THE bulky leader of the Crimson Corps with his shaggy brown hair and bearded face was sitting behind his mahogany desk. When he saw them walking in, he quickly stood up.
"You two, I thought you had already forgotten this old man’s request. Please, do have a seat," he said, gesturing for them to sit down on the seats in front of the desk.
"There’s no way we would forget that, Leader," Luo Yan said as he sat down. Eclipse jumped from his shoulder to his lap.
On the other seat, Shen Ji Yun also sat down. The miniature dragon on his shoulder did not jump like the little fox and just moved a little to find a more comfortable position.
The leader looked at the dragon. "It seems that you have a new powerful addition to your crew."
"This king is not part of any crew," Dusk snorted. "But you’re right about me being powerful."
"Just ignore this one. He’s just naturally arrogant," Shen Ji Yun said, not looking at the dragon on his shoulder.
Dusk huffed and puffed, literally producing smoke from his nose. "This king is arrogant? Hah! Are you sure you’re not talking about yourself?"
"Not only arrogant, quite chatty too," Shen Ji Yun added, still not looking at Dusk.
"You--!"
Luo Yan chuckled, cutting off the bickering of the two. "Don’t they get along really well?" he said to the leader.
[Mashter, Eclipse don’t think they get along at all.] – Eclipse commented in a confused tone.
"Who gets along with who?"
"Yan Yan, I think your concept of ’getting along’ is a bit unique."
Dusk and Shen Ji Yun said almost at the same time respectively.
The leader only laughed and said, "Yes, they really do get along quite well."
Before the two who were ’getting along’ started to complain again, Luo Yan changed the topic to the subject of why they came here in the first place. "Leader, we have already found out what happened to Finnea."
The leader’s expression quickly turned serious when he said that. "Please, elaborate more if you can."
Luo Yan and started to tell the other what exactly happened to Finnea.
Rhys, an elf who was also part of Crimson Corps, held great affection for Finnea. This affection bordered obsessiveness. He couldn’t let go of her even though the other already had a husband and a child. So, he put up this elaborate plan.
He first tricked a priest from the Tower of Edia to show him the Heart of Edia. Once he gained access to the heard, he then tricked Finnea and Alicia, asking them to help him with a commission. He managed to bring Finnea alone to the Tower of Edia, exactly at the place where the heart was.
Finnea lost consciousness, courtesy of Rhys and he put her under the Heart of Edia. With that, almost all the preparations for the ritual were completed. This ritual needed the energy of the Heart of Edia to completely change the feelings of one person and force them to fall in love with the one performing the ritual. The plan almost succeeded if not for Lars – the priest who showed Rhys the Heart of Edia.
He interrupted the ritual. This interruption backfired and caused a backlash to Finnea. This backlash became the ’curse’ that ultimately killed her. Lars also died in the process. While Rhys was now imprisoned at the Tower of Edia.
After Luo Yan finished, the leader could only sigh in regret. "I guess what happened to Rhys was only a fitting ending considering what he did. His selfishness led to the demise of two people."
Luo Yan noticed the words the other used. "Did something happen to Rhys?"
"Not long ago after you first came here, his Life Lamp was completely extinguished," the leader answered with a solemn expression. "I guess after you met him at the Tower of Edia, he then died."
Hearing that, Luo Yan was a bit surprised. Because Rhys dying meant that no one else would be able to do the ’Finnea’s Curse’ hidden task again. But maybe he probably shouldn’t really be that surprised. After all, in this game, everything was a one big narrative. It’s like a single story with those tasks acting as chapters.
In this case, hidden tasks were like special chapters that could act as their own story without affecting the main storyline. Once a part of this special chapter was no longer there, then it would just be obsolete.
"I just feel sorry for Finnea and her family," the leader continued. "If I was only more observant back then, maybe I could have prevented something like that from happening."
"Hmp! You really are at fault. As a leader, you should have noticed that there was something wrong with one of your members," Dusk scolded. "Being unable to do so only meant that you’re incompetent."
"Dusk--!" Luo Yan chided the miniature version of the black dragon. Then he turned to the leader. "Sorry, he’s just a bit outspoken."
"No, he has a point. And I really couldn’t deny what he said," the leader said good-naturedly. "Not being able to prevent what happened to Finnea was one of my deepest regrets."
"I’m sure Finnea wouldn’t blame you for that," Luo Yan assured the other.
There’s probably no need for him to comfort the leader. But what could he do? The NPCs in this game were simply too involved in their role that he also couldn’t help but immerse himself into the play.
"I sure hope so," the leader said. "Thank you for telling me all the details of what happened."
"We did promise to tell you about it. So, there’s no need for thanks," Luo Yan said.
"No, I feel like I should still give you a reward." The leader then took out a teleportation scroll from the drawer of his desk. "This is a teleportation scroll to a newly-discovered dungeon. With this scroll, you can go there with a maximum of five people. If you don’t dislike it, then please accept it as a token of my gratitude."
Luo Yan was quite surprised hearing that. But he still reached out his hand and took the scroll.
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