The Heaven-Cursed Costs Life, But I Have Infinite Life-Chapter 32: The Mysterious Note, Kyle’s Scheme
Outside the city walls, it was noticeably livelier than yesterday.
Young people formed small groups, hunting monsters on the edge of the dense forest while guards protected them.
These were students graduating from Quinn Academy this year. Thanks to Allen, the academy’s newbie dungeon had been cleared out. They couldn’t reach Stage 1 Level 5 to graduate, so they had to risk coming outside to hunt monsters and level up.
"Allen, looks like your plan to get revenge on the old Dean fell through," Lilia said with a smile, watching the scene.
"Don’t be ridiculous. When did I say I wanted to revenge on the old Dean?" Allen replied with straight-faced seriousness. "I dealt with the goblins in that dungeon to save everyone. Otherwise, with Hell’s Gate opening, do you think anyone could have left alive?"
"Do you think I believe that?" Lilia scoffed.
She had finally seen Allen’s true colors. On the surface, he seemed honest, humble, and even a bit cowardly, but deep down, he was quite wicked.
If the old Dean got caught in the crossfire, it was only his own fault.
Ignoring the classmates hunting nearby, the two of them walked straight into the depths of the forest.
They had taken on ten bounty missions: six involved killing monsters, and four required finding herbs.
All of these could be found around the forest’s edge.
As for the six monsters, the strongest was just a Stage 2 Level 5 Treant. Allen could easily handle it; the only time-consuming part was tracking them down.
By sunset, they had completed all the missions and returned to Blackspire. They immediately rushed to the Assassins’ Guild to submit them.
Lilia glanced at the spot where Annie had been sitting earlier but didn’t see her. She probably had already left.
"Here is your reward," the old clerk said at the counter, taking the materials from Allen and handing over the pre-prepared gold. "I’ll upgrade your tokens right away."
The ten Black Iron Tier missions, after the Assassins’ Guild took its 10% cut, left them with just over 6,000 gold. Neither Allen nor Lilia cared much for that amount. They only took these low-level jobs to raise their Killer ranks.
Soon, the clerk pulled out two carved Bronze Tier tokens. Smiling, he asked, "Gentlemen, would you like to take on more missions?"
"Let’s do it," Allen said. His goal was to take on Gamma-level kill missions, which required upgrading to Silver Tier.
He only needed ten more Bronze Tier tasks.
Allen browsed the Bronze Tier bounty board, which was far more wild and varied than the Black Iron Tier ones.
Find Margaret’s Dog, Reward: 5,000.
Escort Paul’s daughter to Brightmoon for her wedding, Reward: 10,000.
Find the lost ancient pill formula, Reward: 100,000.
...
Allen frowned. He ignored these time-wasting tasks with no clear leads and ended up picking only four Bronze Tier jobs: hunting monsters and gathering materials.
Out of over a hundred Bronze Tier listings, he couldn’t even find ten suitable ones.
He was speechless and turned to the elderly gentleman. "Sir, are these all the Bronze Tier tasks available in Blackspire? Don’t you have any simpler, more direct jobs?"
The elderly gentleman shook his head helplessly. "These are the only Bronze Tier tasks in Blackspire. You could try the missions in nearby cities."
"Never mind, those cities are too far," Allen refused. The Academy tournament was in five days, and it was being held in Blackspire anyway.
Even rushing to the nearest city and back would take two weeks; there was simply no time.
"If any suitable Bronze Tier tasks come up in the future, I’ll keep an eye out for you two," the elderly gentleman said. He liked them both—they were very efficient. Finishing ten Black Iron Tier tasks in less than a day meant he got over a hundred gold in commission.
"Good, thanks a lot," Allen replied. Not wanting to linger, he and Lilia left the Assassins’ Guild and headed back to the City Lord’s Mansion.
The streets were brightly lit, looking much livelier and more energetic than before. With the slum redevelopment, many poor residents had moved to the bustling districts and found new sources of income.
"I hope everything doesn’t get ruined by the Church of Light or Kyle," Allen mused. Previously, Carl had tried to rebuild the slums, but the Church of Light had obstructed it, and the project ultimately stalled.
"This time, it’s definitely going to succeed," Lilia said confidently.
Suddenly, a group of children ran by, playing and laughing. One of them accidentally bumped into Lilia.
