Seeing the slight change in Lin Fan’s eyes, even though the owner of the bar had a calm look on his face, he actually let out a secret sigh of relief deep down.
He had been worried that Lin Fan was going to reject him, but finally seeing him being moved, he knew that his worries were for nothing.
Lin Fan didn’t say anything at first, but then he asked, “How do you know that I’m interested in the City Lord Manor?”
The owner of the bar revealed a smile and said, “You shouldn’t doubt my ears, I’ve been managing a bar for many years now. I can easily hear conversations even when there’s plenty of noise in the bar.”
Lin Fan gave a nod in response to this.
He had thought that he had kept it quite secretive by only slipping questions about the City Lord Manor into his conversations last night, but he never thought that it would be caught by this bar owner.
He already had a high evaluation of this bar owner to begin with and it was only getting higher with this.
So after a long period of silence to consider everything, Lin Fan finally gave a nod as he said, “Alright, I’ll go on that mission with them and keep them safe. However, you better keep your end of the deal.”
The owner of the bar nodded too and said, “As long as they’re safe, I’ll give you the information you need.”
There was no need for anything else to be said. All they did was shake each other’s hands before heading out of the private room.
As they were heading back, Lin Fan felt that he had gotten quite the good deal.
He had actually been stuck about how to continue with his investigation since he hadn’t been able to get any real leads. Even the raising his reputation among the other mercenaries plan was just grasping at straws.
He had seen how scared of the Mercenary Guild’s president the other mercenaries were, so he knew that even if he raised his reputation and got closer to them, it was very unlikely that they would tell him anything. But beyond doing this, he really didn’t have any other way to get information since he didn’t know anyone in this city.
Perhaps he could wait for Ouyang Qian to build a network in this city, but that would take too much time.
The sooner that they could get information on the Yong Family the better since they didn’t know when the Yong Family would make their move. He knew that it was only a matter of time before they found out that the bandits had been wiped out and then they would move onto their next plan.
He needed to use this short lull in their vigilance to get as much information as he could.
So this offer that the owner of the bar gave him was quite good.
He could tell that the owner of the bar wasn’t a normal person based on the feeling that he got from him, as well as the connections that he showed. If he could get information from him, that would be great.
Not to mention that he was curious about what the president was doing with all the people that had gone missing. Going on this mission and seeing what happened first hand would be the best way to find that out.
Of course, he wasn’t worried about his own safety because in a worst case scenario, he still had a trump card that would let him save himself.
Helping those kids…was just an added bonus.
After all, he felt that those kids were quite good. They were like him when he was younger, they were filled with hope and ambition and he didn’t want them to be crushed that easily by whatever was happening in this city.
So he just treated this as killing two birds with one stone.
He didn’t go all the way back to the Mercenary Guild with the owner of the bar, instead they met with the young mercenaries who were waiting outside and brought them to a nearby restaurant.
After explaining that Lin Fan would be coming with them, Xiao Huo immediately said, “Big brother Lin, we can’t involve you in our matters. We can’t just let you come on this suicidal mission.”
Xiao Lei and Yan’er both nodded in agreement to this and vehemently rejected this.
Xiao Huo turned to the owner of the bar and said, “Uncle, I know that you’re the one who put big brother Lin up to this, but you should know how dangerous it is. We can’t just put big brother Lin in danger like this.
Now that they were alone, Xiao Huo didn’t call the owner of the bar “boss” like before, but rather “uncle”.
He knew that the owner of the bar was an important person, so he didn’t call him “uncle” in public since he felt that this would hurt the owner of the bar’s reputation. But now that they were in private, he called him “uncle” like he did when he was a kid.
The owner of the bar knitted his brows and was about to say something, but before he could, Lin Fan cut in first by saying, “Stop, I’m the one that wants to go.”
p Xiao Huo’s group immediately turned to Lin Fan with shocked looks before Xiao Huo said in a shocked voice, “Big brother Lin, do you understand what you’re saying? You should know how dangerous this is, don’t rush into decisions like this.”
Lin Fan calmly looked at Xiao Huo and explained, “I came here to find out about the president of this Mercenary Guild’s branch in the first place, so this is actually a good thing for me. I get to see first hand what kind of things he is up to.”
Xiao Huo still knitted his brows as he said, “But this is much more dangerous than you can imagine. It’s still better if you don’t…”
Before he could finish, the words that were coming out of his mouth were stuck in his throat and he couldn’t say them anymore. That was because Lin Fan had released his aura to suppress them.
He had held back enough so that they didn’t get crushed by it, but it was still enough to show his strength.
Xiao Huo’s group were young, but they were also talented. All three of them were in the Third Qi Gathering Realm.
