Chương 93: Chapter 91 - Interlude 8

'I appreciate everything she has done for me.' That sentence. Those words. He knew! Lucrecia threw herself onto the bed after the maid left, following her report of the meeting with her knight, grabbed one of her giant pillows, and screamed into it.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Despite being muffled, several maids outside of the young lady's door smiled slyly at each other, then continued with their tasks. She removed her head from the fluffy pillow and sat up on her bed. For a long moment, she reminisced about the novel she had read and the lines her knight had been quoting, trying to figure out the message. However, even after getting up from the bed, going over to her bookshelf, and flipping through the aforementioned book, she couldn't figure it out.

With a big sigh, Lucrecia put the book back on the shelf, then walked over to her office. Which in truth was simply a giant desk, stolen from one of her father's offices, stuffed to the brim with documents, notes, and some lewd sketches. She spent a long moment admiring one of them where she was holding hands with her hero, for once appreciating all those art classes her mother forced on her, then with a despondent sigh she put it away. Instead, she took out the latest report about the nobles in the city.

Their family came out very well after the attack, no doubt thanks to their hero's advice, but several other families managed to hire groups of adventurers to protect their holdings, thus only a very small amount of land was truly lost. Though, based on the information her little birdies gathered, there was some intentional sabotage, where adventurers were hired to disable the defenses of certain buildings or fields filled with alchemical plants.

Based on the sales and purchases of those families, that was her best guess. Oh well, no skin off her nose. It would just give them – her family and her knight's company – more chances to develop and grow their holdings. Another report dealt with the adventurers that gained renown during, or even before, the giant monster horde. The list had their known affiliations, as well as the guilds, clans, or groups they belonged to.

Though, sometimes there were some unknown factors that her birdies couldn't determine which meant that their affiliation wasn't as clear as possible. They would need to figure out those hidden connections if they wanted to gain a complete picture.

'Hmm… I should probably insert some servants into their homes…' she mused.

'They would then talk, and I could figure out their secrets and how they determine their loyalty.' Lucrecia looked up from her list and gained a faraway look in her eyes, looking out from her window, just taking in the parts of the city she could see. Looking down on her list, she decided that the current most important thing was to determine how the rebuilding efforts would work out, and where they could invest with the biggest potential payouts.

She got up, the list forgotten, and took out a map that had scribbles everywhere. As Lucrecia looked at the map she felt that she really needed some kind of board she could affix it to. Alas, all she had to make do was her very finely crafted desk. Smoothing out the well-worn map, she took in the notes she had made based on previous reports, then took up her pen, sent over from the AFK company as a gift. Apparently, it was crafted from some unknown crystal, according to her father.

No matter what it was made of, it was an excellent writing tool. Lucrecia's grip on the writing implement tightened then she began scribbling on the map, adding new information while erasing some old ones… Once again, she was called for dinner. Dressed in a comfortable dress, coming down to almost her ankles, as god forbid she showed off her femininity, Katie dutifully walked herself to the dining room. Where she was met by the sight of her brother sitting in his preferred place, once again in jeans and a t-shirt.

She had to drown the scowl that threatened to come upon her face upon seeing it. Her father's double standards when it came to her and her brother never ceased to enrage her. While her brother was free to dress and act as he desired, she had to follow a strict – and honestly extremely antiquated – rules of behavior, both at home and in public. It was rather unfair.

Granted, she had her own money, and with the contract that Sam had given her, she would have enough income to live on if she desired, but Katie wasn't stupid enough to do it. No matter what she said or did, their family's enemies would still think of her as part of it and if she left her father's protection she wouldn't last even a day outside. And worst of all, her father knew this as well. So, for now, she had to endure his rules.

There was some hope that when he stepped down, she would be free, but she didn't hold out much hope. Her father had ideas … Nodding in greeting, she took her customary seat and began her meal. As always, it was delicious.

'Maybe I should try out cooking in the game. Puffball would love it…' she mused, a little happy, thinking of that eldritch cat she got as a familiar. For now, it was just an eccentric pet, but based on the flavor text she had read, there would be some opportunity to upgrade it. Though, her research said that it would be extremely hard. No matter. She had seen what Lucky was capable of, and she wanted something like that. If she had to delve into the deepest pits of the abyss to get it, then so be it.

