Special Chapter I - To The South (part 1)

Veldonia Kingdom.

The third kingdom ranked in size, but first in military strength and activeness in both their underground society and military amongst the human kingdoms. 

Located far to the south, the location itself was rather convenient due to the ocean right next to it, and neatly close to the kingdom of dwarves.

It was widely known to all the citizens of the other kingdoms as the most 'unstable' kingdom. The reason for that nickname was because Veldonia had been through so many problems over the past few centuries. Civil wars, virus outbreaks, mostly issues caused by the struggles for the throne by the heirs of the royal family. 

Even though this kingdom had seen so many issues during the past century, it doesn't stop merchants and traders from coming. There are still plenty of traders coming from the other kingdoms despite the long history Veldonia had. 

The reason behind this is that the kingdom has such a very good spot. The capital city, Veldon, is only a few kilometers away from the nearest beach point, and it's also the closest place to the dwarven kingdom. And hence, merchants and visitors are still coming to Veldonia.

Though, their stance on all the other kingdoms wasn't exactly neutral. The Veldonia Kingdom had gone through many conflicts with other parties due to territorial reasons and other rather small reasons. A lot of them were mostly caused by other kingdoms meddling in their business inside their territory.

And since my mission is inside their territory and precisely meddling in with their business, is exactly why I had to use a secret identity and wear a mask.

The very issue that they are facing today… is rebellion.

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.

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After entering the Office, Keila saw me and called. She then led me to Valon's Office after telling me that he was waiting. Valon welcomed me and excused Keila to return.

Once she left, we started immediately.

"Let me go through the details once again, just in case you forget some."

In front of him, placed on top of his table are the mission's details, all filed under one black folder. He opened it and explained it to me about the details again. 

Not that I forget any details from the meeting, but just in case.

"You are to sneak inside the kingdom of the south, Veldonia Kingdom. Find out everything about their conflict with the rebellion and do whatever is necessary while staying undetected by the kingdom.

Whatever calls you make on that kingdom, whatever acts you take, it will be under your responsibility and will not be taken care of by the Mazino kingdom. 

However, your identity is to be anonymous. Use a new face, and a new name. You got that part prepared?"

I took out a mask from my space ring when Valon asked. He looked at the mask for a bit, and continued reading.

"Infiltrate the rebellion, and take it down from the inside. Free any prisoners kept by the rebellion, and bring the head of their leader to the Veldonia army."

Valon finished reading the mission details and closed the file. He pushed the file to the end of the table for me to grab. After putting it inside my ring, Valon pushed another item at me. 

It's an adventurers identification card.

"This is an emergency identity card. Only use it when necessary, and do not reveal them to anyone unless you need to."

The card says everything that I would need during emergencies. It's an adventurer's identification card, which had my name and rank there. Funny thing, the name says 'Rile Viozet', and the rank is a White.

Who the heck named this...? THis is clearly not very anonymous.

"So… I'm a White ranked adventurer now?"

"Anonymously."

I slipped the card inside my pocket, since that card will be used after all. After putting away the card, Valon spoke again.

"I know this mission sounds impossible, Rize. But, you will be properly rewarded once this is over."

"Something like this is a lot easier than facing the god of orcs."

"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you. Fighting enemies that you are clearly opposing can be much easier than fighting enemies that you're still unsure of whether they are allies or enemies. 

The situation at Veldonia... I have only heard very little, but the kingdom can be quite rotten. Proceed with caution, and try not to trust anyone you see right away."

Valon tried warning me about things that might occur there, and I guess he might be right on certain parts. I shouldn't take this situation lightly just because I'm powerful.

Because no matter how powerful I am... I definitely can't face an entire kingdom on my own.

"Gotcha. Anything else I need to know?"

"Just some... rumors. This was rather famous since it caused quite the stir recently. From a very recent newspaper, someone at the Veldonia rebellion actually had an ability to conjure undead army. There's been many reports lately from public news outlets that said that the undead army is rather dangerous. Just in case this is the reality, I want you to be cautious."

"It's a scary ability, but I can take it."

This time, it's something I can be confident with. And hearing such words from me, Valon let out a sigh as he lifted his legs and put them on top of the table. He leaned his back towards the chair and stared at me quite relaxed.

"That's about all of it, I guess... Have you done your homework on finding your disguise?"

To answer his question, I took on my mask again and my dark brown long waterproof robe. I wore the robe and put the hood on, then I wore the mask.

From his silence, I can tell he recognized this appearance. He let out a sigh while still having his feet above the table.

"To think that the masked man who saved everyone at that dual dungeon… is actually a woman."

"Long story."

"Yeah, yeah. Go, I'll find ways to send mails to you if necessary."

Valon waved his hand, and I excused myself before leaving the office. After stepping outside, I stood silent for a few seconds to take in some heavy air. I inhaled and exhaled, and I ensured myself that everything was going to be okay.

Okay… now I'm ready.

Going out from the lobby might be a bad idea. Some people who were present at the goblin dungeon might recognize me. Or some who don't might just come to me and attract attention, since adventurers do love talking to strangers in the Office.

I looked to my left where there's a window showing the outside road. My mind quickly thought about something fun.

Without any sound, I stepped outside the window and jumped from building to building. The trip to the western kingdom is a very long one, which means my only option is to use carriages.

I landed a few meters away from the carriage center, attracting quite the attention to myself from the people around. There wasn't any line on the front desk, so I let myself be the first.

"Cool mask, dude."

The boy at the desk said to me while whistling. He didn't recognize my mask, thankfully.

"I want a trip. Veldonia's capital, Veldon City."

"Veldon city…? Not many people want to go there."

"Well, the beach is lovely. It's also summer."

"That is true."

This shall be my reasoning whenever someone asks me why I'm heading to Veldon. It is indeed the summer, and the beaches of Veldon was a well known tourist spot. Fortunately for me, it is tourism season.

The boy checked up on a book. Seems like that's where the schedules for the carriages are. He searched on the book for a while, and turned back to me with a grin.

"Okay, looks like you're lucky. A carriage owned by… the Amila family? Will leave for Veldon later after the second bell."

The second bell? That's like two hours away. I guess I am kind of early.

"The Amila family?"

"Yeah. The Viscount."

"I see… sorry, I don't know all the noble names."

The boy laughed at apology, and I turned confused. He probably thought I'm some traveler here. He turned to me and placed his hands at the window.

"Man, I'm not going to act like I know all the nobles either."

"You don't...?"

"Of course not! Nobody gives the slightest shit about those rich assholes. After all, they only care about themselves."

Just a boy and his very profound language. Well, I too was like that before, but not so casually. More like… for cursing.

Could it be because I've been hanging out with a bunch of nobles near me? Valey and Barett are both nobles, and Hod is a fallen noble. Cony's position as a commoner is at the very thin line between a low class noble and high class commoner, so she also doesn't really act like a commoner most of the time.

The only one who acted like that was... Jrake. He is just a commoner through and through.

After saying those words to me, the boy turned towards the carriages on my left and continued his trash-talking.

"Unless you go to some noble schools or shit… But yeah, it's extremely okay to not remember all the names of nobles."

"Oh… Noble school? Those exist?"

"I know, right? Let me tell you about it."

This boy doesn't seem to like nobles. He kept on going on and on about how stupid nobles are. There doesn't seem to be anyone else coming here the past fifteen minutes of him talking. I simply allowed him to speak more to learn a little bit about nobles from the perspective of commoners.

After a while, a group of adventurers came to the area. They looked like they were about to do a mission.