"Oh, I’m so sorry!" the child stammered in panic, bowing and apologizing repeatedly.
"It’s fine. Be careful, and don’t run around in the streets," Lilia said gently. She rubbed the child’s head, showing no anger.
The kid nodded frantically and ran off with their friends.
Allen looked confused. Watching the children disappear, he found their sudden appearance strange. They had just popped out of nowhere as if they were rehearsed.
"Huh?" Lilia let out a soft gasp. A note had appeared in her hand, slipped there by the child she hadn’t even noticed.
Allen was even more certain now that the kids were here on purpose. He tried to follow them, but they had vanished without a trace.
"What does the note say?" he asked, puzzled.
Lilia frowned slightly and handed him the paper. In messy handwriting, it read: Your identity is exposed. The Church of Light is going after you.
Allen’s frown deepened. He glanced once more in the direction the children had gone, then grabbed Lilia’s hand and hurried away.
Moving through the crowd, they ducked into a quiet alley."Allen, does anyone else know my identity?" Lilia asked quietly.
Allen shook his head gently. "Two possibilities. Either someone is trying to trick you, or someone wants to start a fight between the City Lord’s Mansion and the Church of Light so they can profit from the chaos."
"Kyle!" Lilia said immediately.
The City Lord’s Mansion and the Church of Light both held power in Blackspire, and neither was weak. If someone was planning to benefit from their conflict, only Kyle could pull it off.
Allen nodded in agreement. "Don’t make a scene. Go back and let your father decide."
"Okay," Lilia replied. Like nothing had happened, she and Allen continued chatting and laughing.
Back at the City Lord’s Mansion, the two rushed to find Lucas. They showed him the note.
Simon was also there.
After hearing their story, Lucas reached the same conclusion as Allen: it was Kyle behind it all.
"I’ll go ask the shadow guards," Simon said, standing up and leaving.
The shadow guards had been secretly protecting Lilia all along. If Kyle made his move, they would have left a trail.
Soon, Simon returned and nodded to the group. "Confirmed. Those kids are orphans adopted by Kyle and trained as his death servants."
"So he still hasn’t given up!" Lucas said, his expression cold. He had tolerated Kyle’s provocations time and again, but the man showed no signs of stopping. Instead, he was now plotting to strike at the City Lord’s Mansion.
"Should we take him out first?" Simon asked calmly.
Lucas shook his head. "Right now, our top priority is dealing with the Church of Light. We can’t alert them just yet."
He had never truly feared Kyle. With Lilia and Allen’s secrets exposed, the Church of Light was the real threat.
"My Lord, we overlooked something important," Simon said, his face grave. "You asked me to investigate the demonic soldiers in the Academy newbie dungeon. I still have no leads. Could Kyle be behind this?"
"That doesn’t make sense," Allen replied, confused. "Didn’t the goblins open Hell’s Gate to summon those demonic soldiers? What does Kyle have to do with it? Besides, the dungeon is sealed; he can’t get inside."
Simon laughed coldly. "Only powerful remnants of demons know how to open Hell’s Gate. How could weak goblins possibly master it? Also, Kyle doesn’t need to enter the Academy dungeon himself. He only needs to set his plan in motion before those goblins are captured."
The monsters inside the Academy dungeon were all captured from the wild forests outside the city.
This meant Kyle had started plotting this way back a year ago.
And his scheme had actually succeeded. Every new student in the trial was doomed. If Hell’s Gate opened, the blame would fall first on the old Dean, dragging the City Lord’s Mansion and the Church of Light into the fallout. The only real beneficiary would be Kyle.
Allen frowned. "Does this mean Kyle also knows how to open Hell’s Gate?"
The room fell silent. Everyone’s faces turned serious.
The Academy tournament was about to begin. Students from the six major cities would gather, and if Hell’s Gate opened again, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"Looks like we have no choice but to deal with him early," Lucas said lightly.
"But what excuse can we use?" Simon asked, frowning. "We don’t have enough evidence yet. If the Church of Light protects him, we might not even be allowed to kill Kyle."
"Assassination!" Lucas spat out the word coldly.
Allen’s eyes lit up. He loved this plan.
Lucas, however, saw right through him and warned, "This is too serious. Neither of you is allowed to get involved."
