Chapter 231

When Viscount Gennas appeared, he quickly reached 100% and claimed the crystal ball. Ming Hu opened the quest window to check the quest.
<First internal crackdown
The Emperor of the Helioca Empire, Alkan Helioca, is troubled by the corruption of his nobles. As he pushes outward to open up unexplored lands, he wants you to audit the nobility. Audit the nobles designated by the Emperor to determine the truth of the corruption and bring back evidence!
[Count Altoran: 0 / 1].
[Count Frank: 0 / 1].
[Torrent Authors: 1 / 1].
[Appenzeller: 1 / 1].
[Baron Magnus: 1 of 1].
[Baron Debeck: 0 / 1].
Difficulty Level: A
Quest Reward: Helioca Merit 5 million + ???
"Now three…
There were only three left, but even three seemed like it wouldn't take long.
[Count Altoran's Record Crystal : 35%]
[Count Frank's Record Crystal: 35%]
[Baron Devek's Record Crystal: 35%]
The percentages weren't rising fast, but they were rising steadily.
"Your name is… Malt? That's a good name."
At Viscount Gennas' next words, Ming Hu closed the quest window and looked at Viscount Gennas.
"You're going for a D-rank anyway?" I had already succeeded, but it didn't seem to have reached Viscount Gennas yet.
"Viscount… it's…"
Sure enough, the usher quickly approached Viscount Gennas and began whispering to him.
"Hmm? What? Really?"
Viscount Gennas's reaction led me to believe that the receptionist was whispering in his ear because he was Moorish.
"Hmmm."
When the usher finished whispering, Viscount Gennas looked at Ming Hu with a look of incredulity on his face and let out a hiss. Viscount Gennas was about to say something, but after he cleared his throat, he just stared at Ming Hu and said nothing.
"You didn't just survive the ogre… you caught it?"
Viscount Gennas looked at Ming Hu blankly, then opened his mouth to speak.
"Yes."
Ming Hu nodded, answering Viscount Gennas's question.
"Hmmm."
Then once more Viscount Gennas cleared his throat and looked at Ming Hu.
"What are they thinking?
Viscount Gennas's expression showed that he was troubled by something. Ming Hu tried to guess what was troubling him, but he had no idea. However, this was too much of a waste of time to wait, so he turned his gaze from the silent Viscount Gennas to the NPC and opened his mouth to speak.
"Is he the one who issues the Class C plaques?"
"Oh, yeah."
The NPC nodded in response to Ming Hu's question. In response to the NPC's answer, Ming Hu turned back to Viscount Gennas and said, "I'm sorry.
"You know, issuing a certificate over there…"
"Oh, right, I forgot about that!"
Viscount Gennas sobered at Ming Hu's words and smiled. Then he walked over to the NPC and extended his hand.
Sigh
The NPC glanced up at Viscount Gennas as he held out his hand, and then pulled out a proof plaque, presumably made of gold, from under his desk.
Jumbled
Viscount Gennas took the plaque from the NPC and went straight to Ming Hu. Arriving in front of Ming Hu, Viscount Gennas held out the certificate to Ming Hu and said
"There it is."
[Arena Proof Plaque [D] has been destroyed].
[You have earned the Arena Proof Plaque [C]].
"What is this doing?
After receiving the proof plaque, Ming Hu looked at Viscount Gennas and saw the NPC.
'Is this what it means to be unable to issue?
I assumed that since they couldn't issue them, they had to be made elsewhere, but that wasn't the case. Viscount Gennas simply took a Class C Proof Plaque from the NPC and handed it over.
"You…"
That's when Viscount Gennas spoke up.
"Would you ever consider signing a contract?"
"Contract?
Viscount Gennas's words made Ming Hu shake his head.
"What's the deal with this?
Shortly after I left the ring after slaying an ogre, Viscount Amung approached me and offered me a contract. I didn't pay much attention at the time, but now I'm mildly curious.
"Again, what's the contract?"
"Alas, I got ahead of myself!"
At Ming Hu's words, Viscount Gennas smiled once more and opened his mouth to speak.
"Let me start by explaining. There are many who come and go from this place, and half of them carry a Knight of the Shadow."
"Knights of the Shadow?
The Knights of the Shadow? Something smelled fishy. Ming Hu focused on Viscount Gennas's next words.
"The Knights of the Shadow. An order of knights who literally do the work of the dark side."
Viscount Gennas's next words gave Ming Hu a sense of what the Knights of the Shadow were like, and what he meant when he offered to make a contract.
