Little Pink Starfish

Pei Sen was full of question marks. Of course, he knew the GM of Bix Magic Cube did exist — although his previous messages had been like throwing stones into the sea with no reply, feedback on bugs and issues was always very prompt.
This was truly the first time the GM had personally responded to him.

“‘Try to mean it’…” Pei Sen sighed.
“So real-world now?”

Still, he understood: without the last two rewards, probably not many players would be willing to spend effort on this kind of mission.
As some players had already pointed out, this was a long-term quest with no hints at all — unless you happened to stumble on the answer by pure luck, you’d likely invest a huge amount of time and get nothing in return.
However, with Eagle’s “praise” and Pei Sen’s “appreciation” added to the rewards, it was a different story altogether.

No matter what game they played, players always shared certain traits.
One of them was universal: “Good-looking NPCs are always popular, regardless of whether they’re good or evil.”
In real life, people love eye candy — how much more so in games, which are meant for entertainment.

So far, within the player base, the consensus was that the two best-looking NPCs were Eagle and Pei Sen.

Male players might prefer beautiful female characters, but female players were obsessed with handsome ones.
Regardless of gender, everyone liked looking at attractive people — no one really cared about the character’s personality.

Even among male players, Eagle carried the aura of “faction leader,” which further boosted his popularity.

“If this quest has a follow-up, then it’s definitely worth investing time in,” Designer carefully reviewed the mission description.
“There’s never been a reward like this before.”

BraisedSpicySnack said indifferently,
“Weren’t you running around everywhere anyway? Might as well try.
I’m going to focus on grinding contribution points nearby until I hit level 30 and swap to better gear before doing dungeons.”

As a combat-type player, BraisedSpicySnack mostly mixed around Starfall Plains and Moon Tree Forest.
He typically avoided quests that required too much thinking.

Designer nodded,
“Okay, if we need to fight later, I’ll call you.”

“Sure.”

It wasn’t just Designer — in any game, there were always some players who loved snooping around and solving mysteries.
They began interrogating NPCs, trying to find clues about Kesso’s disappearance.

However, as a high-ranking mage and deputy steward of Golden Rose Manor, Kesso didn’t have many public interactions.
It wasn’t easy to dig up information about him.

Still, they managed to gather some tidbits:

“The manor guards are also looking for Kesso — apparently under Sadin’s orders.”

“So basically, everyone is looking for him. Maybe the Earl and Pei Sen just want to find him before Sadin does?”

“Could be. The relationship between the Earl and Sadin seems… complicated.”

“They say he’s the steward, but didn’t he basically keep the Earl locked up in the manor? No way their relationship’s good.”

“Anyway, Kesso’s got to be important for all this fuss — especially with those rewards!”

“Yeah, it’s probably part of a quest chain!”

The players glanced toward the Mage Tower nearby.
Not that they didn’t want to search for clues there — they simply weren’t allowed in.

The place had completely barred their entry, leaving no room for negotiation.

“It’s really weird. We didn’t even offend the mages, but they’re so hostile.”

“Yeah, like outright rejecting us.”

“It’s not just the mages. The whole of Adrien City feels unfriendly.”

“Hahaha — did you forget? We knocked down Casey City and Arzi Town! Adrien’s the only major city left. Of course they don’t welcome us.”

“True, but the NPCs here are crazy smart. Scarily realistic.”

“I sometimes suspect these NPCs are actually controlled by real people… but that can’t be, right?”

“If they were real people, you’d need a whole army of Oscar-winning actors. No way that’s affordable.”

“Hahaha…”

Pei Sen closed the forum with a satisfied look.

Sure enough, with those two additional rewards as bait, far more players were now focusing on the quest.
Compared to the manor guards, players were much more adept at infiltrating every nook and cranny.

Although both Eagle and Sadin thought the Bix tribe wasn’t very smart — in truth, that wasn’t entirely correct.

Pei Sen knew clearly:
In terms of intelligence, the native NPCs were no match for players.
Players acted foolish only because “this was just a game” — not because they were actually dumb.

