Although the walk took longer than it would otherwise due to Merlin having to slow his pace for the envoy, they arrived at Macedonia unharmed in roughly half an hour. They traversed into the bustling streets of Macedonia on their way to the oracle's compound. The gate swung open before Merlin and the envoy even made it to the gate, and the handsome butler stepped out of the compound to greet them.
"Well, you're home now." Merlin said to the envoy who was still being silent.
The envoy waddled towards the butler and was quickly ordered to get inside. The envoy complied without turning back, and moments later he had vanished into the compound.
"The oracle thanks you." The butler turned back to Merlin, he pulled a gold coin out of his pocket and held it out for Merlin to take. He continued speaking after Merlin grabbed hold of the coin. "The oracle said she's looking forward to next time, and she hopes to see you again soon."
As soon as those words were spoken, Merlin found himself bombarded with several notifications.
「You have completed the quest, "Lost and Found.", rewards have been delivered.」
「You have earned +5 familiarity with Serpent-Bearer Kilo.」
「Congratulations, you are now level 5.」
"Well, If there is a next time..." Merlin replied in an uncaring tone as he threw the gold coin into his inventory. "I better not be met with another blackmail threat."
The butler's face crumpled as Merlin turned and walked away, not caring to continue the conversation. Merlin heard the gate slam shut behind him as he walked towards the slums.
As Merlin slipped into the slums, he noticed that there were still quite a few guards wandering about. Not wanting to be questioned, Merlin pulled his cloak's hood on and began hiding his presence, he also started chanting his sneak skill.
「Skill ⟪Sneak⟫ Activated, stealth increased by 30% for 20 seconds.」
Using the twenty seconds that the skill gave him, Merlin slipped past a small group of guards and quickly made his way to the thieves guild while making sure he wasn't being followed. He checked his surroundings one last time before walking into the alley. Merlin pushed open the door to the shady tavern and walked inside.
Merlin noticed that everyone in the room seemed to be on edge the second he walked in, but quickly calmed down once they realised who it was. It seemed the elf had taken Merlin's warning seriously.
Fae was idling at the counter as usual, and as Merlin approached a large smile appeared on her face as she asked him a question. "What's the password."
From the conversation Fae and Snow had earlier, he could naturally assume why she asked the question, but he decided to humour her. "Apple bottom jeans."
"Boots with the fur!" She blurted out with an expression that was practically begging for him to complement her.
Merlin gave her a little golf clap and a slight chuckle in response. It was childish, but it seemed to make her happy. She was much cuter when she smiled, he preferred the child-like innocence rather than the cold secretary act he got when they first interacted with each other.
"Well, I'll get Snow to teach you another one." Merlin said before tapping his backpack. "I've got some things to deliver to your father."
Fae led Merlin down into the cellar once more, but before she opened the hidden door she asked him a question one more time. "What is the password?"
"Never gonna give you up." Merlin said with a mischievous smile.
The door opened and Merlin made his way inside, his eyes locked onto the back of a familiar looking elf. Merlin greeted everyone as he traversed a sea of tables and drunk gamblers. Fae on the other hand seemed to have scampered off towards the training facility.
"You're back already." The elf greeted him as Merlin sat beside him. "I hope you didn't cause any more catastrophes."
"I solved one actually..." Merlin said as he pulled the stack of documents out of his backpack.
"You've brought more things to read?" The elf said as he stared at the rolled up paper. "I might have to create a library down here at the rate you're bringing these in."
"These are in a language called Bashkatil, have you ever heard of it?" Merlin asked as he handed the stack of documents over.
"No, never." The elf said as he grabbed the paper, unrolling it and staring at the markings on the first sheet.
"I found those in a vampire's lair. It was a crypt under an old abandoned church somewhere in-between Caphyae and Orchomenus." Merlin explained, "The kidnapping case, I'm almost certain that it's linked with the hole in the sky."
The elf's eyes narrowed as he stared at the documents. He turned to Merlin and asked him to explain.
