Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 234 Discovery of Vo’sok (Part 1)

Gongzi You’s words were reasonable and fair. Absalom was unable to refute her words, but he could not bring himself to fully trust in her. After all, there’s no way of knowing what was in her heart. She was a player from the Eastern Continent. Even if she would be an enemy of Golden Era, they would only arrive after a month. Can the words of Gongzi You be trusted? She was caught by Fleeting Time in a position of absolute disadvantage. She might lie to avoid death and the loss of her level and equipment. So… Can I trust in her words?

Absalom voiced out his doubt without hesitation.

“But why should I believe in you?”

Ye Ci raised her eyebrows, “Alright then.. Let’s make another deal.”

“Oh? You have something else that is of value?” Absalom was momentarily stunned. What else does she have up her sleeve?

“I’ll act as a hostage in the Western Continent for seven days. You can send some of your men to keep a close watch on me if you want. I’ll then tell you about the location of the Mithril ore vein so that you can complete the initial stages of the quest. If you’re able to find the ore vein, then you’ll agree to our alliance. If I lied to you, I’m sure it’s easy for you to kill me anyways. After all, I’m alone, aren’t I?” said Ye Ci as she spread her hands in front of her. She knew that it was an offer that Absalom could not resist.

Absalom would be an idiot to refuse the offer. The wiser course of action was for him to agree to Ye Ci’s terms. He had nothing to lose by accepting to offer. Besides, when it came to Mithril, nobody could resist such a temptation.

“Don’t tell me that a million-player guild like Genesis could not allocate enough manpower to form a party to complete the quest.”

Absalom drew a sharp breath. Gongzi You was on point. There was no need for him to decline her offer. However, he was still slightly annoyed. He had been dancing to the tempo set by Gongzi You since the beginning. Even with the benefit that was offered, Absalom was still depressed. He stole a glance at Fleeting Time, and found that the man was staring at Gongzi You.

He sent a private message to Fleeting Time, “What are you staring at? Why do you even fancy such a cunning girl? Why don’t you look for someone who is sweet tempered, loving, and tender as your wife? A person like Gongzi You is not someone you can deal with.”

“Heh!” Fleeting Time laughed, “Sweet tempered? I don’t think your wife Sour Apple suit that description.”

“Hey, hey, hey! This is not about me! I’m giving you an advice as a friend. This girl is really not a suitable wife candidate.”

“How would you know?” Fleeting Time paid no heed to Absalom’s words. If this guy is a good judge of character, why would he marry Sour Apple? And he wouldn’t have gotten bullied by me for 10 years as well.

“You’re such a stubborn person. Look at White Fairytale! She’s such a kind and gentle girl! She has the qualities of a good wife, and she likes you! She’s such a nice girl! Just look at Gongzi You! She’s like a tigress that’s would eat me whole!” Absalom’s heart was filled with grief. Why does such a scary person exist?

“Don’t make me hit you.”

Absalom rolled his eyes, Fine! He needs to learn some hardship in life! He sighed when he saw the look on Fleeting Time’s face as he stared at Gongzi You, and then at the girl’s expression. Fleeting Time’s going to waste a lot of time on this girl.

“I’m just afraid that you’ll elope to the Eastern Continent…” Absalom mumbled to himself before speaking to Ye Ci, “Alright then, I’ll agree to your terms. I’ll send someone to escort you during your stay in the Western Continent. As for the escort…” Absalom cast a glance at Fleeting Time. Ugh.. There’s not much of a choice. It can only be this guy. He had no idea how Fleeting Time would handle Gongzi You, but he was the only person who had the capability of doing so.

Ye Ci then provided Absalom with the coordinates of Western Continent’s Mithril ore vein as a show of good faith.

“As for your escort… I guess Fleeting Time will do. You two are very close with each other anyways.”

Ye Ci’s expression immediately darkened as she pursed her lips, “Says who?”

“Urmm…” Absalom grabbed at his hair and said in a serious tone, “You’re my hostage, so you have no say in this. Besides, nobody in our guild is as idle as him…”

This is how he rates Fleeting Time...

