In truth, Izroth knew that Zanna was not a malicious person at heart. He was merely curious as to how she casually resisted not only his Soul Pressure but also Niflheim's Demoralized Spirit. Was her willpower really that strong? Or, could it be that she possessed a unique skill that allowed her to disregard them?
Although Izroth's last question was a legitimate one, his previous harsh behavior towards Zanna was to find an answer to this question. After all, with her personality, there was no chance she would just come out and say it willingly.
Nevertheless, regardless of how they crossed paths due to a misunderstanding, they were still on the same side of the war. Not to mention, it may have taken some coercing, but they did help Izroth out—and he always repaid kindness tenfold.
'I was going to wait until we reach the camp, but I suppose I can move it a bit ahead of schedule.'
With that thought, Izroth gathered everyone from Zanna's squad together. Even Zanna reluctantly walked over to join them.
The atmosphere was somewhat heavy as they wondered why Izroth suddenly assembled them. Could it be that he wanted to confront them about the messages they sent him?
"You can all relax. The reason I've gathered you all is to give you a small token of thanks as a show of gratitude—a reward of sorts. I, Izroth, always repay the kindness of others." Izroth stated as he accessed his inventory and removed a small bag.
"Reward?" The players from Zanna's squad were caught off guard as their nervousness quickly turned to confusion.
"I wanted to wait until we reached the camp, but there's longer any need. Also, there's no guarantee that it will be peaceful upon our arrival," Izroth explained as he set his gaze on Zanna.
He then continued, "Come—since you're the leader, I will leave the method of distribution up to you."
Zanna had a cautious expression on her face as she slowly approached and said, "You—why are you being so nice all of a sudden? You aren't trying to trick us, right? You aren't planning to take me into the sky again and let me go once I accept it?"
"Do I have a reason to trick you?" Izroth replied.
"Promise? You won't take me to the sky again?" Zanna asked as she pouted sadly and held her hands out to accept the small bag.
"You have my word," Izroth answered as he inwardly shook his head and dropped the bag into Zanna's hands.
"…" A few moments went by as Zanna's pout slowly transformed into a smirk before becoming a full-on smug grin.
"My, my~ Since you've promised, then you gotta keep your word. You finally realized that you have to treat a classy lady like me with some respect and shower me with gifts~ Yeah, yeah, it's gotta be like this, ya know? You aren't so bad, after all. Hehehe, hey, how about becoming my follower? You want to, right?" Zanna said with a smug look on her face. In the blink of an eye, she had already reverted to her previous behavior!
"Lead-" Hawk called out but was promptly ignored.
"It's not every day I personally ask someone to become my follower. But, I'm making a special exception just for you. Oh, and I guess your friend can join too since I'm feeling generous today." Zanna stated with a haughty aura.
"Leader-"
"I know you feel honored, right? Right? To follow this classy lady is a privilege! …I mean, I'm thankful and all for the reward… b-but it's not like I asked you for it or anything! And-!"
"Leader!" Hawk shouted.
"What?! Can't you see I'm in the middle of a conversation?!" Zanna said as she glared at Hawk.
"It's just that, they already left," Hawk stated with a weak smile.
"Eh? Left? What are you- Ah!" Zanna turned around only to see that Izroth and Niflheim were nowhere to be found!
"Rude! Stupid! Dummy! How could he leave while I'm talking to him!"
"But, leader, they left right after handing you the bag…" One of the other members of Zanna's squad commented.
"…" Zanna looked down, and by the time she held her head up again, her cheeks had turned bright red and puffed up. This whole time, she had been talking to herself while everyone sat back and watched!
"Waaaaaah! Stupid! Tyrant! Didn't you ask us to be your guide?! Dummy! Bully! I won't let you get away so easily after bullying me! You hear me?! Waaaaah!" Zanna burst out crying.
…
Several minutes later, Zanna calmed down as her cries turned to light sniffles.
Meanwhile, Dove held onto the bag Zanna received from Izroth as they had yet to open it.
"So, what's in the bag? Gold?" Hawk asked curiously.
