Game of the World Tree

In the meeting hall of the Sauron Company.

A young nobleman with black hair stood alongside his red-haired attendant, as both showed a look of admiration at the murals hanging upon the walls of the entrance hall

The mural they were looking at depicted a knight in armor, wielding a long spear with sharp eyes and dignified demeanor.

“This looks really cool…”

The red-haired attendant looked at the knight in the mural with eyes filled with envy. Meanwhile, the black-haired nobleman, focused his eyes on the small text written on the corner.

“Sauron…”

Upon hearing him, the attendant turned his head and gave the nobleman a puzzled look.

“Brother Mu, can you finally read the local text in this game?”

The black-haired noble shook his head in response.

“Originally I couldn’t, but after the update, I found a new feature within the system settings that can visually convert these local texts into chinese.”

The red-haired attendant: “…”

Naturally, the nobleman and his attendant were Li Mu and Demacia in disguise.

After consulting with the rest of the players, they promptly arrived at the Sauron’s branch office by following the address given to them by Anders.

Of course, at this moment, they didn’t revealed themselves as elves but instead, Li Mu disguised himself as a young human noble from the south, while Demacia played the role of his attendant.

The reason for this was simple.

Demacia is good at fooling people but always gave off an unstable vibe and these traits were already deeply ingrained within him. Thus, having him impersonate a nobleman might expose them instantly.

On the other hand, Li Mu is more composed as a person.Although he doesn’t know what nobles are truly like, he is still better than Demacia at impersonating the role of an aristocrat.

In short, silence is golden.

So…after the two of them discussed it, they decided that one would act as a noble, while the other would serve as an attendant.

Demacia will be tasked with deceiving the NPCs whereas Li Mu will pacify the other party should their talks turns south and pretend to be the person in charge to control the situation.

As for Li Mu being able to understand the local human texts, it all started with the latest update.

Although the patch notes didn’t directly specify it, to better facilitate players’ communication with the various inhabitants of Saigües, Evé had added a text translation feature into the game system.

If needed, players could mentally visualize any local text they saw into chinese, sort of like augmented reality translation.

Of course, this feature was only one-way street, as any individuals not connected to the game system wouldn’t have access to this conversion feature and, therefore, wouldn’t be able to understand any foreign text physically written by players at all.

While the two were quietly chatting, suddenly, a hearty laughter came from behind them.

“The knight depicted on that mural is our household’s patriarch.”

Li Mu and Demacia subtly turned around.

Behind them stood a middle-aged man in an expensive attire, with an obvious wig atop his head. He smiled warmly with a kindly facade, akin to a friendly elder with a respectful servant by his side.

The middle-aged man was naturally Caige, the branch leader of the Sauron Company in Maple Leaf City.

When he saw Li Mu and Demacia, he immediately sensed their inherent strength.

Iron-Rank Experts!

His heart couldn’t help but beat more fiercely.

These two youngsters have already attained Iron-ranked strength.

It seems… that this two new visitors of his is indeed an aristocrat from the south, given that such strength at a young age is not attainable by mere commoners and furthermore—

Caige’s gaze briefly paused upon the clothing wore by the two.

As the leader of a trade company that normally deals with the nobility, he possessed extensive knowledge on various matters, especially in regards to luxury goods.

His discerning eye had easily noticed that even this young nobleman’s attendant was wearing the latest fashion style currently popular amongst the nobility of Aries Kingdom in the south.

Such clothing was extremely expensive and coincidently, they were also selling the very same type of clothes here in their company just a few months ago.

This black-haired youth is indeed a noble, and a rich one at that!

Caige further affirmed his initial judgment within his mind.

Nonetheless, despite their refined outward appearance, he also noticed that there was still a trace of stiffness within their actions, as well as an inherent lack of temperament solely unique to nobles in their decorum.

And these small incongruities led him to believe that this dark-haired youth was actually not a true-born aristocrat but rather, a not-so-well-educated typical lower-class nouveau riché from the Kingdom.

These kind of upstart nobles…usually had shallow foundations.

Thinking of this, Caige’s smiling face became even more amiable.

In the mean time, while Caige was silently scrutinizing the two, both Li Mu and Demacia were also doing the same.

Caige didn’t concealed his aura of an expert.

Therefore, when the two of them saw him for the first time, they immediately sensed that he was an Intermediate Iron-Rank Expert.

However, although this middle-aged man dressed as a noble wasn’t particularly powerful, the servant standing beside him with a humble attitude gave them both a very dangerous feeling.

Inside the game, a player’s sixth sense is much more heightened compared to the real world. As such, players are more naturally attuned to their intuition, especially the sense of threat.

And what Li Mu’s and Demacia’s sixth senses are telling them now is that the strength of this servant is undoubtedly formidable!

⤷ Brother Mu, that servant might be a Silver-ranker.

Demacia formulated a written text within his mind and sent it over to the chatroom.

⤷ Indeed but we’ll still proceed as planned, start your performance.

Li Mu replied.

However, just before the two could speak, the other party beat them to it and spoke to them first.

“Why hello, my fellow two young experts! I am Caige Sauron, the branch leader of the Sauron Trade Company here in Maple Leaf City. Are you perhaps members of a caravan? Did Anders perhaps introduced this place to you two?”

He smiled, as if conversing with old friends, whilst crafting an seemingly irresistible façade radiating warmth.

However, the two players wasn’t fooled as they already knew what the other party’s real intention in advance. Thus, the pair were extremely cautious.

At that moment, Li Mu took out the note he got from Anders and handed it to Caige.

“Hello, Sir Caige. We are members of Bluestar Caravan from the Kingdom of Aries. My name is Li Mu, the leader of our caravan, while this is my steward and attendant, Demacia. Indeed, Mr. Anders introduced you to us, and we’re interested in doing business with your company.”

Caige nodded slightly, then inspected the note he got from Li Mu.

He immediately recognized Anders’ handwriting and certain hints subtly left within it by the old steward.

So this young noble from the south is playing around, masquerading themselves as a caravan and is interested in some elven slaves, eh?

Inspecting Anders’ hints had further confirmed what Caige had already mostly guessed within his mind.

Of course, regardless of whether what was written on the note is true or not, the mere fact that Anders introduced these youngsters to him was adequate enough for him to accommodate them.

Thinking of this, Caige’s face instantly lit up with a smile.

“Indeed, it’s Anders’ handwriting. Since you are acquainted with that friend of mine, naturally you will be my friends as well! We, the Sauron Trade Company, may not possess much, but our stock includes a variety of rare treasures. I’m curious, Mr. Li Mu….what kind of business would you like to conduct with us?”

After hearing his words, Li Mu exchanged a quick glance with Demacia and the red-haired stepped forward with a wide grin.

“Of course, we came with a huge business opportunity for you Sir. Caige! Mr. Anders mentioned that you have elven slaves here? Hehe, we are very interested in some elven slaves you see, and—wink—money is not a problem!”

Indeed, they came here to buy some elves and boldly dare even say…money is not an issue?

Caige’s thoughts began to churn wildly.

At that moment, his face became even more radiant and friendly to the extent that its almost blinding.

“Why yes, of course, of course! the selling of slaves is the most lucrative business of our company. What Mr. Anders told you is indeed correct.”

“Brilliant! You’ve come at the perfect time. Just a few days ago, we received a batch of fresh new goods. If you, my fellow gentlemen are interested, then we can take a look together right away.”

After saying that, he gestured something to the old steward standing on the other side. The steward first hesitated, then nodded with realization before swiftly withdrawing.

“There, I’ve arranged it already. If you, my fellow gentlemen are interested, then you can accompany me to take a look at our collections. However, before we proceed, I must inform you…the slave room is quite messy, and the smell isn’t that pleasant either. I already ordered my servants to begin cleaning, but it might take a little while before we can enter.”

“So in the mean time, you two might as well have a cup of coffee with me! I have exotic coffee beans from the Southern Continent that you’ll definitely like. Let’s chat for a bit, and in about ten minutes, the showroom should be almost ready.”

Caige warmly invited the pair to a table nearby.

Li Mu and Demacia exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

Thus, under Caige’s enthusiastic invitation, the two sat down in the meeting hall, drinking coffee whilst idly chatting with the older man.

Their conversation naturally revolved around the local customs of Maple Leaf City and the origins of Li Mu and Demacia.

However, the latter always managed to deflect questions with a chuckle, making Caige, who was eager to dig deeper about their backgrounds, feel a bit frustrated.

Soon, the old steward came back and approached Caige.

The man whispered a few words in his ear, and Caige’s face showed visible signs of glee.

He then turned to Li Mu and Demacia with a smile.

“All right, the showroom has already been properly cleaned. My fellow gentlemen, we can now go see the goods that you’ve been wanting.”

After that, he stood up and made a welcoming gesture.

Li Mu and Demacia also became spirited, as the pair quietly stood up from their seats and followed the older man without uttering a word.

With the old steward guiding them at the front, Caige along with the two silently walked further into the interior of the company grounds.

A couple of moments silently passed before the group reached a building surrounded by sturdy high walls.

Looking at the fortress-like structure in front of them, Caige’s face displayed a hint of pride.

“This is where we detain all the slaves in our company, modeled after the Imperial Capital’s very own Vermandois Prison, it is extremely sturdy!”

“Come, Come! all our slaves are waiting inside.”

After saying that, Caige walked in first.

Li Mu and Demacia took a deep breath and followed behind as they passed through the large gates made of robust iron bars.

The interior of the building was dimly lit with the air carrying a hint of stagnation, and only the flickering torches adoring the walls illuminated the dreary surroundings.

The group walked further inside and not a minute later, Li Mu and Demacia began to see rows of cells. On both sides of the wall were single cramped rooms resembling cells, detaining various types of slaves—there were orcs, half-orcs, lizardmen, minotaurs… and some we’re even housing rare magical beasts.

Of course, there were humans too.

While these slaves were not the objective of the two, both Li Mu and Demacia still couldn’t help but looked around curiously, especially at the peculiar races they’ve seen for the first time, whilst also closely following Caige’s steps into the structure’s depths…

After walking for a few more minutes, they finally arrived at an area with better lighting and relatively cleaner cells.

Here, Li Mu and Demacia finally saw their purpose for this entire trip—Elves!

Numerous elves were confined here, at least thirty of them, both male and female, with the majority being females.

Not only that but their ages were generally young as well with even the oldest one looking like a human in their thirties, while on the opposite end, the younger ones were criminally just small children.

Furthermore, apart from these elves, several strange-looking elves were also confined on the cells at the opposite side.

What’s noteworthy about them is that while they also have the prominent pointed ears of the elves, their length is less than two-thirds of the usual size for a regular elf’s ear.

This…is a group of half-elves!

As soon as Li Mu and Demacia saw these elves, a new system message suddenly appeared within their field of vision:

【❗ 】

【Players “Li Mu” and “Demacia” triggered the hidden questline “Rescue Your Fellow Kinsmen” 】

【Hidden Questline: Rescue Your Fellow Kinsmen】

【Quest Description: The Sauron Trade Company has detained a large number of elven and half-elven slaves. They are our fellow kinsmen and should be rescued!】

【Quest Objectives: Rescue the detained elves and half-elves】

【Mission Deadline: Unlimited】

【Mission Participants: Unlimited】

【Minimum Level Requirement: Level 31】

【Quest Rewards: For each rescued elf, you will gain ‘5000‘ experience points and ‘3000‘ contribution points; For each rescued half-elf, you will gain ‘3000‘ experience points and ‘1500‘ contribution points.】

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【 HIDDEN QUEST : RESCUE YOUR FELLOW KINSMEN 】

TL/N : Happy New Year to everyone! (*°▽°*)

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