Chapter 289

* * * * *
Deep in the depths of the imperial palace of the Aman Empire.
“What?”
A woman and a man were having a conversation.
“Can’t reach 32?”
The woman said to the man with a furrowed brow.
“Yes, they were supposed to get back to me, but they never did, I guess…”
The man trailed off. There was only one thing the lack of contact could mean. At his words, the woman gave him a questioning look.
“Maybe they can’t send it, maybe they took a chance.”
The woman’s expression said it was possible. It was unlikely, but not impossible, that they would be unable to send a message. But at the woman’s words, the man shook his head.
“Right now, the place where 32 is holed up is empty because of the party. And if you look at Room 37…”
He didn’t just send 32, he sent 37 before sending 32. He hadn’t heard back from 37, so he sent 32. But 32 hadn’t heard back from 37 either. The woman frowned at the man’s words.
“Ha.”
The woman sighed deeply. She looked at the man with a wistful expression and continued, “I’m sorry.
“Is it dead?”
The man nodded wordlessly in response to the woman’s question. At his answer, the woman frowned and muttered something in disbelief.
“I thought 32 would be enough.”
No. 37 failed. So we sent No. 32, which was more capable than No. 37. I thought 32 would be enough to fulfill the mission.
“What happened?”
The woman scratched her head and asked the man, “What is it? The man began to think about her question, and then he opened his mouth to answer.
“I think… I think I have a secret escort.”
“Secret escort?”
“Yes, Count Ming Hu is a man with close ties to the Emperor of the Helioca Empire, and I’m sure they’ve assigned him a high level of secret service protection.”
At the man’s words, the woman nodded in agreement.
“What do you want me to do?”
The man then asked.
“Hmm.”
The woman sighed and pondered what to do, and after a moment, she opened her mouth to tell the man that she was done thinking.
“If you’re good enough to catch 32 and 37. I don’t think we can get the 30s, can we?”
“Well, since 32 failed. I don’t think we’re going to be able to do it with 30.”
“So… Who’s left of the kids from the 10th now?”
“…!”
He couldn’t answer the woman’s question; he could only stare at her in amazement.
“Why?”
When the man looked at her in surprise without saying anything, she asked him what was wrong. The man opened his mouth, still looking surprised at the woman’s question.
“Are you sure you want to send the Tenth Battalion?”
“Yes.”
The woman nodded at the man’s words.
“Wouldn’t it be better to send the men of the 20th?”
“No, not the 20-somethings.”
But the woman shook her head with a determined look.
“If the 30th can’t even reach them, there’s a chance the 20th will fail. This is an order from the king, and it must not fail. Send the 10th to finish the job for sure.”
“I see.”
The man with the surprised look on his face nodded in understanding.
“Who’s waiting for whom?”
“Currently, 11 through 15, 18, and 19 are on mission, and 16 and 17 are on standby.”
“Send them both then.”
“…or two?”
The man looked surprised again at the woman’s words. The man’s reaction was completely normal, as he was surprised that the 10th Battalion was sending two members.
“Let’s get this done.”
The woman frowned slightly at the man’s reaction. She seemed a little angry.
“Oh, I see, then…”
At the woman’s seemingly angry response, the man quickly replied and walked out. After the man left, the woman resumed reading the book she had placed in front of her, but after a few moments, a thought occurred to her, and she shook her head in disbelief and muttered to herself.
“It’s not going to fail, is it?”
* * * * *
“Greetings, my name is Livinos Laturan, prince of the kingdom of Laturan.”
“My name is Ming Hu, Count of the Helioca Empire.”
Ming Hu introduced himself and shook hands with Livinos, the prince of the Laturan Kingdom, who smiled and offered to shake his hand.
“You’re a beautiful woman.”
After shaking Myung Hu’s hand, Livinos turned to Jie Yan next to him and asked him to shake his hand again, “I’m sorry,” Livinos said, and Jie Yan smiled broadly.
“Thank you. It’s called a delay.”
After greeting each other, Myung-hoo, Ji-yeon, and Livinos started talking about various things. Of course, it didn’t make much sense to Myung-hoo and Ji-yeon as users.
“Perhaps you’ll stop by my kingdom sometime… Farewell.”
After talking for a while, Livinos said a final goodbye and started to walk away, when a message popped up.
[Increased intimacy with Livinos Laturan, Prince of the Kingdom of Laturan].
[Increased rewards for the quest “Journey to the Aman Empire”].
Why I took the time to talk to NPCs.
“Hmm.
When Ming Hu saw the message, he smiled broadly. He opened the quest window and checked the quest.
<Journey to the Aman Empire
The Empress of the Aman Empire is coming of age on her birthday. To celebrate her birthday and her coming of age, the Aman Empire is throwing a grand party. Invitations have been sent to the nations, and the Helioca Empire has also received an invitation. Alkan Helioca wants you to attend the party as a representative of the Empire. Join the party as a representative of the Empire!
