Chapter 36 (2/2)

One of them was an Archer, about 30 years of age. His robust physique was also completely covered in leather armor. The other was a woman, around 27 or 28 years old. Crowning her face was a full head of fiery, red hair. She wore a full-body leather armor suit that hugged her figure, revealing enticing curves on a body so stunning she could easily spike any man’s hormones.

Every pair of eyes in the hall were latched onto them.

The wretched drunkard Tormun couldn’t peel his eyes off of the woman from the moment she appeared. He didn’t even notice the drool spilling out of his mouth.

This drunkard hadn’t touched a woman for years, his eyes would’ve bulged out even if he’d seen a sow (female pig), let alone a beautiful woman like this.

The woman appeared to be a swordswoman, seeing that she had a one-handed sword on her back. She was extremely perceptive of her surroundings, easily sensing the drooling Tormun’s gaping stare. Immediately she glared at him with her cold deep-blue eyes.

Tormun was frightened to his senses. “Ah!” he gasped, then dropped the drink in his hand. He didn’t dare look up at her again.

The rest of the crowd in the inn was spooked as well, and none of them dared to stare anymore.

These three are definitely professionals, Link thought, There’s a strong murderous aura emanating from that woman. She must’ve killed many people before. But I sense no darkness or evil coming from them, so I guess they must be roaming mercenaries undertaking missions in exchange for money.

Seeing that the inn crowd was completely intimidated by them, they ordered their food and began a discussion as if no one else was around.

They were boisterous and completely indiscreet, so Link could clearly hear every word they were saying.

“There’s just no way, no way in hell we could ever fight him. This Viktor scum is a wimpy little wuss! He’d just hide in his little cave and never come out. It’s too dangerous if we go in there, it’s too small to fit my bow, so I can’t aim right. It’s just impossible,” the Archer said in a tone of exasperation as he took a big bite of smoked beef.

“Hey, stop being so gloomy. Of course, it’s a little bit more dangerous than usual, but don’t forget how sweet the reward is going to be! And we’ve come a hundred miles! Are we really going to just give up now?” the woman responded. She then turned to the giant brute, “What do you say, Jacker?”

The brute had a craggy face, but his demeanor was surprisingly gentle. He carefully cut a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, then slowly chewed the food. Hearing the woman’s question, he considered it for a while, then said, “We need a helper. Viktor is a Level-3 Assassin; he’s also developed Combat Aura. Now that he’s on his toes, he’ll make a terrible opponent.”

“Helper?” the Archer spat out with a laugh, “What kind of help can we get in River Cove? Unless…if we could get one of those Magicians in the East Cove Academy?”

“Gildern, are you out of your mind?” the red-haired woman immediately countered, “What kind of Magician can we afford? Even if we give up all the reward we get they might still not pay us any attention, and don’t even think about them risking the danger with us!”

“I was only joking.” The Archer pursed his lips, then lowered his head and concentrated on eating.

Afterwards, the three mercenaries continued talking. Most of what they said was about their mission and the mission’s goal. The name Viktor was mentioned a lot. But even after half a day of discussion, they didn’t seem to come to any solution.

But instead, the one who did come up with an idea was Link, who was listening intently their issue. He remembered exactly where he had heard the name Viktor before.

Viktor, the leader of the Dark Brotherhood, a band of rogues, robbers, and ruffians. The Brotherhood’s most recognizable feature was their blood-red masks.

In fact, the bandits that attacked Eliard in the forest had belonged to this Brotherhood.

At that point in time, the Dark Brotherhood wreaked havoc in the western part of the Girventh Forest. It was the most powerful band of the underworld west of Girventh Forest, and Viktor was at its helm. His words held more power than the mayor of River Cove. If he wanted someone dead, one word and that person would not live to see the next sunrise.

But of course, like any underworld organization, the reason Viktor could get so powerful in a town so near to Springs City was that he had powerful political connections in the capital.

Link remembered exactly how far up the power ladder this connection was—the Iron Duke. It wasn’t that the Iron Duke directly supported the Dark Brotherhood, but even so, he did receive part of the loot and treasure from Viktor, so he turned a blind eye to the Brotherhood’s criminal activities.

Naturally, this made Viktor even bolder and more unscrupulous.

While thinking about all this information, he suddenly remembered a thing called Viktor’s treasure trove.

As an underworld leader, Viktor naturally was paranoid about his own safety. He never kept his treasures in the banks of Norton Kingdom. He would instead hide them in a secret location, but he didn’t hide all of his treasures in one place, though. Instead, like a squirrel, he would hide portions of his treasures in numerous different locations all over the Girventh forest.

In the game, if a player was lucky, he could have a chance of picking up a map to the location of Viktor’s treasure trove. In fact, Link had picked one up once, and as he followed the path on the map, he eventually found 100 gold coins, which was equivalent to about 1500 dollars—indeed a substantial amount of money.

The locations of the treasures shown on the map were random, but according to the statistics in the game forum, there should at least be 20 or more locations where Viktor buried his gold coins.

If there were 100 gold coins in one location, then in 20 or more sites he would’ve collected enough money to pay the fees for the Academy!

For this reason, Link’s interest was piqued the moment he heard the name Viktor.

His financial situation had become truly dire, so he had been listening intently and paying close attention the three mercenaries. Just then, he received a notification in the interface.

Mission Activated: Assassination

Mission Details: Kill the leader of the Dark Brotherhood Viktor!

Mission Rewards: 10 Omni Points

Ah, this is one mission I can’t refuse!

He waited patiently for the three mercenaries to finish their meal. Once they got up to leave the inn, he swiftly stood up and followed them.

Once they were outside the inn Link hastened his footsteps and caught up with them. “Hey, wait up!” he shouted, “Is it true that you people are in need of a helper?”