Almost finished with the meal, savoring the last bites of the excellent duck breast, organic from a farm, not the lab-made meat that the 'peasants' ate, she looked up at her brother and father as they kept staring at each other. Her brother was sweating a little, but held his head high, while her father radiated disapproval.

'I don't even have to guess what this is about…' she cackled to herself, making sure to keep her face neutral. It felt so good for once to know something that her seemingly all-knowing father didn't know. It was a pity that her brother earned his ire, but it couldn't be helped.

"You failed." It wasn't an accusation, just a statement, from her father as he stared at her brother. Poor David looked rather uncomfortable.

"Yes, father."

"Why?" A small shrug.

"We weren't fast enough. I was only in Ironwood to set up an auxiliary base for recruitment, so most of my heavy hitters were still in Deepanchor."

"Couldn't you have hired some help from the local talent?"

"It doesn't work like that in the game, father. For something like this, you have to trust the people you fight alongside."

"Hmm." There was a terse silence as her father processed David's words, then, to her dismay, he turned towards her. With a glance, she caught the apologetic look on her brother's face, but then she had to face her father.

"Katherine. You're in Ironwood, correct?"

"Yes, father."

"Why didn't you help your brother?" came the expected question. She didn't shrug, no matter how much she wanted. After all, proper ladies didn't shrug.

"He didn't ask, father. Plus, as I said before, I'm contracted to another group. We had our own fight." She hesitated for a moment but shrugged inwardly. In for a cent, in for a credit.

"Which we won." David sent her a mock betrayed look, but her father didn't appreciate her sass.

"Cute," he said, disapproval dripping from the lone word.

"I'm going to buy out your contract. You'll head the guild's efforts in Ironwood." Hearing that she broke a little.

"You can't!"

"What? You don't think I can't afford it?" came the slightly mocking retort while her brother winced in the background. But her full attention was on her father.

"But can you afford the consequences?" she asked, desperately keeping her façade up, while simultaneously fighting for her only ray of happiness. Her father just scoffed.

"What consequences. I looked into it. They are some small company. Two people with no background."

"She meant the consequences in-game, father," interjected David, and she sent a grateful look at him before refocusing on her current adversary.

"Yes, father. Breaking a contract comes with very steep reputation penalties in-game. No NPC noble will take me seriously if I break a contract like the one I have now. Plus, my… boss… is rather well known in higher circles." The moment the last sentence left her lips, she knew she made a mistake seeing the sparkle in her father's eyes.

"Well known, you say?" He turned toward David with a questioning gaze.

"What do you know about this AFK Company?" David blinked a few times, then answered.

"Nothing, father. I haven't looked deeply into the groups in Ironwood."

"Do so," he ordered. Then he turned back to her.

"And Katherine, you tell me what you know about your boss." She knew it was not a request, but she couldn't help herself.

"No."

"No?" came the incredulous response from her father.

"No," she repeated with a nod of her head. Sam was nice enough to give her space to be herself while also supporting her. She would be a rat bastard if she betrayed him. Looking into the dark eyes of her father, she tried to convey this nonverbally.

"Katherine," he spoke up, his words harsh and demanding.

"You will tell me about him. It's for the family!" This time, she didn't stop the scowl appearing on her face.

"Of course, it's about the family! Heaven forbid for once, what I want – or enjoy – could be more important!"

"You're my daughter and part of this family! It is your duty to help the family prosper!" came the retort.

"So, once again, I'm just a tool for you to use and not a living being. How surprising," she called out, using a mocking tone she learned from all those snobbish girls she shared a class with.

"No, father. You won't ruin another good thing." With that statement, she stood up, making sure that her serviette was folded neatly next to her empty plate. The meal was excellent, as always, but the sourness of the conversation washed away any enjoyment she may have had for the food. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"Katherine! Sit down! Now!"

"No, father," she answered, looking into those angry eyes.

"Come talk to me when you can treat me like a human being, not a machine that you can use as you wish." Head held high, she marched from the dining room (definitely not retreated) toward her room. Leaving behind a bemused brother and a father simmering with rage. Liz was feeling like she was in heaven. Her new apartment was far away enough from her mother that she couldn't just willy-nilly drop in.