Merlin began briefly explaining everything that happened when he left. He explained everything about the vampire's nest, the ghouls being tortured, the experiments they were doing on captured humans. Then he began mentioning the documents. Fortunately he didn't have to explain how he learnt the basics of the language, as it seemed the elf had done quite a bit of research into otherworlders already.
"Anyway, those are the research documents that I found." He said "The general idea behind it is that the vampire I killed wasn't from this world, instead it was suddenly brought here but it either doesn't explain how, or I cant understand the parts that explain it."
"The biggest issue I have, and the reason why I'm bringing this to you, is that the vampire originally couldn't use its power to convert living creatures into its slaves." He continued, "Instead, it seemed as though the vampire was utilising some kind of alchemy to create vampires and ghouls. So in those documents is possibly a recipe for a poison that can convert humans into ravenous undead."
"That sounds incredibly dangerous." The elf's expression darkened, "Why would you not burn this? What if it fell into the wrong hands?"
"I considered it at first. But then I worried that this wouldn't be the only vampire dropped into this world. What if the next one managed to succeed?" He explained his case. "If possible, I think it might be best to develop a cure, so we can be prepared should the threat of a ghoul army come."
"I was also hoping that you would have some people who could decipher the rest of the language." Merlin said, "I believe I've come across this once before, so I think it may be tied in with some of the strange phenomenon that has been happening since the hole in the sky."
"Either way, it could be a hint that could help us in solving the mystery and fixing the issues it caused." Merlin continued.
The elf went silent, he seemed to be lost in thought. A full minute passed before the elf tore his gaze away from the documents that could potentially hold the key to humanity's ruin.
"Very well, I'll get my best on it. But they specialise in cracking ciphers, not deciphering languages." The elf said with a sigh. "But you're going to have to translate everything that you can, so they have some foundation to base their work on."
┌───────────────────
[Unique Hidden Quest]
Otherworldly Translator.
You have requested that the thieves guild assist with translating documents written in Bashkatil, your task is to translate as much of the documents as you can to give them the best conditions to work with.
The chances of the thieves guild successfully translating the rest of the documents increases based on how much of the work is translated and the quality of the translations given.
Translate the documents and hand them to the thieves guild leader.
• Reward: 50 EXP, ???
└───────────────────
"Deal." Merlin didn't expect a quest to appear, but he was happy to accept. He'd be getting something extra out of a task he would have done regardless.
"I'll get you a quiet place to work. Follow me." The elf lord picked up the sheets of paper and led Merlin down one of the tunnels and to a familiar room, the interrogation room he had been dragged to earlier. "I'll get you some supplies, feel free to visit your friends in the training facilities while you wait, I'll send someone to collect you when we're ready."
Merlin took him up on the offer and made his way towards the training facility. The floor changed to packed dirt as he walked into a large room full of training equipment.
Merlin walked in just in time to see Typhoeus near the end of the obstacle course, he seemed exhausted. And unfortunately that exhaustion seemed to cost him as he stepped on the last trap pressure plate, causing the ground to collapse under him. Merlin heard laughter coming from the observing group as Typhoeus plummeted into the packed dirt below.
Palear, Bell, Snowbunny and Fae were all watching Typhoeus' attempt from the distance. However, Snowbunny was the only one currently rolling around in the dirt laughing hysterically. Merlin approached the group, his gaze hovered over to where Typhoeus was out of concern, but he seemed okay.
"Hey guys." Merlin said as he approached the group. "How have you been progressing?"
"Oh hey ghost." Palear was the first to greet him, it seemed Snowbunny was still busy laughing at Typhoeus' expense.
Bell gave Merlin a respectful nod before turning his attention back to Typhoeus, who was only now standing back up.
As Typhoeus walked over with a look of shame and exhaustion, Snowbunny finally realised that Merlin had showed up.
"Hey Merlin. What is with you and outdated song references?" Snowbunny asked as she stood back up. She gently wiped the excess dirt off of her clothes.
"What do you mean outdated? They're classics." Merlin retorted.
