Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-512

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

“You three, enjoy your drinks!” Broken Water Arrow swept his hand grandly before leaving the tavern in the wake of Deep Waters’ footsteps.

“Wow. Look at that guy; see how crafty he is.” Gu Fei tried to ease the lingering tension in the air. Actually, just like Gu Fei and Sword Demon’s faces, Broken Water Arrow had face paint smeared on his as well. As such, they had no way of seeing how he looked.

Young Master Han was silently gazing at Sword Demon.

Sword Demon slowly picked up the cloth Deep Waters had thrown on the table and folded it neatly. Placing it back into his dimensional pocket, he stood up and took a deep breath.

“I’ll go wash my face,” he said before leaving the premise under the two’s gazes.

” Failing to steal the chicken after losing a handful of rice ¹ .” Young Master Han, who was back to his usual self, uttered this in a mocking tone.

“That b*st*rd, we did underestimate him a little.” Gu Fei nodded. While it was possible for Deep Waters to appear in this tavern entirely due to coincidence, the fact that Broken Water Arrow was with him made it highly unlikely. Back in the jungle, Gu Fei and Sword Demon did stalk Broken Water Arrow for a while before they gave up and went to find Young Master Han in the tavern. For Deep Waters and Broken Water Arrow to show up in this tavern following Gu Fei and Sword Demon’s arrival here, no matter how they reviewed the matter, this happenstance reeked of contrivance.

“That man probably realized that we were following him long ago but did not make any move toward that end. He only called Deep Waters over when we did something else and caught us with our pants down,” Gu Fei asserted.

“That’s clearly how it went,” Young Master Han agreed. “He did not have to say a word and just made sure Deep Waters would hear and see it for himself; nothing would be more convincing than that.”

“Sword Demon is clearly doing this for his sake; doesn’t he get that at least?” Gu Fei asked.

“Of course, he does, but he can’t stand Sword Demon suspecting Broken Water Arrow because he already considers that man as one of his brothers-in-arms,” Young Master Han explained.

“Is it so easy to form a brotherly bond like that?!” Gu Fei expressed his disbelief.

“Indeed, that is precisely that fool’s biggest weakness; he casually trusts others readily,” Young Master Han said.

“Naïve. Very naïve, indeed.” Gu Fei sounded like an elderly person the way he criticized the man. With that, he got up. “I’ll go look for Broken Water Arrow. Forget about the rest; I’ll just slay him before we discuss this further.”

“It’s useless.” Young Master Han shook his head. “Using violence is not the solution to this. If you kill Broken Water Arrow, it’ll just worsen the relationship between Deep Waters and Sword Demon.”

“I know. I wasn’t being serious…” Gu Fei said. “What can we do?”

“Actually, we don’t have to do anything,” Young Master Han said.

“Eh?”

“We’ll just have to wait till Deep Waters’ guild undergoes an upheaval and that fool will naturally realize his stupidity.” Young Master Han continued to drink his liquor.

“True!” Gu Fei nodded. “How rare it is that I actually 100% agree with your solution.”

“Sadly, someone else doesn’t,” Young Master Han remarked dryly.

“Sword Demon?” Gu Fei knew who he was talking about.

As Young Master Han nodded, he became quiet.

“What do you think he’ll do?” Gu Fei asked.

“He’ll probably look for Coco now! Don’t tell me she isn’t involved with you two’s action?” Young Master Han stated.

“Uhm… Can this also affect Coco and Deep Waters’ relationship?” Gu Fei wondered.

“Now you know just how serious this problem is!”

“Is Deep Waters only believing Broken Water Arrow and not anyone else?” Gu Fei was astonished.

“I said it already, right? This isn’t an issue about trust; he simply hates people harboring suspicion regarding his friends. Everyone has a bottom line, and you two have crossed his,” explained Young Master Han.

“From what you’ve said… I am becoming more convinced that Broken Water Arrow has considered Deep Waters’ personality before making his move to his guild. There’s no way someone who has befriended Deep Waters for only a handful of days will have such a thorough understanding of him. It’s obvious that this man came prepared for his task; he did his homework about Deep Waters’ weakness,” Gu Fei said.

“That’s right; that is why, with Deep Waters’ gullibility, that guy essentially is his worst nemesis. There’s no doubt he will simply end up ceding his position to the usurper, believing it to be the perfect outcome,” Young Master Han said.

“Yeah. After Broken Water Arrow has control of the guild, whether he chooses to disperse the guild or kick Deep Waters, he’ll just do whichever choice that benefits him the most. Considering people’s tendency to shirk responsibility and blame others, even those previously supporting Broken Water Arrow will naturally blame their ex-guild leader Deep Waters for passing the position to him. After all, passing the position over to Broken Water Arrow means that Deep Waters trusts the man the most.” Gu Fei continued to speculate.

“When the crowd accuses,” Young Master Han began.

“Only the death of men diffuses,” Gu Fei finished.

“Don’t you feel that this is a really enjoyable conclusion?” Young Master Han asked.

“Too enjoyable. But it’d be a lot MORE enjoyable if that’s the fate waiting for Broken Water Arrow. Do you have any ideas?” Gu Fei asked. Antics like this should be Young Master Han’s strong suit!

“Nothing yet for now,” Young Master Han replied thusly.

