Chapter 6: Impossible Quest

Aquarius Kingdom may be the weakest of all the kingdoms on the continent, but it's Adventurer's Guild was same as anywhere else.

Occasionally, Adventurer's guilds of various kingdoms would receive requests for Jobs that were regarded as Impossible Quests. Some tasks were regarded as too difficult for anyone to complete or were proven impossible to accomplish.

Anyone who completed any of these Impossible Quests would be guaranteed a rank up promotion.

High Ranked Adventurers (Orichalcum, Palladium, Adamantite) would wisely avoid these types of jobs since most of the time they either were not worth the effort, took too long, or paid too little, etc.

Low Rankers, Newbies and weak adventurers (Copper, Iron) were easily replaceable, but their inexperience and lack of power made them ineligible to take on the Impossible Quests. The Guild learned it the hard way after sending 200 Low Rankers to complete one of the Impossible Quests, only to learn later than most of them were cooked and eaten by the monsters and the survivors were too maimed or traumatized to continue being adventurers.

But rejecting these types of quests outright would raise a scandal, and at times like these, the guild could not afford to make any enemies.

Because of this, the only ones who were deemed eligible to take on the quests were Mid-Tier Adventurers or Higher (Copper and above). Realistically, only Bronze and Silver level adventurers would even try and inevitably fail these Impossible Quests. By now, failing the Impossible Quest had become something of a rite of passage for the longtime adventurers.

Those who were just promoted to Bronze Rank would think taking on an Impossible Quest was an opportunity of a lifetime, meanwhile the veterans knew of the despair that awaited.

With their recent promotion to Bronze Rank, Ranga and Morphus had become eligible to take on one of the Impossible Quests.

Even the Guild Receptionist who handed them the Job pitied them for their cluelessness.

"My Condolences"

Morphus: 'Not you too'

After spending some time with his partner, Morphus began to realize that Ranga, for the lack of a better word, was an absolute idiot.

He was the type to jump into danger without thinking of a plan. Just bravado and foolishness in the shape of a person.

Morphus: 'How did he survive until now?'

Just that morning before leaving, Morphus had put on a black hooded cloak and started to sharpen the scythe he had bought for experimentation. When Ranga woke up, he freaked out, screaming "Get away from me, Grim Reaper!"

Apparently, the hooded dark figure is what Death looks like in most depictions.

For Morphus it was just his fashion choice.

Morphus: "It's not like he wears that all the time."

The so-called Impossible Quest was from the Village of Destiny, a place famous for having prophecies that always come.

Every year, someone from that village would issue a quest, sometimes anonymously, essentially asking for an adventurer to defy what has been foretold.

This time, the mission was simple.

Find the sender and if the sender is still alive after a marked date, then the mission would be considered a success.

As simple as it sounded, it was no simple request.

Because of the nature of fate, none has yet managed to defy the fate.

Fate is one thing mortals could not hope to escape.

Knowing that all the prior requests from the Village of Destiny were failures, the requester was clearly desperate. Since trying to defy fate shows lack of faith in the goddess, the sender had no choice but be anonymous with their request, desperately hoping someone could do something about their impending doom.

It took them about half a day to get to the location of the Village of Destiny.

Overall, it looked no different from any other village, except for the fact that they saw a massive crowd praying to an enormous statue of a Goddess of Fate, Tiana.

Their prayers seemed less of a reverence as more like outright begging for mercy.

If you could hear their thoughts, you would know exactly why.

'Please, my daughter is sick, please, her life can't end so soon!'

'I will be crippled and will spend rest of my existence never able to accomplish anything? I beg you, anything but that!'

'I do not want to outlive every man that would ever love me!'

Morphus: "Religion. The only reason to call madness justice."

While there were some that were content with their fates, many were praying because their fates were too horrifying for them.

But not a single one of them said their prayers out loud, so from the outside view, it looked as though they were happily worshipping the goddess.

For the first day, they simply walked around, trying to find the requester.

Their time was running out, if they did not find the requester within 3 days, the mission would be considered a failure.

As usual, Morphus was clearly drunk, chugging on booze from the moment he stepped into the village.

Ranga had no choice but to be walk around and listen to what he could find.

The two of them somehow found themselves watching a theatre performance based around a real prophecy. It was called the Dance of Two Kings: King of White and King of Black.

Ragna had no idea what they were talking about while Morphus was too drunk to care.

From what Ragna could understand, Kings of White and Black were two rivals, each one was the other's sworn nemesis. Each one was granted the mantle of Light or the mantle of Darkness.

