Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 55

Amaranth (2)

Aiel, who had been mingling with undead monsters to raise his stats, finished hunting and headed back to the city.

He had received a quest from the city’s administrator to eliminate five elite monsters and was going to receive a reward for it.

It wasn’t far from the hunting grounds, so he reached the city quickly.

[Quest completed!]

[Level up!]

When he presented the evidence of eliminating the monsters to the NPC [Non-Player Character], Aiel’s level rose to 26, and he received a suitable reward.

‘The level limit is still generous, so I can keep hunting, right?’

Gaining stats by eliminating heretics only applies to monsters or players below a certain level relative to your own.

This was a natural measure to prevent abuse, where players could continuously hunt low-level monsters to accumulate stats abnormally easily.

However, the undead monsters Aiel was hunting were level 24, so he could still accumulate Faith and Madness stats without any issues.

The amount of mana that had increased so far was also quite significant compared to before.

Since the Madness stat raised all stats evenly, raising it a little didn’t show a huge effect, but he could notice a meaningful change.

Just as Aiel, who was satisfied, was about to set off to continue hunting, a system message flashed.

[A new mail has arrived!]

‘Did Alisa send it already?’

Just as he stopped by the city, the mail arrived, and Aiel headed to the mailbox to check it.

* * *

Clang!

The sound of swords clashing echoed from a rooftop in the city center, where buildings were densely packed.

Fights were generally uncommon in the Warlord’s city, where guards were as powerful as users, but that didn’t mean they were hard to find.

Out of sight of the guards, there was no penalty for ambushing other players, and legal sparring or duels were possible anywhere in the streets.

Clang!

With a sharp sound, the sword held by the man flew backward.

The man, who lost his balance, fell backward. When the match was over, the opponent sheathed his sword and helped the fallen man up.

“Ugh… it’s happening again.”

The man muttered in an annoyed voice.

The complaint was by no means directed at his friend, who was his opponent in this sparring match.

“Why? Did you freeze again?”

“Yeah, I tried to change weapons mid-fight and opened the inventory, but for a moment, I couldn’t put strength into my arm.”

“Geez, why change weapons while fighting? Even the rankers [top-ranked players] don’t usually do that. You’re just showing off….”

“No, shut up. It’s not just the weapon that’s the problem. How am I supposed to take out potions during a raid with this?”

The man said, frustrated.

He had a congenitally low synchronization rate, so he felt a stuttering sensation whenever he made delicate manipulations in the game.

There was no problem with simply moving his body vigorously, but whenever he tried to manipulate the interface window to change equipment or take out potions, his body felt twisted.

Of course, even in movement and reaction speed, there were subtle differences depending on the synchronization rate, even if he couldn’t consciously feel it.

However, it was not at a level where most ordinary users could feel the difference while playing.

“Ah, it was a bet for drinks… is this even a game?”

“Come to think of it, what percentage is your synchronization rate?”

“19 percent……”

The man answered in a barely audible voice.

“The average is 43 percent, so it’s really low. Be thankful to the people who made Warlord. If it were the old days, you would have been deemed unfit and wouldn’t have been able to enter the game.”

“Well… I guess so. Huh?”

Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind and passed by.

A man with an overall dark complexion and his mouth covered with a mask.

He was expected to offer an apology, but he stared blankly for a moment, then waved his hand, telling them to go somewhere else.

“Is this guy crazy……!”

“Wait, stop!”

The friend, who recognized the other person’s identity, hurriedly grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

Then, the man who was about to push away his shoulder was able to see the other person’s appearance in more detail.

A circular crest with a purple flower drawn on it.

The Amaranth guild’s crest was clearly engraved near his armor’s shoulder pad.

The man, who was about to argue, was startled and hurriedly stepped back.

There were few people who didn’t know their name, as they were actively working throughout Warlord, and even the man who was in a fairly tight-knit small guild couldn’t help but shut his mouth.

“I’m already annoyed that I was suddenly transferred to Esmair, and from the start, all sorts of things are making a fuss.”

As they hurriedly went down from the rooftop and disappeared, Amaranth’s Lucas frowned slightly and muttered.

However, he quickly scanned his surroundings with a serious look.

The reason he bothered to find an empty rooftop spot in the first place was because of what was down below.

‘Found him.’

The figure of a user visible below the building.

Aiel, the target of this commission, was checking his mail in front of the mailbox.

Since he was only a user around level 20, from Lucas’s point of view, who was level 137, he was just an opponent who could be finished off with a simple neck slice.

However, Lucas did not rashly take action first.

He just took a picture of him from a distance and sent it to Toolon, the leader of his team.

The reason for taking a picture and sending it was for the target’s face verification process.

