Chapter 89

Uроn аrriving in frоnt of Khаn’s lоdging, Вуutеk and Sharin cоuldn’t tеll whether Кhan was insidе рrасtiсing mаgic or оut on seраratе businеss.

Whilе wаiting fоr him in front оf his lodging, thе two cоnvеrsеd with sеrious eхprеssions.

“But Sharin… wеrе those guys reаllу that strong?”

Byutek rесalled the mages оf Lеxar’s Gаng weаring blасk rоbes whom they hаd encоuntеrеd at Eddу’s shор.

Frankly, just frоm apрearancеs, thеy seеmеd so frаgile that Вyutek felt hе cоuld knоck them down with just a flick оf his finger.

‘Тhаt’s рartlу why I boldlу оffеred to hеlp…’

Вut sееing Shаrin lоoking аt him with suсh а worriеd еxpression both earlier and now, it seemed they were by no means pushovers.

‘And now it’s too late to suddenly change my story…’

In the roughly three seconds after Byutek asked Sharin, numerous worries began creeping up in his mind.

“Hoo, Byutek oppa. Those guys… they really weren’t ordinary kids. Of course, they’re not as strong as Master, but… Ah! Before that, remember the Blue Magic Tower mages? From what I saw, they seemed even stronger than those guys.”

“R-really?”

If Sharin, a fellow mage, saw them as that strong, they must truly be dangerous individuals.

“Master is already busy as it is… I doubt he’d readily agree to help a complete stranger. And it’s not like the two of us can fight such monstrous guys, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

Just as Byutek stammered slightly and mumbled,

“Come in.”

Khan’s voice came from beyond the door, telling them to enter.

“Yes, we’re coming in!”

Byutek stopped his sentence and immediately opened the door.

Sharin could only swallow the words she still wanted to say to Byutek.

‘If the ordinary members of Lexar’s Gang are at that level… just how strong is that person named Lexar? Could he possibly be even stronger than Master…?’

As ominous thoughts arose, Sharin stopped thinking altogether.

How could there possibly be a mage stronger than her sky-high Master, Khan?

That couldn’t be.

“Hehe. Master! I’m coming in too!”

Sharin entered Khan’s room with a bright smile, as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Along with the footsteps of Byutek and Sharin, the sound of Khan’s footsteps slowly following behind them could be heard.

Leading the way towards Eddy’s shop, Byutek was smiling, with no trace of his earlier anxious expression.

As they walked, Byutek spoke to Sharin beside him.

“As expected of Sir Khan. Even though he’s busy with work and magic training, he immediately agreed to help after hearing our story. Haha!”

“Probably because he’s worried we might get into danger together…”

As Byutek and Sharin said that, they subtly turned their heads to glance at Khan walking behind them.

Khan wasn’t looking at them at all, as if lost in thought.

‘If it goes like this, clearing the Quest should be much easier.’

Khan was pondering how to clear this Quest.

‘First, thanks to Byutek and Sharin, contacting Eddy was easily resolved… The problem will be the guys from Lexar’s Gang.’

Khan hadn’t yet heard the details about Lexar’s Gang from Byutek and Sharin.

‘That aside… I’m concerned about this Quest for now.’

Khan checked the Main Quest details once more.

• [Extermination of Lexar’s Gang Mages Plaguing Erindel]

• Will you accept the Main Quest?

• Refusal will make future Quest progression impossible.

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

Only then did Khan realize he had misunderstood the Quest.

‘It’s not about exterminating the entire Lexar’s Gang… but about defeating the mages of Lexar’s Gang.’

Looking at the Quest title, it wasn’t about exterminating the ‘mages’ of Lexar’s Gang, but about exterminating the ‘mage’ of Lexar’s Gang.

It meant defeating just any one mage belonging to Lexar’s Gang.

‘I’ll probably figure it out once I defeat at least one mage from Lexar’s Gang.’

The most urgent thing now was to level up after clearing the Quest.

No matter how much Khan possessed the 8th-grade Hidden Skill ‘Growth Acceleration,’ leveling up solely through monster hunting was tedious and time-consuming.

‘Even after hunting day and night for a week, I still couldn’t level up… For now, it’s much better to quickly clear the Main Quest to level up.’

Moreover, the Quest Khan received this time was weird, to say the least.

Khan’s current Level was 29.

Generally speaking, receiving a Main Quest at Level 29 wouldn’t grant a reward of ‘an enormous amount of Experience Points.’

That meant the difficulty of the Main Quest Khan received this time was either absurdly high, or…

‘I just got a super easy Quest.’

In fact, Khan already thought he had received a super easy Quest.

