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“I feel as if I am surrounded by a field of flowers, having the most beautiful ladies of Blue Sky here with me.”
“You are too kind.”

Having been guided to the home office, Terror sat on the seat that had been prepared for him and dished out compliments, while I received them humbly.

“Though I did see you from afar, you really are beautiful.”
“Fufu, thank you but I assume that you haven’t come here just for my looks.”

Other women would have felt happy from constantly receiving praise but I didn’t feel that way. For an average guy to hear that they were cute and beautiful would make them feel like they were being cursed after all.

Of course, my situation was a bit unique but I still didn’t like it nevertheless.

“Haha… it seems I was blabbering on for too long.”

You’re right. Was what I wanted to say but it felt too direct and blunt, so I simply kept quiet and waited for his next words. He was the leader of a giant guild, the ‘Empire’ after all, for him to visit me in an unofficial setting meant that he probably had something to suggest or request from me.

In the current situation, the Empire guild weighed the heaviest on my mind, so I couldn’t help but feel on edge.

In this stalemate of power between our alliance and our enemies, the Empire guild had plenty of power to join and tilt the odds to our favor. Of course, even if they were to join the enemy’s side it wouldn’t mean that we would be massively disadvantaged but it certainly would make the war more difficult for us.

“I’ve been agonizing over this for a long time now. As you know, I am the 4th highest level ranked user but I reached this point through great business deals. Most people would say that I had leveled my character through being carried in hunts and farming my experience points.

And because of that, I’ve watched all wars and battles through the cold calculative way of a businessman rather than through a top ranking user. Though currently, the Camelot alliance is in a predominant position, if the two enemy forces that you are currently dealing with were to combine their forces, the balance would be slightly tilted against you.”
“I admit that would be the case.”

As his analysis was on point without any errors, I replied while nodding my head. Katalina, who was next to me, looked annoyed and wanted to say something, but Esther stopped her before she did.

“Just as I thought, you are very honest indeed. You are the kind that doesn’t get along well with a peddler like me.”

A peddler? Honestly speaking, in Korea there had been a time in the past where the economy was in turmoil due to business dealers habitually cornering and manipulating the stock market which I had experienced, so I didn’t have a particularly positive impression of businessmen.

It was also due to the fact that I had fallen for a scam myself and lost quite a significant amount of gold. But now it was different. I had more power in terms of wealth than those merchants, so I had absolute control over the situation this time. Perhaps because I already knew that to be the case, the terrible impression I had on them was much more diluted at this point.

“Are you wishing to set up negotiations with us?”

I asked his intentions for this conversation.

I had judged that they may be wishing to negotiate with us in order to raise their value above other guilds that they were competing with.

In reality, this war that was constantly growing longer wasn’t good for Camelot as well. I needed to end this war as soon as possible.

If the Empire guild were to join our forces then that would be the best-case scenario.

But… I was sure that he would suggest it with some conditions.

“No, actually. But I wish to ask you a few questions. Will you be able to answer them?”

A few questions huh? As long as he didn’t give any seriously problematic questions, it wouldn’t be too difficult to answer them. I decided that I’ll at least hear him out.

“I will answer them but as long as it’s something I can answer.”
“Thank you.”

Though I put on some limitations, Terror didn’t look too concerned as he nodded his head.

“Then I’ll go ahead with the questions now. Are you planning for the unification of the entire server?”

His very first question was already pretty serious. But this was already a well-known secret anyways so I answered without much problem.

“That’s right.”
“Okay. Then let me ask you again. Are you planning to dominate and control the entire server? Or to reign over it but not control?”
“The latter.”

Even if the entire server became unified, I didn’t have any plan to control it directly anyways. Though I obviously knew how powerful centralized power and dominance over everything could be, I knew that I wasn’t someone that was fit to be a great monarch to rule over everyone. If that was the case, I believed it would be correct for me to simply be a ruler in name and position only, so I answered him without hesitating.
“By saying that, is it fine for me to assume that you will be letting each of the guilds under the alliance have their own ruling and control over themselves?”
“That’s right.”

