Chapter 88 - Cleaning The Slums

"A gift?" The elf spoke with a questioning tone.

He placed his drink down on the counter before picking the diary up. He opened the book to a random page and skimmed its contents. He let out an inquisitive hum as he continued reading. 

"Intriguing." The elf mumbled as he licked his finger and flipped the page. His eyes narrowed as he read the part mentioning the Despoina cult, and his quick skimming shifted into focused reading.

"There were twelve names on this book, yet it seems only ten remain thanks to your efforts." The elf closed the book before turning to face Merlin. "A gift indeed." 

"I believe this will be the catalyst for something special.." He picked up the glass he was playing with earlier and downed the entire drink in a single gulp. 

"Well, my friend. Now that you've returned, I still have those tasks I mentioned earlier." He spoke once more, causing a quest notification to appear before Merlin. "It seems you're rather adept at cleaning filth, I would like to put your talents to use."

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[Uncommon Quest]

Cleaning the Slums.

A corrupt town guard in the city of Macedonia has been seen around the slums lately, often intoxicated while on duty.

There have been reports that he has been abusing the residents of the slums while using his town guard position as a shield. Not too long ago, the guard had beaten a defenceless old man to death and left him on the street to rot.

The thieves guild have finally had enough of his tyranny and have requested that the man be dealt with, permanently. The crime scene will be dealt with by the guild, getting caught in the act by an unaffiliated third party will cause the quest to end in a failure.

Assassinate the corrupt guard.

• Reward: 300 EXP, 100 Thief Soul EXP, +5 Thieves Guild Reputation.

• Failure: Become a wanted criminal.

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Another assassination quest, just after he had gotten his karma score back. Fortunately it didn't seem like it was going to be that hard, and he wouldn't have to bother with hiding the body. He figured he may as well go through with it. The guy was definitely not worth the same as Lychester, so even if he killed the guy he wouldn't be as heavily punished. But just based on the wording of the quest, Merlin figured that the guard would have an orange name at least, especially if the murder was recent.

The karma system didn't affect NPCs the same way as it affected players, but it still had some influence. When an NPC committed vile acts such as murder, it was likely that they were brandished with an orange or red name. This didn't have the same effects that it'd have on a player, but it would allow someone to kill them without receiving any deductions to their karma.

Another method of getting around karma punishments would be if the system designated the target as an enemy. This was often seen with NPCs who were bandits or cultists, but it could also apply against the enemy of something you were strongly affiliated with, like an opposing army.

Another major factor with why he wanted to take this quest was the experience reward that went straight to his thief soul. There were a few ways to level each type of soul up, but the best method was usually getting experience directly for that specific soul through a quest reward.

There were a few other methods of levelling a soul up, but most were specific to a certain type of soul. Job souls gave you experience when you fulfilled the job's function successfully, like mining for a miner, or brewing potions for an alchemist. Combat souls allowed you to obtain experience by killing monsters with weapons that related to your soul, like a dagger for a thief, or bow for an archer. Race and hybrid souls were generally unique, but like every other soul, they usually had a method of earning experience by utilising soul specific abilities.

"Sure, I'll deal with it." Merlin accepted the quest.

"Wonderful, I knew I could count on you." The elf cheered, "He's a bald guy with a bad attitude, you can't miss him."

When Merlin heard this, a certain individual came to mind. And coincidentally, it just so happened to be a person he already wanted to pummel. 

"I'll go get to that. Oh one last thing." Merlin turned away for a moment, but suddenly snapped back as he remembered he wanted to ask something. "Would it be possible if I could get a couple of my fellow otherworlders into the guild?"

"Oh? Well if they're friends of yours and they're capable, I don't see the harm. You've done me a favour already, I don't see why I shouldn't reciprocate." The elf answered, but he began speaking with a more cautious tone afterwards. "However, should they betray or otherwise inconvenience our operation, I will hold you personally responsible. Deal?"

"Works for me." Merlin accepted the terms before leaving his chair. "I'll bring them over at some point."

As he made his way out of the thieves guild, and back up to the shady tavern, he decided to send Snowbunny a message.

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[19:26:51] Merlin: I've pulled a few strings and figured out a way to get you both into the thieves guild without having to deal with a bunch of annoyances. Message me whenever you guys reach Macedonia, I'm going to have to escort you in.

