"Ah." Lumi couldn’t help but vocalize his emotions out loud. What Lucy had just proposed truly was a logical idea. If this was his past life, he would gleefully accept. If he was a normal player, there would be no reason to decline. However...

[Lumi: No.]

[Lucy Lee: ??????????]

[Lumi: On the surface, it’s a good idea. However, I have my own considerations.]

[Lucy Lee: Let me repeat myself. The contract is 50k USD. Like, fifty-thousand real dollars.]

[Lumi: I have my own considerations.]

[Lucy Lee: ?????????????????? Are you serious?]

[Lumi: Yeah. This is about way more than 50k for me.]

[Lucy Lee: Ah... you’re rich. Right. Makes sense. No wonder your the top dog. Probably bought tons of stuff.]

Lumi grinned. Of course she came to that conclusion. She was almost right, too. He was rich enough that 25k wasn’t worth a death for. He already had money. The part where she was wrong was assuming he used it. No, he was looking to a way to use it.

[Lumi: Enough about that, though. I’m interested in your skills. Could you tell me about your experiences assassinating?]

[Lucy Lee: Eh. Fine. Whatever. Well yeah, I like the contract money. But also, PKing levels insanely fast if you’re good at it. You get experience, coin drops, consumables sometimes, and you barely spend money compared to monsters. The only disappointing thing is equipment doesn’t drop. Biggest scam in the game honestly.]

[Lumi: Thankfully.]

[Lucy Lee: Boo.]

Lumi exhaled quietly through his nose. There was no deep motivation or malice to her. She treated player killing like a competitive gameplay loop. It was efficient, profitable, and enjoyable. Nothing more.

And because of that, he found himself cornered.

Normally, convincing someone to stop harmful behavior involved appealing to morality. But morality only functioned if both parties agreed harm was being done.

Lucy didn’t think anyone was truly being harmed.

Which meant every argument he could possibly make immediately collapsed under the phrase: "It’s just a game."

And from her perspective, it was.

So instead, another thought formed in Lumi’s mind. She wanted efficiency, money, and power, right?

If Micheal bought loyalty with money, then Lumi could simply offer more money. Lucy didn’t seem emotionally attached to Micheal whatsoever. If anything, she sounded like an independent contractor. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Transactional people were often easier to deal with than loyalists.

[Lumi: Let me ask something else then.]

[Lucy Lee: Shoot.]

[Lumi: What’s the most you’ve made in a single week from contracts?]

There was a brief pause.

[Lucy Lee: Eh? Are you interested? Thought you were rich. And didn’t I already tell you the Micheal fellow has a grudge or something against you?]

[Lumi: Humor me.]

[Lucy Lee: Hmm... probably around 3k? Maybe a little more. Depends on whether we count side loot and random guild payments.]

Lumi nodded to himself slightly. It was about what he expected.

Honestly, Micheal was throwing around absurd amounts of money for a game. Sustaining that sort of operation long term would be difficult unless he had either significant wealth or another source of income attached to it.

3k didn’t sound like that much, but when you consider all the other people he must be paying, and the future expenses, that’s when you truly got a terrifying sum.

Not to mention, Lumi himself wasn’t exactly poor anymore either.

[Lumi: Then work for me instead.]

Several seconds passed.

[Lucy Lee: Are you serious?]

[Lumi: Yes.]

[Lucy Lee: You rich types really are something. Spending all this on a game. Yeech. First Micheal spending a bunch, now you. All that just to poach me?]

[Lumi: Correct.]

[Lucy Lee: That’s incredibly funny.]

[Lumi: You’re useful. I’d rather have useful people working with me than against me.]

[Lucy Lee: Ha, well I know I am skilled. Honestly, I still hit you once, didn’t I? And who else could possibly accurately manipulate so many throwing stars at once?]

Lumi found himself smiling slightly. He immediately recognized the shift in her tone. Now that there was money involved, she shifted from her humble declaration of defeat from earlier to actively upselling her skills.

