Chapter 88

Кnосk. Кnock.

“Sir Кhаn, it’s Вуutеk. May I соme in?”

Bуutek’s voiсе саmе frоm beyоnd the doоr оf Khаn’s lоdging.

“Wаit а mоment.”

“Аh, yеs! You must havе bееn in thе middle of mаgic trаining…! I apolоgizе for the disturbancе!”

“It will оnly be a little while.”

“Nоt аt all!”

It seemed Bуutеk assumed Кhan wаs diligеntlу immеrsed in magic training insidе the roоm.

‘Соme to think оf it, I did sрin thаt story уesterdаy.’

Khan first quicklу сheckеd thе Quest mеssage.

• [Еxterminatiоn of Lехar’s Gang Mages Рlaguing Еrindеl]

• Will уou аccерt thе Main Quеst?

• Refusаl will mаkе futurе Quеst prоgrеssiоn impоssiblе.

• Reward: An enormous amount of Experience Points, Progression to the next Quest

Upon checking the Quest message, Khan was a bit dumbfounded.

‘Lexar’s Gang…? There’s a gang like that in Erindel?’

Normally, the Main Quests in <Geo Arc> are determined by what actions you take and what choices you make.

Having played <Geo Arc> for quite a long time, Khan had a rough idea of the direction his Main Quest was supposed to be flowing at this point.

But.

‘Why on earth did this completely unfamiliar Quest appear?’

According to Khan’s expectations, a Quest related to the Underground Arena should have appeared at this juncture.

‘Lexar… just who is he?’

Furthermore, having played <Geo Arc> up to now, Khan was quite knowledgeable about the NPCs in the game, but he had never heard of or seen an NPC named Lexar.

“Hoo, for a quest like this to suddenly appear…”

The only saving grace was that the Main Quest reward was among the best he had received so far.

The reward for this quest, ‘an enormous amount of Experience Points,’ was truly just that.

‘If I just complete this quest, not only Level 30, but I might even reach Level 40 in one go.’

In a way, it was lucky.

Since refusing the Main Quest was impossible anyway.

[Quest accepted.]

As Khan accepted the quest, a message appeared before his eyes.

Now the problem was how to clear this quest.

“Hmm, first I need to find out about this Lexar guy… Just what does he do?”

When Khan played the game, Lexar’s Gang did not exist in Erindel.

If Lexar had been there when he played the game, there’s no way Khan wouldn’t have known.

“You may come in now.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Hehe. Master, I came too!”

“Alright, have a seat.”

Byutek and Sharin carefully sat on the sofa opposite Khan.

‘These guys… what’s with them?’

But he noticed something a little… no, quite a bit odd about the two of them.

“You two… you haven’t done something wrong behind my back, have you?”

“Ah… haha! What are you talking about, Sir Khan! Something wrong? No way!”

“What do you mean, Master…! Haha…”

Seeing their awkward reactions, it seemed there was indeed something going on.

‘Just when I’m preoccupied with the Main Quest, they might have brought some unnecessary trouble… Hoo…’

Just as Khan was thinking that and sighing deeply inwardly,

“Um… Sir Khan! It’s not something wrong. You know how we’ve been wandering outside for the past few days? There’s something we need to tell you…!”

Judging by their grave expressions and tone, a feeling that they had caused some kind of accident pricked Khan’s entire body.

* * *

Erindel’s outermost area, District 12.

This place was no different from Erindel’s largest slum.

Unlike District 6, homeless people wandered the streets holding liquor bottles, and public safety was extremely poor.

“What the hell are you looking at, you bastard!”

“You piece of shit bastard, you look at me once and start this shit. You wanna die?”

“Fuck, then try it.”

Two homeless people wandering the street started picking a fight after looking at each other.

The two homeless men immediately pulled knives from their pockets.

Since it was a common occurrence in District 12, no one tried to stop them.

Instead, they watched, snickering.

“You’re dead today, you piece of shit bastard.”

“You’re the one who’s gonna die, asshole.”

One of the homeless men swore and charged forward, knife in hand.

But then.

Thud. Thud.

Three people wearing Black Robes appeared between the homeless men.

Gulp…!

Gulp…!

The two homeless men, who moments ago were frantic to kill each other, stopped dead in their tracks.

“Don’t fight in District 12. You haven’t forgotten what Sir Lexar said, have you?”

“S-sorry.”

“Sorry…!”

The mages of Lexar’s Gang passed between the two homeless men.

Thud.

The two, who had been drunk, seemed to have sobered up completely in an instant.

It wasn’t like one or two guys who had crossed Lexar’s Gang had ended up dead.

As the mages in Black Robes disappeared, the two homeless men who had been fighting quickly left the spot.

The destination of Lexar’s Gang mages was the tallest and largest building in District 12.

Upon arriving there, they headed straight for Lexar’s room.

Knock. Knock.

Creak.

Knocking and opening the door revealed a splendid interior, unlike the worn-out streets of District 12.

And sitting in a chair was the owner of this room, Lexar, currently called the king of District 12.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The three mages in Black Robes knelt and bowed their heads.

