Chapter 220: Strange VIllage
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
Fountain of Youth.
The Assassin Alliance’s unique artifact. The Bai clansmen could get a few springs of the Fountain of Youth each year, half of which was offered to the South Wizard Alliance.
It didn’t have many effects, and in fact only had one: extending someone’s lifespan.
A stream of the Fountain of Youth could extend someone’s life by more or less 30 years. The results would quickly decline with repeated uses.
Marvin brought Isabelle to the Assassin Alliance to see whether she could be qualified to become one of the highly regarded Assassins, and then think of a way to receive a portion of the Fountain of Youth’s spring.
But now, a Fountain of Youth’s spring was placed in front of Marvin.
Marvin didn’t have any reason to decline.
This thing was a priceless treasure. Those Wizards on the verge of death were willing to spend all they had to buy a Fountain of Youth’s spring.
If not for the Assassin Alliance’s powerful strength and their effective protection of the Fountain of Youth, this place’s natural resource might have already been occupied by some powerful Wizards.
Thus, even the experienced Marvin didn’t know where that Fountain of Youth was.
He only knew that there was a large-scale quest in his previous life, [The Exhausted Fountain of Youth].
This was a quest issued by the Bai High Priest. At the time, it affected all the players in the Saint Desert because the quest reward experience was very high.
From this it could be seen that the Fountain of Youth would most likely become exhausted after the Great Calamity.
Now that there was the opportunity to get a stream of the Fountain of Youth, Marvin would definitely give it a try.
And after accepting this task, the quest menu which had no changes for a while was suddenly updated.
[Incident Investigation: White Deer Murderer]
[Quest Description: A large amount of White Deers have been killed in the eastern part of the Saint Desert. The Assassin Alliance’s people followed the trail to a small village of the Sha clan, where they found their main clue. But the Bai clan is restricted by a tribal agreement and is unable to enter their territory. Only you can solve this mystery.]
[Quest Reward: A spring of the Fountain of Youth, 10000 general exp]
...
To Marvin’s understanding, this "game system" was helping him integrate a lot faster into this world.
Maybe there was something like a guide function.
Since the system gave him a general exp reward, it meant that this quest shouldn’t be missed.
And the quest in itself didn’t pose too much trouble.
The Assassin Alliance was set up by the Bai, so they naturally didn’t lack experts.
As soon as they found out White Deer were suffering from a large scale hunt, the High Priest sent his able subordinates to check on this matter.
In the end, they followed a suspicious traveler.
"According to what my people saw, he must be a very wicked guy." The High Priest slowly described, "He pretended to be someone near death and lied down under the sun, waiting for a long time."
"But he was actually not dying, despite seeming to be in a continuous near death state. He was definitely waiting for a White Deer to come over."
"And when White Deer approached, intending to save him, he tried to harm it!"
"That time, the White Deer was startled away because my people acted, but it also let the murderer escape. But one of our Master Trackers gave us a path to follow."
"We followed that trail to find a small Sha village."
A hint of helplessness could be seen on the High Priest’s face after saying this.
Marvin immediately understood.
Even if the Sha clan and the Bai clan both originated from the Saint Desert, they were mortal enemies at that time. Later on, they signed a ceasefire under the mediation of the South Wizard Alliance. But it was clearly written on the agreement that they both weren’t allowed to step on the other side’s territory.
If one of them violated the agreement, it would trigger a war between the two clans, and at the same time lead to sanctions from the South Wizard Alliance.
And it turned out that the people in the Assassin Alliance that belonged to the High Priest’s side were all Bai clansmen. There weren’t any expert foreigners. The High Priest needed someone else to deal with that matter.
There was only Marvin. The rumors, and his performance at the King Assassin’s challenge made up his mind.
"We won’t make you take a big risk. We only need you to investigate to find out who is behind that matter," the High Priest slowly said.
Marvin nodded.
He had an accurate understanding of the task’s details.
Since he accepted this quest, he had to make enough preparations.
As for sneaking into the small Sha village, this wasn’t an issue to Marvin.
He had the Setting Sun Maxim and the Battle Gunner subclass. For the Sha clansmen, he was one of them.
...
A long time later, around dusk, in front of the Sha clan’s small village.
Marvin changed his clothes and wearily went in.
Two pistols could be seen on his thigh.
As for his Battle Gunner skill points, they were also assigned. 30 points were spent on [Market Scuffle].
This was a Sha specific fighting technique used along with pistols and shotguns. It had a bonus in melee.