Honestly, talking to her was oddly easy. It was like they were discussing competitive esports recruitment rather than assassination contracts. In a twisted sort of way, he was technically doing both.

[Lucy Lee: Try finding another thief my level that can do all that. You won’t! Not just because no one else is so skilled, but because no one else is my level! Level 33. The only other people above 30 are the ones you already went and recruited.]

[Lumi: Here’s what I’m thinking. You care about PvP and you care about money. I can provide both.]

[Lucy Lee: Doing what exactly?]

[Lumi: Endless combat, mostly. Though I would like further information on Micheal.]

[Lucy Lee: Give me some time to think. I’ll get back to you in less than an hour.]

With that message sent his way, he closed his messages, his thoughts slowly turning inward again.

He still had no idea who Micheal truly was, nor what exactly his goals were. But at the very least, he had potentially acquired both an informant and one of the most mechanically talented PvP players he’d seen so far.

Not bad for a conversation that started with an assassination attempt.

Assuming she accepted, then that was one problem partially solved. He’d taken a dangerous player off the board and potentially gained valuable information about whoever this Micheal was.

The cost was high, but manageable. And having Lucy on his side would be worth it.

His primary concern was the issue of having to use money. Now, he didn’t mind paying people. The issue was the effect it would have on his image. If everyone came to expect payment for working for him...

Yet, Micheal had forced his hand. As long as you knew about the assassination contract board, then there was literally no reason for you to try. It was money just for playing the game! The trivial players, according to Lucy, had a payout of about fifty bucks, which was already good.

As for the 50k on his head... he was sure he would see countless assassination attempts now.

Below, the players marched in a loose formation. The journey was taking time. What would have been twenty minutes by airship alone stretched into nearly an hour on foot. The players didn’t seem to mind. They talked among themselves as they walked.

"So they said we were fighting a demon! A big demon raid boss thing. Wow. Guys, guys, what do you think the demon looks like?"

"Probably huge! Have you seen a dragon yet? I hope it looks like a dragon?"

"Why... would it look like a dragon?"

"No reason! But I want it to. You see, I really, really like dragons. I’ve spent so much money on dragons!"

"What are we talking about? Stop everything. Get some help."

"But... What’s wrong with dragons? I just really like them. THe way they look. The way they sound. The way they smell. The wa-"

"I will kill you right here if you don’t stop talking."

"Oh."

Ignoring the mass of players, Lena had been quiet since the fight ended. She sat on the airship’s edge dangling her legs off the ship, staring out at the passing forest. "You know what it’s like?"

"What?" Eden responded.

Lena froze. She slowly turned her head over to the boy. She gave hm a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I was talking to myself."

"Oh." Eden nodded.

"Mn. Though I’ll speak, I suppose." Lena continued. "Eden, am I scary?"

"Um..." Eden had absolutely no idea how to respond to something like that. It felt like a charged question. If he said yes, he might offend her. If he said no, it might seem like he didn’t respect her.

Lena shook her head. "Just answer honestly."

"Alright..." Eden slowly responded. "I suppose... a little?" As he spoke, Sol also turned its head and lightly chirped. Eden continued. "I mean, it’s not that I don’t trust you, nor do I think you are a bad person. You are certainly different from what I’m used to, but it has its charm. I suppose my hear is how casually you take violence."

"I see." Lena responded. She took a deep breath.

If Eden was a descendent of one of the heroes, if he was Lumi’s new disciple, then her job was simple. Get closer to him and attach him to this journey to save the world. So, she would speak honestly. "I wasn’t always like this."

Eden perked up in curiosity. "You weren’t?"

She shook her head. "I wasn’t. Perhaps it’s something I could talk about." She saw Lumi, idly moving on. Before, his gaze was intense, so she supposed he was doing something. Now it was free. "Lumi!"

"Yes?" Lumi turned his head.

"Mm." Lena nodded. "Just thinking. I want you two to hear me out, alright? Lumi, Eden. To be honest, I kinda miss who I used to be. Is that crazy? I was kinda pathetic. Now I’m strong. Yet I’m nostalgic."