"Wait a minute, I've seen his face before, Chang."

Valentine spoke up, feeling a sense of familiarity with Hisa-chan's face.

"I feel the same way. Hmm... I think there's a painting of him at the entrance of the Sanada Clan's castle."

Aden said, while trying to recall his memory.

"Really?"

Chang Long's interest was piqued immediately. Even Hisa-chan, who was in the middle of raising a bottle to drink, paused and turned to listen.

"If I remember correctly, there's definitely a picture of him on the notice board at the Sanada Clan's castle."

Aden nodded after a moment of thought.

"Then I'll go check it out... You don't have to come with me. I'll go with Davy-chan and Hisa-chan."

Chang Long headed toward the door, quickly stopping the others who were about to follow.

"Do you know the way, Chang?"

Valentine asked.

"Hisa-chan should know the way, right?"

Changlong turned to her spirit, who had a slightly tense expression, and he nodded back.

"If you need any help, don't hesitate to contact us, Chang Long."

Siegfried said. Changlong smiled and nodded, then swiftly descended from the second-floor balcony of the restaurant.

Davy-chan floated after Changlong and Hisa-chan reluctantly, as he would have preferred to stay and drink. Not only that, but he kept complaining the entire way, which started to annoy Changlong. Hisa-chan remained silent and stern, seemingly worried about the notice board in front of Sanada Clan's castle.

'Can you stop complaining already, Davy-chan?'

Chang Long mentally communicated with her grumbling spirit in irritation. The spirit of the pirate king rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath the whole way.

'No! I wanted to stay and drink. Why did you have to drag me along?'

Davy-chan did not give up. Why was his heir so stubborn?

'It's your punishment for sneaking off to flirt with ghost girls in the cemetery without telling me. Besides, the Sanada Clan's castle is more than fifty meters from the restaurant.'

Changlong ignored Davy-chan's protests and listed his wrongdoings.

'Hey, didn't you say I could do whatever I wanted? Why am I being punished!'

Davy-chan complained. Was he really missing out on fine liquor just because he had not told Chang Long where he was going? Who was the adult here?

"Yes! I give you freedom, but you still need to inform me where you're going and why."

While they argued, they arrived at the Sanada Clan's castle entrance.

Hisa-chan led Chang Long to the prominent notice board at the castle entrance. Chang Long followed and saw several samurai players gathered around the board.

"Big brother, what's this board for?"

Chang Long asked one of the samurai players.

"Oh! It's a quest notice board from the Sanada Clan. The quests change daily, and each quest has a limited number of slots!"

The samurai player generously explained to Chang Long, likely guessing from her attire that she was not playing a samurai class.

"Oh! They've set up a registration table. I'll be going now."

Upon seeing the NPC set up a table to register players for quests, the samurai player quickly ran to join the queue, along with other samurai players, leaving the notice board deserted in an instant.

"Is that really a picture of Hisa-chan? The real one looks way better. If it didn't have his name on it, I wouldn't have recognized him!"

Chang Long muttered to herself, wondering how Valentine and Aden had identified the portrait as Hisa-chan, her spirit.

"Interested in this quest, kid?"

A samurai from the Sanada Clan approached and asked, seeing Chang Long staring at Tokura Hisa's picture for a while.

"Quest?"

Chang Long echoed, turning to look at the person behind her. Hisa-chan flinched upon seeing that the man was one of those who had collaborated with his lover to kill him in cold blood.

"Yes! But it's a secret quest, unrelated to the Sanada Clan. Are you interested?"

The samurai asked mysteriously again. Chang Long glanced at Hisa-chan, who seemed uneasy, before nodding in agreement.

"Good! Follow me, I'll take you to the person who will give you the quest."

The samurai turned and led Chang Long down a narrow, dark alley.

'Are you okay, Hisa-chan?'

Chang Long asked Hisa-chan with concern, seeing him looking tense and worried.

'It's fine. Follow him. I also want to know who made my lover change her mind and decide to kill me.'

Hisa-chan replied with a heavy tone, making a significant decision as well.

"What are you dawdling for, kid? Hurry and follow me!"

The samurai turned back and shouted when he saw Chang Long had not followed him yet.

Chang Long walked after the man into the alley. Despite feeling uneasy, she wanted to help Hisa-chan resolve his lingering issues so he could travel with her joyfully and without the burden of the past, unlike Davy-chan.

Bang!

The sound of a table being slammed in anger by the leader of the Black Horse Guild made his subordinates jump. After receiving a report from Merlin's Top Protege, about the confrontation with the one who possessed one of the sacred beasts and the subsequent level drop of Merlin's Top Protege's group for the second time, he was furious.

"Siegfried of the Pendragon Guild knows the one who possesses the sacred beast?"

Aswa muttered to himself with a stern voice.

"Is the person who possesses the sacred beast the one the boss wants to invite to the guild? If she knows Siegfried from the Pendragon Guild..."

One of the high-ranking members of the Black Horse Guild speculated.

"No! That person hasn't joined any guild yet. Aek firmly confirmed this. But the worrying part is, she's unlikely to join our guild now since our members have picked fights with her twice already."

Aswa spoke, shaking his head in exasperation.

"From what Merlin's Top Protege described, that player has unusual skills and can kill others cold-bloodedly. Plus, her level must be quite high; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to corner Merlin's Top Protege's group so easily."

Another high-ranking member commented.

"I'm quite worried about this. If he holds a grudge and comes for revenge, we'll be in a lot of trouble."

Aswa replied, looking concerned.

"Isn't that a bit exaggerated, boss? Even if a single player has a higher level than Siegfried of Pendragon, they can't possibly take on the Black Horse Guild with thousands of members."

Another high-ranking member commented with a chuckle.

