Chapter Thirty-Five: Daling Harbor

  "Thank you all for escorting me along the way, I will be staying at the 'Blue Sea Inn' here, and on my return journey, I hope to find you again." We finally delivered Ben to Darlington Port, after paying us our due reward, Ben took his servants and hastily disappeared from our sight, he must have gone to catch his "little rabbit"! We looked at each other and smiled.

  "So... shall we go to the tavern and gather?" Trick suggested. We exchanged glances, nodded in unison, and then walked into a nearby tavern that looked relatively clean.

  "So, that means the great fog was the masterpiece of our deceased spirit magician, Kla?" For some reason, we ended up talking about the missing Kla, so I had to give them a brief description of what happened, but I concealed the fact that I'm a magician.

  "So that's how it was. I had been wondering about the big fog all along, and now I understand. The enemy stunned us, but we were unharmed and not attacked. I saw everyone wake up at the time without asking about it, so I just endured and didn't say anything." Fanny said with a sudden realization.

  "At the time, the situation was very strange. After I woke up, my only thought was to leave that ghostly place and make sure no one else got hurt. As mercenaries, we can't have too much curiosity, regardless of the reason. The top priority is to safely escort our employer and complete the task. Everything else has nothing to do with us," Trick said.

  I glanced at Evan, who seemed to have no reaction, expressionless and continued drinking from his cup.

  I apologized to Tricky, saying: "I'm really sorry, I scared you all, and because of me, everyone almost suffered."

  "You didn't do anything wrong, it's just an accident. Life is full of accidents, isn't it?" Trick said with a smile.

  "But, as far as I know, Kura is a high-ranking undead mage, and you were able to kill him with just mid-level archery skills? That's truly amazing." Fanny said, finishing her cup of wine in one gulp.

  "Evan helped me out." I said vaguely, looking up at Evan.

  Evan didn't say a word. Fanny nodded and said, "No wonder, it seems you're still a warm-hearted person, Evan." Evan smiled and remained noncommittal.

  "So shouldn't we go to the Mercenary Guild to hand in our mission now? The reward is still waiting for us there, and although this time's gain seems to be more than the reward, it would be a waste not to take the money, right?" I said with a smile.

  I saw Trick's smile suddenly freeze on his face, and after a while, he said with a wry smile: "I forgot to find the task completion certificate..." Everyone looked at each other, and we all seemed to be in an awkward situation, how could we all forget about this?

  "Alright, Alex, you come with me to find Ben. You two take a rest first, we'll be back soon." Trick immediately showed his leadership quality and made the arrangements.

  Why wasn't I resting? I let out a sigh, but then thought about it and figured that Tricky must have thought I was the weakest of the four of us and the easiest to talk to, which is why he called me over. Hmm, does being the weakest necessarily mean being the easiest to talk to? I grumbled to myself for a bit, but still got up and followed in Tricky's footsteps.

  The Blue Ocean Inn wasn't far, just a couple of streets away on the corner, was a four-story building with a grand appearance, decorated in a luxurious style, obviously catering to wealthy guests. Trick and I looked dusty and worn out, and were almost chased away by the doorman.

  "Shoo, shoo, this isn't a place for you mercenaries to come. The people staying inside are all nobles. If we were to offend those masters, we wouldn't be able to afford it." The servant drove us away.

  "What's so special about Mr. Ben again? He's just a city merchant." Tricky said discontentedly.

  "I don't know who you're talking about, but stop bothering me here, leave quickly!" The waiter said somewhat impatiently.

  "Go ahead, I'm definitely going in today, what can you do to me?" Trick was repeatedly humiliated and became furious.

  The waiter sneered and looked at Tricky with a slanted gaze: "Want to make trouble? Do you know who owns this inn? I just need to wave my hand, the city defense army will come immediately, do you want to try?"

  "I don't care who you are, I..." I didn't let Trick finish what he was saying, and pulled him away. I dragged Trick to a corner and said to him, "You're also an experienced old mercenary, why do you seem so agitated today?"

  Terry said with hatred: "It's too bullying, he himself is just a small attendant, look at his mouth and face, it's really disgusting!"

  I comforted him by saying: "Alright alright, I'll go try it out, don't take it to heart!" I patted Trick's shoulder and walked towards the waiter.

  "Excuse me, big brother, I'm looking for Mr. Ben who is staying in this hotel, would it be possible to make an arrangement?" I smiled at the waiter and handed him a silver coin.

  The shine of the silver coin made the servant's face look much better, and he nodded and said: "Want to go in and find someone, right? Alright, you can go in, looking at you being quite sensible, shouldn't offend the masters inside."

  I handed over another silver coin, smiling and saying: "When you're away from home, it's convenient for both others and yourself. You'd better help me ask which room Mr. Ben is staying in."

  A bright smile bloomed in front of the silver coin, and the waiter took over the silver coin and said: "Little brother, wait a moment, I'll ask for it to come right away."

  I smiled and nodded at him, watching as his back disappeared quickly into the hotel's entrance. Money really can work wonders! Uncle Lock was absolutely right about that.

  We found Mr. Ben's room very smoothly. As we arrived at the door, we heard Mr. Ben scolding angrily in the room: "Incompetent thing! I've raised you so big, and it was all for nothing?" Then there was the sound of a rattan stick breaking through the air, and the "slap" sound of the stick hitting flesh made me and Trick exchange a glance. Although it was a bit awkward, we had to knock on the door with a stiff upper lip. We didn't want to waste another two silver coins in this inn.

  The door was opened by one of Mr. Ben's servants, who nodded at us and let us in. As I entered the room, I saw Mr. Ben furiously whipping a young man with a rattan stick. What surprised me even more was that on the floor, there was also a girl who looked very pretty, bound up and lying motionless, apparently having been knocked unconscious!

  Is this the fox spirit that Mr. Ben said was seducing his son? This Mr. Ben is really true to his word, he actually tied these two people up and brought them here! Are they going to throw this girl into the sea or something?