“We have to attend a lively masquerade ball, reveal our identities, and escape without getting caught. It’s a quest.”

“Huh!”

Hazen protested with a sarcastic laugh as if it were absurd.

“Our impressive looks don’t really get hidden just because we hide them. Besides, what about Ruela’s pink hair?”

“If it’s such a difficult quest, the reward must be tremendous, right?”

Those who had just complained about the challenging quest now sparkled with interest.

“What’s the reward? I hope it’s something as convenient as the ever-flowing watering can you showed us today. Thanks to that watering can, I don’t have to ask the apprentices for watering anymore.”

Hazen’s words made Rafael furrow his brow.

“Is that water drinkable?”

“What could go wrong? It’s water that’s okay for flowers and trees, so it shouldn’t be harmful to me either.”

It seemed like a statement completely mismatched with the sensibilities of a gourmet. Rafael shook his head with an expression of disgust.

“Truly your unique perspective. I don’t know why someone who looks so refined is so barbaric.”

“What? Barbaric!”

As it seemed like the argument between the two would continue, Tien raised her hand and intervened.

“Please quickly tell us what the reward is. I’m so curious.”

Mitchell also nodded in agreement.

“Yes, please tell us right away. Their childish bickering won’t end until we know what it is.”
Ruela looked at each person who had fallen silent to hear her words and spoke with a triumphant air, “It’s a mask that can conceal our identities.”

Disappointment crossed Tien’s face upon hearing her words. “Masks wouldn’t deceive the monitors.”

When the expected reaction to Ruela’s words didn’t come, she started explaining with a puzzled expression, “Currently, the monitors are only assigned to the demonic beast in the northeast, which is our next target. Originally, when we captured Asanik, who would have been the fourth, there were no monitors. However, now that we know we don’t have to capture them in order, the Duke is preparing for any contingency by assigning monitors to all the Named Beasts.”

Everyone’s expressions turned serious at Ruela’s words. “That means no matter who we capture, we can’t avoid the monitors’ gaze.”

When Rafael grumbled with a furrowed brow, Ruela offered a positive response. “Still, there’s an advantage. The number of monitors is limited, so if we scatter them, the number attached to each Named Beast will decrease.”

Listening silently, Kite agreed, “It’s a good thing for us, as we need to deal with the monitors and capture the Named Beasts.”

Hazen let out a deep sigh. “But eventually, when it comes time to capture Duke Kuran, all forces will converge on him.”
“Still, when that time comes, our levels and skill levels will increase, right? In my case, the teleport and recall levels will go up at level 85 and 95. Then, the cooldown time will be shorter, so we won’t have to repeat today’s events. The variety of healing skills we can use in the future will also increase.”

Tien chimed in, “That’s right. Our stats will also be upgraded. By the way, if it’s level 85, we just need to raise it by 3 levels.”

“Yes. At level 2, you can use recall and teleport every 30 minutes. But if our identities are exposed, it’s all useless, right? Even if I learn the level 3 housing system, don’t forget that to use it, five guild members need to achieve level 95.”

Everyone nodded with melancholic expressions at Ruela’s words.

This was because they themselves felt that leveling up became difficult from level 90 onwards. Moreover, they discussed the gap with other raid teams and explained that they couldn’t obtain information about the Named Beasts on the talk board, making everyone more cautious. Especially knowing that Marquis Gart continues to harbor suspicions, they became less reckless than before.

“So, to avoid getting caught, we need to buy time as much as possible, and to do that, we need to obtain a Reward Mask.”
“But you see, making a mask should be enough. Even if it covers only the face, there’s no guarantee that the mask will hide one’s identity. Is there a need to undertake such a difficult quest?”

Tien smirked as if not understanding.

“It’s a special mask. The moment you put it on, your appearance changes into something else. Of course, it randomly changes, so you don’t know what it will be.”

Excited by Ruela’s words, Tien abruptly stood up, bumped his head on the ceiling, and sat back down with a disappointed expression.

“Transform into a different person?”

“Well… to be precise, not a person, but it changes into something else. However, there’s a limitation that you can only do it once a day.”

“Anyway, it changes.”

Tien, who was joyfully bouncing around, looked at Hazen with a disappointed face.

“So, do we not need our disguise tools anymore?”

“That’s right. We’ve collected them so diligently.”

Ruela laughed at Hazen’s listless voice.