“What happened to Gravus?”

Alexia looked at the flickering light of the lantern, “Probably killed.”

“Probably?”

“Ranthus was the guardsman you just fought. Since he is still alive, I doubt Gravus lived from that encounter.”

At this I went silent.

Her voice cracked and she struggled to release the words she had been holding back, “I will get my children back.”

“Do you know where they are?”

“Most likely in the Marquess’ manor”

“...”

She smiled, it seemed so small and painful. “I know that charging in there blindly would be a stupid idea. The building has many armed guards, and they wouldn’t think twice about stabbing an intruder.”

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. If It had been any other situation I would have abandoned it on the spot. It was not something that involved me, it was not something I had to deal with.

But dammit, she was trying to save her children.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked.

She wrinkled her brow, “To do?”

“Yeah,” I repeated myself, “You told me your story for a reason didn’t you? What do you want me to do.”

Her eyes widened for a brief moment, before that small and painful smile returned. “I don’t want you to do anything.”

“Eh?”

She looked towards the only light in the room, a small candle nearly entirely burned away, “I’ve spent the last three months in silence. I don’t really know the reason why I told you all this. Maybe I just wanted to speak again without someone trying to kill me. Maybe I just wanted to smile for the last time.”

The smile tore my heart apart.

And yet she did not ask me for my help.

“Last time?”

“...”

“Last time?” I repeated.

“I plan to break into the Manor in a few hours after the sun sets. I’ll muscle my way through the gates if I have to. They’ve nearly caught me last time, but I might make it through this time.” she gripped her arm and flexed, there was nothing there and I could not help but notice how skinny she was. She did not look like someone able to ‘muscle’ her way into a fully guarded mansion.

“Don’t.” I found myself saying.

“Are you telling me not to save my children?”

I shook my head, “No, I’m telling you not to go tonight. I’ll go in myself and save them.”

“I can do it myself.”

“And risk leaving those kids without a mother?”

Her eyes narrowed, and the smile vanished. I held my ground and stared her in the eyes.

Finally she gave in a little, “How do you plan to get in?”

I managed to keep myself from sighing at a certain thought, “I have a friend that could help me get in. I just need some time, but I will save your family.”

“Why would you help me? I’m a ghoul.”

I couldn’t think of a proper reply, so I just said, “Why not?”

[p=center]Quest Updated[/p]

…

By the time I left the hideout the sun had already set. The alleyway had grown eerily dark. I made my way slowly back to the main street, being especially careful not to trip on any boxes. The actual street was lit by a large number of yellow lanterns, swaying gently in front of all the shops and houses.

I started walking with my destination already in mind. Even if I wanted too, I wouldn’t be able to get in the manor. I had no doubts that the guardsman could have easily stopped a mere level six from trying to break inside.

But sadly enough, I knew someone who could get me in.

Why was it sad? I had a hard time dealing with the person in question.

I let out a long drawn out sigh as I made my way to a section of the city where the red lights covered all. Make no mistakes, Royal Road is not a game for minors. All merchants try to make a profit and the red light district was one such method. That being said, almost no players actually went there.

A players fame needlessly lowered if they spent too long in this area. The NPCs would speak ill of them and lower their chances of receiving a quest. No one wanted to ask a man that had to pay for love to work for them. They all wanted a righteous hero to do the job.

I found myself entering a particular shop, decorated by a giant sign shaped like a keg. My friend never entered the more R18 shops. He seemed to feel that flirting around was part of the game. The only reason he hung out here was because no one chased him out if he flirted with 6-7 girls in the same ten minute period.

There was an exceedingly large rumor that NPCs could not fall in love, that they could only act within pre-set actions. When my friend heard that he couldn’t help but say, “They should blame the fact that the NPCs are wise enough not to fall for them, on themselves. Those guys think love is so needlessly complicated.”

I worked my way past a large swarm of NPCs. Although the shops weren’t popular among players, NPCs had no reason not to visit them. Most of them didn’t have to bother with adventuring and quests.

The person I was looking for my friend Cur. His level was nearly 40 times that of my own, and although his class left something to beg for in combat, he had a tremendously useful set of skills.

[Legendary Redlight Gigolo] a hidden class that he learned directly from a crotchy old man. He was taught the way of eros. Why one would bother learning the ways of eros from a weird old man was anyone’s guess.

But if there was anything Cur was good at, it was finding himself a lady to flirt with. Cur was known as the "Casanova of Ardent". His achievements to date have been sneaking into a royal ball, participating (Unrightfully) in a knighting ceremony, and some say he was seen kissing the princess in her father’s castle.

Just as I managed to get to the edge of the tavern, I heard someone call out my name. “Alair, what are you doing down here. You finally decide to start picking up girls with me again?”

“...”

I turned to find Cur standing with a sloppy smile on his face. He was wearing a black tux, and currently had a bright red mark across the side of his face. The red mark in question was suspiciously hand-shaped. I raised an eyebrow as I looked at him, and he shrugged his shoulders in response.

