Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Not a Lion, but a Kun

Time always slips away unnoticed, especially the real-world time in game novels.

[Innocent Realm], Pato City, Early Morning

Cole, who had barely slept all night, left the Rye Inn early and arrived at a small tavern in the city called "Forest Abode." The location that Sir had mentioned to him earlier should be here.

This place was quite famous in Pato City, not only because Forest Abode was almost always open, operating 24 hours a day without rest, but more so because of its unique nature, which could definitely be considered unconventional among taverns.

There were no high-proof spirits; the light, refreshing drinks it offered were more aptly called "flower dew" than alcohol. There might be a trace of alcohol in them, but even an inexperienced farmer wouldn't waste three copper coins here on a bland, non-diuretic, non-warming, non-courage-boosting, non-intoxicating, non-flushing "beverage."

There were no sexy, fiery waitresses, only a flower elf proprietress who served as waitress, bartender, and receptionist all in one. Though she was decent-looking, her figure lacked distinct curves, and her mediocre talent for innate magic was enough to keep many people at a distance.

And the most important point was that although Forest Abode was open 24 hours a day, after sunset, it no longer served any drinks, forbade loud noises, and didn't allow anyone to sit at the bar. If someone wanted to stay overnight, they could rough it in one of the small cubicles on the second floor—for a fee, of course.

So, famous as it was, its popularity remained consistently low, with hardly any customers on ordinary days. But Cole was familiar with this place because Rona... used to love coming here to drink and eat some snacks, often sitting for an entire afternoon.

Whether it was Cole or Rada, who were both her suitors, or Little Ai, her close friend, they had all come here many times to find her, and when they had free time, they would sit down and rest for a while.

And now... Rona was dead... Rada was dead too... and Little Ai, who had narrowly escaped death, was likely hiding inside...

Cole, who had also cheated death, stood before Forest Abode, feeling as if an entire lifetime had passed.

But he finally steadied himself, parted the curtain of undefeated petals hanging at the entrance, and walked in slowly. He said softly to the flower elf proprietress, who was wiping down a table alone in the main hall: "Hello, I'm looking for..."

"Second floor, first room." The lady White Rose, who looked at most in her early twenties, pointed toward the stairs and said absently, "Take some food up with you."

As soon as she finished speaking, a plate of snacks sitting on the bar floated up and drifted slowly over to Cole.

"Thank you." Gratefully bowing slightly to the flower elf, who had already turned her back, Cole took the plate in front of him and hurried up the stairs. That Sir hadn't lied; it seemed Little Ai was indeed here. He had so many things he wanted to ask her!

As soon as he pushed open the door, Cole saw a petite figure trembling and retreating several steps before her. She stared at him for a long moment, then let out a painful sob as she rushed forward, crashing into his chest and weeping uncontrollably.

"Cole!" Little Ai clutched his front, crystal tears streaming down her cheeks like broken beads. Her thin shoulders still trembled, as if she had yet to wake from a nightmare, and she choked out in a low voice: "Rada... he... sob... he's dead... right in front of me... sob sob... he had a chance to escape... to run... I couldn't save him! I couldn't save him, Cole!!"

Feeling the girl's body still shivering with fear and guilt in his arms, Cole, who was also enduring inner torment, managed to stay somewhat calmer. He gently patted Little Ai on the back, helped her into a chair, turned around, closed the door behind him, and asked softly: "Tell me, Little Ai. Tell me everything you know... please!"

"It was Dave..." Little Ai looked up, her eyes, which had not closed all night, bloodshot and filled with terror. She trembled as she spoke: "He attacked Rada... then let go of his lance, drew his longsword, and charged at me... It hurts... it hurts so much..."

Still shaken, Little Ai took over ten minutes to explain what had happened. The gist of it was that while the three of them were fleeing, Dave, who had been half a step behind, suddenly attacked Rada, who was carrying Little Ai. The blow was far more powerful than normal, enough to pierce through both of them at once. In that instant, Rada used all his strength to throw the priestess off his shoulder, but his heart was pierced, and he died on the spot.

