Chapter 200 - Coastal Guard (2/2)

This usually required a player to go back and I form the deacon following which he would be given details of the supplies and requested by the deacon to use any means possible to speed up the delivery. Alternatively, he could talk with the lieutenant to get the details and offer his help to speed up the process. Balthazar didn't have much time and was hoping to get some reputation as quickly as possible. So, he chose to further converse with the lieutenant.

”Sir, if you have any difficulty in delivering the supplies, I hope that I could be of assistance to you. At the very least, I wish to provide a better and detailed explanation to the deacon. So, could you please elaborate on the problem?” asked Shadow.

”Hmmm!” sighed the lieutenant as he indicated Shadow to sit in a chair by his desk. ”There has been a substantial increase in the number of monsters attacking the coastal line. The causalities increased and we had to request the services of the healers of the temple. They provided them in return for a few of the green aquamarine gemstones that were the specialty of the bay. These could be used heal some affliction caused by the monsters of the Murk Water bay at a much faster pace and coastal guard have collected a decent number of them and were always present at our headquarters. So, it concluded that we would provide these items,” said the lieutenant explaining about the transaction between the temple and them.

”These were precious resources, but the headquarters still spared a few for the temple. The problem is that they were sent to the town branch and we did send one of our men to deliver it, but he had gone missing for the past three days,” said the lieutenant. ”I know the night guards at the town gate, and they have seen him entering the town, but no one knows of his situation. They told me that he had gone in the direction of the temple. So, I am not sure what happened. Half my men think that the temple has him captured and is trying to get more compensation from us.”

”Can't I have a simple quest, for once,” thought Balthazar as he heard the story. This was clearly developing into a complex quest which more than what he had expected. ”I guess it is expected if I take one of the quests which are set aside for iron-grade members,” he thought.

”Is the current deacon aware of the issue?” he asked. Any other question is meaningless after the story which the lieutenant told. The only thing he could determine is the existence of any communication problem between them.

”Huh!,” said the lieutenant looking a bit confused.

”You can't do that without verifying if the issue is from the temple or your own end. The deacon is also a suspect,” said Shadow as he realized the problem faced by the coastal guard. ”The deacon believes that I am working on the side of the temple. So, how about I try and find out about the truth?” suggested Shadow.

”I am working for the temple and not a personal puppet of the deacon. If he is doing anything disgraceful, it is my duty to set it right,” said Shadow acting all righteous in an attempt to convince the lieutenant.

Quest Changed: Missing Supplies.

Quest Description: Find out about the missing guard in the town. Check the deacon's activities and find out his role in this matter.

”Fine. I trust you because I know that adventurers like you don't work under deacon. Please, don't disappoint us,” said the lieutenant shaking his hand. Shadow went to the main hall of the coastal guard station as he wanted to check for any quest from them before he went back to monitor the deacon. The only ones available were collection quests and quests for forging services and provision of weapons. It did seem that the coastal guard of the five elements empire was in a situation of conflict or/and active recruitment.

He wanted to select the forging services option, but it was not available to him right now. It could only be accessed if one had a reputation in the coastal guard services. The forging services quest were more like tests. It would provide the player with specific designs, materials and the workshop withing the station. He would only be required to create the equipment, but it tested his proficiency.

There would be a system set percentage of success that he would need to have at least one success for a certain set of materials needed for the weapon creation. This would be the average success rate of the systems forgers of the players level for that weapon. He would need to maintain a specific percentage of success, else he would be required to compensate for the materials that he had wasted. If he had better percentage of success, his rewards would be based on the amount of materials that he saved. It was a hard thing and a gamble for almost all current players, but for Balthazar it was an easy one due to his experience in his past life.

As he couldn't take the forging services quest, he took a few collection quests. It was hard to gain entrance into the coastal guard. He only managed to do so because of the quest he had with the temple. So, he decided to make the best use of it. He could also get some contribution by exchanging a few weapons. He quickly exchanged a few of the weapons that he had crafted with them gaining a contribution points of 20 before he left. The weapons being the ones below level 15, only the dark gold twin swords were accepted and were given 20 points for a pair of them. The other collection quests were for items usually found on the beach, but he doubted that the patrol would let any player take them at this time.

With that he decided to go back to the temple to pay a visit to the deacon. Knowing the game, Balthazar knew that there was a high chance that the deacon could as well be the culprit. He had no real trail to follow as the lieutenant didn't provide him one. This would confuse and stump a lot of players, but Balthazar had realized that there were other options.

He could talk to the deacon and based on the reactions and the actions taken by the deacon, he could find out the truth of the matter. He could also keep a lookout at the temple, but that was time consuming and would have uncertain results. In short, he needed to start up his own investigation as neither the temple nor the coastal guard were going anywhere with their own investigations. Moreover, it wasn't like he could do anything else as it had already become dark and he couldn't do any hunting or such activities.

He first went to the guards at the gate to ask them about the situation. He went to the gate and asked them for the information. Initially the guards were unresponsive as they couldn't give such information. But Shadow showed them his badge and told the information that he got from lieutenant Bloom, they began to talk. The last they saw him was moving in the direction of the market.