"It's not just her alone that worries me. She has the Pendragon Guild backing him, and they have many high-level players known for their integrity. If they rally players who have grievances against our guild, imagine what could happen!"

Aswa glanced seriously at the nearly ten senior members in the room.

"T... That might not happen anytime soon, right?"

One of the two women in the meeting said, her voice uncertain. The others were also taken aback by the guild leader's words.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it won't happen soon. But we can't be complacent. We need to send our people to monitor their movements and keep an eye on the Pendragon Guild headquarters as well."

Aswa ordered, prompting two or three high-ranking members to get up and carry out the instructions immediately.

"Alright, let's end the meeting here. Once the portrait Merlin's Top Protege commissioned from the painter is done, distribute it to all our guild members to keep an eye on that person."

Aswa concluded the meeting, and the high-ranking members left the room until only he remained.

"Aek... tell the Lost Martial Artist not to challenge, seek revenge, or approach that person under any circumstances. If he disobeys, he'll face severe punishment!"

Aswa picked up the phone embedded in his wristwatch, which was still connected.

"Yes, I'll make sure to remind him. But it would be better if you personally called to reinforce it, boss. To ensure he wouldn't dare disobey!"

Merlin's Top Protege replied.

"Alright, I got it. Thanks for reporting. I'll call Lost Martial Artist myself."

Aswa said, rubbing his temples as he felt a throbbing headache.

"Yes, Aswa."

Meanwhile, Chang Long followed the samurai deeper into the dark and narrow alley. Along the way, they encountered only shady-looking AI. Hisa-chan mentioned that these were bandits backed by powerful figures, who might be the same person Chang Long was about to meet.

"We're almost there, kid. Keep up."

The samurai turned to tell Chang Long. She nodded silently in response, and he led her to a grand building that seemed out of place in the shabby alley.

The samurai led Chang Long inside without another word. Two guards blocked her path until he vouched for her. Then, they allowed her to pass.

"You're about to meet the leader of Crow Group, which is a great honor."

The man said as he stopped in front of a door, then turned to the door and spoke loudly but respectfully.

"Master, I've brought the person who can accomplish your quest!"

"Come in."

A powerful voice responded from behind the door, which slowly creaked open to reveal an opulently decorated room.

"Master, this is the kid who volunteered to take on your quest."

The samurai who brought Chang Long bowed to a white-haired man. He sat on a carved wooden platform with a bright red and gold futon.

The person called master exuded an intense and intimidating aura. He glanced at Chang Long with cold, sharp eyes. After a moment of silent scrutiny, he waved off the beautiful women attending him. Then, he stood and walked closer to Chang Long.

Chang Long observed the man warily. He was strikingly different from those around him. He had pale skin, white hair, and eyebrows. His tall, lanky frame and youthful face were complemented by a necklace made of silk, adorned with a pendant of a clear, iridescent crystal. He looked quite young.

"You're young. Can you really handle Tokura Hisa?"

The man referred to as master asked Chang Long. Hisa-chan, who was invisible, flinched at the mention of his name.

"Handle? Are you asking me to kill the man in that announcement?"

Chang Long asked, confused. The announcement had only a drawing and a name, with no further details.

"Not exactly. Tokura Hisa is already dead. I want you to use this Soul Sealing Orb to capture his spirit at the Samurai Cemetery for me."

The man explained, removing his necklace and presenting it to Chang Long. She considered herself tall among women, not as tall as Siegfried but close. Yet, standing next to this man, she felt like a dwarf.

"Why don't you have your subordinates do this? Why bother with an announcement!"

Chang Long asked, frowning with curiosity. Considering the man's strength and his samurai forces outside, this task he gave her seemed trivial.

"Do not speak to the master like that, you insolent child!"

The man who brought Chang Long scolded loudly. She stood there, gritting her teeth, feeling unfairly reprimanded for stating a fact.

"It's fine. You probably don't know. Tokura Hisa's spirit is full of rage and resentment towards me and my people. No one can get close enough to use the Soul Sealing Orb. But you, you have no history, no grudge against him. Your chances of success are much higher. Now, knowing this, are you brave enough to accept the quest?"

The man asked, looking at Chang Long with emotionless gaze, as if she nothing of importance. What was more, she felt like he was looking at her like she was already dead!

"And the reward?"

Chang Long asked back, figuring she it fair to look at him in the same way.

"You!"

The man who brought her yelled again.

"It's alright. You have the spirit, I like that. Perhaps you'd make a fine member of our Crow Group. Your reward will be a chest of gold, a servant, and lifelong assistance from our group."

For the first time after they had been talking for a while, the master's eyes lit up. He seemed to see Chang Long as a person now, not a walking corpse.

Chang Long scrutinized the man's face, concluding that he was being deceitful with a straight face. Davy-chan, invisible, was also muttering this in her ear nonstop. She wondered how long the promised lifelong assistance would last once they no longer needed her and decided to kill her.

"Can I see the goods first? A little motivation would help!"

Chang Long smiled slyly. The master's face flickered with annoyance before returning to normal.

"Of course. How about I bring out the beautiful slaves for you to choose from right now!"

The Master said magnanimously.

"Sounds good..."

Chang Long replied, raising an eyebrow mockingly. The master clapped his hands three times. A chest about a meter wide was brought before Chang Long, and a procession of beautiful women entered the room for her to choose from.

"Go ahead! Choose as you like."

The Master said with an emotionless smile, gesturing his hand towards the women who smiled widely at Chang Long with a trembling body. All except one, who looked reluctant and displeased to be there.

'Marika!'

Hisa-chan, who had been silent, exclaimed upon seeing his beloved. Davy-chan followed Hisa-chan's gaze and floated behind the woman called Marika. Chang Long realized that Marika was the one who seemed unwilling to be there.

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