Chapter 235 - Episode 235: A Doubt.
The players are retreating and they're all running toward me while waving their arms, I think they need my help and so I order Azrael to kill all the monsters. They all look back to see Azrael is crushing the orcs skulls and bones like a peanut, they're shocked and speechless because of that. I get the reward and it's quite nice to get the extra 5 status points, I kind of feel bad to take it from them but they're definitely not strong enough for this quest, and no matter how hard they tried it's impossible for them to fight those monsters.
The players are looking at me in awe, they thank me for lending them a hand and then they leave to continue their journey. Becker messages me and asks me to pick them up because they're done talking, I open the portal so they can go back here. Becker and Jason come out from the portal and Jason is asking for a piece of advice to Becker about what he and the company should do for the players, Becker tells him just to keep what he's doing because they're already doing a great job to give the players the service they want.
I look at Jason and cross my arms.
"So, what are you going to do, Mister Jason?"
Jason looks at me and smiles.
"I know what we are going to do now because we already got the answer thanks to Mister Becker."
I smile while shaking my head.
"I know that, but that's not what I'm asking. What I mean is what are you going to do now in the game? Are you going to log out since you already got what you came for or are you going to continue playing?"
Jason is oohing and he looks around.
"That's a nice question, I guess I will stay online and look around. Spending a day in the game is an hour in real life, correct? I'm going to explore the game a little bit more because this is quite relaxing."
I'm humming with understanding.
"Do you still need a tour guide?"
Jason looks at Becker and then he looks at me while shaking his head.
"No, I think there are still so many things I want to talk to with Mister Becker."
I smile and nod.
"Alright, I guess this isn't my place to interfere with your time so I will get going now and go to see my friends."
Becker and Jason nod with understanding.
"Have fun, Trev."
I nod and I open a portal to the Eluna Empire's capital city.
I walk around the capital city that is being rebuilt by the players and NPCs and what concerns me is that there are so many players from the Aarus Empire and the Alliance Kingdoms' factions compared to the players from the Eluna Empire's faction. I remember that the players from the Eluna Empire's faction are changing factions because they finally know the fact that the Eluna Empire is rotten to the core, but that's not only the reason, another reason why they're leaving the Eluna Empire faction is because they don't want to bear the responsibility because they had nothing to do with the incident and it's the Emperor's fault. Kingstar confronted and called out all the players that left the Eluna Empire's faction and called them a bunch of hypocrites because they were excited to go to war but when things didn't go as they expected they put the blame on the Empire. Now those players that left the Eluna Empire faction received a punishment from the system and they couldn't join the Aarus Empire and the Alliance Kingdoms' factions.
I go to where Ivonna and the others are at which is inside the new Palace that is still being rebuilt by the NPCs and the players. I enter the Palace and I can see the NPCs expression of being betrayed by their own emperor and how he manipulated the people to serve the person who brought chaos to the Orion. Thank goodness I spared the lives of the innocent soldiers back then because if I didn't, I don't think the people of the Eluna Empire have any hope left for the Empire that they used to love. I hope by reforming the Eluna Empire, the people here can have a better life and I hope the new emperor would help the Empire rise again because the battle isn't over and I want every single one of them to be prepared.
I see Ivonna with Kingstar and Queenstar are having a conversation while I see Michael and the others are helping the NPCs by lifting the heavy stuff. I approach them and the three of them are looking at me for quite a while until they realize it's me because they don't recognize me with the new outfit.
"Things look good so far, isn't it?"
Queenstar is looking at me.
"We watched what you did to the capital city and that was terrifying."
I raise my eyebrows.
"Someone recorded it?"
Kingstar scoffs.
"You bet they do. It went viral now all over the internet, and people are terrified when they watched it. I never thought Krestan would be able to do something like that, I'm starting to feel worried if one day he would go on rampaging and do something similar to the other sovereignties. Are you sure that he wouldn't do something like that?"
I chuckle and shake my head.
"He won't do that, trust me. I already made a deal that he couldn't refuse, and now he's working for me if he wants to get what he wanted. You don't have to worry about me going to use him to destroy the Aarus Empire or the Alliance Kingdoms because he had a grudge with Emperor Lerst and the subjects since they were the ones who defeated him."
Queenstar is furrowing her forehead while crossing her arms.
"What makes you think he can be trusted?"
I look at her and tilt my head.
"Well, if he did something behind my back, I can just kill him."
Kingstar and Queenstar are looking at each other while raising their eyebrows, Ivonna just chuckles at both of them. Queenstar looks at me and she looks kind of worried about something, then she looks at Kingstar and puts her hand on his shoulder. Kingstar looks at her and nods then he looks at me.
"There's something that we would like to ask you, but we want to talk about it in private."
Ivonna looks at me and nods. I open a portal to the house and the four of us enter the portal and get inside the house.
Kingstar sits down and he puts his hands together while thinking, I sit next to Ivonna while Queenstar sits next to Kingstar. Kingstar looks at me and nods.
"After we know everything about the Eluna Empire, we think that it's not just the Eluna Empire that has a dark secret because when Ivonna told us that the Alliance Kingdoms has its own secret and conflict with each other. Now that we heard everything, we started to make an assumption that the Aarus Empire also has its secret that we don't know, and we are starting to doubt ourselves if we are just a tool to the Empire like what happened to the Eluna Empire and the Alliance Kingdoms."
Kingstar is rubbing his forehead.
"Now both the Eluna Empire and the Alliance Kingdoms have overcome their conflicts and problems, the Aarus Empire is the only one who looks fine on the outside but we don't know what's truly happening inside the Empire. We are asking you if you have any information related to the Aarus Empire and if you do, can you please tell us because it's driving me crazy."
I raise my eyebrows.
"If you're starting to doubt something, then you should find the answer on your own, no? I'm not saying that I don't want to help you out, but you could at least try it on your own first, and when your guts are telling you that something isn't right, then you start to dig deeper to find the answer."
Kingstar is nodding with understanding.
"We did, and we think that they're hiding something from us but we don't know where to start and how to get more information about it since I never been in this kind of situation before."
I smile and lean on the couch.
"Well, the simplest thing you need to know about finding the truth is by knowing the story from a different perspective. I think you need to hurry because those people who know the other side of the story are going to be executed soon by the emperor, right?"
Kingstar and Queenstar are looking at each other and they both jolt from their seat. I open a portal for them to the Aarus Empire, and when they're about to enter the portal I stop them.
"Remember, Kingstar. There's no right or wrong, it's just which side do you prefer to be in. If your heart tells you that the other side is the right one, then you should rethink your decision because you're a powerful man in the Empire, and once you change sides, problems will raise. You're carrying a dangerous power and you have to think about what's best not for you but the people that follow you, well that's my opinion."
Kingstar turns around and looks at me.
"Thank you for the warning, I will remember that."