Chapter 40.2: Brave Jean
In small towns like Camore, seeing a traveling mage once every few years or even decades was a rare sight.
Most of these mages hardly interacted with the locals. Only a few would chat with the locals, have a drink, share their travel experiences, rest for a day or two to replenish food and water, and then leave.
Of course, there were also those like Black Mage Yang who would intervene in certain unfair events. However, most of them only taught a lesson to oppressors and gave some loose change to the poor and suffering.
But causing upheaval throughout the town and instilling fear into the upper echelons of the main streets as Yang did was unprecedented. So much so that several decades later, when the black mage Yang gained the moniker "Nightmare Butcher" and became wanted by numerous countries, his wanted poster remained on the sheriff's board for many years.
Rumors about this Nightmare Butcher persisted among the townspeople until the death of the Eugene family's matriarch Rebecca. Stories circulated at the time, such as him dragging a cardinal of the Radiant Sun Church to the town square and having the latter mate with a bear, or hammering to death a prince from a certain kingdom. These alarming rumors were widely spread.
In any case, with confirmation that this individual was indeed the "Nightmare Butcher," the Eugenes, a local mafia, no longer had any desire to oppose him. They mobilized almost all of their family members to gather the normally unruly union weavers or those impoverished families that were left with mostly orphans and the elderly.
While the Eugenes and the Bennetts were panicking and gathering people, the culprit, the feared and hated Black Mage Yang, showed up at the mansion of Viscount Lynn, a philanthropist, who wielded more influence in Camore than the mayor himself.
He approached in a formal and courteous manner, first sending a messenger boy with his calling card, and arrived at the mansion half an hour later. He hadn't forgotten to bring a gift for the viscount's family, adhering to the customs of the noble class in this world without being presumptuous.
As for Viscount Lynn's reaction upon receiving the calling card… Yang Qiu couldn't be bothered.
When he arrived, Viscount Lynn personally received him with his wife and prepared a pot of sweet tea that spellcasters generally liked.
…It was a tea made from dried flower petals and sugar, with roses and chrysanthemums as the main ingredients.
In the reception room of Viscount Lynn's mansion, which was located in the garden and had glass walls of high purity, Yang Qiu lowered his teacup and smiled, giving a slight nod to the viscount and his wife. "Crofts Lynn had been the owner of this place when I was last here. Now, being back again, I can only see this old friend from his portrait. One truly can only lament at the passage of time."
"I'm glad you still remember my great-grandfather," Viscount Lynn said with a subtle touch of melancholy in his dignified smile. He moved with elegance and ease, concealing his anxiety…
The viscount's wife, a well-bred and well-mannered lady, also smiled and nodded gently, expressing gratitude for Yang Qiu's remembrance of their elders.
Since they were putting up such a good act, Yang Qiu pretended not to notice the couple's nervousness. After exchanging a few meaningless pleasantries, he began, "I came this time to take away some unfortunate people who are struggling to make a living in town. Once I leave, the Radiant Sun Church's Inquisition should come after hearing the news. At that time, don't trouble yourself, Viscount. Just tell them where I went."
Viscount Lynn's face stiffened, and he struggled to maintain his composed facade. "Th-this… Mr. Yang?"
"Calm down, I'm not trying to test you," Yang Qiu said with a slight wave of his hand. "I've been embroiled with these lunatics for decades and have gotten tired of it. It's time to put an end to this."
The Lynn couple lowered their heads in unison and sipped their tea. They had to quickly conceal their true feelings to keep up the pretense.
"In addition, I hope the viscount can delay informing them of my whereabouts until five days after I leave," Yang Qiu said with a smile. "I have to let those poor and unfortunate I'm bringing away settle down first."
"Uh… yes," Viscount Lynn managed to respond, neither able to refuse nor directly comply. He could only vaguely acknowledge with an "uh" to get through the situation.
"If that's the case, I shall not impose on you any longer," Yang Qiu said as he picked up his staff from the table and stood up before giving a slight nod. "I hope the young master will like the gift that I brought."
The Lynn couple quickly stood up to see him off.
They politely and courteously bid farewell to their guest, who was like a great plague. As soon as the door shut, the most respectable couple in Camore anxiously rushed to the room where their young son was.
"Poli! Throw that thing—ahhh!"
The Lynn couple's legs went weak upon seeing that their son had already unpacked Yang Qiu's gift and was already playing with a peculiar object.
"O Goddess of Prosperity! Poli, how could you unwrap something from that evil black mage!" Lady Lynn rushed in, attempting to take the toy away.
"No, Mom, this is my gift," Poli held onto the toy tightly and dodged.
"Listen to me, sweetheart, give it over, and Mommy will buy you something better," Lady Lynn pleaded desperately.
