Moni's Scheme, Outside Help!

With the event-filled commission finally completed, the Monk relaxed a bit and said, “Let’s go to the Grote family’s castle first to collect the reward.”

For long-term commissions like clearing out the cemetery, since the exact reward amount was uncertain beforehand, the Adventurers' Guild generally wouldn't collect payment from the client in advance. Instead, they took a fixed commission based on the duration the task was posted. Thus, the reward had to be collected directly from the client by the adventurers themselves.

“Let’s go.”

Just as Lynn was about to leave with the Monk and Lupa, a sudden sensation of being watched washed over him. Following his intuition, Lynn turned his head to look toward the perimeter of the Graveyard.

A figure wrapped up tightly was looking down at the three of them from atop the high stone wall.

Noticing Lynn’s gaze and realizing they were exposed, the figure quickly vaulted over the stone wall and disappeared behind it.

Lynn sprinted after the figure. Taking a running start, he leaped straight onto the two-meter-high stone wall.

Immediately, he discovered...

The person hadn't run away at all...

The fellow was currently hiding in the dim, thick grass, crouching down as if activating a skill like Stealth.

Had it been an ordinary adventurer, under the cover of the dim lighting, they might truly have failed to spot the person.

However, Lynn had the passive effect of Echolocation.

With a subtle vibration in his throat, he instantly pinpointed the hidden location.

Lynn walked toward the hiding spot.

Realizing their location had been exposed, the person actually took the initiative to attack Lynn.

The figure struck out with a knife-hand chop toward Lynn’s neck, intending to knock him unconscious before fleeing.

Yet, just as the hand was about to touch Lynn, the figure realized with a shock... Why was there a white glow shimmering around Lynn?

Slamming bare-handed into the magical shield of Blade Ward, the figure felt as though their hand was about to break.

With a trembling palm and a failed blow, the figure showed zero hesitation, instantly raising both hands.

“I surrender!”

Lynn looked at the person, utterly speechless.

Monitoring them for no reason, launching a surprise attack, and then surrendering on the spot after being frightened by a single Abjuration cantrip...

By then, the Monk had rushed over upon hearing the commotion. Seeing the figure fight Lynn and then immediately try to surrender, he showed no mercy whatsoever, kicking the back of the person's knee to force them down onto their knees.

Taking the heavy kick with a muffled groan, the figure didn't even try to resist, letting the momentum drop them right into a kneel.

This willingness to surrender surprised even Lynn.

Talk about flexible...

Lynn asked, “Talk. Why were you spying on us?”

The person didn't hide a thing.

The moment Lynn questioned them, they spilled everything like beans from a sack—who they were, why they were here, and who sent them.

As it turned out, this fellow was sent by the Graveyard administrator, Moni Grote, to spy on Lynn’s group.

To be precise, Moni had given the task to his butler, and the butler had outsourced it to this freelancer—a Tier 1 rogue.

As an outsourced worker, this rogue was merely acting for money, which explained why he surrendered so decisively in the face of danger.

However, the butler couldn't entirely be blamed for bad hiring.

After the decline of the Grote family, most of their knights had abandoned their allegiance to young Grote. Consequently, after rebuilding his fortune through managing the funeral and burial industry, Moni Grote had no choice but to hire freelance class-holders to serve him.

Thus, the Grote family's only self-trained, loyal, and reliable personnel were their guards, while their class-holder subordinates were mostly mercenaries like this rogue who did whatever they were paid to do.

Furthermore, this rogue had seen with his own eyes how the Tier 2 monster, the Psionic Corpse, had been beaten to death by this seemingly ordinary Mage apprentice and the Monk.

The rogue knew full well in his heart that although the guy in front of him looked like a mere Mage apprentice who knew a couple of cantrips, in close combat, this so-called apprentice could probably pummel him into the ground!

His symbolic resistance earlier had been for two reasons: first, to justify the pay given by the butler; and second, out of fear of what horrible end might await him if he fell into Lynn’s hands.

Now that escape was impossible, he could only do his best to satisfy Lynn's demands and beg for a way out.

The rogue honestly confessed Moni's instructions—Moni required him to report back if Lynn and his group actually gathered any moon dust fungus.

As for the purpose, the butler hadn't told him.

Yet Lynn didn't even need to guess Moni’s intention. He was definitely targeting the moon dust fungus.

This fallen noble actually dared to harbor such intentions...

“How should we handle him now?” The Monk asked Lynn, glancing at the rogue trembling on his knees.

Lynn stroked the scabbard at his waist as he analyzed the current situation.

If he disposed of the rogue here, Moni Grote would eventually realize that they had collected the moon dust fungus and come looking for trouble anyway.

It seemed the best choices came down to two options.

The simplest was naturally to wipe out the Grote family directly.

However, that wasn't very realistic. Since the Grote family could afford to hire one class-holder, they could naturally hire two or three. Even if Lynn sneaked in using Stealth to assassinate Moni Grote, he might fall into other dangers afterward.

The second option was to release the rogue and have him pass false information back to Moni, convincing Moni that Lynn and his party hadn't found any moon dust fungus.

This plan required the assumption that the rogue wouldn't betray them.

Given the rogue's professional ethics, however...

Lynn naturally didn't trust the guy.

Therefore, compared to the first and second options...

If he wanted to solve the problem once and for all without future troubles, Lynn felt a third option was far more reliable!

That was to directly call for outside assistance and bring Mentor Gray over.

With Gray present, even if Moni Grote knew they had gathered the moon dust fungus, he wouldn't be able to do anything to them.

In that case, this rogue seemed rather useless.

Noticing Lynn’s sudden gaze, the kneeling rogue gasped, terror jolting through him.

“Don’t... don’t kill me, boss!” Tears almost welled up in the rogue's eyes from fright.

Trembling, he pulled out a handful of items from his chest and offered them up with both hands toward Lynn.

“My payment for the job is all here! Please don’t kill me!”

Lynn was amused by this timid fellow. To save his life, he had even resorted to calling him "boss"?

Of course, Lynn had never intended to actually get rid of him.

The guy was just a mercenary working for pay; he hadn’t even drawn a weapon when resisting earlier. Killing him offered no benefit other than potentially making an enemy.

Besides, since coming to this otherworldly realm, Lynn hadn't killed anyone yet, and he had no intention of wasting his precious first kill on a guy like this.

Lynn picked through the items offered by the rogue, taking all the gold and silver coins.

A total of four gold and five silver.

The fellow was surprisingly wealthy—after all, no matter how timid, he was still a class-holder.

Afterward, Lynn found a length of rope, tied the rogue up, and tossed him to the side.

“Wait here. When the cemetery guard comes on patrol later, they’ll naturally set you free. But I'm warning you, you’d better stay far away from the Grote family from now on.”

Feeling like he had reclaimed his little life, the rogue nodded furiously. “Don’t worry, boss! I’ll never have anything to do with the Grote family ever again!”

Even if Lynn hadn't warned him, the rogue wouldn't dare work for the Grotes anymore.

Lynn looked toward the small road leading from the Graveyard to Wingen Town.

The coachman had already driven back to notify Mentor Gray.

Next, it was time to go settle the score with Mr. Moni Grote.