Chapter 81: Escape

“Could you please wait outside for a bit?”

“Yes.”

Romian then entered his room after hearing Soo Hyuk’s answer. Then as his back disappeared into the room, a notification appeared in front of Soo Hyuk.

[You have completed the quest ‘Escort Romian!’]

Soo Hyuk smiled as he looked at the notification. Since he had completed the quest, it was now time to receive his reward.

‘The Secret Cave!’

He eager to knew exactly what kind of quest ‘The Secret Cave’ was. Reining in his excitement, Soo Hyuk wondered,

‘But should I finish this first?’

Soo Hyuk needed to raise his rank, but any quest received anywhere other than the Mercenary Agency wouldn’t count towards his rank.

‘Yeah, they could be connected.’

Soo Hyuk, who had been pondering for a short time, finally made his decision. There was a possibility that the ‘secret place’ in the special quest ‘Celta’s Inheritance’ wasn’t the Celta’s Secret Cave. However, there was still a higher chance that they were the same place.

Creak…

While he was locked in thought, Romian came out of his room. He was wearing a bag over his shoulder.

“Here you go.”

Romian said as he held out a pouch.

“This is the 210 gold.”

It was the payment for delivering the letter and escorting him to his room. Soo Hyuk first accepted the pouch from him.

“Thank you for all you’ve done.”

Then when Soo Hyuk received the pouch, Romian thanked him while bowing deeply. Meanwhile, Soo Hyuk couldn’t help but be worried about his reaction.

‘What? Is he not going to give me the quest?’

He had gotten the gold but not the linked quest yet, and the reaction that Romian was showing suggested that he was about to leave. Soo Hyuk checked Romian’s expression, then sighed in his mind.

‘It’s expected.’

Soo Hyuk could see Romian struggling to decide in his expression. Not wanting to waste any more time, he took the initiative.

“Do you need help with anything else?”

“Well, I don’t have money so…”

“Ah…”

Soo Hyuk sighed in realization at Romian’s answer. The reason for his struggle was because he didn’t have any money.

‘I can’t miss this just because of gold.’

He couldn’t miss this chance because of some gold. He hadn’t even accepted the quest for gold in the first place.

“If it’s about gold, don’t worry about it. I understand your situation.”

Soo Hyuk said with a smile.

* * *

The 2nd Commander’s Room.

“isn’t it weird?”

“Right, I thought that as well.”

Currently, the owner of the room and the 2nd Commander Konma, the 3rd Commander Cortek, and the 4th Commander Hellburn were having a discussion.

“You guys know that Romian isn’t the type of person to do that, right?”

Cortek said.

“Yeah, I actually think…”

Hellburn paused while nodding his head and stared at the other commanders before continuing,

“That it was a trap.”

“A trap?”

“What do you mean by that?”

Konma and Cortek questioned Hellburn in response to his words.

“Well…”

Konma and Cortek strained their ears as Hellburn started his explanation.

“Two days ago, I saw a shocking sight.”

Hellburn frowned as he recalled the scene he saw two days ago.

“Heron and the first wife were hugging each other in front of Heron’s room.”

Konma and Cortek felt their minds go blank at his words.

At that moment.

Tock Tock.

The three commanders flinched as the knocks rang out across the room then stared cautiously at the door.

“It’s me, Romian.”

Then they couldn’t help but flinch again when the visitor called out. How could Romian, who should be imprisoned, be outside their door?

Konma rose up from his seat and quickly opened the door. It was to check whether the visitor was Romian or not.

“… You!”

When he opened the door, Konma could see Romian outside, wearing a bitter smile. Romian then entered the room.

“Good. Hellburn and Cortek are here as well.”

Romian, who just discovered Hellburn and Cortek inside the room, started to talk.

“I’m planning to leave the corps for a while. It’ll probably be for a long time. And the scene you saw before was a misunderstanding. I’m not leaving because of that.”

* * *

[To the 7th Peak]

Romian is trying to go to Henkins’ home on the 7th Peak. Safely escort Romian there!

[Quest Reward: Quest – The Secret Cave]

Soo Hyuk didn’t say anything. He just stared at the quest with a frown.

‘Why did he give me this quest?’

He had believed that he would definitely get the quest ‘The Secret Cave’, but the quest he got from Romian wasn’t ‘The Secret Cave.’ Instead, it was called ‘To the 7th Peak.’

He couldn’t refuse because he had already promised Romian, and the quest reward was ‘The Secret Cave’ this time as well.

Creak…

At that moment.

“Thank you for waiting.”

Romian, who had gone to talk with other commanders, exited the room. Soo Hyuk closed the quest window and walked alongside Romian, headed towards the entrance.

“What should we do about the guard?”

Soo Hyuk asked Romian as they neared the gate. The guard stationed at the entrance wasn’t the man he met earlier, so it seemed like his shift had ended. The guard guarding the gate was someone he had never seen before.

“I think it’ll be okay to just walk out.”

Romian answered as he stared at the guard. So when they tried to walk out, the guard just greeted them and didn’t show other reactions like Romian’s predictions. And so, after escaping from the Copine Corps, Romian and Soo Hyuk headed for the Eastern Gate to get to the 7th Peak.

“Uh, wouldn’t it be better to travel during the day?”

Romian asked worriedly as they neared the Eastern Gate. His voice was full of anxiousness. It was understandable, as, from an NPC’s perspective, traveling during the night when the mountains were crawling with monsters was considered extremely dangerous.

“No, it’s fine. You don’t have to worry.”

