Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 67

67. Luck and Skill (7)

The one-sided chase instantly flipped 180 degrees.

Amidst the chilling atmosphere, beads of sweat trickled down Aile’s forehead as he watched him.

“He’s a new recruit from Swallow. He’s still inexperienced and made a mistake. I apologize on his behalf.”

Toulon stepped forward, belatedly trying to smooth things over.

Amaranth had recently recruited skilled members from the disbanded Swallow mercenary guild, and Lucas was one of them.

While working for the minor mercenary guild, he rarely encountered the Big Six, and still not fully adapted, he made a clumsy mistake unbefitting an Amaranth member.

Tasha, hearing the explanation, chuckled and lowered her weapon, nodding towards the cold corpse.

“Make sure to collect his equipment and give it to his family. And provide some proper compensation.”

“…We won’t interfere with Nightmare’s affairs.”

Toulon cautiously retreated, looting the items from Lucas’s body before healing his near-dead teammate.

Then, without any hesitation, he vanished from the street, leaving Aile behind.

Considering how persistently they had been chasing, it was a surprisingly quick surrender.

“He went that way!”

“Are you alright?”

The guards, who had been running from a distance, approached and asked about her condition.

Amaranth had initiated the attack, and even if the opposite were true, it wouldn’t have changed anything.

The NPCs guarding the city were affiliated with the Nightmare Guild, so it was only natural.

“There’s no need to pursue them.”

Tasha said, wiping the blood off the recovered spear. The guards, who were about to chase after Toulon, stopped in unison.

The guards began to clean up the bodies scattered on the street.

Meanwhile, Aile’s mind was racing with thoughts.

He couldn’t easily figure out why a Nightmare Guild member, of all people, had suddenly intervened.

With no apparent connection, he wondered what they wanted from him, whether it was simple sympathy or amusement, or if there was a reason he didn’t know.

Aile’s head spun.

“I almost got into big trouble, but thankfully… Well, I guess you could have gotten out of it on your own anyway.”

“No, I was saved thanks to you. Thank you.”

Aile waved his hand at Tasha’s words, expressing his gratitude.

He was confident he could create an opportunity to escape on his own, but his words were sincere, not just polite.

Her directly helping Aile had implications beyond simply escaping the immediate crisis.

“Did you see that just now?”

“What’s going on…?”

Aile felt the gazes and whispers of people on the street.

Having made such a scene, it was inevitable that people would pay attention, and Tasha, sensing this, smiled at Aile and said,

“Shall we move to another place?”

* * *

“This is…”

Aile muttered in surprise, taking the note placed on the table.

It was a small note with Nightmare’s contact information on it.

However, it wasn’t just an official phone number, but a messenger channel number within Warlord, composed of English letters and numbers.

With a regular official number, you would only be connected to customer service staff outside the game, but with this unofficial line, you could directly connect to a dedicated team within the Nightmare Guild.

It seemed minor, but it was a significant difference.

It was a channel used when exchanging valuable information with the guild, not for ordinary inquiries or formalities.

It wasn’t something anyone could easily find out, so he couldn’t help but be surprised to receive such an offer.

Aile hesitated for a moment, then put down the note and opened his mouth.

“But… I don’t think a newbie like me, only level 29, can contribute much to a Big Six guild.”

“Of course, it would be difficult. That’s why it’s a shame you started so late. But even if you don’t join the guild directly, there are many ways to cooperate.”

Aile nodded as if he understood her words.

The Big Six were basically gatherings of elite players.

As he had just seen, each member was a near-ranker-level top player, with a qualitative difference that other guilds couldn’t even approach.

A powerful armed group with no weak links among its many members.

Therefore, the existence of numerous subordinate guilds to support them was essential.

‘But that can’t be the only reason…’

It was absurd for a Nightmare Guild member to intervene in a dispute with another guild and take the time to talk, just to recruit talent for a subordinate guild.

“Of course, I’m not talking about lower-tier guilds.”

“Then…”

As Aile reacted, she smiled lightly and nodded.

It wasn’t about directly joining or being scouted for a subordinate guild.

Even so, if Nightmare were to open a direct channel code, it would only be for players they wanted to place in an external cooperative relationship with the guild.

Most people overlooked the fact that it was possible for individuals, not just guilds, to form partnerships with giant guilds.

Of course, this was only possible when you had a bargaining chip to offer to the Big Six.

