Who to side with?
Lina calms herself after she daydreams. What am I? A silly teenager that keeps daydreaming?
She is not against on that though, but the key to success is to force oneself to struggle to achieve one's dream.
She stands up and jumps towards the big chunk of rock.
Her actions caught the attention of her members. Some members who were able to witness it was mesmerized by her slender and silky legs and thighs that poked out from her short skirt.
As an assassin, she prefers to move freely and blend with her surroundings to use her job class to the fullest extent. But rather than wearing the tight silky pants, she decided to wear a skirt. For her, she can move freely and without too much restraint. Although the pants are better, it's not for her.
She is aware that people were looking and peeking at her slender legs. But she didn't care much. She was after all a supermodel in real life. She is used to the leering stare of men of and same gender.
"Okay, everyone. You have read it yourself. And you see Sally and our members were somehow able to participate in the possible major events. So what are we waiting for? Let's get going. If the chaos was prolonged, we might have a chance to get some quests. If we were lucky, we might be able to trigger a hard quest and plenty of party quests, after all this chaos may be a major event!"
The members of Sky Heaven agreed and shouted in unison.
"Ignore every monster! Do not use Taunt Skill okay? This is to save time so we can arrive in West Town more quicker. The only time you will retaliate is when their attack is about to reach you!"
With that, Sky Heaven continues their journey with so much vigor and excitement. Drooling over the possibility of getting a quest and at the same time, drooling over their Guild Leader's legs.
With this enthusiasm, Lina deduces they will arrive in West Town within 1 hour.
Although she was happy about this turn of events, worries start growing in her heart. She was worried for Sally.
"Please, be safe Sally."
She softly mutters and continues her running.
Meanwhile, inside the Town Hall.
Gerard is currently hiding behind Mel.
They were busy preparing and cooking lunch when suddenly a powerful explosion occurred! Based on Mel's deduction, the explosion occurred in the Count's office.
Fortunately for them, the Kitchen is on the other side of the Town Hall, far from the Count's office.
When he asked Mel why it is happening, Mel shrugged his shoulder but give his opinion.
Based on his opinion, the Town Chief is currently having a beef with Count Alvis. He can feel the tension between the two earlier. But he did not expect that tension will escalate to using violence and assassinating the Count.
Meanwhile, Gerard was shocked that Mel was able to sense the tension between the Town Chief Rook and Count Alvis.
When he met the two earlier, he did not even feel anything off about the two.
He clicked his tongue. "Give it to the Elite like him." Although Mel's level is low compared to Kurosawa, he still can be considered an Elite.
"What do we do now?"
Mel's expression is dark as he gives his response. "If we stay here, we will be considered as collateral damage. The best option is to leave immediately."
That is the obvious question, but somehow, he is not satisfied with Mel's plan. So he voiced his own opinion.
"Why not help them?"
Mel turns around with furrowed brows. "And what suggest you want me to do? I am just a mere owner of an Inn and my job is Chef. I am no fighter."
"But didn't you suggest you will teach me how to properly fight to defend myself?"
"The utmost I can teach you is the basics of swordsmanship so you can at least defend yourself when the time comes. Compared to knights, I will only shame myself in front of them."
"But aren't you curious and worried at the same time? This chaos will impact everyone in the Town. It might drastically change something within the town that will affect our way of living."
Mel stares at Gerard and paused for a while.
"I know. The Capital City will surely take the matter into their hands. That will result in changes in the Town."
Even me is worried about that! Mel wants to say as well but he holds himself down. He is after all keeping a secret that is dangerous and putting their life at stake if exposed.
As a Captain in his previous job and a secret member of a Royal Family, his natural instinct to help is kicking. But he didn't know who is at fault and who is innocent.
Is he going to side with the Count or the Town Chief?
He knew the Count since he was in his youth but he is somehow warry of him during his active days as a Captain.
How about the Town Chief? Rook is kind and always there to help his constituents and the citizens of West Town. And he cannot find any other reason why the beef between the Count and Town Chief sparked.
What he knows is that Rook held his position as town chief for more than a decade now and it will not be possible if not for Count Alvis.
Now, the question is. What is the reason behind this?
Mel clicks his tongue as his old habits start to kick in. This is bad, my habit during my active days in the military is kicking in. I have to stop this one way or another. Or else, my secret will be found out.
And he cannot let it happen, with just a single mistake, Count Alvis might figure out who he really is.
So his secret takes precedence over anything else. But his worry is the time when the delegation from Capital City arrived. There is a low chance of that man coming over but the possibility that man will come over is not zero as well.
