Child of Destiny

Chapter 2269: Paying A Visit

...

With no better idea of what to do next, Shin decided to browse through the online platforms and see what was currently happening in the game.

Perhaps he would find something interesting enough to keep him occupied until the next stage of his quest.

"Ah! While I’m at it, I might as well inform the twins about the current situation." He suddenly remembered that he wasn’t the only one undertaking the Empire Quest.

As he casually wandered through the streets of the Golden City, he unknowingly arrived at the area that had once been designated for the Mayor’s Residence.

The place had since been transformed into a bustling commercial district.

Numerous businesses occupied the area, alongside several bases belonging to the Hand of Midas’ partnered adventurer teams and mercenary companies.

Various merchant groups had also established their own shops and businesses throughout the district, turning the area into one of the city’s busiest commercial hubs.

But none of that was what caught Shin’s attention.

It was the place itself.

The sight of the former Mayor’s Residence suddenly reminded him of someone important.

Ribbit.

He was one of the first Named NPC subordinates Shin had ever recruited.

Shin had encountered him during the early stages of the game, back when Calderock was still nothing more than a small village.

He was even elected as its new chief due to the series of events that occurred in that place.

Ribbit had been the one responsible for managing the village at the time, eventually developing it into a proper base before it was relocated to the coast near the Sky Deceiving Valley and transformed into the Calderock Port it was today.

"Should I pay that guy a visit as well?" Shin muttered.

It had been quite some time since he had last seen his NPC subordinate.

Moreover, Shin had heard that Shiella had been working him quite hard after realizing just how talented he was at managing their properties.

Ribbit had eventually become the head manager overseeing the entire Calderock Port.

On top of that, Ribbit was also connected to a special underground NPC organization within the game—one that he had eventually handed over to Shiella.

Shin suddenly became curious about how that matter had progressed.

From what he remembered, that organization was called the Silver Knives, one of the largest secret NPC organizations in the game—and perhaps one of the wealthiest as well, thanks to its connections with numerous NPC merchant organizations.

Since it involved merchants and wealth, Shin had naturally left the matter to Shiella.

He had never been particularly interested in dealing with the organization’s affairs himself.

However, now that Ribbit had unexpectedly come to mind, Shin could not help but grow curious.

Now that he thought about it, that quest had originally been about protecting Ribbit from the assassins sent by the mysterious organization—or, if necessary, completely eradicating the organization itself.

Dealing with the organization had been quite tricky back then. They had been short on manpower, especially since they were still in the middle of establishing the Twin Cities of the Gold Mountain—the Golden City and Calderock Port.

Things were different now.

They should have more than enough forces to at least confront that organization. Shin even felt that he could deal with them himself with the assistance of a few elite members of Deicide.

The problem was that he had no idea what had happened to the quest in the meantime.

"Ribbit is still alive, so none of the assassination attempts should have succeeded." Shin lightly tilted his head to the side.

"I just don’t know if they’ve already dealt with the Silver Knives themselves." After thinking about it for a moment, Shin decided to head toward Calderock Port.

His excuse was simple enough.

He wanted to pay an old friend a visit. But the truth was slightly different. He was looking for an opportunity to stir up some trouble.

After all, he was starting to get a little itchy.

He wanted some action.

...

Not long after, Shin arrived at his destination.

The Golden City and Calderock Port were closely connected, with the former situated atop the massive mountain and the latter built along its coast.

The roads linking the two were among the busiest routes throughout the Gold Mountain Territory.

After all, most merchants relied on them to transport their goods.

Products imported from other regions by sea would first arrive at Calderock Port before being transported up to the Golden City, where they would either be processed and sold or distributed through the city’s various commercial channels.

The Golden City also sent many of its own products through Calderock Port, where they were loaded onto ships and transported to their respective destinations.

The two cities effectively worked together as a single economic hub, complementing each other’s strengths.

Because of this close cooperation, the Golden City and Calderock Port had become the two wealthiest Player Cities within the game.

The Calderock Port was almost as busy as the Golden City, with both players and NPCs constantly coming and going for various reasons.

Shin paid them little attention, however, as he headed straight toward the Port Office—the administrative center of the entire port and Ribbit’s current workplace.

