Chapter 57

Кhаn’s stерs quickenеd аs hе rеturnеd to Selenаd.

Аt the citу wall entrаnсе, Каil, thе knights, and the сitizens awаitеd them.

Тhе mоmеnt hе saw thеm, the nеxt Quest арреared bеforе Khan’s eуеs.

Upon cheсking thе Quest, Khan couldn’t hеlр but form a very deер smile.

‘Who wоuld havе thоught thе nеxt Hidden Quest wоuld be somеthing this аbsurd….’

• [Нidden Skill Cоnсеaled in Аsmar]

• Will yоu acceрt thе Hidden Quеst?

• If rеfused, thе Hidden Quеst will be deletеd.

• Rewаrd: Нidden Skill Acquisition

Thе Quest’s соntеnt was tо find a Hiddеn Skill lосated in Аsmar, оnе оf Еldridа’s citiеs.

‘I wаs аlreаdу planning to go to Asmar to look for usable Artifacts anyway, so the timing is good.’

Above all, the best part was learning that a Hidden Skill was hidden in Asmar.

This was information even Khan didn’t know.

‘Who would have thought a Hidden Skill would be hidden in a small frontier city like Asmar…’

Khan had briefly searched for a Hidden Skill in Asmar while playing the game.

Like the other two cities of Eldrida, Asmar was surrounded by mountains, but whether inside or outside the city, there was no place that seemed likely to have a Hidden Skill.

‘But… how am I supposed to find it if I don’t know the location of the Hidden Skill?’

If it meant personally searching every nook and cranny of Asmar to find the Hidden Skill, it would be nearly impossible.

Even in the game, clicking the keyboard and mouse to search would take ages, but now he had to physically walk around everywhere.

‘I wish they’d give a more specific hint about where the Hidden Skill is located.’

Thinking that, Khan first accepted the Hidden Quest.

After all, if he refused the Hidden Quest, it would be deleted, so it was better to accept it first.

[You have accepted the Hidden Quest.]

[When you approach the location where the Hidden Skill is concealed, you will be able to know its position.]

Khan could immediately resolve the doubt he had as he checked the message that appeared before his eyes again.

Meanwhile, Kail, who had come out to greet Khan, smiled even more brightly.

It was because he saw Khan, who always wore a cold expression, smiling for once.

And he was looking at Kail, who was waving from a distance.

‘Seeing him smile like that, the Cerberus Subjugation must have been successful, of course, and perhaps he might even forgive Maya…!’

He was still concerned about what Khan had said.

The condition for forgiving his daughter’s mistake was that Khan would personally educate her.

His daughter Maya hadn’t come out for days and had been holed up in her room.

Knowing that Khan was a Mage of immense skill, she was now terrified of what heinous act he might commit against her.

‘This should be enough for him to forgive her…!’

Kail glanced at the large bundle held by the knight standing beside him.

The bundle was nearly 1 meter in diameter, and it was completely filled with Gold Coins.

It was Selenad’s one-year administrative expenses and various taxes, prepared by even dipping into his secret funds.

‘Anyway, once the Cerberus is gone, the Mana Crystal Mine will become active again… so this amount of money can be recovered quickly.’

He planned to ask Khan once more to forgive his daughter, using money.

Kail ran forward, passing through the city gate, and grandly welcomed Khan.

“It’s truly a relief that you’ve returned safely! I was so worried…. Oh, what Sir Byutek is holding… is the Cerberus’s head! Thank you so much!”

“Haha! I didn’t really do much. Sir Khan defeated the Cerberus all by himself. It seems I’m still far from being able to take down this thing.”

Byutek, who was holding the Cerberus’s head, spoke truthfully.

Hearing that, Kail and the knights of Selenad standing around couldn’t help but widen their eyes in surprise.

‘Just how high must his level be to defeat that powerful Cerberus alone without anyone’s help…?!’

Kail quickly looked at Khan and tried to offer congratulations again.

‘His, his expression has turned cold again…!’

Khan, who had been smiling just moments ago, had now returned to an expression as cold as a chilling wind.

“Ha… haha…! You’ve truly worked hard, Sir Khan. Ah, of course, Lady Sharin and Sir Byutek as well! You must be tired, so please go back to the mansion and rest!”

“Very well.”

Khan answered briefly without any further words, passing through the city gate and entering the city.

Kail and the knights anxiously trailed behind Khan, fidgeting.

Finally, Kail couldn’t hold back and spoke up.

“Please go back to the mansion and rest for a few days. I didn’t expect you to defeat the Cerberus and return so quickly, so I couldn’t prepare, but I’ll arrange a grand party for tomorrow!”

“There’s no need for that. I’ll leave immediately after returning to the mansion.”

