---Third POV---
Hawkes nodded.
"I still need to survey the surrounding terrain and draft the magic wall blueprints. That'll take about a week. As long as you can gather 1,000 workers within that week, we can start construction immediately! It's estimated to be completed in just two and a half months!"
Viktor: "…"
Just one week. Such a cold and cruel deadline.
Hawkes' face beneath his beard wore a smile. When he first heard the three-month deadline, he felt exactly the same way. He didn't forget to stab Viktor in the heart one more time.
"Of course, the estimated completion time assumes a stable supply of standard anti-demonic ore."
Standard anti-demonic ore wasn't the name of a single type of ore, but rather a broad category. It referred to the rapidly mineralized remains of monsters killed during the magic tide.
These ores had a powerful ability to absorb and resist magic attacks, especially those from monsters.
Ironically enough, the best material for resisting monsters came from monsters themselves. The color, shape, and size of anti-demonic ore could vary greatly depending on the region.
There were so many types that they were grouped under one umbrella term.
The Great Oak Forest certainly didn't lack this kind of ore.
With Viktor deliberately lowering the threshold and listing a "Mineral Detector" in the shop, players would naturally help him locate ore veins.
The hard part was transporting them back. That required a huge amount of manpower.
He accepted the new labor shortfall.
"I'll reserve a team for mining. Everything is under control. Anything else?"
Hawkes opened his mouth, but under Viktor's deathly glare, he closed it again.
"Nothing."
Viktor bared his jawbones in an undead-style grin.
"Good."
A smart employee should learn to solve problems on their own!
Without lingering a moment longer, he left the blacksmith shop at twice the speed he had arrived.
---
NeverShowOff and Garble sat in a private room on the second floor of a café, tilting their heads to watch the people passing on the street below.
"Three, two, one."
He had just finished counting, when, right on cue, a pot-bellied merchant stepped out from around the corner. The merchant's luxurious robe, embroidered with gold thread, shimmered under the sunlight.
As if sensing something, he looked up toward their direction. Unfortunately for him, he had already withdrawn his gaze, leaving him staring at nothing. The faint smile on the merchant's face froze for a moment.
Then, supported by his attendant, he stepped onto the carriage via the foot of the coachman. Soon after, the carriage sped away.
NeverShowOff, having retrieved his gaze, looked across the table.
Garble shook his head.
"Can't follow him."
That seemingly shrewd and greedy fat merchant was actually a mage of at least Level 20. If they followed carelessly, they would definitely be discovered.
NeverShowOff rested his right hand against his chin, deep in thought.
"Strange… everything looks normal..."
The man was one of the wealthy figures they suspected might know the whereabouts of the sirens. He was in charge of supplying food to Honeyvale Town's military. So, he often went in and out of the barracks. But although his visits were frequent, he never stayed long. Judging by the time spent, he really did seem to just be doing business.
Who said a mage couldn't be a merchant?
Click!
The door to the room opened. Hedgehog strode in and immediately grabbed the teapot on the table, pouring himself a cup of purplish-red tea.
"Haah, I'm exhausted. Nearly got caught!"
The moment he took a sip, his face twisted in shock at the sour, astringent, and bitter taste.
"Ugh! What the heck is this stuff?"
He coughed so hard he teared up. But with no other drink available on the table, he had no choice but to force the strange flavor down.
"It's a tea made from the petals of a thorny plant, looks a bit like a rose," Garble explained.
It also happened to be the cheapest tea in the café. When you were under someone's roof, you did what you could to save money.
NeverShowOff gestured for him to take a seat in the empty chair. "I told you to bring a bag when you left. Just deal with it for now."
Because spatial storage artifacts were rare, they avoided using their in-game backpacks in public, to prevent drawing unwanted attention.
He lowered his voice.
"How's it on your end?"
"How do you think? Cough, cough. Same as yours!"
Hedgehog coughed several times, his eyes tearing up. He had already caught a bit of a cold from the chilly wind last night. Now that he'd drunk this cold, vile brew, there was no escaping it. He planted one foot on the chair next to him and complained loudly.
"These NPCs are way too sharp. At the slightest hint of trouble, they run faster than rabbits! But overall…"
He curled his lip.
