Chapter 52 - Cyroda Village

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The Cyroda Village was a small village that was closest to Anrola City of the Tindus Domain.

Because this village was in a fairly good location and was a transit point that connected Anrola City and the border of Tindus Domain, it was very prosperous despite having no special local products. In fact, it was so big that it could be expanded and turned into a small town. However, it would also be easy for problems to occur in such a place. Also, because it was just a village, the defense forces were unable to keep up with its development. It was impossible to avoid having a mix of good and evil people.

When Sean and Cecilia got down from the carriage, Sean felt at least a dozen eyes with malicious intent in their gazes.

Sean did not care too much about it. From the clothes these people wore, Sean was able to easily guess their professions. Although there were some differences in strength between Sean and these people, with the Charles’ Sword in his hand, Sean would not take these ordinary people seriously. So far, the only person that threatened Sean was Martin, the heavily armed knight he had met last night.

His profession in the special development stage was far from what Sean could compare with now. This was because the bonus proportion of attribute points for the both of them did not begin from the same starting point.

“What are we doing here?” Cecilia asked curiously, “Is the person you are looking for here?”

“If I remember correctly.” Sean nodded.

Regarding Alfred’s achievements, Sean had only heard about some of the events after Alfred had become famous. During that time, Alfred had already obtained a rank five class. Even though he had a relatively ordinary development profession, the combat power he displayed was a lot more powerful than players with a rank five profession in the special development stage. In this era, there were only a few players who had professions in the hidden development class. It was because of this that Sean knew a little more about this NPC and learned that Alfred was originally from the Portoroa Kingdom. He had lived in the Cyroda Village since the beginning of the game.

He had left his hometown in May of 1833 and had become a registered member of the adventurer guild. Concerning the task he had, it was a big task that involved the battle between the Portoroa Kingdom and the Serian Kingdom. Back in the game, this task had to be completed first before Alfred would show interest in the players. Afterward, the players had to go through a serious of very complex and intimate training before Alfred would follow them.

There was only one of his NPC. Since there were a lot of players, this had inevitably led to all kinds of bloody PKs.

Sean had only dared to come find this future battle god now after some careful consideration, not on a whim.

In this real world, although the dungeons from the game back then had been kept the same, these dungeons did not exist from the start. These dungeons would only ‘appear’ after ‘a result’ of something. Just like the previous ‘Wandering Darkness’, this dungeon would only appear after the Dark Knight had arrived at that small village. Before that occurred, Sean had tried to dig for a treasure that he remembered from the game. However, he had found nothing. It was only later, that Sean learned through other ways, that the family was still in a desperate stage and had not yet managed to develop. How could there have been any treasure yet?

After that, Halle and Drouin had come to find him to be a guide. Sean was 100 percent sure that there was no such task back when he was in the game. It might also have been that no players were able to complete the task at that time, so it had never appeared. In other words, in the history of the game, Drouin was a character destined to die. This was something that could be seen even from the current struggle for the heir to Tindus Domain in the real world.

Drouin was at a complete disadvantage.

The next thing that happened was Sean helping the Black Cat Business Guild with getting their Square Tipped Crystals back. This had also happened in the game, but it was not Sean who had cleared this dungeon first. It had been another player from the Portoroa Kingdom. However, in the real world, there had been no other player except Sean. If he had not taken Drouin across the Starfall Forest, then he would not have been able to help the Black Cat Business Guild get their Square Tipped Crystals back.

These series of changes stemmed from Sean’s desire to obtain the two treasures in the Tindus Domain.

The Flame of Scarlet and the Bavarian Armguards Schematic Drawings.

What Sean did not know was that it was because he had helped the Black Cat Business Guild that Drouin was safe for the time being.

But through the series of progressions and changes in the tasks, Sean was able to conclude that he could win Alfred over now. Sean did not need to wait for the war between the Portoroa Kingdom and the Serian Kingdom to break out.

Of course, regarding how Sean could win Alfred over, he would rely on technique.

Sean and Cecilia had just stepped into an inn located towards the southern side of the village when five people started to follow them.

This inn occupied a large area. It was built from connecting six houses. This entire building was arranged like a tavern and there were more than a dozen female servants who were busy working. When most of them saw Sean, their eyes lit up. However, when they saw Cecilia who was walking next to Sean, the eyes of these servants darkened.

The inn had three floors. Except for the tavern and the restaurant on the first floor, there were rooms on the second and third floors. However, the rooms here were not as spacious as the rooms in Arthur City. Each room only had a single bed that was placed against the wall and a small nightstand. Apart from these, there was no wardrobe, let alone a shower room.

This was something that Sean was very unaccustomed to.

Sean knew that the inns in many villages and towns on Miracle Continent were all like this, where he had to go to the bathhouse if he wanted to take a bath. This was also something he had seen a lot of in the game. However, at that time, he had only borrowed this place as a safe place to go offline. It was impossible for him to live in such a place. Later, when he arrived in this world, Sean had relied on his own efforts to get enough money within three days to rent a house. Therefore, this was the first time that Sean was experiencing living in such a shabby place.

However, even if the room was shabby, it had its advantages. The accommodation fee was very cheap.

