A dark and damp corridor echoed the sounds of my footsteps, and amplified the sound of something being dragged across rough stone.

The underground tunnels of Iohro—constructed hundreds of years ago, as a backup plan in case the walls ever fell to enemies. Of course, only the royals, and the heads of the church knew about these tunnels, and they would be the only ones to escape through them.

However, the monarchy was replaced by a republic consisting of members elected by the wealthy, and the church.

Thus, today the only ones who really know about these tunnels anymore, are the heads of Marthyl Church.

What? How do I know about them? No, the Head Priestess didn't tell me about them—I found them myself through the use of Aether Perception. There's magic in place to keep them from being found through various means, but that merely illuminated the passages to my Aether Perception. It's an ability that is not well known in this world, not even by royalty, so I was able to feel the tunnel system beneath my feet, and located one of the various entrances hidden within the inner walls, and even found where they led to—but that's a story for another time.

I asked Sophi about the tunnels a long while back, and she asked the Head Priestess. So she was told about what they were for, and how they're almost forgotten.

Now that I've gotten to know her more, I'm sure the Priestess knows that I'm using the tunnels, and that I've stashed my belongings within them. I also happen to sleep there sometimes.

The fact she hasn't said anything probably means that it's fine. But I doubt she wants me telling the entire populace about the tunnels.

The passages that lead into the old palace or the basement of the Great Cathedral have all collapsed through lack of maintenance, and huge parts of the tunnel system are completely inaccessible, so there's no real harm in their enemies knowing of their existence. However it would become another corner of the city where crime is committed, and the guards would need to watch over this area to deter shady business. There is also the fact that the tunnels aren't stable at the moment, and a fool might get themselves killed down here.

That all said, it's not as though I intend to tell people about it—I sleep here. Well, I did tell a few people out of necessity, but I have ways of controlling the spread of information.

As I turned a corner through the tunnels, a sword was brought down, and halted just inches from my face.

"Yo! I'm back," I said, not minding the shiny steel pointed at me.

The man before me widened his eyes and stepped back surprised. "I was just being cautious," He explained, as he lowered his blade. I took a glance down behind him, and smirked.

"I see you brought a guest."

"This… I didn't think you'd come back. You said to just stay here a few days and leave through the entrance we came," He repeated my instructions from yesterday.

"Right, right. I know. I lied. I can't just leave you here unattended. Not after I was attacked for you."

"Attacked?" The knightly figure asked startled.

"That's right. One of your kind, a human named Arthur came looking for you. I'm guessing they were looking for that," I said, pointing at the sleeping girl behind him.

"I… can explain," He said, uncertain of his own words.

"How about you let her explain?" I said, reaching my hand out to the girl, and snapping my fingers. As if waking up from a nightmare, she jolted in fright, and forced her body into a sitting position. Her eyes were wide and full of energy, very much unlike someone who just woke up. I performed a special application of blood magic I created that let me directly control a person's sleep. It's a difficult ability to use though, and putting someone to sleep is hard if they have high magic resistance and are actively resisting it.

But waking someone up at a moment's notice is much easier.

"Did something happen?" the woman asked, looking about in a slight panic.

"No need to be so scared. I woke you up," I said. My client seemed surprised at what I had done, but kept his silence. However, just as the woman laid eyes on me, she stiffened.

She let out a frightened screech, all while mouthing the word "Elf", as she tried to crawl backwards, away from me.

I almost forgot—humans and elves have a pretty bad relationship. Players like my client are more tolerant, considering they're not part of the ongoing war conflict, but this woman was a resident of this world, and has been under the influence of the ongoing racial tension.

I let out a sigh, and turned to my client.

"Calm her down. Superstitious idiot probably thinks I'm gonna make a meal out of her." I said, barely realizing my own frustration with the girl.

Although I only said it in jest, she probably did think I was going to eat her. More educated humans knew better, even with their deep hatred for elves, but the general populace of countries that have had bad relations with elves, see them as no more than immortal monsters. Elves aren't any different in that regard; even with their countless years, they still have superstitions and irrational hatred—or so that’s what mother told me.

But what about this girl? I have the impression that she's of noble birth, but she's rather young too. I probably seem like some sort of boogeyman to her, appearing in this dark cave with snow white hair and sharply pointed elven ears.

"Mavine. It's ok. He's not going to hurt you," the human Player spoke as he kneeled beside the girl. "He's the half-elf that brought us here," He explained. Actually, I brought him here. He brought her here without informing me.

The explanation seemed to calm her down a bit, however her eyes still showed some sort of fear and hate for me. "A half…" She muttered to herself, as she looked at me timidly.

