Chapter 15: Becoming Famous
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
Marvin was harvesting quite a lot of things inside the Acheron Gang’s basement.
After driving out a group of clueless dancers, he ruthlessly cleared out Diapheis’ wealth. He took the valuable loot after removing some simple traps. The most important was money.
He found six small pouch of silvers filled to the brim, each containing at least 100-200 silvers, and also a bag of jewels. According to his accounting skill, these pearls were worth several thousands silvers just at a glance. He just needed to find a suitable place to exchange them.
The most important part was that he found a secret compartment in Diapheis’ bedroom.
Inside the hidden secret compartment was a green agate pouch with 26 gold coins inside! These were authentic wizard gold coins, a commonly used currency in the south!
26 wizard golds meant 26000 silvers!
From Marvin’s memories, last year the taxes in his territory only amounted to 2000 silvers.
Running a gang was obviously not that lucrative. This money definitely had another origin.
Unfortunately Diapheis already died. The guy was too strong so Marvin’s capture plan ended up failing.
But as he was about to leave the place, feeling some regrets at the missing information, he found a familiar face inside a small room.
That was a young man with a short build and a wretched appearance. When Marvin found him, he was surprisingly unconscious on the floor.
There was also a dancer whose clothes were ripped apart inside the room, seeming very frightened. She hid herself in the corner while looking fearfully at Marvin and Isabelle who just broke in.
The little girl recognized her.
With Isabelle’s assistance, Marvin and the dancer had a simple conversation, and then she was given a few silvers before leaving.
‘Truly an unlucky guy… While forcing himself on her, the dancer pushed him and his head hit the corner of the table, making him lose consciousness. Seems like he is still alive. If I remember correctly, his name was Farmar. He should be my older cousin.’
‘Farmar is Uncle Miller's second son, he unexpectedly appeared in the Acheron Gang’s basement. Looks like the identity of the mastermind is already quite obvious.’
Coldness was apparent in Marvin’s eyes, as he handed one of the small pouches to Isabelle.
"This is yours. It should be enough for your mother to visit a Silver Church Priest."
The little girl shook her head, "I can’t use that much. I also didn’t help when you were fighting."
"You are a good guide. This is what you deserve." Marvin smiled. "Go. Cure your mother and then look for a safe place."
"And then?" Isabelle asked, "What about you? Mister Mask."
"I have a lot to deal with." Marvin glanced at his unconscious cousin, continuing,"If you and your mother have nowhere else to go, you can go to White River Valley one month from now. The lord there will take you in."
"Didn’t White River Valley fall to a pack of gnolls?" The little girl wasn’t ignorant of the happenings in the outside world.
The crimson color in her eyes grew even deeper.
Marvin had some suspicions but he didn’t have time. He had a lot of things that urgently needed doing. Verifying whether he was right or not about this little girl must wait.
"It’ll be different in a month." Marvin rubbed her head again. "Go. Be careful, don’t attract attention."
Isabelle gingerly took the pouch and hid it carefully. "En¹!" She then took another look at Marvin before finally leaving the basement.
Marvin looked at the unconscious Farmar and suddenly began kicking him.
The pitiful guy painfully groaned while gradually waking up.
"Who are you? That bitch? Damn it, Diapheis works for me." Farmar burst into a rage after waking.
Marvin gave him another kick.
Farmar’s body, which had become useless from drinking wine and playing with women, was directly sent flying out.
"You dare…"
Before Farmar had finished, Marvin had already stepped on his stomach, grimly saying, "It looks like you don’t understand your situation. I already killed Diapheis. In fact, after tonight the Acheron Gang will be a memory. I can see that you are wearing wealthy clothes so you must not be one of them. I have some questions for you."
"You obviously can choose to not answer," he added while flashing his curved dagger.
Farmar was immediately frightened, shivering. "Don’t kill me! I can give you however much you want!"
"You can ask around! My father is quite wealthy and our family has a villa in the rich district. Moreover, we will soon acquire a territory, becoming even richer. However much you want I can get it! Don’t kill me!"
Marvin unhurriedly asked, "Territory? Are you a noble?"
Farmar hastily nodded, "Even if I am currently not a noble, it will happen very soon! As long as that foolish guy dies my father will inherit White River Valley. He has already bribed River Shore City officials and secretly changing a nobility title isn’t that big of a deal. What’s more, we are part of the household. My father Miller was originally the White River Valley’s lord younger brother."
"So what you’re saying is, you and the Acheron Gang worked together in order to kill that foolish guy?" Marvin knowingly asked.
