Soon, an explosion happened, leaving a huge crater, causing all the rocks surrounding the area to collapse. When the dust cleared, the bandits were gone, and the only trace left behind was blood. Darnel's body was mostly intact, while everyone else disappeared without a trace.
Luckily, Drake managed to cover his entire body with the dragon scales. However, even those were starting to fall apart, revealing the flesh underneath. He was completely naked, as even his fire-resistant clothes were gone. He groaned quietly. "You can go to hell on your own!" he shouted at the spot where the bandits had been standing before, clenching his fist tightly. "I guess I am done!"
"What... was that..." Darnell whispered, still shaking. His voice was trembling so bad that Darnell was almost afraid the man wouldn't be able to talk anymore. "He... lived?" he questioned, feeling defeated. And choking in blood, he kept repeating. "the monster survived... that monster."
"Yes," Drake answered, walking toward Darnell. "You owe me new clothes and a storage bag!"
With that, Heaven Slayer in the form of a spear appeared in his hand, and he slashed Darnell's throat.
Darnell died immediately. Drake looked at Heaven Slayer and wondered out loud, "What the hell am I going to do with you now?" Suddenly, Heaven Slayer turned into a ring, leaving Drake pleasantly surprised. "Well, well... You're quite convenient," he said as he put the call on his index finger.
*Ping*
[Quest complete: The hunt.
Progress: 25 low-level monsters.
17 low-level bandits
10 medium-level bandits]
*Ping*
[You gained 1175 reward points.]
Drake jumped a little because he was tense, and to be honest... He forgot about the system once again.
He chuckled awkwardly and then said uncertainty. "Wait... Points? What points?" He scratched the back of his head. Next, he heard another notification.
[Reward points are the Forbidden Library shop's currency. You can open it by simply asking for it.]
Drake nodded silently, then demanded. "Open the shop."
*PING*
In front of his eyes showed a window titled 'SHOP' and a list of items. There were books, potions, crystals, magic stones (and gold), arrows and other things which were necessary for his quest. He also received the following: [Do you require a search function? Costs 50 reward points.]
"Yes. Search for best fireproof clothes."
*Ping...*
[50 reward points removed.]
[Searching for affordable clothes. Please wait.]
Three sets of clothes appeared in the window. He carefully looked at those clothes and checked their descriptions. Then, he checked the last one. It was red leather clothes, including a white mask with horns. "This looks badass!~" Drake smiled.
"System, give me the description of these clothes."
[The Flameston Armor fits you perfectly. The material is a type of leather that is extremely heat resistant and strong. The material is also capable of melting metal and turning it into liquid. Its primary use is for close combat.]
[600 reward points removed].
Drake hummed happily in thought. "Alright! Let's try this on!"
After he put on the cloak, he picked up the dagger from the ground. He looked at Darnell's corpse. "Hmm... maybe I shouldn't leave trash on the ground" His expression darkened as a sinister aura surrounded him.
Darnell's body turned to ashes after Drake released a flame blast at him. After the corpse had vanished into ash and smoke, Drake grinned. "Well, my job here is done!~" Drake chirped as he opened the map.
He saw that there was a small town nearby, just a little further on the road. So he started walking forward, and suddenly a thought hit him... "Wait... How will I prove that I finished the job?!" he gasped. "Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" he gritted his teeth as he ran back to the scene. But found nothing which could serve as proof. "I- I BURNED EVERYTHING!"
He groaned loudly, falling to his hands and knees, breathing heavily. Suddenly, a thought popped in his head. "Yes! THE CARRIAGE!" his face turned dark. "I HAVE TO FIND THOSE WITNESSES!" He quickly stood up and rushed off to the nearest town.
When he reached the town, he ran to the adventurers guild of this town. When he arrived, he kept breathing heavily and looking around; his eyes were darting all over the place, searching for someone who might know where the nobles from the carriage went.
Suddenly, someone grabbed his shoulder from behind. He turned around at that exact moment, staring at the blue-haired girl who stepped back in surprise.
"Oh my God! Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" she explained, sounding scared. "My name is Diana; I came here to..." But she stopped talking after feeling awkward at Drake's stare.
Drake just glared at her suspiciously. "Has the noble's carriage passed through this town yesterday?" he asked bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest, not making eye contact.
"Eh?" Diana frowned, confused. "Why do you want to know?"
Drake stated, "They are witnesses."
Diana blinked for a few seconds, then finally understood what Drake was saying. "W-what?" she asked, shocked. She stealthily held her dagger, waiting for an explanation.
"I cannot prove that I exterminated the bandits, and they witnessed that." Drake casually spoke, despite seeing her holding the dagger. But to her defence, he knew what he said could easily be misunderstood. "Hide that dagger," Drake frowned. "You would only get yourself hurt if you tried something stupid."
Dane looked up in the air, then hid her dagger in her boot.
"So you wanted them to prove that you did your job?" Diana repeated.
"Yes," Drake replied curtly before he sighed softly. "Look... I messed up, and those guys are my only chance to get paid."
Diana sighed in relief, "Don't worry, I was one of the witnesses; you will get paid."
"Awesome!" Drake responded eagerly.
She continued, "But still, you left the so-called witnesses quite traumatised." Diana giggled lightly. "But... They decided to give you compensation as well."
"Eh?" Drake seemed shocked but suddenly asked. "What kind of compensation?!"
"Follow me!" she suggested cheerfully, grabbing Drake's wrist and dragging him to the reception desk. There, she introduced drake to the receptionist.
"Mr Drake is here to collect his compensation!" Diana exclaimed.
"Ah, Mr Drake," the receptionist greeted him, putting down his book and pen. "The one who saved Riverborns?"
"Yup!" Diana confirmed happily.
He gave a small bag of coins to Drake, "This is 24 gold coins, for the bandits' removal, and... " and pulled out another, bigger bag of coins. "This is Riverborns compensation for saving their lives. 200 gold coins."
"W-what?!" Drake was shocked and speechless at the same time. " 224 gold coins..." he mumbled as he looked at his hands, wondering how much it could cost.
"Yes, Riverborns had no money on hand, so they went as far as asking the town's lord to lend this money." the Diana replied with a chuckle.