"Ok, you wake up too," I said to the unconscious mage at my feet. I gave the man a light kick, and woke him using magic. Just like the girl, he jolted up, as if waking from a nightmare or from a loud noise.

I can force a person to sleep by restricting (but not completely blocking) blood flow to a person's head, especially to certain parts of their brain. However, it requires quite a bit of focus for any individual, and people with high Magic Resistance won't be as affected.

On the other hand, I've experimented with waking people using blood magic, and have more-or-less found an adequate way to quickly wake someone up. However, it has the side-effect of jolting them into high-alert, and possibly triggering an adrenaline rush. If I used it on someone with a weak heart, they might die. That might also have explained the girl's exaggerated fear of me. At least in part.

"Where… Where are we?" The Player magician asked after taking a look around.

"I told you, didn't I? It's a secret."

However, he only took a few looks around, and from his expression, he appeared to come to some sort of understanding. He's a mage so he can probably sense the Earth around us, and conclude we were under the city of Iohro.

Even if there is magic in place to interfere with the detection of these tunnels, if the mage is already inside the tunnels, there's no point. The interference only works one way, so that the mages inside the tunnels would have an idea of where they were.

"Why did you bring me here?" He asked.

"An interrogation. You outsiders are able to send messages to your kind, right? Almost instantly, right?"

The mage's face furrowed in confusion as he seemed to ponder what I was saying. "Who told you that?"

"I have connections," I stated simply with a broad grin. "Putting that aside, I have a tale. And I want you to show it to everyone."

Mavine Nalivar, the second daughter of Rosen Kingdom's Duke Alren Nalivar.

As far as noble ladies went, Mavine wasn’t particularly special. She had various friends, and as a duke’s daughter there were various proposals for her. Her father however rejected them all on the basis that his girls have the right to choose their love. This particular line-of thought was a minority among the aristocracy of Rozen Kingdom, but it certainly wasn’t unheard of.

However, she had a particular suitor she wasn’t fond of. Son of Earl Marnil Kenth, Arsint Kenth was a clingy fellow that used every chance he had to talk with her, despite being rejected on multiple occasions.

Although she was bothered by his actions, she was not unable to ignore him.

Until one day during a celebration in Rozen’s King City, she had wandered away from the party, and happened upon a conversation between Arsint and his father. Neither had noticed her, and although she couldn’t hear everything they had to say, what little she heard was enough to trouble her.

She wanted to verify what she heard. She didn’t want to place blame on them without evidence. She decided to employ an Outsider whom her father had knighted as a vassal, Sir Freek. She had heard that he was a strong individual, and quite resourceful, so she desperately ran to him for assistance, and told him what she knew.

Within a week, he had returned, and explained everything.

Earl Marnil was running a slave trafficking ring.

What’s most shocking is that both human and elven nobles were involved in the exchange, and Freek found evidence that this had been going on for at least a generation or two.

The marriage to Mavine was in order to make use of her father’s political connections to expand their ring, and they intended to strong-arm her father into forcing it.

Unfortunately, after disclosing his findings with Mavine, they quickly learned that Sir Freek’s investigation was discovered by the Earl’s spies, as they were attacked by Sir Arthur. As a result Mavine and Freek needed to escape in a hurry. They took a Pegasus, and fled, losing Arthur in the process. Unfortunately, Mavine’s father was visiting a friend, and the city had already been alerted of Sir Freek’s “kidnapping” of Mavine.

So they were forced to flee.

They eventually reached Tola Kingdom after flying all night and day, when for some reason their Pegasus ditched them near Iohro, and flew away. When Freek returned to his world to gather information, he learned of a peculiar resident that could help them hide until his pursuers gave up.

Well, the rest is history.

The mage I brought along had listened intently to the story, while rubbing his chin.

“I see,” He muttered, before turning to look at the player called Freek. “I should have rolled a human,” He stated simply. “I’m honestly jealous.”

“You—!” As Freek grabbed onto the mages cuff, the mage panicked.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that! I mean like, once this gets out, umm, there’ll be a lot to do as a human character,” He tried to explain. “Well, I guess an elf wouldn’t be bad either.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” Freek asked with a hint of confusion. On the other hand, Mavine seemed even more confused.

So I explained.

“Once this gets out, there’ll be a huge war. I’m sure you Outsiders would be thrilled by such an event,” I said with a shrug. From what I could gather, this was a multinational conspiracy between different human and elven states. This news will fracture the nobles and commoners on all sides. In the end, it’ll devolve into civil wars, and then, possibly a full-scale war. The commoners have had many of theirs taken and sold for profit to other kingdoms, both human and elf.

And for some reason, I wanted this.

“No… a war?” Mavine muttered.

