Chapter 67

Level Up Heretic Inquisitor – Episode 67 (67/227)

Episode 67: 70% Luck, 30% Skill (7)

The one-sided chase situation suddenly flipped 180 degrees in an instant.

In the midst of a menacing atmosphere, Ail was sweating bullets as he watched him.

“This new recruit we brought in from Swallow recently made a mistake due to being inexperienced with the situation. But I’ll apologize on his behalf.”

Toolong stepped forward to damage control belatedly.

Among the scattered members of the now-defunct Swallow mercenary guild, Amaranth recruited skilled individuals, including Lucas.

Back when he was part of the random mercenary guild, there was no need to even encounter one of the Six Great Guilds. Not having fully adapted yet, he ended up making a rookie mistake unbecoming of an Amaranth member.

Tasha chuckled and sheathed her weapon after hearing the explanation, nodding at the cold corpse.

“Make sure you properly recover the gear and give them a thorough education.”

“…We won’t interfere with Nightmere’s business.”

Toolong carefully backed off, looted items from Lucas’ corpse, then revived his teammate who’d fallen into near-death.

Without a second glance, he vanished from the street right in front of Ail, surprisingly giving up quickly considering how persistently they’d been chasing before.

“That way!”

“Are you alright?”

The guards running from afar approached and checked on her condition.

Given Amaranth struck first anyway, and even if it were the opposite scenario, nothing would’ve changed.

Naturally, since even the NPC guards protecting this city belonged to the Nightmere guild.

“There’s no need to pursue them.”

“A, understood.”

When Tasha wiped the blood off her recovered spear, the guards pursuing Toolong all stopped simultaneously.

The guards began cleaning up the bodies scattered across the street.

Meanwhile, Ail’s mind was racing with thoughts.

Of all users, why did a Nightmere guild member randomly intervene in their affairs? What could they want from him in a situation with no apparent connection? Was it mere sympathy or idle amusement, or was there some reason unknown to him?

Ail’s brain started working overtime.

“That was close, but luckily everything turned out fine. Though, come to think of it, you probably could’ve handled it yourself just fine, right?”

“No, I owe you my life. Thank you.”

Though Ail had confidence he could create an escape opportunity himself, this time his gratitude was genuine, not just polite formalities.

Her personally stepping in for him carried implications far beyond merely escaping this crisis.

“Did you see that?”

“What, what happened…?”

People on the street started glancing and whispering.

With the scene they’d caused, drawing attention was unavoidable. Sensing this, Tasha smiled faintly at Ail.

“Shall we move somewhere else?”

* * *

“Hmm…”

Ail muttered in surprise as he took the note placed on the table.

What she handed over was a small note containing Nightmere’s contact information.

However, rather than the official number consisting of real-world digits used for contacting customer service representatives hired by the guild, it was a Warlord in-game messenger channel code combining letters and numbers.

Using the standard public number would only connect you to the guild’s external customer support staff, whereas this unofficial line connected directly to the Nightmere guild’s dedicated liaison team.

This seemingly minor difference held significant weight.

It was a channel used for communication deemed valuable enough by the guild, beyond simple inquiries or formalities.

Not something easily obtainable, so receiving this offer left Ail quite astonished.

After hesitating briefly, Ail set down the note and spoke.

“But… what can a measly level 29 rookie possibly contribute to one of the Six Great Guilds?”

“Of course, it’d be tough. The main issue with such a late start is exactly that. However, even without officially joining the guild, there are plenty of ways we can cooperate.”

Understanding her meaning, Ail nodded.

The Six Great Guilds were fundamentally elite organizations through and through.

As seen earlier, each member was top-tier quasi-Ranker class users, possessing a qualitative advantage far beyond other guilds.

A powerful military group without a single deadweight among its numerous members.

That’s why the existence of many subordinate guilds forming their foundation became essential.

‘But surely it’s not just about that…’

For a Nightmere guild member to personally intervene in conflicts between other guilds and take time to discuss just to scout talent for a subordinate guild would be absurd.

“Of course, I’m not talking about subordinate guilds.”

“Hmm?”

Reacting to Ail’s response, she lightly smiled and nodded.

It wasn’t about direct membership or recruitment for subordinate guilds.

Yet cases where Nightmere would provide a direct channel code like this involved players they wanted to place in external cooperative relationships with the guild.

