After explaining what the benefits of an S-rank card gave, Euclesias sent them on their merry way. Astaroth grabbed a monster-hunting quest at Claire’s counter, since he didn’t want to pull out the card in public.
The woman gave him the quest; her face still stoic, before the pair of Ash Elves left the building. The quest consisted of slaying at least thirty stone bulls that were invading the mines of Sunpeak.
This wasn’t a quest readily available to everyone, since the mines were the property of the city itself. The quest rank was A-rank, and there weren’t any players with that rank yet.
Since the quests weren’t on a board visible to everyone, the players had no way of knowing what quest others took, making the stealing of them that much more complicated.
But there was another issue for Astaroth and Violette. The mines were located closer to the center of the city, between the royal district and the noble district.
Meaning they had to cross a checkpoint to get there. One where they had been refused access previously.
One which every player had been refused access to, as of yet.
When the duo walked up to the gate, which was almost devoid of any waiting line, the guards stopped them.
“People of your kind have no business beyond these gates. Turn back!”
Astaroth was tempted to punch him in the face, before slathering his quest paper on his face, but he refrained from it.
“We have a quest at the mines, from the adventurer’s guild. Here are the documents.”
He pulled out the scroll that came as a quest item and handed it to the guard. The guard seemed put off that an abnormal was taking a quest that would lead into the city center.
This was the first case he had seen yet. But the documents checked out.
“Wait here a moment. I need to check with my supervisor.”
Astaroth sighed in response, giving a small nod.
The guard almost popped off at him for his arrogant display, but he refrained. If this abnormal was taking a quest of this rank following the rules, then rebuking him could lead to trouble.
The guard walked to the small office-like room tied to the gate before using the same device the main door had used to communicate with someone at another location.
The verification took a few minutes as the man conversed with an unseen participant, frowning from time to time. When he came back, his face had morphed from a stern look to one of indifference.
“Please have a pleasant stay inside the city center, sir Astaroth.”
‘How does he suddenly know my name? Meh. I don’t care.’
“Thank you.”
Astaroth took his document back, and the two were let through the gates. The guards were exchanging weird looks, but no one stopped them from crossing.
“I bet the guard at the city entrance would be eating his boots by now,” Violette said, smiling widely.
Astaroth burst into laughter at her comment.
“Yeah, hahaha! I bet he would!”
The two of them walked in the mine’s direction, which was pinned in their minimap.
This part of the city was much calmer and less crowded than their previous location. Most people were travelling around in coaches, decorated in many fancy trimmings and crests.
Astaroth and Violette could tell these were nobles and rich merchants. People that they didn’t want to offend.
They stayed to the sides of the road as much as possible, making sure they weren’t in the way of the rapidly passing vehicles. That kept them from not only getting into trouble but also from getting trampled.
The mountain was rapidly becoming bigger in their sight, soon to take most of their vision. Sunpeak mountain was by no means small, but being closer to it like this really pushed that point across.
To their left was a gate that led into the royal district. The guards manning that gate were equipped with much more luxurious and sturdy-looking armour.
To their right, another gate led into the noble district. Pompous-looking guards manned this one, and the armour they were wearing almost looked more decorative than practical.
And lastly, right in front of them, another gate. This led to the mining district, which was basically the center of Sunpeak’s economy.
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You could easily tell that the ruler of this city knew that without the minerals, their economy would collapse. This showed the ruler wasn’t a narcissistic prick who thought he was the core of the city.
‘Smart politicians are the ones we should be most wary of, though,’ Astaroth thought.
He and Violette walked to the gate, where a single guard was standing, verifying the people coming in and out of the mining district.
They waited for their turn, as the man was being extremely thorough with every person he checked. There was a single case of someone being pulled aside, where they searched him and found hidden ore on his person.
The offender was quickly brought away to what Astaroth guessed was jail. Soon came their turn.
“Next!” the guard shouted in a stern voice.
Astaroth and Violette walked forward, the former pulling out the quest documents. The man took the papers handed to him without looking up.
He checked them and then handed them back to Astaroth.
“Your query is in the fourth level in the eastern part of the mines. If you’ve never been here before, you can head to the office next to the mines and purchase the services of a guide.”
Astaroth thanked him with a curt bow, which the guard didn’t even notice since he was already eyeing the next group of entrants.
“That was fast…” Astaroth said, looking at Violette.
The little girl shrugged, not interested in these kinds of things.
Her mind was still mostly preoccupied with how she could make her magic power as strong as the guild master. The rest was mostly happening around her without her caring.
This made Astaroth shake his head a bit.
‘I hope she snaps back into focus before we reach the monsters. Distractions in combat lead to mistakes.’