Chapter 196: Combat Sub-Classes
The Bounty Association, an organization with a storied past, was as old as the Alchemical Room (alchemist organization) and the Ivory Tower (spellcaster organization).
Unlike the latter two, the Bounty Association's legality varied by country—it operated openly in cities within territories governed by the Storm Church but had to skulk in the shadows within the dominions of the Church of Lady Gold Coin.
However, legal or not, the Bounty Association thrived much better than many lawful entities thanks to its adept networking and broad business scope. They catered to both commoners and the elite while shamelessly pandering to local authorities.
This was evident by how Branch Head Kelly Simmons situated Oak Bar, the Bounty Association's underground hub, in the bar district, merely streets away from the Night's Watch headquarters. Clearly, they had been ingratiating themselves with the Church of Lady Gold Coin for some time.
In any case, this organization had no scruples. As long as the price was right, they would undertake any task, ranging from conducting background checks on an official's lover to laundering dubious fortunes, falsifying income records for tax evasion, gathering intelligence—both legal and otherwise—and even facilitating assassinations, albeit as an intermediary.
With Yang Qiu's notoriety as the "Nightmare Butcher" and his backing of Indahl's new lord, Charlie Rex, coupled with the recent spectacle of undead ransacking the bar district, Branch Head Kelly Simmons was more than cooperative. She quickly forged several agreements with Yang Qiu who was acting on Rex's behalf.
These agreements mirrored the one with the Night's Watch: low-cost leases in the club district for the association's use, mandatory registration of Taranthan undead as bounty hunters, intelligence support for undead undertaking bounties, and the association's commitment to bear 40 percent of any damages incurred during missions.
Three days later, December 9, Monday on Earth, middle of the eleventh month in OtherWorld.
The two-day-long weekend instance dungeon event concluded. Players who repeatedly failed in Rex's instance dungeon during the weekend logged in with diminished spirits, and even the monthly auction event was unable to buoy the sentiment among instance dungeon enthusiasts.