Sora looked down at Gérard, who was trembling in fear, pleading for his life. Sora felt nothing—not even a shred of pity. Gérard deserved everything that was coming to him. He remained focused on his communication with Sin Soo-Yun, the information broker.
[Sin Soo-Yun: François Segment did not change directions and is moving towards these coordinates.]
[Sin Soo-Yun: The other former player from [Rouge Sang], Nais Verdanks, hasn’t moved. And, to answer your last question, none of Rachel's friends or former friends are heading your way. The cost for this extra info is 275,000 gold.]
Sora's eyes narrowed in disappointment as he read the messages, thinking, 'I expected Gérard would try to contact his friends for help, but it seems he did not warn François. Otherwise, he would have changed directions... I was hoping to bait someone closer to Rachel, but it seems none of her friends is coming to his rescue.'
'But this François is not using a teleportation scroll? Is he unaware players can be tracked through their names? It’s a terrifying thought, actually, being able to track someone so easily by their name.'
Sora shook his head slightly, 'Maybe I should start changing identities from time to time and stay under the radar in the future.' For now, there were more pressing matters to deal with.
He looked at the trees behind and said "Little bird, head in this direction, and capture the person you'll meet in 435 km. Bring him back here."
Hiyoko, who was watching the scene with Kara, couldn't help but look around her and chirp.'Little bird? Who's the little bird? Is he referring to someone else as little bird? ... Finding no one else around, she thought 'Don't tell me, AM I little bird?'
Hiyoko couldn't help but have tears in her eyes, she did not want to face humans. They were strong and evil. "Chirp Chirp!"
"Stop arguing and get him. I give you 2 minutes." Sora couldn't bother with her.
Sora looked at Gérard and asked, pretending not to know the answer. "What is your name?"
"My name is - What? You don't know my name?" Gérard couldn't help but stutter at his question. "Why capture me if you don't know my name?"
"I'm the one asking questions." Sora's eyes grew colder, as he took out a gold coin from his inventory.
Sora summoned the contract, and words appeared in front of Gérard.
[Ralph Eden wants to sign a contract with you.]
[For 2 hours, you cannot lie, hide the truth, or withhold part of it from the other party. You will tell the truth, whether you want to or not.]
[For 2 hours, your mana will be completely inaccessible.]
[Reward: 1 gold]
[Would you like to accept these conditions?]
[Warning: These conditions are unfair, but no penalties have been applied as this is an [Unfair Contract].]
Gérard stared at the contract, dumbfounded. “There’s no way I’m signing something that insane! You might as well kill me now!”
Without a word, Sora activated [Shut Up and Sign!], having maxed his job during his training in the [Time Space].
Gérard's eyes widened as his hand, against his will, pressed the [Yes] button. He could feel the contract binding him, and despair set in as the realization hit—there was no escape. Not for him, and likely not for anyone else he would betray in this forced confession.
“Here's your reward, answer my question now,” Sora ordered while throwing a gold coin in his face.
Terrified, Gérard blurted out, “I’m Gérard Deudeu, an elder and co-founder of the [Retour des Chasseurs] guild. We’re around fifty players.”
“Do you specialize in PK?” Sora asked, noticing the hesitation in Gérard's face. “Remember, you can’t avoid the contract.”
Gérard’s shoulders slumped. “Yes... but it’s more than that. We’re closer to being hitmen. When there's no work, we rob and kill players because it's the fastest way to get rich.”
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Sora raised an eyebrow, surprised. “Hitmen? People hire you to kill players or entire groups?”
Gérard nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly it.”
Sora could see the logic in such a business to get a reward from those with money but without the courage or strength to get their hands dirty. “Were you part of [Rouge Sang]?”
At the mention of the guild, Gérard trembled. “That... that demon sent you, didn’t she?!”
Sora’s interest piqued. “Demon? Who are you talking about?”
“Rachel!” Gérard shouted, his voice filled with fear. "I'm forced to talk! I didn't want to reveal her name!"
Sora’s expression changed, not understanding how the conversation took such a turn. “What did this Rachel do to make you think she sent me?”
“She threatened to kill us all! She promised to leave us alone only if we helped her that last time and kept quiet. So, we never talked! It was back when we were in [Rouge Sang]... Maybe you're testing whether I revealed her secret?” Gérard’s words poured out in a mix of terror and hope.
