Might as Well

“I’m sorry, how much?”

Sam told Lucy again the number of gold coins they gained after the auction, even after they paid the ‘taxes’ they owed to the company.

His friend blinked at him, and for a long moment said nothing.

Then she shook herself a little and nodded.

“Alright, we got some seed money. What do you want to do?” she asked, her pen poised to take notes.

Sam smiled at her.

“Half of it for the company. Use it to spread the company into even more cities. Try to solidify the crafter guild we have been building.”

“And the rest?”

“I’m close to getting a person to run our player guild. So, it’s time to start preparing for that.”

One of Lucy’s eyebrows rose inquisitively. Sam knew that she had practiced extensively and was rather jealous of the fact that she could do it on demand. He never managed to learn it.

“Close? How so?”

Sam just smiled but said nothing.

Lucy stared at him for a while then closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Alright, keep your secrets…”

Sam’s smile just widened.

“Let’s talk about something else,” she continued, making a few notes. “How about the rewards for the city defense?”

Sam opened his inventory and pulled out an envelope made from high-quality paper and waved it around. “Got it as soon as I got back from the auction. I’m to show up at the mayor’s office when I have time.”

“So, as soon as possible.”

“Yes. I’m here to give you the news then I’m hightailing over there. It’s getting kinda suspicious that we haven’t heard anything about the award ceremony.”

Lucy hummed thoughtfully then nodded. “You usually have ideas. What do you think?”

Sam joined her friend in the humming. “Probably some other event preoccupied them.” He paused, thinking over everything that happened. Thanks to how much the game simulated life in its NPCs there could could have been hundreds of things that delayed the ceremony. Anything from assassination to a new baby being born to the family.

Personally, he had other ideas.

“I think, the mayor’s office is trying to handle the influx of adventurers and they realized that holding an award ceremony for all the adventurers at the same time would be futile,” he explained his thoughts then he cracked a smile. “Or the mayor is knee-deep in prostitutes and doesn’t have time between orgies…”

Lucy snorted and then glared at him.

“Gross, but I think you are right. Not the orgies, but about the other one…”

For a long moment they looked at each other, then Sam let out a small sigh and stood up.

“Alright, you do your thing, I’ll do my thing. Meet back here whenever?”

His only reply was the bird from his friend. He left the office laughing.

The mayor’s office was at the edge of the noble’s quarter of Ironwood City, facing the non-noble part of the city, being the administrative center of the area. The plaza in front of the building was buzzing with activity, with players and NPCs going to and fro. The crowd was subdued, no doubt because of the bureaucracy weighing down on their soul.

Following the instruction of his invitation, he cut through the apathetic crowd and entered through one of the doors of the building. Inside, he sought out one of the many receptionists (who for a change were actively working and not reading smutty romance novels) and simply showed them the letter.

The woman behind the desk read the appropriate part of the letter, nodded, took out a heavy book, spent a few minutes looking through it, and then after finding whatever she was looking for, she looked up at Sam and gave him the patented customer service smile.

“Congratulations, sir. You’re expected in room 38. Go through that door, then immediately right up the stairs. The door will be on the left in the middle of the corridor,” she explained, pointing toward the door guarded by one very bored guard. “Keep the letter with you. Anything else I can help you with?”

Sam smiled at her and shook his head. “No, thank you.” He bowed his head a little. “Have a nice day!”

Then he turned around and headed for the door. The guard didn’t even ask for any identification. The only thing proving that he was alive was the slow rise and fall of his chest.

Letter in hand, he stood before the door, took a deep breath, and knocked.

The reply came almost immediately. “Come in!”

He cautiously opened the door and was met with a rather upscale office. One wall was full of shelves and cabinets containing scrolls and books, while another had a shelf filled with awards, small portraits, or odd artifacts. Next to it was another door, closed without anything showing where it led. The wall behind the desk was filled with a window providing a view of the city street filled with people.

The desk itself was almost buried under paperwork and in front of it was a rug and no chairs anywhere for guests.

Behind the desks was an older gentleman, wearing glasses, his white hair falling everywhere, yet still showcasing the lustrous past of the hair.

The man looked up from writing upon Sam’s entry and gave him a genuine smile.

“Welcome, adventurer. My name is Hepzibah, but everyone calls me Heppy! How can I help you?”

Sam blinked then smiled. The game never ceased to amaze or surprise him.

“Well, sir, I got this letter,” he explained by holding up the letter high in the air.

Heppy squinted at it then grinned.

“Oh, yes! The rewards!”

Instantly he sprung up from behind the desk and hurriedly retrieved a book from the shelf. Opening it on the desk. He began paging through it and called out.

“Name?”

“Sam.”

“ID number?”

Sam took out the ID card he got when he arrived in the city and read up the number for the old man. For a minute he watched silently as the old man looked for his name, but in the end, Heppy was successful.

“Aha! Here it is. Samuel, the adventurer… ID number matches… Let’s see… Reward box…” He mumbled for a while then slammed the book shut. He put it back in its place and turned back to Sam.

“Just a minute, young man, and I’ll retrieve your reward!” he declared cheerfully.

Then without even waiting for an answer rushed to the unlabelled door, opened it, and stepped through. The door closed automatically behind him and Sam was left alone.

He had time to blink a few times and the old man was already back.

