PGTMD 115

Chapter 115. 

Each Person’s Arrangements

[The Adventurer’s Guild’s reputation has decreased.]

[Emil Bauer has been permanently removed from the list of recruitable companions.]

[Marta Schmidt has been permanently removed from the list of recruitable companions.]

[Oscar Vogel has been permanently removed from the list of recruitable companions.]

[Schmidt Becker has…]

‘Ugh, these alarms are so damn annoying.’

The moment Camellia left the guild, the system alarms began going off one after another. She shoved the notifications into a corner of her vision before sinking back into the carriage seat.

[Ariana Arkenheim has been permanently removed from the list of recruitable companions.]

‘…Huh? Ariana too?’

The other companion characters had never been compatible with the Mind Sorcerer in the first place, so losing them wasn’t particularly surprising.

But she hadn’t expected even Ariana to be eliminated all at once.

In the grand scheme of things, it was actually fortunate, but she couldn’t say she felt entirely pleased about it.

After all, Ariana Arkenheim was the very first companion available for recruitment in the game.

According to the original progression, the first place she was supposed to meet Ariana wasn’t the Adventurer’s Guild but the Tower.

More precisely, Ariana’s first appearance was supposed to take place in front of the Tower, immediately before entering the first-floor expedition.

Ariana joins the Lord’s party because she wants to rescue companions trapped inside the Tower by a barrier she had created to keep monsters out.

Naturally, all of her companions were already dead, and if one questioned their summoned spirits, it would be revealed that they had died harboring resentment toward Ariana.

Although deeply devastated, Ariana chose to remain by the Lord’s side because she wanted to prevent other adventurers from losing their companions to the Tower’s rampages.

That was Ariana’s introductory story.

‘But I completely screwed up that entire sequence.’

It wasn’t because she disliked Ariana.

Why would she dislike a top-tier character who was widely considered a Tier 0 rogue?

Even her character concept—a princess of a fallen kingdom who was also a rogue—was, if anything, right up Camellia’s alley.

More than anything, Ariana was incredibly beautiful.

Her current disguised appearance was certainly attractive, but her true appearance, revealed after her affection level increased, was so breathtakingly beautiful that players naturally called her one of the most beautiful characters in the entire game.

There were even jokes about whether more players had started playing because of Ariana’s transformation clip or because of Zehar’s transformation clip.

So why had Camellia gone to such extraordinary lengths to avoid Ariana?

‘Because otherwise, she’d betray me.’

No matter what the player did, Ariana was a character who was guaranteed to stab them in the back and run away.

That was because the main story of the second DLC of Dark Tower, The Banquet of Kings, began with Ariana’s betrayal.

Thanks to that, the community completely exploded when the DLC was released.

• Wasn’t Ari originally supposed to be the second-most popular heroine after the main one? Why did her popularity ranking fall so much? Is it because of the DLC?

└ What else would it be?

└ I’m already pissed that she betrayed us immediately after we bought the DLC. And now you expect me to vote for her in the popularity poll, too?

• Wow, are the Ari simps seriously whining about her being fifth now? The Jeha simps are insane, but these guys aren’t exactly normal either.
• If Banquet of Kings hadn’t sold well, Ari would’ve sunk straight into the abyss. Be grateful that so many people refused to buy it because they were still traumatized by the betrayal in the first installment.
• For real. What a relationship-killing story. They said they’d make Ari queen, so I rushed out and bought it, but instead of becoming queen, she just screws over the Lord and laughs about it, lol.

└ How can you stop loving the Lord just because she betrayed you? Betraying the Lord is practically a public service at this point.

└ How dare you! Queen Ari only stole your heart and left your phone and keyboard alone so you could still post on the forums! Show some gratitude!

└└ I’d rather she steal my phone. Why did she have to steal my Soul Fragment?

Since the drop in her popularity ranking happened to coincide with the popularity poll, all sorts of rumors spread.

Some blamed the DLC, while others claimed the developers had deliberately suppressed Ariana’s popularity.

Camellia couldn’t understand the argument at all.

Why were people making such a huge fuss over the story when everyone would just skip it after being forced to watch it once?

For Camellia, what mattered far more was how the game’s power balance had been completely ruined by the sudden appearance of things like the legendary spell Royal Family’s Secret Treasure.

Of course, now that the game had become reality, the story mattered much more.

The Continental War, which formed the main storyline of The Banquet of Kings, would have an enormous impact on Nidstar as well.

And, unfortunately, it was scheduled to occur in the third year.

If she got caught up in it the wrong way, she could end up ruining not only the happy ending but even the normal ending.

‘Still, permanently removing her from the companion roster is a little harsh… But if I’m asking which situation gives me more freedom to act, this is definitely better.’

The reason Ariana became involved in the Continental War was because of her right to vote in the election of the Emperor of Palum.

One might wonder how a princess of a fallen kingdom could possibly possess the right to vote for the emperor.

The setting explained that the electoral right belonged not to a title but to the family itself, so players simply accepted it and moved on.

Regardless, because of this electoral right, Ariana was inevitably dragged into the Palum Emperor Election event.

And once that event occurred, the Continental War would naturally follow.

