Chapter 50 Never Seen THAT Before

Sharlock, still pinning Evelyn, slammed her straight back against the wall behind the door. Evelyn stared up at him in shock, muffled noises coming out of her mouth.

Sharlock pulled a card out of his pocket and asked:

"Got a card?"

Evelyn's struggling kicked up a notch.

Sharlock gave it a moment's thought — okay, that phrasing had been ambiguous — and added:

"Not a robbery. I'm transferring magic stones to you."

Only after he said that did Evelyn relax, relieved. Sharlock let go and stepped back a pace.

"I thought Your Lordship had forgotten all about it! I even volunteered to write the invitation letter — so I could sneak a little reminder to you on the back of the envelope. Though that move just now scared the daylights out of me." Evelyn clutched her magic-stone card in both hands, frankly delighted as she watched the five magic stones land.

"How could I forget? I've been looking for you this whole time — just couldn't find you. Looks like work's been treating you well, so that's a weight off. Off I go."

Sharlock deflected with a chuckle — and then spotted the recruitment tags hanging across the wall in front of him, one of which seized his full attention.

"Lord Sharlock?"

Pinned to the wall as she was, Evelyn couldn't move; her hands were crossed over her chest with nowhere to put them, her slender tail swaying slowly back and forth behind her — visibly a little nervous.

"Is this one for real?"

Sharlock pointed at a recruitment notice behind Evelyn. Evelyn twisted around to look too. The one he was pointing at read —

"That's a notice posted by the Undead Academy. Every semester, when the liches are about to graduate, they put one out — but the sign-up conditions are honestly a bit harsh, so few people apply. Why? Is Your Lordship thinking of signing up?"

Evelyn said, puzzled.

"Not me, obviously — just some friends of mine who might be interested. Checking on their behalf, that's all."

Sharlock stepped away from Evelyn, took the notice down off the wall, and gave it a careful read:

"It doesn't list the actual pay anywhere?"

"Because every batch of testers we send over comes back gravely injured — or doesn't come back at all. They're freshly graduated liches, after all; their control of the undead legion is still shaky, and accidents happen constantly. The per-head payout isn't especially high, and there's no death benefit." Evelyn continued, matter-of-fact as anything:

On the NovelPhoenix site, the author publishes this chapter; this copy was made without approval, and their version supports them.

"The genuinely strong won't touch work this exhausting, thankless, and broke — which is exactly why nobody signs up."

"I see. Then get in touch with the Undead Academy for me — I'd like to make contact. Some of my friends might be a good fit for this work, if the price is fair and square." Sharlock said it very casually. "If you know my address, just write to me once it's arranged."

"Really? Thank you for supporting my work, my lord! Ever since I graduated and started out, my business has had Your Lordship's backing the whole way — I'm just... just so moved." Evelyn dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve.

"Now, now — young people fresh out of school have narrow roads and tough business. Completely normal. Keep hustling, and one day you'll carve out your own patch of sky. A hardworking girl like you has a bright future ahead of her." Sharlock delivered this sermon with great warmth, handed the notice back to Evelyn, and turned to leave, hands behind his back — whereupon Evelyn abruptly seized his cloak. Sharlock looked back to find her eyes brimming with reluctance.

"Intermediary sign-up handling fee: five magic stones."

Evelyn said.

"What?! You just BOUGHT a dungeon right next to the Realm of the Dead?! No way — they're not even issuing loans for dungeons anymore, it's pay-in-full-only, AND a prime location bordering the Realm of the Dead — my god..."

"I'm telling you, that lich I recruited the other day? Graduated third in last year's class at the Undead Academy — and I poached him straight out of the Eternal Flame dungeon! You know the Eternal Flame, right? One of the biggest dungeons in the entire Northern Underworld!"

"I just closed on a project myself — remember that magic beast my crew hunted down a while back? Top-shelf quality..."

"I'm telling you, the money's no problem — just get him to my dungeon and on the clock ASAP, everything else is negotiable..."

