Terms used in this episode:
Floating population – a term used to describe a group of people who are in a certain area but do not live there permanently, and are not considered as part of the official census count.
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Episode 8 – Dungeon Book (2)
In the afternoon two days later.
Cordelia wore a wide-brimmed hat and a dress with a wide skirt, and she left Count Chase' mansion together with Dahlia.
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
The footsteps of the horses pulling the carriage and the rolling carriage wheels could be heard. And as if to match those sounds, Dahlia also hummed.
When one looked at their faces, it would seem like it was Dahlia and not Cordelia who was going on a date.
'No, it's not a date. It's not a date.'
It's just a business meeting.
It's just a business meeting.
Cordelia repeated it twice because it was important, and she tried to ignore Dahlia's excitement as she looked out of the window.
Although Varuna's Temple was located in the outskirts of the frontier city, it was a place that had a lot of people and buildings.
The temples of Varuna were situated not only in the Sälen Kingdom, but also in various places across the continent, or to be exact, they were built in places with huge floating populations, and the reason for that was simple.
If you want to hide a tree, hide it in the forest.
Because the best way to hide a secret was for a person to not draw attention of people around them.
If there were many people going here and there, those who were going to Varuna's Temple could easily hide themselves.
"Miss, we're almost there. You'll be able to meet him now."
"Y-yes…"
Cordelia forced herself to smile and wished for the carriage to quickly arrive.
Rather than wanting to see Jude again, it was because she wanted to escape from this awkward place and the excited gaze of Dahlia.
"We're here."
And finally, the carriage stopped.
The deep voice of the coachman relieved Cordelia and she sighed in relief, but Dahlia continued to misunderstand it again.
'You're nervous. How cute.'
Cordelia could tell what Dahlia was thinking by just looking at Dahlia's sparkling eyes, but she averted her gaze this time. Because she didn't want to deal with it now.
"Anyway…let's go!"
"Yes, Miss!"
Cordelia got off the carriage with Dahlia and looked around. Perhaps because it was in the afternoon, Varuna's believers could be seen here and there.
But it was at that moment.
"Hello! Big sister, are you Cordelia Chase?
A child who was sitting in the corner of the temple ran to them and asked.
The child was a boy around 5 to 6 years old, and he was holding a small folded note in his hand.
"What do you want?"
Although Dahlia had only been acting strange lately, she was still an escort knight from the Chase family.
She reflexively blocked the child from approaching and asked in a low voice, and the frightened child hesitated before replying.
"T-this! A very handsome older guy told me to deliver this!"
The child held out the note he was holding.
The note was quite suspicious, but Dahlia's expression then relaxed. Because Jude's name was written on the outside part of the note.
"Miss."
"Okay."
When Cordelia gave her permission, Dahlia took the note from the child.
"I'll be going then. I definitely told you!"
The child ran out of the temple as soon as he handed the note, perhaps because he was quite scared of Dahlia.
But Dahlia and Cordelia had already lost their interest in the child.
"Hurry up and open it. Hurry."
"Ye-yes."
At Dahlia's urging, Cordelia opened the note and saw the words plainly written on it.
See you in the confession room.
Confession Room.
It was one of the reasons why Varuna, the god of secrets, was highly popular.
In Varuna's Temple, there was a confession room where one could confide any secrets they had.
In fact, confessing one's secret didn't mean that Varuna would do some kind of miracle, but for those who were feeling burdened by the weight of a secret, the fact that there was a place where they could confide it was rather comforting.
"Oh my… are you having a secret romantic meeting in the confession room? Ufufu, how cute."
At that moment, Cordelia wondered if there was something wrong with Dahlia's brain because she kept interpreting all of Cordelia's actions as the actions of a maiden in love, so Cordelia was worried on what to do and kept her mouth shut.
"Anyway, let's go."
"Yes, Miss."
Cordelia recalled that she had gone to Varuna's Temple several times in the past before she remembered her past life's memories.
As she headed to the eastern section of the temple where the confession room was located, a middle-aged priest who seemed to be in charge of the confession room approached and guided her.
"He is inside."
He didn't tell on who it was, but it was obvious on who the priest was referring to.
The priest smiled and took a step back, and Dahlia brightly smiled as she stopped at the door.
"I'll stay here."
And then she winked.
Cordelia thought that Dahlia's consideration was really helpful, but she felt like was gradually falling into a bad situation that was hard to get out.
"…I'll be back."
"Yes, Miss. Good luck."
"Y-yes."
After she awkwardly replied, Cordelia entered the confession room as if she was running away.
And it was at that moment.
"Yo, it's been a while."
As she had expected, Jude was waiting inside the confession room which had a small desk and two chairs.
I suffered from all kinds of hardships because of those misunderstandings, but why does it feel like he's just chilling and doing well when I see that bright face of his?
"Haa, I'd rather die than suffer."
"Yellow Storm?"
But Cordelia asked Jude instead of answering him.
"How did you borrow this place?"
"Ha?"
"The temple's confession room. Do you have the priest's weakness or something?"
Because Outboxer009 was someone who knew the important and trivial details of the NPCs in the game.
