CH 76

The signalman’s plastic surgery was finally over.

Ring…! Ring…! Ring…! 

The radio rang.

“Hello?” Siegfried answered the call.

— Done?

“What the? Is that you?” Siegfried grumbled after recognizing the voice on the other end of the line.

— Yeah, it’s me.

The person on the other end of the Church of Osric’s radio was none other than Cheon Woo-Jin.

“How are you using this line for a phone call?”

— I’m currently at another one of their bases.

“So it was a multi-pronged operation?”

— That’s right.

Cheon Woo-Jin orchestrated multiple operations on different Church of Osric bases at the same time.

— Both you, me, and another party attacked three bases of the Church of Osric in the Proatine Province. All three attacks were successful, and the Proatine Province is finally free from the Church of Osric.

“Oh?”

— I’ll give you the coordinates, so come over here and clean this place up as well.

“Are you telling me to go and clean the shit from the ground…?”

— You have to clean your lawn yourself. It’s your house, after all.

Siegfried recalled hearing something similar in the past.

— I’m hanging up. I’ll see you later in the evening since I will have to acknowledge the completion of the quest I gave you.

“I should probably tidy this place up then,” Siegfried replied. He then hung up and went to work to sweep up the remaining rabbles of the Church of Osric.

***

Siegfried went up to handle the remaining members of the Church of Osric here, and he saw Seung-Gu scream while flying in mid-air.

“Euaaak!”

There wasn’t a single golem in sight around Seung-Gu.

“H-Hyung-nim! Help me!” Seung-Gu cried out after seeing Siegfried.

“What the? Where are your golems?”

“T-That’s…” Seung-Gu muttered. He seemed embarrassed before explaining, “I ran out of mana… I’m actually mana impotent…”

“…”

“C-Can you help me…?”

The golemless Seung-Gu was getting shoved around by even the basic members of the Church of Osric. The Golem Maker’s excessive dependence on their golems and their high mana consumption were one of the fatal weaknesses of the Hidden Class.

It was also the reason Seung-Gu struggled during the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament.

***

Siegfried helped Seung-Gu. Afterward, he chased down and conducted a beatdown on those who tried to run away.

“I think we’re done here, so let’s go and save the hostages.”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

Siegfried went with Seung-Gu to rescue the abducted hostages.

“W-Where is this…?”

“I remember being abducted by some people…”

“Are you the ones who saved me?”

The hostages were at a loss, but they soon expressed their gratitude to Siegfried after realizing what was going on.

“My name is Siegfried van Proa, and I am the one in charge of the Proatine Province.”

“Van Proa…? Are you the king of this place?” asked an old man among the hostages.

“Yes…” Siegfried did not try to hide the fact that he was the king. It seemed that he had already accepted his position and was starting to become confident in his new identity.

“Oh my god! Your Majesty personally came to rescue us with only one subordinate accompanying you?”

“It just turned out that way…”

“I, Gormillet, a head researcher of the Magic Tower, greet His Majesty, the King of Proatine.”

Surprisingly, the old man turned out to be a mage affiliated with the Magic Tower.

The Magic Tower was the holy land of all magicians on the Nürburg Continent. It was the place where all magic-related knowledge was passed down, and a head researcher from the tower was bound to be able and talented.

“I greet the King of Proatine!”

The other rescued hostages got down on one knee and bowed their heads toward Siegfried. It was their way of showing respect toward the ruler of the Proatine Province, who was their savior as well.

“I cannot put into words my gratitude for Your Majesty personally coming to save this old man.”

“Please do not mention it. I just could not stand the thought of people getting abducted and brainwashed in my own lands.”

“Hoho… you are humble on top of being brave…”

“I am sure you are still at a loss from everything that happened, so please, have some rest for now. I will instruct my soldiers to escort you and ensure that you make it home safely.”

It was then…

“Die! Die! Die! Dieeeeeeee!”

***

Siegfried turned around and looked at where the scream came from.

Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk! 

He saw a young man lifting a large stone and smashing it into something over and over again.

“Keuh!”

“Die!”

“Keuaaak!”

Siegfried looked closer and saw that the young man was smashing the stone into the head of a Church of Osric member who was still alive.

Puk! Puk! Puk!

The young man did not stop smashing even though the church member had already passed away. He continued smashing until the dead church member’s skull cracked open, and fragments of his skull and brain splattered all over the place.

“Enough,” Siegfried said, pulling the young man back.

“Let me go!”

“Stop it.”

“Die! Die! Dieeeeee!”

In the end, Siegfried had no choice but to use force to stop the young man.

“Let me go! I said let me go!”

“I already told you to stop.”

“I will kill them all! I will not leave a single one of them alive!”

It seemed that the young man harbored intense hatred toward the Church of Osric.

“I will avenge… I want revenge… I will kill all of them…”

His bloodlust and hostility could be felt from every word coming out of his mouth.

“Hoho…” Gormillet let out a laugh mixed with disbelief and pity for the young man before he asked, “Your Majesty, may I send this young man to sleep?”

“I think that will be for the best,” Siegfried replied.

Gormillet cast sleeping magic on the young man as soon as Siegfried gave his permission, and the young man slowly calmed down and fell asleep.

“How can such a young man go through such hardships so early on in life…” Gormillet muttered while shaking his head.

“Did something happen?” Siegfried asked.

“I heard a bit of his story when I first came here, but it seems that those evil people killed all of that young man’s family before abducting him.”

“Ah…”

It turned out that the young man truly had a valid reason for his anger and hatred.