Then Dave attacked Little Ai with a black longsword that seemed to come from nowhere. The priestess, whose mana was completely depleted, naturally stood no chance against a knight. Soon, she was stabbed through the abdomen, gravely wounded and near death.

But just as Dave was about to deliver the final blow, he suddenly stopped. After a long pause, he muttered a few words to himself, then quickly left, leaving Little Ai barely alive...

After a while, that Sir appeared. He first helped Little Ai bandage her wounds, fed her some highly effective potions, and then slapped her a few times to force the girl, who could barely speak, to calm down. Once she did, he asked about what had just happened.

Then he gave Little Ai some money (once again thanking the generous Medi) and instructed her to sneak back to Pato City as quickly as possible, find a secluded place to rest and recover, and wait for news.

Finally, after Little Ai said she planned to go to the Forest Abode tavern, he left quickly.

"So you sneaked back into the city and haven't left the Forest Abode even once until now?" Cole asked softly. "You must have been very scared..."

Little Ai nodded vigorously, then shook her head, stammering: "Before I left that place, I spent some time burying Rada... The doctrine says... only then can the dead find peace..."

"Is that so?" Cole sighed, then shook his head and said, "No, even if that were the case, Rada wouldn't rest in peace. I know his temper all too well, so we have to..."

He glanced at Little Ai, who was still trembling, and turned his head away, not continuing.

"Revenge, huh..." Little Ai took the initiative to pick up the thread, staring at Cole's profile and speaking in a voice hoarse from crying, "We have to avenge them, right?"

With that, the girl slowly slumped down, and if Cole hadn't caught her with quick eyes and hands, she would have fallen to the ground.

"Eat something, then rest." Cole carried Little Ai, who had nearly fainted from exhaustion, to the bed, placed a plate full of pastries in front of her, and said softly, "We will get revenge, we will! That Sir... he will help us..."

"Is that so?" Without looking at the food on the plate, the pale-faced Little Ai just smiled with relief, "If it can really be done, I swear in the name of the Holy Church, I would give everything to follow that person..."

"Little Ai?!" Cole's eyes widened.

"Anyway, I had nothing to begin with. The parents who gave birth to me and raised me are both dead." Ai Fanye, who had lost her loved ones just half a year ago, picked up a pastry, lowered her eyes, and said softly, "All I have left is my own life and a few companions like you. Now that my life has been saved by that 'Sir' you mentioned, if he can also help avenge my companions..."

"No need to say more. I understand. Get some rest."

"Mm..."

...

At the same time

Pato City, 'Brass' General Store

"What do you want to buy?" The bald dwarf, who was picking his nose in front of the shelves, greeted his first customer of the day without much enthusiasm.

Mo Tan glanced around casually and replied offhandedly, "A lamp."

"What kind of lamp?" The dwarf raised an eyebrow. "Wall-mounted or portable? Or one for confessing your feelings to some girl?"

Mo Tan shrugged at him. "The kind that illuminates nothing."

The dwarf reluctantly stood up, walked over to the counter that was about as tall as he was, and turned his head to ask, "Who are you?"

"Dark Under the Lamp." Mo Tan smiled.

"Come over here." The other party beckoned, shifting his body slightly to the side.

Revealing a very inconspicuous hidden passage.

Mo Tan bowed theatrically, then followed the passage leading underground. The bald dwarf owner walked to the door, looked left and right, then closed the shop door and came back to descend the passage as well.

This was a small stronghold of the Pato City Thieves' Guild, an intelligence exchange point for internal use only, and the general store owner was the person in charge here.

At the end of the passage was a fairly large space, surrounded by tall wooden shelves neatly stacked with a large number of files, recording crystals, letter paper, and some iron boxes that appeared to be highly confidential.

"What do you have? What do you need?" The dwarf cut straight to the point as soon as he came down.

