“I apologize. It was because I was trying to convey you safely, as remnants of the Embinyu Church may have been hiding. For now, please come out with us.” Since the old priests were also his clients, he didn't forget to put on a friendly smile.
“In any case, thank you for coming to rescue us.”
The priests rose from their seats. Weed was able to easily release them from the shackle-like apparatuses on their ankles even though he wasn't a Thief. He used his Blacksmithing skill to get rid of them altogether. There was no way he would miss out on a chance to get good iron material.
“Please release us, too!”
Many other prisoners were tied up in the place where the priests of the Matallost Church had been held. There were 35 people from Dwarf, Elf, Barbarian, and hunter races who were scattered in the North on a small scale. Weed released all of them as well.
At around that time, the people who had received the Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church quest and had been hunting in the area gathered.
“What, he's here already?”
“How did he come so quickly?”
The participants of the quest that had dumbfounded them hadn't thought he would arrive so quickly, even if he was Weed.
It was now time to leave the underground prison. The path out of the prison wasn't very difficult — they were able to leave quickly because the spectators who had followed Weed in were hunting in the important points of the underground prison and the players who were participating in the quest cleaned up the monsters.
“We give you our thanks for saving us.”
“I simply did what I had to do.”
“There is something we must do as soon as possible, so would you wait for a moment?”
“Yes. If it is a righteous deed, I will wait however long it takes.”
Under the watchful gaze of Weed and the quest participants, the Matallost Church's priests went to the temple, cleaned, and lit torches. Then they performed a ritual that appeased the vengeful spirits of the River of Lamentation.
SWOOSH!
Then the stagnant and murky waters of the River of Lamentation flowed smoothly downstream.
Ding!
Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church
The River of Lamentation has been revived.
The river that flows with the tears of the souls who suffered unfair deaths!
The priests of the Matallost Church will repent their errors that sprung from greed and resume the work of guiding souls.
— Contribution to the Matallost Church has increased by 2,700.
— Level has increased.
— With the purification of the River of Lamentation, Fame has increased by 320.
— Faith has increased by 37.
— Luck has increased by 4.
It was quite a considerable compensation. The reward was from the Matallost Church that guided with death becoming active again.
Weed hadn't explored the underground prison to save the prisoners. He had left most of the annoying tasks to other players, but even so, his level went up by 1.
Yurin, Da'in, and the other players went up 10 to 20 levels thanks to the huge EXP they earned as a reward.
“Yahoo!”
“This quest is the best!”
To those who had participated, it was a quest that had given them a big reward that was tough to swap with any kind of treasure.
Weed didn't get butthurt over the level ups of the others. Naturally, you would get stronger if your level went up. However, stats or skill proficiency were more important than that. If you only raised your level quickly, then in the end, your stats would fall short of your raised level. That would make your growth lag, so it was actually faster to backtrack quite a bit.
As the change from the completion of the quest, the contaminated River of Lamentation that had been murky with yellowness slowly became clearer.
— As the River of Lamentation has gradually come to perform its role, the seed of unrest in the Versailles Continent has decreased.
Health will decline due to death and the chance of misfortune decreases by 13 %. When raising Undeads, Necromancers will need a little more Mana.
The old mercenary Smith spoke heavily. “So this is what happened. The Matallost Church… I thought it was a church that had only harmed the Versailles Continent…”
Ding!
Old Smith's Second Curiosity Completed
The old drunkard Smith has come to know the truth about the Count Savoid's true identity and the Matallost Church.
The very curious old mercenary was able to resolve one of the not-quite-right memories of his past.
— Fame has increased by 260.
— The prerequisites for the Agent of the Niflheim Empire quest have been completed.
The A-rank difficulty quest was resolved. He had taken Smith and had proceeded with the River of Lamentation purification and the fight with the pursuers of the Embinyu Church. It wasn't just the resolution of Smith's curiosity about Count Savoid; it had to be regarded as the resolution of a part of the entire chain quest as well.
The old Mercenary Smith said, “Then come anytime to the tavern where I was. Since it's you who gave me lots of alcohol, I should be able to buy you a drink. I know quite a lot, so ask if there's anything you're curious about anytime.”
That was the poor Mercenary Smith's absurdly scanty reward. How much wine and brandy had he gulped up until now… However, Weed didn't argue. He had received many unreasonable quests because of his uncontrollably high Fame. There were times when the reward was big, but there were also times when it was small.
He tried to be understanding with an open mind. 'Looks like I'll have a nightmare tonight.'
In exchange, he resolved to write a ton of insults about Smith in his journal.
“I gained many experiences because I was able to do this with you, elder. It is a pity that we cannot travel the Versailles Continent together anymore.”
The Mercenary Smith laughed, revealing the gaps in his sparse teeth. “It's time for the old me to return to the tavern. It's enough that I did adventures when I was young. Even if I do have a curiosity, I don't think I'll be able to move in person anymore. That's right, I shouldn't need my mercenary card anymore, either. I'll give it to you.”
— You have acquired an S-rank Mercenary Card of the Proam Alliance Guild.
Weed wasn't one to refuse a gift or bribe given to him.
“Identify!”
Proam Alliance Guild Mercenary Card:
Durability: 30/30.
A mercenary card made with bronze.
Grade: S
Option: Can carry out all Mercenary guild quests as desired. Can receive 200 % more for request fees.
It was a mercenary card, which could be called a precious treasure for Mercenaries; even if they weren't Mercenaries, many people used the Mercenary guild to receive quests.
'It should be good if I sell it off.'
Considering the scarcity of mercenary cards on top of that, he would be able to get an enormous price for it. He could tell from the just fact that the players who had gone through the Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church quest with him were all astir over it.
The old Mercenary Smith gave him another gift. “Take this as well.”
Weed took it as he was told again.
It was an antique seal that had a stamp made of jade and a golden dragon crafted with gold that could be used as a handle. A very old item, its color wasn't like that of goods these days. A part of the jade stamp was also broken.
“Identify!”