On the contrary, they were extremely clever.
They had just entered the game recently and hadn’t had the opportunity to fully showcase their abilities yet.

“Maybe…” Pei Sen thought,
“Maybe someone I genuinely admire really will appear.
Finding Kesso ahead of the guards and uncovering the truth behind his disappearance — that couldn’t be done through luck alone.”

“Young Master suspects Kesso’s disappearance is tied to the Mage Association people, right?”

Most likely.
Those six mages had reacted with, “How could it be so coincidental?” when hearing Kesso was missing.
Eagle and Pei Sen were suspicious of the same thing.

Kesso might have left deliberately to avoid them.
Maybe he had secrets he didn’t want the Mage Association to uncover and anticipated their visit, choosing to disappear ahead of time.

Still —
What was the connection between the Mage Association, the Royal Mage Corps, and the attempted assassination of Leiser?

After all, Kesso’s disappearance had occurred after news of Leiser’s assassination attempt broke out.

Pei Sen felt a headache coming on.
“Forget it. Too few clues right now.
Since the quest has been handed to the players, it’s better to focus on development projects — especially rebuilding Casey City before winter.”

Destroying a city wasn’t the goal — rebuilding was.

Just then, Neil came looking for him, saying that several Bix tribe members had some suggestions about city construction.

Pei Sen finally let out a long sigh of relief.

He had been waiting for this moment.
Yet he couldn’t directly ask the players.

Even though Pei Sen was an architect, building an entire city was way beyond his capabilities alone.
But among the players who had entered the game, surely some had more professional expertise than him.

However, unless the players realized they could bring their real-world knowledge into the game, they wouldn’t act accordingly.

“Fortunately, Bix Magic Cube has always emphasized its high freedom,” Pei Sen thought with satisfaction.
Their understanding had come faster than he’d anticipated.

He met with a few players — they proposed several new ideas for Casey City’s construction, including drainage and heating systems.
One player even gave him a full blueprint for a modified steam engine — not copied off the internet, but adapted to local conditions with real feasibility.

Pei Sen was stunned.

Sure, he’d been waiting for players to contribute to the city’s construction,
But wow — the caliber of help they were offering was… quite high-end.

Thankfully, it was just a steam engine — no one had come up with a full-blown electric generator yet.

Given the world of Arli’s level of development, building a power plant was likely impossible anyway.

“Let’s try it first.
Even if we fail in Casey City, we can always experiment in Arzi Town later.”

Thus, Pei Sen visibly grew busier by the day.
He couldn’t delegate this work — even Neil and others couldn’t help, because the way players talked was often censored or incomprehensible to native NPCs.

Only Pei Sen could handle the communication.

Meanwhile, Eagle was getting annoyed that Pei Sen kept lingering in the front hall.
He threw tantrums several times —
But Pei Sen was no longer the same as before.

He wasn’t as afraid of Eagle’s temper anymore.

Deep down, Pei Sen knew Eagle wouldn’t drive him away.
Knowing the bottom line, he wasn’t anxious even if he made the young master a little unhappy sometimes.

Even if Eagle pouted, Pei Sen could calmly weather the storm, and the boy’s anger would eventually pass.

“There’s a saying: ‘spoiled by affection,’” Pei Sen thought.
“Maybe that’s what’s happening to me.”

After all, once you understood where the other person’s limits were, you could be braver — and still be forgiven.

“But honestly, Eagle was too controlling before. I need a little personal space,” Pei Sen mused.
“I can’t always be like an ornament hanging at his side.”

Even though he had transmigrated into this world and taken an “NPC” role, Pei Sen’s sense of self was still different from true natives.

A regular servant might feel honored to always accompany the young master —
But Pei Sen wasn’t like that.

He cherished Eagle, yes — but he was clear-headed.
He had no intention of tying his entire life to Eagle’s fate.

“When you need me, I’ll accompany you,” Pei Sen thought.
“But someday, young master, we might have to go our separate ways.”