Given that the priest had gone to greet her, it seemed like Jude had gotten hold of big weakness.
At Cordelia's question, Jude blinked his eyes before he had a small laugh.
"What weakness? It's just money."
"Money?"
"Yes, money. He lent it to me because I gave him money."
Why would I bother to threaten him with his weakness?
When I have money.
"You seem to have forgotten, but I'm the son of a count."
He was also the son of Count Bayer, who belonged to the 12 northern families.
Even though the Bayer family was weaker than they used to be, they were still a highly respected family.
"What the… I'm a daughter of a count too, okay?"
"I know."
As the flustered Cordelia grumbled, Jude smiled and offered her a seat. She then sat across him and asked as her eyes slightly narrowed.
"How is your Gueumjulmaek?"
"It's slow, but I am recovering from it."
"Hmm."
Jude's complexion did seem to look better than before now that she heard it.
"What about you? What have you accomplished so far?"
"I think I'm close to becoming a 2-star. Because I leveled up a lot last time."
A smile spread across Cordelia's face when she recalled their 'fight' against Leisegang.
She wanted to 'fight' him one more time, but unfortunately, Bellastin's magic circle was for one use only. If they forcibly summoned Leisegang again, a problem might occur with the seal this time.
"Why did you call me anyway? There's nothing here."
"Why are you saying there isn't? There is."
"Eh? There is?"
"Yes, there is. There's a hidden event here."
Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude's response. Because she couldn't understand what he was saying.
"No way…that's not possible. There's nothing on the guide website."
She wasn't talking about just some guide website.
She was talking about the 'Legend of Heroes Guide,' a website that was created by people who were stagnant and rotten waters, which included Yellow Storm.
Did Cordelia forget about it then?
She didn't.
Yellow Storm remembered correctly.
The cause of the problem was with Outboxer009, not Yellow Storm.
"It's natural that there isn't."
"Huh?"
"Because I'm the only one who found it."
When something was first discovered, the First Discovery achievement window would always pop up.
And Jude kept that event only to himself.
After all, why would he post information on the guide website about a hidden event that he had struggled to find?
"Wait, are you saying that you never posted in 'Legend of Heroes Wiki'?"
"I do post, but only the things that everyone else also knows."
Because secrets can only be valuable when they're kept secret.
"What? So you just post everything? Really?"
Cordelia did not give an answer, but he could tell what her answer was by just looking at her face.
"I see, so that's why you're 2nd place. It's no wonder why you're always 2nd place."
"F*ck, you evil b*stard. I knew there was something fishy. I couldn't catch up no matter how I struggled."
"Our Norfolk is so naïve. I myself would never think of giving out such crucial information."
But the truth was, he had only guessed it.
Because he found the clue to the hidden event buried among the posts while he was having fun reading other people's comments in the guide website.
"Anyway, what is it? What's hidden here? Is it for you again?"
When Cordelia asked with a pout on her lips, Jude hid his laughter and continued to speak.
Cordelia asked as she pouted her lips, and Jude suppressed his laughter before he continued.
"There's one for me, and one for you too. You know about the Dungeon Book, right?"
"I know about it. Is a Dungeon Book hidden here?"
"It's hidden here. The rewards are also quite good."
As its name suggested, the Dungeon Book was a dungeon, or to be exact, it was a virtual dungeon that one could enter via a book.
"What's the reward?"
"Mine is a martial art skill. Yours is probably a magic skill."
"Skill Book?"
"Skill Book."
By using a skill book, one could immediately acquire a skill without having to go through the process of learning it.
Cordelia became interested and drew closer to Jude as she asked.
"Specifically, what kind of martial art or magic skill is it?"
"For the martial art skill, it's a footwork technique. But for the magic skill, I don't know."
"You do not know?"
"I haven't cleared it as a wizard yet."
"I see."
His explanation was valid. It was something that he would only know if he had cleared it.
"What's the rank? It wouldn't be that high if we could challenge it in the beginning of the game, right?"
"B-rank."
"B-rank?"
"B-rank."
Cordelia's eyes widened. She couldn't help it because it was a B-rank.
Obviously, a B-rank skill wasn't that great if one compared it to the other skills in the entire Legend of Heroes 2.
But if one was a player who had just begun playing, it was not an exaggeration to say that a B-rank skill was like a gift from the heavens.
Because what most players could normally get at the beginning were usually E, D, or C-rank skills at best.
"Then, the magic skill will also be a B-rank one?"
"Probably?"
A bright smile appeared on Cordelia's face.
"Good! Let's clear it quickly then! Where is it? Where is it hidden?"
"Here."
"Huh?"
"Here. I already found it."
It was located in a secret room deep inside the temple's library, but he had already come in the morning and found it.
That was why he had asked Cordelia to meet him in the afternoon in the first place.
"Time is gold, right?"
Jude ended his words with a smile as he took out a thin book from his bag and put it on the desk.
Varuna's Dungeon Book.
Cordelia stared at the cover of the red book before she raised her head and asked.
"We're going now?"
"We're going now."
She didn't ask any more questions.
Jude opened the book and chanted the spell. The confession room was then filled with a white light.