《New quest》
Haroon was guided to the secret bas.e.m.e.nt room of the viscount mansion.
"Welcome."
It was Devron welcoming him. There was four people in the room including Devron. Haroon knew one of their faces, but it was his first time seeing the other two.
"Come in, and greet Paros."
There was a man with n.o.ble clothing and a young knight sitting on the chair where Devron was pointing at.
"I really wonder who this old man really is, that he can call the Viscount"s name directly. Come to think of it, he calls her majesty, Briella by her name. Is he from the imperial family as well?"
Haroon got curious about it, but there was no one who could tell him. He didn"t dare to ask.
"I"m Viscount Paros."
Viscount Paros introduced himself, standing up from where he was sitting. Although he looked quite old because of the white hair, Haroon could see that Viscount Paros was a courageous, sharp man.
"It"s an honor to meet you, Viscount Paros. My name is Haroon, and I"m the leader of a mercenary guild named the Gusts of Wind. I"m an outlander, and I am not familiar with being polite in this world"s standard. I hope you will understand if I act impolitely sometimes."
The Viscount smiled, satisfied by Haroon"s politeness.
"First, I must thank you for escorting her majesty and her party all the way to the Viscounty. I heard a lot about you from Devron; the ability and quick thinking you showed while crossing the river, going directly through two knightages and thousands of foot soldiers, and such a sense of responsibility for the party that you wouldn"t even hesitate to sacrifice yourself!"
Less a n.o.ble but more like a knight in the battlefield, Viscount Paros held a mere mercenary, Haroon"s hands and shook. Haroon was relieved to see VIscount Paros" favorable response, as he heard there was some kind of weird rules of being polite among the n.o.bles.
"It was all thanks to Devron. I just helped."
But Viscount shook his head, and respected Haroon"s humility.
"Even if that"s true, you"ve made it this far, breaking through such an army. Oh right, this is my son, Depo. He just came back from the metropolis, graduating from the knight academy. I hope you two can become good friends."
He greeted the young knight. He nodded at Hall who was sitting in the corner, silently.
"I wanted to meet you in person to say thank you, and that"s why I summoned you. Also, I know that you would have received a reward from her majesty already, but I had something that I wanted to give you. Depo, bring the thing that I mentioned."
On Viscounts" words, Depo brought a small box that was stored in a corner of the room.
"I obtained these when I was still a young knight training in the Huk"ran mountains. I heard you like to use throwing knives, so I prepared these."
"Thank you, milord."
If it was about throwing knives, Haroon had no intentions of refusing them.
"Hey pal, I don"t know about mercenaries, nor outlanders, but it"s good manners to check what"s inside the gift as soon as you receive it," said Depo, lightly hitting Haroon"s shoulder
Haroon opened the box.
"What on Uni-"¹
There was three old, rusty throwing knives that could only be recognized by their shape. Haroon couldn"t understand why her majesty and even the Viscount gives him such strange items.
"Hahaha! It"s not what it looks like. Those knives were used by "the legendary throwing knife master"."
"These were?"
Haroon was surprised by what he just heard, and picked up one of the knives without realizing it. It might have shone with sharpness, but now it had turned rusty and dull.
"Hmph, I knew it. People nowadays don"t even know that name, but you do, as you use throwing knives. To be honest, I don"t know if they"re real or not. I found them on some ogres while looting the battlefield, and my senior knight told me they could be."
"I see. These throwing knives mean a lot to me. I can"t thank you enough."
Haroon couldn"t tear his eyes away from the rusty throwing knife he was holding. It felt like some kind of destiny was flowing out, like an energy transferring through his arm, and it made his heart pump harder.
"I once tried to learn throwing knife skills, tempted by the legend, but I gave up soon as it was quite different from being a knight. I"m glad to see you like my gift. That gift is the way I found to express a small token of my sincerity for saving her majesty," said Paros.
Devron was smiling as well.
There was a short moment of silence. Haroon realized that the others were waiting for him, so he closed the box and put it aside. Viscount Paros continued.
"And I"ll give a word to my butler later on to permit you and your members to use the blacksmith workshop of mine. I hate to disappoint you but I can"t let you use it for free. Just pay for the materials."
"I can"t thank you enough, Milord."
"Also, I didn"t summon you just to give you this gift. I"d like to make a request to your guild."
"I"m listening."
Haroon wanted to make this quick and check the items. He once heard about the legendary throwing knife master back when he was in the mercenary academy. Now it felt like he found a light in the darkness to see proof of his existence.
"Do you know about the Golden Battle?"
"Yes, I have some general knowledge about it."
"The Senate has announced the golden battle, which means his imperial majesty will pa.s.s away in two or three years. For the next two years, there will be battle of arms and wits between the royal heirs. Most n.o.ble families are already making their move."
Viscount Paros" eyes were burning brightly. Through his eyes, Haroon could see how serious the n.o.bles were taking this battle. Just like he thought, the n.o.bles were pa.s.sionate about the golden battle as well.
"We who supports her majesty, Briella, have prepared a secret training camp in the deepest part of Huk"ran mountain, on the outside of County Jorlen. We call it the Huk"ran Training Camp. That camp is where the young knights can become the strongest warriors, fighting powerful monsters that cannot be compared to other territories. Our talented youths are going under heavy trainings just to prepare for the golden battle. But the camp is located in a very dangerous place, where there is heavy interference in the mana flow. That disables communication methods using mana stones, so we have to use human power in order to contact them. "
The supporters of the imperial family like Devron and Viscount Paros had been preparing for the golden battle with an elaborate long-term strategy. Of course, the other n.o.bles must be doing the same, though it might be a different strategy. From the Viscount"s words, Haroon could read the flow of change of a vast Empire, so he sealed his lips and carefully listened to what the viscount had to say.