"Benefits? Oh, the benefits are generous alright — private pool, sea-view villa, round-the-clock simulated surface weather, three meals a day of the finest dirt, all year round..."

"My father's got a dungeon in operation — I'm interning over there now. Later on I'm absolutely finding a prime spot and developing my own dungeon. Say, your caravan's quite solid — come station yourself at my dungeon permanently..."

"Those surface-world adventurers came charging into my dungeon to rob the place like a pack of rabid dogs — you should've seen the scene..."

Arthur, xX_ShadowBlade_Xx, and Sylvana stood at the entrance of the Newbie Division Business Zone, watching the dining area come to life. Demons and bizarre Underworld creatures networked back and forth; tailcoat-clad goblins and slimes darted through the crowd carrying trays of fizzy drinks in every color, plus all manner of bloody dirt cuisine.

"How come every NPC conversation I eavesdrop on sounds like a hidden quest?"

xX_ShadowBlade_Xx said, deeply troubled. Beside him, Sylvana suggested:

"What if we go back and wait by the door for Locke?"

"The door's right behind us — if Locke comes out, we'll see him." Arthur jerked a thumb back down the corridor, at the room with the 【Special Talent Recruitment Center】 sign.

"So what DO we do? Want to just grab somebody and ask?" xX_ShadowBlade_Xx said, already scanning for a viable dialogue target.

But he'd barely stepped out when he ran headfirst into a passing demon's knee — not softly, either. Thump. Flat on the ground.

This demon had a pair of enormous fleshy wings and red skin all over, with long trailing tendrils sprouting from his chin, elbows, knees, and elsewhere — the overall effect being an oversized humanoid octopus.

The humanoid-octopus demon turned to look at the goblin who'd bounced off his knee and was now sprawled on the floor — unreadable green name-tag hovering over the little guy's head. He let out a thread of dominating aura, and the boisterous hall instantly quieted a notch. Some carried on talking, entirely unaffected; but the lower-ranked Underworld creatures felt the demon's pressure and turned to look.

Several goblins nearby were already trembling and groveling flat on the floor.

The humanoid octopus had assumed the goblin who'd clipped his knee would prove exactly as pathetic as any other goblin. But the one with the big green name-tag popped right back up, circled him once, and gave the tendrils on his knee a pinch:

"Hello! I'm xX_ShadowBlade_Xx, slayer of the kobold chief Kramo, from the great Eternal Kingdom dungeon!"

The moment xX_ShadowBlade_Xx finished, snickering broke out among the nearby demons and Underworld creatures.

Sylvana, for her part, said, supremely unbothered:

"These guys are all gonna be instance bosses someday, and they're laughing at players? Not gonna live long."

xX_ShadowBlade_Xx and company were no idiots — they could tell that laughter wasn't the welcoming, friendly kind.

"Lowly little wretch." The octopus demon kept cranking his dominating aura higher while reaching out a tentacle-covered hand toward xX_ShadowBlade_Xx: "I shall teach you to write the word 'death' — I'll write it in your flesh and blood."

"SMACK!"

A sharp report rang off the octopus demon's hand — that was xX_ShadowBlade_Xx raising an arm to swat the tentacle aside; the slap landed with absolutely zero effect.

xX_ShadowBlade_Xx froze. The octopus demon froze. Every conversation around them went dead silent, and the demons nearby turned to watch with popcorn-ready interest.

There wasn't a scene on this earth they hadn't seen — but a goblin throwing down with a demon? THAT scene they had genuinely never seen!

The octopus demon raised his hand, fixed xX_ShadowBlade_Xx with a stare, and slapped down hard — much faster this time.

But just before it landed on xX_ShadowBlade_Xx's noggin, a hand caught the octopus demon's tentacle-arm. Expressionless, Sharlock stood behind xX_ShadowBlade_Xx, arm raised, gripping the demon octopus's hand.

"Sharlock?"

The octopus demon clearly knew Sharlock.