blueteamnovel Chapter 311
Chapter 311
Chapter 311
[You have completed the sub-quest “Find the Escaped Black Mage.”]
[You have been rewarded with 100 EXP, 10 gold, and 1 Demon’s Contract.]
[Congratulations! You have fulfilled a special condition.]
[The sub-quest has been converted into a chain quest.]
[Chain Quest #2]
— Raise Crowell.
To escape the clutches of the Black Mage, Crowell must develop his own power.
Within 90 days, you must raise Crowell to a “7th-grade” Black Mage.
If Crowell strays and kills a non-Black Mage, thereby truly awakening as a Black Mage, the quest will fail.
Rewards: 200 EXP, 20 gold, information regarding the next plan of the Four Heavenly Kings at the point of achieving the condition, and 1 Black Magic skill suitable for the character.
Penalty for Crowell’s failure to grow: Crowell’s death.
Penalty for Crowell’s betrayal: Caron’s death, and your information will be provided to the Four Heavenly Kings.
‘7th grade?’
Perhaps due to their reverence for demons, Black Mages often use reversed rankings.
Currently, Crowell is at the 9th grade. Raising him by two whole grades is necessary.
A 90-day time limit. And the condition that he cannot kill non-Black Mages.
It’s tricky, but it’s not impossible, so it’s not exactly a problem.
The real problem is...
‘The penalty for failure... is too severe.’
Caron’s death is a major issue, but the fact that the Four Heavenly Kings would “recognize” me is an even bigger problem.
Even if I’ve hidden my identity behind an animal mask, if they start tracking my every move, they’ll eventually figure out who I am.
In the worst case, “Red King” Broken might start roaming around to assassinate me.
‘This feels like it’s escalating...’
I knew this would trigger a chain quest, but I never thought it would endanger my life so soon.
I figured such a quest would come around the 4th or 5th one.
With rewards, the difficulty increases—that’s what a “chain quest” is.
“But to think that a life-threatening quest would come as early as the second one...”
I looked at Crowell, who was holding a boy named Joseph tightly. A character whose name and face I was seeing for the first time.
In other words, an extra.
‘Should I just kill him?’
Reject the quest and kill Crowell.
If I do that, the risk of my information being leaked would be virtually eliminated.
But...
‘I accept.’
[You have accepted Chain Quest #2, “Raise Crowell.”]
There are four reasons why I accepted the quest.
First, to defeat the final boss, variables are needed.
Second, the rewards are substantial.
Third, the rewards grow as the chain quest progresses.
And lastly, the fourth reason.
‘It’s impossible for Crowell to betray me.’
There’s “something” that ensures he can’t betray me.
I just acquired it a little while ago. As long as Crowell doesn’t betray me, there are virtually no penalties for the quest.
Accepting the quest was the obvious choice for me.
What about the “death” penalty for Crowell if he fails to advance?
‘That’s none of my concern.’
That’s something Crowell himself has to bear.
If he didn’t want to die, he should have worked hard to become an excellent(?) Black Mage.
How can a Black Mage advance without killing someone? Well...
‘That’s his problem to figure out.’
No matter how pitiful someone is, if they don’t help me, I have no intention of helping them.
Because I’m a bad guy.
If it’s for clearing the game, if it’s for survival...
‘I’ll do whatever it takes.’
Asking someone like me to help an extra I just met? That’s nonsense.
Well, I might be willing to make a “deal” at most.
After all, I have to advance Crowell to get the rewards and continue the quest.
“Mister, let’s run away. You’re strong, aren’t you?”
“J-Just be quiet.”
Crowell was holding onto the boy named Joseph, trying to keep him from acting out.
I lowered my voice as much as possible and spoke to him.
“Alright. I’ll let you live.”
“T-Thank you! Really, thank you!”
“But you’ll have to play the role of a spy for me.”
“W-Why? Becoming a Black Mage wasn’t my choice! I was kidnapped and forced into it!”
“Ignorance is also a fault. If we forgive all mistakes, this world would be full of criminals.”
“T-That’s true, but...”
