-Toc toc,
"Here, the third captain of North HQ, Jonathan Walker's asking for permission to enter."
"It's open!" An authoritarian male voice sounds behind the door.
Following his order, John opens the door and enters the room with Morgane strolling behind him.
Against all odds, the room behind the imposing door was not that impressive, but just large enough to hold a library, a boxing ring, a desk, and a place for drinks.
They were categorized by slice and separated by armored windows to prevent odors from mixing.
Currently, only one man was sitting behind a desk, dressed in a military costume.
His stature was imposing, his eyebrows erect like two swords, a virile face with square contours, and finally, short black hair styled in a very ordinary style.
"Ah, I was looking forward to your return, John." Seeing John enter the room, he sucks a big shot of smoke from his cigarette.
Fortunately for John and Morgane, the ventilation system was still on, otherwise the smoke would most likely stifle them.
John places his left fist on his right chest and greets the man in front of them.
"General Leon, I come to make my report after dealing with the mission that you had assigned to me." He shouted in a high-pitched voice.
-Huff
Releasing the cloud of smoke from his lungs, Leon finally put out his cigar. "Very good, so I'm listening to you; I want to know everything about your journey."
According to his order, John explains his meeting with the members of the Pure Blood guild, without omitting any detail, even about Isaac's non-affiliation with this guild.
After three minutes of listening to Leon speak non-stop while inspecting the documents just received from Morgane.
"Alright, you did a great job, John, you can now leave." He orders while lighting another cigarette.
But seeing John stay, he raises his eyebrows while stopping just one step away from lighting his cigarette with his lighter. "What's it?" He asks him, leaning on his chair.
"General Leon, can I ask you a question?" John then asks, feeling Leon's fierce eyes on him.
"You don't need to be so tense, if you want to converse more with me, then feel free to do it."
John instantly accepts Leon's proposal as if he was just waiting for that. "Why do you want so much to have this man in our camp?"
"..." At that moment, Leon abandons any desire to smoke cause of John's question, which seems to have had a hard blow to his morale.
He then crosses his arms, placing one leg on the other behind his desk, and begins the explanations.
"...Residents of prohibited cities no longer offer a mission." He mumbles coldly, taking a peek at Morgane.
But apart from indifference, he didn't learn much from her facial expressions.
Unlike Morgane, who acted as if nothing had happened, John had long stopped breathing. "What did you say?" He stutters while putting his hands on Leon's desk, staring at him.
His astonished expression did not surprise Leon, it was as if he could read his reaction in advance.
"I assure you that you have not misheard me, John; the rules of the special zone have changed into something else. Those we sent to the city to evolve,...only half of them came back to us alive, the others died; we thought they were killed by the soldiers of the king of Belfast kingdom but the truth was quite different." He gives this little explanation while crossing his fingers in front of his face.
"Maybe they broke one of the unbreakable rules of the kingdom?" He asks with a frown.
But Leon shakes his head. "From the various reports filed by my men, I understood that they were not driven out by them, but chased by all the NPCs in the special zone." He then adds.
John almost fainted after hearing the senseless words of his superior.
"...Chased and killed by NPCs? How the hell is that possible?" He was always skeptical and not ready to believe Leon's words.
He, who just wanted Leon to answer his simple question, expected everything but to be bombarded by such a bomb.
'If NPCs refuse to grant quests, it would mean that no player will be able to quickly evolve by quests, obtain new inheritances, or special quests to strengthen themselves. It's a disaster.' He said to himself, looking at Leon behind the desk with amazement.
But Leon had a small smile that was anything but pleasant. He looks at Morgane who is standing next to John and raises his eyebrows slightly.
"Do you have any information to submit to us regarding this anomaly?" He asks her this question in a heavy voice.
But Morgane remains silent, not in the mood to answer her questions.
At this precise moment, John's palm landed on Morgane's shoulder, fiercely startling her.
"Listen to me well, if you know anything useful, you have to tell us about it, it's not the time to play the sissy." He growls by putting more force in his hand.
"John!"
Leon intervenes by shouting in a hasty tone when he sees John lose patience and control over his emotions.
