-265- Half successful?

At dusk, Rozen returned to Tolbana with Rainbow Butterfly and met with Argo in the rundown bar to discuss the recent events.

"...That kind of thing actually happened?"

After learning the details from Rozen, Argo first chuckled bitterly and then sincerely apologized to him.

"Sorry, that was my oversight."

Indeed, it was Argo's oversight.

As the client and an information dealer, Argo should have collected information about the Orange player early on and informed Rozen to avoid confusion between the two Swordsmen and prevent Rozen from being attacked or misunderstanding Asuna. Argo's responsibility in this matter was not insignificant.

Fortunately, Rozen was unharmed, and even more fortunately, Asuna was safe. Otherwise, Argo's negligence would have had serious consequences.

However, it wasn't entirely her fault.

"With the strategy meeting for the first-floor boss coming up soon, you must have been running around gathering players. You didn't have time to gather necessary information, so it's understandable. Let's just forget about this one."

Rozen didn't mind and said with understanding.

"However, the news of an Orange player attacking players in the labyrinth has spread among the frontline players. You'll need to clarify the situation with them."

If it's not clarified, Asuna might still be seen as a criminal.

Although some frontline players had already witnessed the truth of the incident, many were still skeptical. This part would have to be handled by Argo.

Someone skilled at gathering information would likely be skilled at spreading it as well, and even more skilled at controlling it. So, Argo should be able to publicly reveal the truth of the incident and clear Asuna's name.

"That's no problem. Since it was my oversight this time and you helped me out, I'll provide this service for free."

Argo readily agreed and said so.

"Besides, I'll also be responsible for contacting that female player and telling her how to clear her Orange status."

An Orange status could be cleared.

By completing specific charitable quests, the Orange status could be removed. However, the severity of the crimes committed would affect the length and difficulty of the quest. These quests were part of players' atonement process, a way to make amends. They offered no rewards and no experience points.

During the beta testing period, players might sacrifice their time and interests to complete these quests. However, in the current death game scenario, where these dangerous quests offered no return, those who had committed crimes for personal gain would likely hesitate to attempt them. These quests would be considered the player's way of redeeming themselves.

Of course, if the crimes were minor, it might be a different story. Although there were still no rewards, the quest difficulty would be lower. For players who wanted to re-enter the inner-zone, it might be worth doing.

Asuna's Orange status was due to accidentally attacking a player, and she hadn't committed any further crimes afterwards. Clearing her Orange status should be relatively easy. As long as Argo informed Asuna of the quest details, she should be able to participate in the strategy meeting three days later without any issues.

"And this is all part of the free service?"

Argo was unusually magnanimous, which made Rozen roll his eyes.

"Alright, I've done what you asked." Rozen said to Argo, "Don't forget, you owe me a favor."

"You're so stingy..." Argo grumbled a bit unhappily, "Since I've offered my service for free, you could do me a favor too, you know?"

"Give me a break." Rozen responded bluntly, "Who doesn't know you're a shrewd merchant?"

"Not to mention..."

If Rozen were to help Argo for free in everything, the cunning rat would undoubtedly take advantage of the situation.

"You've extracted countless beta test period information from me, and I haven't even asked you to pay up yet. Helping you out is already quite generous of me," Rozen said.

You see, including methods for familiars' cultivation, Rozen had unknowingly shared numerous pieces of valuable beta period information with Argo up to this point. It wasn't that Rozen wasn't cautious, but he knew that Argo didn't solely use this information for profit. Therefore, he hadn't been on guard and had inadvertently leaked quite a bit of information.

For this reason, it was appropriate to consider things now and then.

"Alright." Argo shrugged and said, "If there's more recent news next time, I'll provide it to you for free."

"That works," Rozen said, satisfied.

Rozen's willingness to help Argo was due to his appreciation for her information-gathering skills. After all, between leveling, cultivating Rainbow Butterfly, completing various tasks, and honing his Mind's Eye skill, Rozen didn't have much time to gather information.

For this reason, having an excellent information dealer was a good thing for Rozen.

In addition...

"There's something else I'd like to ask you to do."

Rozen took out a piece of parchment from his inventory.

"Could you help me find these people on this list?"

He handed the parchment to Argo.

"Finding people?"

Argo was briefly surprised, but when she looked at the names written on it, her eyes immediately narrowed.

"ZenZen, you..."

Argo looked at Rozen, her expression becoming sharp.

Sharp in a dangerous way.

Rozen acted as if he hadn't noticed and continued speaking.

"With your abilities, you should be able to locate these people, right?" Rozen said, "Tell them they can contact me at any time."

"...Since that's the case, I'll go and do this for you," Argo fell silent for a moment, then reluctantly nodded, "You must have been planning to do this for a while, right?"

"Who said I'm not someone who likes to take the initiative?" Rozen smiled faintly, "If you hadn't suddenly brought information about the strategy meeting, I might not have had time to help you."

"It really leaves me unsure whether to feel relieved or scared," Argo said with a chuckle, "But strangely, I feel reassured."

Regarding what Rozen wanted to do, Argo wasn't opposing it. On the contrary, she was fully supportive.

Recalling the rumors about Rozen from the beta testing period, Argo suddenly felt that the strategy for the first-floor boss might unexpectedly proceed smoothly.

"Oh, by the way."

Argo seemed to remember something and said.

"About what I mentioned last time, do you still want to discuss about it?"

Argo was probably referring to someone who wanted to buy weapons and familiars from Rozen, right?

"They say the price is negotiable," Argo said.

"What's that?" Rozen raised an eyebrow in surprise, "They haven't given up yet?"

"They're quite persistent." Argo held up a finger and said, "If all else fails, they've also said that at least making this deal half-successful would be acceptable."

"Half-successful?" Rozen furrowed his brow.