"Though, the last few messengers we"ve sent have gone missing. We don"t know what exactly happened, but something unfavorable must have happened. So we"d like to make a request to your guild. Hall is her majesty"s messenger as well. She"ll be handling some work while she is here. That said, please escort Hall to the camp. That"s what our request is."
It was at that moment when Haroon heard a UI sound alerting that he has received a quest.
[You have received a quest]
Escort Hall to the secret camp located in the middle of Huk"ran Mountain!
The supporters of the imperial princess Briella have been running a secret camp deep in the Huk"ran Mountains, which is popular for being rich with tough monsters. Hall, the henchwoman of Briella has a very important affair with the camp. Escort her safely to the secret camp.
Reward : + 100 Fame, 100 Gold, Permission to use the secret camp
Failing the quest decreases your fame by 200 and loses Briella"s trust towards you.
Haroon postponed accepting the quest.
"There is a thing I cannot understand. Your mighty knights and arms would easily escort her to the secret camp, then why do you entrust such a small mercenary guild like us to do the escort?" Haroon asked the Viscount.
Haroon had no idea about where the Huk"ran Mountains were, or how far the journey would be, but he just couldn"t understand the general context of the quest.
"This place is located right next to the territory with imperial directorship. This is our front line base to the Metropolis, and "tis full of spies sent by enemies a long time ago. But they are not aware of the secret camp, and it should remain as our wild card until the time comes. Sending our knights or soldiers is not an option we can take. Nor is sending her alone to such a dangerous place."
That explained a lot to him.
"You and your members are exposed to them as well, but they will soon become disinterested as all they know is that you are a small mercenary guild. "Tis Devron"s and my judgement that you and your members would be the most appropriate solution for us, considering the situation and your skills."
"I understand. But we already have our plans as well, so please give us some time to think about this."
Haroon had no intention to make this decision in a rush. He and his members need to level up as well.
"As you wish. I hope for a favorable decision to be made. I hate to hurry you, but please understand that we don"t have much time as well. Also, my apologies on what we presumed about your guild – that your guild is new and small. Please understand that I had no idea that you have already received a request from someone else."
In fact, Haroon was considering the Gusts of Wind to be more like a group, as it was too embarra.s.sing to be called a "guild", but the Viscount was a.s.sessing it quite highly. Haroon had a goodwill toward the viscount, seeing that he was a folksy and sensible person who didn"t treat commoners and outlanders as lesser people.
They had a friendly chat after talking about the request.
Haroon left the main building and headed towards the guest house. On the way, Haroon looked for a quiet place to stop by. He wanted to check the throwing knives he just received. He found a small forest behind the guest house, opened the box and took out a knife.
"Item info."
Knife of the legendary master
Cla.s.s: ?
Being a knife of those that were used by the throwing knife master, who is only known by a few people by legend that came down from a long time ago, these can be thrown just by willpower, though it has lost its original function since it was exposed to air for too long without being maintained. It is crafted with materials that no longer can be recognized. It still contains unique mana that the master mastered and acc.u.mulated when the master was still alive. Upon activation, it may resonate with other knives that the legendary master used if they are near, making sound and resonating with blue light.
"That"s an amazing item! What a great luck!" He thought.
As a weapon, it was useless now, but to Haroon who seeks for the traces of the legendary throwing knife master, it was a compa.s.s that would help him. There was nothing similar to this, if you wanted to find a legendary figure that"s only known by a few people.
"Hmm? What is this?"
Haroon found a strange symbol carved on a grip, and tried to focus on it. What he thought of as a simple pattern was unexpectedly complicated.
[You"ve found a skill image. Learn "Multi shot"?]
"Oh, so skills can be taught by image, not only by a skill book!"
That was quite unexpected, and there was no reason to refuse it. Haroon accepted the offer.
Multi shot (Active): Basic Lv.1(0%)/Lv.5
A throwing knife skill effective to face multiple enemies. Throws several knives with an equal effectiveness as throwing one.
Requirement:
Focus 10 or higher
Uses 30 S.P. to learn
Consumes 100 mana per use
"Nice! It will be hard to use it multiple times because of mana though"
So far, he has been empowering his throwing knife skills with Brat"s OPness, but he couldn"t use it easily because of the poison and huge mana consumption. He wasn"t sure if this was because of the luck stat which he"s been investing in, or if it was a part of the quest reward, but for sure it was a joyful reward.
He couldn"t learn it right away since he didn"t have enough S.P. as it was right after cla.s.s advancement and learning the Messenger skills. But he was confident that it wouldn"t take long, seeing how easily he gained S.P. so far. After all, he was thinking of leveling up and training his and his member"s skills.
Haroon carefully stacked the knives in the deepest part of the holders in his arm sleeves. He was worried that he might throw them during battle if he stacked them on his belt.
"I"m worried that the VIP we will be escorting is emotionless, cold-hearted, but if I am to find the master"s trace, I need to go to Huk"ran mountains as these knives were found there."
Haroon decided to talk about it with the Quad w.a.n.kers in a good way. Although meeting Jinsoo would be delayed once again, it was also important to find the trace of the legendary throwing knife master. After all, the Golden Battle has changed the situation and Jinsoo had wanted to prepare rather than taking action right away.
The only goal Haroon had was getting stronger, and that was what he strived for so far. Now he was setting another goal.
Translated by Channy_
Edited by Tom and Kmatt
Footnotes:
¹”What on uni-” In case you have missed, this is him pausing in the middle of sentence “What on union!”
Editor"s notes
Channy_: I"m sorry that releases are being slow ATM. I"m on my final exams, and it is hard for me to focus on translating these o(T ^T)o
Tom: Time for some stat-grinding in a bootcamp again!
Kmatt: