Marquess Caspallian raised an eyebrow upon hearing Connor’s unexpected proposal.

“Oh? You have my curiosity. Please freely speak your mind.”

With a confident smile, Connor began to explain what their group was after.

“Well, first the money. We are only requesting the bare minimum we need for our initial operating costs, that being for purchasing equipment and supplies to be able to achieve some of the other things we have planned.”

Seeing Marquess Caspallian nod in understanding, Connor’s smile grew slightly brighter as he prepared to reveal things the Marquess was not expecting.

“Now, as for the favour, it's honestly not that much. We are looking to have Marie here learn advanced levels of alchemy and we want to ask Master Alchemist Grennal if she can take Marie as a disciple. We understand that will be hard without some sort of backing and recommendation and thus wish to ask for your support in this matter.”

Holding his chin in thought, Marquess Caspallian pondered the matter for a brief moment.

“I see. Grennal can be a bit stubborn at times so I can see why you came to me. I can’t promise anything, but I will see what I can do.”

With a quick word of thanks, Connor moved on to the last reward.

“Now, for the business proposition. First, let me ask you, how many Immortal Warriors do you think there are?”

Surprised by the question, Marquess Caspallian sank into thought before eventually responding.

“Honestly, I cannot say, we have heard there are many of you from the church so I would assume around a hundred thousand or so, correct?”

With a slight nod, Connor began to explain.

“Well, initially we predict six times that number, however, the total will quite easily reach the millions very quickly.”

Seeing Marquess Caspallian’s face pale, Connor asked his next question.

“Now how would evaluate the current potions market and its output?”

Initially confused by Connor’s words, Marquess Caspallian started to question Connor before the realisation hit him.

“Wait, why would you ask about the potions market? … Oh, I see. What you are talking about is the demand for potions generated by the influx of Immoral Warriors, yes?”

With his grin widening even further, Connor leans forward.

“Exactly. The others like us are here mostly to fight monsters and explore. Given the fact we can’t die, and the fact that we too have limitations on mana and stamina, potions that recover such things will soon be in incredibly high demand. So, the proposal we have is a joint business venture into the potions market.”

Connor took a sip of tea to moisten his mouth and build suspense, observing Marquess Caspallian and his neutral expression that couldn't hide the sparkle in his eyes.

“What we are proposing is quite simple, if you can help procure the needed medicinal herbs that are currently in surplus within this country as soon as possible while moving to import massive quantities from other countries. We will process and make the potions which we can sell to other Immortal Warriors through our merchant and sales channels only available to us. In return, we shall pay you the full price for all medicinal plants supplied as well as 20% of the profits from sales of potions made from the materials you provide.”

Hearing this offer, Marquess Caspallian sank into thought before he started to ask some questions.

“I see, this is a very interesting proposal. I must ask however; how do you plan to produce such a massive quantity? Judging by your earlier request you don’t have access to many alchemists?”

With a nod, Connor expanded on their plans.

“You are indeed correct. In short, we plan to recruit other Immortal Warriors to help us fill this role. Not all of us want to fight, there are many who wish to pursue crafting, so our group will offer them both the resources and knowledge on how to peruse their crafts.”

Pausing briefly, Connor took a sip of his tea and continued.

“I assume you are aware of the goblin Square Jaw? Our leader is set to kill him tomorrow, and that achievement will make our group stand out amongst the Immortal Warriors, making it much easier to recruit new members to our cause.”

Leaning back into the sofa, Marquess Caspallian let out a deep sigh in appreciation of Connor’s words.

“I can’t believe that the other nobles have not yet thought about making money like this. They are all clamouring and trying to buy up the various weapon shops. To think that we would all miss such a gold mine!”

With a quiet chuckle, Connor gave his own thoughts on the situation.

“That is quite true, I was quite surprised when our leader first told us of this business opportunity, however when I think about it, the Immortal Warriors are quite an enigma to the residents of this world, so being able to accurately predict what may happen when we arrived was going to be hard.”

Following the proposal, Connor and Marquess Caspallian spent the next hour talking about the finer details and drafting up an initial contract to be signed between Chester and the Marquess at a later time.

 

[Player: Eagle has completed the Unique Quest, Marquess Caspallian’s Lost Heirloom]

[Rewards: 500 Temple Contribution Points, 400 Alennos Kingdom Contribution Points, 50 Personal Fame, 10 Gold and the Unique Title: Heirloom Hunter, 234% XP, 20 Skill Points]

 

[Congratulations, you received the title -Rising Fame-]

 

Standing up to leave, Connor took a copy of the contract and 20 gold while Marie received a letter of recommendation for Master Alchemist Grennal.

As they exited the mansion, they were seen off by a very happy Marquess Caspallian, and after reaching the nearby crossroads, Marie and Connor also parted ways. Marie started heading to the alchemist while Connor made his way to the market square, taking the 4 gold that was assigned to him.

Once Connor arrived at the market, he walked around buying certain items and talking to the NPCs.

His next task was quite simple. He needed to gather Temple Contribution points. Temple Contribution points were registered into the system after completing system recognised quests. Players need to acquire certain amounts of these points before they can access certain features, for example, to form a guild, all the founding members need to achieve a collective total of 10,000 contribution points.