The Sha guard didn’t make things difficult for him. After he saw the Setting Sun Maxim flashing between his eyebrows, he let quickly let Marvin in, even though he was very puzzled that Marvin was a Battle Gunner but not a Sha.
The village wasn’t very big and a lifeless atmosphere could be felt from it.
Marvin walked down the empty street.
The last remaining light of the sun could be seen in the west as it set, showing an amazing view. However, Marvin wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it.
‘Those two guards’ words were a bit incoherent.’
‘And when I went through that street, that child looked weird, holding a doll while lifelessly staring at his surroundings. Where were his parents?’
‘Aren’t there too few signs of life? This should be the time when it is most lively.’
Marvin was thinking over it.
The Sha’s flag was still fluttering outside the village. The Assassin Alliance’s reinforcements weren’t far, but before Marvin was clear about the unusual condition, they couldn’t rush in.
Everything still depended on him.
Marvin made a couple rounds around the village, meeting a few people. Those people’s gazes weren’t kind and they directly left, leaving no chance for Marvin to strike up a conversation.
The sky completely darkened as he found an inn.
The inn’s boss was a fatty, and he was surprisingly very enthusiastic.
After Marvin paid for the room, he quickly led Marvin to a good room and personally went to boil hot water.
He said that he hadn’t had any business for a long time because this village was too remote.
But Marvin felt something fishy.
A huge bundle was hidden behind the inn counter, a part of it visible.
That was the edge of a curved blade, and it definitely wasn’t something Sha people usually used. It should be an adventurer’s belonging.
"Guest, please go up first."
"I’ll deliver the hot water and the food to you in a moment," the boss said very politely.
Marvin calmly asked, "Boss, why is this village so unfrequented?"
"I noticed the villagers seemed a bit weird, did something strange happen recently?"
The boss froze, and soon laughed. "Don’t mind it, we are poor. They carry dead expressions all day long."
"As for strange happenings, there haven’t been any in the village, but there actually was something outside the village. It’s been rumored that the Bai’s holy White Deers have recently been hunted down. Tssk. Serves them right."
Marvin didn’t comment and stopped talking with the boss, heading up the stairs.
When passing through the second floor, a woman that smelled of perfume walked over. Her face was thickly covered with cosmetics. Her looks could be considered okay at best, but her figure was pretty good.
When they passed by each other, she threw a coquettish glance at Marvin.
Marvin smiled on the surface and directly opened his door.
...
A dusky candle in the old-fashioned inn.
From the second floor window, the entire village seemed dead. A cold wind blew, and Marvin couldn’t help but pull back his neck.
The night was getting darker.
The water and food the boss prepared for Marvin had already arrived.
Marvin carefully checked and these two didn’t have any issues.
His perception wasn’t high, but based on his experience, something was definitely wrong with this village.
But the Assassin Alliance’s people had no justification to come in!
‘Unless…‘
As he was thinking, knocking was heard from the door.
Marvin kept both hands on his thighs, ready to draw his guns anytime.
"Who?" he asked.
"Me…" A gentle woman’s voice could be heard.
Marvin considered for a bit when suddenly, a warm feeling spread through his chest.
He passed the will check easily.
He sneered inwardly before moving over and opening the door.
It was that woman.
She only wore a thin nightgown made out of rough material. It seemed like a sackcloth and simply couldn’t hide the scenery under the clothes.
"Mister, I heard the boss downstairs says that you are alone."
The woman came in with a smile, closing the door behind her.
"I also came to this village today and this place felt cold and cheerless. I’m a bit afraid of spending the night alone."
"Moreover, I’m a bit cold here, could you warm me up?" After saying this, she grabbed Marvin’s right hand and guided it toward her chest.
Marvin pretended to drool. "Where are you cold? I’ll help you by massaging it."
"How hateful." The woman smiled and put Marvin’s hand on her chest.
How could she have thought that something cold and hard would press against her!
"What is this?" She was startled.
Marvin shrugged. "Something to warm you up."
He was actually holding a pistol in his right hand!
The pistol was now firmly pressing against her chest. If Marvin pulled the trigger, it would pierce her heart.
Suddenly, the woman’s expression changed.
Her head deformed and greatly grew, becoming more than ten times bigger in an instant!
There was nothing on her face aside from a bloody mouth!
"Silly Sha! Your gun is useless against me!"
"I’ll carefully enjoy your head!"
"Don’t worry, you’ll turn into one of us after I eat your head…"