Lexar’s face, which was more befitting of a bandit than a mage, was half tightly wrapped in bandages.

He looked down at the kneeling mages and slowly opened his mouth.

“How did it go?”

As Lexar spoke, the mage on the far left opened his mouth.

“We gave Eddy a final warning. He said he’d somehow tell us the Scroll Formula within a week.”

“A week… I’ve waited until now, but you’re making me wait too long.”

Whoosh…!!

As Lexar drew up his Mana, something unbelievable happened in an instant.

Koo koo koo koom…!!

His Mana filled the room, and a tremendous pressure crushed the bodies of those inside.

“G-guh… S-sorry.”

“Go and tell him again. I have no more time to wait, so tell him to hand over the Scroll Formula within three days.”

“Huff… Understood!”

“Go.”

“Yes!”

The mages in Black Robes were also considerable experts, but they couldn’t move an inch before Lexar’s Mana.

Swish. Swish. Swish.

In an instant, the mages in Black Robes disappeared.

Left alone, Lexar muttered with a bored expression.

“Seems like there’s nothing more to do in this damn city soon. For my revenge… I need to move a little faster.”

Lexar’s target of revenge.

That was the mages of the Yellow Magic Tower who had expelled him.

Not satisfied with expelling him, those Yellow Magic Tower bastards who tried to kill him.

His bandit-like face was wrapped in bandages, but…

Swoosh.

When he unwrapped the bandages, the revealed right side of his face was covered with scars that looked like burns, or rather, scars so repulsive they were beyond comparison.

“I’ll… kill them all.”

Throb— Throb—

Remembering the bastards from the Yellow Magic Tower, pain seemed to surge from the scars on his face.

This pain would probably only disappear once he killed them all.

“For that, I need that guy’s Scroll Formula.”

Lexar was originally a high-ranking mage called an Archmage in the Yellow Magic Tower.

No matter how strong a mage is, they cannot resist the desire to become stronger.

Lexar had eventually dabbled in Dark Magic and was expelled from the Yellow Magic Tower.

Whoosh…

As Lexar drew up his Mana again, blue Mana bloomed but was soon blocked by black Mana and subsided.

Fssst…!

The black Mana spurted out on its own and extinguished his blue Mana.

“To break this Dark Magic curse… I need his scrolls by any means necessary.”

In Lexar’s eyes, Eddy’s scrolls were on the level of works of art.

Although their performance was somewhat inferior to the scrolls produced by top-tier Alchemists, Eddy’s scrolls possessed something that even top-tier Alchemists couldn’t achieve.

‘If I use Eddy’s scrolls… this damn Dark Magic curse disappears for a while.’

Then, if I can find out Eddy’s Scroll Formula, wouldn’t I be able to break this Dark Magic curse?

“If I can just regain my peak strength, I’ll kill all those little bastards…!!!”

The mages of the Yellow Magic Tower who tried to kill him.

Remembering their faces, the pain from the scars on his face surged again.

“Hoo…”

Unconsciously having gotten a bit excited, Lexar took a deep breath in and out to regain his composure.

Since he had Eddy’s younger brother captured, he would surely hand over the Scroll Formula within three days.

“I won’t let it slide this time.”

If he didn’t reveal the Scroll Formula this time either, he planned to kill his younger brother.

He had already broken his promise twice so far.

There was absolutely no letting it slide a third time.

‘If he breaks his promise this time too, it would be faster to kill the younger brother, capture him, and torture it out of him.’

Having reached that conclusion, Lexar slowly closed his eyes and sank into thought once more.

* * *

“Hoo…”

Khan looked at Byutek and Sharin sitting across from him and let out a deep sigh.

Then he slowly opened his mouth and asked.

“So, what is it you want to tell me?”

“Well… It’s not something to ask of you, Sir Khan… Actually, we saw someone in the city who was in a difficult situation. After hearing their story, it seemed hard to just let it go… so we plan to help.”

“……Tell me in more detail.”

Listening to Byutek’s words, Khan felt a bit dumbfounded.

‘Just when I’m preoccupied with the Main Quest and leveling up, why did they come to get my permission?’

If something like that happened, they could just handle it themselves; he didn’t understand why they specifically came to tell him.

“Sharin going to Eddy’s shop in District 6, which is famous in Erindel as a high-quality scroll shop, was the starting point.”

“Eddy’s shop… Go on.”

Eddy’s shop was a place Khan frequented even within <Geo Arc>.

Because the shop owner, Eddy, had considerable talent for making very good scrolls.

“But suddenly……”

Byutek’s explanation continued.

Khan listened carefully to Byutek’s story, and as soon as he heard the whole story, Byutek, who had seemed like nothing but a nuisance and a burden just moments ago, now seemed incredibly admirable.

“So, you two plan to exterminate Lexar’s Gang by yourselves?”

“Ah, yes…! Since you are busy, Sir Khan… we thought we’d at least say that we two would go first……”

As Byutek was speaking, Khan suddenly slowly rose from his seat.

“I’ll help, so lead the way. First, to Eddy’s shop.”

Somehow, he felt he might be able to clear this quest a bit more easily.