Wrong!
751 Words
Wrong.
That was what Rhys had felt the moment he left the forested path and made it to a village half an hour's jog away. He was walking on open road now, only a hundred feet from the village. It wouldn't have much more than the basics. A general store, a small blacksmith and the farm he was walking through now.
The real problem was that the village hadn't been slaughtered yet. As terrible as that thought was, if the adventurers were planning to max out combat achievements, then killing the town would have been done immediately.
The only reason Rhys could think of was that a team was maximizing achievements while having one member go for a non combat class. Maybe it was a full team of bloodthirsty crafters? That didn't sound right.
He was lost in thought when a friendly voice called out to him.
"Hello! And where are you from then?"
It was an old man in a straw hat, potentially an early warning crier for the village. The man kept a healthy distance from him. If he was alive, then everyone else was probably alive too. His hopes started to go up.
"I came from a larger town!" Rhys said cheerily. "Heard there was a beginner's dungeon here."
It seemed to put the old man at ease. "Ah, of course! Though I guess you hadn't heard. An undead noble woke up there, killed the poor mortals at the waystation."
Rhys checked his notifications.
《Trial Quest complete conditions
Quest
Slay the undead noble
Capacity 3/3 + 1》
"What's going to happen now?" Rhys asked.
"Oh, we should be able to deal with one undead noble. Three great adventurers from the town nearby dropped by. Perhaps you know them. Oh, there they are now!"
Rhys looked past the old man and stiffened as he saw the trio that was approaching them from the village. One drake, one dwarf and a mortal in the middle. But the odd species choices weren't what made his blood go cold.
All three of them were wearing Trial issued helmets that obscured their faces. There was zero reason to do that. That is, unless all the members wanted to keep their identities a secret.
The only teams that did that were those trying to stay hidden while infiltrating The Dominion.
Rhys waved at them cheerily, he used the old man to block the other team's vision to swing his Trial standard knife strap to his back. He called out to them first, hoping they didn't notice anything.
"Hello! I heard that this town needs help! I have come to give aid!"
The three helmeted adventurers looked at each other as one gave another a nod. Rhys tensed as they whispered something to each other. He strained his ears, getting ready to bolt the moment they turned hostile.
It turns out he didn't need to worry. The mortal one in the middle walked forward. He wore simple bland clothes.
"It's good to meet you. We're preparing the town's defenses. Though we plan on heading to the dungeon ourselves. Do you have a specialty?"
They were talking to him like he were a Trial mortal. Rhys internally breathed a sigh of relief as his ploy worked.
"Yes! I'm an [Infiltrator], I'm happy to help!" Rhys the friendly NPC responded.
They looked at each other and gave each other a nod.
"That'll do. Do you mind heading towards the entrance of the dungeon and being a scout in case the undead noble attacks early?"
"Of course! Happy to–"
Rhys noticed one of the drakes staring at his feet. He followed their gaze down to his own feet.
His very modern sneakers.
The man talking to him also looked down. Rhys acted first. He started with a shout.
"Attack! Attack! These are traitors to the kingdom!"
The one in front sprinted forward, brandishing a blade. Rhys leapt back and started sprinting the way he came from. Keeping an eye behind him in case the man tried to throw his sword at him.
"What's going–"
The old man found himself with a sword stuck in his eye. The second member had thrown his blade at the only witness remaining.
"They're traitors!" Rhys yelled as he hoped the rest of the village would hear. He met eyes with the only mortal member of the group, his arm about to throw the blade. The man decided against it and chose to sprint at him instead.
- Writer
