CHAPTER 24: THE REQUEST OF A LORD

Ethan continued talking to Eve for a few minutes until Robert came downstairs.

Moments later, the tavern door opened and a figure in a black cloak and mask emerged. Only his blue eyes were visible.

"Captain Robert... is everyone here?" The masked figure spoke, letting a noble male voice resonate through the tavern hall.

"Yes, but Durgan had some problems and had to get some sleep. Please, sit down." Robert gestured as he pulled out a chair for the masked figure.

Soon after, he pointed to Ethan: "This is Ethan, the son of an old friend of my father’s. He’s going to be the sixth participant in the mission."

"Hm..." The figure grunted before sitting down.

His eyes passed over everyone present, his vision lingering on none of them for more than half a second before moving on to the next, with the exception of one person: Ethan.

When his gaze fell on Ethan, he locked onto him for long seconds before finally turning back to Robert.

’Holy shit... that was a mistake!’ Ethan shouted to himself as he tried to maintain normality.

He knew those eyes and that voice far better than anyone else could.

That masked man was David Stormerga, lord of Stormerga County and an old friend of his family.

"Well... can we get started?" Eve interrupted Ethan’s train of thought and leaned her body on the table, shifting the target of her usual seductive smile from Ethan to the masked man.

"Yes..." The masked man spoke before waving in the air.

An intense glow emerged from his hands, space distorted and a map appeared.

When it was placed on the table, everyone realized that it was a map showing the surroundings of Stormerga.

In its center was the city, and to the northwest of it, there was a single X marking.

"This is the place where the item I want is. It’s in a coal mine under royal administration and I prefer not to mess with royalty, so I need you to do the work for me." The masked man pointed to the marking as he spoke.

"Royalty is a pain in the ass to mess with, even if we are too far from Fallenclouds for them to send soldiers at sufficient speed."

Robert spoke, his eyes glazing over at the masked man as he prepared to touch on what he really believed was important.

"And there’s an issue we haven’t discussed yet. Payment, I have many mouths to feed."

"Four thousand," the masked figure spoke without hesitation, startling everyone there.

Four thousand gold coins was more than enough for all of them to live in luxury and wealth for the rest of their lives.

Without worrying about their fright, the figure waved his hand and six heavy bags fell onto the table.

"This is an advance bonus, see it as a sign of my desire to do a prosperous business with you."

Robert opened the bag, an astonished smile on his face as he saw the amount which totaled one hundred gold coins, a small fortune even for merchants.

"Well..." Robert said after clearing his throat and regaining his composure: "It’s a very generous reward on your part, sir, but I sincerely fear for the safety of my compatriots, since such a large reward would naturally bring great risk."

"Don’t worry about the risks," the masked man shook his head.

"The item I want is extremely important, but the difficulty is less than you think. IT is a golden crystal, kept in the mine’s vault.

There are only twenty guards protecting it, and probably not even the royal family themselves know how important this crystal is, so they shouldn’t even miss it any time soon if they realize it’s been stolen.

I’d go and take care of it myself, but I’m in no condition to risk exposing my identity."

"I understand..." Robert put away the bag of coins before standing up. "That’s good enough, we accept your offer."

"Good..." The masked man laughed before waving his hand once more.

This time, he summoned a piece of paper that contained an intense magical aura.

Seeing this, Ethan felt uncomfortable and his shoulders shook, something that didn’t escape the masked man’s eyes.

This was a magical contract, a type of contract that allowed two individuals to guarantee that a service would be carried out properly.

The willful failure of this type of contract often led to terrible consequences such as crippling and death.

Luckily for Ethan, only Robert and the masked man had to sign the contract, saving him from having to write his full name and possibly reveal himself.

Right after Robert signed, the man left, not giving them time to see his name before he put the contract away.

[System: A new quest is available for you!

{The request of a lord.

Description: The Count of Stormerga has given you a risky but lucrative mission: retrieve the crystal he so desires alongside your new companions.

Difficulty: C

Reward: 10,000 points from the system store}]