"Of course, just because you're a Knight of the Yin doesn't mean you only deal with things in the Yin. If you wish, you can become a Knight of the House and work with me in the Yangzi. If you sign a contract with me. I'll pay you 500 gold a month."
Viscount Gennas finished speaking and looked at Ming Hu. It was then.
"Viscount Gennas!"
"Huhhhh, have we started already?"
"You don't get to break the rules you set!"
Ming Hu couldn't help but shake his head at the voice behind him, for Viscount Gennas's expression hardened as he heard it. Ming Hu turned around.
That was the moment.
[Count Altoran's Record Crystal: 100%]
[100%].
[You have obtained Count Altoran's Record Crystal].
[Quest 'First Internal Crackdown', Count Altoran's condition has been fulfilled].
[Count Frank's record crystal ball: 100%]
[100%].
[You have obtained Count Frank's Record Crystal].
[Quest 'First Internal Crackdown', Count Frank's condition has been met].
[Baron Devek's Record Crystal: 100%]
[100%].
[You have obtained Baron Devek's Record Crystal].
[Quest 'First Internal Crackdown', Baron Devek's condition has been fulfilled].
As soon as I turned back, a huge number of messages appeared.
"…what is it?
Bewildered by the sheer number of messages, Ming Hu read them one by one and was once again baffled. Ming Hu quickly opened the quest window.
<First internal crackdown
The Emperor of the Helioca Empire, Alkan Helioca, is troubled by the corruption of his nobles. As he pushes outward to open up unexplored lands, he wants you to audit the nobility. Audit the nobles designated by the Emperor to determine the truth of the corruption and bring back evidence!
[Count Altoran: 1 / 1].
[Count Frank: 1 of 1].
[Torrent Authors: 1 / 1].
[Appenzeller: 1 / 1].
[Baron Magnus: 1 of 1].
[Baron Debek: 1 / 1].
Difficulty Level: A
Quest Reward: Helioca Merit 5 million + ???
All the zeros had been replaced with ones. Ming Hu closed the quest window and looked at the three people walking toward him.
"So, the three of them…
It wasn't going to be 100% for nothing. Besides, the numbers were right. The three men approaching him were clearly the masters of the three remaining houses.
"But… why is this at 100%?
Then a thought struck Ming Hu and he shook his head. The percentage of the record crystals that had simply appeared, less than 40%, had become 100%. He couldn't understand how it had gotten to 100%.
'Besides. It's so different from when Magnus and I were sick.
To obtain the Record Crystal for Baron Magnus, Ming Hu personally traveled to the location of the murder, and for Viscount Appen, he was able to obtain the Record Crystal by prying open a secret safe and obtaining the ledger while being beaten by his escort knights. The remaining four, however, were obtained by simply entering the arena and encountering them.
"I just saw that. It was quite impressive."
"Hehe, I thought there was something wrong with the ogre."
"I was thinking the same thing, it was hard to watch and hard to believe."
Ming Hu turned back to look at Viscount Gennas at the trio's words, a smile now forming on his stony face.
"Heh, you're fast."
Viscount Gennas said to the three.
"That's what I'm going to say."
"You're the owner of this place after all."
Two of the three men opened their mouths to speak. The other merely smiled, and from that, Ming Hu could tell that it was the Baron of Devec who smiled.
"Hmmm… By the way…"
"I don't think we have a contract yet."
"We'll have to talk about it in earnest."
Ming Hu furrowed his brow slightly as he listened to the next three people's words. It seemed that the reason they were here was to fulfill the contract Viscount Gennas had mentioned, but he had no intention of doing so. No, he couldn't even if he wanted to. Ming Hu looked at Viscount Genas and said.
"Do we really need to have a contract?"
"…?"
"…!"
At Ming Hu's words, the three of them, as well as Viscount Genas, looked puzzled. But Viscount Gennas soon wiped away his embarrassment and said with a smile.
"No, we don't need to contract right now. We can do it later, or we don't have to."
"…Hmmm."
"Well…"
"…"
Viscount Gennas's words left the three men speechless. They had come to make a contract, but there was nothing to say since the parties had no intention of making a contract.
"So…"
Ming Hu thought as he pushed past Viscount Gennas and approached the NPC.
'Quest is…' Let's break it later.'
I could break the quest right now, but I didn't want to. Arriving in front of the NPC, Ming Hu opened his mouth to speak to the NPC.
"I'm up for the challenge, pass me the book."