Sora leaned in, applying some pressure with his mana. “Tell me everything you know about Rachel.”
“Fine... Her name is Rachel Claude. At first, she was just like any other client. She came to us to request help killing someone. I was just a rookie back then, so I don’t know who the target was..." Gérard’s voice was shaking as he began revealing everything.
"It was a few years ago. It was around that time that I started hearing rumors. It seemed that the first target was her own husband, someone everyone knew as having a good reputation. The mission was almost done when she insisted on finishing it herself. The guys were scared of her after that—said she was a psychopath because she demanded to stab the target with her own hands.”
“She joined the guild afterward and would come on missions with us from time to time. Most of us were madmen like her, so we did not mind having one more in the guild. She was strong for her level, but her level was low. About six months ago, she came back requesting another mission as a client. We prepped for it like usual, but this time the target was what we knew as her childhood friend's party...”
Gérard paused, trembling at the memory.
“She had prepared the mission to the last detail. Gave us detailed analysis and the habits of every target to ensure nothing could go wrong. After that mission, the whole guild started avoiding her. People were afraid of her. Only four of us didn’t care about her reputation since we were just as messed up as her.”
“She convinced us to ambush the rest of the guild, one by one, until she even back-stabbed the guildmaster—who was one of the four people still supporting her. That’s when we understood... Every time she betrayed someone, she got stronger. But it was too late to do anything about it.”
Sora was surprised by the depiction of Rachel. This sounded like the actions of a true maniac or sociopath. ‘Rachel has contacted a hitman guild to kill her husband, joined them for a few years before targeting me as well? Wow. She would join groups, then destroy them from within. And he thinks she gains power through betrayal? It may be an innate skill or a Supreme one... Maybe even some twisted hidden class?’
"She swore to not hurt us, and made us promise not to reveal her past... I guess I just broke that promise now... But we have never signed a contract with her so..." Gérard added.
"Knowing her habit of betraying people, do you really believe her promise? Why else would she leave you alive?" Sora asked, wondering if this guy was dumb or stupid.
"Of course we knew she was lying. But what choice did we have? She was so strong after all those events that she could destroy us anytime. And her new 'friends' looked extremely terrifying, so we had no choice but to comply, even if we guessed there was a reason for our survival that we ignored." Gerard answered.
"Well, I know you can’t lie, but let’s see if your friend has anything they would like to add to that." Sora said, looking in a certain direction.
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Leaving Kara's care, Hiyoko's eyes welled up with tears. 'Why do I have to do this? Master is so scary! He promised to feed me, and now he's sending me to my death?'
But there was no escaping the job. She fluttered her wings and took off, her mind racing with a thousand worries. ‘What if he has weapons? What if he fights back? What if he has that infamous stone that Kara mentioned—The one that killed two birds!’
Despite being level 110, countless times stronger than François Segment, the level 59 target, Hiyoko took her mission very seriously. After all, humans were terrifying in her mind, comparable to Sora and Kara—invincible and frightening.
As she zoomed through the skies, she could not calm down. Even though she could fly faster than most humans could blink, she approached cautiously. ‘Okay, Hiyoko, you can do this. He’s just a tiny human. You’ve faced scarier things before... like Kara!’ remembering a "playful" beating she took in the [Time Space], and her horror stories.
She spotted François, cluelessly running through the forest, using an invisibility scroll to hide. 'Ha, you think that’ll work on me?' She could see right through the mana fluctuations. Such scrolls weren't of much use when the gap in power was too big.
She swooped down, summoning her courage, and with a mighty flap of her wings, sent a powerful gust that sent François flying straight into a tree. “Whaaaaat the—!" he yelled, flailing in shock. Before he could react, Hiyoko snatched him up in her beak, his limbs dangling helplessly. He struggled, but it was no use.
When she returned to Sora, François was still hanging upside down, flailing like a panicked fish. She landed, puffing out her chest in pride, though her eyes were still watery. ‘I did it! Humans are only so-so after all! Maybe I'm really stronger than Kara now?’
Sora stared at her with an amused look, raising an eyebrow. "Well... that's one way to do it."
François, still squirming, shouted, "Get this bird off me!"
Despite being in one of the worst moods imaginable, the ridiculous sight of his familiar never failed to bring a smile to his face—a smile he didn’t even know he needed.
“Nice work, Hiyoko,” he said, his tone lighter than before.