A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 217 The Gangster Adventurer and His Young Boyfriend (6)

"Ah sneeze——!!"

"Got a cold?" Ankua asked casually.

Quinn blew his nose and asked suspiciously, "Is someone talking about me?"

"Thinking about you?"

"According to the superstition in my hometown, sneezing means someone is thinking of you." Quinn said with a smile. He had arranged to have dinner with Chaldale. Could it be that his girlfriend was missing him?

Ankua sneered: "In my hometown, it's the opposite; sneezing means bad luck is coming."

Quinn nodded in agreement, adopting a scholarly demeanor: "Folk customs are generally related to living conditions and the level of social development. The more developed a place is, the less superstitious it is. In your hometown, the North Continent, sneezing in winter does indeed foreshadow bad luck, and children who catch a cold in winter are very likely to not survive."

Despite the sweltering heat and endless rains in the mountain cities of the South Continent, compared to the climate of the North Continent, this place is already paradise. Quinn felt his heart pounding just reading about it. The average winter temperature in the North Continent can reach minus twenty degrees Celsius or even lower across the entire region. Only ruthless people can survive in such a place.

The climate change in Temuran is very strange. Quinn knows that the Earth's temperature changes are actually related to factors such as the sun's revolution, planetary orbits, and geological changes. Among these, the sun has the greatest influence on temperature, and he can even deduce the Earth's orbital position and angle from the sun from the surface temperature and the intensity of light.

But Temuran is different. The sun here is not 150 million kilometers away; it's right overhead. Quinn speculates that the sun's altitude should be between 10 and 75 kilometers. His speculation has no basis; it's just based on visual observation and impression—the Earth's stratosphere and atmosphere are roughly at this altitude.

Measuring the size of the sun and the distance between the sun and the earth are absolutely forbidden. Even the flight altitude of an airship must never exceed the second cloud layer. To transgress the cloud layer is a great disrespect to the creator god, and the Vatican will send the entire crew to the stake as blasphemers.

However, the Vatican can assure you that the sun's trajectory remains perfectly consistent during the approximately 250-year temperature fluctuations. Whenever the sun's trajectory shifts slightly, the entire Temüland enters a new warm period, after which the average annual temperature will gradually decrease by about ten degrees Celsius over the next 250 years.

This seemed very strange to Quinn, who had received a modern astronomical education.

The world is described as having a flat sky and a square earth, with exploration forbidden above the clouds. Astronomy is almost entirely occult. Despite having created flying machines and possessing arcane arts and superhuman abilities capable of traversing the heavens and earth, this world has made no research on the stars beyond the sky and knows nothing about the universe above.
The strangest thing is that even Grindelwald has no related research or content; the only thing related to the sky is astrology.

Quinn's drifting thoughts were interrupted by the sweet voice.

"Hello, Mr. Shelby, your adventurer registration information has been completed. Within five business days, your registration information will be synchronized to adventurer guilds worldwide. Here is your badge—may you be invincible, meow~"

Quinn and Ankuya were at the Adventurers' Guild in Broom Alley at that moment.

Following his boss's advice, he is applying for a new adventurer identity.

Quinn accepted the adventurer's sword and shield badge forged from pure silver, signifying that his new identity was that of a Silver-rank adventurer from the start. An adventurer's initial rank is also related to the location of entry; Quinn's ability to enter Broom Alley meant he already possessed the qualifications to enter the mysterious world, no longer needing to start from the lowest "Bronze" rank to accumulate points through quests.

If he were willing to show his arcanist certification from the Arcane Association, or directly reveal his superhuman status, his initial level could directly reach "Gold". However, in return, he must be a legitimate superhuman who has registered with the government and the cult. Quinn naturally wouldn't do that.

Having taken too many bounties from local villains, his original adventurer rank had reached Gold, allowing him to take on Gold-level quests that offered both risk and reward. Although the Adventurers' Guild had always adhered to the ironclad rule set by its founder, Link, and had never leaked any adventurer information in its 1,400-year history, Quinn decided to discontinue using his original identity as a precaution.

The receptionist at the Adventurers' Guild is a Feline, with incredibly cute cat ears. This is a hard rule set by Link—the guild's receptionist and staff must be catgirls. Although no one understands the hero's purpose in doing this, the Felines have become the only orcs not discriminated against by mainstream society, and the few orcs in the Southern Continent with a voice are all Felines.

