Chapter 318: We Got This (1/2)
There were two new quest objectives.
The first one was to investigate the swampmen incident in Crookes just like Jom had predicted.
“Hold on, didn’t we already kill the swampman?” Terry asked in surprise—he had scrounged out some normal rations in the cottage thanks to Pikes’s sharp nose and was now cooking it on the hearth.
And since the objective of the chain quest was written briefly unlike main quests, side quests or event quests, Jom could only offer his own predictions.
He hence revealed his theories, making deduction along his trail of thought while tidying his thoughts at the same time. “There are two possibilities. Either the swampmen are like parasites residing in the city, and we have to find the ‘queen’ and kill it to accomplish our quest, or the swampmen are unleashed on purpose here by a certain faction in the city.” “But isn’t it possible that there are just a handful of them that managed to slip into the city, and it’s quest accomplish if we kill off the others?” Terry asked. “That’s simpler and more direct…”
“The keyword in the quest is ‘investigate’. If things were indeed the way you put it, the quest would instead say ‘destroy’ or ‘slay’.”
“So troublesome… what about the second objective of the quest?” Terry mumbled in irritation while using his spoon to stir the wheat stew dangling over the hearth.
“See for yourself. It’s not like you don’t have a System page.”
“Urgulumu…” Terry muttered unintelligibly while sneaking a sip of stew, but Jom had the feeling that he was most probably saying something along the lines of ‘that’s so troublesome’.
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Compared to the first quest objective, the second quest objective was much simplerafter the investigation, they have to come up with something to personally inform Meredith, the mayor of Crookes about the truth. “But it only looks simple.”
Knowing that Terry wouldn’t understand the implied complication, Jom offered an explanation. “A quest where you personally inform the mayor definitely wouldn’t be easy?”
“Really? I don’t think it would be that hard. If the Lucky Brothers can infiltrate the Secret Eye hideout and the Silver Eagle Castle, why not us?” Terry protested unhappily.
It was worth mentioning here that Edward’s group which had been instrumental in both incidents never enlightened the others about the actual truth, whereas the fat-and-skinny duo of Terrosche and Silva would brag about it every day at the taverns. Many Players, unaware of the truth all believed that they were really adept at infiltration especially since the two living treasures had earned the title of Explorer of the Seven Seas, a title only first-rate Players possess… Therefore, unbeknownst to the Players, the duo’s infiltration simply meant going to their target location, throw a fuss and go on a rampage. Jom was one such Player who had been fooled as well, although that was not the point.
“Getting past the guards and the perimeter to meet the mayor wouldn’t be a problem, but don’t forget that the specialty of the swampmen is that they could kill humans and imitate their appearance, and could replicate their victims’ memories as well. That ability is especially valuable when it is used against important people, and the most important person in Crookes is…”
“I see, it’s that old Meredith mayor person!”