The child was of no match to the adults. Under the "siege" of the couple and the maid, it didn't take long for the toy to be snatched away, leaving the young child in tears.
The Lynn couple didn't have time to comfort their child. They ordered the maid to burn the toy and had the manservant watch over their son. Then, they hurriedly changed their clothes and went out to discuss with the other affluent families in Camore how to mitigate the impending disaster.
The gift that Yang Qiu brought was a transforming robot toy produced by a Chinese toy factory that was clearly a Transformer knockoff. The maid couldn't bear to burn such an impressive toy and secretly hid it away…
Meanwhile, Yang Qiu, who had made the Lynn family feel this way, was completely unaware of his role as a harbinger of disaster. After leaving the viscount's residence, he used the imprint matrix to trigger a hidden quest for Ji Tang, who was currently online…
Ji Tang had just finished his warrior advancement quest and was heading to the Town Hall to complete the quest and receive the "blessing," accompanied by his two buddies, Yang Ying and Tang Jia.
Girls were more enthusiastic when it came to playing together. Tang Jia and Yang Ying, who had gained "Friendly" reputation a few days earlier, had already completed their job advancement. They accompanied Ji Tang during his advancement quest, saving him a lot of trouble.
The advancement quest for warriors was simpler than the mage, wanderer, and knight classes. All that was required was forming a team to kill spiders in the Spider Cave and collect 20 spider venom sacs to turn in.
As the three of them jogged and discussed the mechanics of melee combat and spider hunting (mainly Ji Tang teaching the two girls), a quiet zombie NPC who usually didn't give players any quests suddenly raised its rotten arm and waved at them.
The three of them immediately stopped, turning their attention to the zombie NPC. Only NPCs that assigned tasks would initiate conversations with players. This NPC, who had never paid attention to players, was making a move. It was obvious that it was about to issue a quest!
The zombie NPC named "Hugh Potter" slowly looked up, and its gray eyes lingered on Ji Tang. "Hey, comrade, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while. You tend to remind me of someone."
"Hidden quest!" Tang Jia exclaimed in her trademark sonorous voice, scaring Ji Tang and Yang Ying, who instinctively backed off slightly from her. Tang Jia then excitedly pulled Ji Tang's arm and urged him forward. "Quick, interact with it and accept the quest!"
Helplessly brushing her skeletal hand off, Ji Tang stepped forward and stood before the zombie NPC.
Skeletons controlled by players ran rampant in the streets, and it wasn't uncommon for zombie NPCs to talk and move. Ji Tang was young, and before joining the military, he was an ordinary guy born after 1990 and was rather open-minded. "Hello, Hugh. Who do I remind you of?"
The zombie NPC went silent, and Ji Tang began to doubt whether he had mentioned the right keywords. But then, the NPC resumed speaking, "His name was… Jean. We called him Brave Jean. He came from Camore and loved to sing. Back when we served together in the border guards, he would always talk about his hometown…"
Before Ji Tang could finish listening to the zombie NPC's slow-paced monologue, his quest panel popped up:
[While passing through Third Street as per usual, Hugh Potter called out to you.]
[Hidden quest [Brave Jean] has been triggered. Do you accept?]
[This quest is a prerequisite for a dynamic plotline. Please consider carefully.]
"It's indeed a hidden quest. And it can even activate a dynamic plotline," Ji Tang gleefully informed his two companions and promptly accepted the quest.
Just like when Give Me Medicine received the breakthrough quest, a "Side Quest" tab appeared on Ji Tang's quest panel, and [Brave Jean] appeared on the tab.
After the quest was accepted, the speed at which the zombie NPC, Hugh Potter, spoke increased slightly. "Jean was a brave and intelligent man who could always effortlessly solve troubles that others couldn't cope with. However, he never showed much happiness when we called him 'Brave Jean' and only smiled wistfully.
"One day, when we were on leave, Jean finally revealed the reason as we were having some rum together…
"Something once happened in his hometown of Camore which made him feel extremely resentful yet helpless. Their ancestral land was taken away, and the ones who took it became the magnanimous benefactors who provided work and food for the people.
"When Jean was born, his family couldn't even say for sure where their land used to be. His mother would sit in a dim room weaving cloth with numerous wounds on her hands and deteriorating eyesight. And his sister, at the age of six, had to learn how to weave in order to follow the same path as their mother.
"A guy like Jean would often argue and fight with others over who could enter their previously owned land to cultivate cotton…"
While this was merely a "plot" being recounted by an NPC, the contents made the three players furrow their brows.
Hugh Potter's monologue wasn't over yet. After a long sigh, he continued, "A year before we came to Taranthan, Jean took a leave and returned to his hometown. Before leaving, he told me in private that he would persuade his family to leave Camore. Even joining a pioneering expedition would offer more hope than staying there.
"After that, I never saw Jean again."
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