The storm surrounding the audit continued to brew in Rhode City for several days.
No one knew which big-mouthed Silver Rank adventurer standing in the front row had started it, but word of the extra glance Novia had given Lu Mao before she left had spread, embellished with every telling.
By the third day, the original story had splintered into several unrecognizable versions.
Some said Lu Mao was Novia's long-lost illegitimate son; others claimed he was a disciple she had personally groomed at another branch; and some simply said she had taken a liking to the boy's face.
The most ridiculous version claimed that Novia had once met Lu Mao when he was selling his body—and they had hit it off instantly.
Rumor had it that someone had already compiled these stories into a collection of short stories.
But for Lu Mao, every day was the same:
A simple routine of shuttling between the archery range and his quests.
He was exhausted to the bone every single day and had absolutely no time to care about where the wild rumors were coming from.
After reaching level 4, Lu Mao's efficiency in completing Low-Tier quests had improved significantly.
Iron Bones ensured he wouldn't even groan if a goblin hit him with a club. Quick Step allowed him to get stung less while weaving through swarms of venomflies. As for Keen Awareness, it completely eliminated any chance of sewer rats ambushing him from behind.
Once before, he had been pounced on from behind by a giant rat in the sewers, leaving a massive bruise on his lower back.
Now, even before a rat could spring off the ground, he could turn around in advance and plunge his dagger clean into its throat, quick and neat.
That afternoon, after turning in his quest at the guild, Lu Mao passed by an alchemy ingredients shop in the northern part of the city. He stopped in to sell some Low-Tier monster materials he had hoarded and restocked with two Low-Grade Healing Potions.
The shopkeeper, a gray-haired half-elf, muttered as she handed him his change, “How do you end up running to the dungeons every other day, young man? You're more hardworking than a miner.”
Lu Mao smiled without responding, slipped the potions into his ring, and headed back to the inn.
As usual, the Cornflower Inn was bustling in the evening.
Balen occupied the largest table in the front hall, one foot propped on a stool. He was using his signature booming voice to regale two newly arrived Apprentice Adventurers at the neighboring table with the tale of how their party had slain the Goblin Hero on the ninth floor.
The story had already evolved to its fourth iteration. In this latest version, the Goblin Hero's height had doubled, Balen had packed an extra half-pound of explosives, and even Gerak's axe strike had been rewritten as “Balen's axe strike from above.”
“...And just like that, the dwarf Balen and his five shield-bearing teammates resolved this life-and-death crisis in the nick of time.”
The two Apprentice Adventurers gasped in awe.
Lu Mao sat down across from Elliot, took out the potions he had just bought from his ring to inspect them, and then looked up to ask, “Has there been any news about the alchemist these past few days?”
Their party's primary mission right now was still to find a way to cure Liz.
Elliot looked up from his book, closed it, and pinched the bridge of his already prominent nose.
“Yes,” he said. “The retired alchemist my mentor knows has finally relented and said he's willing to take on Liz's treatment—but there are a few conditions.”
Lu Mao had always felt that Elliot's background was highly mysterious. He was incredibly knowledgeable and carried himself with the poise of a noble.
It was one thing to have so many High-Tier necromantic scrolls on hand, but he could even get in touch with an alchemist capable of curing Blood-Thirst Syndrome.
Lu Mao wondered which great noble's son from the royal capital had run away to experience the common life.
“First, he needs all of Liz's past medical records—including the onset of her first symptoms, the duration of her illness, the medications she has taken, and so on.”
That was reasonable.
“Second, we must provide all the materials ourselves, including the core ingredient, the Flower of the River Styx. If we can't gather them, we'll have to trade something else for them.”
“Does he actually have the Flower of the River Styx?” Lu Mao was slightly shocked.
Elliot nodded.
“Then how much money would it take to trade for the Flower of the River Styx?”
Elliot held up a single index finger in front of Lu Mao.
“A thousand gold coins? That's quite a lot, but we might stand a chance...”
Elliot shook his head.
“Not a thousand? Then ten thousand?”
“One hundred magic cores.”
Lu Mao knit his brows. It wasn't that he found the condition unreasonable, but rather that it was physically impossible for them to gather a hundred magic cores in a short amount of time.
Only Elite or higher-tier monsters had a chance of dropping a magic core upon death.
