"A traitor to the city of Silvermoon and a known cultist from Beast Bloods. Ladies, you'd want to work for my guild one way or the other. Or else…"
Eren ignored the panic, anger, and combination of other emotions both the ladies had on their faces. He looked at the smoldering end of his Sativa Stick with newfound interest before continuing.
"Or else, someone somewhere in the city will leak everything about you. I don't want you to get hunted by the kingdom's special forces and bounty hunters. That's why I want to keep both of you safe by turning you into my guild members.
After all, I care about your well-being."
Eren said with a gentle smile on his face as he smoked his Sativa Stick in front of them. Incidentally, it wasn't his first time blackmailing them.
He had pulled the same stunt on them before entering Purgatory. The guy was like a curse for both the ladies at this point. He had made a habit out of blackmailing them.
"You… how did you know? No. wait. We don't know what you are talking about."
Ari got flustered and panicked hearing Eren's blackmail. She was suddenly reminded of Ron Damien's face as she was looking at Eren. her subconscious mind tried to make a connection between the two. But her rational mind wanted her to deny the claims altogether.
Marie was in a better state than Ari. being a cultist, she had prepared herself for situations like these. If she couldn't get rid of the threat or run away from it, the most logical thing for her to do at that time was to negotiate. She quickly got rid of her previous scared-and-afraid mindset before responding.
"How can you bully nobodies like us? My bounty amount is nothing for you."
With serious expressions on his face, Eren responded promptly.
"I can steep to bullying Novice rankers if it suits me. And I am willing to mess with the Sages if it stands to benefit me. Ranks and moral grounds don't matter to me."
Eren got up from his seat after that. One last drag and he finished Sativa Stick before making it disappear in an instant. He released the smoke through his nostrils and started pacing around before adding further.
"As I said, I don't care about your background as a cultist or what you did in your previous organization. I just ask that you do your best for the work you are assigned. You'd get paid for the amount of work you put in. As simple as that.
I am indeed blackmailing you. But it shouldn't have to be an unfortunate event in your life. Not unless you want it to be.
And if you want to treat it as a bluff by saying I won't have enough pieces of evidence, I'll be more than happy to prove you wrong. But that will seal your fate forever. So take that road wisely."
Eren said while pacing around with his hands behind his back. Arizihana and Marie were looking straight in front of the empty chair Eren was sitting on a few moments ago. But they looked at each other when he stopped speaking.
Both of them looked at each other for a long time, as if discussing. Arizihana pursed her lips and looked straight again. She took a long breath before addressing Eren.
"What would be my duties, guild master Eren?"
Eren smiled when he heard Arizihana. He then walked up to the table and sat on its edge near Marie.
"What about you?"
He asked Marie. The latter shook her head before replying.
"I… I am not sure, Adept Eren. To be honest, becoming a member of your guild is not that terrible. But... If I did that, the cultist organization I belong to would become more interested in my affairs.
If I start to have a normal life, it will be them who will threaten me the same way you have. What will I do then? Betray your guild to serve them? Or betray them to serve you? No matter what I choose, I'll eventually end up getting targeted and killed."
Marie clenched the armrest of the chair she was currently sitting on as she said it. She then looked up and met Eren's eyes before adding further.
"So you tell me. What should I do? Which is the path that leads to my salvation?"
Eren didn't like that Marie wasn't as easy to fall for the blackmail as Arizihana was. He could see a few of her sister's traits within her as well.
He replied to her in a grim tone.
"So you want me to take responsibility for what happens to you after you enter the White Raven guild? I'm sorry to say this young miss, but that's not how it works.
I haven't opened a baby's daycare here. I am running a guild. A guild that will do everything in its power to support you. But it will be upon you to fend off the repercussions of your choices.
Plus, I don't want to set a precedent for giving you extra care."
Eren said in a casual voice and folded his hands. He had come to realize that Marie was driven by her own goals. And she wasn't ready to compromise with them for the sake of safety.
Blackmail wasn't enough for such people. Eren needed to offer something else that wouldn't jeopardize his interests. As he continued to stare at the halfling, he added more.
"Maybe we can deal with your cultist organization together if and when they contact you. Maybe we can plan something special for them if they try to mess with you and my guild. Of course, that is as long as my interests aren't at stake.
If I was in your shoes, I'd choose to deal with the threat at hand and make a compromise now than think about a distant threat in the future.
I don't know if you have realized this by now. But I am your biggest threat. And by the time your organization catches up with you, I would have become a bigger threat than them too."