Ye Ci’s expression darkened even further. She could see the pure and innocent grin on Fleeting Time’s face as she stole a glance at the man. She could barely hold off the urge to punch Fleeting Time on the face.

He’s the most idle person in Genesis… Come to think of it.. A large guild like Genesis would be busy with constantly expanding their territory and influence, and this guy is the least busy person in the entire guild?

Then again.. If he’s not the most idle player in Genesis, he wouldn’t have the time to track me down a few hours after we brushed past each other in the Putrid Trail.

Fleeting Time, who was unaware of Ye Ci’s opinion about him, continued to smile as he took a seat beside Ye Ci, “We’ll be depending on each other in the next seven days, Little Gongzi,” and he extended his hands towards Ye Ci, “Let’s shake our hands to ensure our mutual happiness.”

Ye Ci rolled her eyes at Fleeting Time. This guy is up to no good. You want me to shake your hand? No f*cking way! She the snorted coldly at him.

However, Ye Ci was no match for the shamelessness of Fleeting Time, who grabbed hold of Ye Ci’s hand and shook it hard. He then stood up with the grin still on his face before she could even react, “I’ll go see Absalom off.”

“Huh? The rain is so heavy right now! Where do you expect me to go?” Absalom who was staring at the sources of his gossip was shocked. That bastard! He’s chasing me away?

Fleeting Time pulled Absalom up from the ground and pulled him to the mouth of the cave, “Don’t you have something to do? Like getting people to check the ore vein out?”

“Can’t it wait until the rain stops?” Absalom immediately voice out his objection.

“Where’s the stuff I told you to bring along?” Fleeting Time was not at all courteous with Absalom.

“It’s all here.” Absalom handed all the items to Fleeting Time without making a fast, “Is Gongzi You having troubles resupplying in the Western Continent?” he asked in a low voice.

“Yup.” Fleeting Time replied absentmindedly. He narrowed his eyes as he recalled Gongzi You’s appearance as a male Rogue during their brief encounter. What sort of skill is that? Does it come with a time limit? If I did not run into her just now… Will she resupply in a city with that skill?

Absalom who was oblivious to the thoughts going on in Fleeting Time’s head was slightly puzzled by his behavior. He stole a glance at Gongzi You and spoke in an even lower voice, “So… She’ll be depending on your to resupply then?”

“Nope. We will be depending on you.” Fleeting Time smiled insincerely.

“ME?” Absalom’s eyes widened, “Do you think that I’m as free as you? How can you expect me to do something like this?”

“Do you want people to see her here? Or perhaps do you perhaps want the players from our guild to think that you’re colluding with the Eastern Continent?” Fleeting TIme was someone would speak as he pleases. However, things that he meant as jokes would often sound real. As a friend of Fleeting Time for so many years, Absalom was supposed to be immune to his antics. For reasons unknown, whenever Fleeting Time blurt random things out from his mouth, Absalom would always be the one who was tricked.

He once again fell for Fleeting Time’s words. After a long moment of thought, he came to the conclusion that he must keep this matter a secret before they could solidify their hold on the Mithril ore vein. Nobody else must know of Gongzi You’s presence in the Western Continent.

Despite the trouble, he knew that Gongzi You must not be left alone to her own devices in the Western Continent. A person who could make her way unnoticed into the heartlands of the Western Continent and had the knowledge of the location of the continent’s Mithril ore vein was too dangerous to be left alone.

But… Absalom stared at Fleeting Time, is it really a good idea to have him keeping an eye on Gongzi You?

“You shook hands with her with this hand, right…” Fleeting Time grabbed hold of Absalom’s right hand and squeezed down hard without warning. Absalom let out a yelp, and Ye Ci stared incredulously at the duo.

“What are you doing?”

“Watch where you place your hands on.” Fleeting Time raised his eyebrows and patted Absalom on his shoulders. He then pushed him out of the cave, “And please be more tactful. You should disappear from this place now.”