A small room like this cost only five Portoroa copper coins a night. If the rent was to include breakfast, then it would only cost 10 Portoroa copper coins. However, there was, of course, no meat, just three pieces of croissants and a large glass of hot milk.

Sean was a little bit tired because they had been riding in the carriage the entire night. Therefore, he asked for two rooms and some meat. Everything had cost no more than 20 copper coins. Instead of taking out gold and silver coins to pay the fee, Sean had taken out a handful of copper coins. He counted 20 of them and gave the sum to the owner, putting the rest back in his pocket. These had been exchanged by the coachman during their journey.

Although he was not afraid of people with bad intentions, he did not have a lot of time to have a confrontation with them. Whether he had money or not, that was something only he needed to know for himself. He did not have to show off like an idiot.

Reality was exactly like what Sean had expected. After seeing him take out these copper coins, three of the five people who followed Sean and Cecilia chose to leave after walking around the tavern once. Only two of them had not given up. Judging from the clothes these two people wore, Sean knew that their professions were thief related. They did not have the guts to fight head-on, so they could only do petty theft.

At the thought of this, Sean sighed helplessly. Dealing with these thieves was one of the most troublesome things.

However, since they did not want to leave, Sean wouldn’t mind giving them an unforgettable lesson.

After eating a simple breakfast, Cecilia began to rub her eyes sleepily. Sean told her to go back to her room to sleep while he remained sitting at the counter.

“Is there something else I can do for you, guest?” The innkeeper asked, after seeing that Sean was still sitting there. The innkeeper was currently busy wiping cups to prepare for business in the evening.

“I want to ask whether you have heard of a man named Alfred?” Sean asked with a smile, while the corners of his eyes started to scan and judge the situation around him.

He noticed that a thief had gotten up and walked towards the stairs that led to the second floor.

The innkeeper did not answer when Sean asked the question. Instead, the innkeeper only displayed a friendly smile, still wiping the cups without a change in his movements.

Sean took out another handful of Portoroa copper coins from his pocket. There were around 70 to 80 in total. Then, he placed one on the table.

The innkeeper was still smiling, but a bit of disdain had appeared in the innkeeper’s eyes.

Sean did not care, as he placed a few more copper coins on top of the first one. There was now a pile of five copper coins.

The innkeeper glanced lightly at Sean. A bit of anger had appeared on the innkeeper’s face, as Sean’s movements were insulting.

At this moment, the thief had gone up the stairs to the second floor. The other thief seemed to be struggling internally. It seemed like he had also wanted to go up to the second floor. But for some reason, instead of acting rashly, he remained seated in his original position, keeping an eye on Sean.

“I will go take care of something first,” Sean whispered and added five more Portoroa copper coins on the counter. “Innkeeper, keep an eye on the money for me.”

Ignoring the reaction of the innkeeper and the other thief, Sean got up and went to the second floor. All the copper coins in his hand were scattered across the counter, except for the ten copper coins that Sean had taken out. These copper coins were piled up one above the other. The two piles of coins seemed to have formed a strange and sharp contrast. Currently, besides the thief, there were four or five other people on the first floor of the tavern. When they saw the copper coins on the counter, their eyes had lit up. Even though there were not many, it was enough for them to get drunk for a few nights.

However, at that moment the innkeeper raised his eyebrows slightly and glanced at everyone in the inn. All of them were suddenly surprised, as they stopped looking at the money on the counter. However, the innkeeper’s eyebrows were still furrowed. He looked at the second floor with a bit of confusion and worry. From where he stood, he could only see the short moment when Sean’s figure had stepped onto the second floor.

After a little while, there was still no sound coming from the second floor. There was no battle or arguing sounds. Everything seemed to be strangely silent.

Right when the innkeeper was a little bit restless and wanted to go up and take a look, Sean finally came down from the second floor. At this moment, everyone had a look of surprise on their faces. This was because Sean was carrying a person in his hand. That person was the thief who had gone up to the second floor earlier. Whether the thief was alive or not was unclear, as he was being carried by Sean like a dead person. Then, everyone saw Sean walk to the entrance of the inn and throw the thief outside.

When Sean was walking back, he glanced at the other thief. At that moment, the other thief had the thought that he was being targeted by a beast. He did not dare to stay there any longer, as he drank the glass of juice in front of him in a hurry, then placed two copper coins down, and immediately left the inn.

By the time Sean had returned to the counter again, the stack of 10 copper coins had disappeared.

“In regard to Alfred, I’m afraid there aren’t many people in this village who wouldn’t know about him.” The innkeeper finally finished wiping a cup, then put it away gently. “He may not be a good husband, but he is definitely a good father.”

“Where can I find him?” Sean asked again.

“This information is a little expensive.” The innkeeper could also tell that Sean was not simple. After a little bit of silence, the innkeeper realized that the question Sean had asked just now was very clever. It was indeed only worth 10 copper coins.

This was because what Sean asked was “have you heard” and not “do you know”. There was an essential difference in meaning between them.

“How much does it cost?”

“One Portoroa silver coin.”

Sean chuckled. The copper coins that were scattered on the counter were all placed back into his pocket. Replacing them was a silver coin with the kingdom emblem of the Portoroa Kingdom.