|Ferdinand Alcott - Lord of Alcott Viscounty|

The clinic opening in the south damaged my family's income. After the poison we commissioned has been cured by that bastard Gwyndolin, our income will decrease. However, I never thought that it would be this much.

Usually, we will get seventy thousand gold coins every three months, but now, there are only one thousand seven hundred gold coins every three months.

I need to do something, or my house will become a poor house. We need to make the south return to their previous job, making us rich. They are nothing but a barbarian to be used by us, the northern nobles.

However, the question is how. How can I make them return to their previous job?

I release a sigh and look around the room, searching for ideas. After looking for a few seconds, my eye sees a pitch-black paper on the table. This paper is a special kind of paper. This is a paper that is used to communicate with a Dark Guild.

What is a Dark Guild?

They are the rulers of the underworld. If many people rule the overworld, the underworld is unified. Five families rule them, called the Hand of Underworld, for each finger is the underworld king.

Dark Guild is a powerful entity that only the most powerful empire who willing to fight them head-on. They have their finger in a lot of things. Assassination, sabotage, kidnapping, and even genocide.

As long as you have the payment, they will do it.

However, contacting them is the hard part. Buying this piece of paper alone cost me ten thousand gold coins, which is only a way to commission a job to the guild. You must put in a lot more money if you want your job to be accepted.

After thinking about it for a few seconds, I bite my finger and smear my blood on the paper. I can see the paper shine a little before a word appears on the paper.

“The Guild heard and sent their agent. Wait for three days. The agent will find you.”

Three days, huh? I wonder what kind of agent they will send.

~Three days later~

I frown a little as the agent has yet to arrive. It has been three days, and the sun is set, but the agent has yet to arrive.

“I’m already here.”

I look at the corner of my office and see a man wearing a black hood. I blink for a few seconds before smiling at my guest.

“Welcome! Please take a seat. What do you want? Tea? Juice? Maybe dinner first?”

“Let’s talk business. I don’t have much time. I’m a busy person.”

“Of course. Please take a seat.”

The agent nods and takes a seat on the sofa inside my office. I sit in front of him and say.

“I require a service from the guild.”

“What kind of service?”

“I want the south to require my family service once again.”

“Hmmm. The guild can do that. Poison or curse?”

“What’s the difference?”

“Poison is easier to cure but fast. A curse is harder to cure but slower.”

“How slow are we talking about? The curse, I mean.”

“It will take a week or maybe ten days before it starts to spread. However, it was stronger and harder to get rid of. It will last for a few hundred years if not treated and the source is not cleansed. However, you also need to know that if they manage to find the source, they can use it to attack you by putting that into your territory.”

“Does the guild have something to prevent this city from getting that curse?”

“We have but it will cost you extra.”

“I will take both of them.”

“The curse and the cure. I need ten thousand coins upfront and one hundred and forty thousand after the job is done.”

“O-One hundred and fifty thousand?!”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

I swallow my saliva and say.

“O-Of course not! I-I will prepare the money right away.”

One hundred thousand gold coins is a lot, but if this curse restores our family income, then it is okay.

“Good.”

I quickly leave my office and gather enough gold for the front payment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Catharina von Xenotra - Heiress of Baron Xenotra|

Dammit! What kind of evil bastard is willing to do this?! I look at the report in front of me and sigh once again.

The northern noble that stays near the southern noble is the one starting the war. They try a lot of things to milk the southern people dry. They are the ones manipulating the previous king to make an edict to forbid the southern noble from building a hospital so they can use the healer from the north.

Not only that, but I also learned that they use poison to make the land contaminated and reduce the southern harvest every year. Without Gwyndolin and his new talent, the South would have had difficulty feeding their people.

There must be another game, right? A spin-off of White Lily that shows the story of the southern nobles and the story of Gwyndolin because I feel he is the reason why the South survives that long in the game.

“So, what do you want to do now?”

I look at Jonathan and say.

“We need to stop these people. If they continue to do this, we will have a civil war and the Gokuya Kingdom will have a fun time invading us from the south.”

“I agree”

I look at Jonathan in shock and say.

“Are you agreeing with me? I thought you did not like the south?”

“What? I don’t like them but I don't hate them. I don’t like their blunt way of speaking and how rude sounding they are. However, I don’t hate them for it. It was their way of speaking and I can respect that, I just don’t like it. Also, their food is too spicy for my taste.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, I make a good fortune from that place and I don’t want my new source of money to get wasted.”

“Potion?”

“Potion. Their potion is more potent than many healing potions the other makes.”

“You want to try and copy their recipe?”

“Yes. However, even using the exact recipe, I need to know how they made them. Alchemist is about ingredients and methods.”

“Fair enough. How is it? Get any closer?”

“No. My people are stuck with the ingredients. We know what kind of plant and animal parts they use but we have yet to know what kind of method they use and it will take a lot of trial and error before getting any result.”

“I see. Anyway, what should we do first? I did not want the south to rebel against the royal family. Not only was it bad for business but also bad for my family territory.”

The Xenotra Barony is too close to the south and a good place for them to make a base because of its strategic location. My family territory will be the target for the south to attack before they march further north.

“Hmmm… I think we need to get more support before we can make a big move. Do you know Veronica Yorn?”

I know that name. That is the name of one of the potential targets. She is another person with a high affinity for information gathering, even higher than Jonathan.

“Yes, I have heard of her.”

Jonathan nods his head and says.

“Before we do anything, we need to know the ringleader of this problem and Veronica Yorn is the person we need. As much as it hurts my pride, she is a better information broker than me. She inherits her mother’s information network and expands it further. Even when she is only seventeen years old, she has one of the best information networks in the entire kingdom.”

Jonathan looks me right in the eyes and says.

“She is the person we go to know the identity of the person doing all of this.”

I nod and say. I already know this information because I still remember Veronica’s nickname in the game.

“Let’s meet the Spider Queen and borrow her web.”

17.6k words / 20k words

LuxVonDeux

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