"There's nothing unusual about him. I followed him all day, he was either shopping or enjoying himself. He only holds a token position in the military camp. He just likes those half-baked militia types who follow his orders."
NeverShowOff frowned deeply.
"Another dead end…"
None of the rich suspects had shown any strange behavior. Could it be that only the town mayor knows about the deal with the sirens?
But the mayor's estate was heavily guarded, they couldn't get in at all.
Hedgehog snorted. "Dead end? Says who? I'm telling you, all these rich guys are involved somehow! It's just that we haven't found how they're connecting with the sirens yet. Maybe… underground tunnels?"
Garble looked resigned. "Everyone knows there's more going on below ground."
Even the rundown branch of the Ship-Carriage Guild had a secret chamber almost a whole street long. He wouldn't be surprised if Nary Town's underground had been completely hollowed out.
The problem was: they needed to find the entrance.
Knock knock!
There was a knock at the door. The three of them exchanged glances. They were all here, so who could it be?
NeverShowOff and Garble looked at Hedgehog, who had just come in.
Hedgehog raised both hands.
"Impossible! I swear I didn't blow my cover!"
Though someone had sensed a presence in the shadows, there was no way they had pinned it on him specifically. A familiar voice came from outside the door.
"Cut the chatter, it's me!"
Garble, being the closest, got up and opened the door.
Child raised an eyebrow at them.
"Hey~"
Next to him stood Gaeman, a full head shorter.
Garble shut and locked the door, surprised to see the two walk in.
"What are you doing here? Especially him…"
Garble stared at Gaeman in confusion.
Wasn't he sent off to Honeyvale Town?
Why was he back here?
Hedgehog looked toward the door with a subtle sense of dread. "I'm more curious how you found this place."
"We were in the private room next door," Child replied casually. "Saw you come in, simple as that."
Advanced tracking technique? Just dumb luck.
"Oh, and one more thing." Child ruffled Gaeman's fluffy hair. "Don't underestimate him. He's no longer that stray kid from two weeks ago!"
---
Five minutes later, the four players all stared wide-eyed at Gaeman.
The four players all stared wide-eyed at Gaeman.
Garble summed it up, "So basically, because he can smell the scent of his kind, you brought him to check out suspects who might've had contact with the sirens?"
Child nodded and spread his hands. "Didn't expect he'd also be on your suspect list. What a coincidence, huh?"
Hedgehog rubbed his chin as he sized up the now completely different aura of Gaeman. Though his expression was just as blank as before, the feeling he gave off had completely changed, from gloomy and repressed to bold and sharp. Or perhaps… this was his true self all along?
"So he only went to find you? Doesn't he also know Show and Garble?"
Child grinned smugly, baring his teeth.
"Well, you left in such a rush. He came back with Lux, so of course he stuck with us! Luck like that, you guys can't even begin to be jealous!"
NeverShowOff asked, "I'm more curious, how did Lux get into the city yesterday?"
She actually brought in someone undocumented?
Child shrugged. "The Church's power is far greater than you imagine."
Before, Lux had been disguising herself as a nun of the Radiant Church and claimed she'd lost her proof of identity. So she had to use the lowest-level entry permit. To show goodwill between the Temple of Spring and the Radiant Church, the church issued her a new one. And she just happened to have it on her.
Child's intel was perfectly timed.
She used her fake nun identity to bring Gaeman into the city!
"Let's not talk about that now." Garble cut off the conversation before it drifted too far. "Did you guys find any clues?"
Child scratched his cheek.
Hedgehog answered for him. "Nothing?"
"Not exactly nothing…" Child thought for a while and then decided to spill it. "At best, it barely counts as one."
After all, they were cooperating with someone lucky, no harm in sharing early.
Gaeman picked up the thread.
"I caught a faint scent of my kind on that pig-man just now."
He uncomfortably rubbed his nose.
"But the scent was faint and messy. It completely vanished within two seconds of him leaving the camp."
"Pig-man…" Hedgehog's mouth twitched. "What a brutal term."
"Wait!"
Hedgehog suddenly realized something and started coughing from being choked on his own saliva. "Y-y-you... cough cough, you can speak English?!"
Child next to him looked absolutely gleeful.