Quest Difficulty: B
Quest Reward: ??? (Varies based on results.)
Slightly decreases Emperor's affinity for refusing quests
'What do you want to give me…'
This wasn't the only message that popped up; I had met several royals and nobles so far, and the rewards had been enhanced.
The quest rewards, which were dependent on the outcome, were currently being enhanced to no end. I couldn't wait to see what rewards were in store.
"My lord."
Ming Hu was looking at the quest when he heard a voice calling out to him and turned around to see who it was.
"Ah, Mr. Revill."
The voice was Revill's.
"Have you talked much?"
Revil walked up to Ming Hu and asked with a smile.
"Yes. That was very helpful."
Ming Hu smiled in response to Revil's question.
"It definitely helped.
Quest rewards have been enhanced. Of course, we won't know what the quest reward being enhanced is until we complete it, but it was a quest from the Emperor. It would not be a normal reward.
"How did your trip go?"
This time, Ming Hu turned to Revil. Revil introduced him to the first few royals and nobles, then went off to meet with someone else. When he returned, he seemed to be done.
"Oh."
Revil smiled wryly at Myung-Hoo's question.
"That went well, but…"
Answering with a wry smile, Revil glanced around, then back at Ming Hu before continuing.
"I'm thinking of heading back now… how long do you think you'll be staying?"
At Revil's words, Ming Hu looked around. Quite a bit of time had passed since the party began. The party was now less than half as large as it had been at the beginning.
-To Delay: What do you think we should do, go home now?
Ming Hu asked Jiayi.
-Delay: Yeah! Because today is not the only day. hehe.
Delay was right, today wasn't the only party. Today was the beginning of the party. There would be parties tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. I didn't have to stay until the end.
-To Delay: Okay, let's call it a day.
Ming Hu whispered, looked at Revil, and then opened his mouth to speak.
"We should probably get going, too."
"Oh, well, shall we go then?"
Revill asked again, looking pleased.
"Yes, let's go."
Ming Hu nodded in response, and Revil took the lead and began to walk away. Myung-hoo and Jae-il followed Revil to the room and began to talk in whispers as they walked.
-Delayed: But when are you going to the Yellow Queen's quarters?
Ming Hu thought to himself at Delay's words.
"When should we go…
Partying and getting close to royalty and nobility to boost your rewards was one thing, but there was something else that really mattered.

A map pointing to the temple of a forgotten god. You’ll have to go there to find out which god it refers to. Go to the red dot and you’ll get the following map.
You had to go to the Empress’s quarters to get the next map. After opening his inventory and checking the information on the ‘Temple of the Forgotten Gods Map 1’, Ming Hu closed his inventory and answered Delay’s words.
-To Jiyeon: First, see how long the princess is there, and then in three or four days?
It was day one. The party was still a few days away. Besides, it was best to go back to their quarters while she was still here. Ming Hu planned to spend the next two days getting to know her better.
“Then get some rest and we’ll see you tomorrow.”
As they walked along, chatting with Delay about this and that, Myung Hu realized that they had arrived at the inn at Revil’s words, and he looked at Revil and said, “I’m sorry.
“Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Well…”
Revil quickly walked away. With Revil gone, Ming Hu and Jie Li resumed walking and headed back to their rooms.
Profit
Soon after, Minghu and Jieyi arrived at the room and opened the door to enter the room.
“Hold on.”
Entering the room, Myung-Hoo tells Delay that he thinks the assassin might have been Regen, and begins to check the room.
“None.
Thankfully, the assassin was nowhere to be seen.
“No?”
“Yes.”
At Delay’s question, Ming Hu nodded.
That was the moment.
Smart
A knock sounded on the door. Ming Hu, who had been talking to Jie Li, looked at the door.
“Who is it?”
Who was knocking? Ming Hu shook his head.
“I’m on my way.”
Ming Hu shook his head, and Jian Chen approached the door.
Profit
Then I opened the door.
“…?”
Opening the door, Jian Chen could only shake his head as Ming Hu did, seeing no one but himself.
“Who’s knocking?
There was a knock on the door. He didn’t hear it wrong, but there was no one outside. Jian Chen turned around and looked at Ming Hu.
“There’s no one…”
Ji-yeon was about to say that there was no one there, but stopped when he saw Myung-hoo’s expression, and he knew it was the same.
“What’s wrong?”
Delay asked.
“Delay, come here.”
Ming Hu replied, gesturing to his side.
“…?”
Delay was puzzled by Ming Hu’s words, so he walked over to Ming Hu’s side. When she arrived, Ming Hu smiled, looked at her, and whispered something in her ear.
-Dear Delay: I just opened the door and assassins walked in.
With that, Ming Hu whispered and turned toward the door. He couldn’t see Delay, but he could see clearly with the eyes of the Refurem’s Mark: there stood two translucent humans, presumably the assassins.