Mel return to reality when Gerard called out to him.
"Master! Many innocent people will die if we don't help them. If you do not want to side on either side, let's at least help the innocent people that were caught in their fight!"
This brat is right. Why am I hesitating for? It is not that I'll help or choose any side. What I need to do is to help the people get out of this chaos.
"Let's go! Stick close to me! When I tell you to run, just run. Don't do anything stupid."
Gerard nodded his head with seriousness and the duo started to set out to help the people caught in this fight.
In the hallway, not far away from the Kitchen, the two factions of knights and some servants were seen lying with their cold bodies. Blood is splattered everywhere, on the walls and on the ground.
It seems the faction started murdering each other and the servant as collateral damage when the explosions occurred. And as of now, small explosions continue to reverberate.
It is easy to figure out who first attacks the other. It is without a doubt the faction from the Town Chief, Rook.
After a minute of walking, they found some wounded servants and knights from Count Alvis and help them to stand up. And support them, leading them to the door that will lead them outside.
But on the way, they were sighted by the knights from the faction of the Town Chief. Seeing them carrying the knights from Count Alvis, they attack them relentlessly without minding the servant just near them.
Mel is quick to take action. He safely drops the knight he is supporting and draws the sword on its waist.
He successfully blocked the attack from the knight and push the knight away from him.
"Payne! Go, take the wounded outside. I can take care of this!" He shouted while continuously blocking the evading the attack thrown at him.
Gerard paused for a while and darted his gaze from Mel to the three knights trying their best to kill the latter.
He watched them fighting and Gerard cannot help but be amazed. Their swordsmanship is very different compared to players who practice swordsmanship in real life and use it in this game.
The way the knights aim, plunge, and slash their swords at Mel is very fluid.
Gerard is not a master in swordsmanship but he takes a couple of classes to help himself to fight in the virtual game he owns. But he can tell in that instant the battle going on in front of him is top-class.
One of the knights performs a skill that every swordsman in this game knows. [Skills: Fury] A high-level skill that will be learned when reaching Level 10.
Fury is like an illusion where the number of swords suddenly increased in numbers while swinging the sword. But in reality, the swordsman uses a lot of MP to support his arms, moving the swords back and forth or from side to side while suspended or on the axis. Giving the illusion to the naked eye.
Mel takes a defensive stance and exudes an aura of an experienced warrior.
The two knights were taken aback by his stance. Gerard didn't know why but he saw their eyes suddenly express a trace of fear.
But the knight who uses the [Skill: Fury] didn't mind as he charged toward Mel.
On the other hand, Mel waited for the knight to get close before swinging his swords and made a contact with the knight's sword which produce the deafening sound of two colliding metals.
The knight was shocked.
"H-how…" He uttered before Mel kicked him which sent him away and collide with the wall rendering him unconscious.
"You! You're the Chef that Chief Rook recruited and a citizen of this Town. Why are you helping those disgusting knights?!"
"And how you were able to easily block the [Skill: Fury] with just a swing of your sword! Who are you?"
The knights agitatedly shouted.
Gerard was not shocked but amazed. No wonder he reached this height of fighting skills. And at the same time, he agreed with the knights before him who are we're now slowly backing away. For them, blocking the Level 10 Skill in the simplest way is a big feat.
Wait for the players to reach Level 90. For sure your eyes will drop to the ground, Gerard silently thought.
He then operates his system and information starts appearing above the NPCs' heads including Mel.
[NPC: Mel (Owner of Midnight Inn)]
Level 25 NPC
[NPC: Knight 1]
Level 10 NPC
[NPC: Knight 2]
Level 13 NPC
[NPC: Knight 3]
Level 11 NPC
Mel didn't respond and just take a stance before glancing at Gerard.
"What are you still doing here? Get out and help them!"
Gerard quickly heeds his advice and starts helping the wounded knights and servants away.
Seeing Gerard retreat, Mel's aura completely changed from a clam to a murderer one.
"You've seen enough. I have no choice but to kill you right here."
The knights become nervous and beads of sweat start to accumulate on their faces.
Then Mel suddenly vanished in front of their eyes which startled them.
In an instant, they felt a murderous presence on their back, and within a fraction of a second, as Mel swing his sword, their head detached from their shoulder. Their body drops headless and lifeless on the ground.
Thud.
Mel is not yet finished as he walks towards the unconscious knight and stabs his head.
He gritted his teeth and walk away to where Gerard went.
He felt sorry for those knights but they have seen enough which can lead to his secret being exposed.