MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Ding!

[You have completed the quest 'The Clossbay Killer'.]

[You have received 250,000 XP.]

[Your affinity with Merdus has increased by 500 points. Current relationship: Close friend.]

[Your reputation in Clossbay City has increased by 500 points. Current reputation: Well-known.]

[Receive your monetary rewards from Merdus.]

With looks of incredulity on their faces, Valyr turned his head to look at Tryndall, only to find out that the latter was looking at him as well. Feeling that the two had the same thoughts in mind, they turned their heads to look at Merdus, who looked at them with a raised eyebrow as he noticed their expressions. "Is there something wrong?"

"The rewards we've received…" Tryndall faintly muttered in response, only for his voice to return to normal volume after that. "The rewards we've received include the ones from completing the optional requirement."

"Ah, that." As Valyr nodded in response to Tryndall's words, Merdus opened his mouth to tell the reason why they had gotten all of the rewards. "Well, I wouldn't have given you two all of the rewards for the quest if the Clossbay Killer was only one person. But as you've said, as well as shown, the Clossbay Killer is actually made up of five people. With there only being two of you, the thought of you apprehending all five of them swiftly disappeared from my mind, even taking into consideration that you employed the help of other people to track their movements."

"With that in mind, as well as the fact that you've given me evidence, as well as far more information than I was initially expecting regarding the abrupt change in the identity of the Clossbay Killer, you two are more than deserving of all the rewards that could be obtained from the quest."

"Speaking of which…" Merdus leaned down under the desk for a bit, opening a drawer as both Valyr and Tryndall heard the faint clinking of metal for a while. Not long after, Merdus' head appeared in front of their vision once more before placing two small stacks of platinum coins on the desk.

"Five platinum coins each, equivalent to 500 gold coins. With that, you've truly received all of the rewards from the quest." Pushing the small stacks of platinum coins towards the two, Merdus gazed at them for a bit, only for a light smirk to appear on his face once he heard the two thank him, their eyes glistening at the fact they had received that much money at once.

Nevertheless, now that their job was over, the two of them got up from their seats and retrieved their share of platinum coins before thanking Merdus once more, bidding farewell as they eventually left the latter to his own devices.

After watching the two leave the room as they closed the door behind them, the expression on Merdus' face turned into that of great displeasure as he slammed his hands on the table, letting out a guttural roar in fury.

"You bastard!"

…

After thanking Samantha along the way for helping them meet up with Merdus as soon as possible, the two of them eventually left the building, heading towards a nearby restaurant to celebrate the whole ordeal with a small meal.

While digging into the food they ordered, the expression on Valyr's face turned solemn as he looked at Tryndall. "Are you still gonna have them track the five?"

"Yeah." Tryndall nodded in response, his expression becoming solemn as well. "I get the feeling that Merdus would only do the bare minimum response to the situation now that he knows what's happening. Perhaps he might not even give out a response at all."

Hearing Tryndall's words, Valyr shrugged his shoulders. "Either way, this isn't our main priority anymore. We can move onto doing other stuff, such as me preparing the smithy for opening."

"How about you? You planning to stay in Clossbay City for a while longer?" Valyr asked soon after.

Tryndall nodded. "Yeah. There's an Adventurer's Guild branch in this city, so there's not really much reason for me to leave the city, unless if I accepted a quest that needs me to head somewhere else."

"In any case, I'll update you from time to time regarding the situation with the Clossbay Killer." With that, the two of them continued digging into their respective meals before heading off their separate ways sometime later.

While making his way back to the smithy, a thought popped up in his mind, prompting him to wonder whether he should head back to Astarto Village and update Damian regarding the situation about the quest. Pondering over it even further, he thought about bidding farewell to the village for good after that, only returning to the village during the monster tide.

Coincidentally, just as he had made his mind up regarding what to do, a notification sound resounded in his mind, informing him that he had received a message from someone through the chat function. Opening it up, Valyr swiftly found out that Damian had sent a message to him.

Continuing to make his way back to the smithy, Valyr read the message Damian sent. "Hey, Valyr. I just received a notification that the quest I gave you was completed."

"Yeah. I just completed it, actually. To be honest, it was far harder than I thought since there was no lead for me to work with. Thankfully, a friend of mine had the quest as well, so we were able to work on the quest together and complete it." Sending a response back, Valyr received a reply from Damian by the time he had entered the smithy.

"Well, that's good to hear."

Seeing the reply Damian sent to his earlier message, Valyr could not help but get the urge to laugh, finding it somewhat hilarious that he had received a short reply to his long message. However, this urge to laugh was cut short as Damian sent another message not long after, just as he was a few buildings away from his smithy.

"Anyways, aside from the fact that I've gotten a notification that the quest I gave you was completed, I have something else to tell you. Remember Wells Anadhar? That young noble you accompanied on your journey to Anadhar City?"

"Well, he's surprisingly returned to the village..."

"And he's looking for you."