After discussing Casey City’s drainage system with the players, Pei Sen returned to find the manor unusually tense.

Several maids in the hallway looked terrified.

“What’s wrong?” he asked Bates, a maid standing nearby.

Bates cautiously glanced toward Eagle’s room.
“The Steward is speaking with the young master… it doesn’t sound pleasant.”

Pei Sen’s steps paused — then he quickened his pace.

Before Pei Sen even entered, he heard Eagle’s voice:

“Sadin, I told you I’m not going back. Are you going to force me back to the capital?”

Sadin’s tone was harder than usual.
“The Duke did not give me such an order.”

Eagle sneered,
“I know. If he had, you wouldn’t be standing here trying to persuade me — you would have stuffed me into a carriage and dragged me back already.”

“Young Master, the Duke is doing this for your own good.”

“You can believe that if you want. I won’t. In the Duke’s eyes, the only one who matters is Leiser Esmia.
Even if I am his son, he would only act for Leiser’s sake, not for mine.”

Sadin said slowly,
“Young Master, you are the Duke’s only son.”
He seemed to lose patience, treating Eagle as a willful and disobedient child.

Eagle gave a cold laugh, clearly full of disdain.

Pei Sen stood outside the door, hesitating, then calmly pushed it open.

“You’re here, Pei Sen.”
Eagle glanced at him — and visibly, his anger eased a lot.

Sadin showed a slight expression of surprise at the change.

In the end, Eagle and Sadin parted on bad terms.
After Sadin left, Eagle sat quietly in the large chair, saying nothing for a long time.

Pecks the cat, who had been sleeping in a corner, had been startled awake by the argument.
Now it curled up tightly into a ball, trying to melt into the shadows —
A cat knew when to stay out of trouble, and Pecks definitely didn’t want to draw attention right now.

The current Eagle was on the verge of exploding.

“Eagle, do you also think I’m too stubborn?” Eagle asked, looking over.

Pei Sen: “…”
You are definitely stubborn. There’s no debate about that.

Eagle chuckled lightly,
“Sadin says my father sent me here for my own good — to keep me far from the capital, out of Leiser’s reach.
Even someone as clever as Sadin truly believes that.”

Pei Sen frowned,
“Young Master, is there something more to it?”

Based on the information he had gathered so far, Pei Sen thought Sadin’s reasoning sounded plausible.
If Leiser disliked Eagle, keeping him far away would indeed be safer.

After all, Leiser was not only the King of Esmia, but reportedly capricious and dangerously temperamental.
In that sense, he and Eagle were actually a bit alike…
Maybe “like uncle, like nephew”?

In any case, if Leiser had a bad temper, staying far away was indeed safer.

“I wasn’t always living at Lanor Territory,” Eagle said quietly.
“I lived at my father’s estate near the capital until I was seven, then I was sent here.”

“There were things I knew… things I shouldn’t have known…”

Pei Sen: “…”
A seven-year-old knowing this much about family intrigue — wasn’t that a bit too tragic?

As if guessing his thoughts, Eagle lowered his eyes.
“Pei Sen, I’ll only tell you.”

“What?”

“In this world, everyone knows that Leiser has been obsessed with my father for ten years.
Back when my father was the most beautiful noble in Esmia, no one could match his grace.
People saw it and said, ‘No wonder,’ and their gazes became strange.”

To most outsiders, Duke Burke Angre was seen as a man who had used his beauty to climb by attaching himself to Leiser,
And his reputation suffered for it.

“Those prejudices and gossip were harsh,” Eagle said softly.
“As a child, I saw and understood far more than others expected.”

“Many believed he was shameless, greedy for power, trading his dignity for advancement.”

Pei Sen stood quietly beside Eagle.
He knew that right now, Eagle didn’t need advice — just someone to listen.

“But he wasn’t that kind of man,” Eagle murmured.
“At least not the father I saw.”

Probably very few people in this world would believe it —
That Duke Burke Angre didn’t lust for power, wasn’t interested in it at all.

