I heard something fun was happening around here. I hope I didn't give you the wrong idea."
"Excuse me?"
Larie, who was flustered by Hire's words, stared at Khea who was standing afar as he frowned his face.
"Somebody entrusted a mission to the Information guild, requesting revenge. And unfortunately, the person who took that mission was a Sworder. Who would want to miss such a scene, no?"
"Who dares to instigate a request to harm the lord of the castle!"
Larie started to command the soldiers with his sword lifted up. Soon, the soldiers took steps towards the crying residents, and Hire's smile on his face faded immediately when he saw this.
"You've come to cross the line, Larie, perhaps because of my light attitude?
"What did you say?!
"I am a Knight from the Order of the 14 Knights, a loyal servant of the Saint. And according to the law established by the Saint, everything you've just said goes against it. Cursed bodies from birth? No, rotten people like you pollute the continent. I've come to realize that the insects never realize that they're insects."
"Y-you dare to mock me?!"
"I am starting to grow impatient at your attitude. Look closely who is standing right in front of you."
Hire's eyes flashed. Even I, who was watching from afar, flinched at this.
Khea, who was silently standing in the back, also seemed like she flinched after she felt Hire's murderous intent.
But contrast to this, my party members seemed to be enjoying the scene.
Larie tried to command his soldiers by swinging his sword, but that was only after his soldiers had already surrendered to Hire.
Hire looked at Khea with a smile on his face while standing among the soldiers.
"Well, this must've been uncomfortable for you, I'd imagine since we intercepted the information in the middle. However, I shall actually not interfere with your business any further. I shall now close my eyes. Hm, something tells me that I won't be able to see what happens from now on."
Flash!
As soon as Hire's dissimulation finished, Khea leaped from the ground and towards the lord of the castle, like an eagle.
Ssshheik!
In her movements, the thin, sharp rapier had already disappeared from view.
The afterimage of Khea who leaped forward passed Larie in an instant.
And behind her, Larie's head, with a bewildered expression on his face, left his body and floated in the air, and then fell straight to the ground.
"Woooooow!!"
The cheers of the residents resounded loud enough to tear my ears apart.
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