The Great Thief

Green Flag Wine requested a virtual meeting with Water Fairy immediately.

“Has something happened that I’m not aware of?”

His hologram towered over Water Fairy, and despite his absence, the tension between the two was apparent. If Water Fairy weren’t in Nanjing, he would have stormed right up to her and told her off – to modify her contract in secret was unacceptable!

Green Flag Wine feared Water Fairy might have completely lost trust in the elites of Peerless City. “Soul Eater betrayed us,” Water Fairy said. She respected Green enough to know there was no point in hiding the truth, and neither did she want to do so.

“Impossible.”

Green Flag Wine stared at Water Fairy dumbfoundedly. Was he hearing things? Soul Eater had always been the top dog in Peerless city – to say that someone so close to him to had betrayed him couldn’t be right. He continued to stare at Water Fairy, his eyes filled with fear and doubt. Was this some sort of coup d’etat? Was she planning to overthrow senior members and supporters of Peerless City now that the guild was showing some promise?

“I didn’t believe it at first either, but see for yourself,” Water Fairy said as she presented him with the supposed ‘new contract’ that Soul Eater had the elite squad sign. Although he decided to suppress his own resentment so as to keep a clear head, he was clearly unable to decipher the underlying motives hidden between the lines of text in the contract. She couldn’t blame him of course – the traps entailed within the contract would have been overlooked even by a law graduate. Thankfully, they had a whistle-blower – Vegetarian Mosquito’s cousin, who specialised in contract detailing.

Water Fairy pointed out the problems with the contract, and Green Flag Wine immediately knew that she wasn’t lying.

“However, this still can’t prove…”

He was at a loss for words.

“You don’t think it’s weird that he applied for a Peerless City Guild club out of the blue? Have you not noticed the lack of morale in your guild members? Even more so, it was someone that wasn’t from the inner-circle that told me what happened, brother Green. How could I say anything to you after all this?” Water Fairy said bluntly.

Green Flag Wine could not muster the energy to respond. If it was all just a misunderstanding, then Water Fairy would have been out of line to say the least. However, if what she said about the contract was true, then Soul Eater would be plotting a betrayal, smothering years of hard work by his underhanded tactics. Green Flag Wine was a guild club senior, team leader, and vice president of the guild. If anything were to go wrong, it would be an oversight on his part, and he would be punished for it. If Soul Eater was to successfully poach a large faction of elite and competitive players, how could he face Water Fairy then?

Water Fairy could barely suppress her rage at this point.

“The contract says it all. Soul Eater might have contributed a lot to the guild club, but I’ve returned the favour by providing him with the privileges he’s been enjoying.”

Green Flag Wine used to be just another unemployed adult dawdling away his days aimlessly, but in his few years in the guild, he had earned himself a reputation, became the guild club president, and was now a millionaire. He had cars, mansions, and many other things that people would work their whole lives for but could never attain.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, finally opening his mouth, “This was an oversight on my part, and I had to bother you with what was supposed to be my responsibility. It’s just that I never imagined Soul Eater would do such a thing. What is he thinking…”

“That’s not important right now. What’s important is to focus on what to do next.”

Water Fairy was slightly relieved knowing that they were finally on the same page.

“What do you need me to do?” Green Flag Wine had decided that Soul Eater was a threat to their guild. Because he saw his competitive gaming as a profession, he would not hesitate to eliminate any threats that would jeopardise his career. Soul Eater couldn’t achieve anything in a year or so. If Water Fairy were to suppress him even further, he would have no choice but to live a humble life in the future.

Green Flag Wine was getting old. He might be at his peak right now, but after four or five years, he would have to retreat to second-tier gaming. Plus, he had no intentions of betraying Water Fairy. After all, Soul Eater wasn’t his boss – Water Fairy gave him his paycheck.

“Which competitive players would have a higher chance of getting poached by Soul Eater?” Water Fairy asked.

A faction of their competitive players might have come from Drizzle Court, but that was three years ago. Those players had been gaming with Soul Eater for the last three years, so it was hard to tell who they were close to anymore. The other faction included players that Water Fairy had recruited from the outside, but like fasting flies, they were indifferent to the wellbeing of the guild and only saw Water Fairy as a salary distributor.

“I’ll talk to the competitive players and try to get them to stay,” Green Flag Wine volunteered.

“You saying that makes me feel a little better,” Water Fairy said, though she had her doubts. After all, Green Flag Wine hadn’t exactly been the ideal, responsible team leader that he should have been. She wondered how much influence he had amongst the other players.

“I just find it a shame that Soul Eater had to go down this path,” Green Flag Wine sighed woefully, but his sigh had marked the end to their friendship. He knew that Soul Eater would be finished.

It was only on the second day that one of Soul Eater’s informants told him about Water Fairy’s counter-attack. A large portion of elite players in the club has signed the new contract. He was terrified at first, as if he had found guilty of stealing from others, but his terror quickly turned to anger. He was the one who had worked so hard to lift Peerless City onto a pedestal, but Water Fairy, a mere benefactor who had done nothing for the guild, would dare to suppress him. He simply wanted to take back what was his, and such a right was denied.

Out of the three thousand or so players in Peerless City, about eighty per cent had signed the new contract, with the remainder still bounded to the old contract. However, Peerless City was still entitled to the twenty per cent of players, and Peerless City did not equal Soul Eater. By law, Water Fairy owned everything entitled to the guild. And so, the one thousand or so players that Soul Eater had asked to sign his contract, had all signed the new contract. Though there were still about two or three hundred players that didn’t sign the new contract, they were all players that had been trained and raised by Soul Eater. Water Fairy was determined to get them back on the next day to end this thing once and for all.