The discussion did not last long after Keith covered the relevant points in his initial discussion. He told everyone that he wanted to rest and they were more than happy to leave him be.
Everyone except Clair left the room and Keith felt the tension bleeding out of his shoulders. He had felt like a tightly wound spring until now but Clair's hands on his back were making Horas melt.
"So, do you have a plan moving forward? Or, are you going to just blindly follow your instincts?"
Clair whispered those words directly in Keith's right ear and her wet breath made Keith shudder. This sensation was distracting him from the bigger picture in front of him.
"I don't know what I can do but I do know that I cannot keep on sitting back and doing nothing. Things were happening too smoothly and made me forget that I was a villain."
"But I won't make that mistake any longer. I can see that the original plot will not let me go. No matter what I do, the protagonists will continue to show up in front of me. So I need to be a little smarter about everything."
Clair was interested in what Keith was planning. For the first time since she had known Keith, he looked determined to do his job.
Until now, all Keith had done was complain about his circumstances. But he finally was starting to put an effort into playing his role.
"So, what's the plan here? I am dying to know what you came up with."
Clair asked with an interested tone.
She might not be able to help out openly but she could certainly provide insight about various topics and also flush out Keith's plan. She was even willing to lend him a free helping hand this time.
"Hmm, since I cannot escape the protagonists anyway, converting one of them to my side should not be a bad idea. And I have the perfect person in mind for this."
Keith had a big advantage. He knew the background of all the important characters in this world, including the four protagonists.
Two out of the four (Horas and Adrian) would never side with him until the end so Keith immediately circled them out. He would not even try to approach them both.
The third one, Sophia, was rather ambiguous in his motives but he was not someone Keith wanted to include in his allies right now.
But the fourth one, Amelia was a perfect choice for Keith to include on his side. Her circumstances made earning her loyalty easy for Horas and she was also someone who fell in love easily.
It also helped that Keith knew where the fourth protagonist was right now and he was going to pick her up right now.
"Before we can take on anyone else, I want to drag one of the four main characters to my side. I am sure the agonist Amelia is being held right now so let's go and pick her up."
Out of all the available protagonists of this world, Amelia was someone who did not get enough recognition in the original game. She was the least-picked protagonist and also the weakest.
Her setting also made her a gladiator slave who was too soft-hearted and had been conned into her role. She was the perfect seed for Keith to manipulate.
"But grandmaster, are you sure about this? These protagonists are the reason you will die in the future, right? Do you still want to engage with them?"
Clair questioned without much empathy. Her flat voice would have caused most people to look away but not Keith who had gotten used to her brand of speech.
"I won't be able to run away from the protagonists of this world any longer. The more I try to get away, the faster they catch up to me. So before they come for me, I will eliminate them as possible threats. This is the only way I will be able to live."
Keith hardened his heart as he planned. He was planning to gain Amelia's affection and use her to gain immunity to her route's death. It was the most efficient way to ensure his future was safe and sound.
"Clair, can you do me a small favor? I promise it will be easy enough for you to not complain."
Clair looked back at Keith with an expression full of doubt. She very much did not believe that Keith would ask for something easy from her.
'But this challenge is half the reason I am with Keith. I guess it would not be bad for me to follow along for a while.
"You can tell me what kind of favor you need from me before I give you a definitive answer. I am not about to do something dangerous just because you want an advantage."
Clair made her stand clear on this topic. She refused to do anything dangerous that could put her identity on the line. She liked Keith but she liked herself even more.
"Relax a little because I am not going to do something really dangerous. I just want you to find a gladiator ring for me."
Keith needed the location of the place where Amelia was being kept at. He needed to rescue her before her real savior would come and poison her against the grandmaster. It would be a disaster if that happened.
"Alright, got it. If it is only the location of a gladiator ring you want, then I will find it for you. But you still need to think about how you are going to get the mother pearl back. Aren't you looking for it?"
Clair was right in asking this question. Mother pearl was a key item Keith was looking for. And he would get to it as soon as he was able to get a protagonist in his hand.
"Don't worry about it so much. I will get the possession of the mother pearl back as well."
After all, Keith now had a plan in his mind.
....
//So this is the mother pearl? Doesn't look like much to me. But then again, things could often be misleading when you first look at them.
Lotus pink hair and smoky grey eyes, that was the physical features Master Olivia Greenwood boosted having. Her lovely exterior was accompanied by a sweet smile.
She held the elder pearl in her hand, examining it from the top to the bottom. She finally managed to get her hand on it.
"With this, the grandmaster has no other choice but to come to me. And he will have to play by our rules and follow our commands as well."
Lady Olivia talked to the empty room, her tone almost loving as she held the pearl higher and higher. Getting her hands on it had taken her a lot of money.
"Now then, shall I see what kind of power this pearl has to be so dear to our grandmaster?"
Master Olivia tried to pass her energy through the pearl but nothing happened. Confusion took over her mind as she tried to get the pearl working again.
But no matter what she did, the pearl remained unresponsive to her powers. It was behaving as if it was not a magical object which would grant someone unlimited power.
"What the hell is wrong with this pearl? Don't tell me that only the grandmaster can use this pearl. I refuse to believe it."
Master Olivia had believed for a long time that she was equal to the grandmaster in terms of power. She was the only one who could come close to the grandmaster so this pearl should accept her.
But now this pearl was proving her wrong.
"No way. I refuse to lose to this stupid pearl. Is there nothing I can do to crack it open? There has to be a way."
She was convinced that there was a person in this world who could crack this pearl open. All she needed to do was to find that person. And to do so, she would open a long-lost tradition of her lands.
For the first time in years, Master Olivia would open a gladiator ring, a place that would attract the strongest of people and also help her find the future hero.
And extract from the famous MMORPG. The words marked the opening prologue of ACT-I for Protagonist - Adrian Smith. He was unique when it came to the protagonists, being the only one who still had family left.
He was the most popular protagonist of all and the one who was responsible for the worst ending for the villain.
His route was also the only one which merged the routes of all the protagonists. He was the key to solving everything.
'So stop him. Stop him and crush your bad destiny with your own hands.'///
Keith woke up in a cold sweat, not remembering what he had been dreaming about. But he still knew that it was important to follow his dream.