The Art of Shifting Blame
The winged demons were depressed, but their gloom was nothing compared to the despair of the Guild Alliance members outside. Grief, frustration, hopelessness...
"Ugh... *sniff*... sob..."
"F-first, let's contact Master Su Ning."
Staring at the warehouse that had been reduced to a pile of ash, they hurriedly contacted Su Ning.
Su Ning staggered, completely forgetting the massive crowd of guild members standing right in front of him. His knees had suddenly buckled.
"What's wrong with Master Su Ning?"
"Did he stand up too long?"
"That's why speeches should be short. Honestly, that was way too long. He should've just said, 'We won!' and wrapped it up."
"Exactly. I have so many daily quests to do."
Su Ning didn't even have the energy to get angry at his whispering guild members. How on earth did this happen?! For now, he forced himself to wrap up his speech.
"...That is all for today!"
"Whoaaaaa!"
"Master Su Ning really knows what's up! He cut it off the second it started getting boring!"
The guild members cheered, utterly oblivious to the turmoil raging inside Su Ning's chest. He immediately summoned his executives for an emergency meeting.
"How did this happen?!"
"We don't really know either..."
"It was like a bolt from the blue."
"What were the guards doing?! Tell them all to faceplant and die!"
"If you watch the footage, you'll see there was absolutely nothing they could have done."
Suppressing his rising blood pressure at the executives' excuses, Su Ning pulled up the recording. The footage clearly showed Sadiq's Avatar sweeping through the city with devastating power before departing.
Why the hell did this bastard come to Arene City of all places to do this?!
As Su Ning wallowed in despair, a specific line spoken by Sadiq's Avatar caught his attention.
—Haha... How dare these lowlife scoundrels of Archisus try to scam me...
"?"
Su Ning snapped his head up. "Why is he talking about Archisus?"
"W-well... who knows?"
Sensing the thick murderous intent in his voice, the executives avoided eye contact. One wrong word, and Su Ning might actually stab them!
"Since the Archisus faith has spread widely across the Auston Kingdom... perhaps that's why Sadiq's Avatar was enraged. As you know, the Sadiq Order suffered massive damage at the hands of Kim Ta—I mean, the Archisus Church..."
"Kim Tae-hyun instigated this."
"Huh? Come on, even for Kim Tae-hyun, that's a bit much..."
"No. We make it so he instigated it! The truth doesn't matter!"
To be honest, Su Ning didn't actually believe Tae-hyun had orchestrated this either. The scale of the disaster was simply too astronomical for that to be the case.
"We need someone to take the fall for this!"
If they had just been raided out of sheer bad luck, the guild members' anger would have nowhere to go. It could easily turn into: What was the guild leadership doing while that monster was coming? Why did they just stand by?
But if it was Kim Tae-hyun's doing?
Kim Tae-hyun, you son of a bitch! Let's kill Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun is the sworn enemy of our guild!
They could redirect all that rage toward a single target.
"Ah, I see."
"Indeed. No matter how crazy Kim Tae-hyun is, he couldn't possibly orchestrate something of this scale. He's not a god, after all."
"Right, right."
At that moment, however, a single thought flashed through everyone's minds: Wait... could that bastard Kim Tae-hyun actually... No, surely not...
"But Master Su Ning."
"?"
"Our loot warehouses have been completely incinerated... What do we do about the gold?"
"..."
*Grit!*
Su Ning ground his teeth, then squeezed out the words as if spitting blood. "Raise... the taxes... We have no choice."
"Understood!"
"It's fine, it's fine, Su Ning. The members won't leave just because we raise the taxes a bit."
"Exactly. There are always people who complain. Even if we raise taxes, what can those losers actually do about it?"
The whispers of the executives seeped into Su Ning's weakened mind.
Yeah... We took over a kingdom. Raising taxes a little won't shake our foundation. It'll be fine.
Su Ning comforted himself with those thoughts.
"!"