“So what are you up to? You normally try to avoid this area because of that.”

I looked towards one of the lamps, the red light covered everything like a thin layer of blood. If it was just this much I could get by with a little stomach ache. But this area of the city was prone to bar fights and the like, and the chances of me seeing that irritable liquid was annoyingly high. My hemophobia made me avoid this area as much as humanely possible.

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I smiled, it was a bit forced because of all the red around me, “I was wondering if you could tell me how you managed to sneak past all those guards.”

He laughed, “What?! Are you trying to steal my techniques so you can flirt with girls yourself?”

“I have an honest reason to use it!”

“Oh?” he crossed his arms, “Then I’m not teaching you.”

“I just need your help to get past some guards.”

“Nope. Not teaching you,” Cur repeated.

I paused for a moment, “Wait, are you saying that you would only teach me if I used it to flirt with girls?”

He nodded.

The heck? This is why I always have a hard time dealing with him. I just can’t understand how he thinks. “Why not?”

“It annoys me that, whenever you're at school you keep to yourself. The only person that bothers to hang out with you anymore is me. Back in our highschool life, we couldn’t keep the girls off us. I can’t stand seeing you like this anymore.”

“I’m fine as I am.”

“You aren’t happy anymore.”

“...”

“What do I need to help you with?” Cur finally gave in with a sigh. He pulled out one of the free stools and sat down. “I guess even coming here of your own volition is enough progress for the day.”

“I’m trying to save some kidnapped children."

“Oh?” Cur looked surprised, “You are actually doing a quest that seems mildly important? I thought all you ever did in here was deliver packages and avoid stepping outside the city walls every time a chain quest suddenly tried to make you leave.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to see the outside world just as much as the next guy. The mountains that are filled with gold, the hills lit on constant fire, the wonders that only this world could show us. I wanted to see it all.

“It’s not like I-”

“I know,” Cur cut me off, “you don’t have to talk about it right now. Not at this place.” he patted me on the shoulder, “So rescuing some children eh? Who’s the kidnapper? Some kobolds? A horde of goblins? Wait neither of those have decent guards, a band of thieves maybe?”

“The Marquess.” I whispered.

“...”

“...”

“...Well damn.”

To be honest, his reaction didn’t surprise me. A marquess is decently high up on the noble latter. It was slightly above a Count in rank, and was entrusted with some territory at the end of the country. If a player went up against the nobility their infamy would skyrocket. They would become the target of NPCs and players alike.

“Well,” Cur started to say.

“You don’t have to help me if you don’t want to.”

He nearly spat out his next few words clearly annoyed, “Aren, I’m your friend. If you think a little infamy is going to keep me from helping you, then you are seriously looking down on me as a person. I will help, you just need a way to get in right?”

He hadn’t noticed but he had called me by my real name. When you know someone outside of the game its hard to keep pretenses when your emotions override your words. It was how I knew I said something clearly wrong towards him.

I nodded, “I need to get in, get the children and get out. Simple enough.”

Cur waved to the bartender, a pretty young girl and ordered two drinks with the wave of his hand. I sat down beside him, it wasn’t till the bartender dropped off his drinks and Cur took a swig once that he spoke again. “Why couldn’t you have gotten this quest before I was marked by the marquess? Then I could have helped you more.”

“Marked?”

He held up four fingers, “There are four main class skills of the [LRG], well four I care about anyway. I use one of those to sneak around, however it has a few quirks on whether it can be used or not. One of those quirks is if I’m marked by someone, all those working beneath them cannot be fooled by the skill.”

“So you can’t help?”

“I can help you learn the skill. I just can’t help you beyond that. Well...” He shoved the other beverage out to me. “That is after you swallow all of this.”

“Why?” I asked.

“...Trust me its for the best.”

I gave him an accusatory stare.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Fine, you just have to deal with this sober.” He held out his hand so that I could see the palm of it. It was red, far redder than the light should have dyed it. That hand was the same one that patted me on the shoulder not even two minutes before.

“Blo- blood…”

He nodded solemnly.

[p=center]Hemophobia +5[/p]

I became acutely aware of the sticky and wet sensation as the liquid clung to my back and clothes. I had tripped earlier when fighting the guard. The puddle that had caused my fall was not something I wanted to pay attention too.

That same puddle was what covered my back in this instant. If not for the overall redlight of this district, someone would have screamed.

My pulse slowed.

The world shrunk.

And I fainted.

………………………………………………….

Spoiler :

Tui here again.

I was a little late for this chapter…. I apologize, I mean to try to get them out around the same time every week. Well it’s not like any of you are going to expect a proper release schedule for every chapter, right? Especially more so since its the third one released -_-’

*sighs* I’ll try to be on time from here on.

Like always comments will be greatly appreciated. If you spot any stupid mistakes don’t be afraid to laugh at me about them. I’ll fix them if you point them out.

Sayonara.

End Chapter 3

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