Chapter 80: A Lowly Servant
No matter how hard the black raven tried to garner sympathy and a sense of friendship from Hiro, the latter didn't budge in the least.
The black raven had no clue that his constant nagging had triggered the curiosity of some people, and most of them were scouts from reputable places.
They obviously recognized the black raven's identity even without his transformation into the massive Crimson Crow.
Soon, Hiro realized another problem.
The shapes and sizes of demons weren't at all uniform—some were tall, some were short, and some were bipedal creatures while others were not.
Most of them couldn't even be seated properly on the chairs, thus they ended up standing foolishly by the tables.
Hiro kneaded his forehead and sighed.
"This is so troublesome," he mumbled to himself while musing silently. "Forget it, those who can sit will sit, and those who can't can only blame themselves for being stupid."
The transformation ability wasn't difficult to learn, but these demons simply thought too highly of themselves and didn't wish to take on human form in their day-to-day lives.
Hiro understood where they came from as no sane human would voluntarily transform into a cat or dog on a whim.
Seeing that he couldn't get a free drink, the black raven cried out in injustice for a while before flapping away, leaving the first floor.
He decided to call on some of his subordinates to pay on his behalf, he would just treat at as giving them an opportunity to fawn on him.
"The 4th general has left," two humanoid demons were huddled together in a corner, whispering.
When they noticed that the coast was clear, one of them stepped out and ordered two Bloodstained Glasses.
When Hiro reported the price, the demon didn't haggle and directly paid with four silver coins in denominations of ten.
Hiro nodded lightly, and for the lack of professional bartender skills, he directly poured some drinks with ice from the bottle rack.
The drink was thick in the color of blood, and if one looked closely, light refracted through the drink and provided the illusion of shattered glass swimming inside.
If they didn't see the drink being poured into the glasses directly, they'd have thought that someone was trying to assassinate them by planting such sharp shards in their drinks.
The demons gazed with fascination at what they could describe as a visual miracle, as they couldn't sense any fluctuations of energy or any backhanded tricks.
This display alone was enough to cover for their expenses. As they sipped their drinks and leaned into the bar counter, they expressed their will to linger around, not planning to head back and search for seats.
Hiro gave the two of them a look and scanned for interpersonal missions.
Hmm? Hiro raised an eyebrow, as he gleamed something. Although it was another easy difficulty mission, the description was worth a second glance.
[Mission Briefing: A lowly servant who aspires to achieve greater things. His inconspicuous position at the bottom food chain of a great family brought a lot of stress to his nerves, so he decided to follow the Third Young Master, running errands such as gathering information and sowing discord in the ranks of his young master's enemies.
Help the lowly servant gain the recognition of his young master, thus allowing him to rise in the ranks among hundreds of other lowly servants.]
…
As expected, Hiro was pleased. Although the briefing centered around the lowly servant and didn't mention the names of his master and the great family, it still provided him with clues.
For example, this impromptu trip was an impulsive decision and wasn't an order from above.
Thus, the chances of drawing the attention of someone with high status were very low. Nonetheless, it shouldn't be a big problem to start casting the net this early.
Thinking of this, Hiro started a light conversation with the demon.
"Do you need anything else, sir?" Hiro asked politely.
The demon was a little baffled at first, as a lowly servant like him hadn't been spoken to so politely before.
Even when outside, as he was using the transformation ability to gain a humanoid form, many demons detested him.
One had to know that transformation ability came in different tiers, and they reflected the demon's aptitude and bloodline purity.
Take this demon for example, other than walking on two legs and using his two arms the same way a human would, his appearance was just too grotesque.
He had long tentacles for a chin, six disproportionate eyes, uneven ears, and pale green skin dotted with pop marks and grease.
His companion didn't have it any better.
Honestly, Hiro had the urge to kill them the moment these two stepped up to him, the stench wafting off their bodies enough to start a chemical pandemic if left unchecked among the common people.
After being stunned for a while, the lowly servant felt flattered and laughed.
Sticky mucus splattered on the lapels of his linen shirt as he laughed, taking up the medium-sized Bloodstained Glass and chugging it down in one gulp.
"Gah! Amazing drink, amazing!"
Hiro didn't know how to appreciate drinks and so he didn't elaborate on the origins and the contents of this Bloodstained Glass, but anything new ought to taste great to these demons after years of stagnation in the wine business.
Feeling happy, the demon slammed the medium-sized cup onto the bar counter and wiped his mouth with his dry hand.
"Is it true that you sell information? What kind of information do you have?" The lowly servant asked.
Hiro acted mysterious, looking around to make sure that no one was listening before he leaned forward and whispered something.
The lowly servant shot to his feet and stared at Hiro in disbelief. It couldn't be helped, Hiro basically recited some of the details provided to him from the mission briefing.
The demon was feeling incredulous as he asked, "How did you know?"
Hiro smiled and didn't respond.
Although the demon was silly, he wasn't stupid beyond saving and said, "I'm willing to pay for information!"
Hiro felt satisfied. He called for a maid to take over the bar for him while he invited the lowly servant into the manager's office.
Hiro had to force himself not to act and kill this guy, as he was too disgusting.
Hiro accepted the easy difficulty mission in passing.
Easy difficulty missions had a reward of 3 gems, normal difficulty missions had a reward of 5 gems, hard difficulty missions had a reward of 7 gems, and extreme difficulty missions had a reward of 10 gems.
The mission was to help this guy score some brownie points with his young master, so Hiro decided to give him a few high-value points.
After they entered the office, Hiro made up his offer directly. "This piece of information is very valuable, and it might help your Third Young Master with his competition to become the next head of the family…"
The lowly servant was stunned again, how did he know that I was serving the Third Young Master? Did someone betray us?
That was impossible because he was recruited randomly from the streets. This was the way his young master did things, spontaneously and without thinking too deeply into things.
Enjoy new adventures from m-v l'e|m,p| y- r
However, this Shopkeeper actually found out about the plans laid out by his young master, making him feel jittery.
The lowly servant no longer dared to act haughty as he spoke, "N-name your price, Sire…"
Hiro opened his mouth and said, "1,000 silver coins."
The lowly servant was stunned. "That's too much! Even I…"
He didn't finish his words because Hiro approached him and whispered something shocking.
What rebellion? What war? Something like this happened?! Why can't I remember anything?!
Of course, they can't remember because Asmir acted personally. However, Hiro didn't believe that those ancient clans were fools and didn't have any countermeasures for such a thing.
Otherwise, no one would dare rebel in this lifetime.
It was worth mentioning that the two great demon families who issued the game to hunt the female demon had gone quiet ever since that incident, and the underground gangs who supposedly held a banquet to discuss the capture of the woman had disappeared silently.
"I gave you some clues, but if you want to buy the information now, the price went up to 5,000 silver coins. Let your young master decide."
The lowly servant was in disbelief. However, remembering that this Shopkeeper had a good relationship with a general, his suspicions were somewhat abated.
Whatever! I'll just report this to the young master before the others found out about how valuable the information in this place is!
The lowly servant made up his mind, bowed slightly, and directly left.
Hiro smiled. The moment the mission was completed, it would mean that the lowly servant had garnered the attention of his young master.
This would also mean that the fish had caught the bait.
Hiro thought for a moment, rapped the desk with his fingers, and made up his mind.
After collecting sufficient achievement points, other than upgrading his {Espionage I} skill, he would also use the last mass enlightenment scroll.
There ought to be many demons who had yet to unlock their intelligence, and mass targeting them would allow him to have eyes and ears all over the stronghold.
How great of an intelligence network would that be?