Meanwhile… back at the Gresh Kingdom…
The entire Kingdom was in an uproar because of back to back staggering announcements. First, it was the Gu family's massacre, then it was the appearance of another S-Rank guild, and finally, two S-Rank guilds were going to clash against each other!
This was especially good news for all the smaller guilds and particularly the rest of the guilds occupying the top ten guild ranking roster. The smaller sharks swam frantically in search of blood as the two whales clashed.
The next few hours would play a significant role in determining the guild landscape for the Gresh Kingdom, so preparations were underway in full force.
Not just the clashing guilds but everyone was emptying out the auction house by throwing more and more gold coins into circulation, stockpiling all the resources.
The true importance of lifestyle players to a guild shone at this moment, as the guild that held the upper hand in resources would undoubtedly have a higher chance.
So every single member of the several guilds was scrambling to obtain potions and consumables and was hoarding things left and right like they were toilet paper.
In the midst of this commotion, the acting guild leader of the star of this show, Crimson Abyss was surprisingly doing something different.
"Kid, come on. This is really tasty. Please try some first," Alex begged the ten year old girl in front of her. She tracked down the person Liam had asked her to find, but that seemed like the least of her worries at the moment.
Right now she was squatting in front of four small kids, all about the same age. Alex was very sure that the kid she was looking for was among the four, but the problem was that it was very difficult to make any of them like her or even trust her.
Being orphans, the bunch had severe trust and abandonment issues. They did not accept anything from her, not food or clothes or even small berries. Heck, they did not even talk to her.
And she had already sunk three hours into this.
"Dear Lord, save me," Alex grumbled and stepped away to take a break. Although she had never had much patience for kids in general, these four were doing everything they could to make her life difficult.
And the strategy right now was not working.
She couldn't simply give them something good and increase her favorability with them. It was not that straightforward, so she had to fall back and think about this.
Luckily for her, these were just kids, so it was easy to trick them. After moving away, she started observing them from a distance. Perhaps something in their routine would give her the opportunity to step in and save the day.
And this opportunity arrived sooner than she expected.
After a few minutes, the four kids tip-toed towards the bazaar area and were sneakily trying to shoplift some fruits. Of course, since the shopkeepers were already used to seeing their sad little faces, the ensuing scene left little for the imagination.
The four of them were instantly caught!
But Alex still did not budge from her place. "Not yet," she muttered under her breath and sat tight, allowing things to play out in front of her.
Shortly afterward, a group of guards arrived and started strong-arming the four children.
"They are taking them to the prison?" She quickly stood up because that would become troublesome, but the next second, something unexpected happened.
The four guards started thrashing the four kids ruthlessly. "We tell you vermin to repent every day and you still won't change?"
"Repent for your sins!"
"It is a cardinal sin to steal!"
"The Holy Land is not a place for thieves."
Seeing the four kids being heartlessly beaten up, Alex couldn't stay still and rushed forward. "That's enough." She shouted at the guards.
The men turned to glare at her, but her reputation with the divine temple worked magic as their gaze softened up almost immediately. "Yes, My Lady." They stepped back obediently.
Alex also calmed down a little at this time and cleared her throat. This game was so realistic that the outside world and this world blurred sometimes. Especially because they were spending their time day in and day out here, it was hard to remember that this was just a game.
And being clear-headed was never Alex's forte so she got a little carried away seeing how badly the kids were getting beaten. But now she calmed down and gave a polite nod to the guards.
"Mmmm. You can get back to your post. It seems that your method of teaching these kids a lesson is not working. I will handle them personally from now on. There is no need to waste your valuable time."
"Yes, My Lady." The guards were quick to agree, as they did not care too much about these pipsqueaks. They simply handed the chains to Alex.
Each kid was cuffed at one of the legs, hands, and the neck. Anyone's heart would ache to see a small child in this condition, but the people around her only seemed to raise their noses at their plight and walk away. They were happy that the four little thieves got what they deserved.
"Come. Follow me." Alex mumbled, trying to not pay attention to the 'holier than thou' people around her. She then started walking out of the city.
She didn't go too far and stopped near one of the ponds on the city's outskirts. "Ok, we should be fine here." She took out the key the guard gave her and started unlocking the chains one after the other.
Normally, in this situation, the four children should be grateful to her and hug her and sob to her, crying about their difficult lives, but these four appeared to have different thoughts.
One glared at her, the other two were indifferent, and the last one even spat at her. Alex's face twitched. "You little…" She grumbled and ignored the idiot.
At this point, she was truly speechless. Just what the hell was she supposed to do to win these idiots over? She no longer knew!
However, there was a reason she had brought them here. She was not sure if this was going to help or not but at least they won't keep getting beaten up like stray dogs day after day.
"Come here and sit down. Observe me carefully."
Naturally, the four remained indifferent. Alex sighed and went ahead to take something out of her inventory. It was a small fishing rod.
In fact, this was the only crafting-related item she carried with her. Not because she was trying to do something, but because this was a special memory for her.
When her parents were still alive, she used to go fishing with her father.
And now it's been years since she did something like this. When she first entered the game, she saw this common rank fishing rod being sold and purchased it, but this was the first time she was using it.
"Come and sit near me," Alex called out again and walked over to sit near the pond. Fortunately this time, the four kids obediently listened to her, probably out of sheer curiosity.
Alex rolled her eyes. She could never understand kids! Anyway, she continued explaining. "Here, you should hold the rod like this, hook a worm, and then toss it into the pond."
The hook was promptly tossed into the pond, and not long afterward, a juicy little fish also got caught. "See, now all you have to do is pull it back up with some force."
"Ta da!"
She pulled the rod towards her, revealing a small, twitching fish. These fish were nothing special, just normal, harmless beings that posed no danger and also gave no experience points.
They were also not very nutritious or tasty, so there was plenty in the pond.
The four kids' eyes glittered as they watched Alex in action. She removed the fish from the hook in one swift motion and then banged it up a little to stop its suffering.
"And now, your meal is ready."
"Next, we will get a small fire going." She set up everything, slowly teaching the group one step after another, and soon a good roast was on the way.
"5 more minutes and it should be ready. Who is hungry?" She grinned and looked up at the kids. The four were already drooling, their previous brash attitude completely wiped away.
"Have you all never tasted fish before?" She cut up the fish into four portions and gave each kid one portion. This time the four did not put on any act and refuse her. They immediately accepted it, though the fourth one, the most problematic one, still scowled a little.
The vein on Alex's forehead throbbed, but she decided to ignore it. "Listen up, brats. What I showed you just now, was it easy enough?"
The four kids nodded while busily munching down the roasted fish. It was probably not so tasty, but since they were starving, they seemed to really enjoy the meal.
"If this is easy enough, then you can come here and get a free meal whenever you want. I know eating fish all the time might get old, but at least you don't have to steal and get beaten up anymore."
"Here, you can have my fishing rod."
The four kids suddenly stopped eating and looked at Alex in a daze, but the redhead snorted and turned her head. "What are you looking at? This is just a cheap rod. I was going to throw it away, so I am giving it for free. Whatever."
She then looked back at the kids from the corner of her eyes to see that they were all smiling at her. Alex sighed. This was the first time she had seen them smile in the last few hours.
