"You're the demon, Traveller Onee-chan."
"Rawr~ This demon will eat all the naughty children."
"Run! Don't let Onee-chan get you or you will be like her."
I was currently playing tag with the children of Aruna. Catching them is a piece of cake, but that will destroy the fun will it? I made sure I gave a one minute interval for each tag I did, so that it was not obvious I was going easy on them.
Some of them were crafty little kids that I cannot help but be amaze how they were almost able to escape 10% of my speed. After catching the last kid in the middle of the town, I made sure that all of them went back to their homes because it is very late at night even for me, an adult.
When I was going back to the plaza where we all Officers are supposed to meet at the scheduled time, I met a motherly woman bringing a basket of fruits.
"Oh- You've finished playing with the children?"
"Yes Ma'am. Can I offer you my help?"
"That would be thoughtful… I also wanted to thank you for playing with the kids since they were full of energy. Having Travellers made them excited, they really see you guys as heroes."
"Don't mention it. Besides, we're doing nothing that makes us heroes."
"You, Travellers restored our town, and you protect us from the invading beast—That is enough for you to be heroes."
It was not us who did it, but I understand what she is saying. These residents never treat Travellers as an individual but instead, as a group that has come to save them. Even though their previous ruler was a terrible one, it will not change their positive look on Travellers.
They act like what a normal NPC would, but that is far from the truth. The people of Astrea I have met so far, is nowhere close to being a normal NPC in a normal game.
"Although your group is a bit compared to the rest- Oh, sorry I did not mean that in a bad way."
"I understand."
"I never had a Traveller walk and talk with me like this. Not only that, but there are also some of your group even helping others. This would be our first time to interact with you, Travellers this much."
"Haha~ We get that a lot. It might sound strange, but I hope my guild will be friends with the residents."
Once you treat these people like real people, you can see that no one acts like a one-dimensional NPC. This is what I told my Guild Leader before. But that does not mean it was enough for it to convince him to teach the whole guild about this change of view towards the non-players of New World.
It took him some convincing him that there were benefits by doing so. More specifically, how I was able to trigger quest that rewards me with items and even skillbooks. That is all that it takes to change his view and put out a rule that says 'be friendly with NPC'.
I finished accompanying the mother back to her home which left me return to our meeting place. ChickB and Michi has not returned yet, but Aria and Legionnaire have not moved a single metre from the meeting place. I can guess why that is.
"I am jealous of you, Miss Cherry Winter."
Legionnaire was the one to see me first me. Just from a distance, he looks intimidating even for an ally like me. However, he has a problem that is more concerning than his looks, and probably one of the worst for the person whose character is upholding our guild's image.
"I was going to join you play with the children if it wasn't for Miss LadyQueen"
"Good Job, Aria!"
"Why must Miss LadyQueen stop me?"
"Of course I will, you lolicon. A 24 hour ban will be the least worry we will be getting if I leave you alone."
"Nonsense! I am not going to do anything bad to those girls. Rather, I want to protect their purity and innocence far from the awful society we live in. The world we live in is dangerous that is why they need the proper guidance-- They'll understand what I stand for, and they will say 'thank you onii-chan' because of that…. Too bad time is the worst enemy of their perfect state."
He dropped down his shoulders because he was dejected by his own thoughts. His short speech sounds amazing and inspiring like what he does during Territorial Wars, but the content of it was far from being amazing.
This robust man in front me is beyond helping. If outsider's see this side of Legionnaire, I doubt they can relate this person back to the ferocious man who leads the charge a while ago. That is why our Guild image is as fragile as a glass when this man is the forefront of our charisma.
He is a problematic piece of Gold Paradise, but Richest Asian believe in him and place him in his current position. Only a handful of people knows this side of Legionnaire and we am thankful he knows when to act properly. As troublesome it is, he still is a big part on the reason why we are the no.3 Guild in Twilight City.
The man in question did not care about any of these and just continued with his preach about him being a lolicon while Aria tried to reason with him. Once he starts talking about this subject, he cannot be stopped easily. Fortunately, this time, ChickB logged in once again followed by Michelle shortly after.
"Sorry I was a bit late, the homework given was more difficult than I expected."
"At least your excuse is reasonable, unlike Michelle here— Who in the world talks more than an hour with their boyfriend online?"
"Quite a bit actually. But I guess someone like you don't understand."
"Ohoho~ Looks like the girl who got a boyfriend knows how to talk back. I guess I'll teach you the joy of being single back to your body with force…"
A jealous Aria pounced Michelle with all her Agility. However, she was caught under the slender yet strong arms of Michelle. This in turn gave her the advantage over the fight which she ended with a suplex. It was a quick battle-- One was unconscious while the other raised her fist in victory.
It was unusual to see Michelle win against Aria during their petty arguments, but I suppose this time she was feeling good about what just happened outside the game. I am curious but I do not want to butt in on their business unless she goes and ask me.
These ruckus caused by our supposedly beauties of the guild were not disturbed or whatsoever. The members, especially the Officers are already used to the scenes caused by these two to the point that me as their friend, has stop being embarrassed of their actions. On the other hand, the residents or knights situated in Aruna Town does not act the same way when outside Twilight City.
"That's a good suplex. I'll give that a 8 out of 10."
"Amazing! Big sis is two levels behind, but she was still able to see Leader's attack."
Both of the guys on the side-line have a comment about what they just witnessed. That is how often they see this scene. And on an unrelated note, ChickB still calls Aria as Leader despite not being a leader of anything anymore.
Being gathered like this is a peaceful time considering what we had done the past few hours. It is a beautiful and tranquil atmosphere of people on the same guild just calmly waiting for the Guild Leader. But during all of that calmness, a cold shivers run up my spine.
[You felt an ominous presence]
I got surprised on what suddenly showed up on my interface. However, the shocked immediately withered away because this is not the first time I received this. In fact, this would be the eight time I would be having this strange notification for this week.
The first time I had this, I panicked in the middle of a fight that we almost got wiped out. I asked Guild Leader, the other members, and even the forums concerning about this problem. Alas, my questions were not answered.
In spite of the worrying warning, nothing bad happened so far. It makes sense that I went on playing normally while completely ignoring this notification. Although this thing has been showing up more lately compared to before which made me slowly get anxious as it continues to bother me to this date.
It is no use to tell my guildmates about this again because like last time, it will still be left unanswered.