Little Pink Starfish

Actually, Pei Sen had made it very clear in the mission description: they only needed to ensure Eagle’s safety. However, the behavior of the players wasn’t so easy to control.
What they were thinking about was earning more rewards.

If Royce and Jona, the two leading mages, didn’t make a move, the four younger mages naturally wouldn’t either. In the end, the players might not have to do anything, and Eagle would still be safe — but from the players’ perspective, that kind of outcome would definitely yield very little reward.
Games are brutally realistic: if you just stand around doing nothing and expect the biggest reward, it’s almost impossible.
Moreover, once more players arrived, the contribution points would definitely be split up even more — something most players really didn’t want to see.

The six mages just stood there without moving. In the players’ eyes, it was as if the game was still stuck in a story sequence — but the players had no more patience to wait.
Besides, isn’t this what games are about? Since they had to fight anyway, they might as well start early.

Pei Sen helplessly looked up at the sky.
“These guys are way too reckless.”
They clearly knew there was no resurrection point nearby, yet still charged ahead so eagerly. If they all got wiped out at once, who would protect the young master then?
Of course, not all players were brainless enough to charge blindly. The fact that the city had no resurrection points wasn’t something everyone ignored. Players like Designer and BraisedSpicySnack, who had been loudly shouting earlier, were actually standing carefully in front of Eagle and Pei Sen instead of charging forward.

Basically, Pei Sen just wanted to see how strong those mages’ attack powers were. Impatient people could charge first, while smart players would definitely try to survive first before attacking recklessly.

Seeing the players rushing over, illusionist Jona could no longer maintain her cold and aloof facade. She cast an illusion barrier and shouted toward Eagle:
“My Lord, we mean no harm — the Mage Association merely wishes to discuss some matters with you!”
This was their true intention — they hadn’t planned to actually fight.
Royce was stunned too. Even though he had drawn his staff, his intention was only to intimidate, not to actually harm a noble. Hurting a real noble wouldn’t just be unprofitable; it would also invite unnecessary trouble.

Essentially, though he spoke harshly, Royce never wanted things to escalate to this point.

Caught off guard and unwilling to make the situation worse, the six mages didn’t dare to use overly destructive spells.
Royce, an ice mage, also cast an ice barrier. Together with Jona’s illusion barrier, they blocked the crazed players charging at them, all the while being careful not to kill anyone.

From their perspective, the group seemed loyal to the young lord, but they didn’t look like guards, slaves, or ordinary civilians. No one could tell exactly what they were.

The players quickly realized:
“Hey, this mission doesn’t seem that dangerous!”
After all, they hadn’t taken much damage so far, so they got excited.
“Charge! These NPCs aren’t strong!”
Pei Sen almost burst out laughing when he heard that.
Not strong? Please — the only reason the high-level mages weren’t killing them was because they didn’t want to. If truly provoked, they would show these players just how terrifying high-level mages could be.

Back when players had ganged up on the high-level assassin Delin, they had learned that lesson painfully — who knows how many times they had died at his hands?

Royce and Jona only defended; they didn’t care much about the players’ lives.
They just didn’t want things to get out of hand.

The four young mages behind them, however, were not used to being humiliated like this. Being surrounded and attacked by a bunch of bumpkins without even being able to retaliate went against everything they knew about being a mage.

“Teacher, we don’t have to be so polite to them—” the brown-haired young man couldn’t help but say.
The female mage beside him complained,
“It’s because Eric spoke too harshly that we angered them.”
The red-haired young man, slightly more mild-tempered, said helplessly,
“Don’t forget why we’re here.”

At that moment, Sadin and Ichabod had just arrived at Adrien City.
The other manor guards were still on the way.
Since they were both high-level swordsmen, they traveled much faster than others and were the first to arrive after receiving the news.
And then… they were greeted by complete chaos.