“You’re lucky! Only a few boxes left,” came from the happy old man as he held out a box for Sam to take. “Didn’t have to look too long for it! But don’t worry! That doesn’t mean you get leftovers! The mayor’s office made sure everybody got what they deserved in the protection of our glorious city!”

Sam nodded and accepted the box.

There was no fanfare, no choir of angels, or anything like that. Instead what he heard was Heppy clearing his throat.

Sam looked up from examining the box. “Yes?”

“We still need to do the paperwork…” came the excited answer from the old man as he held up a small stack of papers.

Sam could only sigh.

Freed from the savage grip of bureaucracy, he left the mayor’s office in a hurry. He really wanted to know what was in the box.

Not even taking any shortcuts, he quickly rushed, covertly using some of his speed-enhancing skills to the headquarters. He dashed up the stairs, ignoring everyone until he was safely ensconced in his room with Lucky emerging from his shadow.

The giant wolf sat down on the ground and Sam joined him, resting his back on his companion’s side. And before him was the box.

With trepidation, he slowly opened it.

There was a brief flash and the box vanished. In its stead, he was left with a small mound of items in front of him.

The first was a simple letter addressed to him, made from the same materials that his invitation was.

Opening it he began reading.

Respected Adventuerer!

We, at the Mayor’s office of Ironwood City, wish to convey our sincere thanks for your stalwart defense of our glorious and long-historied city. Receiving many tales of your courageous behavior during the recent Monster Break, and due to the unprecedented events that happened in parallel with said Monster Break, we, at the Mayor’s office of Ironwood City, have decided to…

Basically, the entire thing was a mass-produced thank-you letter. They didn’t even take the time to insert his name randomly.

Still, a thank-you letter was a thank-you letter. So, he simply folded it up and put it back into the envelope. Then returned his attention to the items still in front of him.

There was a bulging sack of gold, which went directly to his inventory as he watched, satisfied, as the counter went up.

The rest of the items were another small wooden box, containing a simple medal with a snarling monster face made from iron with silver accents, proving that he participated in the defense of the city.

As soon as he touched the medal a notification popped up before him.

[Congratulations! You have been granted the title of Defender of Ironwood City!]

[Defender of Ironwood City: You defended the City of Ironwood when it was in danger and the city administration has acknowledged it. Increases reputation by 5% in Ironwood City and associated areas!]

Then the last two things were two books. He could practically feel the wind and shadow mana seeping out of them respectively. Excitedly, he picked up the first one and opened the cover. Inside he saw a small scrap of parchment. On it was a simple sentence and a small drawing of a very familiar crest.

Good luck!

‘Apparently, Lord Silvercrest managed to get me some really appropriate rewards…’ he mused as he began reading the book.

Soon a light green light began to swirl around the book, then the light rose up from it and flew around the room. Following that it swirled a few times around him too before finally going straight for his torso and merging into his body.

Then a notification popped up in front of him.

[You have read the Grimoire of Winds of the World!]

[Your Wind Affinity has been upgraded into Greater Wind Affinity!]

[The experience points from the original skills will be added to the new skill!]

[Greater Wind Affinity: Level 15/100 (21%) (Passive) You have an excellent affinity for the wind. Beings born of the wind will be very favorable to you. The cost of the Wind-type spells and skills is reduced and their power is increased by 1% for each skill level. For every skill level increases the damage of Wind-type skills by 0,5%. Grants the Wind Resistance skill.]

[Wind Resistance: Level 0/100 (0%) (Passive) Thanks to sudden enlightenment, you have been granted resistance against the wind. Each level increases the resistance by 1%.]

Sam couldn’t help but smile. Another passive skill for his collection. And one that was insanely hard to get after going through several quests that tested the player’s knowledge of wind mana. ‘It seems, I really impressed Lord Silvercrest…’

With anticipation, he turned toward the other book. He practically wrenched the cover open and began reading.

After he finished the last page, there was a swirl of shadows around the book, then as before with the wind mana, it began moving around the room, mostly staying close to the ground and to the shadows. Though every time it moved through one shadow, said shadow became somewhat even darker.

Finally, it landed on him, seeping into his body and the expected notification screen popped up.

[You have read the Grimoire of the Deep Shadows!]

[Your Shadow Affinity has been upgraded into Greater Shadow Affinity!]

[The experience points from the original skills will be added to the new skill!]

[Greater Shadow Affinity: Level 7/100 (11%) You have an excellent affinity for the shadows. Beings born of the shadows will be very favorable to you. The cost of the Shadow-type spells and skills is reduced and their power is increased by 1% for each skill level. For every skill level increases the damage of Shadow-type skills by 0,5%. Grants the Shadow Resistance skill.]

[You already have the Shadow Resistance skill! Instead, you receive a one-time increase in skill levels!]

[Shadow Resistance is now Level 18!]

Sam couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. One hurdle down, a hundred more to go. But now that the contract with the Silvercrest family was set up and the development of the fractures in the hand of Lucy and the crafty lord and the rewards from the monster break were given out he could continue with his plan to establish himself.

‘But first… how about some traditional revenge…’ he mused as he began running his fingers through Lucky’s fur, enjoying the feeling.

Katie’s old man wanted to feel like a big man? Well, he might have the economic know-how, but Sam knew this game.

The headquarter of the Steel Lion guild was in Deepanchor, so that was his next destination before going to the capital. According to Lucy, people were still trying to figure out how to get property deeds there, so he had time for a small detour.