“Running away is useless from the start. Wherever you go, a Black Mage will follow you.”
I glanced to the side. Toward Luna, who was wearing a cat mask.
“Any objections, kitty?”
“Of course not. It’s the pride of our family.”
As expected of the Lester family.
Protecting the Empire and its citizens, fulfilling their duties as nobles.
Even after being branded as a family of traitors, the pride of the Lester family remained unbroken.
“But where did you get that demon contract?”
“Keke, I was lucky to come across it.”
Of course, there was no way to mention that it was a reward from a recent quest.
It was one of those situations where you had to be vague, even if it meant getting chewed out a bit.
But Luna didn’t seem particularly suspicious. In fact, she continued speaking nonchalantly.
“Is that something you can get just by being lucky? Well, never mind the details. Could you give me one too if you have a spare?”
“This is the only one I have at the moment... May I ask what you plan to use it for?”
“Oh, nothing much. Just a ‘till death do us part’ kind of deal.”
Right. Our Luna was always the clingy type, wasn’t she?
Whoever that contract is for, they’re in for a lifetime commitment. Poor soul.
...
It won’t be me, right? Luna has a close friend, Rezé, after all.
I shook my head, trying to brush off the ominous thought.
“Keke, then let’s proceed with the contract.”
Fwoosh-!
As I pulled my hand out of the pocket dimension, a burning paper and pen appeared.
It was probably due to the unique effects of the ‘Demon Contract’. Despite the flames, it wasn’t hot at all.
“As you know, the terms written in a demon contract must be strictly followed.”
“Of course, but you’re aware that the contract should be written based on mutual agreement, right?”
“Naturally. ‘Written by mutual agreement’. It’s a great phrase for a clean contract.”
Maybe it was because I agreed immediately, but Crowell’s tense expression eased slightly.
“Since you’re understandably uneasy, I’ll leave the drafting of the contract to you. I’ll even let you have the position of ‘Party A’ as a special consideration. We’ll take the role of ‘Party B’.”
“T-Thank you for such consideration! I will fulfill my duties as a spy to the best of my abilities!”
Crowell’s face completely relaxed.
Handing over the demon’s pen, and on top of that, giving him the superior position of ‘Party A’—it was a natural reaction.
The preliminary steps were now complete. Just as I was about to move on to the next part of the plan—
-Crowell, henceforth referred to as ‘Party A’—He paused after writing that.
“Um... but... who are you people?”
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, I need to know your names to draft the contract, even if you don’t reveal your faces. At the very least, there should be a group name...”
He was right. We needed something to refer to as ‘Party B’.
Usually, I’d just use ‘Zero’, but right now, we were an anonymous group wearing animal masks.
Even if we wrote a group name, it would still be recognized as valid by the contract. But...
‘What should we call ourselves?’
Deciding on a group name was the problem.
This was a bigger issue than it seemed.
‘It could end up becoming our alias.’
Even the black mages who revealed themselves as Four Heavenly Kings were officially recognized with that title, rather than being called ‘fools’.
In such a favorable era, coming up with a cool alias was a given.
Something luxurious and glamorous.
And a name that, once heard, no one could forget.
For example...
‘Akatsu-something or other?’ (TL Note: Author wanted to say Akatsuki, from Naruto)
Anyone who had seen that manga would instantly recognize the reference, especially given the outfits we were wearing.
Yes, it was the legendary group from the manga.
Even though it means ‘dawn’ or ‘red moon’ in Japanese, the [Interpretation] skill should handle the translation just fine.
The only problem might be the concern about plagiarism...
‘But this is just a game, so who cares.’
I, Zero, am not afraid of something as trivial as plagiarism!
Alright, our alias shall be Akatsu—!
“Dark Beast Squad!”
“...?”
Luna’s confident shout from beside me.
At the same time, a holographic window popped up before my eyes.
[‘Dark Beast Squad’ has made its first appearance on the continent.]
[If your reputation increases, you will receive special rewards. Please work hard!]
[Current Reputation: 2]
“...”
And just like that, we became the Dark Beast Squad.
–TL Notes–
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