Chapter 165

In the coastal city of Ryde, the Helioca Empire’s premier tourist city, the warp gate in Ryde’s central square is currently being warped by a man and a woman.
“Wow, this is a ride!”
“That’s really pretty.”
The two men and women who have been traveling through the warp are Ming Hu and Jie Li. They were here for two reasons: a date, and a quest. Ming Hu opened the quest window to see the quest he had received from the Emperor.
<The Count of Toren's Plot?
Alkan Helioca has received a tip that Count Lawton, the current head of the House of Torren and mayor of the coastal city of Ryde, is plotting a rebellion. But having known him since childhood, Alkan Helioca doesn't believe the tip. Travel to Ryde's most famous restaurant, the Smiling Face, and meet Vegas to find out if the spy is true or not!
Difficulty Level: A
Quest Reward: Helioca Merit ???
The quest asked you to investigate whether or not the Earl of Lawton, the Earl of Toren's lord and mayor of Ryde, was actually plotting a rebellion, but the reward was not specified. It was clear that it would depend on the outcome of the investigation.
'Rebellion or not. It's gonna be great, right?
It didn't matter to Ming whether or not the Earl of Lawton was actually plotting a rebellion. All he had to do was investigate and report back on the authenticity of the rebellion. Perhaps he would be rewarded with a great deal of merit for his involvement in the rebellion.
"Shall we start at the restaurant?"
Ming Hu closed the quest window and said to Jiayi.
"Yes!"
Delay, who was smiling broadly at the beautiful sight of the ride, nodded in agreement with Myung-hoo's words.
Jumbled
Ming Hu headed for the shoreline, and while it would have been nice to go to the "smiling face" in the quest, it wasn't the quest that brought him here. Ming Hu wanted to eat at a beachfront restaurant to pass the time and delay.
"Let's eat and find out.
After spending some time with Delay, Myung-Hoo decides to look for a smiling face, and they arrive at the beach a short time later, where they are surprised to see a huge restaurant as soon as they enter.
Woof, woof, woof
"That's huge."
"There are a lot of people."
"Yeah… this big restaurant with a line…"
The restaurant was very large, and yet there was a huge line of NPCs and players lined up in front of it. Ming Hu looked up to see what the name of the restaurant was that so many people wanted to use.
"…a smiley face?"
To his surprise, the name of the restaurant was a smiling face. At Ming Hu's words, Jian Chen looked up, confirmed the name of the restaurant, and then looked back at Ming Hu.
"Huh? Isn't that the restaurant in the quest with the smiley face?"
"Yeah, it must have been on the beach. I heard it's famous. There's a lot of people."
Ming Hu looked at the long line and thought.
"Should I just go in?
The current quest he was given was from the Emperor, and it was a rebellion-related quest.
"I think I can get in, but…
He couldn't tell from the smiling face what position the Vegas he was supposed to meet held here, but since the Emperor had told him, it couldn't be anything ordinary. But a sudden thought made Ming Hu's brow furrow slightly.
'I'm having trouble with my gaze…'
If you were to cut in front of the line, you would attract the attention of those in line and potentially cause a nuisance.
"What do you think?"
In response to Delay's question, Ming Hu relaxed his frown and smiled.
"I thought I'd just use the quest to get in."
Then Delay shook his head and said.
"Won't people stare? If people find out about the quest, that's going to be annoying as it is?"
"Right?"
Delay looked at Ming Hu and said.
"Let's just get in line."
Ming Hu nodded at Delay's words and joined the long line.
"Oh, that's shrinking pretty fast."
"Yeah, I thought I was in for a long wait."
The line was shrinking faster than they expected. After a while, Minghu and Jieyi were able to enter the restaurant.
"You can have a seat here."
After entering the restaurant, Minghu and Jiejie were guided by the waiter to a table by the window.
"It looks so classy!"
"Sounds better than the place you went to then?"
Ming Hu and Jian Chen were talking and opened the menu board. When she saw the menu, she looked a little surprised.
"The price difference is huge!"
True to Delay's word, the prices of the food sold by the smiling faces varied greatly. The cheapest was 5 silver and the most expensive was over 40 gold.
"Yeah, well, since we're here, I guess we should try the most expensive one, huh, Delilah? What do you want?"
"I'm… B course!"
Delay smiled broadly at Myung Hu's words.
"Okay, I'll take course A then. Here's Course A and here's Course B."
"…Sir, the course is for four people."
The servant looked back at Ming Hu with a slightly puzzled expression. Ming Hu nodded at the employee's words.
