The Damned Demon

Rowena didn't expect Asher to quickly pick up on these small things. Still, her eyes were looking elsewhere as if she was deeply contemplating something with a hint of disconcert.

Asher could see that she was hesitating a lot and said, "Since last year, you had no one to talk to because you are the queen, but to me, you are more than just a queen. If something else is going on that isn't related to the kingdom, you can tell me...I am the only one you can speak to about things like this."

Rowena calmly took a breath as she looked at him and finally parted her lips to say, "It's...about something that happened just now...There is a place outside the kingdom...A place where my father and I used to visit every year."

Asher noticed her eyes getting a bit melancholic, wondering if this place was special since it was a place of old memories.

"What happened there?" He asked curiously.

Rowena firmly pressed her lips together as she said, "A gate opened there...One of my informants said multiple Hunters have entered that place and won't leave without destroying that place. I don't understand...why a gate would open there...There is nothing over there for them," She mumbled as she clenched her fists with a death cold gaze.

"Then why can't you send some people to take care of those fuckers?" Asher asked with a narrowed gaze, though he felt that she would have already done that if not for a good reason.

"Because it is a closed quest...Only those who satisfy the quest conditions can enter. I also can't officially take any action because it doesn't concern the kingdom. I can't endanger my people and force them to fight to gain nothing while risking everything for a hopeless quest. I can't risk our kingdom getting any worse," Rowena said as she took in a sharp breath.

Asher could see that she was feeling quite upset and angry about this, especially since she couldn't do anything about it.

"What's the name of this place?" Asher asked with a keen gaze.

Rowena offhandedly said, "The Crimson Grove."

Asher immediately looked up in the system, "Pull up the quests available near Crimson Grove."

[ 1 Quest Available ]

[ Quest - Some Hunters have occupied the Crimson Grove, threatening to destroy a place that the Bloodburn Queen holds dear. Annihilate or get rid of these trespassers before the grove gets destroyed ]

[ Restrictions: Only those below Level 10 may accept with a max group of two || Usage of 3 Potions allowed || No potion, equipment or gear above level 10 allowed ]

[ Difficulty: Insane || 6 Hunters are present. At least 3 of them are at or above level 8 ]

[ Rewards: +2 Talent Point, +2 Skill Point ]

'What kind of crap quest is this?' Asher couldn't help but wonder since not only was the difficulty really insane, but the rewards were utter crap. Could it be that there was a good reason these Hunters were in that place? No...some of the quests with similar rewards he had attempted in the past turned out to be as crappy as they appeared to be.

The only real benefit he could see from this quest was the amount of refined mana one could gain if and only if one managed to survive this quest.

With such a level of difficulty, he realized why this quest was still available. Who in the right mind would dare to go up against 6 Hunters where at least 5 of them together could defeat even 2 level 10 demons in an ordinary scenario. Even fighting against someone of the same level was considered hard, let alone fighting someone an entire level or levels above them, especially in this level range.

No wonder Rowena didn't want to risk forcing her people to take this quest. They would surely fail and would resent her for doing so while attracting foes who would take advantage of this matter to pull her down.

If this was between levels 1 to 5, some people would have still tried, but only if the rewards weren't this bad.

Rowena noticed how Asher's expression became glazed and asked, "What are you doing?" She suddenly realized something and asked with furrowed brows, "Don't tell me you are--"

"You shouldn't have hesitated to tell this to me," Asher said as he immediately got up.

Rowena also got up and stood before him, "No. Whatever you are thinking of doing...forget about it. This isn't a simple quest. This is a death trap located in a place where you don't have any protection," Rowena strongly said, realizing what he was planning to do. She very well knew how difficult this quest was. Quests with such difficulty had little to no chance of surviving.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I can't survive this. I am the only one who can do this," Asher said with a confident nod.

Rowena couldn't understand why he wouldn't even hesitate about this as she asked, "The rewards aren't also good. You don't stand to gain much from this despite how difficult it is. Nobody else would take it," She wanted to convince him to drop this idea since she couldn't restrict him as per her promise. She didn't know why she even told him about this situation in the first place.

"I know the rewards are crap, but that doesn't mean I am doing this for the rewards," Asher softly said as he looked into her eyes with a soft smile.

"You..." Rowena eyes became still as she softly mumbled, realizing why he was doing this, and added, "...don't have to..."

"But I want to...So just wait for me till I come back. If I survived against Hell Maiden, I sure as hell can survive this," Asher said with a soft wink as he turned around to walk away.

Rowena could see that no matter what she said, he wouldn't change his mind. By now, she had learned that once he set his mind to something, he wouldn't stray away from it.

Still, somewhere inside, she felt as if she could believe in his words. He had already proved himself once when nobody believed him. Maybe the least she could do was a leap of faith.

However, that didn't mean she was going to sit still and do nothing. Right after Asher left, Rowena knew what she had to do.

...

After a short while, Asher entered his room and ordered Merina to come in, "We are going to complete a quest together right now. This is the quest," Asher forwarded the quest to Merina, whose eyes widened after reading it, "M-Master...are you sure about this?" Merina usually wouldn't question him, but she had to ask this since not only was the difficulty insane, but there were no good rewards. So feeling surprised and confused, she unconsciously asked with a soft gasp.

But she suddenly felt Asher's firm gaze on her and cleared her throat, "Forgive me, Master. A-Are we leaving right away?" She remembered that her Master would never do anything that didn't benefit him unless the queen requested his help seeing what the quest was about.

So all she could do was pray she would survive this, though unconsciously she believed in her Master considering how she had completed multiple quests together with him. She also stood to gain a lot from these quests, which she previously wasn't able to due to her situation.

It made her remember how getting stronger felt like and also made her feel her existence had more meaning than she thought. Only he made her feel like that; thus, she didn't hesitate much before asking him when they were leaving.

"You aren't going to die. You are at level 7, and I am at level 8, so this going to be easier than you think," Asher said to make sure she didn't get cold feet when they got there though he felt she was far braver than any ordinary maid based on her performances so far.

"I won't let you down, Master," Merina firmly said, realizing what he expected from her.

"We are going to leave right away though this travel is going to be expensive," Asher sighed as he looked at the popups.

[ This quest is located too far from your current location. Teleportation will require 100 Life Crystals. Do you still want to proceed? ]

'This better be worth it,' Asher said as he equipped the Kronos Armor Set, which was a level 5 Rare grade gear he had got from his second quest.

[ Level 5 ]

[ Effect:  +25 DEF ]

[ Bonus: +50 HP ]

[ Durability: 200/200 ]

He had used this for every quest since then and always made sure it was fully repaired before taking another quest.

HP: 1165 -> 1340 / 1340

Despite being a level 5 armor, it was still somewhat useful to him, especially since he had nothing better.

"Let's go," Asher said the moment Merina also finished putting on her armor. Both of their figures transformed into rays of dark light before the two disappeared from the room.