"Once you complete ten Silver-level missions with a team, or five Silver-level missions solo, you can attempt a Gold-level mission. If successful, you will be promoted to Gold-level Adventurer."

The boss was a veteran adventurer who claimed to be a well-known figure in the guild back in the day. Quinn had earned a lot of money from taking down superhumans in the underworld under his leadership and was no longer a newbie, so he naturally didn't need to listen to the catgirl explain the rules.

He asked bluntly, "Are there any jobs I can take on right now? Not odd jobs or day jobs in factories, I want jobs that no one else can handle—do you understand what I mean?"

Miss Catgirl winked at Quinn and whispered, "Are you a superhuman, meow?"

“No.” Quinn pulled his wand from his belt at his back, indicating that he was an arcanist.

"You can check the notice board, meow~" She held up two fingers, saying meaningfully, "Or you can pay a service fee of two silver coins and have someone collect and organize it for you, meow~"

"Keep the rest as a tip."

Quinn pulled out a gold pound and tossed it in front of the beaming catgirl.

"Avoid missions that are too far away, and try to keep the mission locations away from outside the city. I know there are some missions that haven't been upgraded to Gold tier yet."

The Adventurers' Guild's missions can be divided into four categories. The first category is low-paying missions for ordinary people. In Quinn's view, this is just a labor intermediary on Earth, offering all kinds of jobs, from factory errand runners and food delivery to cleaning jobs, all for the purpose of getting a job.

The second category is the subjugation type. This includes monsters that roam from dungeons, magical creatures that get too close to residential areas and harm people, nature spirits, ghosts, and so on. These types of missions are usually issued by the government, and the rewards are often good, but they are extremely dangerous.

The third category is bounties. For any murder suspected to be caused by supernatural beings, arcane sorcerers, or malevolent forces, if the police remain unsolved, they will release the clues and hand them over to adventurers aspiring to be detectives. This also includes wanted criminals killed by Quinn, government-pursued criminals, cult members wanted by the Church, or supernatural beings at risk of going out of control. The danger is manageable if the target's information is known.

The fourth category is the most miscellaneous, and can be tentatively called miscellaneous tasks. These include security for important figures, investigations of mysterious events, dungeon exploration, arcane research, exorcisms of residences, and paranormal events with no clear cause or effect. The level of danger is unknown.

As an ancient organization with a history of over 1,400 years, the Adventurers' Guild has a relatively reliable set of evaluation and calculation standards for any task.

Generally speaking, missions related to mystery are usually at the Gold rank or higher. Missions that are difficult for low-sequence extraordinary individuals or ordinary arcanists to solve are ranked at the Platinum rank. The Diamond rank corresponds to experienced teams and mid-sequence extraordinary individuals. Missions at the Master rank are extremely rare and cannot be quantified.

At the very top of the guild hall notice board is a Master-level quest, posted by the Eternal Cult. The quest details and rewards are quite simple.

"The Seventh Hero is sought. The bounty is 80 million gold pounds."

Quinn wondered if it could be considered part of Celia's dowry—the girl would surely blush and say, "No way!"

The "quests that haven't been upgraded yet" he referred to are quests whose difficulty has been severely underestimated. Although the guild's rating system is very strict, errors in difficulty assessment are inevitable due to incomplete information provided by the quest poster or other factors. Once adventurers fail to complete a quest multiple times, the guild will reassess its difficulty.

There are actually quite a few tasks like this, but Quinn can't judge the difficulty based on the task content, so paying money is the quickest way.

After all, the Adventurers' Guild is not only the world's largest human resources agency, but also the world's largest tavern, brothel, and entertainment venue. Here, everyone is equal, and only gold pounds are above all else.

The catgirl glanced at Quinn's unremarkable disguise and whispered, "You'll need to wait half an hour, meow~"

Quinn nodded.

"I'll come back to get it later."

After saying that, he left the Adventurers' Guild with Ankuya and followed him to get the new katana.

"I won't show myself. Just go over and say 'Shebill' as your name."

Ankua gestured with his chin toward a shop at the end of the street, indicating that was it.

“That boss recognizes me. Since you’ve adopted a new identity, let’s try to avoid appearing together in front of acquaintances.”

Ankuya paused for a moment: "I have to go to the East to take care of some business. I'll be back before the end of August. Be careful in Aishwell."