“Multiple nobles in multiple nations are involved in this. If the rulers of those countries do not punish their offense, the commoners will revolt. If they do try to punish those nobles, the nobles will gather their forces to resist. No matter the outcome, once this news becomes public, well, there’s no turning back.”

I honestly didn’t expect to for this girl to tell such a great story. Hah… ahahaha!

“What’s so funny?” Freek looked to me with a glare.

“No, it’s just… This is great,” I said while trying to contain my laughter.

Ignoring me, the player looked to the mage I had brought along, with a serious look.

“You, you’re a Player right? Don’t tell anyone about this,” He said seriously. “I’ll inform the Duke of this directly, and they can take care of this quietly.”

Ah, I see. That route is certainly possible. As I walked toward a bag, while Freek is trying to convince the mage, I pull out a large bundle of documents. On them, various invoices and names were listed. Descriptions and measurements. Dates, prices, locations. All of it was here.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“Just taking a look,” I said amused at Freek’s tone. However, there was also a name I was looking for—and when I didn’t find it, I was somewhat relieved.

“Give that back,” He demanded with an outstretched hand.

I looked up at him, and towards the others present. Honestly, I don’t think any of them would understand my hate for the human and elven kingdoms.

“I say, let them fight,” I said. “It’s got nothing to do with me, and it’ll make that Arthur guy run back home,” I said.

“You bastard!” Freek said emotionally, as he reached for me, and grabbed me by my collar. “Your people will get involved too, you know!”

“My people tend to get slaughtered in the womb?” I said, tilting my head as if asking him what could he mean. What’s with this guy? He seemed really sincere, despite this being a game for him. He wasn’t roleplaying, right? “What do you care anyways? Don’t you Outsiders gush at this kind of opportunity…?”

Unless—”You’re in love?” I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear. It wasn’t all that unlikely. There were plenty of Player-NPC couples in Iohro, so it wasn’t a big shock. A little strange when you consider several factors that don’t even include that this is a “Video Game World”, but I’m not one to judge.

Still, it’s a pretty Fairy Tale-esque story, isn’t it? The vassal falling in love with his Lord’s daughter and all? There’s a few other angles to this that are comically cliche, but before I had time to poke fun at the guy, he threw me backwards in anger.

Taking a few steps back I shrug. “There aren’t many other routes to take.”

A silence grew between us. Neither the mage nor the Lady tried to speak up or offer alternatives. They were stumped. Me? I didn’t have any ideas either, other than just pretending nothing happened. And I’m sure Freek and Mavine want the Earl punished, so that’s out for them too.

“Pardon me but…” Suddenly the tiger spoke up. As we took a glance at him, his hand was slightly raised, as if waiting to be called on.

“Yes?” Freek asked with a frown.

“From what I understand, Freek here can’t go back to Rozen, because they’re on the lookout for him. But, I could probably head back with a small party, and contact the Duke myself?” He suggested.

Gasping, Mavine stood to her feet. “Please! You must inform my father!” She pleaded, realizing now that someone was willing to help her. “He probably thinks that he made a mistake in trusting Sir Freek, but he must learn that the Earl was behind everything!”

Widening his eyes, the mage nodded, taking just a second to read a popup message before him, before straightening his posture. “Yes My Lady. I’ll do my utmost to deliver this news to your father, Duke… err… Alren? Yes, Duke Alren,” He said with an exaggerated nod.

I chuckled a bit at the amusing sight of a Player accepting a quest. After so many years, it was practically second nature for me to ignore the notifications, but Players would still carefully read the contents of the notification sometimes, before dismissing and agreeing to the contents.

“Thank you. Please, take this insignia with you, and those documents,” She said, gesturing towards the bundle in my hands. I wondered for a moment. Should I really let him take it?

A war between the humans and elves… No, it would be a war amongst them all, wouldn’t it? I could just give these papers to Toren, and have him sell the contents to various players. Blackmail the nobles until they decide to fight a war with the Outsiders. That would prompt the Players to kill many of those insolent nobles.

But honestly, what kind of revenge would I be looking for in this case? I hate that my second life is so fucked up because of some stupid racism, but honestly, what will it accomplish for me to have both sides kill each other.

I sigh out. “Fine,” I say, tossing the bundle over to the tiger mage.

“Now I have to figure out another way to handle Arthur, until you can make it to Rozen” I said exasperatedly. After all, unless the mage used a flying mount like a Pegasus, it would take him months to reach Rozen via regular routes.

And of course, the truth behind Arthur’s deception won’t reach all the players for a while. And he’ll be back himself, in like four days. I can see him rallying up reinforcements to help him tackle me, considering he seems to have a rather large ego.

It’s gonna be a long week.