??<strong>HIDDEN QUEST? </strong>


    In a dark, secret room.


    The atmosphere amongst the individuals hiding in the shadows was somewhat oppressive.


    After a moment, the seemingly leader-like figure let out a sigh.


    “So…these elves haven’t directly shed with the Church of Death, but on the contrary, there were even subtle indications of cooperation between them?”


    “That’s right.”


    A hoarse voice replied.


    “Putting aside the question of whether these elves are truly aligned with an evil deity or not, it seems that their visit to ckrock is primarily motivated by business interests. Despite their remarkablebat skills, their presence in ckrock seems to be mostly focused on conducting business rather than anything else…”


    “Are you saying that all our covert provocations have failed?”


    “Unfortunately, even resorting to the elf ve trade, which they supposedly despise, didn’t seed in provoking their anger. Instead, it even resulted in several of our colleagues going bankrupt…”


    “…”


    “Barain, I heard that they have even started selling themselves as ves?”


    The one with the deep voice asked another person.


    “That’s correct, but the elves that were sold had a strong sense of pride and chose to end their own lives.”


    An elderly voice replied.


    “So that’s how it is…”


    The deep voice carried a hint of surprise.


    However, shortly afterward, the leader let out a scoff.


    “They would even sell their own kind. It seems they have truly fallen as well… caravans, mercenaries… hehe, but perhaps it’s for the best!”


    “What are your Eminence’s thoughts?”


    The individual with a deep voice didn’t answer directly, but instead posed a question.


    “I heard… that the upper echelons of these elves have also entered ckrock City?”


    “That’s correct. I’ve already made inquiries about it. These elves are actuallyprised of three elven mercenary groups and a business guild. Their leaders have alle to ckrock City.”


    “In that case, bring them all here,” the deep voice dered.


    “Bring them here?” the other two voices eximed, taken aback.


    “Hehe, after listening to your reports over the past few days, I’ve alsoe to realize that these elves may seem friendly, but their true priority is profit. They are even willing to buy and sell their own kind for money. So, why don’t we try to win them over for our own benefit?”


    ckrock City.


    Little Salty Cat strolled along the bustling streets, curiously observing everything around her.


    She had just concluded a deal with the dwarves on behalf of Moe Moe Committee, with the Church of Death as a witness, filling her heart with joy.


    By utilizing spells to elerate crop growth, Moe Moe Committee had umted an abundance of wheat, rice, and sweet potatoes that exceeds their consumption needs. The recent discovery of the dwarven faction has presented her with an advantageous opportunity to profit from selling their guild’s surplus inventory.


    The dwarven tribe primarilycks food, but they are rich in ores and magic stones, which are precisely what the Elven Forest currentlycks.


    Ores can be smelted into metals and be used for forging equipment, while magic stones serve as mana catalysts for teleportation arrays and can also aid the yers in their meditation training.


    Although there are still some mineral deposits in the depths of Rivendell, they are not easily essible.


    Of course, the main reason is that yersck the necessary techniques and manpower to mine these deposits.


    Mining is both a technical job and abor-intensive task, not to mention the challenges involved in smelting and refining minerals. Consequently, any knowledge yers might find regarding mining on Earth would currently be of little use to them at the present.


    It might be feasible in the future…once they have more manpower when the public beta opens, coupled with the assistance of the crypt spiders.


    Unfortunately, presently Spider Queen Rosé holds a negative opinion of the yers, and thus far, no one has been able to convince her otherwise. Furthermore, the yers have numerous other in-game activities that generate significantly much higher profits with less effort, hence no one has bothered to develop the mining industry.


    Therefore, upon discovering these dark dwarves whose skilled in mining and smelting, the yers instantly shifted their focus to befriending the dwarven race.


    Exchanging their cultivated crops for refined metals, ores, and magic stones with the dwarves proves to be a mutually beneficial deal.


    Moreover in a remarkable disy of cooperation, the three prominent guilds united together to strike a business deal with the dark dwarves living underground.


    Once the deal had been concluded, Little Salty Cat felt immense joy and began leisurely exploring ckrock City.


    This marked her second visit to ckrock City. Ever since the yers had unlocked this new underground map a week ago, they had swiftly established a good rtionship with the local inhabitants.


    The dark forest across the city has be a new hunting ground for yers, where they can hunt monsters. Meanwhile, ckrock City has transformed into a temporal base of operations for yers to replenish their strength and rest.


    Despite asional frictions that urred outside the city, the two factions managed to maintain surprisingly harmonious rtions within its confines, defying the well-known preconceived notion that elves and dwarves couldn’t stand each other.


    Of course, one of the reasons was the strength and sincerity demonstrated by the yers, and up until now, the dwarves have yet been unable to find the true origins of these strange elves.


    They only knew that the yers came from the surface, by utilizing the entrance to the underworld in Rivendell. Additionally, the dwarves had also noticed that the yers appeared to worship a mysterious deity known as Evé, and they were astonished by how the yers had managed to bypass the enormous gatekeeper spider.


    However, some dwarves began to suspect that the so-called elven goddess mentioned by the yers might actually be a false deity. After all, no one in the world of Saigües had ever heard of a god named Evé.


    However, being part of the chaotic underworld, the dwarves didn’t care much about the beliefs of these strange elves.


    In fact, most dwarves themselves didn’t ce much importance on their own faith, and the majority of ckrock City’s residents were merely shallow followers of the Death God.


    It wasn’t that the yers boasted about subduing the spider queen, but rather, the dwarves simply refused to believe it.


    <em>Subduing the Crypt Spider Queen?</em>


    That was almost a legendary existence!


    And the yers themselves truly cannot exin the intricacies of how it urred, as doing so would require them to disclose the goddess’s involvement, something that Evé herself had explicitly forbade…


    Little Salty Cat shook her head and continued strolling around the dwarven city.


    ckrock City boasted a significant size, despite its local poption numbering only in the thousands and judging by the city’s architecture, it indicated a rich history, likely spanning several hundred of years.


    While she was strolling alone, suddenly, a small figure blocked her path.


    It was a hooded dwarf wearing a dark gray robe with his expression partially obscured from view. Upon noticing Little Salty Cat’s puzzled gaze, he then offered her a slight bow.


    “Respected Miss Elf, good evening…” he greeted her.


    <em>Good evening?</em>


    Little Salty Cat instinctively raised her head and gazed at the ceiling of the cavern.


    Above her, only the fluorescent stones embedded in the cave walls emitted a soft glow. The entire underground cavern was perpetually deep and dim, leaving her quite baffled as to how these dwarves could even discern the difference between day and night…


    “…Hello.”


    She responded cautiously, feeling both vignt yet still curious at the same time.


    Could it be… that she had encountered a ve trader?


    However, haven’t these guys already disappeared ever since those users on the forum started a scam wherein theymitted suicide after pretending to sell themselves for money?


    She became a bit puzzled.


    Salty Cat looked around and realized that she had arrived in a secluded alley where hardly anyone could be seen.


    In an instant, her vignce heightened up a notch.


    While Salty Cat hesitated whether to call out to her fellow guild members or not, the mysterious dwarf spoke again.


    “Miss Elf, are you one of the leaders of the Elven Mercenary Corps? You see, my master greatly admires the bravery of your group and wishes to make a deal with you…”


    “A deal?”


    Salty Cat was slightly taken aback.


    Then, suddenly, an idea dawned upon her.


    <em>Wait…</em>


    <em>Could it be that she was about to encounter a hidden quest?</em>