Chapter 78: Heron

“He said that he would arrive soon.”

Lynx told Soo Hyuk.

“Alright.”

Soo Hyuk replied to Lynx and thought,

‘I obtained some information at an unexpected place.’

Soo Hyuk had never expected to learn more about the Demon Guild on this mission.

‘But I’m wasting a lot of time here.’

Other than the travel time, it was taking a lot of time for Baal to arrive here.

‘How many more missions can I complete?’

The sun was going to set soon. How much more mission would he be able to complete before log out time?

Step. Step.

While Soo Hyuk was locked in thought, the sound of footsteps emerged from the distance. Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked up and saw Baal approaching them.

Baal stared at Soo Hyuk silently as he stopped in front of him. Smiling at Baal’s gaze, Soo Hyuk opened his mouth.

“It’s been a while.”

Truthfully, it hadn’t been that long. Even 3 days hadn’t passed since they made a truce with each other.

“You could say that 3 days is a while.”

Baal replied in response to Soo Hyuk’s greeting.

“I’m curious about something…”

Soo Hyuk then said as Baal’s voice faded. He cut straight to the point of this matter.

“I wasn’t to know what quest you got, who gave it and how much you know about the Phantom Celta.

What kind of quests made you kill NPCs? And who was the NPC that gave out the quest? How much does the Demon Guild know about Celta? Soo Hyuk had too many things to ask Baal.

“Is it necessary for you to know?”

Baal questioned back in response to his words.

“Yes, I have to know. More than anything, it’s connected to my current quest.”

Baal then fell silent Soo Hyuk’s answer.

‘This rotten bastard.’

He thought as he stared at Soo Hyuk’s face.

‘Asking in such a straightforward manner.’

To be honest, he had intended the quest information to be an excuse, but currently Soo Hyuk was shamelessly asking for it. It was too decisive and straightforward. However, he couldn’t do anything about it, because if he did, Soo Hyuk might turn up on their doorstep with Poison Fogs tomorrow.

‘Hoo, I have to tell him.’

Baal had to satisfy Soo Hyuk’s curiosity. After settling his thoughts, Baal opened his mouth as he stared at the waiting Soo Hyuk.

* * *

Soo Hyuk silently stared at the departing figures of Baal, Lynx and Slam. Then when they disappeared into the horizon, he turned back to Henkins’ house.

‘He doesn’t need to know.’

There was no reason to tell Henkins about his conversation with Baal, though maybe if he was Romian. Soo Hyuk opened his quest tab.

[Flowers on the 7th Peak]

The monsters who reside on the 7th Peak of the Kamain Mountains, the Conda. Collect the flower of life, the Helid, which grows on the Condas’ back!

[Condas: 20 / 20 ]

[Helids: 15 / 20 ]

[Quest Reward: 900 Gold]

‘5 more.’

He just had to gather 5 more Helids. Soo Hyuk started walking around and hunting more Condas. Then a few minutes later, he managed to gather the 5 Helids and teleported back to Hadrac through his subspace.

‘Let’s first deliver the letter to Romian.’

Walking out of the warp gate, Soo Hyuk decided to visit the Copine Corps first instead of the Mercenary Agency. It was also because he had information to give, no, sell to Romian.

‘He should tell me about the cave with this much information.’

Baal had known about the existence of the secret cave, but he didn’t know its location. But that didn’t mean Baal’s story was worthless. He believed that he should be able to get a lot of things out of Romian with Baal’s story.

A few minutes later, Soo Hyuk arrived at the Copine Corps. At their entrance, an unfamiliar guard was stationed.

“Hello.”

Soo Hyuk greeted the young man guarding the entrance.

“I’m here to meet with Romian-nim.”

The guard at the entrance jumped in surprise at Soo Hyuk’s words. Then after looking around cautiously, he whispered,

“What business do you have with Romian?”

“…I have to deliver a letter to him.”

“A letter?”

“Yes.”

“Is it something you have to deliver personally?”

“Yes.”

Soo Hyuk couldn’t help but feel suspicious at the guard’s reaction. There was something off about his tone and conduct.

“Could you wait a moment in the reception?”

“I can.”

After replying to the guard, Soo Hyuk was led to the reception room and he waited for Romian there. Then after a while, two men entered the room.

‘Who are they?’

One of them was the guard he had just talked with. But the person next to him wasn’t Romian. He had never seen him before.

“Hello.”

When the men arrived in front of Soo Hyuk, the unfamiliar man smiled and greeted him.

“I’m Heron, the vice-director.”

The man’s identity was Heron. At his introduction, Soo Hyuk widened his eyes in surprise and stared at Heron.

‘This NPC is…’

Soo Hyuk knew who Heron was. It wasn’t because Heron was particularly famous. No, he had just found out about him. He was the NPC who had hired the Demon Guild to kill the NPCs living on the peaks.

‘Why didn’t Romian come…’

He had clearly conveyed to the guard that he was here to see Romian. So why had Heron come instead?

‘Don’t tell me Romian was done in as well?’

