Child of Destiny

”Are you finally taking me away from this hell?!”

Seeing Ribbit’s dramatic reaction, Shin could not help but suppress the twitching of his expression beneath his mask.

It was easy to imagine just how much work Shiella had piled onto him, especially judging by how desperately this guy seemed to want to escape.

”What are you talking about?” Shin pushed Ribbit away from him. ”Isn’t this what you wanted?”

”We’ve already established a city that is not only famous throughout the kingdom but also wealthy enough that we don’t have to worry about money anymore,” he added as he casually looked around for a place to sit.

After removing a pile of papers from the sofa, Shin sat down and leaned back comfortably.

”I don’t think I even need to ask how you’re doing...” He glanced around the room before smirking. ”...It seems like you’re having quite an eventful life as the head manager of the port.”

The corner of Ribbit’s mouth twitched at the sarcastic remark before he let out another exhausted sigh.

”My Lord... despite the fact that this is the life I wanted...” He hesitated for a moment before continuing with another sigh. ”...the workload entrusted to me by Miss Snow White is a little too... inhumane.”

He then pointed at himself. ”As you can see... I barely have enough time to take care of myself.”

Shin could not help but chuckle before waving his hand dismissively. ”Alright, alright... I’ll ask my Big Sis to lighten your workload a little.”

”REALLY?!” Ribbit’s eyes immediately brightened. ”Then let me have a vacation at the very least!”

Shin could not help but stare at him strangely.

From what he knew, Ribbit was a workaholic. For him to actually ask for a vacation was enough to show just how much ”torture” Shiella had put him through.

Shin took the opportunity to ask about the real reason for his visit. ”A vacation? Aren’t you afraid the Silver Knives will use this opportunity to take care of you?”

This time, it was Ribbit’s turn to look at Shin strangely.

He stared at his lord for several seconds before carefully asking, ”My Lord... you don’t know?”

Shin tilted his head in confusion. ”Know what?”

The corner of Ribbit’s mouth twitched. ”You really don’t know?”

A moment later, a visibly ”hurt” expression suddenly appeared on his face. ”It seems my Lord no longer cares about me...”

Shin’s expression twitched beneath his mask once again. ”Just spill it already! What is it that I don’t know?”

Ribbit let out yet another dramatic sigh before finally explaining. ”The Guild Leader has already dealt with that organization.”

He paused briefly before adding, ”We are currently in control of it.”

”What!? You dealt with them already?” Shin asked in surprise.

Ribbit then pointed toward the direction of the Golden City. ”Miss Snow White herself has become the leader of the organization.”

”How!?” Shin could not help but ask again.

Ribbit gathered his thoughts before explaining. ”Because of the current reputation of the Hand of Midas and our influence throughout the Saint Heaven Kingdom and the Sacred Light Kingdom, the organization eventually approached us.”

”They proposed becoming affiliated with the Hand of Midas.”

Ribbit recalled the incident and suddenly shuddered. He hugged himself, rubbing his arms as if remembering something particularly terrifying.

”Little did they know...” He paused dramatically. ”...that they had invited a fox into their henhouse.”

Shin’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Ribbit continued. ”Little by little, they were swallowed up by the Guild Leader until the entire organization eventually became one of her assets.”

He then pointed toward one of the neatly organized files sitting atop a section of his desk. ”They are also one of the reasons for my suffering.”

Shin raised an eyebrow.

”Since I was previously a deacon of one of their branches, I became the most suitable person to monitor them on Miss Snow White’s behalf.” Ribbit let out a long, defeated sigh.

”I suppose this is simply my fate...” He lowered his head. ”...to become a slave.”

Shin suddenly recalled a few more things. ”No wonder Big Sis managed to establish the Midas Chamber of Commerce so easily.”

When he had first heard about it, he had simply assumed that Shiella’s extensive network had been responsible, especially given the reputation the Hand of Midas had built throughout the years.

The only strange part had been the sheer number of NPC Merchant Organizations that had become involved.

Now, however, everything made sense.

With the Silver Knives behind the scenes, it was no longer a mystery why so many NPC merchants had been willing to work with the Hand of Midas.

They had simply become her new ”slaves.”

Shin suddenly turned toward the door as he remembered the highly elite NPC guards stationed throughout the Port Office—particularly the Named NPC Commander he had encountered earlier.

”Then those guys...” he asked.

Ribbit immediately nodded in confirmation. ”That’s right, my Lord. They used to be some of the Silver Knives’ elite agents.”

”Tsk, tsk.” Shin could not help but click his tongue after hearing that.

