{Chapter 39} More and More Doubts
[After lurking underground for three hours, you finally emerged upon receiving the signal.]
[You changed into a cloak, briefly concealed your face, and entered the city.]
[After regrouping with the others, Atala mentioned that she was about to meet with that person and suggested everyone follow her.]
[Following Atala, you walked several streets and eventually found a seemingly decent mansion.]
[After casting an invisibility spell, you managed to follow Atala into the mansion.]
[Upon entering the mansion, you finally saw the client who was meeting with Atala.]
[It was the branch president of the local adventurer's association.]
...The branch president?
Anna tried to recall if she had ever offended this branch president in the past... but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't figure out where she might have crossed him.
In fact, Anna had only met this branch president once and didn't even know his name.
For such a person to want her dead... it was utterly baffling to Anna.
[You felt strange; you and the branch president had no connection whatsoever, so why would he want to kill you?]
[While discussing the commission with Atala, the branch president didn't mention anything else. After confirming that you were "dead," he stated that the commission was complete and instructed Atala to return to the black market to finalize it.]
[Now, Louise and Helga asked if you wanted to dispel the invisibility. After some thought, with Atala as a witness, as long as you gathered enough evidence, you wouldn't need the Latimir family's involvement to resolve this matter.]
[So, you dispelled the invisibility.]
[The moment you became visible, Atala retreated to your side, her bow aimed at the branch president.]
[The branch president, whose name you didn't even know, immediately raised his hands in surrender, looking at you in shock, claiming he had seen your corpse.]
[You scoffed at his surprise, drew your sword, and placed it against his neck, demanding to know why he wanted you dead.]
[However, after the initial shock, the branch president became calm, a sneer appearing on his face.]
[He had no intention of revealing anything. Just as you were about to take him away for further interrogation, his sneer turned into a smirk.]
[His gaze wasn't on you anymore but past you, directly at the door.]
[Before you could turn to see what was behind you, a wave of heat surged from beneath the ground.]
[The entire mansion was engulfed in an explosion.]
[This event would become one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in the kingdom's history. In this explosion, two heirs of major noble families perished, and it even enraged the Elven Forest, sparking a severe diplomatic crisis. War between the Kingdom of Rianved and the Elven Forest seemed imminent.]
[But you were blown to smithereens.]
[Simulation ended, calculating results...]
[Achievement unlocked: Team Wipe Catalyst (Bronze)]
[Achievement unlocked: Art is Explosion! (Silver)]
The simulation ended, and Anna frowned at the frustrating outcome.
How did she end up dying in an explosion so inexplicably?
To blow up an entire mansion, there must have been a massive amount of explosives buried underground, or perhaps a fourth-level magic array?
Was that the branch president's final resort upon being discovered? To take everyone down with him?
And it even triggered a war between the Elven Forest and the kingdom... was it because of Atala's death?
Why did the branch president look towards the door at the end? What was there, or who had arrived?
Just when she thought this simulation would unravel all the mysteries, it only gave birth to more questions...
"Argh! So annoying!"
To put it bluntly, whether the assassination order on the black market was hard to fulfill or whether the branch president who issued the commission seemed like a ruthless person... there must be some dark force targeting her, right?
But she had never felt like someone was trying to assassinate her before.
Besides, as a fallen noble, wouldn't it be easy to kill her?
She didn't have bodyguards or any divine artifacts protecting her; the best protection she had was a set of low-grade armor...
And in the simulations, she had died so many times. It's not like she was hard to assassinate in real life.
The more she thought about it, the more questions arose, and the more frustrated she became.
Anna rubbed her temples, watching the sun set outside her window, and let out a deep sigh.
‘Thinking too much makes me hungry... I should go find Helga.’
Although this simulation raised more questions, at least the events from Day Zero to Day Two seemed to proceed without major issues.
So, following the simulation's path for now might not be a bad idea.
Ever since Louise gave her that large sum of money, and with plenty left over, Anna felt like she couldn't go back to the days of surviving on black bread or even pure sawdust bread.
Thankfully, she hadn't impulsively spent an achievement point to buy those 1,000 loaves of black bread.
If she had, she wouldn't be able to eat them now and would have to give them all away...
...After all, she had spent 1 achievement point on them. Wasting that point would sting.
As for armor maintenance? She'd deal with that later!
Anna casually picked out a decent-looking dress and left her room, heading towards the inn where Helga, and Atala, were staying.
Along the way, she opened the achievement interface to check out the two new achievements, which, judging by their names, were probably mocking her again.
She then collected a total of 11 achievement points.
[Team Wipe Catalyst (Bronze): You and your team members were wiped out within five seconds.]
[Reward: 1 achievement point]
[Silver unlock condition: You and your team members are wiped out within three seconds.]
...Although this achievement has advanced rewards, just looking at the conditions made Anna dismiss any thought of unlocking the silver tier.
Who would actively try to get wiped out in one second?
[Art is Explosion! (Silver): Died in a 25-meter radius explosion.]
[Reward: 10 achievement points]
[Gold unlock condition: Trigger an explosion with a maximum range of 10 kilometers and die in it.]
Another absurd achievement...
Anna silently complained in her mind, collected the achievement points, and then ignored it.
Actively trying to unlock higher-tier achievements? Not happening.