Sadin’s face darkened.
He was extremely troubled by Eagle’s second runaway attempt.
Even though he really wanted to blame Pei Sen, who had accompanied Eagle on the escape, he knew it was pointless.
As the steward of Golden Rose Manor, Sadin knew Eagle’s temper well enough to realize that the runaway idea must have come from Eagle himself.
If Pei Sen was forcibly expelled, Eagle might simply escape again — and without protection next time, the consequences could be disastrous.

Besides, Pei Sen wasn’t entirely useless.
Look — it was because of him that the Bix tribe was now fearlessly charging at the mages.
Even Sadin himself would have to be careful facing those six mages.
Thus, Sadin didn’t even glance at Pei Sen. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at the Bix tribe warriors.
However, he quickly realized that the mages hadn’t inflicted any major injuries yet; they seemed to be holding back.

“Surrender them, Pei Sen,” Sadin ordered.
But before Pei Sen could speak, Eagle coldly said,
“Don’t stop.”

Sadin was helpless.
“Young Master, if they really wanted to fight, you would have been dead already.”
Eagle looked back at him.
“If they kill the Bix tribe people, I will kill them.”

Sadin: “…”

This young master spoke of killing as casually as eating or drinking.
But those two were high-level mages! It wasn’t that simple!

In reality, Pei Sen wanted to say —
Even if he ordered them to stop now, players wouldn’t just obediently listen.
If players were so obedient, they wouldn’t be called players!

And seeing Sadin appear made the players even more enthusiastic, fearing the six mages would escape.

Royce and Jona also noticed Sadin’s arrival.
Jona immediately raised her voice and shouted,
“Is that Lord Sadin Brisk? We are from the Mage Association! We have important matters to discuss with the Lord and Lord Sadin!”
They never intended to fight in the first place!

In truth, Jona bore no hostility toward Lanor’s domain.
It was just a series of unfortunate events.

Sadin glanced at Eagle.
He had to admit: Eagle’s two runaway attempts weren’t without merit.
At least now, he understood that he needed to respect Eagle’s opinions more, instead of treating him like a mere child.

Eagle gazed forward.
He realized that the Bix tribe warriors couldn’t really hurt the mages — their barrier spells could easily block all attacks.
Moreover, unlike Pei Sen who knew players wouldn’t truly die, in Eagle’s mind, the Bix tribe could very well die.
Although he found their earlier declarations of loyalty a bit ridiculous, compared to others, the Bix tribe still made him feel much better.

“Forget it,” Eagle grunted unhappily.

At that moment, Pei Sen saw that the mission he posted had switched to “Completed” status.
Although he had posted the mission, he couldn’t fully control its progression.
In this case, it was Eagle’s willingness to let the players stop that triggered completion.

Players heard the familiar “ding” sound.
Mission complete?

…Even though they hadn’t even really fought yet, players weren’t stupid.
They could tell the enemies were strong, and since the mission was complete, they quickly backed off.

Sadin looked at Pei Sen.
He thought Pei Sen had ordered the Bix tribe to retreat, though Pei Sen hadn’t said a word.
Maybe, he thought, Pei Sen had some special way of communicating.

Pei Sen looked back innocently: it really wasn’t his doing!

Players who had participated in the event were already proudly posting on forums:
“We’re done here! Event’s over!”
“I was almost at Adrien City!”
“Wait, it’s over already? Can I get compensation for the EXP I lost by suiciding?”
“Dream on. I’m lucky to have respawned at the dungeon’s revival point, hehe.”
“We only fought for a few minutes and it’s over? Was the boss weak?”
“No, the boss was super strong — they just didn’t want to fight us.”
“What the hell, looking down on us?”
“Even if you got there, you wouldn’t have broken their shields.”
“……”

Even though the players had stopped, Royce and Jona were utterly frustrated.
They had never been humiliated like this before!
The whole situation was ridiculous: they had been the ones attacked, but they couldn’t even fight back.
The players were lunatics, willing to die — they couldn’t afford to be so reckless.

Not only them, but the four younger mages also looked extremely displeased.
They, who were respected wherever they went, had been utterly humiliated here in this rural corner of Lanor.