There could only be one king.

King of Black and King of White were destined to clash, and the winner will be able to ascend to become a true Supreme Being, guided by the Beginning or the End.

Ranga: "I wonder those mantles look like"

Morphus: "I made a loincloth out of it"

Ranga: "Just how drunk are you?"

Morphus: "Not drunk enough"

He was chugging them by gallons.

Ranga wondered just how did he drink so much wine without blacking out or even showing any sign of hangover.

Ranga: "I wonder what the King of White or King of Black would be like? Just out of curiosity, of course"

Morphus: "Nothing special, really. Just a couple of madmen and megalomaniacs"

Ranga: "You can't really say that without having met them, can you? By the way….why are you wearing that?"

Shortly after entering the village, Morphus visited one of the stalls and purchased an leather eye patch, wearing it over his left eye.

As far as Ranga knew, Morphus's left eye was not damaged, so the eye patch was completely unnecessary.

Morphus: "Uh, fashion?"

Ranga: 'I have heard of these types before. Could he be a chuuni delusional?'

Sometimes, when Ranga would ask him a question, Morphus's answer was so non-sensical that Ragna started to wonder whether his companion's mind was intact or not.

Ranga: 'Come to think of it, Loid drinks all the time, has weird fashion sense, so him spouting drunken nonsense is not really surprising. If he is perpetually drunk, who knows what's going on inside that head of his. But he is without a doubt, powerful mage. I guess everyone has their own plusses and minuses'

Even if he was a drunken idiot, his skills were legit. Without him, Ragna was sure he would not have survived that encounter with werewolves, not to mention ranking up as an adventurer.

The sole reason they even were qualified for this quest was because of Morphus. Even if he was an absolute weirdo, by now, Ranga thought of him as a trusted comrade.

On the second day, Ranga and Morphus paid a visit to the village elder, who was said to be blessed by Goddess of Fate, and could tell one prophecy per person or answer a single question about one's fate.

Elder: 'Is my vision failing? This young black-haired man, I can see nothing absolutely nothing but pitch-black darkness. My age must be catching up with me'

But even if his vision was failing, he could not say he saw nothing, that would be an absolute embarrassment and dishonor his goddess. But how was he going to avoid telling that man he could see nothing?

Morphus: "Don't worry, elder. I am not interested"

Elder: 'How did he know…. Thank goodness'

Looking at Ranga, however, the elder was perplexed.

He glimpsed at him again, rubbed his eyes, wiped all the dust away, and looked at Ranga, clearly in disbelief at what he was seeing.

With Morphus, he could see nothing but darkness, perhaps he was not allowed to see it. It never happened before, but it was an explanation he could accept, after all, he could only see what his goddess allowed him to see.

But with Ranga, it was completely different game.

Elder: "That can't be right. No, it can't be…."

Ranga: "What is it, elder?"

Elder: "I surely hope I am mistaken, but from what little I can glimpse…. you should have died weeks ago. Unless you are a walking corpse, that can't be right"

Ranga: "I assure you; I am not a corpse!"

Fuming with rage, Ranga left the audience with the Elder, with Morphus simply shrugging in response and following after.

Elder: "My ability must be declining due to old age…."

After they exited, Ranga was still infuriated.

Ranga: "A walking corpse! I will show you a walking corpse! Goddammit!"

Morphus: 'Technically, your partner is a walking corpse, but it's best I don't tell him that'

Ranga: "Loid, I am gonna search the other side of the village, I will meet with you tomorrow morning"

Morphus: "Sounds good…excuse me"

Ranga: "You are not going to go drinking again, are you?"

Morphus: "…."

Ranga: "Never mind. I will meet up with you tomorrow morning"

Morphus: (Thumbs up)

Ranga (fuming): "A walking corpse…."

Just like that, one went on a fruitless search all over the village, while the other simply walked back to the local pub.

* * *

Bartender Al: 'I have seen some heavy weights, but this guy…just how much can he chug?'

It was almost morning already, almost all of the guests have already left, except for two.

One was probably the biggest drunkard Al has ever seen and the other one was a young woman sobbing in the far corner.

For some reason, the two of them met each other's gaze, and then, like two drunken fools started to sing together, a song that was too much for the Bartender's ears.

Eventually, the two drunkards (one definitely drunk while other mostly depressed), left the pub, with the Bartender wishing to never have to hear that kind of singing ever again.

* * *

Ranga: "I spend all night searching"

Morphus: "From the looks of it, I assume, no progress"

Ranga: "Damn right!"