Her neighbors were pretty nice, and the company she had signed up with in her desperation turned out to be pretty legit. They helped her to find an attorney who, in turn, helped her with the paperwork for her lease, as well as the streaming business. The stream itself was going well. The monster horde was a perfect environment to test her new weapons from the safety of the walls while having a nice interactive stream with her followers.

The graphics of her follower count, which had been stagnating before Magic Unbound, grew to another level after the monster horde. Every time she saw those numbers climbing even higher, she couldn't help but feel elation. The workshop she had been granted was another thing. So much potential, all for the low, low price of creating a few artifacts for the people working there. Her crafting streams were almost as popular as the hunting ones. Naturally, because of her adorable drones.

They still looked innocent and cute, but on the inside, they were slowly but surely transforming into monsters. Thanks to the contract with the company, she suddenly had access to all sorts of materials that up north just weren't as accessible as in a mining city. Granted, she was constantly getting questions, some nice, but most of them were rather aggressive about her creations. She had to contact both the streaming site and the game developers because there were so many people harassing her.

The results were a very carefully worded apology from both companies and several new filters for her incoming messages both on her streaming account and in-game. Still, all in all, the positives outweighed the negatives. Checking her list of tasks, she saw she was in a pretty good place with the orders from the company.

'I probably have time for a short stream…' she mused as she checked her reflection to see her make-up was proper. Nodding to herself, she took her position, made sure that the drones were following Adorable Protocol Mk. 2, and sent out a general notification to her followers. Waiting a few minutes she turned on the streaming application and smiled.

"Welcome everybody! Today I have a pretty special treat for you! I'm going to try to build something very impressive," she paused to take a breath and her smile widened a little.

"What exactly? Well, keep watching to find out!" She finished her spiel with a laugh, then walked toward the desk she used for streams, and began her explanation while motioning at the materials on the desk.

"As you can see, we have these things here. The first one is…" Once again, Sam came into her office like a mysterious hurricane and left Lucy dealing with the rubble. Granted, most of the rubble was made of silver and gold, but it still did give her enough work, that when she logged out of the game, she just sat before her computer and continued working. Not that she minded, as she tremendously enjoyed the challenge.

With their gold income (and her investments), she was even contemplating giving her notice at her job and fully concentrating on the game and the company. It would need to be carefully thought through, as it was an important decision. She had a good thing going at her workplace. Easy work, bare minimum supervision, plus the benefits. Giving that up would mean that she would become self-employed. But for now, she had other things to focus on. While Sam was out with his team of crazies, she had a few things to do.

The renovation after the attacks was almost completed, while the warehouse, shopping centers, and the Heavenly Forest continued to rake in money hand over fist. Their holdings in the nearby towns and cities were also expanding. The main one in Brightwood was almost ready to open its doors to the customers. The only thing limiting them was the time it took to communicate between holdings.

Currently, they didn't really employ any other players in administrative positions, so they could only depend on in-game communication methods. Which meant mail. Not the most secure communication methods… Granted, some artifacts could be used, but acquiring them in big enough numbers to make a company work wasn't feasible. That's where Sam, or rather the streamer he brought in, came in.

She was currently working on a crystal-based proto-computing device that could be used by a great number of people to communicate over great distances securely. Lucy had seen the few prototypes, and she was mightily impressed. Magic Unbound was truly a limitless game. Organizing her paperwork, she continued delving into the intricacies of bureaucracy. With several guards around here, mostly for show, and her adorable ravens creating a perimeter, she approached the workshop set up on the outskirts of the city.

It wasn't because the land or rent was cheap here, but because any business that worked with metal had to be set around here. There were giant magical filters set up that made sure that the bulk of smoke and byproducts didn't fully envelop the city. This one was a simple rented workshop, with a well-made sign on it, declaring it as being rented by the Three Rose Petals workshop. Lucy had seen the weapons that came out of this workshop and she was impressed. Even her NPC advisors were impressed with them.

So, following Sam's advice, she was here, personally, to offer them a contract to work with her company. She could have sent a simple message, but she felt they were worth a personal visit. Walking up to the door, she knocked lightly, then opened it. Inside was a stereotypical workshop, with metalworking tools on every surface, as well as materials and half-finished products. She looked around curiously, but in the end, her eyes came to a halt on a giant woman.