Connor’s task was to go around and complete as many system recognised quests as he could. While there were some quests that are always available to encounter that provided contribution points like goblin extermination requests with the adventurer’s guild, other quests had a smaller chance of being encountered like a quest to provide food to an orphanage.

Chester had given Connor a guide to all the quests he knew about in Haligrad and the list of items needed to complete them. Taking advantage of this, Connor stocked up on the items in advance meaning he could spend less time running back and forth to the market and more time finding the quests and immediately completing them.

The next 12 hours flew past for Connor as he ran around Haligrad completing quests and accumulating Contribution points. After the completion of 20 quests Chester had told him about, Connor decided to log out, get some food and have a few hours of sleep.

 

****

 

Logging back in, Connor found himself back in the market square where he had logged out, only an hour before everyone was due to meet up.

To save everyone the trouble of wasting time hunting the streets to find each other, Chester recommended everyone to meet by the fountain in the Haligrad’s market square at 8 am. From there they can add each other as friends, exchange money, and form the necessary groups for their coming adventures.

Being an hour early, Connor decided to walk amongst the bustling stools to find something to eat, deciding on some grilled skewers. Sitting down at the meeting place, Connor sorted through his inventory and the items the system had given him as a reward while completing tasks.

Around half an hour later Ben and Russel both arrived, sitting down and talking with Connor about their recent experiences. As they conversed, more of the group arrived, with Ali arriving last, gasping for air.

“Sorry, I’m late guys. I spawned far to the west. Had to run all the way here.”

Waving his hand, Ben nonchalantly commented.

“No stress, just be thankful for your long legs.”

With everyone standing around next to the fountain, Connor decided to start the discussion.

“So, before anything else, I want to talk about this whole Fortuna incident. I assume you all had the same encounter, right?”

After the group all nodded in affirmation, Ben decided to take the lead since he knew the most out of the group.

“Well, you see Chester seems to have travelled back into the past arriving just over 2 weeks ago. He came down after a night out claiming to have gone out with different people. At first, I thought he was joking, however, he told me about an event that would happen in a few days regarding one of the companies I have shares in….”

Ben spoke for half an hour, explaining everything Chester had told him about the game, the future, how he knew everything he had informed them about, as well as his reasoning behind his actions. As the explanation continued the faces of the group began to change, realising that all the puzzle pieces fit together too perfectly for this all to be a lie.

Roxanne ws the first to comment after Ben ended his explanation.

“So… you’re saying that Chester had been through hell, only to be sent back to the past to endure it again? While also having his identity taken from him?”

Letting out a sad hum, Ben answered with furrowed brows.

“I guess you could say that. Although I would not say his identity was taken, more like just altered.”

Hearing this, Roxanne put her hands on her hips, angry at Ben’s comment.

“You do realise that he will be forced to act like he does not know people he has been acquainted with for years, right? That he is now effectively a whole new person? Think about it! Yes, he may have his memories, but everything he has built up till now is gone!”

Seeing Roxanne get upset, Tyrell intervened.

“Yo, chill out. I get what you are saying, but you need to remember that it’s not that bad, he will still have all of us who know who he is. Just imagine if he had to start from scratch with everyone.”

Marie decided to speak up as well, her normal cheerful personality now sad with worry.

“Tyrell is right, it could be worse, but that does not mean Chester won't struggle. If this is all really true, which I still can’t believe since it’s so absurd, I can only imagine what must be going through his head right now. Seriously guys, think about how you would feel in his situation.”

Marie’s comment sent the group into thought, the silence broken by Ali.

“Look, I get this is all quite crazy, but honestly, this still may just be some mind reading stuff from the capsules. I’m no tin hat conspiracy theorist, but I think given the situation it is a possibility we should consider.”

Connor who had been relatively silent up to now weighing everything in his mind until he came to a conclusion, finally spoke, causing the rest of the group to fall silent.

“Look, as it stands, there is the possibility that this might all be some massive hoax. But there is also the possibility this is true. And given that the always punctual Chester is not here without giving any of us an advanced warning from outside the game is to me further proof that this might actually be true. If this is all true, I think we can all agree that he will likely need some moral support. I would be quite shaken if in his shoes.”

Taking a breath, Connor shook his head.

“Either way, we are still technically working even if the whole contract is supposedly an excuse for Chester to help us prepare for the apparently chaotic future. One of the combat group members should stay here to wait for him, I would suggest Ben since you guys are the closest. Once you meet up with him, make sure to message us all to confirm the details.”

Folding his arms, Connor looked everyone in the eye.

“This is quite an unprecedented situation, and we should be cautious as anything could happen. Whoever is due to log out first, go and call Harold and get him to check on Chester. It might be that he needs help outside the game at this moment in time.”

Marie put her hand up almost instantly after Connor finished.

“I will call Harold, I’m due to head offline soon, I need to eat some real food or I won’t get any taller.”

With a couple of laughs, the group of friends agreed to continue as planned, but drop everything immediately should Chester need them. They finished off their preparations, exchanging money and friend requests. Ready to head out, the group parted ways, each heading in different directions as they got ready to face their respective challenges.