"What do you think they are doing?"
"Cuddling of course, its so obvious."
"Leader is sly."
"Shut your mouth little boy. What do you know?"
"What! Aunty i know more than you. Do you know what scissors is."
"Koko, you are blocking my view. Stay in one place."
From the pergola in front of Skylar and Lingyue, some of the other members of the group who has been watching with great interest the view of the duo cuddling on the bench in front of them, converse in hush voices, making sure they do not break the peculiar bubble encasing the duo having a good time.
***
Meanwhile, somewhere in the shadows where beings conspire; this beings pair of eyes watch through a medium the scenes of Skylar and Lingyue on the bench under the pergola. And the pairs of eyes have on them and the face they hang on different expression.
One of the pairs of eyes burning with anger as Lingyue got closer and into more intimate position with Skylar has the twisted face it hangs on turn more twisted and purple. And another unique pair of eyes trained only on the cloaked Skylar, more beautiful than all the others and calculating as it watch, hangs on a beautiful and thoughtful face.
He is definitely boiling, poor idiot. How can a king of your level become so obsessed with a random woman.
"Golden King... So, what about my proposal."
"Lady Aries, we don't know if this shady person is actually a top expert not to talk of being a champion. He might..."
"Eh!... Diana does Golden King have an ugly mustache and a pot belly... No one told me about it..."
"Aries!"
"Tch... Okay okay... So..."
"What lord Absalom said is right... We shouldn't account for a person we have not confirmed his capability..."
"Hey, Golden boy. I thought that Diana girl said she has already confirmed it was that person that killed the flaming boar and those people from moonlight and the little princess of spartan sanctuary shouldn't lie about it. So, what else are we confirming..."
"Old bull, you might not know it. Someone here don't trust my sweet girl despite all the love she has been showing them... Its like the love can't compete with the rejection of an arrogant and random manipulative bitch. Tch... If it were me, ah..."
"Lord Bullslayer, we don't have concrete proof and i don't think we should rely on deductions at this stage. Any miscalculation can cost us a lot, we might even fail to kill the bird and starfall in the process loosing all of our resources especially the Golden finch..."
"Eh!... Something doesn't make sense here..."
"..."
"If its not this person... Who killed the flaming boar? Or the flaming boar we saw is the work of an illusion... right? My sweet Dianna what do you think?..."
"Lady Aries, someone else might have killed it or it died on its own..."
"Pregnant snake, i don't want to hear you call my name again... Who the hell even allowed you in here where humans are talking..."
"Little girl now calm down..."
"Tch... Taddeus!. What do you think about my great deduction, who killed the boar?"
"There is a lot of sense in what everyone is saying..."
"Here we go again, another snake. Can't you just tell us what you really think, instead of trying to please everyone. What are you even scared of..."
"..."
"Are you scared someone will target you and your faction if they know about your..."
"Hm hm... Lady Aries i think we can easily settle this if we find a way to confirm their caliber without annoying them... Empress what do you think?"
***
"Players that join a faction signed a binding contract the tower privides with the faction under their witness. But there is this thing about every contract. All of them have a release clause. Just like in sport... If another faction or the player is ready to pay the release clause, there is nothing the faction they are contracted to can do to stop it..."
"Is that not a good thing for players..." Skylar brushing Lingyue's hair asked.
"Yes, for a player it's a good thing but for small faction like us it is a nightmare. If a talented player rose up in a faction and you don't have money to keep him, it is guaranteed he is going to leave..."
Skylar sighed, his eyes intending to look at her's settled on her straight and moderate nose bridge. "Is that why you say the simulation is made for rich people."
Lingyue adjusted her body nestling on Skylar's chest, and her eyes met his. "Yes and no. If there is a powerful expert helming a faction money becomes secondary... My lord you wouldn't know... The corpse of an adult flaming boar can earn you up to half a million gold coin..." Lingyue's limpid eyes on Skylar's at this point became slightly misty and expentant. But someone arriving in front of them ruined the atmosphere.
"Leader Lingyue." The short guy that arrived, wearing a black leather jacket and pocket trousers that has a golden snake pattern on their pockets gave a light bow, with his contemptuous eyes that is sneakily scanning Skylar hiding a scheming gleam.
Finally, this is the unpopular scapegoat tactic. Should i respond with the famous faceslapping tactic. Skylar smiled. He put his hand that was on Lingyue other shoulder around her tiny waist.
Adjusting to Skylar's movement, Lingyue draw a little away from him, settling with her side pressing on his and with her head resting on his shoulder.
"What do you want." Lingyue asked like she glared at him and while hiding an imperceptible frown on her oval face.
"I am player 'Hidden venom 2' from Viper gang... We got a report you have with you a stranger, please do not misunderstand our intention leader Lingyue, its for the sake of safety." Hidden venom 2, bowed lightly again and when he did, he cast Skylar a contemptuous glance after which he raised his head and continued "On behalf of the Golden King that has tasked us at Viper gang with the temporary security of the golden finch, we would like if your guest would introduce themselves to us. Also please understand we are doing this as part of the existing protocol, and because the wise ones among us players have determined the perpetrator that was said to be manipulating the bird attacking ships lately should always be on the ship it will attack... We are sorry and this might sound ridiculous. Your..."