Of course, it felt more like a nightmare.

“Speak. What do you want?” Eagle took a step forward.
“Say your piece and get out of my domain. You’re not welcome here.”

Royce immediately looked furious, but Jona stopped him.
At this point, they realized Eagle wasn’t just making empty threats — he meant it.

And Jona glanced toward Sadin —
She remembered that the Mage Association had told her: Sadin was powerful enough to kill high-level mages.

Though she was deeply frustrated by how things had turned out, she could only suppress her anger.

Jona spoke calmly,
“We are here on behalf of the Mage Association to find Kesso Waddington. The Association has important matters to discuss with him.”
Royce added unhappily,
“We even have an official letter, meant to be handed to the lord.”
But the other side hadn’t even given them the chance.

He pulled out a letter stamped with the Mage Association’s seal.

Pei Sen looked around and, realizing he was the most appropriate one, ran up and took the letter.

Eagle didn’t even bother to accept it and said directly,
“Then you can leave now. Because Kesso has been missing for some time already, and I have no idea where he is.”

“Missing? How convenient!”
Eric, standing behind Royce, couldn’t help but blurt out, only to be yanked back by the female mage, Bonnie, who desperately wanted him to shut up.

Sure enough, Eagle sneered,
“What, you think I’m lying?”

…At this point, even if they suspected him, they couldn’t say it out loud!

Royce gave Eagle a dark look, then turned away,
“We’re leaving!”

What else could they do?
They had lost all face here; staying would only invite further humiliation.

Because they were so embarrassed, they left Adrien City at a fast pace.

Sadin frowned,
“Young Master, offending the Mage Association like this… is it really wise?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Eagle looked at him.
“Do you think if we don’t offend the Mage Association, they’ll like me?”

Of course not. It was impossible.

The reason was simple: he had Esmia blood.
His mother was Princess Carolina of Esmia.

In the Kingdom of Esmia, mage power was split into two major factions.
One was the Mage Association, the same one those six mages belonged to — a group influential across the whole continent of Arli.
However, Jona’s “Association” likely referred only to Esmia’s branch chapter.
The real Mage Association was a massive organization spread across nations.

The other mage force in Esmia was the Royal Mage Corps, based in the capital.
In theory, the Royal Mage Corps couldn’t compare to the Mage Association in terms of numbers.
But the Corps was very strong: mages like Kesso and Delin, both high-level, were only ordinary members of it.

Most importantly, the Royal Mage Corps was led by the legendary mage Mabreck, who had influenced nearly the entire Esmia mage community to pursue the ice element path.

The Mage Association’s Esmia branch, whether in reputation or strength, was completely overshadowed by Mabreck, something they deeply resented.

The relationship between the Mage Association and the Royal Mage Corps was extremely delicate.
Mabreck, for unknown reasons, had always insisted on supporting the Royal family’s mage corps, leading to tension with the Mage Association.

Although the Corps and the Association were not in outright opposition, tensions ran high — for instance, the Mage Tower in Adrien City technically belonged to the Association, even though its head, Kesso, was from the Royal Mage Corps.

Everyone knew that the Mage Association disliked the Esmia royal family.
And the more Mabreck supported the royal family, the more the Association disliked anyone with royal blood.

Sadin was silent for a moment before giving Eagle a deep look.

The young master…
had truly grown up.

Although this time it looked like he was just lashing out in anger, in reality, Eagle was very clear-headed:
Allowing the Mage Association people free access to Lanor territory might not be a good thing — who knew if they came with ill intentions?

And as Eagle had said, no matter how polite they were, the Mage Association would never regard him kindly.

This seemingly reckless act was, in fact, deeply calculated.

Was it a coincidence? Sadin didn’t know.

“But Kesso has really gone missing…” Sadin frowned.
“I should still look into it.”

After all, he was the deputy steward of Golden Rose Manor.

Eagle said indifferently,
“Whatever you want.”

“Young Master, please come back to the manor with me,” Sadin said, this time without anger, only resignation.