Now it was Ranga's turn to get drunk.

Ranga: "Weird to see you not chugging any"

Morphus: "I got a date"

Ranga: "A date! We are in the middle of a mission!"

Morphus: "Why can't my mission be a date?"

Ranga: "It's the last day….at this point, the mission is pretty much a failure…"

Morphus: "Cheer up, my friend. Don't count your chickens before they hatch"

Ranga: "I don't know what that means and I really do not care…..(chugs an entire glass of wine)"

He was clearly a lightweight. Just one glass was enough to make him pass out on the table, requiring Morphus to carry his tired and drunken companion to the inn they both were staying at.

* * *

For his upcoming date, Morphus dressed up in a truly bizarre fashion, with a suit and conical hat, while still wearing that eyepatch.

They both were strangers, and even though Morphus asked this girl on a date, it was rather surprising she agreed without hesitation.

And she came in right on time, wearing a simple dress which suited her.

The girl herself was in her twenties, and despite her lovely looking face, what stood out were her tired-looking eyes. Those were the eyes of someone with severe sleep deprivation and bottled-up stress.

Their date was mostly walking and talking. Talking was mostly on Morphus's part, the girl seemed not much of a talker, but she clearly was listening to every word.

Morphus: "Personally, I find it rather odd. It is a weird pattern. Those who want to die young tend to make it to elderly age, while those who want to live a long life die young. Weird, is it not?"

Even without looking, Morphus could tell she flinched at his words.

As the day went on and on, their date continued.

Eventually, it was already night, around 11 pm.

Girl: "It was a rather enjoyable night"

Morphus: "I talk a little too much for my own good, I hope I was not too big of an annoyance"

Girl: "I know not who you are, but thank you for making my last day a memorable one"

Morphus: "Last day, you say?"

Girl: "My time is almost up, I might as well tell you. When I was 16, I foolishly asked the Elder about my future. He told me I would die on the midnight of my 26th birthday. That day is today"

It was easy to see she was holding back tears.

Girl: "As you may already know, once the fate has been decided, nothing can change it. Many in this village have tried to against their predetermined fate, but their efforts simply led to fulfillment of their ending"

Girl: "Why was I given so little time? Why did I foolishly ask about my future? I could have lived out my life without knowing it and even when my life would end, I would not have minded it!"

Morphus: "Ignorance is bliss"

They talked and talked, and now, it was almost midnight.

When the clock struck 12, she would lose her life.

She knew that and by now, she accepted that it was inevitable.

Why was fate so cruel?

Morphus: "Now that the time is almost up…. the key question would be…Would you like to have more time?"

Girl: "But the goddess…."

Morphus: "Would you like more time?"

Girl: "I do"

Morphus: "Very well"

Right before clock struck midnight, she closed her eyes, expecting her body to die on the spot. She just hoped it was painless.

But at that moment, she felt nothing but a tickling on her hand, as though it was touched by a feather.

Then, the midnight came.

She opened her eyes.

She was not in Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory.

She was still alive, looking at her date with visible confusion.

Girl: "I am not dead"

Morphus: "Nope. As long as you don't do anything stupid, you will be fine."

Girl: "I don't understand"

Morphus: "Live a long and happy life, Minia. If you are lucky, you might live long enough to see grandkids"

Minia: "How do you know my name? No, more importantly, how…. But the prophecy said…."

Morphus: "Originally, yes, that was your time of death. I altered some things, just a little."

Minia: "How is this possible?"

Morphus: "Couple of decades, stretched over like a piece of butter, though, there are some limitations, I think it should be decent enough for one human lifetime. Not sure how long it will be, our perceptions of time are too different to compare."

Minia: "Who are you?"

Morphus: "Currently, I am going by Loid, just an ordinary guy, at your service. Oh, I believe the mission is completed now, so please meet us in the afternoon to present us with the reward for the mission. Ciao"

Like a ghost, he simply vanished into thin air with a teleportation spell.

Minia: "Lord…. Lord Loid"

Morphus Noir, a.k.a. Loid Lancer, unknowingly gained his first follower.

* * *

Ranga: "You have got to be kidding me"

His right eye was twitching, not because of disappointment, but sheer disbelief at what was right in front of him.

It was their client, Minia Reuel, alive and well.

In other words, their mission was success. For the first time in Village's entire history, their request was completed.

Their reward was much bigger than any payment Ranga received until now.

Minia: "I am ever-so grateful, Lord Loid…."

Ranga: "Loid, what did you do?"

Morphus: "I went on a date"