The moment he stepped inside, he was greeted by an extremely busy atmosphere.

Office staff constantly moved back and forth through the halls, carrying documents, processing commissions, and handling the countless tasks required to keep the port running smoothly.

Both the NPC staff and the members of the Hand of Midas stationed there seemed even busier than those at the guild headquarters.

Shin could only shake his head slightly as he followed the signs toward the head manager’s office.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, he had even activated his stealth skills.

Normally, someone sneaking into an administrative building like this would have triggered its security measures. However, as the Duke of the territory and someone granted the highest level of authority, the system did not recognize Shin as an intruder.

He could move through the restricted areas without triggering any alarms or hidden mechanisms.

That did not mean the place was poorly defended, though.

Shin was somewhat impressed when he noticed the numerous powerful NPC guards stationed throughout the building.

Several of them were clearly far stronger than ordinary guards.

Among them was even a High-Level NPC around Level 250 who possessed the rank of Commander.

The NPC was also a Named NPC, making them an exceptionally powerful existence even by the standards of the current game.

Fortunately, the Commander recognized Shin almost immediately.

The situation never had the chance to escalate.

Shin simply exchanged a casual greeting with the guards before continuing toward Ribbit’s office.

Not long after, he finally arrived in front of the familiar door.

Knock! Knock!

He gently knocked a couple of times.

A moment later, an exhausted voice came from inside.

"Come in."

Click!

Right upon opening the door, Shin was immediately greeted by a messy room.

The desk in front of him was almost completely buried beneath piles of paperwork. Documents were stacked one on top of another, some neatly organized into small piles while others had been left scattered across the surface as if Ribbit had simply moved on to the next task without having the time to properly sort them.

Several ink bottles and writing quills were placed between the piles, with a few sheets still bearing fresh marks from Ribbit’s seemingly endless work.

The situation was even worse on the floor.

Large stacks of processed documents had been piled up around the room, each one containing records that had already been reviewed and were waiting to be transferred to the proper inventory archives. Some stacks were neatly arranged, while others leaned dangerously to one side, threatening to collapse at the slightest disturbance.

There were even several wooden boxes filled with completed documents shoved into the corners, leaving only narrow paths around the room.

Since Ribbit was an NPC without access to System panels, all of the work that players could complete with a few commands had to be done manually through paperwork.

And judging from the mountain of documents surrounding him, there was clearly far more work than one person could comfortably handle.

Shin stared at the scene for several seconds while the expression beneath his mask twitched.

For once, he felt that he had come to the wrong place.

It looked like a storage house rather than a manager’s office.

"I am rather busy right now, Marrie. Help me organize those that are ready to be moved to the archive," Ribbit said without even raising his head.

His voice still carried a hint of exhaustion, but the authority behind it remained strong. It was clear that he was no longer the ordinary NPC Shin had once known.

However, Shin barely paid attention to that.

His eyes were instead fixed on the current state of his old friend.

The once-dignified manager of Calderock Port now looked more like a vagrant living on the streets.

His clothes were wrinkled, his hair was disheveled, and his face looked as though it had not seen proper rest in days.

Shin even began wondering how long it had been since Ribbit had last found the time to properly clean himself.

The deep bags beneath his eyes were especially noticeable, even from several meters away.

The corner of Shin’s mouth twitched. ’Just how much work did Big Sis dump on this poor guy?’

Ribbit, on the other hand, could not help but frown when no response came.

He finally raised his head.

His somewhat lifeless eyes immediately widened when he spotted Shin standing silently at the doorway, seemingly taking in the miserable state of his office.

Ribbit stared at him for several seconds.

Then his eyes suddenly lit up.

Although Shin’s current equipment and disguise made his appearance somewhat difficult to recognize, Ribbit could still identify him immediately.

After all, there was no mistaking that unique aura.

Ribbit abruptly sprang to his feet. "My Lord!"

His voice was filled with an excitement that Shin had never expected to hear from him.

Tears even began forming at the corners of the old NPC’s eyes. "You’re back!"

He hurried toward Shin before suddenly grabbing onto his arm.

"Are you here to finally take me away from this hell?!"

...