Chapter 198 - Quest Triggered
198 Quest Triggered
Roland was surprised at Antis’s drastic change of attitude. He waved his hand and said, “I’m just curious. Just keep it to yourself if you’re unwilling to talk.”
“Why is a Golden Son from the outside so interested in our investigation?” Antis questioned Roland and laid his hand on his sword coldly.
Was he being suspected? Roland looked at the guy’s right hand gloomily.
But it was understandable on second thought. He did look like a murderer who was asking about the investigation of a crime that he committed.
Roland waved his hand quickly and said, “I am interested, but not the way you think. I’m just wondering if I can help you find the queen.”
“Help us find the queen? Why?” Antis narrowed his eyes. “Can you tell me the reason?”
“I’m a Golden Son,” replied Roland casually.
“I know.”
“Most Golden Sons are nosy.”
After a long silence, Antis relaxed his right hand and said, “Follow me.”
They reentered the room where they talked earlier. Since it was inconvenient for Antis to sit in his heavy armor, he leaned against the wall and said, “I’ve known that the Golden Sons are nosy. But why are you meddling in this instead of helping your friend Kaka Bard?”
“Kaka doesn’t need my help. He has his own plans.” Roland smiled at the guy’s feminine face and said, “I had nothing to do, so I thought I could pay you a visit.”
Antis was silent.
The Golden Sons were a special group that all the nobles were investigating.
The people in this group all had weird quirks, like those who made money by killing themselves and who ran everywhere naked.
Although they were quite unpredictable, most Golden Sons enjoyed doing good things. They even challenged nobles when a poor man was unfairly treated.
Now, Roland had come to him, claiming that he wanted to help with the search.
It would’ve been suspicious if Roland were anybody else, but his reason sounded legitimate since he was a Golden Son.
Besides, he was a Mage, who was usually wise and knowledgeable. It was possible that he could track the missing queen.
However…
Thinking for a long time, Antis suddenly asked, “You’re willing to help even if it might’ve been a powerful Archmage who captured her?”
Roland nodded. “Yes.”
“Of course you are. You’re unafraid of death because you can’t die,” Antis said enviously. “Okay, if you’re willing to help, you can join us.”
He curled his finger at Roland and led him to the top of the city wall through the stairs behind the city gate.
There was a pavilion on the wall, which was the command center of the city guards.
From here, it was possible to view both the royal palace and the outside of the city.
The city wall was at least ten meters thick, but this pavilion was not huge. It only had a coverage of around twenty square meters.
Antis and Roland got into the pavilion. A lot of bookshelves, laden with parchments, were placed in it.
Antis took out a new parchment and unfolded it before Roland.
“All Mages should be literate. You can read it yourself.”
The new parchment had a weird scent. Roland slowed his breath and opened the parchment, before he cast Language Proficiency on himself.
Antis, who was holding his arms and observing him, was surprised, his eyes bulging.
The parchment included all the records of the investigation on the queen’s missing case.
The handwriting was new and elegant. It was the style of a woman, but there was toughness between the lines.
Roland nodded in satisfaction after reading the parchment, because he had indeed triggered a quest.
New secondary quest received: The Kidnapped Queen.
The description of the quest was simple: “Rescue the queen of Hollevin.”
Staring at Roland’s face, Antis asked, “You seem very satisfied with our progress, don’t you?”
Progress… There was actually no progress at all but only basic information, like the estimated level of the mage who kidnapped the queen, or whether the queen displayed any unusual behaviors before the incident. There were also some speculations on the case.
Roland put on a smile of satisfaction when there was no progress, so Antis was naturally suspicious.
Roland smiled. “It’s not about this case. I just ran into something good.”
Antis didn’t give a comment. Looking Roland in the eyes, he asked, “I saw you cast a spell just now… You can’t read?”
“To be more exact, I can’t recognize the written language of Hollevin. After all, the Golden Sons are from another dimension.” Roland shrugged.
“I’ve never seen a spell that can help you read. I’m told that it can only help you understand what people say at most.” Antis became even more solemn, as if he were trying to find something unusual in Roland’s eyes.
Roland nodded. “That’s right. But I’ve improved Language Proficiency.”
There was a brief silence in the room.
Roland began to feel curious when Antis stopped talking.
A long time later, Antis’s face was finally unfrozen. “That couldn’t have been an easy improvement.”
“Indeed it wasn’t. It took me more than a month.” Roland put the parchment aside and took out fruit wine and cups from his Backpack. Filling the cups with wine, he said, “Would you like a cup?”
Antis shook his head. “No, I don’t like drinking.”
“Why?”
“Because a lot of people have tried to get me drunk, both men and women.”
It took Roland quite a long time before he figured out what Antis meat. He shivered hard and put the other cup of wine into his Backpack. He said regretfully, “I won’t offer you any wine again.”
Antis smiled. “I’ve shown you the progress of the case now. Any thoughts?”
“How many archmages are in the capital right now?”
“Six,” replied Antis.
“Can you investigate them?” Roland asked again.
Antis shook his head in self-mockery. “They’re all big shots with a major family at their backs. Even the royal family dare not piss them off. You think I have the courage to investigate them?”
“Good to know.”
Roland nodded.
He took a minute to reexamine the quest. It was indeed a gold one, meaning that it was an epic quest.
So, it was natural that the investigation was hard.
“In that case, can you tell me more about the queen?” Roland took out the cake that Vivian made from his Backpack. “If you don’t drink, would you like some food?”
Antis’s eyes glowed. He took off his gloves and had a piece of the cake. He then chuckled charmingly. “It’s delicious. The files on the queen will be my payment for the cake.”