He wasn’t particularly concerned about their strength despite the considerable gap between their levels and his own.

After all, this was not the Awakened Continent, where even an ordinary NPC wandering the streets could be a Tier 3 existence.

Still, having such an elite NPC force under their command was undoubtedly a good thing.

Shin could even sense a faint threat from the Named NPC Commander guarding the entrance.

”Impressive.” He nodded in approval.

Then he suddenly sighed.

Since the Silver Knives had already been dealt with, he no longer had any reason to cause them trouble.

Seemingly understanding what Shin was thinking, Ribbit suddenly asked, ”Is my Lord Duke thinking about dealing with them?”

Shin simply shrugged. ”It doesn’t matter anymore. They’re one of us now.”

He paused briefly before adding, ”There’d be no point hunting them.”

Ribbit suddenly added, ”Actually...”

He hesitated for a moment before continuing. ”Not everyone within the organization accepted Miss Snow White’s takeover, particularly those who remained loyal to the previous leader.”

”There was considerable resistance at the time. Some of them even attempted to stage a revolt, which eventually split the organization into two factions.”

”However, Miss Snow White was too decisive to tolerate such troublemakers.”

”She expelled them from the organization and ordered her people to eliminate as many of the more troublesome members as possible.”

”This is why the current organization isn’t as powerful as it used to be. Even so, we managed to retain most of its assets and preserve the overall operations it had maintained throughout the years.”

”However, quite a few of the former members survived, and they’ve continued causing us trouble from time to time.”

Ribbit paused before turning toward Shin. ”Is my Lord Duke interested in dealing with them?”

Hope immediately shone in Shin’s eyes. ”Where are they?”

He leaned forward slightly. ”Do we have their location?”

He didn’t even bother asking how strong they were.

The moment he heard that there was still a hostile faction left to deal with, his first thought was simply where they were.

Ribbit stared at his lord for several seconds before answering. ”We do have their location.”

”However, completely dealing with them is quite troublesome.” He hesitated before continuing. ”Their main base is currently located in the Green Marbly Kingdom. It’s quite far from our territory, which is why we’ve had difficulty eradicating them completely.”

”We simply don’t have enough manpower or funds to dedicate to such an operation, so Miss Snow White has chosen to leave them alone for the time being.”

Ribbit paused. Then a wide grin slowly spread across his face. ”But since my Lord Duke is planning to deal with them...”

He clasped his hands together excitedly. ”...we can take this opportunity to erase them completely.”

”Does my Lord need me to draw up a plan?” Ribbit immediately asked.

He quickly added, ”I know that my Lord is powerful, but their remaining forces are by no means weak.”

His expression became slightly serious. ”Their current leader was the right-hand man of the previous leader. His strength should already be approaching the realm of an Enlightened Being.”

Shin’s expression also became slightly more serious when he heard that. ”An Enlightened Being, huh?”

In player terminology, an Enlightened Being was equivalent to reaching Tier 4, meaning that the individual’s level should be at least Level 300.

Since Ribbit said that the leader of the remnants was only approaching that realm, his level should be somewhere around Level 280—or perhaps even Level 290 and above.

That was almost a hundred levels higher than Shin.

However, Shin wasn’t particularly worried about the level difference.

Unlike the Awakened Continent, where even ordinary NPCs and monsters possessed frightening levels of strength, the gap between levels on the Aurora Continent could still be bridged through skills, techniques, equipment, combat experience, and various other factors.

At worst, his opponent would simply possess superior stats and a much larger health pool.

Of course, the Level 200 threshold was still something that could not be underestimated.

”At worst, I’ll bring some boys with me,” Shin mumbled.

If he couldn’t handle the opponent alone, then he could simply bring a few more apex-level experts along.

”Diablo and Alucard should still be free,” he muttered as he recalled the available members of the Empyrean Talons. ”Owen and Samael are also training at the Dark Cloud Kingdom.”

A thought suddenly crossed his mind.

”This could also be a good opportunity for Samael.” He smiled slightly. ”I can let that rookie paladin gain some real combat experience.”

Shin had already begun formulating a plan in his head.

At the same time, another thought suddenly occurred to him. ’If this guy is already that powerful... then just how strong was the previous leader?’

He couldn’t help but turn toward Ribbit. ”How did Big Sis deal with the previous leader?”

Ribbit suddenly froze.

He hesitated for several moments before finally answering. ”The... the previous leader...”

He swallowed nervously. ”...fell in love with the Guild Leader before he was assassinated.”

Silence.

The corner of Shin’s mouth twitched beneath his mask.

’No matter how powerful that guy was... he still fell into a honey trap.’

...