"Kouske?" Liam was taken aback. In that narrow corridor, they were just seconds away from running into each other.
And clearly, they had also come here for the same reason that he had come here, to inspect the moss that was on the walls of the tunnel.
But they did not sound too happy?
There was still only one second before they turned around the corner but at the last minute, Liam suddenly had a hunch and he decided to set some things in motion.
Instead of letting them arrive in front of him, he quickly took a step, turned around the corner to stand in front of them.
"What? Why the long faces? Did your quest fail?" He smirked, his gaze as cold as ice.
Instantly, the group of four came to a screeching halt, and their eyes went wide.
The enemy that they had been running from for the past several hours was suddenly standing right in front of them.
"Holy shit! FUCK!" Madan was the first one to blurt out, as he looked at Liam clutching his heart. He stared at him as if he was the god of death himself.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
"Why are you here!!!"
"How did you know that we failed the quest?"
"You can't touch us here! There are guards ok! There is nothing that you can do to us."
"Madan!" Kouske shouted, immediately stopping him from speaking any further.
Only then did Madan notice that he had gone too far and said something that he shouldn't have. Since he was caught off guard, he foolishly let slip something.
He quickly stopped talking and zipped his mouth close. Kouske stepped forward instead. "Think carefully before acting, Liam." He said in a warning tone.
"It's nothing personal. We just happened to cross paths, and it is best that we go our separate ways."
"There is no enmity here and we don't need to harbor any grudges. Good luck with the game." Kouske said a matter of fact and started walking.
He did not wait for Liam to respond and casually walked past him. However, the next second, before he could take another step, he instantly stopped.
There was a dark purple sword blocking his path. Actually, it would have sliced him into two if it was not for the fact that he reacted quickly.
"LIAM!" Kouske exclaimed in anger and shock.
The others looked at him in confusion because they were a second late to realize what had happened.
"This is not a place you can mess around even if you are a D.U.K.E." Kouske said, particularly stressing the last word.
Liam sneered. "Oh, but I think I can. Do you want to place a bet?"
Madan. "Sure. What do you want to bet? You are only one person. There are four of us. Do you really want to try this? Especially here in royal city? Do you know-"
"MADAN!" Kouske once again shouted, preventing the blabbermouth from spilling all the beans.
Liam did not know Kouske well but even he could tell that the person was truly furious now. Too bad, he wanted to learn more things, but Kouske stopped it from happening.
"Don't say another word. Shut up. Let's go. NOW! No need to talk to anyone. He will not attack us. Not here."
"But…"
"LET'S GO!" Kouske did not seem to want to hear anything more. He gave Liam a stern look before stepping over the sword and continuing to walk away.
The others also did the same and Madan was the last to leave, as he awkwardly heaved his fat body up and stepped over the sword, almost stumbling and falling.
"Can't he put it back in already?" He grumbled in a low murmur as the group disappeared.
And just like Kouske had said, Liam also did not act. He simply gazed at the group from the back, amusement swirling in his eyes.
He had learned many things from this small interaction but mainly one thing was clear. They were upset. All of them had a frown on their faces as if they were dissatisfied with something.
Did they really fail the quest? Or was this all just an act?
As they completely disappeared from his point of view, Liam's lips curled up.
He had purposefully startled them and baited them and had also gotten the result that he wanted.
In case what the fatty blurted out was true… then that could only mean…
It was not Kouske, but him who had gotten everything!
His problem was… there was no way for him to confirm this. Or was there? Liam mulled over this issue as he walked forward to the inspection room to get the herb analyzed.
Inside the room, there was only one person seated, so he walked forward and handed over the specimen to him.
"Oh, this herb again?" The old man groomed his beard and exclaimed in surprise. He was visibly shocked to look at the same moss once again.
The group that had visited him just now also gave him something similar for inspection. In fact, not similar but it looked like it was the same.
How could such a precious item be popping up again and again?
The old man looked at Liam, knitting his brows together. He wanted to know where these younguns were finding such good things!
But as soon as he saw Liam, he was once again shocked. "Lord Duke. Please forgive me. I didn't greet you properly."
His eyes were only on the herb earlier so he hadn't paid any attention to Liam so far. Liam as well was surprised to find his Duke identity still working here.
This man was probably only a master then. Liam concluded. Because when it came to professionals above master class, even the king had to treat them with respect.
