Chapter 218 Hidden Agenda

"You were right, Void! Heading to the Crimson Forge would actually give us something good as long as we went there!" Moving to the outskirts of Clossbay City, one of the five players looked at Void_Guardian at the center of their formation before praising the latter.

In response, Void_Guardian let out a hearty chuckle. "What can I say? I've been hearing rumors of the owner's feats ever since we've returned to the city after completing that other quest we got. Though I was unsure whether or not we'd get something good if we came there, I can finally say without a doubt that we definitely made the right choice."

"Speaking of which, does anyone mind if I get to submit the quest first?" Asking the question to the four that were accompanying him during the journey, Void_Guardian was all smiles once he received responses from three of the four, telling him that they were fine giving up the bonus of being first.

"How about you, Nephilim? Do you have any problems?" With the only person not responding to his earlier question being Nephilim, Void_Guardian looked at the man with a light frown. After that, Nephilim felt a hint of pressure as he noticed that the other three that accompanied the two of them were looking at him, their expressions obvious that they were wondering what kind of answer he was going to give in response.

Just as the other three thought that it would be somewhat interesting for Nephilim to say no this time around, considering how he acted subservient to Void_Guardian all this time, Nephilim flashed a bitter smile at Void_Guardian as he inwardly let out a sigh, lightly shaking his head soon after. "No problems. If you want to be the one to submit the quest first… feel free."

Listening to Nephilim's response, Void_Guardian eventually let out a cackle before nodding in agreement. After talking for a bit about how he was thankful to the four of them in agreeing to his wishes, the five swiftly continued with their journey, their goal being to complete the material collection quest Valyr had given them as soon as possible.

…

Clossbay City.

"Lucas, you've got to help me out!" Within a modestly sized manor, the door to a room was unceremoniously swung open, revealing a man in a kempt suit with an incredibly exasperated expression adorning his face. On the other hand, an older man that shared similar facial features to the man that had opened the door was inside the room, a frown adorning his face as he listened to the well-dressed man's words.

"And why should I do that, you good-for-nothing younger brother?" Lucas looked back at the well-dressed man, crossing his arms as he waited for the latter's response.

Though the fact Lucas had called him a good-for-nothing younger brother, the well-dressed man suppressed the fury he felt from that phrase as he recalled the humiliation that was inflicted on him and the ones that accompanied him the previous day, memories of what had transpired yesterday still lingering in his mind.

Taking in a deep breath, the well-dressed man eventually calmed down as he faced Lucas in the eyes. "Because the reputation of the Hekaetos Forging Emporium would be at stake if you don't, older brother. After all, you were the one who nominated me to become the vice leader of the emporium, even though I didn't want to."

"And all I told you after you obtained that position was to stay put within the emporium and increase your influence for the foreseeable future," said Lucas in response. "But what did you do instead?"

"Mind reminding me?" Feeling that Lucas was just taunting him with his words, the well-dressed man tried his best not to let his older brother's words affect him. Surprisingly, even though Lucas continued to taunt him with phrases such as how the well-dressed man was a failure and whatnot, the latter was able to persevere, instead coming up with an idea that would allow him to be closer to achieving his goals of retaliation.

Thud.

Amidst Lucas' taunting, the well-dressed went down on both knees before deeply bowing towards the former. "Alright, I admit that I was in the wrong, Lucas. Could you please help me out? Just this once?"

"Oho?" In response to the well-dressed man's actions, Lucas raised his eyebrows in interest. "Who knew there would come a day that our little Luke would eventually admit that he was wrong?"

"Well, since this is the first time you've admitted you were wrong, I'll help you out… but only just this once, got it?" Hearing the question that Lucas asked him, Luke profusely nodded in agreement, eliciting a slightly malevolent grin to appear on the former's face. "So, what do you need my help with?"

"I need you to process a request for a life and death duel as soon as possible, brother." Feeling that he was finally getting closer to retaliating against the humiliation he had suffered, Luke went ahead and told Lucas outright what the latter had to do.

"I assume you're going to have the best fighter of the emporium fighting against your target in this request?" In response, Lucas let out a light yawn before scratching his back.

"But of course." Luke did not deny Lucas' words. "Out of all the people in the city, you know best as to how weak I am."

"That is true." Lucas nodded. "So, who's the target of your wrath?"

"The owner of the Crimson Forge." As Luke said these words, a faint killing intent radiated out of his body, prompting Lucas' eyes to slightly widen in interest. "His name is Valyr."

"Valyr, eh?" Hearing the name Luke had uttered, Lucas went silent for a bit, pondering over the request his younger brother wanted him to do. Eventually, a light grin appeared on his face as he nodded, eliciting a wide smile to appear on Luke's face.

"Alright, Luke. I'll help you process that request."

"Fortunately for you, this ain't the first time that guy has gotten in our way."

…

"Is it really fine for you to give those quests to the five?" As Wells helped Valyr clean up the storefront now that it was nighttime, he went ahead and posed the question to the latter, who let out a light chuckle in response.

"It's fine, it's fine." Valyr waved his hands in nonchalance before returning his attention to listing down the equipment and items he had to forge to replenish his stock. "If they don't end up finishing the quest, the only thing I lose is time. If they do return sometime in the future with the materials I've asked of them, then I only lose a bit of money. After all, I'm only planning to give them Common+ grade equipment at most."

"In any case, it's not a bad thing to help people like them out," said Valyr soon after. "After all, people like them are the reason why cities could be built in the first place."

As these words came out of Valyr's mouth, Wells' mind could not help but recall Astarto Village, specifically the monster tide that had occurred at the village sometime ago. After recalling the incident for a bit, he eventually let out a light chuckle as he continued what he was doing, nodding in agreement soon after.

"Well, I can't argue with that."