Ch 68 - The Next Saintess

Jester had expected this meeting to happen sooner or later, but definitely not this soon. At first, he had planned to keep everything under the radar, building his power without anyone noticing his existence. That plan, however, had clearly become impossible.

Still... Why did it have to be with the Vesperion Guild right away? They were one of the top guilds in Eternal Legacy. Their influence was just that overwhelming.

What made them even more unbelievable was the fact that they had reached that position with only thirteen members. Yes, thirteen! That number was not a mistake. They were famous because every single member was incredibly powerful. Not just strong, but each of them was already a well-known figure and ridiculously wealthy.

Well... there were probably a few members who were not quite as rich as the others, but that was still the image people had of them. Their reputation was so overwhelming that a single member of Vesperion Guild could confidently take on an entire guild with more than a hundred members alone.

Jester had already met two members of Vesperion Guild before. One was a black-haired boy around his age named Windious, and the other was a woman named Clover.

This time, however, the two people sitting across from him were different.

One was a blond man whose face always seemed to wear a friendly, approachable smile.

The other… Was leaning back in her chair.

Asleep?

“Is she okay?” Jester asked.

“Ah, yes.” Siki laughed. “You know... she's got a lot going on outside the game,” he said. “That's why she ends up sleeping so much here.”

From what Jester knew, Naevys really was famous outside the game. She worked as an actress and was also a popular commercial model. She had a massive fanbase, both in real life and inside the game.

As for Siki… What exactly did he do outside the game?

Jester had no idea. Still, if someone was a member of this guild, they had to be someone important.

“Alright!” Siki said. “It would be rude if I didn't introduce myself. My name is Siki.”

He smiled before pointing at the sleeping woman beside him. “And this is my mission partner, Naevys. We're from the Vesperion Guild.”

Jester immediately raised both hands in surrender.

“Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce myself! I am Jester, the greatest clown to ever grace this magnificent world! I specialize in making terrible decisions, saying even worse jokes, and somehow surviving both!”

“Can you stop?” he said, frowning at himself a second later. “Seriously. Back to normal. I want this to be an actual conversation.”

Jester let out a sheepish grin before dropping the act completely.

“I'm just nervous,” Jester admitted. “I'm meeting famous people.”

“You don't seem nervous,” Siki replied.

The girl beside him slowly opened one eye and turned her attention to Jester.

“No, I think he is,” she mumbled. “He dropped his balls twice already.”

Siki immediately covered his forehead with one hand.

“Can we please get down to business now, Naevys?”

“Yeah...” she said with another yawn, her eyes still half closed. “Relax. I'm sleepy.”

Siki's expression suddenly changed. He rested both hands on the table, clasped them together, and fixed Jester with an unusually serious look.

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Did he really have to look that serious?

“So, Mr. Joker.”

“Jester!”

“Wait, why didn't you just choose the name Joker?” Siki asked. “I think it would've sounded cooler. It suits you.”

“People would think I'm that Joker.”

“The Joker from the comic books?” Siki said. “Yeah, I guess that's hard to avoid. But technically, the name Joker isn't copyrighted, so... just saying.”

“Can we just go home already?” Naevys suddenly spoke up, both of her eyes finally open.

Siki raised both hands and let out a small laugh.

“Relax, Naevys. I'm just lightening the mood. You know, this Mr. Joker is pretty sharp. It'd be dangerous if we ended up on his bad side.”

“Yes, please hurry,” Jester added.

“Okay.” Siki clasped his hands together on the table once again, his expression turning serious.

“So, Mr. Joker, I hope you've heard about the Saintess. I'm talking about the Saintess in this game.”

Jester gave a small nod.

“A Saintess is someone blessed with Divine Power. And yes, it's always a woman,” Siki continued. “She shares a close connection with the deities, possesses extraordinary holy magic, and is capable of performing miracles.”