While most people overlook this fact, even individual players can establish subcontracting relationships with major guilds outside of guild affiliations.

Of course, this applies when dealing with the supermassive Six Great Guilds and you possess negotiable cards to offer.

For example, famous top blacksmith “Kenneth” receives outsourcing requests from numerous large guilds including the Six Great Guilds, or high-ranking production skill users in various lifestyle contents form such relationships with them.

There are also rare Ranker-level powerhouses who operate independently, taking on mercenary or troubleshooter roles for multiple guilds.

However, given Ail neither dabbled in lifestyle content nor reached high levels, he didn’t fit either category.

Generally speaking, matters regarding external cooperation with the Six Great Guilds seemed completely unrelated to Ail.

“There must be guilds willing to accept you among the usable ones… It seems you have reasons for not joining any guild, but continuing alone as a latecomer starting a year later will inevitably become too difficult.”

“That’s unavoidable given the late start.”

“Do you really think so?”

“…”

“As you know, Warlord is currently overflowing with all kinds of guilds. They’re fiercely competing to survive amidst complicated intertwined relationships. Whether it’s large guilds holding territories or small-medium sized guilds in back alleys, none hesitate to crush weaker opponents. This is a game where vast amounts of money are at stake, obtainable only by victors. There’s no denying that surviving against them without proper backing requires more than just personal skill alone.”

Clank!

Setting down her teacup, Tasha looked straight at Ail as she continued.

“Well then, do you possess anything that even Warlord’s prestigious massive guilds would covet?”

Tasha’s sharp gaze pierced through Ail, who subconsciously twisted his lips in a way even he didn’t notice.

‘This is what makes the Six Great Guilds different, huh…’

She accurately pinpointed the very point Ail had constantly kept in mind since seriously deciding to play Warlord, despite barely meeting her moments ago and having short conversations.

After collecting his thoughts, Ail slowly spoke.

“May I ask one question?”

“Feel free.”

“Is there any particular reason you’re making this proposal to me?”

“If things go well through my introduction, it counts as a performance record. Haha!”

Tasha grinned jokingly before becoming serious again.

“Of course, such opportunities are extremely rare… But for some reason, I don’t think you’re completely empty-handed.”

‘She sees potential…’

“You’re free to ignore it if you’re not interested. We’re not the type to cling onto leaving people. Well, I should head out since my party’s waiting. If you ever talk to the guild, please mention my name?”

“A, yes… I’ll do that.”

Tasha cheerfully finished speaking, stood up, and coolly disappeared without further conversation or persuasion, while Ail didn’t try to ask her anything more.

Both sides sufficiently understood each other’s intentions.

‘Never expected it to resolve this way.’

Ail sat there for a moment, reflecting on the unexpected way he overcame the crisis.

Now that a Nightmere guild member intervened personally, there was no longer any need to worry about Amaranth.

Even though Ail hadn’t established any relationship with them yet, Amaranth couldn’t possibly know that, and getting entangled with even one of the Six Great Guilds meant they couldn’t act freely anymore.

However, as she said earlier, this likely marked the beginning rather than the end.

‘Once I fully step into Warlord’s competition, friction in some form is inevitable. While I managed to overcome this immediate crisis, I can’t keep repeating this every time trouble arises.’

He already knew it would be impossible to navigate Warlord relying solely on his own strength, but this incident made him realize it was even tougher than expected.

And this event served as a turning point for Ail.

‘Even though I have no intention of joining under a guild as an Apostle… I need to build relationships with major guilds.’

It’s not just about Nightmere.

Though he received help from one of their members and even obtained an unofficial channel code, that alone isn’t enough.

On the contrary, as someone operating independently, it’s better to establish as many reliable trading partners as possible rather than dealing exclusively with one side.

Then he needed to find his own ‘competitive edge’.

‘There’s no point trying to contact them through the channel right away anyway.’

The massive guilds with their extensive networks were fundamentally complete dominant parties.

Given the enormous disparity in status, Ail was the regretful party here, and he needed to elevate his own value enough to assert himself on relatively equal footing at minimum.

However, he couldn’t reveal his Apostle system to them, and with such a late start, he couldn’t rely on raw power either.

To begin with, “exceeds expectations for current level” means nothing when facing the Six Great Guilds.

Then looking long-term, considering Ail’s current situation, there was only one thing he could leverage against the massive guilds.

“Hmm, in the end, all I have left is… my character.”