Second World

”It was taken from me involuntarily, so it might as well be,” The merchant defended himself.

”Involuntary my ass! You owed someone and you donʼt pay, what do you expect will happen?” Jack cursed.

”Anyway, the offer still stands. I will pay you extra for the job. I will give you something outside of what the Adventurers Association pays you,” Yilus said. His beaming countenance was front and center again.

”Let me get this straight. You are asking us to break into that house, a nobleʼs house. In the middle of an upper-class neighborhood. To take something inside that house which said noble had legally obtained from you, and give it to you.”

”I assure you, it is taken from me involuntarily.”

”But it is legally his right.”

Yilus shrugged. ”legal is a bit blurry in this country.”

”Are you asking us to be f*cking thieves?!” Jack was done being courteous with the guy. At the same time, he asked Peniel in his mind, ʼPeniel, how the heck this Adventurers Association handed such a shady quest? I remembered you said before that I will receive a penalty for canceling a quest from the Gold hall, correct? How bad is this penalty?ʼ

ʼSome deduction on your adventurer points. That should not be a problem for you. However, specifically for you, there is a penalty that you might not want.ʼ

ʼWhat penalty?ʼ

ʼYou will lose your VIP privilege.ʼ

”F*ck!” Jack cursed out loud. The VIP status had proven to be very useful. Not only did it allow Jack to no need to queue, but it also allowed Jack to invite lower-rank adventurers to join his quest.

”I understand you are upset, but there is no need to keep on cursing,” Yilus said, thinking the curse was a response to him. In a way, though, it was. Jack gave him a side-eye with annoyance.

”What if we are caught inside?” Jack asked.

”You will be thrown in jail and I will deny any involvement,” Yilus answered.

#$%!

Thatʼs why the guy had worn that hooded cloak, he didnʼt want anyone to identify him near this place. Jack felt like beating this shady merchant for a bit.

”Here, take this,” Yilus offered the two. In his hands were two sets of hooded cloaks and masks. The hooded cloak was uncommon grade but the mask was a rare grade.

ʼThis a*shole has planned this from the start,ʼ Jack thought.

”You are not seriously thinking we will go through with this, right?” Jack asked.

Yilus shrugged. ”If you want to cancel the quest, go ahead then. I have made my request with special privilege, I put more rewards in the association but at the same time, the penalty is also doubled.”

ʼThatʼs why the exp points reward was rather high compared to the other A difficulty quests,ʼ Jack thought. This was getting troublesome, but he just couldnʼt bring himself to do this despicable deed. Jack turned to Sinful and gave him an enquiring look.

”I will follow your lead, bro,” he said. ”The dude is right, though. Legal in this country is a bit blurry. We can always bribe our way through the guards if caught.”

While Jack was contemplating, a jail wagon carrying several women went into the estate. Jackʼs Dragon Eye allowed him to see the womenʼs expression. They were scared.

”What was that?” Jack asked. He was confused why the jail wagon only contain women and why it went into the estate.

”Those were human slaves for the vampire noble,” Yilus answered.

”Slaves?” Jack asked, surprised.

”Slaves are legal in this country, especially if bought by vampire nobles,” Sinful informed. ”There is even a slave auction place near the ghetto. If you are interested, I can take you there to see.”

”No, I am not,” Jack said with disgust. ”What do they use the slaves for?”

”Mostly for work, but everyone knows it is also as blood snacks for the vampires,” Sinful replied.

”I thought being a blood donator for vampires is a respectable position in this country?”

”The official ones, yes. But you know, just as we eat our foods, we will get bored if we keep on tasting just one type of food. These slaves provide a cheap variety for them, vampires. The regulation still required none of the slaves die while being fed on. But, of course, sometimes accidents still happened. As I said, legal in this country is a bit blurry.”

Jack felt relieved he was not brought into this country when he first set foot in this world.

”Do you know how tight the security of this place is? And how strong the noble who owns it?” Jack asked Yilus.

”The noble is very strong but he is not home at the moment,” Yilus answered. ”Thatʼs why I set the time limit for two days. He was away at this time. Donʼt worry, my information is accurate. There is, however, a level 40 special elite guard inside. Besides that, there were just a few weak maids and servants, and one weak vampire, a newly turned son of the noble.”

”Only one guard to worry about?”

”Yes. This is inside the city and in a well-protected neighborhood. Not many nobles hire extra security inside their mansions. Another thing, I have people inside, once you enter. I can make it so all the maids and servants hide away in their quarters and also deactivate the rune diagram that serves as an alarm to nearby patrolling guards. As long as neither the lone guard nor the son of the noble came out to call for help, no one should know what happened inside.”

”You are very resourceful, I donʼt think you are any normal merchant?”

Yilus shrugged from the question.

”Do you have the layout of that mansion?”

”Yes. Do you agree to the job? I wonʼt show you the map unless you agree first.”

”Heh, Are you truly going to let us go if we say no? Are you not afraid we report your intention to the authority?” Jack asked.

Yilus smiled. ”I have many friends in the authority.”

”Iʼm sure you do. We will take the job, but I have a condition. You said you will give us additional rewards aside from the ones offered by Adventurers Association? We donʼt need that.”

”We donʼt?” Sinful asked.

”What is your condition?”

”Considering your connections, you should have a way to help some slaves hide in the ghetto and live a semblance of decent lives.”

Yilus frowned, ”Are you thinking about saving those women? I hope you are not. Going in to look for my item and escape with it is still possible without you coming into contact with the guard. Saving the slaves, however, is not. They were locked in a basement below the mansion and the key was on the guard all the time. Engaging the guard will risk the whole operation exponentially. I prefer you do this undetected.”

”Donʼt worry, we will prioritize getting your item. Afterward, my friend here will bring it out first.”

”I donʼt know about this…”

”Do you think you will get many adventurers willing to do this f*cking thieving job?” Jack asked.

Yilus thought for a bit before saying, ”Fine, I accept your condition. But if you took too long, donʼt blame me for leaving. See that house over there?”

Jack and Sinful looked at the house that was being pointed. It was also a large house but appeared less taken care of compared to the other houses in the neighborhood. The weeds on its courtyard were growing rather unsightly.

”That was one of my safehouses. You can bring my item or those slaves into the house once you got them. Just make sure no one sees you entering the house. Now, put this on!”

”I have my own coat,” Jack said and he replaced his cloak of Shadow with the Concealment Coat he had gotten from Marquess Fernando during the royal auction. The concealment coat also got a hood. He then took the rare grade mask from Yilus and equipped it.

Now no one could inspect his info nor see his appearance. The corner where they were at was rather concealed and the street was quiet, so no one was watching them. Additionally, the sky was always dark so visibility was not clear. It was easy to sneak around under such an environment.

”Where is the map?” Jack asked.

Yilus took out a piece of paper with the layout of the mansion. ”Iʼve marked the places where my item was most likely to be.”

Jack and Sinful studied the map. The mansion consisted of three floors and one basement. It was not as large as Duke Alfredoʼs one so it should not take long to search around.

”What does your item look like?” Jack asked.

”It is a brooch,” Yilus said as he showed another paper. It was a drawing of an intricate flower-like ornament.

”Whatʼs so special about this brooch?”

”It holds sentimental value to me.”

Jack doubted a noble would only take something that held a sentimental value to the person who owed him. He asked again, ”What grade is the item?”

”Super rare.”

😉