He remembered Bailey mentioned something about Lindsey's father, so her father was none other than Commander Quintus. His Knight Commander rank should be enough to deter a Magistrate if he wanted to put in a word. This also explained how the commander was not as rude as in their first encounter.

Quintus could feel Jack's relaxation after knowing that he will help him, he said, "you will still need to deal with their harassment due to this incident. In what form I can't say. The worst is if they send an assassin against you. How can you deal with that with your limited power? If you are already a high-ranking noble, something can still be done, but you have just started to join our faction. There is a limit to the protection that I can give."

"Don't worry, as long as they can't do anything to me in the open, I should be able to manage."

"Don't mistake confidence for recklessness, young man. For these few days, you will stay in this noble district first till we sorted this out. There happens to be a nobility branch's mission that is specifically offered to you."

"Specifically for me?" Jack asked with puzzlement.

"Before that, let's settle your mission completion and officiate you into Themisphere Nobility Faction. Give me that trial token."

Jack handed the plain metal badge back to the commander. The commander's hand which held the metal badge shone with a purple glow, he traced a rune symbol in the air with his free hand. The rune and the glow entered the badge and Jack could see a transformation on that metallic token. The color was brighter and there was some sort of an insignia crafting on the badge surface.

While he was fascinated by the display in front of him, Jack heard a notification voice, "congratulations on completing the faction quest, Initiation Trial, keeping the cadets alive during their mission. Receive rewards of 5 silver coins, 5000 Experience points, and 50 Merit Points. Additional points for fulfilling certain conditions:

Cadets successfully completed their mission: 100 merit points.

All monsters are cleared in the cave: 50 merit points.

Mission completed within a short time: 50 merit points.

Deliberately injuring a cadet: deduct 200 merit points."

The coins and experience reward were meager for him at this point. The merit points were new, it should be specific points for this Kingdom Faction, similar to the Adventurer points and Hunter points. But what did it mean by deduct? If they didn't clear all the monsters or within the time limit, wouldn't his merit point in the minus already then? Jack grumbled in his mind.

After the addition and deduction, the final merit points he received were the basic 50 points for completing the quest. He was not sure how much was 50 points worth, so he asked Commander Quintus, "what can I get with 50 merit points?"

Commander Quintus looked at him in a weird way before answering, "nothing."

"Nothing? Don't I able to exchange the points for something?"

"Are you comparing our kingdom faction to that Adventurers and Hunters Associations? Excuse us for disappointing you, the merit points are not for you to use for exchanging for petty items."

"Oh? So there is no further use for these points other than to rank up within the faction then?" Jack asked.

"Of course there is," Commander Quintus replied. "You can still use the points for exchange, just not for items. However, you can only start exchanging after you acquire the rank of Viscount."

"What sort of things can be exchanged if not items?"

"You will know when the time comes."

Since the commander didn't entertain him with a clear answer, Jack changed his question, "how many merit points do I need in order to become a Viscount?"

"You need to become a Baron first before Viscount. You will need 500 merit points for that. After that, 2000 merit points for Viscount."

500? Shouldn't be difficult then? Jack thought. If he didn't cripple Walter in that last mission, he would have gotten half of what was needed to become a Baron.

"You mentioned another mission specifically for me?" Jack asked in eagerness.

"Store this back first," Commander Quintus gave the token back.

Jack took it and observed the token. It looked completely different now. It had a brighter color with a hint of purple. There was an inscription on the badge which resemble the horned beast drawing on the large banner behind the commander. There was also a crown insignia above the horned beast. Jack used his Inspect skill on it.

Themisphere Nobility Faction Badge (current rank: none)

Merit points: 50, available points: 50

So he was now officially part of the Themisphere kingdom, Jack pondered. He stored the badge in his inventory bag.

"Now, about the mission I mentioned. It was issued by someone of your acquaintance," Commander Quintus said after seeing Jack storing his faction badge.

"my acquaintance?"

"Yes, he is… speaking of the devil," commander Quintus' eyesight turned to Jack's back where the stairs were. Jack turned and saw a flamboyant man in a luxurious dress.

"Him?"

Jack was surprised to see this person here. If he remembered correctly, his interaction with this NPC was not really that harmonious. Why would he specifically pick him for a mission?

Marquess Fernando approached and just took the seat beside Jack without waiting for Commander Quintus' permission. The commander's brow slanted slightly to show displeasure on the act, but the marquess either deliberately ignoring the sign, or genuinely unaware of his rudeness.

"So, have you been briefed about the task?" The marquess asked Jack.

"I am just about to," Commander Quintus answered on Jack's behalf. "What are you doing here? Isn't the event in two days from now?"

"I am just making sure that he accepts it," Fernando said. "Duke Alfredo was adamant that he does."

"The duke?" Jack was surprised. "What does the duke want me to do?"

"You remember when we were talking in the duke's mansion?" Fernando asked.

"You mean when I interrogated you?" Jack asked back.

"I mean when we were talking," Fernando replied, emphasizing the word talking. "I mentioned about an auction coming up, remember?"

Jack nodded. "I do recall something like that. What about it?"

"Well, the duke wants you to represent him to attend this auction."

"Me? Why?" Jack was bewildered by the request.

"Beats me. I also objected to your participation. I mean, I was hoping to go attend with the duke, why he ends up asking a lowly commoner who is void of any noble descent like you to represent him? I mean, even if he is busy, there are much better candidates available. There are practically rows of noble youths who will kill to earn the duke's favor. To have him put his trust in a nobody such as you is completely beyond me."

"Are you done?" Jack asked with an irritated tone.

"Oh, one other thing, he did mention that you should not be known to have represented him. You should go with your status as an independent outworlder. He will provide you beforehand with the funds to bid on during the auction."

"What item does he want me to bid on?"

Fernando shrugged. "Dunno, he said you will know when it appears. Just don't squander the fund on useless things."

"Huh?" Jack scratched his head, what sort of request was this? He heard the notification voice of the quest.

"you have been offered a faction quest, Attend the Auction, do you accept?"

Jack rubbed his chin. Such a vague quest, he thought. It's easy enough to attend the auction, but if he was not sure what was the target item then how could he know if he did the quest correctly? After some thought, he decided to just accept the quest. It was not a bad thing to gain more favor from the duke. He reckoned Duke Alfredo's position was higher than Commander Quintus. If Walter's family gave him troubles, he might be able to utilize his relationship with the duke to assuage the matter.

"All right, I'll join. The auction is in two days from now?"

Fernando nodded. "Yes, I'll come to pick you up in the morning the day after tomorrow. We will go to the auction together."

"We will? I thought the duke doesn't want me to be seen as having a connection with him?"

"You are just going there as a friend of mine, what does it have to do with the duke? As long as you didn't mention that the duke sent you then no one will know."

"Whatever you say," Jack shrugged.

"So, where are you staying? Is it at that bakery store in the business district?"

Did everyone know about my living place already? Jack contemplated in his mind. Before he could answer though, commander Quintus uttered, "he will be staying at my place. You can come to pick him up there two days from now."

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