The woman was very tall, maybe taller than six-four, wearing rough working clothes and a thick leather apron. With her modest height, Lucy felt that she could make a dress from the apron itself. The craftswoman gave her a blinding smile and spoke up. Her voice was gentle, but Lucy could hear the steel behind it.

"Welcome, customer! How can this humble workshop help you?" Lucy nodded and returned the smile.

"Hello! I'm here as a representative of a company." Instantly, the smile slid off the face of the woman. Lucy had a bad feeling.

"Ohh, well… come in, I guess…" she spoke and hesitantly turned her head to look deeper into the workshop.

"Let me call my husband." Lucy nodded and stepped inside, while her guards formed up around the door and her ravens went around examining the place. Half a minute later she returned with an equally giant of a man, filled with rippling muscles and one of the most impressive bushy mustaches that Lucy had ever seen.

"Welcome!" he exclaimed, his eyes warm, looking in a calculating manner at Lucy.

"I heard you wish to talk to us!"

"Yes, sir," she responded with a small bow of her head.

"I'm here representing the AFK company, you may know them from…"

"…the warehouses and shopping centers. Yes, we are familiar." He finished it for her while exchanging a look with his wife.

"Excellent. Then I don't need to explain more. We are currently in the process of diversifying the services we provide. And seeing the examples of your work on the Auction House, we want to offer you a chance to work with us." She finished the spiel with a small smile and looked at the husband and wife pair. However, instead of happy smiles, or even angry shouting, she was met with some awkward looks.

"What is it?" she asked with a sinking feeling.

"This is mighty awkward, miss," the man began explaining, scratching the nape of his neck with his giant hands.

"But we just signed up with a guild. They were offering some mighty good benefits."

"They just left…" added the woman with a delicate smile.

"Ohh… bummer." They stood there in silence for a while, looking at each other, before Lucy sighed.

"Well, shows me about procrastination…" The other two chuckled along with her. She bowed and spoke up.

"Very well, then I won't bother you longer." She held out a small packet of documents with her offer.

"If you ever change your mind, please don't hesitate to contact us." The married pair accepted the documents and nodded with a warm smile.

"Of course, we will." She smiled back at them and turned around to leave the workshop. However, before she left she turned slightly back and asked one last question.

"Who did you sign with?"

"Steel Lions, miss."

'I need to look into them…' Lucy thought as she left the workshop behind. Apparently, she found her first economic enemy. She couldn't help but grin.

'Can't wait to face off with them…'

"So, what are the numbers after the big event?"

"We are in a pretty good place, boss. Our market share is continuously growing, and the player feedback was excellent after the event."

"Any complaints?" The other man shook his head ruefully, while the others wryly smiled.

"Just the usual whines about not getting drops, dying, and accusing of people who did better as cheaters." An eyebrow went up in a questioning manner.

"And? Were there any cheaters?"

"No, sir."

"Pity. The people are getting antsy about finding the first one. Any candidates?"

"Some, but nothing concrete."

"Disappointing, but oh well…" He sighed and then clicked around the screen in front of him.

"Okay, let's put idiots aside. What about the marketing for the event?" Another person started speaking, the first one leaning back in their chair.

"We collected the recorded material, anonymized the people in them, and cut together a rough highlight video to post on our website. We also created a few more to display some fighting styles." The man in charge thought for a moment then asked a question.

"How much anonymization did you do?"

"We randomized the outfits and the faces. Left the skills as they were. Muted any communications."

"Good, I don't want any accusation of doxing." There was a general murmur after that statement, but then he continued.

"Any outliers?"

"There were several Azure level players, some Amethyst and one Emerald participating in the event."

"Anything I need to know?" The man checked his notes and shook his head.

"No, sir. Nothing outstanding."

"Good, make sure to shoot me a message if anything happens."

"Yes, boss!"

"Alright, then let's go over the strategy about the release of the video…" Soon, the meeting room was filled with ideas and strategies…

"How is our favorite doggy owner?"

"Really?"

"Well, it's a cute dog."

"It's a wolf. Kinda."

"Wolf, dog, who cares?"

"A lot of people, but it doesn't matter."

"So?"

"He's going around clearing fractures."

"That's fast. Well, what did you expect from him? Sit on his ass?"

"Now that you say it…"

"I do say it!"