“This young man has no place to go to… How about Your Majesty takes him in?”

“I am not someone who can take responsibility for someone else,” Siegfried replied and shook his head before adding, “But I think I will have to take him in for now. It seems like he is going to get himself in trouble sooner or later if he were left alone.”

“May your will be done, Your Majesty,” Gormillet said with a bow.

***

“The Magic Tower will never forget Your Majesty’s grace. I hope for the day to meet you again, and I will never forget this debt,” Gormillet sincerely thanked Siegfried.

The other hostages thanked Siegfried as well, and each and every one of them promised to repay the debt one day.

“Let’s go, Seung-Gu.”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

Siegfried commanded the soldiers to take care of the rest as he returned to Casein Castle with Seung-Gu along with the fast-asleep young man in tow.

***

Later that night, Cheon Woo-Jin appeared before Siegfried.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

There was a golden exclamation point on top of Cheon Woo-Jin’s head, which was the symbol that appeared on top of an NPC’s head that notified a player of their quest’s completion.

[Alert: You have completed the Quest – ‘Abducted Talents’!]

[Alert: Get your rewards for completing ‘Abducted Talents’ from Quest Maker, ‘Cheon Woo-Jin’!]

Siegfried looked at Cheon Woo-Jin.

“Here,” Cheon Woo-Jin said, handing over a rainbow-colored mask and a pink stone with ancient runic texts engraved on it.

[Alert: You have received the Quest reward ‘Metamorphosis Mask’ for completing the Quest!]

A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled.

[Alert: You have received the Quest reward ‘B-Rank Stone of Transcendence’ for completing the Quest!]

A message popped up in front of Siegfried, notifying him about the completion of his quest after receiving the quest rewards from Cheon Woo-Jin.

“Now that I think about it… What are these for?” Siegfried asked.

“Take a look for yourself,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied with a shrug.

“Sure…” Siegfried used his Rune of Insight to check the details of the quest rewards.

[B-Rank Stone of Transcendence]

[A growth elixir made by a skilled alchemist.]

[Type: Elixir (Consumable)]

[Effect: The user will gain ten levels after absorbing this stone’s energy. (Only applicable for those under Level 100)]

Surprisingly, the B-Rank Stone of Transcendence was an amazing item that increased the user’s level by ten. It did have a restriction—only those under Level 100 could use it, but it was the perfect item for Siegfried, who was currently in desperate need of levels.

[Metamorphosis Mask]

[The best item for criminals!]

[Type: Accessory (Mask)]

[Effect: Attempts to scan the user’s information using the Rune of Insight will be blocked.]

The Metamorphosis Mask was a pretty handy item for Siegfried. After all, he didn’t want any information leak about himself.

“I just picked out the items that are going to be extremely helpful to you, so you don’t have to be so thankful,” said Cheon Woo-Jin with a smirk.

Siegfried glared at him and said, “Hey,”

“What? You don’t like them…?”

“Do you have any other quests?”

“…”

“Give me a few more if you have some. Your quests are delicious,” Siegfried said. After getting a taste of the Quest Maker’s Quests, he started craving it.

“I’m sorry to say this, but I have nothing else to give,” Cheon Woo-Jin said while shaking his head in disbelief. Eventually, he sighed and said, “There are a lot of available quests, but you’re too weak to do any of them.”

“I asked for a quest, but you’re roasting me instead…?” Siegfried grumbled.

“That’s not what I meant,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied with a sigh.

“Then what?”

“The Church of Osric is an organization that’s much more dangerous than you think, and they are extremely powerful as well. To be honest, even I haven't even been able to measure the depths of their strength just yet. Oh, and you better be careful from now on. You poked the hornet’s nest real good this time, after all.”

“Hmm…”

“So you better get stronger as soon as possible so that I can give you more quests. I have a lot, but you have to be strong enough to do them.”

“Alright, alright. I understand, so get lost,” Siegfried waved his hand and chased Cheon Woo-Jin away.

“Well, if you say so,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied with a shrug.

However, he suddenly turned around and said, “Oh, right. You better take good care of that guy.”

“Who? That young guy?”

“Yeah…”

“Why?”

“These are the information on the abducted victims. Go and look up Michele de Petronas,” Cheon Woo-Jin said as he handed over a few pages of documents to Siegfried.

Michele de Petronas.

That was the name of the young man Siegfried brought back with him.

“You should be pretty interested in what that document has to say. Of course, whether you keep him with you or not is entirely up to you, but I can guarantee that you will be delighted.”

“Is he that amazing?” Siegfried asked. He took the documents and went through them.

Exactly three seconds later, Siegfried muttered in surprise, “Huh?”

“This guy is…”

“I can guarantee that you will regret losing him,” Cheon Woo-Jin said with a smirk.

“Yeah, I think I will regret it—no, I will definitely regret it.” Siegfried agreed with Cheon Woo-Jin’s words.

The details of the young man named Michele de Petronas were along these lines:

[Michele de Petronas]

[The eldest son of Viscount Hamilton, the head of a small family called the Petronas Family. They do not possess any lands, and his father works as a tutor for families in rural areas.]

[Genius Administrator]

[He received top marks on the national exam hosted by the Marchioni Empire two months ago, and he is the youngest Valedictorian in the history of the empire.]

[Michele will start working as a high-ranking administrator at the capital within a month’s time.]

[Gender: Male]

[Age: 15]

[Affiliation: Petronas Family of the Marchioni Empire.]

[Additional Information: Unable to gather mana in his body.]

The young man was exactly what Siegfried needed right now.