"I don't know. I haven't looked yet. But, now that our leader's calmed down, it should be the perfect time to see." Dove replied.
"That guy was the owner of the Mystical Realm Palace, right? He should be loaded!" One of Zanna's squad members said.
"That's right! Hahaha, we'll have to celebrate with a feast tonight!"
"Don't get too excited. Even if it is gold coins, it's probably not much considering we only gave him information he could have found anywhere and some coordinates. Besides, it will be going towards our guild fund—not a feast." Dove stated with a light smile to the disappointment of the squad members.
Dove opened the bag, and the moment she viewed what was inside, her eyes widened in shock.
"T-this… H-he..!" Dove was left speechless as she tried to find the right words to say, but her mind went blank. She had to rub her eyes and double- No, triple check, just to make sure she was not just seeing things! Even then, Dove still did not believe it! She quickly revealed the items to Hawk to further verify that it was not her imagination.
Hawk almost fainted at the sight of what was in the bag. He could see why the usually calm Dove was in such a frantic state!
It did not take long for everyone to get a look at what was in the bag, and their reactions were the same as Hawk and Dove's—shocked and virtually speechless.
"I take it back… Maybe we can have that feast after all…" Dove muttered.
"What? What is it? Let me see!" Zanna asked excitedly as she snatched the bag from Dove and hurriedly took a look inside. However, a frown appeared on her face as the disappointment in her eyes could not be hidden.
"You all are getting excited over this? So little! It's just twenty pills. Hmph, I knew he was tricking us when he said he'd reward us! I bet these things are actually worthless, and he's secretly laughing at us right now!" Zanna scoffed as she stomped her foot.
Dove released a heavy sigh and said, "Leader, do you know how valuable these grade three pills are?"
"What? Aren't they just pills? I got a grade one pill for a few silver coins. So this one is probably one gold coin at most, right? Twenty gold coins are useful, but is it worth getting so excited over it?" Zanna responded.
"You're mistaken. A grade one pill cannot be compared to a grade two, let alone a grade three pill. These pills can only be purchased from one place in RML—the Mystical Realm Palace. If I remember correctly, players can only purchase one of each grade three pill in that shop once per day. If we sold these pills to those top guilds who are always craving more at a marked up price, do you know how much we can get for them?" Dove explained.
"W-what? 100 gold coins..?!" Zanna exclaimed.
"Try somewhere between 500 to 700 gold coins. At the current exchange rate, that's around 100,000 RMB." Dove said as disbelief snuck into her voice. If this were a dream, she hoped that she could at least stay asleep long enough to spend some of the RMB before waking up!
'100-… 100,000?! Are you sure?! You're not just making it up, right?! These little bits of pills are worth 100,000 RMB?!" Zanna's hands trembled as she held the bag of pills carefully—as though she were afraid they would be damaged in the slightest.
"For a small guild like us, I'm sure I don't need to tell you how important this is. Leader, we have to thank him in person." Dove said in a stern tone.
"B-but… Ugh… I know… I know, okay?!" Zanna vocalized reluctantly.
…
Meanwhile, somewhere just outside a War Brigade camp located within the Demilitarization Belt…
"Are you sure it was alright to leave without saying anything?" Niflheim questioned.
"It's fine. They guided us far enough. We no longer owe anything to them and they to us." Izroth stated as he approached the entrance of the camp along with Niflheim.
Izroth's Essence was low after finishing Resseki and Kiren's challenge; therefore, he needed time to regain some of his lost Essence by using his Source Chant as they traveled. While his Essence was far from being fully recharged, there was enough to use his Energy Vision Sense and verify the War Brigade camp's location. Since he confirmed its existence, there was no longer any need for guides.
"Halt! You there! Identify yourself!" One of the NPC guards at the camp's entrance said as he blocked Niflheim's path.
Not too long after, Niflheim was confronted by nine other troops on guard duty as they surrounded him from all sides.
The NPCs were on high alert as their hidden warning system went off upon Niflheim's arrival, informing the guards that he was not in possession of a valid war branch insignia!
