The Game of the Greatest Black Mage-Chapter 169

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 169

Beki hopped up and down, announcing that Pol was in danger.

But Pol's ghost was clearly visible in Seonghyun's sight.

‘What should I do about this?’

He quickly assessed the situation.

The quest was to find Pol. But Pol was already dead.

This wasn't a problem.

The clue that he was dead would probably come out in the next quest anyway, since it was a chain quest.

However…

‘Pol seemed to have a pretty high rank, yet he was murdered?’

This seemed like a quest of a rather large scale.

Ninyaru was, on the whole, a harmless-looking city.

For a murder to have occurred in a city like this?

Perhaps.

‘This could be a quest that leads me to the lord of the city.’

Seizing upon that opportunity, Seonghyun's eyes gleamed.

At the same time, he reached out his hand to Pol's ghost and absorbed its memories.

[You have accomplished something impossible at your current level with an ‘Unknown Power’.]

[Intelligence +2, Wisdom +2, and Dexterity +1 have permanently increased.]

The same stats increased as with the cat soldier.

He read the memories that flowed into him like a panorama.

He had been a little worried that there was a chance he had been killed here and his body disposed of, but that wasn't the case.

‘Taken away and tortured?’

He knew it wasn't a simple murder case, but as expected, there was something more.

And the culprit he identified while reading Pol's memories was not a cat.

‘A snake?’

To be precise, a beastkin with the head of a snake.

Confirming that, Seonghyun tilted his head.

Then he spotted Beki, who was frantically searching the living room for any traces.

‘Would I find out if I ask Beki?’

As Seonghyun briefly pondered this, Helena spoke up.

“Seonghyun, don't you think that little one might not know even if you ask?”

“Hmm.”

It turned out Helena was thinking the same thing as Seonghyun.

From what they had seen so far—no, even if they hadn't, just looking at Beki with his kitten-like appearance, he didn't exactly inspire confidence.

It was a reasonable thought to have.

But still, you never know.

Seonghyun looked at Beki, who was still frantically searching his surroundings, and asked cautiously,

“Does Ninyaru have any rival cities, or perhaps, natural enemies?”

“Nyaaaang??? A-Aaat!? Y-Yes, we do-ong!”

“Oh?”

Did he know because he was a resident of Ninyaru?

Or because he was a merchant?

With that thought, he looked at Beki.

Beki shivered as he spoke.

“There's a group called Basilica-nyan!”

“Basilica?”

“Th-They are a plague on the labyrinth, full of terrifying venom and wicked schemes-ong!”

“Oh?”

[You have acquired the keyword, 『Basilica』.]

He had even acquired a keyword. Seonghyun saw the message and dismissed it.

And as he listened to Beki's further explanation, he learned that while the merchants of Ninyaru helped those wandering the labyrinth, Basilica harmed them.

A city where not only snakes, but also bats and spiders coexisted?

He explained that, unlike Ninyaru, it was a very rough and vicious place.

It seemed to fit.

‘Didn't they say that the bosses in general were related to bats, spiders, and snakes?’

There were some raid bosses that weren't, of course.

But the commonality among labyrinth regions was that you could assume any given labyrinth would have a raid boss of one of those three types.

It could certainly be called Ninyaru's rival.

And…

“Th-Those guys want to invade our town-nyan! A-And they want to get rid of all the merchants and monopolize the labyrinth-ong! M-Maybe Pol-nim was attacked by them too-nyan!”

He had perfectly understood the intent behind Seonghyun's question.

The anxious Beki said to Seonghyun,

“Sh-Shouldn't we report this to the knight order-ong?!”

“The knight order? This city has a knight order?”

“Of course-nyan! The Black Knights! The Golden Knights! And the White Knights! There are three of them-ong!”

Listening to the explanation of the knight orders, he understood they were beings who ranked above the soldiers.

And the knight order that protected the city's peace was…

‘The Black Knights.’

Reporting to them immediately seemed like a good idea, but he felt he should clear the quest first.

‘What should I do?’

Seonghyun thought for a moment before a good idea came to him.

“Then, Beki-nim, would you mind making the report? I'll investigate these traces and see where Pol-nim has gone.”

At that decision, the ghost of Pol spoke.