Quinn was taken aback and asked:

"Work at the academy?"

"The boss's job." Quinn understood.

What are the demons planning to do in the Eastern Kingdom that would require transferring Ankuya there?
But he won't ask too many questions; Ankuya will tell you if necessary.

The two sat down in chairs, and Ankuya gave them brief instructions: "You continue to observe the suspect. I will leave the familiar in Aishwell. If you make any important discoveries, notify the familiar, and I will come back as soon as possible."

"Uh, can't I send a letter?"

The two share a secret code, so the letters pose no risk. Sending a letter through the Minions' spirit world is just as fast as the wind blowing across the ocean.

"Letters may not be able to reach me."

"Something dangerous?"

"It's alright, investigating some things."

Ankua popped a nicotine candy into his mouth and said casually, "Pepe will be coming with me too."

".ha?!"

Quinn turned his head sharply, "You took a nun from the Church to handle matters concerning the demons?"

No wonder the boss said those things in the bar today.
"Why bring Pepe?" Quinn genuinely didn't understand.

"Of course it's useful. This matter requires the cooperation of a clergy member with a mission to spread the gospel. She's rather dim-witted, so I fabricated a clue that the suitcase might be in the East, saving us the trouble of kidnapping another priest there."

"There's one thing you need to be aware of while I'm away—"

Quinn chuckled, "Even now, you still don't believe me?"

Ankuya glanced at him.

"of course not."

He said calmly, "Remember, you only have one superior. If anyone claiming to be from the company or anything like that comes to you, never admit it. If you can kill them, then kill them; if you can't, then report them to the cult or the academy."

Quinn stared at him in disbelief.

“This involves some internal company struggles,” Ankuya said calmly. “We just need to be loyal to the boss, understand?”

“Then loyalty is essential.” Quinn chose to listen to Ankuya.

Ankuya looked into Quinn's eyes and gave a slightly strange smile.

"Normally there wouldn't be such a person, but it's better to be safe than sorry, so I'm just reminding you in case."

"OK."

"Also, lend me some money."

"Uh, how much?"

"Five thousand gold pounds."

Quinn was overjoyed; this was all he had, and Aqua had come to confiscate it.

"Go and talk to my mom about it."

"Aren't you an orphan?"

“So there’s no room for negotiation.”

Ankuya looked at him speechlessly. Quinn, satisfied with his act, stopped talking nonsense: "We're all brothers, why are you talking about borrowing? I'll transfer it to your card."

"Thanks." This seemed to be the first time Ankua had thanked him since arriving in this other world, though his expression was as sour as if Quinn owed him five thousand pounds.

"I'm going to pick Peipei up from get off work. I'll leave this weekend if nothing unexpected happens."

"Aqua, I've given you all my wealth, can you tell me the truth?" Quinn called out to him with a gossipy look on his face.

"What truth?"

What's going on between you and Peipei?

"."

He remained silent for a while, his face always icy.

"Nothing special, just ordinary friends."

"She is very pretty."

"It was earned through intelligence." Ankuya did not deny that 'she was beautiful'.

“To be honest, I have a feeling something’s off between you and her.” Quinn mimicked a thief’s gesture: “That hair tie, it was Pepe’s, wasn’t it?”

"I just took the wrong one."

Aqua's voice turned completely cold: "Impossible. You know, we have no future in this world, and emotions are meaningless ties."

Quinn shrugged and said casually:
“I slept with Chaldale.”

Ankua tilted his head, his gaze towards Quinn changing slightly, as if he had seen a cripple suddenly become able to run.

"You know, while I might not be the best man, I'm not casual about relationships either. I've been thinking a lot about responsibility, the future, and whether I'd let her down."

"But now, when I think of her occasionally, I feel that enjoying the present moment is also good."

"Since I'm already facing all sorts of troubles, I might as well be more carefree. I'm just as troubled right now, but what I'm worried about is whether I can take her with me when the time comes. Last week when we went on our date, she said she wanted to learn how to cook dinner for me. I always feel like she'd cut her hand even if she were chopping carrots, but she's a woman who would make a great wife, right?"

Quinn stood up, patted his only friend in the other world, turned and left, leaving behind a casual remark—

"Who knows if I'll regret it in the future? For me, there won't be a second chance. The feeling of regretting it to the point of losing my pearls is worse than being killed. So, don't be too hard on yourself, enjoy the present."

(End of this chapter)