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"Took you long enough." Nikki grumbled. That was a close call. She had no more tricks up her sleeve.

"You\'re insane. I thought Judith was the reckless one." The poleaxe user complained. After having his first strike blocked, it took him some time to recover and find a new opening. When the orc lost itself in rage, it presented the perfect opportunity.

"Humph!" Nikki refused to comment. Normally, she could contain herself, but it was becoming harder and harder the longer she spent at Pediades.

"I think it is about time." The poleaxe user commented.

"Seems so." Nikki agreed, noting that some of their scouts had sighted reinforcements rushing here. They had to move before they were trapped.

Confirming that Zyviss had gotten the civilians out and was busy escorting them through a safe route, Nikki sent the order to retreat. Like a well-trained machine, all of Phoenix\'s members moved back.

First slowly, not quite letting the other players know what was happening. And then, just as the orc\'s reinforcements arrived, they dashed away.

The guild they had saved did not even realize until it was too late. When they looked again, finding themselves surrounded and outnumbered, they also realized that their supposed reinforcements were gone.

"Those bastards!" a tall-ish dwarf was foaming at the mouth as he struggled to stay alive along with everyone else.

"How can they be so cowardly!?" an elf groaned, losing an arm in his distraction.

It did not take long before they were all killed. Their bodies littering the courtyard before the mage guild.

The newly arrived orcs naturally found the situation strange. The number of dead orcs did not add up to how easily they had killed the enemy. However, the subject was soon dropped as they now had a healthy amount of food delivered to them.

A feast awaited them tonight.

***

"At least we made some use of them." Elizabeth mumbled. Whether the players who died turned into food was a good thing or not, she wasn\'t quite sure.

It meant that those captured would survive longer, but it also meant the orcs would have a hearty meal.

"They weren\'t too happy." Nikki commented.

"Of course not. But it\'s their own fault. Our help was already more than enough. They should have realized reinforcements were coming and retreated as we did."

"I\'m sure they aren\'t going to see it that way."

"Naturally... Which is why we will keep using them. I wish Ilmadia was here." Elizabeth sighed. The lack of large-scale magic was a problem. Only Ilmadia and Eldrian were capable of truly large-scale magic.

"Sadly, we have to split our focus thanks to a certain someone."

"Don\'t remind me..." Elizabeth rubbed her head, still trying to find a balance between the rescue quest they had accepted and managing an entire fort. Not to mention the pain the useless branch of players added.

Luckily, there were several NPCs who they could rely on for the fort. In fact, one of Eldrian\'s retainers was working directly under Elizabeth. Acting as the commander of the fort when Phoenix\'s leaders weren\'t in place.

As expected, a few minutes later, a tall-ish dwarf rushed into their tent. Fuming at the mouth, he glared at Elizabeth.

"How dare you use us as a decoy!"

"We did no such thing." Elizabeth replied, feigning shock. "We simply made the most of the situation."

"Bullshit!" the dwarf roared. Elizabeth couldn\'t recall his name. So she relied on Observe.

"Ragnar, please shut up." Elizabeth snapped. "You rushed forward without due care. Without us, you would have died in the first encounter. We had no obligation to stay and die with you."

The dwarf fumed, but he couldn\'t argue with that. He also had this feeling that he was being set up here. "You could have at least warned us."

"We had no obligation to. Were you not the ones who had acted so high and mighty a few days ago? Have you nothing to show for your haughtiness?"

"You think you\'re invincible?"

"What ever gave you that idea? We all know extremely well how weak we are compared to our enemy. Use your brain."

Rushing in after the dwarf, an elf glared at Elizabeth. She was starting to wonder just what their tent meant to these players. A guild tent was not supposed to be invaded like this. While not a rule, it was seen as common courtesy.

"It seems you hold very little respect for our guild." she grumbled. "Do I take it you won\'t mind if we storm into yours?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" The elf barked. His skin was of a darker tone, a feature of the sun elves. Their bonuses were fit for the melee class. Why this guy had a bow slung over his shoulder and daggers at his side baffled Elizabeth.

"Aithlin, that has to do with the respect guilds are supposed to show each other." Naturally, Elizabeth had to rely on Observe to get the guy\'s name. "If you are going to continue to act like you own the place, we will station guards."

Just as the elf was about to bark a reply, the dwarf stopped him. "You\'re recording this, aren\'t you?"

"How quick of you to notice." Elizabeth smiled. "Of course we are. You guys need to realize that this isn\'t the empire and that you aren\'t special. We will not go out of our way to help you just because your players too. In fact, that gives us even less reason to."

She continued, ""Compared to the NPCs, you\'ll survive. So if sacrificing you can help us save more lives, we will do it without hesitation."

"Y-Wh-Ho..." The dwarf failed to make a comprehensive sentence. He wanted to argue, but on what basis? The loss of levels?

Doing so would just make him appear petty. However, he and everyone with him had lost between 4 and 6 levels. He couldn\'t just drop it at that. Even if it was petty, he needed something to appease the players of his guild. After all, he didn\'t have absolute authority, and this loss was too great to be gleamed over.

"How are you going to make this right?" He asked, seemingly still thinking he had some foot to stand on.

"Nikki?" Elizabeth turned to the woman next to her. Cleaned up and now in her casual wear, she appeared like a normal girl. There was no way they would recognise her as the one who had taken down the orc warrior.

"Elizabeth?" Nikki turned to Elizabeth, who herself was in a magnificent robe of a dark azure color. Nikki\'s gaze seemed to ask if Elizabeth was sure.

"They aren\'t getting the message. Go ahead."

"I suggest you leave now." Nikki turned to the two players. "Or we will force you out."

"Big words—" the elf\'s words were cut short as he found a blade resting against his neck. He had no idea how Nikki had moved so fast. On paper, he was supposed to have the superior stats thanks to his higher level.

"Unlike an orc, I am certain this will kill you." She whispered, causing the guy to piss his pants. Dying so soon again would enhance the penalty. It would not be strange if he lost over seven levels.

Months of grinding were to be lost in a single day.

"I-I\'ll go." Retreating before even giving his guild leader a chance to refute, he left the dwarf and ran.

"Are you going to keep acting, or will you leave?" Elizabeth asked, the dwarf quickly backing off. However, he cursed that he would get back at them as he ran with his tail between his legs.

"Isn\'t this going to cause problems?" Nikki asked, frowning as she listened to his threats.

"Livadi is mostly in the kingdom\'s hands again. The army will arrive in a few days, a week at most. They won\'t be able to make a fuss even if they wanted." Elizabeth was glad that their split focus would not be required for much longer.

Sadly, she did not realize how much more work was coming their way.

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