Chapter 182: I Do Mind!

The rest was history.

The Players who had specially come to support their cute newbie Players had slammed a barrage of skills at the boastful Codo Bosra city watch soldiers.

They did not even survive half of the ultimate skills before being sent to Xi Wei. As such, most of the Players found it a waste that they didn’t have a chance of showing off to the children, and were even thinking about reviving their fallen foes for another beating.

It was therefore a pity that revive spells only works on other Players…

At the same time, the noblewoman was dumbfounded. She was born to a named family and rather knowledgeable compared to peasants, but when hast there been such a rain of skills with such assortments of special effects that drowned their targets entirely?

And when it came to special effects, even the most fearsome and cruel battlefields that were waged right now in other corners of this world would never be as cool as that sight the Players showed.

“Sorry, uncle. We couldn’t return them safely to Codo Bosra…” Simba said with a downcast tone, having found Mufasa with the other children amongst the crowd. “Their family was wiped out by the mayor of Codo Bosra.”

“That’s not your fault. Actually, what you’ve done was very impressive.” Mufasa had already learned about the whole story from Simba’s post in the forums where the boy had asked for help. He naturally didn’t blame the children, and even give them each head-pats. “Not only did you not overestimate your ability, you could precisely acknowledge your weakness and decide to wisely ask for our help. Moreover, none of you gave up despite your disadvantage, which proves that I’m right in judging you children have it in you.”

While Simba appeared to be still caught in his failure, both Nala and Zazu were beaming at Mufasa’s acknowledgment.

Meanwhile, the noblewoman hesitated when she saw Mufasa—the murderer of Baron Nigelania. But when she was about to approach him and say something, Marni came to her first.

“Greetings, milady.” Marni bowed stylishly at her.

“You know me?” The noblewoman promptly panicked. She had kept her identity hidden through it all to protect Gwendolyn, her daughter and heir apparent of Lancaster.

Things were clearly going to be awry if someone could recognize her.

While her handmaidens were learned in swordplay, that clearly isn’t going to cut it against the overwhelming barrage of spells and sacred arts which not even a rat could escape from!

With them alone against so many formidable individuals, there is just no way they could seize the initiative.

“The name’s Marni Wilf, milady—we’ve met once in a banquet at Lancaster.” Marni smiled gentlemanly. “Of course, you probably wouldn’t recognize an unimportant character like myself.”

“I would never consider anyone who could command a sacred corps an ‘unimportant character’.” The noblewoman replied, trying her best to feign calmness… or at least not let her fear be known.

It was true that in her perspective, the Players were a large group of people who had mastered powerful magics and sacred arts, and clearly not some ordinary group either.

There weren’t any excessively powerful mercenary outfits in the Valla Empire, just as the Players’ wide assortment of equipment made it clear that they were not a noble’s private army or the royal army from another city, which made sacred corps the only possible answer.

Despite most sacred corps having a standard set of uniform like any royal army, there were certain churches that promote the self and individuality of their believers (such as Grimund, God of Travel and Arts, and the patron god of wandering poets), which meant their sacred corps wouldn’t have standard uniform regulations.

Be that as it may, although the noblewoman couldn’t immediately identify the hierarchy amongst the Players, Marni clearly was important even if he wasn’t a commander given how he could speak for the others.

“Sacred corps, huh…”

Marni had wanted to deny that idea at first, but decided that she was right to a certain extent.

The Players who were striving hard for the God of Games everywhere definitely counted as a sacred corps, albeit one with neither military units nor organization.

However, Marni decided to directly change the conversation and casually skip the question.

“Setting that aside, why would you decided to head for Codo Bosra instead of Lancaster?”

‘Because I’m afraid you would ransom us right here and now after you learn who we are,’ the noblewoman thought.

Still, she was not supposed to say that.

“I happened to miss my old city and was about to return for a visit. Is there a problem?”

“Of course not.” Marni nodded without letting on if he was convinced by her excuse, and simply casually said, “But if you don’t mind, allow us to escort you back to Lancaster.”

‘I do mind!’

The noblewoman almost exclaimed, but ultimately repressed her impulse.

It was definitely dangerous outside at the moment, and there was no assurance that they could return to Lancaster safely without the Players’ help.

Moreover, given what she herself said, they wouldn’t just allow her to return anyway.

Hence, the Players grandly escorted her group back to Lancaster, the first time they deliberately present themselves before the nobles of a city.

However, it was a choice made after the veteran players had a discussion. The unrest in Lancaster was becoming serious, and since the Players would have to show their faces eventually, they naturally couldn’t keep hiding down at the aqueducts. Hence, it was better to take this chance, and at least when they present themselves as good Samaritans escorting the noblewoman’s group, they could hold their heads high.

In addition, they could give limited demonstrations of their power as long as they did no reveal that they were believers of the God of Games, therefore backing Marni who often visited Lancaster as a traveling merchant.

With over a hundred strong, anyone who would want to capture Marni would have to consider if they could survive the recompense.

For her part, while the noblewoman assumed that the old mayor of Lancaster who had a quirky temperament would hold off that weird sacred corps for a few days, things did not go as she thought. Corinth, who had always been seclusive had actually left his keep when he received the letter from the Players who went in to scout things out beforehand, receiving everyone outside the city and stunning the noblewoman in turn.

She realized then that old man appeared to be more interested in that strange sacred corps than the safety of herself and Gwendolyn.

In fact, the mayor was reacting even more unusual when a young blonde girl with a ponytail and was holding a flagpole showed up amongst the sacred corps. Mixed expressions of regret, excitement, and nervousness were actually showing up on his usually stoic face!

Afterward, the merchant calling himself Marni Wilf, the unidentified flag-bearing blonde girl and Mayor Corinth had a long deliberation in the latter’s private study. Later, he personally saw them off, standing by the door for a long time before finally returned inside.

And the result of that deliberation was the notification that all the Players saw.

[Reputation system for Lancaster Mayor now open]

[Players’ default reputation is ‘indifference’]