Awakened by Leon's authoritarian voice, and also remembering the dangerousness of the girl next to him, John urgently removes his palm from Morgane's shoulder.
-Ugh!
But it was too late for him, half of his hand was already dry to his bones.
He staggers back with his teeth clenched so as not to cry and succumb to the rotting pain that continues to progress through his body.
It only lasted a blink, but John's life seemed to have reached the end as Morgane's pupils turned green instead of blue sky.
"Morgane, you too, stop here!" Leon also screams at her when he sees her decide to torment John just for a simple story of annoyance.
Following his orders, Morgane closed her eyes and snorted in disgust. "Guys like you make me sick."
Subsequently, the putrefaction of John's hand stopped as soon as Morgane's pupils resumed their former colors.
But the pain and injury that were caused by Morgane's ruthless action were not ready to disappear anytime soon.
Leon then focuses on Morgane when he sees that John can bear the pain somehow. "Do you know the cause of what is going on?" He then speeds up the discussion to give John time to go to the infirmary.
Morgane pats once her dress, inhaling deeply to calm down, and responds to Leon. "No, but I still have an idea."
"... Develop, I'm all ears of."
Following Leon's request, Morgane sits on the armchair in front of John and serves herself a glass to relax. "Until recently, travelers from your world considered ours as unreal. They did everything that sang them, destroyed cities, and massacred city dwellers for no valid reason; I witnessed the destruction of my village by a group of travelers you call players.
-Their only motivations were that they were irritated by our leader's rewards after completing his quest. Can you imagine that? Massacred hundreds of humans for such a stupid reason?" She asks, keeping the same nonchalant smile on her lips.
But Leon and John knew that she was not smiling at the moment, but hiding her anger under a supposedly innocent smile.
"..."
Unable to resist temptation, Leon lights a cigarette, then exhales a large cloud of smoke, and lies on his chair with a relaxed air.
After three shots, he put off his cigar, which was not yet half consumed. "So if I understand correctly, you were a human before you became the thing you are now?"
Morgane frowns with irritation when she sees that Leon does not even consider her a living being.
But unlike with John, she seemed to have a seed of fear implanted in her mind with Leon. "It's not only me, I think all the victims of the players have turned into monsters or other creatures populating the forests, dungeons, and towers."
-!!
A wave of surprise crosses through Leon's brown eyes when Morgane's senseless words reach his eardrums.
Apart from this reaction, he was able to control his facial expression perfectly, not letting anything pass through his face, completely insensitive.
"I see. So it explains why monsters hate players so much." He mumbles as if he were thinking out loud.
He then takes a look at John who still trying to bear the pain to such an extent that he seems to be deaf in the face of Morgane's revelations.
"If I understood correctly, in addition to monsters, NPCs abhor us because they think we are responsible for the current state of their world?" He asks while staring at Morgane with his eyes.
"...If so, isn't it reasonable for them to blame you?" The latter answers his question with another.
"...Alright, you can leave now." After a time of silence, Leon finally released John and Morgane.
Before Morgane left the office, leaving John behind, Leon's voice stopped her. "Before you leave, bring John to the care center, our care mages must be able to help him treat this injury." He gives this instruction to Morgane.
Morgane stars at John. But against all odds, her eyes widened. "G-general, his injury's no longer--
"Morgane!" He cut her off. "This is an order I give you."
"...He no longer has burns." Having no other choice, Morgane informs Leon at a fast pace before the latter cuts him once again.
At the same time, John also looks at his hand. But his heart skipped a beat when he saw that he no longer had an injury.
"My... My hand!?" John exclaims with disbelief. The most surprising for him was to learn that the pain was always present in his mind.
This time, Leon's face was also not beautiful to see, seeing John tighten his hand while grinding his teeth with pain.
"Morgane, explain to me what this idiot did to be so unlucky." He looked at John as if he had to deal with an enemy while he asked Morgane.
"He drank the blood of one of the two vampires of Pure Blood Guild." Without the slightest hesitation, Morgan throws this bomb.
"…" Leon's face darkened.