Just as Tae-hyun and his party were about to slip away, they ran straight into a crowd of giants. It was the Black One-Eyed Giant Tribe, rushing in from outside!
—The Great Warrior! The Great Warrior is dead!
—Aaaah! We're all doomed! We're all doomed!
With other giants outside attacking them fiercely, the loss of their reliable Great Warrior and elite warriors left the remaining giants in utter despair, wailing at the top of their lungs.
"Are they going to be okay?"
"If they aren't, it's actually easier for us. I don't think they'd even chase us if we just left them behind..."
—We won't die alone! You all die with us!
"Well, of course..."
Dragging others down with them was a basic instinct for Pan-On monsters!
"Let's break through quickly. We don't have time."
If they lingered, they risked getting surrounded by the pursuing giants.
"Hold on!"
"?"
"I'll try to persuade them," Kim Tae-san said in a solemn voice.
Tae-hyun, thoroughly baffled, asked, "With your fists?"
"No, you punk! With words!"
"But Dad, you didn't even invest points in the Speech skill..."
"Do you think persuasion only works with the Speech skill?! If you understand their situation and offer them exactly what they need, you can persuade them even with a low Speech skill!"
"...?"
Tae-hyun still didn't get it, but since Kim Tae-san was so determined, he decided to let him try. He stepped back and whispered to the middle-aged guild members. "Uncles, if my dad gets hit by the giants, initiate the attack."
"Okay, got it."
"I can hear you, you little brat!" Kim Tae-san grumbled as he stepped forward. Tae-hyun was already raining on his parade before he even started.
"Ahem. Hey, you guys! You seem to be in a tight spot. How would you like to come to my territory?"
• You are inviting the Black One-Eyed Giant Tribe to your territory.
• If persuasion succeeds, the Black One-Eyed Giant Tribe will be added to your territory.
• There are currently various races in your territory. Giants may cause conflicts.
Seriously? Tae-hyun was stunned. He never imagined anyone would actually invite those giants to their territory! And to think that person would be his own father!
No matter how I look at it, this is a net negative...
Tae-hyun could only picture them destroying the territory out of hunger.
—To your territory? To your territory?
"That's right! If you come to my territory, I can guarantee you'll get to eat until you're absolutely full."
—What an enticing offer. But we don't believe you!
—Yeah, yeah! You're as cunning as an Orc-human hybrid. We won't be fooled!
Your Speech skill is low.
The giants do not trust you.
Ugh! Kim Tae-san wallowed in frustration. Failing to gain their trust just because his Speech skill was low was incredibly annoying.
—Maybe he's trying to lure us away to kill us!
—Yeah, yeah!
"No, you idiots! Why would I do that—"
—The Orc is getting angry! That makes him even more suspicious!
"..."
Kim Tae-san felt like he could hear Tae-hyun snickering behind his back, even though Tae-hyun was standing perfectly still! As Kim Tae-san trembled with frustration, a shout echoed from behind them.
"Wait! Take those words back!"
"????"
It was the Orc Ahjussi, who had left earlier to transport the boulders to the territory, along with the giant warriors! They had returned.
—You guys! Where have you been?! Because you vanished, we were the only ones who got scolded by the Great Warrior!
The giants vented their anger at their suddenly returned kin.
—Yeah! And what's with that Orc? Why are you traveling with him?
The giant warrior waved his hands frantically, trying to explain.
—My friends! Listen to me! This Orc... is an incredible chef!
—?
—The food this Orc made is truly magnificent! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water!
As he spoke, the giant warrior literally began to drool. Seeing this, the other giants swallowed hard. Just what on earth had he eaten?
—Did you eat roasted Orc?
"Hey!"
—No! It's something... you truly have to taste to believe! And this Orc chef says he will cook for us!
Aren't they even curious about what happened to their Great Warrior? Tae-hyun thought to himself.
The giants had completely forgotten about their dead leader and were now solely focused on food!
—Ohhh. Is that true?!
"Indeed. I shall introduce you to the true art of 'cooking'!" the Orc Ahjussi declared arrogantly.