Gu Fei was glum. Actually, he had thought of hounding Broken Water Arrow like a shadow and slaying the man until he no longer had the ability to execute his so-called plan. But after hearing Young Master Han’s words, even if that would prevent Broken Water Arrow from succeeding in his schemes, it would still aggravate the friendship between Deep Waters and Sword Demon. Gu Fei was not afraid if Deep Waters would only bear hatred toward him, but he would most likely implicate Sword Demon as a result of his action, so he could not simply go ahead with such an irresponsible act.

“So troublesome; I’ll go take a walk around.” Gu Fei sighed and got up from his seat. Whiling his time away in the tavern was not the way to go, either. Life must go on no matter how troublesome things were, so the game had to carry on as well…

—————————

Under the canopy of a huge tree beside Linyin City, Sword Demon was sitting quietly. The face paint on his face was already gone and the guild emblem and the camouflage outfit were neatly kept inside his pocket. Soon, Coco came hurrying over from the jungle.

“You said he’s already aware?” Without wasting time to greet each other, Coco immediately broached the topic.

Sword Demon nodded, not saying a word.

Coco was despondent, too. No one was more familiar about Deep Waters’ personality than her. She had already anticipated the reaction Deep Waters would have upon uncovering this matter. Otherwise, they would not have done everything in secret and could have told Deep Waters directly about their suspicion toward the guild’s new recruit.

“This is so annoying…” Coco said. “We’re just playing a lousy game, yet there’s so much trouble. How did he even find out?”

“It’s probably Broken Water Arrow… He probably noticed us stalking him and called Deep Waters to follow us in return!” Sword Demon was no fool; he had also come to the same conjecture as Gu Fei and Young Master Han’s. The only difference was he had not reached this conclusion from the most devious angle and had even given a logical explanation for Broken Water Arrow’s action.

“I believe that this man has been pulling the strings as well,” Coco said.

“The problem is that Deep Waters doesn’t believe this,” Sword Demon said.

“Of course, he wouldn’t. Even if the evidence is right before his eyes, there’s a chance he’ll doubt its authenticity. You should be very clear about this since you’re essentially just like him. Sometimes, I really don’t understand how you guys can lie to yourself to such a degree. What’s the point of that?” Coco asked.

“The fact that you don’t get us is precisely why you’re not like us…” Sword Demon answered.

“I don’t have the time to idly talk about such philosophical matters with you. Ugh. This is just so vexing. Now, what do we do?” Coco asked.

“I’m here to warn you in advance; he’d most likely guess your involvement in this.”

“Of course, he will! Just look at your outfit and face paint—wait. Why did you wash it off after all the hard work I put into doing it?!” Coco words were cut short by this discovery.

“Of course, I washed it off since it’s useless now.”

“What a waste of my time and effort. Then, where’s the emblem I gave to you two? Don’t you dare toss that away! I spent a large amount of money getting those made!” Coco said.

“It’s over here!” Sword Demon handed over the fake emblem and the camouflage outfit to her.

“Toss that outfit away. I’m irritated just looking at it. What’s the point of this jungle warfare thing; it’s not like I’ve got nothing better to do.” Coco flicked her hand dismissively.

“Has Deep Waters looked for you yet?” Sword Demon asked.

“I don’t know!” Coco replied.

“We don’t have the time to sulk; it’s best we hurry and think of a solution!” Sword Demon convinced.

“Who’s sulking? I really don’t know. When you messaged me about Deep Waters already being aware of what you guys are up to, I immediately blocked the man. Until this matter is resolved, I don’t want to see him; it’s so irksome,” Coco informed.

“But… How do we solve this?!” Sword Demon looked up in the sky.

“Just let that Broken Water Arrow destroy the guild! Let this be a lesson for Deep Waters,” Coco snapped.

“That’s not the way…” Sword Demon was somber. “A guild belongs to everyone, and it should not be a sacrificial pawn. No matter what the situation is, the guild can’t be wagered.”

“So what else can we do?” Coco’s hands were spread open, shrugging to show her helplessness.

Sword Demon was quiet for quite some time before he finally came to a decision. “I’ll kill Broken Water Arrow!”

“What?” Coco was shocked. She was well aware what doing something like this would mean. With how the situation stood, this was as good as severing ties with Deep Waters and making an enemy out of their whole guild.

“However, we have no idea how many times I’ll have to kill Broken Water Arrow before the man gives up… If he holds on until the end, Deep Waters is sure to keep helping the man given his personality. As such, if Broken Water Arrow does not disappear, he’ll forever be a hidden danger even if we take him down to level 10,” Sword Demon said.

“Hey, let me ask you something… Are you being serious?” Coco fixed her gaze onto Sword Demon.

“I am very serious.” Sword Demon met her eyes.

“You know what this means, right?” Coco asked to clarify.

“I do.” Sword Demon betrayed just a sliver of pain in his expression. This clearly meant that he would no longer be friends with Deep Waters.

Coco continued to stare at the man, staying silent for the longest time before turning her head away. “I know that no one can change your mind once you set a course of action; you will have to make a decision on your own since it’s your business.”

“I’ve already made my decision, but do you think that this is the most effective solution?” Sword Demon asked.

“You’re asking me this?” Coco asked back.

“Be honest with me.”

“Alright… Honestly speaking, this will be effective,” Coco admitted. “But the moment you begin your attacks, and Broken Water Arrow gets killed a number of times, his role will then change to a pitiful worm that is seeking asylum from the guild. He will lose the reverence others have for him. In fact, some people may feel annoyed at this constant fight. Furthermore, since MMOs are forever dependent on levels, too huge a gap would cause these people to eventually ignore him out of habit. At such a time, what other chips will Broken Water Arrow be able to use to win back the hearts of the other guild members?”