Chapter 24

Level Up Heretic Inquisitor – Episode 24 (24/227)

Episode 24: Quest IN (1)

Quinnze Blonde was undoubtedly a beautiful city, but it had its darker side too.

Just as many people passed through thanks to its strategic location, plenty of shady elements had also set up shop. Their shadowy streets where these forces congregated became known as the “back alleys,” a sprawling district that dominated the night.

And Ail had just stepped into this very area.

Following an unknown NPC who seemed like just a regular restaurant owner, they entered a dimly-lit street. Soon, they came face-to-face with a man leaning against a wall under a bridge, arms crossed.

The hooded man briefly glanced at them before speaking.

“What do you want?”

“The recipients have arrived.”

“Ah… follow me.”

The supposed restaurant owner left, and the man waiting at the entrance took over, leading them further inside.

Opening a weathered door attached to a stone wall revealed a staircase heading downwards. They descended the winding steps…

Passing creaky corridors and eerie lighting, they reached a place with multiple tables and people drinking heavily. At first glance, it looked like a cheap tavern.

Ail and Lisa curiously scanned their surroundings as they were guided by the man towards a passage behind the bartender.

But just then, someone emerged from the passage, and Ail immediately recognized him.

His rugged appearance stuck in Ail’s mind.

The uncle from the first general store they visited was standing there in typical thief attire, his muscular arms exposed.

‘W-Wait… he was a thief?’

Ail stared at him in confusion, but the man simply walked past without recognizing him.

‘Could it be… he refused my items to avoid suspicion? Is he living a double life?’

There was no way a thief wouldn’t recognize the value of the junk items Ail tried to sell.

Normally, dealing with such undesirable goods would raise suspicions. While a regular merchant might not care, for someone secretly working for the Thief Guild while posing as a shopkeeper, rejecting the sale would eliminate unnecessary risk.

That had to be the reason.

‘Honestly…’

While Ail chuckled bitterly at being completely fooled by the AI, their group continued through hallways and rooms until reaching the end of the passage.

The man knocked on the final door and gestured for Ail and Lisa to enter.

Creak!

Inside, a red-haired woman sat atop a table examining something.

With a distinctive pipe in her mouth and wearing a tight leather outfit covered by a cloak.

She turned her gaze towards the visitors.

“You’re the ones who obtained Casano’s letter, right?”

Instead of answering, Ail showed her the letter.

Smirking, the woman continued.

“There shouldn’t be anyone like you on our list, so you’re obviously not the recipient… But we do have a job offer.”

“A job?”

“Yeah, a simple assassination job.”

“Isn’t that normally something Bloody Hands handles directly?”

From the moment they entered, Ail had already figured out their identity.

One of the two major forces controlling Quinnze Blonde’s back alleys: Bloody Hands.

Though their influence extended beyond this city, this was just one branch.

And the woman before them was Sebera Logia, head of this branch.

Realizing she’d been identified, Sebera grinned and stood up from her perch on the table.

“Good, I like your quick thinking. We occasionally hire outsiders. This is a proxy job.”

“What’s the job about?” Lisa asked.

“It’s something even rookie adventurers like you can handle. The targets are absolute scum anyway.”

Puff.

She exhaled smoke.

“There’s a group of thieves holed up in Hard Rock Cave. It’s not far from here.”

“That’s the first I’ve heard of thieves being there.”

While Hard Rock Cave in the mid-slopes of Mount Midona was indeed a nearby low-level hunting ground, there had never been any human-related monsters appearing there, let alone thieves.

“Our intel has confirmed their location. However, their hideout is concealed by an invisible barrier, making it invisible to ordinary eyes.”

Whoosh!

Sebera pulled out red talismans from her coat and tossed one each to Ail and Lisa.

“With these, you’ll be able to see through the barriers within the cave. You should also be able to pass through them.”

‘Dungeon…?’

Ail and Lisa exchanged surprised glances.

An instance dungeon.

A dungeon that completely blocks outside interference once entered, and generates separate spaces for each party, meaning parties won’t share positions with others.

In Warode, most dungeons hidden behind transparent barriers were almost certainly “instances.”

However, given that this wasn’t a repeatable quest yet required a special item to enter, it was clearly a special instance dungeon created specifically for this quest, accessible only to those involved.

No other players had ever reported finding anything like it in Hard Rock Cave.

Most of these types of dungeons disappeared permanently after being cleared, naturally offering much better rewards.

‘BIG JACKPOT…!’

Both Ail and Lisa instinctively realized it.

This wasn’t an ordinary quest available to just anyone.

They had already suspected it might be a decent quest, but this far exceeded their expectations.

“You’ll find a band of thieves within the barrier. Just kill their leader, a guy named ‘Casano,’ the sender of that letter. Whether you slaughter all the members along the way or sneak in for the assassination is up to you. As long as there are no witnesses, we don’t care how you do it.”

“Hold on, we still haven’t heard why Bloody Hands isn’t handling this directly.”

Ail stepped forward to ask.

No matter how appealing the quest sounded, they couldn’t accept it blindly.

If it proved beyond their capabilities, it would be smarter to back out early rather than risk suffering losses and penalties.

They needed basic information: who exactly they’d be facing, what factions were involved, and the scale of the reward.

But Sebera shook her head.

“You don’t need to know that. Just complete the task we’re giving you. Go ahead and take care of it. And absolutely do NOT mention we sent you.”

“That’s ridiculous. How are we supposed to know what we’re getting into…”

“On the contrary, do you even know who you’re dealing with?” Sebera sharply cut him off.

“If you hear even a hint about this operation, you’ll find yourself unable to back out halfway through. But there’s no trust between us to that extent…”

She placed six gold coins on the table with a thud.

“This is…”

“Your advance payment. The full reward will naturally be greater.”

Ail and Lisa’s jaws dropped.

Six gold coins equaled 6G, which split between them would be 3G each.

Even if the final reward was just 1G, it would be a huge deal at their current level. With an advance payment of 3G, there was nothing more to say.

“No more negotiation. Are you in or out?”

Of course, trying to scam someone connected to Bloody Hands, which had roots throughout Warode, would bring consequences they couldn’t handle.

Simply taking these coins meant they were committed to completing the quest.

Turning to Lisa, he saw her looking to him for guidance.

“I’m not forcing you into anything. We’re giving you this opportunity because you helped deal with Latma on our behalf. If you refuse, we’ll just give it to someone else. Though you’ll need to keep quiet about the details.”

Sebera smirked and fidgeted with the dagger at her waist.

An unspoken threat to not spread the word.

Named NPCs like her typically scaled with player levels.

As the branch leader of the massive Bloody Hands organization, Sebera’s level must have surpassed 185 by now.

She’d easily overpower most players, and even quasi-rankers would struggle to guarantee victory against her.

If she drew her dagger right here, there’d be no chance to react before death.

‘There’s definitely risk involved.’

Ail paused to think.

They didn’t know why Bloody Hands was outsourcing this, nor the true identity of whoever originally requested it.

Every word from Sebera reeked of danger.

But turning away such an opportunity outright would be foolish too – chances like this didn’t come around often.

Warode always offered returns proportional to risks.

Whether to choose low risk-low return or high risk-high return…

Whether to proceed cautiously and fall behind, or rush ahead and potentially crash…

Success or failure ultimately depended on personal choices and abilities.

The safe path or the dangerous one…

“…I’ll take it.”

Ail’s choice was obvious – the latter.