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“In… Inkseason, do you know anything about the Shadow Overlord?” If he was a player from the Dark Faction, he might have been able to learn something about it.

“No… Forget the Overlord. The thing I’ve had the most contact with these past few days has been Skeleton Soldiers. The next level up is Skeleton Mages. I’m starting to suspect that if I stay here too long, even my sense of aesthetics will become warped.”

“All right…” It seemed unlikely that they would be able to get any useful information from him.

Once they had walked far enough, Zane, Starry, and Windblossom crushed their Return Scrolls.

Inkseason waved at them. “I’ll see you off this far. I’m staying in Silent Night City after this, so I’ll wait for your good news!”

***

The scenery shifted, and the three of them had already appeared in Wynwater City. It was completely different from the bustling scene they had seen before. Since there were no movements from the NPCs, quite a few people had directly teleported to other cities.

After all, Silverglow City from the previous event had already served as a warning.

“Windblossom, are you planning to teleport to another city first to farm points, or…?” Zane asked.

“The Class Guidance Halls,” she replied decisively.

It seemed their thoughts were the same.

“Then I’ll go with you,” Starry said.
“Mm.” She nodded.
“I’m not going to the Class Guidance Halls. I have to make a trip to the General’s Residence.”
“You…? The people inside won’t see you, will they? I remember someone on the forums saying that even a player with more than 300 Reputation Points wasn’t allowed in.”
“Ahem, I have my own way.” Zane deliberately kept her in suspense.
“So mysterious…” Windblossom gave him a puzzled look.

***

There were many suspicious aspects to this siege, and there were still plenty of things that needed to be figured out. They couldn’t simply rush out to attack the city without knowing what was going on.

The quickest way was naturally to ask Elna. Of course, asking Sheen was another option. Doing both at the same time would be even more efficient.

Five minutes later.

Looking at the tightly shut doors of the Class Guidance Halls, Windblossom’s small mouth fell slightly open. She seemed to want to say something, but eventually let out a sigh.

“How about… we go find your master and see?” Starry tentatively suggested.
“Him… I have no way of contacting him on my own.”
“…”

*So she’s in the same predicament as us!*

Meanwhile, there was only a single guard stationed at the entrance of the General’s Residence. The courtyard beyond was completely silent, making it seem as though hardly anyone was around.

*Guess I’ll ask about the situation with my main body first.*

Zane walked over casually and patted the guard on the shoulder.

“Brother, why is it so quiet inside the residence?”

“Snore… snore… snore… ZZZZZ.”

“…”

*Damn, is he really that negligent?*

Zane vigorously shook him by both shoulders.

The guard awoke with a start, his eyes widening as if he had suddenly remembered his duty. “Who! Who is it?!”

“Nobody. I’m just an adventurer passing by.” Zane took two steps back to show some courtesy.

“An adventurer…? Unauthorized personnel aren’t allowed near here.”

“I’m a warrior who performed exceptionally during the last defense of the city. Does that still not qualify me?”

After hearing this, the guard looked him up and down before nodding. “You certainly are a brave adventurer… However, the General instructed me that no one is allowed to enter, no matter who they are. I’m sorry.”

“Is that so…” Since he was only following orders, then… Zane pulled a bag of gold coins from his inventory. There were a full 500 coins inside.

“Mr. Guard, what do you think of this…?” Zane raised an eyebrow. With this sort of thing, some matters were better understood without being spoken aloud.

Unexpectedly, the guard snorted and looked at him as though he were some penniless beggar. “Even if I’m only a gatekeeper, I know my responsibilities. Bribery is out of the question! Besides, this little bit of money wouldn’t even be enough for you to buy yourself a few drinks.”

In other words, he didn’t have enough money.

“…” This NPC was far too human-like. Zane nearly couldn’t resist attacking him.

*Calm down… Calm down.*

As expected, he would have to use the old method after all. Zane found a secluded corner and activated Shapeshift. The long-absent golden-haired girl made her appearance once again!

After circling back, he should be able to enter openly this time.

Zane swaggered into the guard’s field of vision. The moment he saw her, the guard exclaimed in surprise, “Miss!? You’re back already?”

*Hmm? Does that mean Elna isn’t here?*

“Uh… yes, I’m back.” Zane nodded.

“That’s wonderful… Something major happened while you were away. The other cities have already dispatched their troops toward Flowerdance City, but Wynwater City is the only one that has yet to make a move. Lord Kurei is about to buckle under the pressure!” the guard said nervously before peeking behind Zane.

“Miss, didn’t the General return with you?”
“He… has something to take care of. More importantly, tell me what happened first.”
“Of course! It went like this…”

***

The guard led Zane to the City Lord’s Hall near the North City Gate, which was where matters were discussed and handled during wartime. There was no way players could enter this place, at least not for the time being.

Along the way, the guard provided him with quite a bit of information. First of all, Elna and Aegis had already left Wynwater City yesterday. It seemed they had gone to the Imperial Capital.

After they left, several unfamiliar officials came to inform Kurei, Aegis’ new deputy, that Wynwater City needed to make preparations as soon as possible.

Kurei had been completely bewildered, but thinking that the General should have already made arrangements, he had hastily agreed. However, after hearing that the other cities had dispatched their troops, he was left utterly dumbfounded.

“Miss! You’re back!? Then… where is the General now?” The moment he saw Zane, he became so excited that he nearly jumped to his feet.

“He… probably won’t be back that soon.”
“That’s fine. Miss, take me to find him. This matter can’t be delayed!”
“What I mean is… he hasn’t come back yet.”

**Bang.**

Kurei slumped back into his seat, utterly dejected. “It’s over, it’s over…” he muttered, scratching his head anxiously. “I’m going to delay something important. If the General doesn’t return soon, I’ll have to lead the city defenders out myself.”

“Don’t panic. You can tell me whatever the matter is, just the same.” Zane confidently patted his flat chest.

“Miss, can you contact the General?” Yet he completely ignored what he had just said.

*Will you at least listen to me?!*

“I’m afraid not…”

“…” Kurei buried his head in his hands, looking utterly defeated. After a moment, he suddenly stood up. “No choice… I’ll have to do it myself!”

“At least tell me what’s going on!!”

***

An hour later. Half of the defenders stationed throughout Wynwater City had been mobilized and sent to assemble at the East Gate.

Zane followed Kurei around as they requisitioned troops from one location to another, though he actually had no desire to be involved. However, the deputy claimed that with the Miss present, calling up the troops would carry greater authority.

Naturally, such a massive movement of troops could not escape the notice of the players who remained in the city. It turned out that the NPCs had not given up on dispatching troops after all. Wynwater City could still be saved!

Well… after seeing that the NPC commander leading the troops was merely an Epic-rank deputy, at least half of the players immediately teleported to other cities.

*You’ve got to be kidding. Are we supposed to follow this guy to our deaths?*

Most of the others stayed because they had seen Elna here.

“Miss, thanks to you, I’ve already managed to gather 3,000 excellent soldiers!”

“You’ve worked hard, you’ve worked hard…” Zane nodded awkwardly. At this point, even slipping away had become inconvenient.

According to Kurei, they had to reach the western side of Flowerdance City sometime today and rendezvous with the troops from Thousand Crag City. Leaving now was already cutting it very close.