NOVEL WEB Chapter 392 Taken Quest
No one said much for a few seconds, as Osikae had completely shut down the mood.
"Hmm... bandits have been rising you say?" Lyrian questioned on hearing this.
"Precisely. I know since I've been dealing with them quite a lot. Even when Zyon and I were out in that beast-hunting duo mission, we had to fight off many hoards of woodby bandits. However, they are getting stronger in prowess and strength, since they have more of a platform now. Everything is beginning to heat up around Veridrake... its not a good sign for things to come. I'm sure there will be many bandits on our trial... and strong ones at that. No woodby bandits would camp out between the path of Jambaal and Hogolsworth."
"I see... I guess it will be some good training then." Lyrian said with a serious face.
Everyone else, who was getting slightly nervous at Osikae's words, looked at Lyrian as if he were some sort of comedian.
Osikae himself, however, looked at Lyrian with eyes of slight surprise and also respect.
"If I may... what if your last name?" He wondered, imagining he had seen someone else that resembled Lyrian before to a tee.
"Theageld," Lyrian stated without hesitation.
"Oh... really? Never mind then..." Osikae said, turning away from the boy.
'I could have sworn that... thing looked oddly similar to him. But I guess coincidences aren't that uncommon among dopple gangers.'
"Why do you ask?" Lyrian questioned at that moment.
"No particular reason. I just wanted to see if you were somehow related to a... person I once met."
"And? Am I related to them?"
"Unexpectedly... no."
"I see..." Lyrian was slightly surprised to hear this, as he was fully expecting to be correlated with his grandfather once again.
He wanted to inquire more about this, but his name was suddenly called out at that moment, changing his attention.
A middle-aged man walked to his table, where he instructed Lyrian and the others to follow him into a meeting room to the side.
The man stood outside of the door as Lyrian and the adventurers entered.
Inside, there was a fair-sized room with a few windows looking out into the city.
There was a long table in the middle with a person already sitting at the end of it.
Lyrian and the others took their seats at the sides of the table as the person outside shut the door.
"Vice Branchmaster! It's a pleasure seeing you here!" Rothis exclaimed on seeing the young man who was in his early thirties sitting in the seat.
The others also politely bowed as they sat.
"Nice to see you all again... I guess." The man said as if he was slightly irritated.
Lyrian looked at him slightly confused as he said this, so he decided to clarify.
"No one was around to accept this meeting, and of course, I would not have taken it either, since I have far more important things to do. However, I've only accepted it because I saw that you were the one who requested it, Lyrian Theageld."
Lyrian nodded on hearing this, "If that's the case, then let's get this over this quickly for the benefit of both of our time." He replied, taking out the quest poster and placing it on the table.
'Hm...' The Vice Branchmaster mused as he slid the poster near him, 'I thought he would have more of an ego, but it seems the child is smarter than he looks.'
He took a good look at the quest poster and then said, "This quest... bad luck. It's already been taken by someone else. You chose it only one day early, I'm afraid." He slid it back to Lyrian.
This came as a surprise to everyone else, but Lyrian wasn't going to back down that easily.
"Wait... if that's the case, then why would you have it still up for people to choose?" Lyrian questioned, inviting a long pause.
Almost ignoring that question, the Vice Branchmaster said, "Listen... this group, I'm afraid, Is not even fit for this quest even if someone hadn't already taken it. It's dangerous, far too dangerous for these five who I know."
'I see... so that's part of the reason why he's not giving us the quest huh?'
"If your worry is about danger, then don't worry. I will personally guarantee their safety."
The man seemed hesitant to accept this, "I would not dare to accept your prowess, but how do I know you won't just leave these adventurers to die when tough times arise?"
Lyrian replied quickly, "You don't know that, but you just have to trust me. Plus... I wouldn't turn my back from a battle that I know I could win, 99% of the time."
"99% of the time huh?" The Vice Branchmaster scoffed and chuckled slightly.
"Look, I can't just tell that other group of adventurers to piss off. They've already accepted the ques--"
"You can, and you will," Lyrian said with a normal tone.
"Excuse me?"
"Unfortunately for you, I don't care much about this quest at all. More so than that, I am taking this quest because I know that it will help me solve this case of kidnappings in this kingdom. If you don't allow me to take this quest, you are directly impeding my mission given to me by Anaviotis, and thus, by the kingdom of Veridrake itself. I have no other choice but to take this mission, and therefore, you have no other choice but to give me it."
The Vice Branchmaster was stunned to hear this. He leaned back slightly, as he was taken aback.
Then, he chuckled before letting out a sigh. "You are quite the feisty one... but I guess I can't say much to that." He conceded, shocking the other adventurers in the room for some reason.
"What!?" Rothis yelled out of nowhere, "Vice Branchmaster Rastran actually giving in for once!? Never in my life have I seen this ignorant bastard give in to anything!"
The others seemed to have the same thoughts, but the Vice Branchmaster wasn't so impressed with Rothis words.
In the next moment, Rothis sat quietly in his chair with 3 large bumps in his head and a bruised eye.
Just then, Rastran signed the quest poster and handed it to Lyrian along with a quest plate made of blue crystal.