Chapter 44 044

"I think you can…"

"I cannot. That is beyond my authority."

"You told him you have full authority."

"Not all, but most. Giving out rank A mercenary tablets is not one of them."

Rachael's voice was firm. She was arguing with Seojin as Jeriel stood like furniture behind him.

"Didn't you say it exceeded way more than the criteria for rank B?"

"Performance accumulates…"

"So, you want me to do more in order to receive rank A?"

"That's correct."

"And the result should be worthy of rank B. Cutting corners won't be much help, am I right?"

"It's as you say."

Rachael decided to be shameless. She'd rather curb her ego and admit she was not the boss than lose her safe, steady job.

'Why did I say that?!'

She regretted her words deeply. The problem was that she admired what Seojin did a bit too much and said he'd easily go to rank B or beyond. Seojin was pushing her relentlessly now that he had gotten the chance.

"You're saying that only the Commander can choose whom to promote to rank A, right?"

"That's right."

"When will he return?"

"The schedule is uncertain."

"So, you're telling me to wait until then… because you have no right to do so no matter what I achieve."

"I'm sorry, I ask for your understanding."

Rachael made sure that she left no room for negotiation, as it was beyond her authority in the first place. However, Seojin was not willing to give up either.

"I'm pretty sure a guy like him would have prepared protocols for his absence."

"That's my role."

"Don't you have any protocols for situations outside of your authority?"

"We do not."

"We can use past records as a guideline in that case. I heard that there was a case in which a rank C mercenary jumped to rank A, am I wrong?"

Rachael paused for the first time since they started their conversation.

"There is."

"What happened back then?"

"I cannot say."

"No need for the details, how did that person do compared to what I did here?"

"It's beyond my judgment."

Rachael had found her pace again, she had to maintain that attitude no matter what Seojin asked or demanded. She didn't know, she couldn't tell, she couldn't decide.

"Okay, then. enough about my request. I heard that the performance of vigilance committee here is evaluated by the output of the adventurer's they manage. Is that correct?"

"Only if the vigilance committee categorized and recommended the right request for each mercenary."

It was simple. Adventurers took care of all the affairs in Erzebet. Naturally, numerous requests were waiting for the adventurers at the headquarters, they would be overwhelmed if all the requests flowed in without any filter.

'That's where the vigilance committee comes in.'

It was like matchmaking the best human resources to each job, and the vigilance committee received a bonus whenever they did well.

"Regarding the case mentioned before, what kind of reward did the handler get?"

"That's…" Rachael finched, "…not something I can tell you."

Her calm expression cracked as her defense was shaken, revealing her true feelings.

"She's eager to make it to the top, that's why she made a deal with the alchemists in the first place. She shows different attitudes depending on how good the adventurer is."

This was Jeriel's assessment of her. The reward officer was more highly ranked than the other members of the vigilance committee. Being involved with compensation for requests meant she had a lot of authority in the first place. She couldn't have climbed up to that spot just by pure luck.

"Fortunately, I already know the story, he became the Commander."

"That was because the adventurer he handled had made steady progress."

"That's right. He made an excellent decision, and the result was successful. What kind of person was the adventurer? Do you think you'd have promoted the adventurer too, if you were in his shoes?"

"…"

Rachael didn't answer, it didn't matter how the adventurer in front of her had found out about it.

'That old goat must have told him.'

However, his intentions were clear. As the adventurer said, the man who raised that adventurer to his current position was not so great. Shamir, the current commander of the vigilance committee, took a risk and made a gamble.

"I don't like taking risks."

"You'll have to take them if you want to reach the top."

"You'll only lose what you already have if you take blind risks to feed your greed."

"So, that's a matter of me raising the probability so that it's no longer a risk for you."

Rachael was coward as much as she was ambitious, and it was hard to move her with mere provocation.

"There is a town called Berne in the Bolton Barony, I suggest you find out what happened there over the last two months."

"Baron Bolton has nothing to do with Erzebet."

"I just thought you needed the conviction to take a risk."

That was what Rachael needed. At this point, that was necessary to convince her to take risks. Seojin stood up as if he had nothing to lose.

"You can look into it first, then contact me through Jeriel. I'll be waiting."

* * *

Outside the vigilance committee HQ, on their way back.

"Will that be enough?" Jeriel asked.

"Of course," Seojin replied calmly.

Rachael was a woman of ambition, she would be willing to take a risk if it was reasonable.

'She'll call me as soon as she finds out what happened in Berne. Her meticulous character will definitely help this time.'

