Chapter 355 - Internal Conflict

Harmless Sparrow is one of the guild leaders who bought the guild medal I put into the auction house during the very beginning where I got lucky and managed to haul a lot of money due to Kazuki's offer that caused him to win the first Guild token, assuming that it was the only guild token being sold in the auction.

I am not in touch with what is happening in the different guilds right now but I heard Kazuki's guild is still the number one guild that is dominating. I know I crippled a few of the guild's forces during the last time they occupied the dungeons most beginners would find easy to clear and farm.

There's no latest news regarding them but I didn't care much about their affairs right now and there is no reason to get involved too. There is nothing good in getting chummy to other guilds and getting involved in their business. But it would be a different story if they are the ones who cross the line.

Now, it seems Harmless Sparrow is having a bit of trouble on what to do and with the question from Sigma, it seems that made her a bit troubled a lot more now especially since it involved her and the Blue Sky Guild.

"I need to think about it more," it's very apparent on Harmless Sparrow's face but it didn't matter much to me. Unless she asks for help or something about this, I will not interfere with her decision. I don't want to force her into doing anything she didn't want to do.

After her conversation with Sigma, she decided to talk to me about this same matter.

"Bladeheart, can I delay my response in this matter? As much as I want to join, I have some guild matters and if they knew about this, they will not stop nagging at me and I don't want that to happen."

"There is no rush. The Quest Giver is kind enough to give us enough time to prepare since this is something really dangerous and just charging head-on will be the death sentence of us. If you are still not sure about your decision, take your time. We are not in a rush. I will just tell you later on if we are about to do the quest. Don't hesitate to ask us."

She nodded before leaving the mansion. It seems she is about to settle the matters with her guild now.

"Looks like she still has some matters to attend to, huh? Is she not going to join?" Sigma asked.

"I don't know. It seems she is conflicted about what to do next but I can see her desire to join."

"This is why I hated guilds. It just restricts you from doing what you wanted because the guild wanted to take part in this and that."

"Looks like we are on the same page on this topic, huh. Anyways, are you joining? It seems the others are also expecting you to join."

"Yes. Since I heard that the enemies are way harder than the Abyss Monsters in dungeons, that only means it is the perfect place to increase the viability of my build and fix the imperfections. Mr. Bear is also looking forward to it. He is also looking forward to fighting stronger enemies. Then once I get strong enough, let's have a rematch. I will make sure to defeat you."

I didn't expect Sigma to be this bloodthirsty in strong enemies. I guess you can't easily judge someone just by their looks. Not only that, it seems she is too competitive. Her loss against me still gets on her nerves but I also wanted to fight her again in the future.

Now, all I have the need to do right now is to go back to the Shrine of Ascension and ask the Entity of the Shrine to do the same thing to my followers and I also needed to farm some materials to craft some items in the next battle. Now that all of them have reached level 100 cap, it is time for them to get their level caps done. Since it was much easier for them, I don't need to join them on this trial.

Let's get things to work.

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On the other hand, Harmless Sparrow returned to her guild headquarters. As much as she hated the thought of going back to the headquarters, she has no choice about this matter due to how this guild is being run by her father's business partners and the revenue earned from the game is being poured back to the company. Not only that but she is just a president in name only. She doesn't have much anything to do here and most of the work is being done by the vice president of the guild and her fiancee.

Despite being her fiancee, she is not in favor or even attracted to the man. If not for the arranged marriage her father shoved into her face when she was old enough to understand, she wouldn't have bothered to even interact with him. Still. she couldn't disobey as this was the absolute order of her father and she is afraid of him.

Her mother is already dead after she gave birth to her so she has no mother to ask for help to counter the decisions of her father. As for her father, he only thinks about business and money and anything that makes a bit of convenience to him. Since the Alternate World was released and after knowing that they can earn lots of money in the game by only playing, her father decided to help her get one to test the waters.

She thought at first that this was the sign that her father still cares for her since it was announced to her that she will get the Reality Nexus on the day of her birthday. Until she found out that it was only an experiment whether the game can be used as a potential business.

Her fun was short-lived and all she wanted to do now is to avoid the guild most of the time. However, her actions are always monitored by her fiancee and due to this, she didn't want her fiancee to know the quest. Knowing him, she knows he will try to find a way to get the quest and be the one who will control the quest for themselves and she didn't want to involve her friends in her affairs.

When she arrived at the guild, her fiancee is already waiting for her. He is Narukami Shogo. A tall guy that has a body build that looks like that of a model, a face that looks charming and cunning at the same time, His hair is a bit wavy but it makes his face looks like he was cool and easygoing guy. Added with some glasses, he is now looking like a cool, genius heartthrob in most shoujo anime that emits a cool vibe. This might just be a product of avatar creation but in reality, he just looks the same as he was in the game. A perfect replication as most would say.

"How are the days of playing with your friends, my dear?" her fiancee started caressing her hair in an intimate way but it felt disgusting to Harmless Sparrow.

"Will you cut it out? We might be betrothed but that doesn't mean that you are free to do what you want with me. You are disgusting."

"Heh, even if you say that there is nothing you could do about it. The moment you agreed to the contract that your father has shown to you, you also agreed that you will become my possession. Even if you try to decline my advances to you, you can't deny that I have the right to do this to you, Rika."

He began to sensually caress Harmless Sparrow's shoulders, a caress that lovers do during the time they will make something for love. Still, Harmless Sparrow just didn't like this at all, and before he can even do something sensually on her, she pulled out her sword and point the end on his neck. However, the guy did not flinch or even show any signs of fear from the sword, instead, he smiled at her.

"My, my... Rika you are still wild and impulsive. However, that only makes me more excited to do more things to you."

"One more touch and your head will get lopped off this instant!"

"Wow, so now you got a backbone to do something more huh? Interesting, Rika. Very interesting. The more times we spend together, the more I find you very fascinating and intriguing. Something that makes me want to really claim you as mine."

Harmless Sparrow is already seething in disgust but she still can't do anything with him.

"Still, Rika. Isn't it enough time you tell us what you know? After all, the conversation you have with that guy who has a wolf mask seems really interesting now. Don't you think you should do something now for your dear fiancee? After all, what is yours, is also mine..."

Shogo then started to smile.... a smile that only those who have something wrong in the head or psychopaths would do.