Seeing this, the other middle-aged guild members tilted their heads in confusion.
"Since when... could he cook?"
"The only thing he knows how to make is Abnormal Cooking... Wait, don't tell me he fed them *that*? Is he insane?"
"Does he have a spare neck or something?! What if those giants went berserk after eating that garbage?!"
Despite the protests of his peers, the Orc Ahjussi remained steadfast. "You guys just don't understand flavor. These giants are true gourmands."
"Cut the crap! That stuff is objectively disgusting!"
"Nobody would eat that unless it was for a stat buff!"
Amidst the pouring complaints, the giants ignored the noise and began a very serious discussion among themselves.
—Is it really that delicious?
—I'm telling you, it is. By the way, where did the Great Warrior go?
—He's dead.
—Why?!
—Who knows? More importantly, how delicious was the food?
—Well... to compare it to something...
After a lengthy conference, the giants finally came to a decision.
—Very well, Orc! We shall trust you and follow!
—How much food will you give us?
"A whole lot!"
—Excellent!
There was a strange, unspoken connection between the two parties.
• You have successfully invited the Black One-Eyed Giant Tribe to your territory.
• The Black One-Eyed Giant Tribe is a greedy giant tribe that is always hungry. If their dissatisfaction builds up, they may cause trouble.
I just have to feed them well! Kim Tae-san was confident. Honestly, Orcs and giants didn't seem all that different to him. They were simple creatures whose problems could mostly be solved by a good meal!
"Hahaha!"
—Bwahaha!
Leading the Black One-Eyed Giant Tribe, Tae-hyun and his party made their way out of the Zaion Mountains and headed toward the Uruk Region. As they traveled, Tae-hyun began sorting through the rewards he had acquired.
I need to organize everything, starting with Karbanog's Authority skill, Sadiq's Authority, and the items I got from the Knight Commander.
One of the rewards was Karbanog's Dagger, which was tied to Karbanog's Authority. To maximize its effectiveness, he needed a large number of people to wield this piece of garbage—no, highly specialized—weapon.
However, he couldn't just hand it out to anyone. In Pan-On, daggers were notoriously tricky weapons to use. Because of their short range, they were difficult to wield effectively without the right skills, gear, or raw mechanical talent to compensate. Most players only used them during their novice days because they were cheap; beyond that, almost no one touched them unless they were playing a rogue-type class.
Hmm. The uncles would be perfect.
Tae-hyun eyed the middle-aged guild members greedily. Decked out in all kinds of expensive gear, they were incredibly tanky. They could easily shrug off most attacks to close the distance and strike!
"A dagger? What kind of weapon is that?! It has zero style!"
"Exactly! Real men wield greatswords!"
"..."
However, the uncles rejected the offer flat out. Only then did Tae-hyun realize he had miscalculated. The only people who would actually be willing to use Karbanog's Dagger were those who were truly desperate!
Karbanog is protesting.
Since the uncles already possessed top-tier weapon and armor sets, they had absolutely no reason to equip Karbanog's Dagger. In the end, the only candidates left to wield it were players who lacked any decent weapons of their own...
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lee Da-bi asked, tilting her head.
"Well, I have this item, and I was wondering..."
Tae-hyun began explaining the mechanics of Karbanog's Dagger. As she listened, Lee Da-bi's expression grew increasingly complicated.
"I mean... our guild members would definitely be thrilled to receive them, but..."
"But?"
"Will they actually be able to use them properly? Aside from the daggers, the rest of their gear is terrible. Won't they just get killed before they can even get close?"
Lee Da-bi knew the limitations of her guild members all too well. Setting aside their subpar equipment, their mechanical skills were honestly nothing to write home about. All they had going for them was sheer persistence and a knack for underhanded tricks! High-level players were a rare breed within the Power Warrior guild; most of the members were eccentric weirdos who seemed to have a screw loose.
Then again, if they weren't a little crazy, they wouldn't have joined Power Warrior in the first place!