Chapter 22: A Request to Kill
Silence hung in the air as Vaughn stood, staring at the lifeless body of the knight.
Reaching Level 27 hadn't been an easy feat, but all that effort seemed futile against the few artifacts Vaughn had purchased.
'Money...'
'With money, no one can touch me,' Vaughn thought to himself, confident in the power he had gained through his wealth.
He knew that by feeding the system 10 gold coins, he could obtain 1 System Coin, and only by doing so could he upgrade himself.
[Congratulations, you have leveled up.]
[Lv.1 -> Lv.8]
With the recent battle, Vaughn received a tremendous boost, directly reaching Level 8.
Naturally, this also led to a significant increase in his other stats.
[Name: Vaughn]
[Age: 18] [Sex: Male]
[Race: Human] [Lv.8] [Exp: 73%]
[Current Status: Slave]
[Main Job: Divine Priest (Locked)]
[Sub Job: King Of Harem (Locked)]
[Hp: 18/18]
[Mp: 18/18]
[Phy: 6.8]
[Vit: 1.8]
[Ag: 7.8]
[Int: 1.8]
[Luck: 1.8]
[Stat points: 8]
The screen flashed in front of Vaughn, displaying his new stats.
"Bravo," a voice suddenly chimed in, followed by laughter.
It was Garry, who approached with widened eyes and opened arms, as if he desired a hug.
The guard opened the cage, and Garry embraced Vaughn, saying, "Defeating a Level 27 knight, now that's something!"
"Looks like you have regained your strength! Hahahaha!" Garry laughed heartily, quite impressed.
"I never lost it," Vaughn asserted, sounding dominant.
"Haha, sure sure."
"Come here, lad," Garry said, placing his left arm around Vaughn as he pulled him away.
Before leaving, he signaled to the guard and pointed at the corpse, saying, "You know what to do."
The guard nodded and approached the lifeless body.
Vaughn and Garry moved far away from the scene, back to the office.
Vaughn couldn't help but keep staring at the dagger.
'What if I kill him and escape...?' he thought to himself, but quickly realized how risky that would be.
"Boy, that dagger is yours from now," Garry said.
"You completed the task, so here you go, a few gold coins that you wanted..." Garry placed a heavy pouch on the table, causing it to tremble under its weight. The pouch was almost as big as Garry's gigantic fat that hung below his chin.
[It contains 200 gold coins.]
Even before Vaughn could ask, the system notification revealed the amount, making Vaughn smirk. "T-thank you. That's a large amount," Vaughn said.
"Large amount? How much do you think it has?", Garry asked.
"About 200 gold coins?", Vaughn merely replied, surprising Garry further.
"Wow boy, was your intuition so sharp?"
"Yea, I guess.", Vaughn rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, these coins…"
Garry maintained a smile on his face before adding a condition, "I will be giving this to you, but you have a small condition to fulfill."
"Huh?" Vaughn thought this was a reward, but suddenly, there was a condition attached to it.
"And, what is it?" Vaughn asked, realizing he couldn't refuse it.
"You need to kill another individual," Garry stated.
"What?" Vaughn was surprised. Wasn't killing one person enough?
Earlier, the cloud of dust had blurred the view, making it difficult to see how hard Vaughn was trying not to vomit. Even now, he felt an inner trembling.
'Killing is no joke!' Vaughn wanted to say that aloud, but he kept it within
"Who is the target?" Vaughn asked, maintaining a calm and serious voice.
"Delta," Garry replied.
"I didn't ask for the name, man..." Vaughn added.
"Ah, haha."
"Well, a client asked me if he could hire killers. I wanted to check if you are perfect for that," Garry explained.
Vaughn was left speechless. Although he had killed the knight due to the artifacts, he was not confident enough to kill someone outside of such circumstances.
"But I have the tournament coming ahead," Vaughn tried to refute.
However, this only caused Garry to smile further. "Boy, Delta is also participating in the tournament. You must kill her there, during your fight with her."
"I will make sure you meet her in the first round," Garry said.
After listening to Garry's demand, Vaughn felt he had no choice but to go along with the plan. However, he needed more information.
"Tell me honestly, how much money did they give?" Vaughn inquired. He suspected that Garry wasn't planning to give him the entire amount they had paid.
"Uh, ahem. Not much," Garry replied, avoiding Vaughn's gaze.
"How much?" Vaughn pressed, walking closer and staring right into Garry's eyes with dead seriousness.
"T-thousand gold coins. Alright? They gave me a thousand!" Garry confessed.
"Fucker, they gave you a thousand, yet you were planning to give me only 200?" Vaughn raised his voice, almost roaring.
"Haha..."
"Then, fifty-fifty?" Garry asked, attempting to negotiate.
Vaughn, looking down at the man, thought for a moment, 'Is this really the great profiteer? He is weak. I was afraid of him!?'
"Sixty-forty," Vaughn declared, trying to show that he was no longer weak and had proven his worth.
Although it was a risky move, Vaughn felt he had to take the chance. Life was all about taking risks.
"Deal," Garry agreed, wiping the little drops of sweat from his forehead.
Vaughn then asked, "Care to give me the gold?"
Garry placed two more pouches, summoning them out of his spatial ring. "Alright, thanks!" Vaughn said, taking the pouches and placing them inside his inventory.
"Huh?" Garry was left confused when he saw this happening. "You can use Spatial magic?" he asked.
"Why, of course, I can," Vaughn bluffed, despite fully knowing that it was a feature provided by the system.
'Hmm, that makes him even more valuable,' Garry smirked as he thought this.
Vaughn broke Garry's daydream by asking, "Can you tell me more about the client?"
Garry, who already had her information in his desk, pulled out a paper filled with info about her. "Take a look at it. You will know better," he said.
Vaughn took the paper and walked towards a chair near the desk. He sat down and began examining the information.
[Name: Delta Mor Stein] [Grand-daughter of Grand Magician Magos Mor Stein.] [Age: 17] [Main Job: Mage] [Level: 24 (2 Star Mage)]
'Interesting...' Vaughn tapped his chin as he continued to read the request written right below.
[Request: Eliminate Delta Mor Stein in the upcoming tournament, but make it look like an accident. Do this, and you shall be rewarded greatly.]