Chapter 2305: Bounty Commission Reception Area
“We’ll go to the castle. Don’t go near the Navy dorms.” Shui Mo led the way, seemingly very familiar with the area. She didn’t need anyone to guide or ask for directions, winding them through to the front of a small door into the castle.
Perhaps it was because the castle was inside the Navy Fortress, and there were soldiers on guard at the main gate earlier. The Lord seemed to trust the internal security implicitly, as there were no guards outside the castle.
Of course, it was also possible that all the guards had been dispatched tonight, leaving the Navy camp empty as well, all out for disaster relief.
Shui Mo led the few people into the castle. The Troupe Leader was secretly communicating with Jayad: “Divine Envoy, if anything unexpected happens later, like our identities being exposed, I will stay behind to cover your retreat. You will evacuate under the protection of the General Manager.”
“No need, we’ll go out together,” Jayad said casually. He didn’t think this place was some Dragon’s Pool Tiger’s Den. If it were the Navy camp, then it might be considered a bit dangerous.
“Divine Envoy, your safety is paramount. As long as you are here, the Divine Revelation can be fulfilled. My life is expendable. Death is not the end but a journey to eternal life in Carcosa. Sacrificing for the Divine Revelation is my honor,” the Troupe Leader said fanatically.
“Yes, I will also do my best to protect your safe withdrawal,” the General Manager added with equal fanaticism. However, he did not compete with the Troupe Leader for the order of who would go first. Everyone had their own position and duty. The Troupe Leader was stronger than him, making him more suitable to cover the rear.
This was the most terrifying and powerful aspect of cultists. They all viewed death as returning home. For them, death was merely the beginning of another life, even a beautiful beginning.
“No need to rush. I don’t doubt your courage. I just want to say that I’m very confident I can get both of you out. No one here can stop me,” Jayad said nonchalantly.
The Troupe Leader and the General Manager were instantly awkward. They could tell that Jayad’s seemingly arrogant words were merely a calm statement of a simple fact. He truly didn’t consider this castle a dangerous place.
In fact, neither the Troupe Leader nor the General Manager would take a typical Baron’s castle seriously. However, this was also a Navy Fortress, making it more dangerous. They had prepared themselves psychologically under the assumption that the enemy might have set an ambush for them.
Finally, the Troupe Leader chuckled dryly and said, “Just in case, I’m only suggesting we discuss a plan in advance in case of any accidents.”
“The plan is very simple. If we are attacked, I will open a rift to the Gloomy Abyss on the ground. You just need to jump in. I will lead you out,” Jayad said plainly.
“Alright, since it’s your will, I understand,” the Troupe Leader said helplessly. He could see that Jayad had no intention of discussing further, and the Divine Envoy held the highest status. He could only obey Jayad’s orders.
Moreover, the Gloomy Abyss was an extremely dangerous place, even for believers of the Outer Gods. The Divine Envoy could even control the Gloomy Abyss, taking people in and bringing them out. It was estimated that even if enemies dared to pursue, they wouldn’t dare to follow them in.
Shui Mo and Isha led the three people through the castle for a short distance. They encountered some soldiers and servants along the way, but they were all accustomed to seeing people pushing a cart of corpses and showed no particular reaction. This continued until they arrived at a place that resembled a storefront.
This place looked much like a pawnshop, or the front area of an Adventurer’s Guild. Several maids sat behind the counter, and the walls behind them were covered with bounty posters. The shelves were filled with all sorts of items, including what were clearly human body parts.
The group stood before the counter, submitting evidence of their completed missions and pointing to the bounty posters to indicate which commission they had completed. Once the maids confirmed their submissions, they would be given a small bag of money.
These people had either ruffian-like or absolutely vicious temperaments. Regardless, they didn’t seem like good or decent people, which fit my assumptions perfectly. Most of the Bounty Hunters here were not good people.
Since the bounty offered by the Lord was lower than the normal market value, many Bounty Hunters who took on these jobs were not doing it for the money, but for immunity from their crimes after completing the mission. This was the greatest attraction for those with criminal records to work for the Lord.
Ahead of them, someone was turning in a bounty. It was a Sea Monster, just like theirs. As the attending maid was about to give him the money, he flatly refused and requested a reduction in the charges for one of the wanted criminals. After the maid checked the wanted list, the criminal’s wanted status was immediately cleared.
Some of the wanted criminals were very cautious. They were unwilling to enter the castle directly while still having outstanding charges, fearing that the Lord might turn on them and arrest them. Therefore, they usually sent their subordinates as agents to turn in bounties.
In reality, the Lord was aware of these concerns held by some criminals. So, he usually set up offices in the town of Holy Port outside the castle for these people to handle bounty commissions. However, it was now dark, and the offices had been closed for a long time.
There were some exceptions, such as hunting Sea Monsters. The requirement was to transport the Sea Monster Corpse to the Navy Fortress for handover. The bounty poster stated that proper storage of the corpse would be guaranteed.
Therefore, in the end, bringing the Sea Monster Corpse was indeed the easiest way to infiltrate the Lord’s castle, as the Baron himself had personally said it had to be transported here for handover.
“Speaking of which, there are quite a few people here turning in commissions. Those two guards at the entrance were reluctant to let us in earlier,” the General Manager said to the two Demon Hunter girls.
“There’s more than one entrance here, including two entrances on the side of the castle walls. Usually, they aren’t as strict there. I thought you might have wanted to see the Navy camp and the military port, so you took this route. If you couldn’t get in, you would have gone to other entrances. I didn’t expect you to get in directly,” Shui Mo said.
At this moment, the people in front had finished turning in their bounties, and it was our turn. As soon as the maid saw the cart full of Sea Monster Corpses, she frowned, “Why are there so many Sea Monster Corpses again? It’s already the tenth group tonight delivering Sea Monster Corpses.”
“Didn’t the Sea Monster invasion just happen? The battle is over, so everyone would naturally transport the corpses. There will be even more tomorrow,” Isha said. She still didn’t seem very good at speaking, and the maid was clearly complaining.
“Alright, I can sign for it here, but we’re short-handed. You’ll have to move the Sea Monster Corpses to the warehouse yourselves, and then come find me for the money,” the maid said.
It was evident that they were indeed too busy to have enough staff. The entire reception area was filled with the Lord’s private maids. Let alone soldiers, there wasn’t a single man.
“Yes, of course, no problem,” Shui Mo said with a smile and readily agreed. It turned out her guess was right.
