Chapter 233 Behind The Veil

Though he was curious as to what kind of objectives the quest he had received contained, Valyr was left with no choice but to put that thought on hold for now, noticing that another person was already within the area he had just stepped foot in.

Appearing to be in his late twenties, the man that was in the area before Valyr arrived had short black hair and pitch black irises, giving him the feeling that the man did not like standing out that much.

Then again, that feeling was negated by the large scar that spanned from the man's right cheek down down to his left shoulder, instead giving Valyr the feeling that he was looking at a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Trying to recall what he and Arcenne talked about the previous day regarding the possible opponents from the Hekaetos Forging Emporium he would be fighting up against in the duel, Valyr placed the backpacks he had been carrying all this time to a somewhat distant spot before heading to where the man with a light smile.

"Nice to meet you, the name's Valyr." With Valyr extending his hand out, the man was left with no choice but to respond in kind, grabbing the hand Valyr extended before introducing himself soon after.

"Leron," said the man in response to Valyr's introduction. As the two of them let go of each other's hands, Leron looked at Valyr from head to toe for a bit before posing a question to him. "You the one I'm fighting against?"

"Life and death duel?" questioned Valyr in response, thinking that the possibility of the man in front of him participating in a different duel was not low. However, he was forced to discard that thought once Leron nodded his head as a response to his question, prompting Valyr to nod back with a solemn expression.

Turning around to head to where his backpacks here, Valyr left Leron on his own for the meantime as he sat near his backpacks, deciding to take a look at the description of the quest he had received just as he had stepped foot into the room.

'I wonder if the bad feeling I'm getting from the man has any relation to the quest.' With this thought in mind, he commanded the system to show him the quest through his mind, not wanting Leron to see what he was doing, even though the latter was just minding his own business.

Ding!

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[Schemes Behind Grudges] (Sudden Quest)

Difficulty: C

Thanks to a deep-seated grudge that had been cultivated between you and a person with high authority within the Hekaetos Forging Emporium, you have been forced to engage in a life and death duel against someone who was deemed the strongest person within the Hekaetos Forging Emporium.

However, after interacting with your opponent for a bit, you've instantly taken note that the man seemed off, as if he had come there with a different purpose. The possibility of a third party having something to do with this life and death duel you're partaking in is not low. But for you to figure out more about it, you'll have to win the duel first.

Quest Objectives:

> Win the life and death duel (0/1)

Quest Rewards:

> 50,000 XP

> Additional information regarding one of the user's ongoing quests

Quest Penalties:

> Reputation -100 within Clossbay City

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'Guess that answers my earlier question.' Once Valyr was finished reading through the description of the quest he had received, he inwardly let out a long sigh. Aside from that, he realized from how the quest was worded out that the life and death duel he was going to partake in had a third party involved in the matter.

'At this point, I wouldn't even be surprised if the mastermind of the Clossbay Killer operation is the third party the system is talking about.' Taking in a deep breath to calm himself down, he then opened up the chat function and sent a message to Tryndall regarding the quest he had received, telling him that there was a possibility for his life and death duel with the Hekaetos Forging Emporium and the mastermind of the Clossbay Killer operation to be related somehow.

Not long after, Tryndall sent back a response to Valyr that the suspect that decided to help them told them that they had actually interacted with someone from the Hekaetos Forging Emporium, one of the middle level authorities at that.

After that, he informed Valyr that they would delve deeper into this lead in the meantime and update him about it once they found out more, wishing the latter good luck on his duel at the very end of his message.

Lightly scratching his head as he closed up the screen in front of him that contained the chat function, Valyr looked back at Leron, who was currently in the process of sharpening his blade. Recalling the list of people he and Arcenne talked about yesterday regarding his possible opponents, a light frown eventually crept up his face as he could not recall Arcenne informing him of a Leron.

'Did Arcenne forget about him? But didn't she tell me yesterday that all of the people she mentioned were more or less all of the people within the emporium?' Feeling that the foreboding feeling he was getting from Leron earlier seemed to be worsening with every passing second, Valyr decided to move closer to where Leron was and ask the latter a couple of questions.

"Say, Leron. When they told you to participate in this duel, how did you react?" As Valyr asked Leron this question, the latter pondered over it for a bit before opening his mouth.

"I don't know." Leron shrugged his shoulders. "All I know is that the boss told me to participate in the duel, and so I did."

"I see." Nodding in response, a frown crept up on Valyr's face once more. "What were you doing in the emporium before you were told to participate in the duel?"

"I… uh… I was tasked with lifting heavy materials for the emporium. Yeah." Unlike his previous answer, where he approached it with a hint of nonchalance, Leron's eyes briefly widened as it was then that he had an idea as to why Valyr was asking him questions. Coming up with an excuse on the spot, Leron recalled the orders he was told last night before coming here to the Farraway Coliseum, inwardly cursing at himself for being too relaxed.

"I see." Nodding once more, the frown on Valyr's face went deeper as he headed back to where his backpacks were. Then, removing the pieces of armor from the backpacks, he went ahead and put on the Half Wyvern Armor set he had brought along with him.

'Judging by how Leron responded to my questions, it seems the mastermind of the Clossbay Killer incident has a relationship of some sort with forging emporium. Then again, I don't have enough concrete evidence to say that's the case. Either way…'

'This duel might just kill me if I'm not careful.'