Because while playing games, he occasionally received such honey-like Quests.

Those Quests that were easy in difficulty but offered enormous rewards.

‘Hehe. Looks like I can take it easy for a while.’

Actually, Khan thought there were still quite a few things making him uneasy.

He judged that even if he won the Underground Arena Tournament starting next week at his current level, it might still be dangerous.

‘There might be some strong participant I don’t know about. And since the prize this time is an Ancient-grade Magic Tome… I absolutely must have it.’

An Ancient-grade Magic Tome.

Even Khan had never used an Ancient-grade Magic Tome before.

Rumors said that using an Ancient-grade Magic Tome allowed one to learn tremendously high-grade magic without any effort or cost.

‘But that’s not the priority right now.’

Lost in thought, Khan looked at Byutek and Sharin, who had been glancing at him.

“Why are you staring like that? Is there something on my face?”

“Ah, no! It’s just… hearing Sir Khan agree to help so readily… I couldn’t help but feel happy. Haha!!”

“I told you Master agreed because he’s worried I might be in danger?”

As Byutek and Sharin exclaimed, Khan gave a light smile.

It was Khan’s smile, seen after a long time.

“Of course I should help since you two might be in danger.”

“Si-Sir Khan…”

“Master…!”

As an unexpected remark came from Khan’s mouth, Byutek and Sharin looked at him with moved expressions.

‘If anything, I should be thankful, you guys.’

Honestly, Khan felt like hugging Byutek and Sharin tightly.

Because they had allowed him to skip all the most troublesome parts on his behalf.

Accepting a Main Quest didn’t automatically mean one could proceed with it.

Khan continued.

“So, how did those Lexar’s Gang guys seem to you?”

“From what I saw, they just seemed like weaklings… but hearing Sharin, it seems that’s not the case.”

“Not the case?”

“Ah… I’ll explain, Master. Actually, all those guys… compared to Master, they’re nothing, but from my perspective, they seemed a bit dangerous.”

“Explain in detail.”

As soon as he heard Sharin’s words, ominous thoughts flashed through Khan’s mind.

‘Wait, could this… not be a super easy Quest?’

What kind of mages could they be for Sharin to say this?

In Khan’s view, Sharin was a child with innate talent for Mana.

It meant that in this Erindel, hardly any mage would possess more Mana than Sharin.

“The mages of Lexar’s Gang we saw were three in total. All of them seemed much stronger than me… and seemed to have more Mana than me.”

“……Is that true?”

“Yes, um… They’re still far weaker than Master, but if I had to compare, they seemed a bit stronger than those Magic Tower Affiliate mages from the Blue Magic Tower we saw last time.”

“I see…”

Khan’s expression instantly darkened.

He almost swore out loud.

If Sharin’s words were true, it meant the mages of Lexar’s Gang were stronger than Belbek, who was called a promising talent in the Blue Magic Tower.

‘And I have to defeat such guys?’

Only now could Khan clearly understand the Main Quest’s content.

The reason it said to exterminate the ‘mage’ of Lexar’s Gang, not the ‘mages.’

‘It’s because defeating even one is damn difficult…’

It was despairing.

How on earth was he supposed to defeat such a guy?

Well, actually, if they met one-on-one, he could somehow defeat them by utilizing ‘Mirror Defense’ well.

‘But… that would only be possible by risking my life.’

Suddenly, he felt his head heating up.

How on earth was he supposed to clear this damn Quest?

‘Should I not go to Eddy’s shop for now and investigate Lexar’s Gang a bit more?’

First, he needed to gauge what level the mages of Lexar’s Gang were at.

‘If I can pick out just one weak one among them and defeat them, I might be able to clear the Quest relatively easily.’

For now, that was the best plan.

“Sir Khan? We’re here now, why are you stopping? This is Eddy’s shop.”

“Master? You suddenly look pale. Are you feeling unwell?!”

“……”

While Khan was diligently pondering how to clear his Quest, they had apparently already arrived at Eddy’s shop.

‘For now, contacting Eddy now won’t do any good.’

The original plan was to contact Eddy, naturally deal with Lexar’s Gang, clear the Quest, and then receive high-grade Scrolls from Eddy.

‘Who knows if Lexar’s Gang might come looking here again?’

It was a plausible enough scenario.

For now, not contacting Eddy and separately investigating Lexar’s Gang was the priority.

Just as Khan, having reached that conclusion, was about to tell Byutek and Sharin to turn back—

Swish. Swish. Swish.

Suddenly, before Khan’s party’s eyes—to be precise, in front of Eddy’s shop—

Three mages in black robes appeared.