Farmar swallowed and hurriedly nodded. "Exactly. That idiot stole the territory we deserved. We are only taking back what belongs to us. If you are Diapheis’ enemy, by all mean don’t kill me, we were only in a business relationship! Really, As long as you free me, you can ask for any amount of money, and I will give give it all to you. Don’t kill me!"
Marvin silently looked at the quest update, lightly shaking his head. Indeed, the mastermind was his own uncle that suddenly came back after getting rich.
After finishing the side quest, 100 general exp showed up on Marvin’s stats window. At the same time, a second side quest appeared, [Revenge].
[Revenge]: Since you clearly know who the mastermind is, you have to go all-out to get revenge. He would obstruct your way back to the territory as long as he is in River Shore City. This is fight with benefits at stake for both sides. Even though you are blood related, he would not stop getting his hands dirty. Perhaps you should make the first move.
The quest reward was 500 general exp, quite generous.
In fact, even if he didn’t have this quest, Marvin would still go look for his troublesome uncle. Harming him like that with such a vicious heart, Marvin would absolutely not let him off.
...
Seeing Marvin shaking his head, Farmar immediately began to panic, "I’m not deceiving you! I can truly pay a large amount!"
"Perhaps I don’t want money." Marvin lightly took off his mask.
Farmar stared blankly. "How could it… You… How…" He stupidly laid there.
"I wonder sometimes, how could mankind be so vicious, starting with their own relatives?" Marvin lightly asked, "Perhaps you could tell me the answer? Dear cousin."
Farmar suddenly summoned courage out of nowhere and tried to stand up!
"You are Marvin! You scared me. You think that holding a dagger is enough to scare me? Damn bastard, I’m not afraid of you!"
Marvin took half a step back, as Farmar sinisterly climbed up and ruthlessly charged at him.
"You should have already died! White River Valley is mine!"
Woosh. A cold light flashed and a head rolled.
"Poor guy…"
Marvin shook his head, not staying in the basement any longer. Under the cover of the night, he left the Pyroxene bar.
...
The next morning, the news of the overnight destruction of the Acheron Gang had already spread to River Shore City’s major and minor powers.
As for the two teams, they luckily survived because they had been sent out to suppress the situation. They also were assimilated very quickly into other gang powers.
Everyone said that the Acheron Gang provoked someone they couldn’t afford to mess with, someone with outstanding fighting skill who used twin daggers and wore a mask.
He single-handedly eliminated the majority of the Acheron Gang’s elite overnight, displaying quite frightening strength.
Since then, the legend of [Masked Twin Blades] spread throughout River Shore City.
And in a villa in the rich district of River Shore City, a plump middle-aged man’s face was as white as a sheet of paper.
In the hall above, a thick white layer of cloth was covering a stretcher placed on the ground.
"Master Miller, Young Master Farmar, he…"
A wrinkled old man leaning on a walking stick lifted the cloth to take a look, his expression turning cold.
"[Masked Twin Blades]...?" Miller clenched his fist. "River Shore City didn’t have this person before. Could it be Diapheis’ enemy?"
"How about offering a bounty?" The old man asked.
Miller frowned before shaking his head, taking a long pause, and saying while gnashing his teeth, "Go look for the [Shadow Spider]’s man. I must have my son’s murderer cut into pieces."
"Also, keep sending people to look for that kid Marvin. As long as he is in River Shore City, I can’t fail to find him."
"I’m already itching to make my nephew meet his father."
...
The undercurrent was raging through River Shore City but Marvin had already left the city early in the morning.
His stamina was replenished by a night of rest. He left the city after a buying a few necessities, leaving towards the northwest. He would need at least a week before coming back after leaving.
It would be time for Miller to die when he returned.
His current strength was still somewhat lacking. Although he could single-handedly exterminate the Acheron Gang, Miller was not as easy to deal with.
From the information he’d received, there were at least two 2nd rank adventurers overseeing Miller’s villa.
This was a perk of being wealthy.
As long as you were wealthy enough, there would be strong people willing to serve you. Miller’s villa had even been provided with a small team of mercenaries, nominally used for business but actually a private army. He had clearly bribed the city hall.
Want to kill him? It’s not that easy. Marvin also needed some time to prepare some things while also increasing his strength.
He was going north, toward a small mountain in the Hall Mountain Range. That mountain had been uninhabited for a long time and people had already forgotten what was there.
But Marvin remembered.
The [Scarlet Monastery], one of the rare few instances he clearly remembered in River Shore City’s surroundings.
A group of scarlet slaves had seized that place, and in addition, a lich that failed to reach godhood was lying dormant there.
__________
1- (T/N: En! is a nonverbal yes / understood / okay.)
2- (Instances are dungeons and special areas which could be accessed by multiple people or groups at the same time without them interfering with each other. )