Did Romian suffer the same fate as his friends on the peaks?

‘In that short amount of time?’

They had only met a few hours ago.

“I heard that you had a letter for the 1st Commander Romian. Is that true?”

Heron continued.

“Yes.”

Soo Hyuk paused his chaotic thoughts as he replied.

“Romian isn’t available currently because of an urgent matter. If you would leave that letter with me, then I’ll deliver it in your place.”

But Soo Hyuk stood up at Heron’s words and replied,

“I’m sorry. The sender clearly stated to deliver the letter personally. I’ll come again when Romian-nim is available.”

The quest required him to send the letter to Romian, not anyone else. And certainly not Heron. Wasn’t he an enemy of Romian?

“…Hmm.”

Heron’s expression hardened at Soo Hyuk’s answer.

“I understand.”

But he quickly reverted back to a smile and continued,

“Since you insist, we can’t do anything about it.”

Heron continued while maintaining his calm smile.

“If you tell us when you’ll be coming again then I’ll be able to send it on to Romian.”

“Do you know when Romian-nim will be available again?”

Soo Hyuk instead asked back.

Heron didn’t reply immediately. Then after some thought, he opened his mouth.

“…He will be available at around 10pm at night.”

“Then I’ll come then.”

Soo Hyuk then walked out of the reception room with a slight bow and headed to the Mercenary Agency. As he was walking, he thought,

‘Did something really happen to him?’

Because Heron had come instead of Romian, Soo Hyuk suspected that something had happened. However, because Heron had so smoothly given time, he started to doubt his suspicions.

‘Maybe it’s a trap?’

Of course, it could be a trap. Heron could have a trap prepared for him at 10pm.

‘No, it’s unlikely.’

But Soo Hyuk rejected the thought with the shake of his head. When he thought about it, why would Heron bother to lay a trap when he was just delivering a letter? It didn’t make sense.

* * *

“Then should we give up the quest?”

Lynx asked.

“No. Don’t give up just yet.”

Baal shook his head in response. But Lynx couldn’t help but feel uncertain at Baal’s answer. It was because Baal had just said to not kill Henkins. The only task left was killing Henkins, but how could they complete the quest without killing Henkins?

“The quest doesn’t have a time limit and we don’t know how the situation could change.”

Quests could change depending on the circumstances. Since their quest didn’t have a time limit, it was better to wait and see how Soo Hyuk would act, instead of wasting the quest by giving up.

“Ah, I understand.”

“Yep.”

Both Lynx and Slam nodded to Baal’s explanation.

Meanwhile, Baal fell in thought after his answer.

‘The Phantom Thief Celta’s Secret Cave. What exactly is in it?’

Baal also knew about the Phantom Thief. It was just that he didn’t know well enough. Practically Baal knew about Celta was that Celta was a famous thief NPC.

‘I have to know more.’

He had been intrigued by Soo Hyuk’s reaction. And so, Baal decided to investigate Celta when he got back.

-Hadang: Guild Master.

When he was about to enter Hadrac again.

-Hadang: Where are you?

A message came from one of the top members of the Demon Guild.

-Baal: I’m almost at Hadrac. What’s the matter?

Baal asked as he replied. Hadang wouldn’t send a message just to say hello. Something major must’ve happened in Hadrac for Hadang to contact him.

-Hadang: The Vice-Director of the Copine Corps has visited us.

‘Heron?’

Baal widened his eyes with pleasant surprise. He was just about to see Heron anyway, so Heron had made it more convenient for him.

-Baal: What did he come for? It wouldn’t have been about the quest.

If it was about the quest, then Hadang was more than enough to answer Heron’s question. In other words, Heron was here for something else.

-Hadang: He said he would tell you personally. It seemed to be about something important.

-Baal: I understand. I’ll be there in 5 minutes.

-Hadang: Yep. I’ll tell him that.

-Baal: Ah, and prepare a quest for Lynx and Slam.

-Hadang: I will.

Baal closed his chat window and spoke to Lynx and Slam before speeding up.

“See Hadang-nim. He’ll give you a quest to do.”

“Yep.”

“Yes.”

Lynx and Slam replied, and Baal was able to arrive at his guild house a few minutes later.

“To my room.”

Baal told Hadang, who had been waiting at the entrance, and entered his room to wait for Heron.

Tap. Tap.

Then before long, Hadang came in again with Heron at his side.

“Nice to meet you again.”

“Have you been well? Haha.”

Baal and Heron exchanged greetings first, before Baal jumped to the topic.

“I was told that you had something to talk to me about.”

“Yes, I need your strength.”

Heron replied with a nod at Baal’s words.

“Strength?”

Baal then asked back curiously. He needed their strength? What kind of strength was he talking about?

“Yes, we’re planning to catch a mercenary at 10 pm tonight. But this is something I can’t use the Corps’ strength for. Haha…”

“Ah, so a capture mission.”

Baal then realised what Heron needed them for.

“How many do you need?”

He asked.

“…”

Heron fell deep in thought briefly at Baal’s question, then opened his mouth.

“Three will be enough.”