“Fleeting Time , you bastard! How could you value your lover more than friendship? I hope that your son is born without a p*nis!” Absalom cried out in dismay. With the rain pouring down hard on him, he could only summon his steed and made way to Light Saint City at the best possible speed.

A Mithril ore vein… Is that possible?

“These are for you.” said Fleeting Time as he placed the arrows and consumables beside Ye Ci.

Black Feather Arrows! Those are good stuff! thought Ye Ci as she saw the arrows. At the current stage of the game, Black Feather Arrows could said to be the best arrows in Fate. Despite its lack of special effects, Black Feather Arrows had a high damage value. These arrows were not sold by any NPCs, and could only be acquired by crafting. How generous of him to give me 20 stacks of these.

“You have a lot of good stuff.” Ye Ci did not even thank Fleeting Time as she stored the arrows into her inventory.

Fleeting Time was apparently not expecting Ye Ci to express her gratitude. Her straightforward attitude was something that he liked, “You have some good items with you as well.” said Fleeting Time with a smile.

He must be talking about the Brooch of Deceit, thought Ye Ci to herself. She had no intention of telling Fleeting TIme about the secrets of the brooch as it was none of his concern. This was why Ye Ci chose to remain silent.

Fleeting Time shrugged when he received no response from Ye Ci. Despite his curiosity about the male Rogue, he would not force the answer out of Gongzi You. After all, he was not someone like Absalom.

“Alright, Absalom is gone now. So why don’t you tell me what you’re really here for?” Fleeting Time went straight to the point.

Ye Ci stared at Fleeting Time for a long moment before finally speaking up, “Why don’t you tell me the things that you’ve figured out so far?”

“Alright then.” Fleeting Time raised his eyebrows, “You’re here in the Western Continent for a quest. If I’m not wrong… It could be an epic-tier quest.” and a confident smile spread across his face, “And if I’m not mistaken, your quest has something to do with the Bloody Wilderness. There’s no way you’ll stay in this map for hours without a reason.”

Ye Ci was not surprised by Fleeting Time’s words. This man was intelligent, and he hid his intelligence very well. It was no wonder that he could see through something so simple.

“You requested to see Absalom as a measure to keep yourself safe, and to ensure that you can complete your Epic-tier quest in the shortest possible time. Your plan is to get Absalom to send an escort who will serve as your guide and your means of resupply. You’re right, you can’t possibly benefit directly from the Mithril ore vein, but you can still use it to achieve the greatest benefit. Isn’t that a good thing for you?” there was a glint in Fleeting Time’s eyes as he smiled at Ye Ci.

Ye Ci let out a sigh. This guy… He’s able to correctly guess my intention. Is it a good thing, or a bad thing?

“Don’t you want to know why I’m able to guess such a thing?” even as Ye Ci remained silent, Fleeting Time could read her true feelings from her expression, “Because if I were you, I would’ve done the same thing too.”

“I’m looking for a place called Vo’sok. Do you know where it is?” Ye Ci had nothing more to hide as Fleeting Time was able to figure out most of the truth.

“Vo’sok?” Fleeting TIme was momentarily stunned when he heard the name.

“That’s right. It’s in this place according to my quest description. It seems that you’ve been here a lot. Don’t tell me you don’t know where that place it.”

Fleeting Time smiled at Ye Ci’s words. He stood up and stared at the rain that was already becoming lighter, “The former home of the Goblins?”

Hiya minna-san! So here's another awesome chapter of the awesomesauce novel translated by an awesometacular translator(which is me, by the way!) Hope you people enjoyed the chapter!

Ayyyy!!! Babylonia is finally out!!! WoooohhH! I'm loving the story so far! To all the FGO playing peeps out there who have not cleared Camelot yet... YOU SHOULD! GO RUSH IT AND GET TO BABYLONIA THE STORY IS VERY NICE SO FAR!!!

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Synopsis:

"Set in an alternate universe, Libra is about a girl named Meia who is the centre of a war between two clans; the Ravens and the Foxes. The Ravens rule the city Meia lives in and the Foxes are rebels who try to destroy their centuries-old enemy."

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