“He just… loved Leiser,” Eagle said with a trace of sarcasm,
“That terrifying, manipulative man.”

“Everyone believed Leiser loved my father too, but I don’t think he ever truly did.”

In Eagle’s eyes, Leiser had never truly loved anyone.
His obsession was nothing but a carefully crafted lie.

Burke Angre, however, had borne the shame and stigma in silence for years.

Eagle raised his head and looked at Pei Sen,
“I knew from the beginning — being sent here wasn’t to protect me.”

Pei Sen was starting to believe him.

If what Eagle said was true, there must indeed be a deeper conspiracy.

“Leiser has a disease,” Eagle said slowly.
“A hereditary illness — probably from his maternal grandfather’s bloodline.
Something rare, like a curse.”

“And apart from Burke Angre, almost no one else knows about it.”

“Pei Sen, do you understand?”
“My father threw me far away because someday, I am meant to pay a terrible price — for Leiser’s treatment.”

He spoke each word calmly but chillingly.

“My birth itself was part of a plan.
From the beginning, my mother, Princess Carolina, and my father’s involvement was manipulated by Leiser.”

Eagle’s voice grew softer and softer.

Pei Sen let out a deep sigh and pulled the boy into his arms.

When Pei Sen had first learned of Eagle’s background, he had already felt pity.
Now, hearing this, he realized that Eagle’s fate was even more tragic than he had imagined.

He was raised like a caged bird — not to become a lord, but to become a sacrifice.

No wonder no one really wanted him to control Lanor Territory, or gain real power.

Originally, Pei Sen had suspected Burke Angre of wanting to use Eagle as a political pawn.
But now, it was clear:
A tool didn’t need education.
A tool didn’t need power.

A tool only needed to stay weak and easy to control.

“…That Viscount Frey, who tried to assassinate you — he probably didn’t know these things,” Pei Sen said.

If he had, he wouldn’t have dared act.

“Mm,” Eagle replied,
“Though maybe the capital has changed. Maybe it’s no longer fully under Leiser’s control.”

Pei Sen patted Eagle’s shoulder.
“Young Master, don’t think too much.
No matter what happens, I’ll protect you.”

“I believe you,” Eagle said.

Leaning against Pei Sen’s chest, Eagle’s emerald eyes were calm.
There was no more anger or weakness — only a serene clarity.

At an angle Pei Sen couldn’t see, a faint, sly smile played at Eagle’s lips.

He hadn’t lied to Pei Sen.
He wouldn’t deceive Pei Sen.

He had simply shared a secret he no longer cared about.

Besides, things had already changed in ways he wouldn’t mention.

For now, it was better to pretend ignorance.

“Pei Sen, you promised you would protect me.”

Meanwhile, in the distant capital, storm clouds were gathering.
Too many unexpected things had already happened.

That was why, even though Duke Burke Angre had twice sent messages to Sadin asking him to bring Eagle back,
the tone had never been forceful.
He hadn’t ordered Sadin to forcefully retrieve Eagle.

That was why Sadin only tried persuasion — and did not act directly.

“What on earth is happening there?” Sadin murmured.
“And Kesso… where exactly have you gone?”

It wasn’t just Sadin wondering.
More and more players were actively investigating Kesso’s disappearance too.

Pei Sen, after finally coaxing Eagle into calming down, returned to his own room.
There, he caught sight of the magic tome Kesso had once handed him — and felt a sudden flash of realization.

At the time, it had seemed like Kesso had given it to him after being provoked.
But thinking back, for someone as deeply calculating as Kesso, was it really that easy to manipulate him?

Pei Sen had previously assumed Kesso’s disappearance made the book irrelevant.
Now he wasn’t so sure.

He took the thick magic tome in his hands and carefully examined it again.
He even meticulously felt along its thick black leather cover.

“Something’s not right…”

His fingers paused.

He concentrated — and finally noticed.

Inside the back cover, there was a strange bulge.

Something was hidden inside!