“Throughout history, there has usually only been a single Saintess at any given time. They always become an important figure because of both their influence and their abilities. They've purified corrupted lands, healed incurable illnesses, and sealed away ancient calamities.”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“Because of that immense influence, every kingdom tries to build a relationship with a Saintess, while powerful factions do everything they can to recruit... or control... one.”

“This escalated way too fast,” Jester said with a grin. “I thought you guys just needed a clown or something.”

“Shut,” Siki said. “Up.”

“Siki,” Naevys muttered.

“Sorry,” Siki replied, completely ignoring Jester's joke.

“So, Mr. Joker, there's an old tale that very few people know about. It's the story of The Forsaken Dragon Warrior.”

“Wait...” Jester interrupted. “I thought we were talking about the Saintess. Why are we suddenly talking about a Dragon Warrior?”

“They're connected. Let me explain first.”

Siki waved a hand, and a transparent screen appeared before him, displaying a stone tablet covered in mysterious runes.

“I'll keep this short. About twenty-five years ago, a major incident took place...”

Jester quietly listened as Siki continued. Before long, he realized the story sounded exactly like Lucia's past. The Royal Sword Saint. The Saintess. It was the same story he had learned through Chaos Bound.

“Their relationship was never accepted by the Empire, and in the end, both of them lost their lives. But before that happened, the Saintess had already given birth to a child. It was later discovered that the child was a girl.”

Honestly, Jester wasn't surprised that the Vesperion Guild had managed to uncover information that almost no one else knew. Jester had only learned the truth himself after completing the Chaos Bound with Lucia.

Even Lucia herself had never known the truth about her own past.

Still, Jester had always known the day would eventually come when this secret could no longer stay hidden. When that happened, he would have to deal with it.

If there could only be one Saintess in each generation, then Lucia herself was undoubtedly one of the strongest candidates to inherit that title. Under normal circumstances, countless kingdoms and powerful factions would compete to claim her.

Was Vesperion Guild one of them?

What worried Jester even more was that he could fool almost anyone. But these people were members of the Vesperion Guild. They had access to far too much information and more than enough resources to uncover whatever they wanted.

Even so, throughout the meeting, they hadn't shown the slightest intention of forcing the issue or threatening him. Instead, they had approached him properly and arranged a conversation like this, which somehow made them even harder to deal with.

Siki continued. “So, about this dragon...”

Jester frowned. “A big-ass dragon?”

“No. This one took human form. Dragons can do that.”

“Okay.”

“This dragon was the one who took the Saintess away and hid her in...” Siki paused for a moment. “Well, the details aren't important. It was basically a small, secluded village.”

Jester simply looked at him, giving nothing away.

“The truth is,” Siki continued, “the Saintess should've been perfectly safe there. It wasn't the kind of place anyone could easily find, even if they were searching for her.”

A faint smile appeared on his face.

“But that's not the real reason we're trying to find the Saintess. Or rather...” He corrected himself. “The girl who could become the next Saintess.”

“Because we've received a prophecy.”

He paused for a brief moment before continuing.

“It speaks of a great war. A massive upheaval. An event that could change the future of Yunatea itself. And according to that prophecy...” Siki's eyes narrowed slightly. “Everything begins with the struggle over the position of the Saintess. And I have a feeling it's going to happen sooner than anyone expects.”

“Okay...” Jester said.

Siki smiled and raised both his hands.

“So, Mr. Joker, let me be straightforward. There’s no point beating around the bush. We’re looking for the girl with the potential to become the next Saintess. We have our own reasons for finding her. That’s the truth.”

“You're being surprisingly open,” Naevys said. “The Guild Master probably wouldn't like this.”

“You weren't planning to trick him into helping us, were you?” Siki replied, glancing at her.

Then he turned back to Jester.

Jester met his gaze without saying a word. “What do you want?”

A faint smile appeared on Siki's face.

“I want your cooperation during the coming event. We're trying to handle this properly, through a fair agreement where both sides benefit. In return, we need the girl.”

Jester's expression remained unchanged.

“What do you mean by ‘we need’?”