The Boss Wants to Die - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Boss Wants to Die
Chapter 33
Akt sighed openly, right in front of Roman’s face.
The Baron’s cheeks flushed crimson in an instant, wounded pride rising like a tide.
Michael, the sort who couldn’t let such things pass, rebuked Akt on the spot.
“What are you doing? If you don’t like the Quest, you can simply forfeit and leave. Don’t humiliate Baron Roman.”
“Yeah.”
Akt snatched up the map with visible irritation.
His face was flushed with heat.
‘What’s his problem?’
He spoke in a calm, measured tone, but his gaze swept downward over Roman with unmistakable contempt as he pronounced each word with deliberate clarity.
“Roman. Baron.”
“…Yes?”
“I understand the Quest parameters well enough.”
Akt placed the map into his Inventory.
“When we find the Locket Necklace, is there anything we should be careful about?”
Baron Roman’s face hardened slightly.
Roman met Akt’s eyes as if trying to read his thoughts, then answered.
“You must bring it to me immediately. And the pendant—you must never open it.”
“….”
“It was something my mother cherished. If someone other than the owner opens it carelessly, they could fall under a Curse.”
“A Curse.”
Akt repeated the word slowly, as though chewing it.
Roman watched Akt’s face anxiously.
“Find the necklace and come back.”
Akt issued the command with crushing finality and turned without even a parting bow.
Michael and I exchanged bewildered glances before hurrying after him.
Akt walked down the long corridor connecting to the Castle Gate, his hands repeatedly searching his clothes.
He was searching for something out of habit.
“What are you looking for?”
“Ah.”
Only then did Akt seem to realize something, and he stopped searching.
He bit his pale lips and rubbed the furrows from his brow.
“What is it? Going to smoke?”
“Not anymore.”
“Not anymore? You quit?”
Akt shook his head.
“No. Never started. I’m clean.”
It was an odd way to phrase it.
‘This body’—what did that mean?
It wasn’t as if he were carrying around a spare one.
Akt, pretending not to notice my narrowed eyes, left the Baron’s castle.
Since he gave no sign of wanting to talk further, I stopped asking.
‘There’s no real reason to press the issue. I’m not actually his girlfriend, after all.’
Yet why did this bother me so much?
The moment we stepped outside, unsettled, the Quest completed.
Ding!
[You have completed the Quest: Madam Iliad’s Lost Locket Necklace!]
[A new Quest has arrived.]
[The Secret of the Locket Pendant.
Gather information from the townspeople to track where Madam Iliad’s Locket Necklace disappeared.
Obtain the necklace and uncover its secret.
― Completion Conditions:
➤ Meet the Baron couple’s undertaker, Eritman, and inquire about the whereabouts of the Locket Necklace. (0/1)
➤ Obtain the Locket Necklace. (0/1)
➤ Open the obtained Locket Pendant and examine its contents. (0/1)
― Reward: Unlock the next Quest.
※ All Party members must participate in the Quest to achieve it.]
The Quest description was deeply suspicious.
Open the pendant, it said.
Roman warned me not to open it so carefully.
‘There’s definitely something there.’
Akt’s expression was rational, as if he’d never bristled like a cornered animal in the first place.
Michael realized he’d missed his chance to ask and his face twisted with frustration.
“This time there’s really no guidance at all. I have to find Eritman.”
Akt, having pinpointed the undertaker Eritman’s location, shrugged as he spoke.
“Since he’s an undertaker, it would be best to gather information at the Healing Center nearby.”
Michael said.
With no better option, we shuffled our way toward the Healing Center.
“Undertaker Eritman? He’s passed away.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Michael furrowed his brow and asked again.
The NPC healer, seeming somewhat frightened, hunched his shoulders and spilled the details readily.
“Just less than a week after we recovered the previous lord’s body, his corpse was discovered. The exact cause is unknown, but I suspect it was the shock. Eritman was an orphan who was raised with the previous lord’s patronage, you see.”
And so the Quest progress ground to a halt.
“The fastest method would be to buy information.”
By noon we’d entered the Shop.
Michael poked at his salad as he murmured.
“That will likely require a fair amount of money. Do you have any funds available?”
“I’m out.”
Akt tapped his reddened lips with his hand, his voice rough from thirst.
“No connections, so I’m living like a carp with chapped lips.”
“I’ve also exhausted my funds.”
“You’re high Level. What have you been doing all this time instead of saving money?”
Michael set his utensils down with a clatter, growling.
