Chapter 117: Chapter 116: Rare Level Area Quest [Comprehensive Counterattack]

After finalizing the "proactive strike" strategy, Reya began to assign tasks.

The first step was, naturally, to gather intelligence.

Whatever exists leaves a trace. If the Blood Eye Association and the Eternal Frost Sect had operated within Birch Town, it was impossible they could not be found.

In the game Yino, this stage was handled by the omnipresent player base. Now, without any players, the task naturally fell to the various managers.

Although most of them were just ordinary people, the very fact they held management positions in an organization the size of the Heta County Noble Union Chamber of Commerce was proof of their capabilities.

Their personal networks covered nearly every corner of Birch Town, from legitimate businesses to the criminal underworld, and all walks of life in between. Mobilizing them to gather intelligence might prove even more efficient.

Of course, the risks they would face in this activity were unavoidable.

Therefore, at Evans’s suggestion, Reya decided to assign the Soldier-level guards her father had sent over to protect the managers.

As for the Knight Level Professionals, they would remain on standby for now. They would be deployed to investigate once information pointing to the Blood Eye Association or Eternal Frost Sect was received.

Ivory was the main person in charge of this phase.

As a Shadow Mage skilled in stealth and tracking, she possessed a natural advantage in this regard. It would be difficult for her to be discovered unless she faced an opponent far more powerful than herself.

Once Ivory confirmed the information to be true, others would be dispatched based on the specific circumstances.

With the exception of Joyina, who as a Priest of the Sun Church needed to remain at the trading house to protect Reya, everyone else was a deployable asset.

Thus, a framework—while not perfect, at least feasible—was finalized. The rest would depend on its execution.

And as the tasks were being assigned, a new quest notification popped up for Jon.

—

[Comprehensive Counterattack I (Rare Regional Quest)]

[The enemies lurking in the shadows have finally revealed their true faces: the Blood Eye Association, an ambitious organization seeking to restore their nation, and the Eternal Frost Sect, an extremist cult that has plagued the Northern Territory for years... Faced with such a threat, Reya Xavier has fearlessly issued the order for a Comprehensive Counterattack!]

[Current Stage Objective: Gather intelligence on these two organizations within Birch Town (Progress: 30/100)]

[Basic Rewards: 3,000 general Experience Points, 600 Heta County Noble Union Chamber of Commerce reputation, 150 Lord of Birch reputation]

[Additional Rewards: Depending on your Contribution Points, you will receive an additional experience and reputation reward multiplier. You also have a chance to obtain tangible and monetary rewards from the Lord of Birch, Viscount Paris, and the proprietor of the Golden Maple Leaf Trading House, Reya Xavier.]

[Current Contribution Points: 30% (Estimated reward multiplier: 1.30)]

"Note: Depending on your actions, you may be attacked by hostile forces, and your reputation will change accordingly."

—

A Rare Level regional quest! The rewards were several times higher than for Wolf Shadow Mysterious Trace!

As the one who had taken down Geoffrey and secured a promise to share intelligence from Sun Knight Aston, Jon could practically be considered the quest’s originator. He started with 30% Contribution Points right off the bat!

This was the benefit of following the flow of events; when the time was right, quests would simply appear.

Besides, this quest currently only covered a single town.

Based on his knowledge of the "future," once the old emperor passed away and the Major Event, the [War of the Scepter], began, the great nobles of the Imperial Capital would be too busy vying for power to pay any mind to the regions. The current Count Heta would then drop his pretense and openly back the Blood Eye Association, causing the situation to escalate even further!

At that point, when the nobles of all ranks throughout Heta County still loyal to the Harvia Empire rallied together, using the Noble United Commerce Association as their bond to mount a collective resistance, this quest’s sequel would likely jump straight to Perfect Level!

But before that happened, he had to find a reason to get Reya’s father out of Heta City. Otherwise, once the Major Event erupted, even if he wasn’t killed in an assassination by the Blood Eye Association, he would be captured by Count Heta and used as a hostage. Reya would inevitably be affected.

’What reason should I use to warn him...?’

Just as Jon began to subconsciously think about Reya’s welfare, without even realizing it himself, Evans stood up from the side, preparing to leave.

However, he paused just before leaving and turned to look at Jon.

"Care for a spar?"

Hearing his voice, Jon snapped out of his thoughts and instinctively glanced at Reya. At that very moment, Reya also "happened" to be looking at him.

"Mr. Jon, daily training is essential for a Warrior, is it not?"

"So please don’t worry about me. Go ahead. Rosalind and Joyina are here; they’ll take good care of me."

As she spoke, the girl’s smile was as dazzling as the sun.

Seeing that smile, Jon felt like a vampire exposed to sunlight; the dark schemes brewing in his heart felt as if they were being purified.

’What a considerate and kind girl... Compared to some of the women he’d met in his original world, she was an absolute angel!’

’It’s probably best to be direct. I’ll say I want to meet with Viscount Yed to discuss some business matters and ask him to make a trip to Birch Town... I’ll have Rosalind pass on the message later...’

Having made his decision, Jon nodded to Reya.

"I’ll be off, then. Let me know if anything happens."

"Mhm, see you later."

Jon and Evans left. Vedri didn’t linger either and also rose to take his leave.

With the three men gone, only the four women remained in the meeting hall.

Ivory rested her chin in her hand and watched Reya, who was seeing Jon off. She observed Reya’s dazed expression, her gaze lingering long after his figure had disappeared, as if she couldn’t bear to look away. Ivory couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh.

"Alas, it seems a certain young lady’s heart has flown away with that boy to who-knows-where."

"If Yed saw you like this, I wonder if he’d cry his eyes out from sadness..."

At these words, Joyina couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter. Rosalind didn’t laugh, but her gaze toward Reya was filled with warmth.

Being teased this way by those close to her, a blush instantly crept up Reya’s pale cheeks.

"Ivory... I... I was just... concerned about Mr. Jon..."

Ivory didn’t change her posture, but she mimicked Reya’s tone, cooing softly.

"Aigh~ I was just concerned about Mr. Jon~~"

"Ngh—"

The red-haired girl’s embarrassment deepened. She flopped onto the meeting hall table and buried her face in her arms like an ostrich. Where was the decisive, confident commander from just a moment ago?

Seeing this, Joyina and Ivory couldn’t help but exchange a smile.

But a moment later, the Mage knocked on the tabletop, getting back to business.

"Alright, enough joking around. Let’s talk business."

"We didn’t discuss this during the meeting, but how do you plan to deal with the Eternal Frost Sect? Those fanatics are different from the other ambitious types. You can’t use conventional logic to predict their behavior."

As she spoke, Ivory glanced at Rosalind. Seeing that her expression was unchanged, she continued.

"It’s like with Rosalind’s family. To this day, no one clearly understands why they did what they did, or what role the Eternal Frost Sect played in it."

Reya kept her head buried, but her muffled voice emerged from the gap between her arms and the table.

"It’s their madness that makes them so difficult to deal with."

"But that same madness will become a vulnerability in the Blood Eye Association’s otherwise meticulous organization."

With that, she lifted her head, looked at the other three women, and said seriously,

"We don’t know how deeply the Eternal Frost Sect is involved in the Blood Eye Association’s plans, but I believe that certain actions they would consider ’heretical’ could be quite effective.

"To deal with an enemy like this, we must use unconventional means!"

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