Soo Hyuk replied confidently. If they travelled during the day, Romian would feel more secure. However, the time didn’t impact the quest. More than anything, Soo Hyuk was worried about wasting time.

‘Rather, it’s a good thing I got that quest.’

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Just in case he needed to deliver a letter again from Romian to Henkins, Soo Hyuk had accepted a mission to gather Helids again. In other words, even if he didn’t receive ‘To the 7th Peak’, he would’ve had to go to the 7th Peak anyway.

“Looking for party members!”

“Ah, why are there so few people? No, there’s a lot but why aren’t they partying up?”

“It’s because it’s night.”

After a few minutes, Soo Hyuk and Romian were able to arrive at the entrance to the Kamain Mountains. There was a lot of user activity even at night.

“Um Soo Hyuk-nim, there’re a lot of people…”

Romian said quietly to Soo Hyuk when he discovered the users. But Romian couldn’t finish his sentence.

“It’s okay.”

Soo Hyuk cut off Romian then passed the users to enter the mountains.

-Chueek!

“Magic Missile.”

-Chueek?

“Firebolt.”

They advanced steadily towards the 7th Peak while killing the orcs around them. As the orcs were killed one by one, Romian’s expression transformed from anxious to surprise.

‘To think he was so strong…’

Although he hadn’t seen him in action, Romian knew that Soo hyuk was strong. But now that he personally saw him fighting, he realized that Soo Hyuk was much stronger than what he had predicted.

‘If it’s this much…’

Romian thought as he stared at Soo Hyuk’s back with a mysterious light. Then after a while, they were able to arrive at their destination, the 7th Peak.

The Condas that lived on the peak were generally passive monsters, meaning they wouldn’t attack if left alone. Both Romian and Soo Hyuk knew this, so they ignored the Condas as they headed straight for Henkins’ house.

Tock. Tock.

When they arrived at Henkins’ home, Romian walked up to the door and knocked.

“Henkins!”

He shouted.

“It’s me, Romian!”

Creak…

Then before long, the door opened and Henkins came out.

“You, how…”

Henkins stared at Romian in surprise with complicated eyes. Staring at such a Henkins, Romian turned around with a bitter smile and said to Soo Hyuk,

“Could you please wait a moment. It’ll be brief.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Soo Hyuk nodded in response and Romian and Henkins went inside the hut.

[You have completed the quest ‘To the 7th Peak’.]

A notification appeared at that moment. It was the quest completion notification. Staring at the notification, Soo Hyuk thought,

‘If he still doesn’t give me the quest this time…’

What should he do if Romian doesn’t give him the quest this time?

‘No, I’m sure he will.’

Soo Hyuk thought as he shook his head. He will give the quest. If he doesn’t, then that was a worry for then. There was no need to think about it now.

Creak…

Not long after, Romian came out with the squeak of the door. Snapping out of his thoughts, Soo Hyuk looked up at Romian as Romian walked towards him.

“Soo Hyuk-nim.”

“Yes.”

“I have something to tell you.”

Romian continued when Soo Hyuk responded.

“No, it would be more correct to say proposition.”

At Romian’s words, Soo Hyuk smiled inside.

“Do you know about the Phantom Thief Celta?”

The long-awaited word, ‘Celta’, finally came out of Romian’s mouth.

“Yes, I know a bit.”

And so, Romian ended his story. A notification appeared at that moment.

[The Secret Cave]

Phantom Thief Celta’s Secret Cave. It is rumored that there are countless treasures stored there. But to enter the cave, one would need to pass all the traps and more than anything, possess the key. The problem is that the key is in Heron’s hands. Take the key from Heron!

[Key to the Phantom Thief Celta’s Secret Cave: 1 / 1 ]

[Quest Reward: Quest – Cave Exploration]

Fortunately, the quest he got was ‘The Secret Cave.’ Of course, its contents were different from what he expected. It required him to get the key to the cave.

‘Then the next quest should be going to the cave.’

The reward for ‘The Secret Cave’ was another linked quest called ‘Cave Exploration’. It would likely require him to find the cave.

‘But I can’t complete it here…’

Soo Hyuk looked up at the waiting Romian. The key was already in his possession, so he could complete the quest now. But looking at the situation, Romian would get suspicious if he pulled out the key in front of him.

“I understand. I’ll accept your proposition.”

[You have accepted the quest ‘The Secret Cave.’]

Soo Hyuk first accepted the quest.

“Are you planning to stay here?”

He then asked Romian.

“No.”

Romian shook his head at his question.

“Tomorrow, I’ll go to the secret hideout located on the outskirts of Hadrac. This place is already known by Heron.”

Romian took out a map from his pocket then held it out to Soo Hyuk.

“You can come here.”

[You have acquired ‘Map of Romian’s Secret Hideout’.]

“Ah, yes. Then I’ll see you next time.”

Soo Hyuk said to Romian after receiving the map.

“Ah, it’s really late so why don’t you stay with us for the night?”

Romian hurriedly said to Soo Hyuk in response.

“No, it’s fine. I have other matters so…”

Soo Hyuk answered while shaking his head. He had other things to do, and he also had to sleep. At Soo Hyuk’s words, Romian said goodbye then entered the hut.

‘He said he would leave tomorrow morning.’

Romian would leave for his hideout early the next morning.

‘I should go at noon?’

It wouldn’t take a long time. Soo Hyuk decided when to complete this quest, then turned around. He stared at the Condas shining under the glittering stars. It was time to complete his mercenary mission.

Translator and Editor Notes:

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