Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Rescuing the Captives
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Leric's wife.
Leric's daughter.
The main targets of the quest were right before his eyes.
Leric's family, kidnapped by the bandits.
He had pinpointed them in an instant—people presumed to be locked away in the bandit lair.
'That damn Poko?'
Now it made sense why Poko had suddenly sniffed around and dashed over here.
A raccoon from the canine family.
Even if it was a spirit beast, it had lived in the wild until recently, so its sense of smell was naturally sharper than a human's.
It must have caught the scent of people nearby the moment they infiltrated the temporary bandit lair.
The only question was how it distinguished between the bandits and the kidnapped villagers' scents.
Even if security had loosened up, enemies were still lingering inside the lair.
Yet Poko had zeroed in on the imprisoned villagers without confusion.
'Well, maybe bandits and villagers just smell different?'
Or perhaps it remembered the scent from Leric's house and bolted straight here.
'They say a good pet means you'll never lack for anything.'
And that was proving true.
Of course, they hadn't even formed a proper master-servant contract yet.
"Good job anyway, Poko!"
"Poko poko!"
Moments like this made it all worthwhile.
Luke stroked Poko's head repeatedly as its tail wagged happily.
The villagers in the prison cell heard the noise and quickly realized the two were there.
Their bodies trembled.
Their faces paled dramatically at the same time.
Did they mistake him for one of the bandits?
They retreated to the corner of the cell, watching warily.
They must have suffered greatly, locked in this dim prison for so long.
'I was planning to hunt for the other half of the secret map first, but...'
Since things had turned out this way, he'd fulfill the quest conditions right now.
That was his decision.
The message popped up before his eyes.
Agas's system reacted first, just as he thought it.
And that wasn't all.
The minimap, which had only shown blue dots for himself and red for enemies, underwent a major change.
It began marking allies, neutral NPCs, quest targets—anyone without hostility toward him—with green dots.
'Oh, now it shows not just enemies, but allies too?'
Nice.
No, more than nice.
It had always been tricky distinguishing non-enemies, but the job system had neatly resolved that.
Luke couldn't be more satisfied.
All that remained was freeing the imprisoned villagers.
But to open the locked prison door, he'd need a key first.
Of course.
Luke had no need for that.
Clack!
A few twists of the lockpick.
The prison door unlocked in no time.
His proficiency ticked up slightly.
Luke checked the minimap while opening the door and slipped inside.
"Eek!"
"Hey, hey, relax. I'm not with the bandits living here."
"Wh-who...?"
"An adventurer sent by the lord. I was ordered to wipe out the bandits here."
"Oh, gods. Thank you!"
"Thank me, not the gods. I found you."
"R-right. Thank you so much, adventurer!"
"Yeah, I know. Be even more grateful."
"..."
His attitude was utterly shameless.
After freeing all the villagers from their shackles.
"So, any idea why you were kidnapped and brought here?"
Luke didn't forget the quest conditions and cut straight to it.
The eldest-looking old man among the prisoners spoke up as representative.
"If you've come this far, adventurer, you've probably guessed. These aren't ordinary bandits."
Luke nodded.
He knew that much.
They had a somewhat militant bent, but a clear chain of command.
Nothing like common ragtag bandits who just pillaged.
"They were searching for something in the dungeon city of Jermi. They stopped at nothing to get it—violence and threats were standard. They even kidnapped anyone connected. That's why we were dragged here. They planned to torture us for the info they wanted."
"Get to the point."
"Ahem. Then, the last villagers thrown into this prison..."
The prisoners' gazes converged on one spot.
A mother and daughter clinging tightly.
Minet and Lena.
Under those stares, emotions surged.
Minet soon teared up and spoke herself.
"They were after my husband's item. Just for a scrap of paper, they... to my husband..."
"Mom."
"Sob..."
They must have heard that Leric was killed by the bandits after the kidnapping.
'So that's why they were taken.'
Leric, now dead.
Unable to loot the map from his corpse, they kidnapped his remaining family.
To track down the missing map.
'His wife and daughter would know where it went. Guess that's what they thought.'
Unfortunately, Luke had it right here.
But he gave no sign, asking her.
"What was so special about that scrap that they wanted it so badly?"
"A map... part of a map. I don't know much. My husband found it by chance. If he hadn't picked it up, none of this would've happened!"
"Hm."
"Adventurer, please. Avenge my husband. Against those who did that to him... No, at least the one who ordered his death!"
"That guy?"
"Drauder. That's what I heard."
Her eyes flashed.
As expected.
Drauder, leading this group, just as his underlings said.
'That means Drauder likely has the other half of the map...'
Of course, unconfirmed until he saw for himself.
"Anything else you know about him?"
"Not much, but I heard something."
"What?"
Luke turned.
The white-haired elder continued gravely.
"The underlings here often called Drauder 'the one inheriting his sublime will.' I didn't know who at first, but I overheard the guards recently. It's the traitor whose name is banned in the kingdom now. Once the king's prime minister, Del Mark."
Quest conditions met: Truth of the Incident
The truth of the incident.
The quest condition was fulfilled in that moment.
Meanwhile, at Rover Company headquarters.
Employees rushed into Operations Team 1's meeting room.
The reason: the third hidden scenario, which had occurred ahead of its scheduled two-year mark.
"So..."
Team Leader 1, Park Gwangho, rubbed his forehead.
"Originally, they were supposed to obtain the secret map Jermi wanted and return to base, right?"
"Yes, correct."
The response came from Choi Jeongmu, the man with the 2:8 part.
"The NPC with the other half of the secret map was Jermi resident Leric. Revolutionary leader Drauder kills Leric as planned, secures the rest of the map. Then returns to base, builds forces while hunting for Del Mark's legacy. That was the original scenario."
"Scale?"
"Over 100,000 at the two-year mark."
"Hah."
"And that's not all."
Jeongmu adjusted his glasses and continued the report.
"Revolutionary leader Drauder is currently Named grade. But in two years, he was set to advance to Hero NPC."
Hero NPC!
The grade after Named—key figures influencing the main story.
The revolutionaries were set to formally ally in two years.
Then seize the capital, making a big splash.
The foundation: the prime minister's legacy.
The key to it: Del Mark's secret map.
But that scenario had abruptly changed.
Because the revolutionaries failed to recover Leric's half of the map.
"After that, players choose kingdom forces or revolutionaries, kicking off faction stories..."
The briefing continued.
The more they heard, the graver the situation.
With such a massive scenario, the discussion dragged on.
But before it finished—
Gwangho interrupted with a question.
"Odds of Drauder surviving this purge?"
"Over 90%. Even if all underlings and executives die, that NPC can escape alone."
"Why?"
"Ruthless enough to sacrifice minions for goals, quick to accept defeat and adapt, and always carries top-grade return stones. Even without the map half, prioritizing survival means he'll flee the lair solo."
"At least that's a relief... I guess."
Of course, the map half's whereabouts, this purge, the altered story flow—many mysteries remained.
But as long as Drauder lived, he'd rebuild with base survivors.
The revolutionaries would persist without collapsing.
"Though without the legacy, force-building will take much longer."
"Can't be helped. Just keep Drauder alive."
Gwangho leaned back, exhaling deeply.
'Yeah, as long as he doesn't die...'
The revolutionary framework could hold.
So he thought.
But he didn't know.
'Found you, Drauder!'
A thief had infiltrated the lair.