238 Marco Polos Hidden Mission (1/2)
Andrew's jealousy had reached an uncontrollable level. Though his complaint against Sherlock would cause severe diplomatic repercussions, he was unable to unload the cart of lemons in his heart and control the exploding feelings of jealousy.
According to normal circumstances, mysterious and strong superior Devils like Sherlock should be his allies.
Andrew's complaint letter was simple. He described the contest situation and the 2,000 Goblins and Gnomes who took part in the tournament. Lord Sherlock, who was their master, didn't care about their safety or lives. There were massive casualties, and only slightly more than a hundred survived out of the original 2,000!
As the situation sounded desperate, the Union responded immediately.
The Union started an investigation on the recruitment practices of Eternal Kingdom and discovered that only Simba, Moroes, Mufasa, and Brainiac were registered employees.
Simba and Mufasa were recruited via the Merchant Alliance, while Moroes was directly employed.
As Brainiac was a Lich and belonged to the Undead race, he wasn't under the purview of the Union and was merely a registrant.
The Union didn't have the employment records of Eternal Kingdom. Were the 2,000 Goblins and Gnomes not registered under the Union? That was impossible!
Andrew received a reply letter from the Union:
”To Lord Andrew”
”Dearest Lord Andrew:
Eternal Kingdom doesn't have 2,000 employees, there are only four recorded employees. Please don't make false allegations, as we are very busy.”
Andrew crushed the short letter after reading it. He looked at Sherlock's ascending Airship, which was leaving the contest ground, with extreme jealousy. He thought angrily, Sherlock is a frightening opponent. He has supporters in the Union. This is infuriating!
Sherlock was on the Airship. He threw a glance at Andrew, not bothered by him at all.
”Lord Sherlock, I thought you would stay in Winterfell for a few days for the Dark Rider Tournament. This is a large Plot! I didn't expect you to let them fight among themselves after they defeated all other opponents. Tsk, tsk, you could have made the Plot last longer by letting some strong opponents survive and then making the gamers prepare for subsequent rounds.” Bru's voice rang by Sherlock's ear.
”Why would I do that? If I let non-gamers proceed to the subsequent round, wouldn't they win? Why did I provide the gamers with unlimited Mana? For my personal enjoyment? That's 100,000 Magic Stones at stake.”
Bru said immediately, ”No, the gamers have always treated you as the lousy game producer who would create a startling manipulation in the Dark Rider event, like making an NPC the winner. Then you wouldn't need to give out the Legendary Equipment and would deceive the gamers into working their livers off. In fact, some gamers are speculating that the game producer has changed or that the event was penned by another person.”
”Is that so? If I canceled their Legendary Equipment, would they be happy?” Sherlock asked.
”No, don't do that, that would cause massive rage quitting. If the game's management is unable to fulfill the promises, that is worse than a ruthless game producer,” Bru said earnestly.
”Then there's nothing much to be said. The Dark Rider Tournament is a money-gifting farce. Onionhead is using the tournament to raise his prestige. There might be changes in the future, but I'm not affected and not interested. Andrew has strong capabilities, but he depends on his jealousy to increase his power. I'm not bothered by him.” Sherlock pondered and asked, ”How is the gamer Marco Polo doing recently?”
”His performance is satisfactory. He's following our instructions to complete his Hidden Mission. Why didn't Lord Sherlock bring him back to Eternal Kingdom instead of leaving him in Winterfell?” Bru asked curiously.
”Because he's my laboratory rat. I'm not sure how the gamers are going to make money for me once they enter Winterfell. Marco Polo is a good candidate to continue my research since I need more test data. The Hidden Mission is a good leash on him,” Sherlock said in an authoritative tone.
”I understand, Lord Sherlock.”