Even without my answer, he would have seen it to be the case by looking at the Volcano, Sapphire and Shining guilds that were all under the alliance. But I knew that he was asking after I had unified the entire server.

“If that’s the case, may I dare ask what vision you have in mind for the Camelot alliance?”
“Just like the current England, I do not wish for an England server that’s unified into a single alliance. I wish for United Kingdoms. To acknowledge each vested rights, protect the medium to small-sized guilds, and share the profits to all. There is nothing else I wish for except that. But… for the enemies that won’t surrender to us so easily, we wouldn’t be able to do that for them as well.”

That’s right. Even if I could be tolerant to allies, I had to be violent towards enemies. Though I had promised to let them keep their vested rights and profits, as a guild I needed to create profit somehow and that was something that the enemies had.

The existing vested rights will only apply to forces that were within the Camelot alliance. And only to those enemy forces that surrendered to us without retaliation. I didn’t wish to extend my generosity to those that would still stand against us.

“So you are looking into the future of ‘Episode 2’?”
“I guess I can’t say I’m not, can I?”

I smiled. That’s right. England was a small country. If the server unification were to be completed, then Blue Sky would prepare for a new update, and a massive one at that.

The signs were already there since their stock prices skyrocketed. Small details from the Blue Sky developer company were leaked into the financial sector. It was information that was easy to obtain for anyone who had significant power in the server.

Around when this war in England was over, each country around the world would begin their war to unify their server under one alliance. But for England who had already entered a stable period, it would create a wider gap than those servers which were still in a period of war.

“That’s good to hear. I was already determined to do this before I came here, but now I can join your cause with a happy heart.”

All right. The best-case scenario was now going to be established.

“Then…”

Even though I knew it to be true, I slyly dragged my words trying to get a proper answer.

“From today forward, the Empire guild shall be a part of the Camelot guild alliance.”

Terror stood up from his seat and demonstrated a courtesy, kneeling on the ground in front of me. I didn’t necessarily need this performance of his but it was true that I did feel good about it.

“That’s good to hear. In the name of the lord of the Camelot Alliance, I welcome you to our guild.”
“Welcome to our alliance, Mr. Terror.”
“Nice of you to join us.”

With me welcoming the Emperor guild to our alliance, Katalina and Esther in turn shook hands with Terror. He stood up with a cheerful smile and received their handshake.

Finally, it was my turn and I stretched out my hand towards him. Soon, he grasped my hand and gave it a firm handshake.

“I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to make a decision like this though.”

I asked as I shook hands with Terror. He’s the guild leader of one of the top 8 guilds in the server, so why would he lower himself to joining our alliance and becoming labeled as a serving guild? Considering his level of pride, it would make more sense for him to join the enemy forces who would still treat his guild with equal respect.

“Actually, my decision to join had solidified only when I had arrived here but ultimately, the reason why I came here was because of my daughter.”
“Your daughter, you say?”
“Yes, haha. It’s actually the second time I’m meeting you, Miss Artoria. You probably don’t recognize me since I’m not a player that uses Real Mode.”

His ears definitely didn’t have any earrings on them.

“I am not sure whether you’ll recognize the name Daniel but my daughter’s name may ring a bell.”

Considering that he was in his late 30s, his daughter would be around mid to early teens. Of course, that was also only assuming that he had married at an early age.

And there was only one memory in my mind of meeting a girl of that age.

“Is her name perhaps Emilia?¹”

As I spoke carefully of the name that popped up in my mind, Terror laughed as he spoke.

“Yes, I am her father.”²

1. Robinxen: Wait she’s actually plot relevant…?!
2. Robinxen: DADADADADADADAAAADADADADAAAA…. oh wait wrong franchise…