"Any new vids about Lucky?" There was a moment of silence.

"Your daughter?"

"I have already looked into getting a custom-made plushy…"

"Wow. But you're in luck! Lucky participated in some fights."

"Awesome! Thanks! I'm going to get some copies!" The first man watched the other run away excitedly and shook his head.

"Poor man, completely wrapped around that girl's finger…"

"Any feedback from the final fights in the Event Fractures?"

"There have been a few requests for us to check out one of the fights to see if we need to nerf some things."

"Where did the request come from? Players?"

"No, marketing."

"Huh… Alright, cue the video of the fight." There was some keyboard clanking and one of the walls of the room was replaced with a crystal clear view of a dark cavern covered in shadows and spider webs, while several small auxiliary screens also popped up, showing several statistics about the situation. The people in the room turned towards the screen, or their own, smaller screens, and the video began playing.

They watched with rapt attention as the team of four players took on a fight that should have been beyond them by any metric. As the video wound down, the people in the room looked at each other with bewildered looks on their faces. The moment the video ended, the person sitting at the head of the table spoke up.

"How the hell did he do it?"

"Uhm, sir," one woman spoke up, browsing the screen in front of her.

"Apparently, it was a combination of a lot of skills. Very good synergy."

"But this good?" Another person chimed in.

"It seems this player has been working towards a proper foundation in skill terms instead of going for the truly powerful spells and skills. Plus, his Mana Control stat is off the charts."

"What?"

"Literally. The system can't place it on the chart it's so high compared to the others."

"Ohh, so one of those geniuses… It clicked for him, so he went all in."

"Probably."

"Any chance of cheating?"

"Let me see…" They waited in silence as the person took a quick look through the system for the appropriate information.

"Huh, interesting."

"What is?"

"Apparently, we weren't the first one to raise the issue. They even sent some PIs after him. Came back clean. Currently, Code Azure."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then we'll leave it as it is. It's not an exploit or cheating, so there is no reason to punish one player just because they're talented."

"Understood, sir," came the reply, and a note was made.

"Excellent, what's next?"

"Well, sir, we have this guild that is doing something to this volcano…"

"Did you see it?"

"Hell yes, I did!"

"Are you going to participate in the auction?"

"How? The big guilds will probably go all in to get those weapons… What chance do we stand?"

"Still, I will try to get one of them, just to say I participated in the auction. That kind of rep would be good for something, right?"

"You speak the truth! How about we go together? It should be fun to see the big guilds and rich people fight over three weapons…"

"Awesome…"

"What did you find out about the weapons?"

"They are legit, sir. And by our calculations, they would work very well with some of our builds."

"Hmm… How much are we expecting to pay for one?" There was some hemming and hawing, but finally, they received an answer.

"That's… a lot."

"Yeah…"

"Do we have enough for all three?"

"Theoretically? Yes. If we liquidate some stuff. But with other guilds and groups aiming for them, I doubt it. Not to mention individual purchasers."

"Damn…"

"My best advice is to go all in on one of them and ignore the others. That way we stand a bigger chance of acquiring it." There was a moment of silence.

"What about approaching the seller? Could we pay them in credits and get the items?"

"We tried, but they only accept gold as a middleman."

"Double damn…" That, and similar conversations happened all over between players of Magic Unbound as slowly but surely the information about the amazing weapons dropped by the Fracture Boss circulated among the player base. Those who didn't have the means just admired the weapons while daydreaming about what they would do with them. While those who had the means and interests were planning on how to acquire them.

This included looking into the middleman behind the auction, but that came back without any information. So, they could only buckle down and start earning gold coins for the auction. As a direct result of the week before the auction, the RMT market fluctuated something fierce as more and more people decided that a week wasn't enough time to farm enough gold and decided to spend real money to acquire the necessary funds.

Ultimately, the biggest winners of the week were the people who saw the writing on the wall and posted some gold for sale. The internet was full of people celebrating their windfalls in all sorts of manner, while other people looked on jealously, or rushed to post their own gold up for sale. Either way, with the fuss around the auction, even more people talked about the game, and thus even more people started playing the game to see what all the fuss was about.

Even those companies who hadn't yet started paying attention, turned their gaze toward the game, realizing that their competitors were doing the same thing. With it, a second rush to become the best player started…