Chapter 30 030

Seojin and Rousseau sat facing each other in the bar. Seojin was visibly sullen while Rousseau remained calm. After a long silence, Seojin muttered in a crestfallen voice.

"…So that's how it was."

Rousseau explained the whole situation to him. This place was intentionally brought to ruin under the Ironblood Knights, and the reason behind that was to build a new town. His main claim was that Berne had a fundamental problem.

"I'm sorry that our personnel was away for a while, otherwise you wouldn't have wasted your time."

"Well, it's just bad luck. What a coincidence, though… that I came at that exact timing."

"…"

"Thank you for telling me. So, there was a problem with Berne?"

"Yes."

"Building a town won't be an easy challenge… Only a group of Ironblood's caliber can pull something like that off, right?"

"That's right, ordinary players wouldn't stand a chance."

"I thought so… well, if that's the case, about the money I invested here…"

"I'm sorry, but the Ironbloods cannot compensate you for your loss."

"I guessed so, from your point of view, I'm the one who intervened. I should be grateful that you guys aren't suing me, right? Haha…"

"That will never happen. As you said, it was just an unfortunate coincidence."

Rousseau drew the line. He had no authority, or reason, to compensate Seojin.

"I'll clean up the aftermath, but as for you…"

"…"

"I want you to leave the town."

Rousseau finally brought up what he really wanted. Berne would quickly return to its decaying state once this stranger was gone. Once the townspeople lost their half-baked hope, it would collapse even faster. The Ironbloods had not yet noticed the situation, so Rousseau would be able to keep his head.

However…

"Okay, that's roughly all I needed to know, let's end this little game."

Suddenly, Seojin's entire vibe changed. His depressed expression was replaced with an irritated look as he stared at Rousseau.

"What does that mean?"

"I mean I'm done kissing your ass. You didn't have any useful information anyway, even for a pawn."

"Did you just call me a pawn?"

"You're a shield, and the 42nd Shield, the bottom of the lot. You're a sub-sub-subcontractor. What's that if not a pawn?"

'Oh.'

Rousseau understood. This man was throwing a temper tantrum because he had to give up everything he had built here. So, that was the best this stranger could do, taunting Rousseau with a couple of sly insults. Rousseau sighed at his childish behavior.

"I understand your frustration, but there's no other option. You can go back to the Three Crossroads and…"

"Wow, I can't even record this. No wonder you revealed your name and affiliation so openly, huh?"

'Great, now what else?'

Rousseau completely regained his composure.

"Why? Did you want to threaten me?"

"Maybe a little, it looks like lord's guest status give you a lot of safety measures."

"Of course…"

Rousseau paused because of the strange vibe that arose all of a sudden.

How did this guy know about the status of a lord's guest? The man before him was merely a level 10 player. It was impressive that he could drag Berne up to this level, but his overall experience must have been lacking. How on earth could he know about an obscure element like that?

"…Looks like you studied using the communities."

"Nah, there aren't any posts about that. You guys didn't reveal it. Who else would?"

"Then…"

"Confusing, isn't it?"

"There must be something that you're lying on."

"That's right, any guesses?"

What was this situation? Anxiety consumed Rousseau. He had only faced expected situations since he had joined the Ironblood Knights. Usually, everything went according to plan, so his role was to follow the flow and watch.

'It's better to take the chaotic status penalty.'

So, Rousseau made a decision. Cutting the knot itself was much easier than untying it. Without warning, he flicked his finger. He used a fire spell that could be learned around level 150. The hellish flame that could burn everything engulfed Seojin. However…

Unable to attack target

The spell disappeared after the system message popped up. Rousseau was lost for words and narrowed his eyes.

'I can't attack… this noob?'

He couldn't understand the situation. That message only showed up when he attacked NPCs or other "guests of the lord" like himself.

"What's up? Things not going as you thought?"

"You're not an NPC… so, you met the Baron."

"You're quick, high-leveled, and have good leadership skills for a pawn who manages the group. Too bad you're rotten to the core, or we could be good friends."

Rousseau felt like his blood was drying up. He couldn't treat this player like he was just a lucky noob anymore.

"Whatever you're relying on, you'll soon find that's all in vain."

"Oh, yeah?"

"The baron is also in the palm of our hands. I don't know how you got it, but it's only a matter of time before you'll lose your lord's guest status. You'll soon regret messing with the Ironbloods."

"Yeah, you guys are all the same…"

The man's words became even harsher.

"Clinging onto borrowed authority… ganging up together because you are nothing by yourself."

* * *

Seojin was racking his brain hard as he sat before the low-rank guild master.

