Chapter 46: Bonus Mission

"A bonus mission?" Caelan blinked when he saw the message.

This was the first time the System had offered him something like this. Usually, missions would just appear whenever he encountered certain situations, so he was a little surprised that he was being given a choice this time.

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

[Bonus Missions are optional objectives that the Host may accept to receive additional rewards.]

"Oh?" Caelan raised an eyebrow when he read that. But it didn’t sound so bad, so he might as well hear it.

"Alright. Show me."

[Ding!]

[Bonus Mission Available!]

[Mission: Complete Night Request (0/3)]

[Description: As the newly appointed Lord of the Night, the Host is expected to participate in the organization’s operations. Complete three client requests accepted by the Night to familiarize yourself with the organization’s activities.]

[Rewards: +100 EXP for each completed request.]

[Bonus Reward: Mysterious Treasure Chest (1)]

[Mysterious Treasure Chest: A special reward containing a random item of varying rarity and usefulness.]

[Would the Host like to accept this mission?]

[Yes / No]

"..." Caelan stared at the screen for a few seconds.

"A hundred EXP for each request?" His eyes slowly widened when he realized it.

Wasn’t that a little too generous? He was currently only Level 8, and he only needed 100 EXP to level up. That meant completing just one request would already be enough for him to reach the next level.

And if he managed to complete all 3, then that meant he would jump past Level 10. And upon reaching Level 10, he would receive another Hollow Fragment and a random item reward from the System.

Not to mention the mysterious treasure chest he would receive after completing all three requests!

"That’s actually pretty good!!" The corner of his lips slowly rose.

"System, does it matter what kind of request I complete?" ℯℯ𝘭.

[Any officially accepted request from the Night is eligible for the mission. However, the Host must personally participate in completing the request.]

[Requests completed entirely by other members will not count toward the mission.]

"I see." So he couldn’t just let Jack and the others do everything for him.

Well, that made sense. It would have been way too easy otherwise.

Caelan looked at the mission again. There was still one thing that bothered him. The Night wasn’t exactly an ordinary organization. He remembered Jack mentioning that they accepted all kinds of requests, including gathering information, tracking people, stealing things, and even killing.

"Well, I can probably do something as long as it’s not the last one," Caelan let out a sigh at that. Then, he glanced back at the screen and nodded with conviction.

"Let’s do this," he muttered before choosing the answer.

[Yes]

[Bonus Mission Accepted!]

[Mission: Complete Night Request]

[Progress: 0/3]

[The Host may now begin completing requests issued to the Night.]

"Nice."

Caelan couldn’t help but feel excited about it. For the first time in several days, he finally had something to look forward to.

"My Lord?"

"Hm?" Caelan suddenly remembered that Theo was still walking beside him.

The young man had been quietly watching him for the past few minutes. He looked slightly confused by the changes in Caelan’s expression.

"Is something the matter?" Theo asked, his tone full of curiosity.

"Oh, nothing." Caelan waved his hand dismissively before suddenly remembering something.

"Actually, Theo, I have a question for you."

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Does the Night have any requests right now?"

"Requests, my Lord?" Theo looked at him, his eyes widening a little. He didn’t think Caelan would be interested in things like that.

"Yeah. The ones clients pay you guys to complete. Do you have any available?"

"Of course, my Lord. The First Branch receives requests regularly."

"I see." Caelan nodded. "So, can I take a look at them?"

"You wish to review the requests personally?" Theo was more surprised now.

"Yeah."

"May I ask why, my Lord?"

"I was thinking of doing some work." Caelan smiled.

"..." That answer made Theo stop walking for a moment.

"Hm? What’s wrong?" Caelan noticed how Theo stopped.

"N-Nothing, my Lord!" Theo immediately answered as he straightened up. "I was just surprised that you wanted to personally handle the organization’s requests."

"Is that weird?" Caelan raised an eyebrow. He didn’t think that it would be a big deal.

"Not at all, my Lord! It’s just that such matters are usually handled by the branch members. As the Lord, you don’t necessarily have to involve yourself in them."

"Oh, I see." Caelan nodded before smiling.

"Well, I’m your new Lord now, aren’t I? I figured I should at least know how everyone is doing and what kind of work the organization handles." He shrugged casually.

"Besides, I can’t just keep asking you guys to do things for me without knowing what you actually do. I want to understand how everything works too."

Well, that wasn’t entirely a lie. He actually wanted to learn more about the Night too. After all, if he was going to be their leader, he couldn’t just leave everything to Jack forever.

However, Theo seemed to have interpreted his words a little differently.

Our lord... Theo stared at Caelan for a moment, feeling something warm rise in his chest. He was only assigned as Caelan’s personal aide a few days ago, but the more time he spent with him, the more surprised he became.

Their previous Lords rarely showed any interest in the members unless he needed something from them. Most of his orders were simply given without explanation, and nobody dared to question them.

But Caelan was different. Not only did he treat Theo kindly, but he was now saying that he wanted to understand the organization and how its members were doing.

For someone like Theo, those words meant more than Caelan probably realized.

"I will immediately inform Sir Jack of your intentions!" Theo suddenly lowered his head as he exclaimed.

"Are you okay?" Caelan looked at him with a weird expression. He didn’t get why Theo was suddenly all that excited.

"Sir Jack will surely be pleased to hear that you wish to become more involved in the organization’s affairs!" Theo even sounded more enthusiastic now.

"..." Caelan stared at him for a moment before letting out a small laugh.

"Hahaha! Alright, alright." He stepped closer and casually patted Theo on the shoulder. "Good. You can tell him that."

Theo stiffened slightly at the unexpected gesture, but Caelan didn’t notice it.

"Anyway, let’s head back to the inn first. You can say that to him first then tell him I need to talk to him. Alright?"

"Understood, my lord."

"Great. Let’s go?" Caelan turned around and began walking in the direction of their inn.

Theo quickly followed him, although his eyes remained on Caelan’s back for a few seconds. He was still a little surprised.

Despite being their leader, Caelan always spoke to him so casually. It was such a small gesture, but Theo couldn’t remember the last time someone with high authority had treated him like that.

A small smile slowly appeared on his face before he hastened his steps.

"Yes, my lord. Let’s go"