Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 24

24. Quest In (1)

Queens Blonde was undoubtedly a beautiful city, but it also had its darker side.

Due to its strategic location, many people passed through, leading to the presence of various unsavory elements. The area where these groups gathered and operated in the shadows was a large district known as the ‘Back Alley,’ which held sway over the night.

Aile ventured into that district.

Following the directions of the unidentified NPC, who appeared to be an ordinary restaurant owner, they entered the gloomy street and soon encountered a man leaning against the wall under a bridge, arms crossed.

The hooded man glanced at them as they approached and spoke.

“What do you want?”

“The Receivers have arrived.”

“Ah… follow me.”

The restaurant owner departed, and the man at the entrance took over, leading them inside.

Opening a dilapidated door in the stone wall revealed stairs leading down. They descended the winding stairs.

Passing through creaking corridors and dimly lit passages, they found several tables occupied by people drinking, resembling a cheap tavern at first glance.

Aile and Alisa, looking around with curiosity, followed the man into the passage behind the bartender.

Suddenly, they bumped into someone coming out of the passage, and Aile immediately recognized him.

His rugged face left a vivid impression in his memory.

The old man from the general store they had visited earlier was now wearing the distinctive attire of a rogue, revealing his muscular arms.

‘What… what? He was a rogue?’

Aile stared at him, bewildered, but the old man didn’t seem to recognize him and quickly walked past.

‘Could it be… that he rejected my items to avoid suspicion? Because he’s living a double life?’

If he were a rogue, he would undoubtedly recognize the value of the items Aile had offered.

However, if he were frequently tasked with disposing of such items, it would inevitably attract unwanted attention. Therefore, unlike a regular merchant, the general store owner, who was secretly working for the rogue guild under a disguised identity, would have refused to eliminate unnecessary risks.

There was no other explanation.

‘Good grief…….’

While Aile, completely taken in by the AI, let out a hollow laugh, the group continued through corridors and rooms, nearing the end of the passage.

The man who had led them knocked on the last door and gestured for Aile and Alisa to enter.

Creak!

Opening the door, they saw a red-haired woman sitting on a table, examining something.

The woman had a uniquely shaped pipe in her mouth and wore a cloak over her tight leather clothing.

She turned her gaze to the visitors.

“I heard you obtained Casano’s letter?”

Instead of answering, Aile took out the letter and showed it.

The woman raised the corner of her mouth and continued.

“You guys weren’t on the list, so you can’t be Receivers… I want to make a request.”

“A request?”

“Yes, a very simple assassination request.”

“…Isn’t this something that Bloody Hands usually handles directly?”

Aile asked, openly mentioning the organization’s name.

From the moment they entered this place, they had realized who these people were.

Bloody Hands, one of the two major powers dominating the back alleys of Queens Blonde.

Of course, their influence extended beyond this city, with roots in various locations; this was just one branch.

The woman in front of him was Severa Logia, the branch manager here.

Severa smiled playfully as Aile recognized her, and she stood up from the table.

“Good, I like that you’re quick on the uptake. It’s not common, but sometimes we entrust tasks to outsiders. A proxy request.”

“What is the request about?”

Alisa asked.

“It’s a request that even young adventurers like you can accept without hesitation. The assassination targets are undoubtedly scum.”

Whoosh.

She blew out a puff of cigarette smoke.

“There’s a bandit gang stationed in Hard Rock Cave. It’s not far from here.”

“I’ve never heard of a bandit gang there.”

Aile questioned.

Hard Rock Cave, located halfway up Mount Midona, was indeed a low-level hunting ground nearby, but there had never been any monsters related to humans, let alone bandits.

“We’ve confirmed their location ourselves, so it’s certain. However, the place where they’re hiding is blocked by a transparent barrier, so it’s invisible to ordinary people.”

Swish!

Severa took out a red amulet from her pocket and tossed one each to Aile and Alisa.

“If you have that, you’ll be able to see the barrier inside the cave. Of course, you can also break through it and enter.”

‘An Instance Dungeon……?’

Aile and Alisa exchanged surprised glances.

Instance Dungeon.

A dungeon where outside intervention is completely blocked once you enter. Each party does not share the location with each other upon entering; a separate space is created for each party.

Usually, in Warlord, if a dungeon was located inside a transparent barrier, it was most likely an ‘Instance Dungeon.’

However, in this case, even though it was not a repeatable quest, it required a separate item to enter, making it a special Instance Dungeon prepared only for this quest and only accessible to those involved.

In fact, no other users had ever reported finding an Instance Dungeon inside Hard Rock Cave.

In most cases, these types of Instance Dungeons disappeared permanently once cleared, and the rewards were significantly better.

‘Jackpot……!’

Both Aile and Alisa instinctively realized it.

The quest they were facing was not an ordinary one that anyone could receive.

They had already suspected it was a good quest, but this far exceeded their expectations.

“There will be a bandit group inside the barrier. Kill the boss, ‘Casano,’ who is also the owner of that letter. It doesn’t matter whether you annihilate the members on the way or infiltrate and assassinate him. Just handle it as you like, as long as there are no witnesses.”

“Wait, I haven’t heard why Bloody Hands isn’t handling it directly yet.”

Aile stepped forward and asked.

No matter how promising the quest seemed, they couldn’t accept it blindly.

If it was a quest that they couldn’t handle with their current strength, it was better to give up early than to risk disadvantages and losses by overreaching.

What kind of enemies were they specifically facing, were there any other forces involved, and what was the reward?

They needed the basic information.

But Severa shook her head.

“You don’t need to know that. Just do what we tell you to do properly. Go and eliminate him first. And never mention that we requested it.”

“That’s ridiculous. How am I supposed to know what this is about…….”

“Conversely, how am I supposed to know what kind of people you are?”

Severa sharply cut off Aile’s words.

“If you knew even a little bit about this, you’d never be able to back out. But we don’t have that kind of trust between us…….”

She took out six gold coins and placed them on the table with a thud.

“This is…….”

“This is the advance payment for the request. The reward will naturally be bigger.”

Aile and Alisa’s mouths dropped open.

Six gold coins were a whopping 6 gold! Even split, it was 3 gold each.

Even if the reward after completing the request was only in the 1 gold range, it would be a huge deal at their current level. With an advance payment of 3 gold, it was an incredible opportunity.

“There will be no more bargaining. Are you going to do it or not?”

Severa pressed them.

Naturally, attempting to scam Bloody Hands, which had deep roots throughout Warlord, would result in severe consequences.

In other words, from the moment they accepted those gold coins, they had to complete this quest no matter what.

Alisa turned to Aile, entrusting the decision to him.

“I don’t intend to force you. I just wanted to give you a chance because you took care of Ratma for us. Even if you refuse, I can just entrust it to someone else. Of course, you’ll have to keep your mouth shut about the request.”

Severa licked her lips and fiddled with the dagger stuck in her waist.

A silent threat not to reveal anything.

Most named NPCs have a level scaling system that increases their level as the average level of users increases.

Severa, as one of the top branch managers in the massive organization Bloody Hands, was probably over level 185 by now.

Ordinary users wouldn’t stand a chance, and even near-ranker users couldn’t guarantee a victory.

If she drew her dagger in this place, they would die without any chance to react.

‘There is definitely a risk.’

Aile was lost in thought.

He didn’t know the detailed reasons for entrusting the quest, nor the identity of the real client who had commissioned Bloody Hands.

Moreover, Severa’s words hinted at danger in many ways.

But it was also true that this kind of opportunity was rare, and he couldn’t simply turn it down.

In Warlord, the reward always corresponded to the risk.