"Are you saying i brought someone to attack your ship?" The unusually cold and calm voice of Lingyue who has disengaged totally from Skylar and folded her arms on her large chest when she heard Hidden venom 2 words interrupted him.
Before the unexpectedly calm and collected hidden venom 2 could give a reply, Skylar smiled under his hood and asked, "How should i introduce myself?"
Hidden venom 2 because of Skylar's seeming compliance lowered his head, he smirked secretly and raised it. His eyes gleamed briefly and he replied. "Its simple you just have to follow me inside to meet the Golden king who will ask you some questions. Put your mind at rest. As long as they judged you are not hostile, they will let you return to leader Lingyue..."
At this point Lingyue who has been listening, with arms folded and leg crossed, chimed in. "Is this Golden king intention or something you people at viper gang came up with."
...
Meanwhile at the other pergola where the other member of the group watch from;
"Do you think big bro will follow that snake inside." Starboy asked One leaf.
One leaf after a little pause and with a hand on his fair chin looked in Lingyue's direction and replied, "Don't you find it strange, Golden king is willing to offend leader just to know the great expert's identity. Its like he doesn't care anymore about leader's impression of him."
"Is it not because he has been spying at leader and lord, and he is now jealous of them, so he wants to humiliate lord and kick them off the ship" Ari, sitting on a wooden stool placed at Skylar line of sight deduced.
Starboy, at Ari and One leaf deductions scoffed. "You people don't understand... Its true he has been spying, and i can bet it with you he is not the only one spying there must be others with him. And if i am right there goal is to confirm if big bro is as capable as they have been informed... They probably need big bro's help to fight against that bird. And it must be because of that the ship arrived a day earlier... There should even be players from other factions the golden finch has aligned with inside there right now already prepared to fight the bird. If we go inside, we will see them..."
"But, why do they want to bully lord if they want to ask for their help?" Henjue, with her tiny and cute voice chimed in.
Old soldier who had been silent since grinned and joined in on the conversation. "Its all strategy... There aim is to get lord angry and possibly make lord display his capabilities in the process of expressing their anger... Most powerful people when you step on there ego, their first instinct is to subdue you by showing their power. They think lord is not an exception. You just watch... What that snake plan to do is separate lord from leader and take them where he will provoke or try to humiliate them. And i am sure he must have also planted cameras there that will relay everything that happened live to his bosses watching everything from somewhere else..."
"And if they see lord is not as capable as they expect they will just throw them out or even do more than humiliate them. They will think lord has wasted their time or they will feel thier ego bruised since they have shown lord undeserved attention and deference..." One leaf picked from where old soldier left.
"But if lord is someone they can't mess with, they will just offer that snake as a scapegoat and try to make lord warm up to them. I am even sure Golden king will be the one to kill that guy when they start their fake act of persuading big bro... He should expect to gain big bro's trust by doing that." Starboy concluded and frowned.
"No one has answered One leaf, why will Golden king want to offend leader? You don't expect leader to be stupid and not come to the same conclusion as you guys." Ari looked inquisitively at Starboy and as she spoke.
"I don't think leader will realise. But if leader did, something like 'i have no hand in it... it was viper gang's leader that used my name and instigated it' should be what the Golden king will say to persuade leader. Simple right?." Starboy chuckled while he gave Ari a side glance.
"Will lord realize their evil intention to bully them?" Henjue with her head lowered inquired with her tiny and cute voice that also express her worry and nervousness.
"We will soon find out..." Old soldier replied and glanced at Starboy who has a thoughtful look on his face.
...
At Skylar's side;
After Hidden venom 2 had replied Lingyue, saying that what he is doing as been approved by golden king, and while Skylar watch them thoughtfully; Lingyue who is exchanging words with hidden venom 2 tried to negotiate with him to let her follow Skylar inside. Her argument being Skylar is her guest, and a host has the responsibility of making sure there guest is comfortable at all times. But Hidden venom 2 who remains adamant argued Golden king ordered him specifically to not allow her to follow, that his emotions might get in the way of his questioning and he would not want to put everyone in danger if he doesn't do his job properly, and he also would not want people to point finger at her and accuse her if things go wrong, he cares a lot for her... Back and forth both argued.
Skylar watching them thoughtfully sighed silently under his hood. Should i crash there ship. Nah, that's clearly what they want. I will get angry, display my power and they will come rushing to get on my good side by flattering me, acting like whatever happend before has nothing to do with them... Using classic trope against me, they must think i am a stupid idiot.
"Leader Lingyue, is this filth worth it offending lord Golden king."
Before Lingyue could respond to Hidden venom 2 latest argument, Skylar presence changed as he stood up suddenly.