For example, ‘Kenneth,’ known as the best blacksmith in Warlord, received offers from the Big Six and many other large guilds, taking on outsourced work. Similarly, users with high-ranking production skills in various life content areas formed such relationships with them.

Rarely, some strong players at the ranker level worked as individuals, taking on roles as mercenaries or troubleshooters for various guilds, earning money.

However, Aile, who hadn’t touched life content at all and was even low-level, didn’t fit into either category.

Generally speaking, the matter of external cooperation with the Big Six seemed completely irrelevant to Aile.

“It’s not like there’s no decent guild that would accept you… You seem to have reasons for not joining a guild, but as a latecomer who started a year late, it’s going to be hard to keep going alone.”

“That’s inevitable since I started late.”

“Do you really think so?”

“…”

“As you know, Warlord is overflowing with all sorts of guilds right now. They are fiercely competing for survival in a complex and intertwined relationship. Whether it’s a large guild occupying territory or a small guild in a back alley, they don’t hesitate to crush weaker opponents. There’s too much money at stake to indulge in sentimentality, and it all goes to the victors. No one would deny that surviving against them without backing requires more than just individual skill.”

Clatter!

Tasha put down her teacup and stared directly at Aile as she continued.

“So, do you have it? Something that even the leading giant guilds in Warlord would covet.”

Tasha’s eyes, filled with curiosity, pierced through Aile, and Aile, realizing the meaning of her words, subtly twisted the corners of his mouth without even noticing it himself.

‘So, the Big Six are different…’

She had accurately pointed out what Aile had always kept in mind since deciding to start Warlord in earnest.

Despite being strangers who had just met and having a short conversation, she had clearly read and spoken about the situation he would face.

Aile paused to organize his thoughts and slowly opened his mouth.

“May I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Why did you make this offer to me of all people?”

“If you connect well with the guild through my introduction, I’ll get credit for it. Haha!”

Tasha said with a playful tone, laughing.

But she soon continued with a serious expression.

“Of course, such cases are noticeably rare… But I somehow don’t think you have *nothing*.”

‘She saw potential…’

“You can ignore it if you don’t feel like it. We’re not the kind of place that clings to people who are leaving. Well, I have people waiting for me, so I’ll get up first. If you ever talk to the guild, please mention my name?”

“Ah, yes… I will.”

Tasha, finishing her words cheerfully, got up without further conversation or persuasion and coolly disappeared. Aile didn’t try to ask her anything more either.

Both sides were fully aware of each other’s intentions and inner thoughts.

‘I didn’t expect it to be resolved in this way.’

Aile, who had overcome the crisis in a truly unexpected way, sat there for a moment, lost in thought.

Now that a Nightmare Guild member had directly intervened, there was no need to worry about Amaranth anymore.

Even if Aile had no connection with them yet, there was no way for Amaranth to know that, and having even a slight connection with the Big Six, they couldn’t act rashly.

But as she said in the conversation just now, this couldn’t be seen as the end, but rather the beginning.

‘Once I officially step into the competition in Warlord, friction is inevitable in some way. I managed to get through the immediate crisis, but I can’t repeat this every time I get into a fight.’

He already knew that it was impossible to make his way through Warlord solely on his own strength, but he realized more clearly than he thought that it wasn’t easy at all this time.

And this incident was a turning point for Aile.

‘I have no intention of going under a guild as an Apostle [A player class focused on supporting a specific guild]… But I need to build relationships with the large guilds.’

It wasn’t just about Nightmare.

He had received help from one of their members and even obtained an unofficial channel code, but that wasn’t enough.

Rather, from the perspective of someone working as an individual, it was better to have many reliable clients than to trade with only one side.

Then he had to find the ‘competitiveness’ that only he could have.

‘Either way, there’s no point in contacting them through the channel right now.’

The giant guilds, which had built up enormous power, were basically absolute superiors.

The difference in status was enormous, so Aile was the only one who was desperate, and he had to raise his value to the point where he could assert his claims on at least an equal footing.

However, he couldn’t reveal his Apostle System to them, and he couldn’t show off his skills since he started so late.

In the first place, ‘He’s good for his level’ was no advantage when dealing with the Big Six.

Then, looking at the long term, there was only one thing Aile could offer to the giant guilds in his current situation.

“Right, in the end, what’s left for me is… the character.”