[19:27:30] Snowbunny: We're actually on our way over to the city now. Yeah, I'll tell you when we get there.

[19:27:57] Merlin: Sounds good!

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The conversation ended pretty quickly, Merlin waved the message window away and left the building. He walked out of the alleyway and back onto the filthy street, he began wandering around the slums while remaining on the lookout for the guard.

The squalid buildings around him seemed to be devoid of any life, but it was likely that the residents just hid very well. When someone stood out in a place like this, they was usually chosen as a target for crime, whether that be tyranny from the town guard or an attack by someone unaffiliated with the guild, someone who decided it would be a smart move to be a criminal in the guild's territory.

Several minutes later, as he turned down another alleyway, Merlin started hearing loud thud noises. Merlin turned another corner only to see a young girl who was wearing nothing but rags be brutally kicked around and beaten by a familiar looking man.

This man had a bald head and a nasty glare, the same one who spat at him earlier. The guard had been hitting the woman with his sword's sheath, leaving large bruises on the woman's skin. And as Merlin suspected, the guard's name was a dark reddish-orange, meaning it was safe to kill him.

"Wow, now that's a sight to see." Merlin mocked the guard from within the alleyway. "A town guard abusing a helpless woman. I wonder how many of you share the same barbaric tendencies."

"Who are you?" The guard yelled out as he frantically looked around, searching for the source of the voice.

"I guess you could say I'm kind of like a garbageman." Merlin taunted while sending his vines out. "Because lately all I've been doing is cleaning up trash."

Before the guard could respond, he felt something tangle around his legs, sharp spikes began digging into his flesh before his legs were pulled out from underneath him, causing him to fall face first into the pavement.

His victim watched as the man was somehow dragged down an alleyway while screaming for his life. His chest and face started developing road rash, and a trail of blood began forming as the man was dragged further and further away. The dragging eventually stopped, and the guard struggled to turn around and face the man who captured him.

"Y-You!" The man yelled out as he recognised Merlin's appearance.

"What are you looking at?" Merlin repeated the words the guard spoke to him earlier, but in a more mocking tone, and instead of spitting on the man afterwards, he plunged his dagger into the guy's shoulder.

While using the one dagger for stability, Merlin punched the guard in the face before pulling his fist back and punching him once more. The guard wasn't offering much in the way of defence, Merlin wasn't sure if he was just left incompetent due to his inebriation, or if his strikes had sent the man into shock.

He felt a wave of satisfaction wash over him after every punch, it was almost therapeutic. Merlin realised that the man had made him irrationally angry earlier, and that what he was doing was excessive. He could have been done with this in only a few slashes, but for some reason he felt like this was necessary.

Perhaps he just needed to vent his frustrations from yesterday. He had bottled up his emotions for an entire day, and while his adult mind had the experience to just take the trauma and compartmentalise it like all the others, he could feel his teenage body buckling under the stress. He knew he had to let it all out before he began developing stress related illnesses, and there was no better place to vent than in a virtual reality game.

There was also the fact that he just didn't like the idea of scum abusing their positions to harm the vulnerable. Either way, he didn't want to end this right away, it wasn't harming a real person and the man was supposed to die regardless. He figured that his own petty revenge would inadvertently fulfil the vengeful wishes of some of the guard's victims.

When the guard's pleas had devolved into nothing but pained groans, and Merlin's blood coated hand had started hurting, he decided that it was time to finish this. Merlin made sure there was nobody around, and once the area seemed clear, he readied his dagger.

After plunging his dagger into the guard's neck, the guard immediately succumbed to his injuries, and a notification appeared before Merlin.

「You have completed the quest, "Cleaning the Slums", visit the leader of the thieves guild to receive your rewards.」

"Well that was a bit anticlimactic." Merlin sighed before chanting out the cleanse skill. The blood that caked his hand and arm had suddenly started peeling off before vanishing. "Drunks offer no challenge."

As previously instructed, Merlin left the corpse alone, although he made a small attempt to conceal it. He stood up, pulled his hood up and made his way back towards the thieves guild. He entered the tavern and made his way downstairs once more.

"You're back already?" The elf asked him with a surprised expression.

"Yeah, I found him pretty quickly, and it didn't take long to put him down." Merlin shrugged before explaining where he left the body. "You might have a few issues with identification, but some of his features are still there... So what's next?"