“Please inform Master Macaven that we may be able to help resolve his current troubles,” Syl said calmly, sliding a silver coin across the counter to the apprentice NPC.
The apprentice’s eyes lit up, but he kept a straight face and swiftly pocketed the coin like nothing happened. “Please wait a moment.”
The entire scene made the corner of my mouth twitch. No wonder Syl insisted on a silver coin. I’d heard rumors in my past life that NPCs could react like this… but I never expected them to be this human.
Soon enough, the apprentice returned with a middle-aged blacksmith in tow.
The man was muscular, bare-chested, and covered in old burn scars across his bronzed skin. He looked rough around the edges, but there wasn’t an ounce of disrespect in my gaze—after all, the man before me was a master-class blacksmith, one of the most important figures in the Olwen Empire’s crafting world.
“Respected Master Macaven, I heard you’re currently troubled with a forging issue. May I ask if that’s true?”
He eyed me suspiciously—probably because I looked way too young to be saying that—but after a moment’s thought, he sighed and nodded.
“The Empire’s military needs a batch of weapons for new recruits at the frontlines. Problem is, we’re short on a specific forging material—bat claws. Been stuck on this for days now.”
“In that case, you’re in luck. I happen to have a large supply of bat claws on hand, which might just solve your problem.”
“Seriously?” Macaven’s eyes lit up. He wasted no time and offered a direct deal: “I’ll take as many as you have. Of course, I won’t take them for free. You’ll be paid accordingly.”
System Prompt:
Do you want to accept the quest [Macaven the Blacksmith’s Commission]?
Quest: Macaven the Blacksmith’s Commission (Repeatable)
Description: Master Blacksmith Macaven has been tasked by the military to forge weapons for new soldiers but lacks a key material. Help him by supplying what he needs.
Objective: Bat Claw (0/20)
Reward: 2 copper coins, 1 EXP
Only an idiot would say no to that.
After several trips back and forth, I managed to hand over all the claws we’d gathered from players. My total assets immediately shot up to 2 full gold coins.
And this was only from one of the hidden quests.
Once I handed in the venom sacs to the other NPC, that number would likely double.
And we were only just getting started. The strategy guide hadn’t even gone fully viral yet. At this rate, I might seriously become the first player in the game with 100 gold coins.
Of course, I couldn’t guarantee that. The big guilds could always pool their money into one person if they wanted. But that would be a terrible idea—no one sane would jeopardize a guild’s unity like that.
“Such a waste of EXP, though…”
I sighed. Because of the magic disguise system’s rules, I couldn’t level up my templates beyond the Demon Lord’s base level. Otherwise, I would’ve hit Level 6 by now instead of being stuck at Level 5, 99.9% EXP.
Any other player would probably be screaming in frustration.
But for me—a Demon Lord who hit the first-tier player level bracket by simply doing two quests and capturing a monster nest—it was just a mild annoyance. Nothing a few dungeon runs wouldn’t fix later.
Time to move on to the second hidden quest.
Unlike the blacksmith quest which was in a shop right off the main street, the NPC for the bat venom quest was located in a far more secluded part of the city. The two NPCs weren’t even close to each other.
In fact, the players who discovered each NPC in my past life didn’t know the other existed. They each ran around collecting bat claws or venom sacs across various towns, spinning made-up excuses for their buyers.
At first, other players thought they were working together. “They must be in on some secret,” people whispered.
But once someone interacted with both of them… suspicions arose.
“They’re both doing something fishy. There must be a hidden quest.”
Even though those two thought they were being subtle, it was that very misunderstanding—people assuming a connection where none existed—that likely sowed the seed of the hidden quest leak.
Still, I didn’t need to worry.
Those players would never know that, between the hidden quest and them, there was an “NPC” (me) acting as a middleman, quietly skimming off half the profits from both sides.
And even if someone figured it out, they’d just chalk it up to coincidence. In their minds, NPCs weren’t capable of having ulterior motives.
Fools.
The Olwen Empire’s history dated back to the Era of Grace, a time of ancient prosperity. Faerns City was built atop the ruins of a once-glorious civilization.
And deep beneath its streets lay countless fragments of ancient technology. Chief among them was the groundbreaking discovery made over a century ago—Magitech Alchemy.
This triggered a nationwide boom in alchemy. With new government policies pushing for innovation, the country saw the rise of alchemy workshops, and citizens from all walks of life dove into magical engineering. This momentum even boosted traditional alchemical fields.
So, when we arrived at a steam-powered, workshop-style building hidden deep in the alleys of Faerns, I wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
What did catch my eye, though, was Syl’s reaction.
She was glancing around at the nearby buildings, her gray eyes filled with a confusion that outmatched my own.
“What’s wrong, Syl?”
“…Nothing, my Lord. I must have imagined it.”
She stepped back behind me without another word.
I tilted my head in confusion, but ultimately shrugged it off and knocked on the door.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!”
A high-pitched voice rang from inside, followed by a loud crash, the clatter of fallen tools, and a strange splashing sound. What kind of chaos was happening in there?
Moments later, the door cracked open.
A petite, disheveled figure peeked out cautiously. Her cheeks were smudged with soot, her hair a mess, and her oversized goggles were pushed up onto her head.
“…Who are you? What do you want with me?”