"Ha Ha Ha. Must be a coincidence." Liam awkwardly smiled, ruffling his hair. "Could you please tell me what this is? I am in a hurry." He urged him.
Without questioning him any further, the old man nodded respectfully and then closed his eyes, muttering something while holding a handful of the moss close to his chest.
A small glow covered the moss and a couple of seconds later, the old man flashed his eyes open.
He had actually just now inspected this item but this matter concerned the Lord Duke so he did not take any chances and without beind lazy, inspected the item all over again.
"My Lord, this is the [Black Nether Moss]. This herb is actually a very precious item and has soul-strengthening properties."
"In our realm, there aren't many soul-strengthening items, so this is an extremely rare and precious herb." The old man repeated his words to stress his point.
However, even after he repeatedly explained the same thing again and again, the Duke seemed to be in a strange trance?
"Lord Duke?" The old man nervously called out.
Liam still did not respond and finally, the fourth time he called out, he snapped out of his thoughts. "Alright. Thanks a lot for the help, senior."
Patting his chest, the old man sighed in relief. He did not want to offend the Duke.
He place the moss back carefully and returned it back to Liam, who looked at the tiny quantity and shook his head helplessly.
There was a bitter smile on his face which the old man could not understand. Nevertheless, he bowed and respectfully greeted Liam as he left.
Only Liam knew why he was smiling. This damned Luna!
How precious were soul-strengthening herbs?! Extremely powerful potions could be made from this. Even the effects of his death could be reversed!
And he had fed all of it to the little fox!
But in the end, perhaps only because of it, she was able to survive.
"Well, there is no point in thinking about that now." He shrugged and walked out of the alchemy association.
The important thing was that Luna was safe and the inheritance was probably not completely lost.
As he was thinking about this, he remembered the other group's discussion that he had overheard and chuckled in amusement.
More than him, those guys were probably beating themselves up over this right about now. At least he had utilized the herbs in one way or the other.
But they had generously left it all for him to use as he pleased!
Heh. Liam pulled his interface to see his messages and check on his sister and Shen Yue when he saw the words PVP tower and suddenly remembered something crucial.
"100th floor of the PVP!" Liam clenched his fist. Now he knew what exactly to do to find out just what Kouske had gained in this trip.
"Perfect. Now everything will be revealed."
Liam nodded confidently and then walked out of the royal city. He hopped over Talon and headed straight to the trade city where the PVP tower was located.
Meanwhile…
"Kouske, I have a bad feeling." Barret who was silent all this time spoke up as they mingled in the crowds of the royal city.
Their work here was actually done but they were still here to make sure that they were not followed.
After all, they had stolen from 'that person.'
Others might not know this but their group was aware of a key piece of information.
The black-masked oni who was known for his PVP skills and the golems and Liam were both one and the same person.
Even with four of them together, they doubted that they could stand up against this person's PVP skills, and especially the golems.
So they needed to make the required precautions. Things would be completely different in a couple of days as they had gained a lot in this trip, but for now they needed to be careful.
Especially because of what they had gained in the necromancer's hideout, they couldn't afford to face him right now.
With their quest incomplete and the moss not collected, if they managed to lose the item as well, then their entire trip would have been wasted.
And they would have made an enemy out of this monster for no reason!
"Kouske, do you think we should do something? How much longer can we stay within the city?" Barret said.
Kouske sighed without responding. He remained silent for a few seconds and then voiced his thoughts.
"I agree. Since we can't consult brother right now, we have to decide something. Otherwise, we might lose a lot."
"He is not that strong. Just has a jump on us with respect to levels." Anya scoffed.
"But level is everything, right?" Madan rolled his eyes at the blonde. Seeing her glare back at him, he quickly cleared his throat and ignored her.
He then came to the point and looked at Kouske with barely contained glee as if he had a brilliant idea. "What about that other news? Shall we leak it?" He grinned.
"Oh? That news?" Kouske muttered absent-mindedly. He silently stood still for a minute and then, surprising everyone, he unexpectedly nodded in agreement.
"Hmmm. I also think that is the right answer. Desperate times call for desperate measures. This will definitely keep him busy."
"And the blame won't fall on us!" Madan grinned smugly. The four of them then discussed for a bit and set their plan into motion.
***
Bonus Chapter~~
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