-Hohoho, the noble guest is a kind person, indeed. That seems like a good plan, as it could be dangerous for Beki.

“Ahaha! That's our Seonghyun, isn't it?”

He didn't know why Helena was so pleased by the ghost Pol's praise, but anyway, Seonghyun ignored the two of them and looked at Beki to see what he wanted to do.

After thinking deeply about Seonghyun's question, Beki nodded his head.

“O-Okay-nyan. I-I'll go report it right away-ong! Th-Then…”

“Hmm, if I happen to catch the culprit, I'll return to this mansion.”

“Ah, understood-nyan! I-I'll come back here after I make the report-ong!”

After reaching an agreement with Beki, Seonghyun quickly sent him on his way.

Whether he was chasing or catching the culprit, Beki would inevitably be a burden.

Above all…

‘I already know the location.’

He also knew the path they took when they dragged Pol away.

As Beki left, Seonghyun's gaze turned sharp.

At the same time, the atmosphere around his familiars changed considerably.

It became the solemn mood they adopted before getting to work.

Seonghyun moved.

Pat.

He shot out of the mansion with incredible speed, unthinkable for a Black Mage.

Seeing him go, Pol's ghost waved him off.

-Please, you must be safe!

A farewell filled with concern for Seonghyun.

Seonghyun nodded at the words and moved quickly.

The first place he moved to, following the memories, was the roof of the mansion.

Climbing up, Seonghyun was able to discover a clue in the form of a trace left behind.

A drag mark, left along with the bloodstains.

“This is it.”

-Khahaha! To find it so quickly! As expected of our Lord.

“You are truly amazing.”

-L-Lord, you're amazing!

“As expected, Master is on another level.”

“Ahaha! Our Seonghyun is incredible!”

Pointedly ignoring the praise coming from each of his familiars, Seonghyun confirmed the trail continued from there and followed it.

Only small traces were left, making it incredibly difficult to find them while on the move.

But Seonghyun, who had Pol's memories, located them in an instant and traversed the path at high speed.

How far had he gone?

[You have cleared the Hidden Chain Quest, 『The Merchant Manager of Ninyaru』!]

[Rewards will now be distributed.]

[You have acquired a huge amount of experience!]

[Level Up!]x2

[You have reached Level 135.]

[The next quest, 『The Trail of Pol's Blood』 has been generated.]

With the experience gained from clearing the quest, he was able to instantly recover the levels he had lost from Transcendent Death.

To level up this quickly.

It was a hidden quest, but still an early part of a chain quest.

To think it gave this much experience.

He was right to do the quest, after all.

He quickly opened the quest window and briefly checked the next quest.

→ Follow the trail of Pol's blood and find a decisive clue!

The objective was similar.

However, the instruction to 'find Pol' had changed to 'find a clue'.

It seemed the quests were gradually revealing just how grave Pol's situation was.

Though it was just speculation, the thought spurred Seonghyun to move even faster, and while following the faint trail of blood, he discovered something shiny.

Tatak!

Even while moving at high speed, Seonghyun used his momentum to land perfectly and picked up the shiny object.

‘Leaving behind bloodstains and now this... what a clumsy fellow.’

After all, there was a gap of at least 300 meters between one bloodstain and the next.

Then again, it wasn't so much that he was clumsy, but who could have known someone like Seonghyun would be on their trail? A

nyone else would have had a hard time finding it.

Of course, Seonghyun had the memories, so it was easy for him.

In any case, from Seonghyun's perspective, 'clumsy' was the perfect word.

‘Leaving behind this much evidence... Of course you'd get caught.’

As he thought this, he looked at the item he had picked up.

[You have acquired a decisive clue!]

[You know the keyword for 『Basilica』!]

[This is a scale that appears to belong to a spy from 『Basilica』.]

[You have cleared the Hidden Chain Quest, 『The Trail of Pol's Blood』!]

[You have acquired a huge amount of experience!]

[Level Up!]x2

[You have reached Level 137.]

[The next quest, 『The Spy from Basilica』 has been generated.]

Once again, his level rose as a new quest was generated.

Could there be an easier way to level up?

Quests were certainly a huge help.

If he had tried to grind by hunting, who knows how many days it would have taken.

Anyway, Seonghyun briefly checked the new quest.