'He must be doing the math now… about how to deal with this situation.'

The conversation went as Seojin expected. First of all, he used his favorable manner to gather as much information as possible, and then, he immediately let Rousseau know that he couldn't do anything to him. Rousseau was in agony right now because of that.

'But what was all that stuff about building a new town? Why would they want to do that?'

Seojin thought about what Rousseau revealed to him. This was the greatest takeaway he had in this exchange. Whatever Robert did meant that he would gain considerable rewards by doing so.

'I'm definitely sure it'll be some useful achievements. A user building a settlement… maybe he has hidden class players like architects under him or something.'

Of course, the exact reason was unknown, he just confirmed that it would be meaningful to build a new village. After he stopped worrying, Seojin broke the silence.

"Are you nervous? You're not talking."

"I could kill all the NPCs here, I could do the same to you the moment you lose your guest status. All I have to do is have my guild members camp the respawn base for a week."

"I didn't know the Ironbloods were that low."

"Bark on the communities all you want, no one will believe you."

"So, it looks like you guys have done this more than once. I guess it can't be helped then."

Seojin stared into Rousseau's eyes.

"Try it, anything, whatever you can do."

"Don't think that I can't—"

"The lord will be hostile to you, though. You're doomed anyway so why don't you at least relieve your stress as you want?"

"The Ironblood can restore relationships like that anytime we want."

"Sure, the Ironblood Union can, except you won't have a spot in it. Do you know the biggest mistake you made?"

Rousseau was barely able to keep a straight face and Seojin's lips curled up.

"You talk too much. I might have fallen for your threats if you had at least slit a couple of the NPCs' throats before talking. But, oh my, I found out that you can't act that recklessly."

"…I could do that right now."

"You'll only be doing me a favor then. In fact, hate makes humans more passionate than anything else. Berne will revive even faster using the blood you spill."

Rousseau's poker face crumbled at that moment. Both annoyance and a deep sense of helplessness overwhelmed him. There was a strong sense of defeat. He was thinking about giving up everything and massacring everyone in the town, but-

"Oh, and I guess you haven't heard from your guild members yet?"

Rousseau had to return to reality. Seojin was right. His men still weren't reporting back to him.

He hurriedly opened the guild chat.

-Don't we have a response from the baron yet? Who's the one in charge?

-It's me, guild master. I've been trying, but…

-Quickly. Just the results.

Rousseau was irritated by his hesitation. However, the answer was even more hopeless

-The baron is avoiding us. His steward blocked us so we can't meet him.

-What are you talking about? Out with it!

-It's exactly as I said. The baron is refusing to meet us, we didn't have any other options other than to ask his steward to tell the lord.

Rousseau stopped. He felt as if he was suffocating.

'What the hell is this… what happened?'

Everything was beyond his understanding. It was almost surreal. Until yesterday, all he had to do was enjoy a glass of beer after work. It didn't make sense he had to deal with such a crisis right now.

"I wouldn't have done this if you had told me you'd compensate my losses. But why should I restrain myself when I can clearly see you're all acting like crooks?"

Rousseau clenched his jaw.

"Don't look down on the Ironbloods."

"Don't you feel embarrassed when you talk like that in a game?"

"Do you think Midgard is just a game?"

"So, you were trying to scam me in a place that you consider to be reality, huh? Wow, I guess I'm gonna have to double the punishment"

Rousseau had nothing else to say. There was nothing else he could do using words.

"You'll regret this."

That was his last stand, but Seojin crushed it immediately.

"Wouldn't it be better to run like hell and report back to your superiors instead of letting your ego talk? At least then you'll be scolded less."

Rousseau turned around, grinding his teeth. Sadly, Seojin was right.

"Phew."

Seojin sighed moments after Rousseau's shabby back disappeared,

'The most urgent thing has been taken care of, but I'll have to hurry.'

It was a matter of speed from now on. Seojin had the high ground here. However, if Robert intervened, it could always be overturned.

'But he won't butt in first if there's a risk, the barony doesn't mean much to Robert, anyway.'

That was why Seojin taunted Rousseau about reporting to his superiors. To Rousseau, this town was very meaningful. He'd lose everything if their plan went south.

'He might snap and go wild if he thinks he's at a dead end.'

But what about Robert?

'I might not be a difficult issue to handle for him, but he'd have no reason to take risks. This has to become a problem for the Ironblood Alliance. I'll be in trouble if this ends with Rousseau.'

Seojin took quick steps toward his destination. As soon as he arrived, Mac stood up and welcomed him.

"Who was that, sir?"

"A jealous prick who hates that Berne is doing well. Bring out everything you prepared. Let's get started now."