女神归来的夏天

Chapter 255: The State of The City of James II

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Hailey has a lot to explain, and lucky the privacy of the woods is a perfect place to talk about this. She sits down on a log, and I sit next to her. Sally is too distracted by Emerald, the magical beast that Hailey now has. I\'ve got to say that it\'s pretty awesome that she\'s come so far on her own. She\'s a master of speed and precision. I\'m sure if we were to fight, I\'d never get a hit in, and my defensive capabilities would be too much to overcome. Locking us at a standstill. This is extremely impressive since I have a Divine Class, and she has a Legendary.

It goes to show just how much stronger she is now. She looks at me and takes notice that I haven\'t changed in terms of appearance, except for longer hair. My armor and weapons are the same. I do not need to upgrade them right now. She, on the other hand, has epic grade gear. As well as a weapon I\'ve never seen before. "We should start talking about what have both come across. I\'ll start." I take a breath and prepare to speak. "We are here to take revenge on The James. We learned that they reside on their own private estate outside the city." This is almost all that I know about them.

Hailey nods her head. She knows all this too. She wouldn\'t be planning an attack on the family without basic information like that. "We also know they are connected to a huge slavery network. We are looking to put an end to that here in The City of James too. If we can, we are going to take whatever information we can on this slavery network and shut down other places in the process." Hailey looks a little surprised at those words. Not enough to affect her plans, though. Sally has stopped playing with the magical beast and is interested in the conversation.

Hailey takes a breath, preparing what she knows herself. "I\'ve come into the same information as you. However, I was on my way to talk to some black market dealers before the attack happened. The event ruined my plans, and now I have to wait a day for the next meeting to take place. If it will at all with the state, the city is in." All three of us look towards the city as she says that and there is damage. I know it\'s not going to be as bad as some places, but I know for a fact this is going to make it harder for players everywhere.

I sigh and lean back. The cloudy area has disappeared with the storm, and clear blue skies are all that remain. The sun is starting to descend in the sky, but we have plenty of hours to talk about what we need. "Why are you here, Hailey? Out of all the places you could see around Gaia, you choose to come here for the same reasons we came here. I know you find it as suspicious as I do." I don\'t like being moved around as if I\'m a chess piece. This entire situation is starting to look like that. That powerful people are being directed towards something.

Hailey leans back just like me and stares up at the same blue sky. "I was given a quest from a dear friend I\'ve made in my travels. She was a slave here once upon a time. She didn\'t have the willpower to come with me, but she asked me to come and do it for her. Since she can\'t." My eyes drift over to Sally, and my head relaxes. She has a sad expression at the news we are getting. "The James Family has been doing this for over a century, and It\'s time for it to end." I couldn\'t agree with her words more. She has the same premise in mind too.

We want to do this stealthy and quietly. While we could just storm the estate and kill them all. We are risking losing valuable information on a quest that\'s attracted to Sally\'s Past. I want to interrogate them a bit and get their secrets. "I\'ll have to head back to the adventurers guild in the town and speak to Saul again. Get another location that they might be meeting at cause I know they don\'t stay in one place for too long. With the attack, they are definitely spooked." I don\'t like involving the adventurers guild in any of this.

They could end up tipping off The James Family, and they split town. "No, don\'t go back there. We don\'t need a corrupt organization possibly tipping off our target. From the sounds of it, you made it seem like you had no interest in The James Family. However, I don\'t want to risk anything. It\'s better if we do this on our own and keep our dealings a secret." Hailey looks at me in irritation, and I can tell she isn\'t happy at all. I get it. She doesn\'t like that I\'m back in her life, and I\'m already telling her what to do and not to do.

As Cera, Sally, and Hailey continue talking. There is much panic in The City of James. The natives of Gaia are shouting and screaming at any player that comes near them. Calling them a bad omen and a plague on their people. As this is happening, Kelly James is sitting in her office in her estate and sipping tea. She has a calm expression and is overlooking the city from her location. She is the only family member that hasn\'t invested a cent of her own money in the city. So that means her funds will be unaffected by this event, unlike her brothers.

I watch from my office out my giant window and see the half-ruined city. This is going to cost my brothers a fortune. This seals my plans. I\'ve won. I may not be the last James left, but my brothers are beaten, and I can ascend to the top as they crumble one by one. The Barony will be mine, and I can put an end to the blight on this world my family has created. "Lady James, your brothers are calling you into a meeting. What should I tell them?" I can\'t help the smile from spreading across my face. They are bankrupt and are going to beg me to help.

I turn around and look at my butler. I no longer need to listen to them. I can move freely. "Tell them I\'m not coming. They got themselves into this mess, and they need to get themselves out of it." He nods his head and leaves my office. I take a seat and continue drinking my tea. I begin to hum a melody my mother used to hum to me. Before she died. Now my brother\'s influence on the city will fall, and since they have no money, the people will riot that their cities owner will not take care of them. My brothers will be forced to either die by the people or give up their power.

My plans have changed so much in the last few days, and I have reacted to those changes masterfully. I no longer need to play it slow with dismantling my brother\'s. The players and their fear of Slayer Zern did that for me. I just have to bide my time for the right moment to ascend to the Baron rank and permanently deal with my brother\'s. Having the people on my side is going to be the most important, and I know that I already have that in the bag. Now all I have to do is wait for the riots to start and make my move.

I set down my cup of tea and think about all the hard work I\'ve done over the years. My father would be strangely proud of me. I hated and despised the man. He never gave a damn about any of his children. The only things he likes were women and money, and how he got those things. He always pitted his children against each other and found it endlessly entertaining. Now that one of his children finally won, I bet he\'s laughing in hell. I wish I could\'ve killed him myself, but his old age took him, and I damn him for that.

He died when I was 13, and just starting my plans. That was 11 years ago. I would love to share this moment with my allies, but I can\'t compromise them yet. The work isn\'t completely done yet. They will get their rewards for their help. It was easy to convince them. Why would they choose my cruel brothers over a chance of freedom and retribution? There is no better spy than personal slaves. They quickly agreed.