“And whose fault do you think that is? Tracking you down consumed a considerable sum.”
“Didn’t Sungso help with funding?”
“Sungso is already pouring substantial amounts into poor relief. We agreed that I would cover the expenses of catching a criminal like you.”
Akt sighed.
“Sungso would’ve told you that wasn’t necessary. This is why your type exhausts me.”
“That’s not something I care to hear from you.”
“So you have no money, and neither do I. This Party Quest is going to drag on endlessly.”
‘Money, then…….’
I watched the two of them like they were a fire I had no part in, and a thought struck me, widening my eyes.
‘Didn’t I have a Quest?’
[Human Blood Is Delicious!]
It was a Quest I’d been putting off indefinitely because there was no time limit.
‘It was the Quest that gives a Ruby for ten Blood Drains, wasn’t it?’
I set down the fork I’d been chewing on and asked.
“Is a Ruby expensive?”
“Well, it’s not cheap, exactly.”
Michael answered without much interest.
“It doesn’t have particularly high value. Rubies like that come up fairly commonly.”
I was deeply disappointed.
“What? Acting like a Blood-Red Ruby was something special…….”
As I closed the Quest window in disappointment, Michael stopped chewing his vegetables and looked up.
“What did you just say?”
“A Blood-Red Ruby?”
“Do you happen to have one?”
“I could get one if luck favors me.”
Not wanting to reveal that I, as a boss monster, had received a personal Quest, I mixed in a bit of deception.
“If luck’s on my side, anyway.”
“You’re saying you can obtain a Blood-Red Ruby regardless of location?”
“Something like that. Why?”
I slightly regretted bringing this up.
Because from some point on, Akt had been staring at only me.
His black gaze, inscrutable in its intent, unsettled me in a way I couldn’t quite explain.
It was worse because I was hiding the fact that this was a Quest.
Worried that my face might betray the lie, I muttered weakly.
“It’s not that expensive, you said.”
“It’s not just any Ruby. It’s a Blood-Red Ruby. They’re different from ordinary ones.”
Michael explained in detail.
“Blood-Red Rubies are materials used by players Level 100 and above to enhance their equipment. Demand is high, but they’re scarce on the market, so they’re quite expensive.”
“Not bad, then.”
“So you can obtain one?”
I grimaced vaguely, thinking of Blood Drain ten times over.
“Not right now.”
“Is there something I could help with?”
Michael asked innocently, unaware of what I was proposing.
Even as he’d flinch if I bit his neck.
I settled into a listless expression.
“Why can’t we just track down Eritman ourselves?”
“That’ll be difficult.”
Akt shook his head.
“The fact that Eritman’s name ended up on the deceased list means he hired people through the Dark Guild. He spent a fortune making the illegal possible with money.”
“You know your stuff for someone so low-level.”
Akt just shrugged.
Michael interjected.
“It might actually be faster to help you than to keep grinding Quests and scraping together coin.”
“I get what you’re saying, but I think you’ll hate it.”
“Why would I?”
“Because to get it, I’d have to use Blood Drain on you.”
…
“You’ll let me drink your blood, right?”
I crunched into the bright strawberry I’d brought to my mouth, and Michael’s face drained of color in an instant.
…
The silence I’d anticipated settled over the table.
Michael had gone rigid as ice.
“B-Blood Drain, you mean?”
He must have been truly shocked.
Even the normally composed Michael was stammering.
I nodded.
His pallid face began to flush the same shade as the cherry tomatoes scattered across the salad.
He was clearly recalling the sensation of my bite.
The Don’t Worry, It’s Not Scary skill.
That was the problem.
He must have felt sexual arousal.
That’s how the skill worked.
‘If I bite him again, what will Michael do this time?’
“You said you’d help me. So let me have your—”
“Forget what I said.”
“You were going on about helping.”
I laughed softly.
Michael’s expression hardened into a warning.
“Don’t even think of drinking anyone else’s blood.”
“Why not?”
“Would you ask their permission? You’d take it by force, wouldn’t you?”
Fury resonated in Michael’s voice as though he’d already met a victim who’d had their blood drained.
“As a priest, I cannot condone such acts. I will not participate in Blood Drain, even indirectly.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“I’ll earn money in the high-level towns.”
He stood from his seat.
“I’m leaving.”
“At least finish the rest before you go?”
“I’m done.”
Michael fled the Shop as though his life depended on it.
I was rummaging through the bowl of fruit when I noticed Akt’s gaze was still fixed on me, so I turned to look at him.
“What?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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