"Yes, please bring it to me."
"I see."
At Ming Hu's words, the servant turned away, but then Ming Hu had a thought and called the servant back.
"Oh, there."
"…?"
As the employee turned away, Ming Hu continued to speak.
"I'm here to see you, Mr. Vegas, and I heard you're here. Can you tell me where you are?"
"What?"
Ming Hu's words surprised the worker, who replied with a surprised expression. At the employee's reaction, Ming Hu shook his head and spoke again.
"I'm here to see Mr. Vegas, and I heard you were in town. Is he… not in town?"
"Oh, no, no, no, just give me a minute."
At Ming Hu's words, the servant quickly disappeared into the distance. Ming Hu turned away from the servant and looked at Jiayi.
"What's wrong?"
"Yeah. I don't think he'd react like that if he were the boss."
In response to Ming Hu's question, Jie Li spoke in a quiet voice. A few moments later, a man in his mid-30s approached Ming Hu's table.
"I'm Vegas Toren. You're looking for me."
It was Vegas who came to the table, but when he was introduced, Ming Hu could only stare at him in bewilderment.
"Toren? Was this Count Toren?
He was a man of the Earl of Torrens, who had been informed that Vegas was plotting a rebellion.
'A Count's man to investigate a Count's rebellion…'
Something about it made me cringe. But the all-knowing emperor had introduced him. Ming Hu stood up and said.
"Hello. I'm Myung-Hoo."
At Ming Hu's greeting, Vegas looked at Ming Hu, a little surprised.
"You must be the old man, I've heard of him."
He seemed to be referring to the man, perhaps the emperor, Alkan Helioca.
"I'm sorry, but I was wondering if you could show me the proof, it's a work thing."
Ming Hu then pulled out the Emperor's Mark from his inventory and showed it to Vegas. Upon seeing the Emperor's Seal, Beggars was relieved.
"Thank you. Well. Let's go to your room."
"Oh, that's…"
Ming Hu was a little perplexed by Vegas' words, as he had planned to meet her after the delay and the date, but things had gone awry.
-Delay: Quests are important, you can eat whenever you want!
Perhaps sensing Ming Hu's distress, Jian Chen whispered to him. Ming Hu looked at her apologetically, but she looked back at him with a wide smile, telling him not to worry.
-Delay: I'll eat slowly. Hehe.
At Delay's subsequent whisper, Ming Hu smiled slightly and looked at Vegas.
"Let's go."
"Come here…"
Ming Hu began to walk after him, and after climbing several floors, Ming Hu was able to enter Vegas's room. Once inside, Vegas got straight to the point.
"Where were we…listening?"
"I've only been told to investigate."
Vegas nodded at Ming Hu's words.
"I see… I'll start from the beginning then."
"Yes."
He wanted to tell her to just tell him what was important, but he couldn't, so Ming Hu nodded.
"First of all. The Earl of Lawton, the protagonist of the espionage, has been best friends with the Emperor, Alkan Helioca, since they were children, and that is still the case."
It was in the quest. Ming Hu nodded and began to listen to what Vegas had to say.
"Despite the difference in rank, the two of you had a great friendship, which is why the Emperor sent you, not trusting the spies. But… As I told the Emperor, Count Lawton is preparing to start a war. And now I'm going to show you the proof."
Given that he was speaking from the beginning, Ming Hu expected the conversation to be quite lengthy, but contrary to his expectations, the end was already in sight. Ming Hu looked at Vegas, who had a confused expression on his face.
"You have proof, then you can take it straight to the Emperor, there's no need for me to come…"
"The emperor already knows."
When Ming Hu trailed off, Vegas continued.
"What? You know?"
Ming Hu replied that he already knew that, to which Vegas nodded and said, "I know.
"Yes, you already know that, and if you still can't believe it, it's because your friendship is so special… and because of what I've added."
"Anything else?"
"Yes, this is not how the Earl of Lawton normally behaves, but he has been acting like a completely different person since he came back from his vacation the other day. His behavior and personality changed to the point where I thought he was a different person altogether. I found it strange, and wondered if something had happened to him, so I asked the servant who followed him on his vacation."
Vegas continued with a bittersweet smile, as if recalling the incident.
"As expected. On the last day, the Earl of Lawton disappeared for a while without an escort. He returned shortly afterward, but his servant told me that his behavior and personality had changed since then. So I made my own inquiries, and I was convinced that something was amiss."
"Additional Quests?
Upon hearing Vegas' words, Ming Hu had a feeling that additional quests would appear.