Their party had only ever defeated one monster of that tier—the Goblin Hero.
And there were three main reasons they had managed to defeat the Goblin Hero, an Elite monster: first, the intelligence Lu Mao brought back after his Death Return; second, Elliot's High-Tier scrolls, which were consumed with each use; and third, the Goblin Hero was completely unarmed and lacked any proper weapon, behaving like a beast raised specifically to deal with anyone who damaged the altar.
In other words, their feat of defeating the Goblin Hero could not be replicated.
Even if they risked everything to take down another Elite monster, they wouldn't be able to find so many Elite monsters in such a short period.
“Third, he wants us to bring her to him for an in-person consultation. I know Liz's body can't handle the journey, but I don't have any other options.”
“Where is this alchemist? Also, we can't possibly meet the second condition, can we?”
“He lives in seclusion in the suburbs of a neighboring country. As for the second condition, I'll find a way.”
Lu Mao had figured Elliot might be wealthy, but he hadn't expected him to be this rich.
A hundred magic cores!
Even the tavern owner probably couldn't produce that many... right?
“Then when do we set off?”
“We wait for a reply.” Elliot reopened his old book, pressing his fingertips against the page without looking up. “We'll have an answer in two days at most.”
“Alright...”
“—Have you heard of the dragon girl Novia's fiancé? Yes! Lu Mao—he's in our party.”
Lu Mao, who was about to strike up a conversation with Elliot, nearly choked on his own spit when he heard that.
Balen pulled the heads of the two adventurers closer and lowered his voice, “This hasn't been confirmed yet, so you two absolutely cannot tell anyone it came from me!”
Lu Mao turned his head and glared at Balen.
The dwarf was still holding the two Apprentice Adventurers by their necks, his thick beard practically poking into their ears.
Balen suddenly felt an unfriendly gaze burning into the back of his head. He froze for a second, then slowly, very slowly, turned his head around, coming face-to-face with Lu Mao's expressionless face.
“Oh, you're back? Why didn't you say anything?”
“So...” Lu Mao's tone was deadpan. “...all those ridiculous rumors were started by you?”
“Uh, well, about that—” Balen let go of the two Apprentice Adventurers and took a half-step back, his lower back bumping into the edge of the table, nearly knocking over the ale mug.
“Look, here's what happened. After the audit ended that day, a bunch of people came to ask me what your relationship with Novia was. I told them I didn't know either, so they started guessing on their own. And then, one thing led to another...”
“And they guessed 'fiancé'? If that woman hears about this, we're all dead meat!”
“Don't panic, Lu—”
“Lu Mao!”
Rayne practically burst into the inn.
Seeing Rayne completely out of breath, Elliot instinctively assumed something major had happened. He immediately closed his book and stood up. “Should I go call Gerak and Misha?”
Rayne shook his head, took a deep breath, and looked at Lu Mao. “Lady Novia is looking for you. She's waiting for you in the First Hall right now.”
Balen let go of the two Apprentice Adventurers. His mouth opened and closed, opened and closed, his thick beard shaking like a sieve.
Then he clapped his hands together hard, pointing a stubby finger at Rayne, then back at Lu Mao.
The expression on his face shifted from guilt to pure excitement in a split second.
“Look! See! I told you so, but you guys wouldn't believe me! You called it wild rumors! Now she's specifically calling for him in the middle of the night! Hehehe!”
He turned back to the two Apprentice Adventurers. “Hear that? The First Hall, specifically calling for him! If that's not something special, I don't know what is!”
The two Apprentice Adventurers, lacking any real-world experience, assumed Balen was telling the truth and nodded their heads like chickens pecking at rice, echoing his words.
Lu Mao ignored Balen's wild celebration.
He, Elliot, and Rayne exchanged glances, each reading the confusion in the others' eyes.
“Did she say what it was about?”
“No,” Rayne shook his head. “I just went to the guild to turn in a quest, and Vice President Dowal told me to find you. It's likely related to your exceptional promotion. Maybe she wants to double-check something with you?”
Lu Mao remained silent for a couple of seconds. His intuition told him it wasn't that simple.
Being summoned late at night never boded well.
Lu Mao grumbled internally, but he still agreed.
“Alright, I'll go take a look.”
Rate on N.U.