"Information on Medi Levin, a former priest of the Holy Alliance." Mo Tan didn't waste words, turning around directly. "By the way, he had already switched professions to a necromancer seven years ago."

The dwarf showed no unusual expression, merely nodding. "I suppose some people would indeed be interested in that."

If the intel was true, at least certain parties within the Holy Alliance or many other necromancers would be interested.

"I think so too." Mo Tan echoed, then turned serious. "I need all the information on a second-year student at Parding Knight Academy named Dave Sager, as detailed as possible. I also need some basic thief equipment, plus a practical Shadow Techniques Training Manual—the kind used at Parding Academy. I know you've got one."

The other party immediately shook his head like a rattle. "Impossible, that's far too unfair. You see, not many people would be interested in some priest who went missing seven years ago, even if he dabbled in forbidden knowledge."

"Is that so?" Mo Tan gave a noncommittal smile. "Then there's nothing to discuss. Bye."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Wait!" As expected, after a moment of silence, the other party called him back. "You can't take those documents with you, and I really can't get my hands on Parding Academy's training manuals."

Mo Tan let out a cold laugh. "Fine, I won't take the documents, and forget the manual. Just copy down all the techniques an apprentice-level thief can master for me, and throw in a set of decent-quality poisons."

Baud Blackshovel, the intelligence officer of the Pato City Thieves' Guild and a high-level thief, immediately grew agitated. "What kind of ridiculous demand is that?!"

"As far as I know, Mr. Medi Levin has made some progress in his research on necromancy over the past seven years." Mo Tan said calmly. "He's also deeply accomplished in Soul Studies, with his research focused on the Resurrection of the Dead."

Baud shuddered, his eyes widening. "Did he succeed?"

"No, he failed, and even if you gave him another ten years, he might not succeed." Mo Tan grinned mischievously. "In the end, he's just a useless old man."

Baud nearly choked, grinding his teeth. "Then why are you spouting all that useless nonsense! That intel is still worthless!"

"How could it be~" Mo Tan whistled. "Do you really need me to 'say' that last part out loud? Or has the Thieves' Guild's intelligence become so... uh... sorry, so foolishly naive?"

Baud fell silent. He had initially thought this seemingly (and indeed) frail young man just happened to know some intel and wanted to sell it for a good price. He never expected the guy to come in with such an appetite, and after just a little haggling...

He realized calling it a 'lion's share' was an understatement for this kid. With the way he was jacking up the price, this bastard was practically a Kun!

【Should I scare him a bit?】

Just as Baud thought this, he noticed the other's expression suddenly turn quite amused.

"Boss," Mo Tan said politely, extending his right hand toward Baud and speaking softly. "You and I both know that for someone as 'unfamiliar' as me to find this place, I must have asked around. The number of people who know I'm coming could be as few as one or as many as countless. So, those threats that everyone knows are just empty words... there's no need to repeat them, right?"

Honestly, Baud felt that if he were twenty or thirty years younger, he definitely... probably still wouldn't be able to do anything to this kid...

So he had no choice but to reach out and shake Mo Tan's hand perfunctorily, scowling as he said, "Deal."

Then he turned around and started rummaging through the shelves nearby.

Damn it, why were all these shelves so tall...

...

Two hours later

Mo Tan sat beside a low table in the back room of the miscellaneous goods store (a space deliberately reserved during construction using certain techniques), looking at a thin stack of documents in front of him, along with a black leather bag stuffed with potion bottles and a few pages of handwritten notes. He was grinning from ear to ear.

To be honest, if Baud ever had the chance to meet the stall owners at the market near Mo Tan's home, he would definitely have plenty of common topics to discuss with those hardworking folks.

For example—

'I ran into a Kun today!'

'Heh, you'll get used to it. There's a Kun that comes by every now and then to pull off a whale swallow. If we can let him take things at cost, we count our blessings.'

'Cost?! See that dumb fat guy next door? The other day he got talked into a daze and gave away a kilogram of tenderloin for free...'

'@#¥%&*...'

Chapter 23: The End