Due to the nature of the commission business, where they had to poke around in all sorts of places, they had to be sure in these areas, as getting involved with the wrong people could lead to big trouble.

If they accidentally killed someone with connections to a large guild, it wouldn’t end with just personal responsibility.

Ding!

A signal came back for the photo Lucas sent.

The result was that the first okay sign had been received.

They had received confirmation from the client who had commissioned this work that the person was definitely the one.

But even so, it was not yet time to eliminate the target.

“Team leader, it looks like it’s him.”

– Don’t use the word “certain” anywhere, rookie. I don’t know what it was like in other places, but once you’ve joined Amaranth, you have to handle everything accurately.

“Yes, yes.”

As expected, when Toolon gave a stern answer, Lucas shook his head.

“Geez, he’s so picky……”

Even though they had already finished a detailed analysis based on their own information network and background checks using nearby NPCs, they were conducting an additional verification process using the target’s face that they had just obtained.

The purpose was to find out once again if there were any related guilds or connections.

Unless they hacked the development company altogether, they couldn’t find out everything without errors, but their job was to check as thoroughly as possible.

It was definitely different from most commission guilds, who roughly searched for targets in the vicinity, killed them when they encountered them, and took the money.

But even fussing like this to catch just one level 20 was not to his liking.

‘Well… but the pay is good.’

The reason he joined Amaranth, even after breaking through the competition.

Even though there were risks, the money coming in was certain.

Since each individual could earn at least tens of thousands of dollars in cash per case, even if they took the risk, there was nothing like this right now.

Furthermore, this case had a groundbreaking option attached to it, as if a considerable gold spoon [someone born into wealth] had requested it, so they could receive and pocket much more money.

“That guy is also pitiful. To think he touched a crazy guy and will be completely annihilated until he quits.”

Lucas clicked his tongue as he looked at Aiel.

The target, who still had a carefree face, seemed to have no idea that he was being watched from both sides.

He wanted to shoot an arrow into his forehead as it was, but the problem was the city guards stationed here.

Since the city was located near the border area between the six major guilds, Nightmare’s elite NPCs were patrolling the streets armed, and it was better to refrain from unnecessary disturbances.

He had only been instructed to keep a close watch until the team leader, who was approaching from below, approached the target and subdued him in one fell swoop, so he had to wait for now.

Swish, swish.

Lucas, who was sitting on the railing, still looked down and fiddled with his bow with a bored hand.

According to the already planned plan, he wouldn’t have to step in himself anyway, but it was to relieve boredom.

Regarding the act of sitting on the railing, rookies might ask if he was being too obvious, but this was much more natural than trying to hide awkwardly.

After all, it was impossible to recognize a person standing on a high building among the crowds gathered in the plaza, and even if they saw him by chance, there was no way they could know that his gaze was fixed on them.

Before joining Amaranth as an experienced member, he had taken on numerous commissions as a member of other guilds, but he had never seen such a case before.

“Hmm?”

The target who was standing in front of the mailbox started to move.

Judging from his natural movements, it didn’t seem like he had noticed, and judging from the direction he was heading, it seemed like he was heading to the auction house.

– The confirmation is over. I’ll go.

Toolon, who had been mixed in with the crowd below, began to move.

There seemed to be no problem with the target’s location even in the additional inquiry.

He didn’t like being nagged, but the team leader’s skills were certain, and now that innocent face would only be seen again in 48 hours.

And then he would repeat death again.

At that moment, Lucas and the members of Amaranth were unconsciously careless.

Dash!

Suddenly, Aiel began to run through the crowd.

“What……!”

Lucas, who was flustered, jumped up from the railing.

But apart from the embarrassment, his hands reacted instinctively, and he quickly drew the bowstring towards Aiel, who was cutting through the crowd.

Whoosh!

‘Damn it!’

Lucas’s arrow flew quickly, but Aiel’s upper body, which was already sprinting and turning into the alley, had disappeared from view.

It barely pierced his ankle, but it was definitely not a blow that would have cut off his breath.

Lucas, who had hurriedly jumped down the building using his skills, ran quickly to chase after Aiel.

He followed the alley in the direction he had disappeared and turned in the same direction.

“……”

However, not only was there no sign of Aiel after entering the street, but there was not even a trace of where Aiel had gone.

He had disappeared without a trace, without leaving even a single trace of blood.

“This crazy! Where did this bastard go?”

Lucas turned his head left and right, looking for the disappeared Aiel, but there was no time to leisurely investigate the scene.

Because he had preemptively attacked another player, the city guards were already flocking from all directions.

Moreover, they were elite soldiers in black armor with much higher levels than ordinary guards.

– Get out of there! Retreat out of the city for now!

“Damn it!”