"Just now figured that out? He's a purple-named NPC!"
In the game interface, known NPCs and players would have name tags. After a series of updates, the color of names shown on the game panel had gradually expanded.
Generally, neutral NPCs were white, friendly ones green.
Important ones like Alyanne were blue.
Game mascots like Luminaris were gold.
But a purple-named NPC, this was the first. Of course it meant he was different.
The first time Child heard Gaeman speak flawless English without an accent, he had the exact same reaction as them right now.
Hedgehog shook his head.
"Wait, you're a siren too, right? Wouldn't the other guy notice?"
Child spoke, "He's been living in a crowd for over a month. What scent could still be left?"
Hedgehog rubbed his chin again, and a thought suddenly hit him.
"So the siren scent is… fishy?"
Gaeman: "…"
Seeing Gaeman's expression darken, NeverShowOff brought the topic back. "So they've definitely seen a siren?"
Gaeman's face eased slightly. He shook his head.
"No. With a scent that faint, the guy probably only caught a glimpse from far away, maybe about 150 feet."
"That still counts as seeing," Garble said firmly. "Looks like we're on the right track."
There was something off about that military camp. Their frequent, brief appearances were just a tactic to fool outsiders, to make it look like they hadn't gone anywhere.
NeverShowOff tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table. "So now there's only one question left, how do we sneak into the military camp behind them?"
Hedgehog spread his hands. "If we could just sneak into the camp, would we even need to bother with the rich merchant?"
Garble rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. "Maybe… we don't need to start with the camp."
"Hm..." Child frowned. "Then why did you follow the fat rich guy?"
"The focus isn't the camp," Garble explained, "It's confirming whether he knows the entrance to the underground city."
Exactly.
They suspected that beneath Nary Town, there was an underground city, possibly as large as the surface town. The military camp and the rich merchant were just stepping stones to lead them to it.
As he spoke, his gaze paused midair, he summoned the game map. Then he selected public projection.
A faint blue holographic image, visible only to players, appeared clearly on the brown tabletop.
After several days of player exploration, the map of Nary Town had become much more detailed. It not only included every street and building in town, even interior layouts, shop placements, and basic information were now visible.
He zoomed in on a trapezoid-shaped building area, one of the map's most blank and mysterious structures.
As he moved, he narrated, "There's no way a dungeon has only one entrance. If he knows one, he'll know a second. This morning, while I was tailing him, he went here, the Mage Guild's archives."
The map zoomed in further, and he pointed at the star icon atop the building.
"There, he also made several brief appearances, then disappeared."
Because the man was a high-level mage, Garble had noticed him but didn't think much of it. He assumed that expensive high-tier spells were out of the man's budget, so he was just browsing. But now that he was confirmed as a suspect, all his strange behavior stood out like a torch in the dark.
Hedgehog suddenly had a realization.
"Now that you mention it, the guy I was following did something like that too!"
The man had wandered around for a while and then entered a training room to meditate, seemed normal at the time. But in hindsight, it was really suspicious.
"Wait a sec!" Child frowned at the map on the table. Then glanced around at the other three, full of question marks. "You guys already learned the prayer-version spells and got into the Mage Guild?"
Before LootGoblin released public spell scrolls, the only physical spell available was Lux's Holy Light. LootGoblin had just dropped new spells, and most people hadn't even memorized them yet.
Could they have learned Holy Light from Lux?
But…
He grew even more confused. "You guys contacted Lux? How come I didn't hear anything?"
"Who said you have to pass the Mage exam to get into the Mage Guild?" Hedgehog raised his eyebrows smugly. "Of course we used the back door!"
"Back door? Who?"
"Who else but…"
---
A group of five climbed over someone's balcony, crawled through a dog hole, and entered the wealthy district. Led confidently by the others, Child successfully followed them into a villa courtyard.
The ones in front didn't even pause, casually heading toward the main house.
Child, at the back, stared in shock, his jaw hanging open.
"This place… doesn't have a magic formation?"
He'd been to the wealthy district quite a few times. Unlike the outer buildings where players could easily jump walls and sneak in, the rich district was full of magical security arrays.
As for this kind of house with its own courtyard, he'd never gotten inside before.