The more she found out, the stronger her confidence in Seojin would become.

'The whole quest is on hold until I get the call.'

He wasn't planning to do any more quests as there was no guarantee there'd be any more special dungeons like the Black Forest. Rachael might lose her confidence in him if his output was simply decent, not tremendous. Seojin opened the community window and proceeded with his next task.

Anti-Mainstream here. I'll take a break from the game for a while. I can't play the game while people paparazzi me everywhere for their own personal gain. In the end…

Of course, it was a lie, but at least it would hold off his stalkers, even if it was for a brief period.

'It's going to be uncomfortable for my adoring fans too.'

Many players had already benefited from Seojin's new guide. Those who followed Seojin wouldn't be treated nicely if he said he'd quit the game because of them.

Thread posted.

The view count exploded as soon as he posted. Seojin was drawing the biggest amount of attention right now thanks to what happened today, so it seemed to be the right time to borrow the power of public opinion.

'It's not that big, but accumulating these kinds of events will bring me to the decisive moment.'

People would create their own perceptions of Seojin as he revealed himself little by little. Good PR like this would make people hesitant to follow him, or even lead them to stop other people from doing it.

'Rachel should be contacting me later… should I look for some clues then? Or should I—'

Mr. Seojin! Are you really taking a break from the game?

Just as he was thinking his next course of action, a message arrived from BunnyRabbit. He could sense the urgency from the exclamation mark. Seojin snorted and purposely replied a little bit later.

Why?

Can I call you?

I'm busy though… nevermind, I'll call you.

He counted to two before calling to give her the impression that he was finishing something off.

Mr. Seojin!

Bunny's voice was more urgent than ever before.

"Yes?"

-Do you really mean that? About keeping your distance from the game for a while. You're joking, right?

"I'm not…"

-What… but, why? Is it really because of that

"Normal players? No way, I like them following me, I feel like I'm a celebrity. The thing is…" Seojin suddenly lowered his voice, "Someone's tailing me. It could be a rogue or someone else, and I can't spot him by myself."

-A mole… is it the Ironbloods?"

"That too."

-From another guild, then?

"Hmm."

Seojin sighed intentionally to deliver a certain impression, as if he wasn't sure if he could talk about it. BunnyRabbit finally lost her patience.

-What is it? I might be able to help you, so just tell me…

"You told me you're from the Strategic Planning Department, right?"

-What? Yes, my department?

"I think it's one of your manager's men, didn't you know?"

She probably didn't know. Seojin was sure of that, and he was right.

-…Are you sure it's not me?

"No, it's not you… you really didn't know?"

-No way. The manager told me that it's a secret project… that nobody else in our department knew about it."

"You said you're just an employee, right?"

-I'm an employee, but it was Team Leader Kim who ordered…

Bunny's voice gradually faded out as she lost confidence. Seojin grinned and nailed the lid to the coffin.

"He just contacted you, right? That team lead or whoever…"

-…Yes

"I just uploaded that post, yet they called you up real quick. Looks like your team lead has a lot of free time, how else could they be monitoring the community page 24/7?"

"That's…

BunnyRabbit knew that it couldn't be, the conclusion was simple.

-Someone else knows about this… besides me.

"It turns out this isn't as secretive as you think. They just didn't tell you."

-…

"Tell your TL to stop stalking me and that I can't work with your department if you guys keep acting like this."

It wasn't a joke. Seojin was being aggressive and BunnyRabbit was even more intimidated.

-Well, I-I…."

"Oh, you're an exception, so don't need to worry. We're companions, I said that I won't work with your company, not you. You'll keep my secret as my friend, right?"

-…Sure, I will."

"Did you see any results yet? From your blacksmithing work."

-That's, uh, not yet."

"Please contact your company first, and contact me when you see progress."

BunnyRabbit seemed to be lost in thought as she hung up.

'I'm sure this is out of the blue for her. She'll have to think about her company and our relationship. She must be thinking that one day, she'll have to choose between the two.'

She had an idea about the hidden class and she might even be able to make more money than her annual salary if things turned out well. However, considering the risk of failure, it was still safer to do what her boss told her.

'I bet she's feeling a bit of shame too. Her so-called secret project was not so secret after all.'

The corporation would give him an answer in no time, and then he could decide how to deal with BunnyRabbit… for the time being.

"Oh, did you get the call already?"

"She was getting impatient, it seemed like she found out what you were made of."

Seojin had to get the irregular requests from Rachael first.