→ The spy from Basilica who kidnapped Pol! Find the culprit's hideout!

This time, it was a quest to find a hideout.

Since he already knew where it was, Seonghyun put the clue he had just obtained into his inventory and checked in another direction.

A different direction from the blood trail.

From the memories, Seonghyun already knew that following the bloodstains would be taking the long way around.

Now that he had the quest, he planned to head straight for the hideout.

A place that shady characters love.

The sewers.

“I don't know why culprits love sewers so much.”

“Easy to hide?” Helena answered with the first thing that came to mind.

“Hrmm, it's so unsanitary~”

Serphina spoke with a frown, as if disgusted by the filth.

Ignoring them, Nocturnium muttered,

“It is the most vulnerable point in the city.”

-Khahahaha!!! They're rats, so of course they live in a place like that.

-B-Balthar-ssi? W-We're looking for snakes, not rats…

Nocturnium stated the logical point, while the belligerent Balthar chimed in.

And Fiora, despite her stutter, subtly corrected him.

Seonghyun gave them a slight smile and nodded.

‘Shall we head there right away, then?’

With that thought, Seonghyun and his familiars set off.

4.

After parting with Seonghyun at the mansion, Beki headed straight for the place where the Black Knights resided.

By the time Beki arrived, Seonghyun was already on his way to the culprit's hideout.

In any case, Beki also hurried, entering the Black Knights' building and shouting loudly.

“B-Big trouble-nyan!!! P-Pol-nim was taken by those Basilica fiends-oooong!!!”

At his cry, the Black Knights, who were preparing to set out, stared at Beki with wide eyes.

It was only natural.

It was strange enough that a cat merchant who still looked like a child had come in.

But for that kid to be shouting about the very reason they were about to depart?

It was more than just strange; it was baffling.

And so, as every member of the Black Knights stared at Beki, Beki, now the center of everyone's attention, instantly flinched.

His previous confident demeanor was nowhere to be seen.

His shrunken form was even a little pitiful.

Nevertheless, the members of the Black Knights did not let up their imposing aura.

Beki seemed to be more than he appeared.

While everyone was focused on him, someone shouted.

“Everyone, stand down.”

As the menacing aura subsided, Beki let out a sigh of relief as if he could finally breathe.

But seeing the high-ranking-looking black puma of the knight order approach him, he shrank back again.

He looked so scary.

As Beki shivered with that thought, the black puma asked.

“How did you know about Basilica?”

“M-My, my customer saw it with me and figured it out-nyan.”

“Customer?”

The black puma asked again, wondering what he meant by 'customer'.

Beki, though shivering, spoke bravely.

His body, of course, was still hunched over.

“H-He's an outsider, a-an incredible c-customer who entered our city-ong.”

“An outsider customer... you're saying he mentioned a spy from Basilica?”

“N-Not exactly, w-we found Pol-nim's blood in Pol-nim's house... a-and seeing that, he asked if we had any natural enemies, so I-I was the one who told him-nyan.”

“Then where is this outsider now?”

“Th-The customer said he was going to c-catch the culprit…”

Hearing that, the black puma frowned and pressed his throbbing temples.

“Haaah, we must find him at once. Do you know where he went?”

“W-Why-ong!? A-Are you saying the customer is in danger-nyan??”

Hearing Beki's trembling voice, the black puma said,

“The spy that Basilica sent to our city is a formidable opponent. There is no way a mere outsider could win.”

“Nyaaaaaaaaong!?!”

Beki leaped in shock at those words.

Leaving Beki behind, the black puma shouted.

“Hurry! We must save the outsider!”

“Yes, Commander!!!”

With that, the Black Knights hastily prepared to depart.

Beki watched them, trembling.

To think that Seonghyun could be in danger.

“P-Pol-nim, C-Customer Seonghyun, p-please be safe, both of you-nyan.”

Watching the worried Beki, the black puma thought.

‘He's a spy from Basilica who infiltrated the city without us noticing. It will be difficult for the outsider to remain unharmed. Still, if he has any sense, he will realize the spy's strength and flee.’

If he does flee, then we must step in and capture the spy.

Therefore, we must move out even faster.

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

New n𝙤vel chapters are published on fre(e)webnov(l).com