Pei Sen thought that if Eagle escaped a few more times, Sadin might eventually get used to it…

Thus, Eagle and Pei Sen’s latest runaway adventure ended after just one night.
They regretfully looked at their now cold and unappetizing meat pies before boarding the carriage sent by the manor.

Only Pecks the cat was truly happy — sprawling across the soft cushion, no longer needing to hide in the shadows.
The cat was exhausted but finally heading home.

Pecks was smart: during this time, it had managed to stay hidden within the shadows and was getting better at it!
Clearly, the cat could eat even more and still succeed in hiding!

But now, neither Pei Sen nor Eagle had the energy to pay attention to Pecks.
Pecks didn’t get the praise it had hoped for, and soon fell asleep, carefree.

Eagle didn’t fall asleep immediately like last time.
He stared out the window, lost in thought.

Pei Sen didn’t know what he was thinking about.
For a moment, Eagle even looked mature, completely different from the earlier temperamental boy.

“Pei Sen,” Eagle said.

“Yeah?”

“When we get back, have the Bix tribe search for Kesso as well.”

Pei Sen was surprised.
Hadn’t Eagle just been so indifferent about it?
Besides, Eagle had never liked Kesso — the deputy steward who came from the Royal Mage Corps, whose leader, Emperor Leiser, bore no goodwill toward Eagle.

Moreover, Kesso was always deep and unreadable.
No one knew his true intentions toward Eagle, especially since he had willingly followed Eagle from the bustling capital to this remote borderland.

“I think Kesso’s disappearance is suspicious,” Eagle said softly, offering no further explanation.

Pei Sen didn’t question it and nodded,
“I’ll try, but don’t get your hopes up.
The Bix tribe’s activity is mostly limited to Lanor territory.
If Kesso has already left or met some mishap, it’s unlikely they’ll find anything.”

“I know.”

Even so, compared to having the manor guards look, Eagle trusted the Bix tribe more.
Even if they weren’t very smart, weren’t very strong, and had strange, wild personalities — at least Eagle was sure they meant him no harm.
Compared to some people at his side, the Bix tribe was a safer bet.

Pei Sen, on the other hand, was thinking that the players were now spread everywhere across Lanor.
If Kesso was still in the area, it was very likely a player would stumble across his trail.

At that moment—

Ding!

Faction Mission (Long-Term): The Deputy Steward of Golden Rose Manor, Kesso Waddington, has been missing for several days. The Manor has no clues about his whereabouts. Players are tasked with finding any clues related to Kesso’s disappearance and reporting back to Golden Rose Manor. Mission rewards: Faction Contribution Points, Faction Treasure Chest, Experience Points, Money, Eagle Lanor’s Praise, Pei Sen’s Appreciation.

All players received the new mission — and upon seeing the reward list, were stunned.

“The Little Earl’s praise? Pei Sen’s appreciation? That counts as a reward?”

“Of course it counts! It probably unlocks a favorability system!”

“Aaaah, my Little Earl! Aaaah, my beautiful butler Pei Sen! I must get this quest!”

“Feels like those last two rewards are even more important than the others.”

“Yeah, maybe it’s not just about favorability? Could there be hidden rewards?”

“But… the quest has zero hints. Ugh, headache.”

“This game’s freedom is too high. At least give a clue, please!”

“It’ll probably take a long time to solve…”

“But those two special rewards — so tempting!”

Even Pei Sen himself was shocked.
Those last two rewards — he hadn’t added them!

He had a bad feeling.
Was the system adding bizarre emotional rewards by itself now?

“Does the system… want to manipulate my emotions too? Force me to appreciate a player? What if I don’t?”
Pei Sen was full of doubts, and sent a message to Bix Magic Cube’s GM.

Normally, he never expected any response — the game’s GM was almost like a dead person.

Unexpectedly, this time, he actually received a reply — and it shocked him.

The GM’s reply was only a single short sentence:

“You can try to mean it.”

Pei Sen: “???”