| Author: Starving Wind | Original Source: Joara | Word Count: 2696 characters |
| Translator: Anonymouss | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1636 words |
| Editor(s): Silva | ||
“Does that mean you became one through crafting the legendary item just then?” I asked, hearing that she had become a Grand Smith.
“That’s correct. It was an SSS tier quest, I guess you could see it as a quest that allows me to advance to that tier.”
“And the reward is?”
“That’s a secret.”
It certainly was understandable that others would not want to reveal every little thing about their business, even if they did join the guild I manage. I understood her reasoning as I also had things I was keeping secret as well.
“I see.”
“Hmm? Are you giving up on prying deeper?”
“You’re not going to tell me anyway.”
“Goodness, you really lack tenacity. I thought that top-ranked users needed to have great tenacity to reach that level, I guess I was wrong…”
Jasmine’s voice trailed off, looking disappointed since I wasn’t willing to follow along with her prank. Usually, when one probed for more information out of curiosity, the person in the who know would be even more playful and unwilling to tell them right away. In that case, the best thing was to pretend that you didn’t care about the secret at all and make the person holding the secret give up on teasing any longer.
“Tsk. If that’s the case, I’ll tell you. It’s not a huge secret anyways.”
I shouted in joy inside of my mind but my face was still showing expressions of disinterest. That’s right, I was using all my might to make sure that my facial muscles didn’t twitch.
“Looking at the new recipe list that I got just now, it says that I can add an underwear recipe as well.”
Blacksmiths who craft underwear, huh…
“I’m sure that in the crafting industry, there are dressmaking jobs as well. Shouldn’t those people be related to crafting such items? It could be a bug as well.”
“It seems so, right? I’ll have to ask the game manager about this later on.”
I was also curious about something else but I couldn’t bring myself to ask her first. I simply waited for her to wilfully and naturally spill the information herself.
“Looks like new types of mounts will be added as well.”
“Huh? I don’t think that kind of thing was ever mentioned in the game announcements or updates. How did you come to that conclusion?”
“Since I received a new recipe for a saddle.”
“Ah!”
I see. There was nothing more conclusive than that. Even without an update announcement, the new recipes had all but assured her claims to be true.
This information came straight from the only existing Grand Smith.
“Looking at this, it’s obvious that there’s definitely going to be an update. So why is there no announcement for it?”
As Jasmine wondered out loud, I told her what I knew.
“The server maintenance that’s coming up soon will be adding the ‘Transfer’ feature, after all. Perhaps they didn’t mention it in the announcement because it was included in that update?”
“Aha! That could be the case. Why didn’t I think of that?”
I smiled at Jasmine who was smacking her own head in realization.
[Ellie, that was you, right?]As though she had ‘sniffed’ me out, Katalina whispered to me with an accusation of the server-wide system message. I wanted to ask why she singled me out of everyone else, but since it was indeed the truth that I acquired it, I didn’t really have any intention to make any excuses.
[Yep.]In that case, answering cooly was the best option.
[Oh my god… You’re even being smug about it!! No way, to think that my pure innocent Ellie could have been this corrupted…]Hey, I don’t think I was really that innocent. Those words nearly came out of my mouth, but I predicted that she would yell back at me saying ‘how could you do this to me’ and such so I held back.
Naturally, that helped me suppress my urges to say that even more, and I was able to stop it completely.
[In any case, are the preparations going well?][Yeah. We’re raising the defense of every castle to their maximum potential, and the collection for various consumables as well as recruitment for mercenaries are all going well. Also, I was planning to put up some advertisements on not only the biggest websites but also on the mainstream media, do you perhaps know anyone working in the broadcasting industry, Ellie?]
Again, I was able to successfully change the subject right away as I knew Katalina’s weakness in being way too diligent in her work.
[I’ll try contacting the butler and see if I know anyone.][Thanks for tha… Hey! This wasn’t what I…]
Whoops, it would seem my plan was starting to fail. She was trying to remember what she was about to say. That would be a problem.
[I’ll pay for all the fees related to the broadcasting. I’ll also try and have it broadcasted on national TV channels if possible as well.][Really? If you’re willing to, then I’m grateful of course.]
I was the leader of the alliance guild anyways so it was honestly my responsibility. I needed to make sure to give it my best to fit into my role, and if we were to lose the war, my future life within Blue Sky would be absolutely depressing.
As I had declared all those things at my coronation ceremony, I had practically placed the honor of my family at risk, meaning that it was very risky for me to lose, but I never once thought we could lose anyway.
Just from the number of legendary items I possessed, I had four of them. On top of that, a Grand Smith had joined my cause so I wouldn’t need to worry about equipment repairs any longer. Plus, she would be a great help in the construction of the siege weapons and defenses.
[And a Grand Smith has joined our guild as well.][What!?]
Her voice was so loud that it made me worried if my eardrums were permanently damaged. Even attacks using soundwaves wouldn’t be as loud as that.
[Whoa… Lina, calm down, please. You’re going to deafen me.]I needed her to calm down so I practically begged her.
[Ah, sorry! I was seriously so surprised. But besides that, where did you get such a huge catch? It hasn’t even been three hours considering the time…]Katalina’s words trailed off. It seems like she was deep in thought for a moment. It was best not to bother her in this state.
[Jasmine. It was that user named Jasmine, right?]Her intuition was spot on, enough to make me think she truly deserved her title as the leader of a guild as big as Volcano. She came to a conclusion in record time.
I wanted to applaud her for her deduction ability, but regretfully she was somewhere far away.
[You could be a real detective.][Heh, it was nothing.]
Katalina became smug right away after hearing my compliment. I really couldn’t tell whether she was truly smart or just really simple.
[Well, I knew it. So she really crafted a legendary item?][You’re right.]
[After you gave 3 billion gold to her?]
[Yep.]
Her tone was too gentle that it made me feel worried.
[Ellie…][Hmm?]
I felt a chill run up my spine.
[Don’t you know that nowadays you can’t get gold even if you were to buy it with real money?][I… I didn’t know.]
[Currently, all the trading sites have completely run out of gold and even the little bit of gold that’s being traded in the markets are being bought diligently by each guild. Do you know why this is happening?]
[Because of the war of course, right?]
Just as I said it, I realized why Katalina was so angry at me. Currently, we were on the verge of the largest-scale war in the history of the game. Of course, the usual hunting methods would be forbidden, and the trading market would shrink. That being the case, it was inevitable for the distribution of gold to be reduced and cause temporary inflation. The longer the war lasted, the higher the inflation rate.
[You know very well, don’t you? Do you think you can easily buy gold during the war?]It was a question even a primary school kid would be able to answer easily. While I was wondering whether to answer her question or not, Katalina sent me another whisper message.
[Now then, how should I deal with our lord who had just spent an enormous amount of 3 billion gold without even consulting me at all?][B… But the user who owns the 3 billion gold is a member of our guild!]
I frantically tried to reason with her.
[That’s why I’m barely stopping myself from wanting to go to you right now and smack you in the face, Ellie. But in any case, does that Jasmine user have the intention to convert the gold she earned into real cash?]That’s right. It was up to Jasmine how to use all those gold. On top of that, she may use the price inflation to negotiate with me with the intention of earning some profits or even use it as bribery behind our back.
[I’ll try to persuade her.][Of course. You once said you should always be mindful of your words, right?]
She’s got a great memory as well.
[Wait a minute. Ellie, you tell me the truth. How much money do you have in case of emergency?][!!!!]1
