Chapter 245: Wolf War Outpost / Inevitable Truth Punch Part 2
Chapter 245: Wolf War Outpost / Inevitable Truth Punch Part 2
Translator: Kurehashi Aiko
No matter to who the equipment belonged before the PK took place, after the fact the owner of every single piece was none other than Kyogoku. And truth to be told, there was no rule that state that she has to agree to give the equipment back to its original owners. So technically, it was an act of mercy that Kyogoku was “willing” to make towards the Black Wolves. Like a generous god. At least…… that’s how it should normally be.
However, if people were willing to give up the things they have stolen and give them back to their respective owners just because they demanded it, the world would be much better place than it is now.
「Uwah, amazing. Somehow, every single word that was said makes me feel like I want to punch someone straight to the face.」
「Kyo-Timate…… She looks like a really talented person…… But she is without a doubt the weakest amongst the Four Heavenly Kings……」
「Hey, if you don’t mind, I prefer to be called the Demon King, not Heavenly King.」
「Then I guess since I am one of the Heavenly Kings myself, that would make me the one of the formation that got converted into the light side.」
「You can often see a character archetype like that nowadays, but I do not think that double crossing is a good way of handling such characters. No, impostors, on the other hand…… Totally different story. They are still the enemy, but it makes you feel a little bit more sympathetic towards them.」
「I get it, but that sounds really awkward and not to mention that it is all over the god damn place.」
「Did you know? There are games in the stories of which we have one of the weakest character turn on the party and become super badass and op, even killing his/her former comrades. Then even their voice and abilities change all of a sudden. Is it not totally annoying?」
「No matter how you try to put it, that sounds just like a sh*tty game. And a sh*tty game of a worst kind, at that.」
No, that kind of character really is like taken straight out of a sh*tty game, but I cannot get myself rid of the feeling that it would be someone that you would wish that they would try their best just a little bit harder…… at least if it was a character that you would travel alongside of for a considerable amount of time. It’s a trope as old as time in video games.
When it comes to the story, one would always wonder if it is okay for the traitor to be happy and would it be okay to root for them. But then they come and do something utterly stupid and despicable, something that makes you want to forget about all that and just bash their face in.
「Saiga-san!? Why do we even have to do what these assholes tell us!?」
Oho, what’s this now? Crying to your mama Saiga-100? If you are turning towards that kind of option, this means that you have come to terms that Kyo-Timate is right and that you cannot argue with her.
But have you already forgotten about something? Saiga-100 was intending to buy those items back from the very beginning. Therefore, if she was ready to pay the price, then no matter how much you try to cry about it, there is no way that you are getting them back for free.
The least you could do here was to buy those items back without any complaints. You should really be grateful that we did not went to sell those items to other guilds right away. …… But that actually got me a little bit curious, so I might as well ask Kyo-Timate about it.
「Incidentally, how much equipment di you manage to snatch during that PK action of yours?」
「Hmm, I’m not sure about the actual amount, but when I took them all to the NPC appraiser, they told me they would net me around fourteen million mani total.」
So, if you were to add the twenty percent to that as interest, that would give us about seventeen million mani.
「Oh, and sorry in advance for that, but I should probably mention that we want to get the whole sum in one payment. No installments or anything like that.」
「What are you, a demon?」
The only way of getting a nice sum of money in this game is either to defeat a tremendously strong monsters on your own, or to collect them bit by bit.
Well there is also an exception to this rule, a secret method of amassing a literal mountain load of money that amounts to twenty million mani, but…… There is no way that someone for now would be able to get it all at once.
「Oh well, since none of those items look to be Unique Weapon at first glance, tell you what: why don’t we give them back to you for free, so that we might start from scratch?」
With that being said, it was more or less like tossing the gauntlet to your opponent.
Normally, when humans are getting abused they react with anger. But there is one more way to get them more riled up and more fuming than anything else: that is to take pity on them. It hurts one’s pride more than anything else, even if one might deny that and think it is not like that in the least.
「………!!!」
「Ah, of course if it is revenge that you want we are fine with it, but maybe we could discuss that after this thing here is done, okay?」
I could not complain if someone suddenly decided to issue a challenge like that towards me, but judging from the look on Pencilgton’s face, she must have already anticipated such turn of events. Just how much ahead were her plans going, I wonder?
Anyways, I am sure that she must have gotten the testimony from someone of the Black Wolves about Kyogoku’s actions beforehand. The question was now: what was she intending to do about it? Mark Kyogoku as guilty? Or maybe try to turn the situation around?
「Now, now, Kyogoku-chan. The facts speak for themselves that you are clearly in the wrong here. So how about giving away what you have stolen?」
「Fufufu…… If the Guild Master says so, I am not going to complain. After all, I am not a devil or a demon. I can back off just a little bit.」
Should we really give the items away for free and pretend to be the good guys who wanted to make up for our mistakes? Or should we still claim that there is some legitimacy to our claim of those items? …… No, it is best not to think about it at all. My humanity is going to get contaminated that way.
「You can pay us in installments, I guess.」
「So that what it’s going to be about!?」
I almost happened to scream that out loud. But is that really how you want to make up? Not reducing the price, but rather allowing them to pay it fully in installments!?
But I could not bring that up here, and the reason for that was because it was Kyo-Timate’s fault to being with, so she needed to handle it. Basically, Black Wolves had two choices in front of them: to accept the crappy price we put on their items and pay it fully, or to back away and receive nothing. And it could be felt that that Black Wolves were really uncomfortable with the fact that a small guild like ours managed to push them into a corner like that. However, right about now the wind was blowing in our direction, so we had to utilize that opportunity fully.
If you want to be a good model, PKer, or professional gamer, you need to have your skin really thick. Otherwise there would be no way for you to survive in a brutal and vas world like ours.
So it could be said that out of the three main points of this meeting that Pencilgton predicted, one was a sure win for us.
But one false move here would spell a disaster for us, because with enough information given to them, Black Wolves would have devoured Kyo-Timate and leave nothing left. That is the reason why they were so frustrated right now, because the roles of the victim and the criminal right now were reversed in our favor, and there was nothing they could possibly do about it.
Now, here is where the real battle starts.
「W-With that business being taken care of…… Let us move towards the next point of this meeting.」
To that, Pencilgton laughs quietly knowing that it was her win, and Saiga-100 squints her eyes in apparent frustration, realizing that there was nothing she could have done to turn this matter around.
Now, onto the next point in the agenda…… But before that.
「Ahh…… Hello there.」
「…… Umm…… Sorry for…… being late……」
Upon entering the room in a really awkward fashion, I said my greetings to the newly arrived Rei.