When Ariana was a companion, the Soul Fragment she had stolen—no, borrowed—meant that Camellia had no choice but to side with the anti-emperor faction, whether she liked it or not.

That imposed all sorts of restrictions.

But now that Ariana had been completely removed from the companion roster, Camellia was literally free to do whatever she wanted.

She could switch sides whenever she pleased like a bat, or stay completely out of it and simply watch from the sidelines while taking advantage of both sides.

It wasn’t entirely impossible to behave like that in the game, either.

The problem was that doing so required killing Ariana.

‘It wasn’t exactly a great option. If Ariana died, her electoral vote would disappear too, making it impossible to enjoy the fun of playing the swing voter.’

That was why Camellia had deliberately avoided recruiting Ariana.

If they remained completely unrelated, Camellia could save and assist Ariana when she fell into danger and then demand an appropriate reward in return.

Ariana would also come to appreciate her.

According to Camellia’s plan, Ariana wouldn’t merely exist as a half-powered queen or a ruler in name only.

She would become a queen with genuine power.

Of course, that wasn’t the most important matter right now.

There was something else Camellia truly needed to worry about.

“Captain, could you move aside for a moment? I think I need to have a word with the Lord.”

【This damn monster! You sure as hell threatened my kids, didn’t you!?】

Outwardly, the Guild Master was pretending to remain polite.

In reality, however, he was furious to the very tips of his hair.

And Camellia had to explain the situation to the Guild Master of the Adventurer’s Guild.

“The Lord is free to go wherever she wishes within her own territory. But didn’t you lease the Adventurer’s Guild grounds to us?”

【This crazy bastard! I can’t take it anymore!】

“You crossed the line by intimidating even guild members who had done nothing wrong. If you were angry because the situation was handled inadequately, you should have taken your anger out on me.”

【If those bastards really did something wrong, huh? Then just take them! Why the hell are you messing with our people!?】

“I thought there was enough of a bond between the Lord and me for that not to happen. Was I mistaken?”

【I mean, huh!? Huh!? I’ve gone to the castle every damn day, rubbing my hands together and even bowing my head! Is this what I get for trying to stay on your good side? How dare you mess with my people!?】

Even as Camellia spoke calmly and politely, she couldn’t help being impressed by Maloric’s unbelievably colorful inner monologue.

How could what someone said aloud and what they were thinking differ this much?

If that was a talent, it was certainly an impressive one.

Maybe it was because he was a magic swordsman who had to use both swords and magic simultaneously?

But she couldn’t simply sit there admiring him.

At this rate, she might actually end up responding to his thoughts.

“You needn’t say all that. I’ll explain everything, so be quiet.”

“What explanation? That the people sent by the Stellavane branch manager are bad guys? That they tried to blow up our guild?”

Maloric growled while pressing down on his flushed, heated head.

“Even if that’s true, you shouldn’t have overturned the guild so violently. Not if you truly respect us.”

Camellia stared directly at him before answering.

“What if what I did was precisely because I do not respect you?”

“…What?”

“Maloric. Maloric Bancroft. Do you really not understand something this simple? You’re remarkably dense.”

Camellia clicked her tongue and explained.

“The Guild Master of Stellavane has sided with the Palum Empire, while the branches hostile to them have thrown their support behind the anti-imperial faction.”

Camellia reached out with one smooth, pale finger and poked Maloric in the chest where he sat across from her in the carriage.

“But if someone who follows a different path from them openly takes someone as their backer, whom do you think the adventurers will trust and follow?”

Use your brain, Maloric.

Adventurers are naturally rebellious by nature. Do you think they’ll find it cooler to see you standing toe-to-toe with the Lord of Nidstar, or to see you groveling at her feet?

“The Adventurer’s Guild of Nidstar must remain an independent guild. Therefore, you and I must not appear excessively close. The adventurers must not view me as someone they can casually approach, either.”

If she was nothing more than an outsider rather than the guild’s hidden backer, then everyone would believe and support the guild when it claimed that it was acting to preserve its independence.

The adventurers, who knew nothing about Camellia’s plans, kept trying to act friendly with her.

She had already reached the point where an event forcing her to create some distance was necessary.

In a sense, the emergency quest had appeared at exactly the right time.

There was no way she could let such an opportunity pass.

“We can have a personal relationship. Cooperation for the development of the territory is also fine. We can even quarrel like we did today. I believe this is the most appropriate distance for us.”

In short, they couldn’t foolishly make it obvious that they were friendly and end up turning Nidstar into yet another faction like the imperialists or anti-imperialists.

Until the guild was properly stabilized, they needed to maintain a somewhat staged business relationship.

“Do you understand?”

“…I understand.”

Camellia continued speaking boldly and shamelessly.

“Then surely you will also believe that everything I did today was for the sake of you and the Adventurer’s Guild, won’t you?”

She had indeed done it partly because she was furious about the emergency quest that had appeared when she was already unbearably busy.

But it was also true that she had considered everything carefully before acting.

So, technically speaking, she wasn’t lying.

[Maloric Bancroft’s Affection has decreased significantly!]

Apparently, however, Maloric had absolutely no intention of believing her.