But this was a pressure unlike anything that they had felt before. It was even stronger than the owner of the bar when he released his aura.
Xiao Huo’s group couldn’t help looking at Lin Fan with a shocked look as they asked, “Big brother Lin, who are you?”
Lin Fan just revealed a smile and took out his mercenary license.
“A Rank?!” All three of them shouted at the same time. Even the owner of the bar couldn’t help being surprised when he saw this.
The owner of the bar only knew that Lin Fan was strong, he never expected Lin Fan to be an A Rank Mercenary. This was more than enough for Lin Fan to keep these kids safe, so there was also a relieved feeling that passed through his heart when he saw this.
Lin Fan said with a smile, “Is this enough?”
All three of the kids couldn’t help nodding when they heard this.
An A Rank Mercenary was someone who was respected in every Mercenary Guild branch because they were known as the kings of mercenaries. They were the strongest mercenaries other than the legendary S Rank Mercenaries, but people would rarely ever get to meet S Rank Mercenaries since they worked with the Mercenary Guild directly.
A S Rank Mercenary would never come to the guild to pick up a mission, so A Ranks were considered the heroes among normal mercenaries.
If an A Rank Mercenary wasn’t strong enough to come with them, then no one was able to come with them.
Lin Fan’s A Rank Mercenary License was actually only recently gotten. It had been gained from the discovery of the dungeon and the information that he supplied about the dungeon.
Of course, the fact that the Mercenary Guild had accepted this promotion showed just how much they cared about the dungeon.
With Lin Fan pulling out his Mercenary License like this, there was nothing else for them to say and it was decided that he would be going with them on this mission.
Of course, they couldn’t just head off right away since they needed to prepare some supplies before heading off.
At the same time, Lin Fan also couldn’t just leave the city without telling Ouyang Qian and the two girls at the manor.
So they decided to gather again at the gate in another hour.
Lin Fan first headed off to Ouyang Qian’s store to tell her everything that had happened since the store was closer than the manor.
After he finished telling her everything, Ouyang Qian said, “I’ll cast out some nets and see if I can get some information on the Mercenary Guild’s president.” Then after thinking for a bit, she added, “Do you want me to investigate that bar as well?”
Lin Fan thought about it for a second before shaking his head, “No, we have to earn their trust first, so it’s better if we don’t do anything we’ll regret. He’s already made a promise, so we’ll see where that leads. After all, it’s not too late to investigate that bar after I come back.”
Ouyang Qian nodded in agreement before revealing a worried look and saying, “Young master, you have to take care of yourself out there. I don’t know much, but I have heard the rumours about the Mercenary Guild’s president. He’s not a person that you should underestimate.”
Lin Fan nodded, but then he said, “I know, but sometimes you have to take a risk to gain something. If we only passively try to find information, we won’t be able to get much. So we have to take risks sometimes.”
Then he added, “I’ve also learned that the Mercenary Guild’s president has some connection to the City Lord Manor, so this could be related to them.”
Ouyang Qian revealed an even more worried look and looked like she was about to say something, but then she swallowed those words and said, “Good luck, young master.”
Lin Fan nodded before saying, “I’ll be back. Take care of yourself and the store.”
Then without another word, he walked out of the store.
His next destination was the manor to say goodbye to the two girls.
Lu’er and Lan’er had worried looks on their faces as they listened to their explanation, but they accepted that he had to go much faster than Ouyang Qian.
So instead of worrying about him, the two girls came forward with pursed lips and said, “Young master, please give us a farewell kiss.”
Lin Fan revealed an awkward look, but he didn’t deny them like he did before.
That was because he really wasn’t that against these girls. While the aggressive things they did stressed him out since he hadn’t fully accepted them in his heart, he did find them endearing.
If they weren’t here, he would have had to live in this large manor alone and that was a very lonely thing for him. So he was happy that he had their company since they kept things fun and lively for him.
In their own way, they had slowly dug their way into his heart.
But he still hadn’t fully accepted them, so it wasn’t as if he could just kiss them right on the lips like it was nothing.
So instead of kissing them on the lips, he moved his face to the side a bit and placed a kiss on their cheeks instead.
Feeling the warmth left by his lips, Lu’er and Lan’er’s faces couldn’t help turning red. Then when Lin Fan saw this, he also couldn’t help feeling a bit embarrassed.
So with a cough, he said, “I’m leaving now.”
Without even turning back, he quickly escaped the manor.
After he was gone, Lu’er and Lan’er revealed sad and worried looks as Lan’er said, “I really hope that the young master will be safe.”
Lu’er nodded without saying a thing.