“Huh…?! You must be tired, so please rest for at least a day.”

“It’s fine.”

Khan had wanted to quickly shake off Kail, who had been bothering him since earlier.

‘Why does he keep following me so annoyingly?’

Moreover, the knights accompanying him were also quite bothersome.

Especially the knight beside Kail, who was carrying a large bundle with both hands, was trembling as if the weight was considerable.

‘Ah, it’s because of his daughter.’

The education of Maya, which he would have completely forgotten if Sharin hadn’t asked on the way to subjugate the Cerberus.

He had thought about properly correcting her personality, but now it seemed unnecessary.

She would live like a delinquent and eventually face serious consequences someday.

‘Or perhaps this could be an opportunity for her to reflect on her trashy personality.’

Khan, who had been walking quickly, stopped.

Then Kail and the knights also stopped.

Kail looked at Khan cautiously with a particularly tense expression.

‘Is he going to talk about Maya…? But if he’s leaving right now, when exactly does he plan to educate her?’

As he harbored such doubts, Khan opened his mouth.

“Kail, come to think of it, about your daughter’s education…….”

“Hahaha…!! Sir Khan, you’ve defeated the Cerberus this time, and sending you off empty-handed would hurt my pride! Please accept this small token of my gratitude!”

“…….”

Clink.

Khan was slightly taken aback as he looked at the large bundle the knight carefully offered.

Judging by the sound, it seemed to be filled entirely with coins.

“They’re all Gold Coins! Please use them for good purposes!”

Why is there so much?

No matter how powerful the Cerberus was in this area, it wasn’t a Monster that could never be defeated.

If they had requested support from the Kingdom of Sinsiniel or asked for help from cities in the capital region, they could have resolved it somehow.

‘Of course, it would have cost an enormous amount of money, so they probably considered it a last resort.’

If they were unlucky, the worst-case scenario might have occurred where nobles from the kingdom or other cities would demand ownership of the Mana Crystal Mine as a condition for defeating the Cerberus.

‘Even so, this is too excessive.’

Without Zenos’s Spatial Pocket, carrying this amount of coins would have been impossible.

As Khan stared coldly at the bundle of Gold Coins, Kail quickly shouted again.

“Haha! It’s too much, isn’t it?! I included more because of the wrong my daughter committed against you, Sir Khan.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Um… by any chance, how do you plan to handle my daughter’s education…?”

Only then did Khan understand why he was being given such a large amount of Gold Coins.

“I’ll let it slide this time. You properly discipline and educate your daughter yourself. If it had been someone else, she would have been dead.”

“Thank you! Truly, thank you! I will scold Maya well and educate her properly!”

“Good.”

Khan smiled inwardly and placed the bundle directly into his Spatial Pocket.

Despite the bundle’s considerable size, the way it was sucked smoothly into the Spatial Pocket was quite impressive.

‘Now I really don’t have to worry about money.’

With this much money, it seemed he could actually buy a really good Artifact in Asmar.

‘I also want to deal with the Griffin’s Horn… should I just sell it?’

In the case of the Griffin’s Horn, it’s usually used as a material for Artifacts, but with just the Griffin’s Horn, creating an Artifact is practically impossible.

‘If I had a few more materials, I could make a decent Artifact. It’s a waste to just sell it….’

Thinking such thoughts, Khan arrived at the mansion.

Sharin greeted first and went inside the mansion.

It seemed she had sweated a lot and wanted to wash quickly.

“Byutek, you’ve worked hard too. There’s no particular use for the Cerberus head, so you can discard it now.”

“Ah, yes…!”

“Alright, you go in too, wash up, and rest a bit. I plan to depart for Asmar in exactly one hour.”

“Do you have business in Asmar? Actually… Sir Khan, I was waiting to tell you when no one was looking.”

After casually dropping the Cerberus head he was holding in the mansion’s courtyard, Byutek suddenly approached Khan cautiously and whispered in a small voice.

‘Why is he acting like this again?’

Khan wondered why Byutek was being so cautious.

“While cutting off the Cerberus’s head earlier, I searched the corpse a bit more. Nothing seemed visible at first. So I was about to just return… when suddenly, I saw a red glow from the heart area of the Cerberus’s corpse.”

“What?”

Khan was slightly surprised inwardly, thinking it couldn’t be.

‘Don’t tell me… it really dropped a Hellfire Soul?’

Zenos had expressed his intention to participate in the Cerberus Subjugation to obtain the Hellfire Soul.

From what he remembered, the probability of obtaining the Cerberus’s Hellfire Soul was officially around 0.1%.

Meaning, you’d have to defeat at least several hundred Cerberus to maybe get one.

“So I brought it with me for now… could you take a look?”

Byutek began rummaging in his pants pocket, pulling something out.