Serisis.

7:45 a.m. 21st Banem 1092.

The world announcement regarding the orcs' inclusion as a playable race, and the tremendous advantage given to the Silver Spear guild was like a bombshell dropped among the top guilds in Destia. Thousands of men and women instantly mobilized, many of which headed toward Daggerfall, eager to fish out some clues as to the origin and meaning behind this prompt.

The once forgotten land of Daggerfall, and in turn, Ederwoord were about to experience a massive influx of visitors. Even as some were still getting used to the news, many Summoned who were dissatisfied with their current classes or race logged out, and returned a moment later in Daggerfall as newbie orcs.

The top guilds around the globe panicked, realizing that Silver Spear had stolen ahead of them with this announcement. This news attracted countless fresh newbies or old hands who were yet to pick a guild. If this went on, these guilds would be forced to fight for the scrappy leftovers.

Naturally, with the rest of the Summoned receiving the prompt, the Hopeful Maggots in Redmont Manor were no different. However, rather than panic, the Hopeful Maggots' guildmaster only reacted with a curious smile as he read the prompt.

"Hmm, now this is interesting." Seated on a chair in his room, Kashi muttered as he pondered on the contents of the world prompt. The daeben, fresh off a nice bath, contentedly relaxed in the comfy chair in a simple T-shirt and loose pants. A small parchment with a half-finished painting rested on the arm chair, small fluctuations in the space around it revealing it to be a dimensional painting.

"Is this alright?"

Kashi looked up from the prompt, eyes widening with admiration when he saw Lunette standing at the bathroom door. Lunette, dressed in a loose blouse and a pair of shorts, gently dabbed at her hair with a towel as she approached the daeben with concern in her eyes. This was probably the first time he had ever seen her in casual clothing. It was somewhat refreshing and homely.

Noticing Kashi's blank stare, Lunette rebuked with a teasing smile, "Focus," and then tossed the towel over his head. The songstress walked over as Kashi placed the towel on the armrest and then looked at her with a sheepish smile. Lunette pointed at the prompt which Kashi had left in 'public' mode. "Won't this be a problem?"

"Don't see why it would," Kashi replied with a shake of his head. "If anything, this is a good opportunity. The orcs are a powerful race. It's nice to see them joining the global stage."

Lunette cast a curious glance at the daeben. From the outside, his nonchalant expression suggested he really did not put this incident in his eyes. Normally, she would have assumed this was an act, but after her experiences with Kashi, she knew he was being serious.

Maybe Kashi did not realize the giant repercussions?

Lunette opened her mouth to talk about it, but a set of loud, but strangely rhythmic knocks interrupted her thoughts. Looking to the door, she couldn't help but wonder, "It's already time?"

"Not yet," Kashi replied with a smile as he rose to his feet and walked to the door. "Like clockwork," remarked the daeben as he opened the door. His lips curled in a knowing smile as he looked at the dark haired wisben awaiting him with an angry glare. "I see you got the prompt too."

Leila Lightwood, vice-guildmaster of the Hopeful Maggots glared at her guildmaster, feeling extremely vexed at his lax smile. "I knew you'd be like this," she complained, and was about to push her way in, when she recalled that Lunette was also in this room. Glancing at Kashi with a weird look in her eyes, she asked, "Is it safe for me to come in?"

"What are you talking about?" rebuked Kashi, rolling his eyes as he stepped aside and opened the door. "Get in already."

Leila smirked, knowing she had achieved a tiny, minor victory over the daeben and then walked into the room. She spotted Lunette at a chair at the other end of the room, examining a painting in her hands. She revealed a polite smile as she greeted, "Good morning, Lunette-san."

"Good morning Leila-san," returned Lunette. She placed the painting on the chair and then approached Leila with a wide smile. Grasping the wisben's hands, she proposed, "You can call me Lune." Glancing at Kashi, she added, "Please take care of our blockhead."

Leila revealed an awkward smile as she glanced at the hands that grasped hers. She really was not used to dealing with other females in a friendly manner. She had no female friends aside from the chipmunk that hounded her everyday in school. As a result, most of her interactions with other women were in official capacities.

"Ah, I will... Lune... chan." In the end, Leila still couldn't call Lunette without any honorifics, so she added the friendly 'chan'.

Lunette, seemingly understanding the wisben's discomfort, smiled and then said as she released her hands, "Then I'll leave him in your care, Leila-chan." She then added, "I need to get ready," and then returned to the bathroom to get changed in private.

With Lunette gone, Leila's awkward smile calmed into a flat look. She turned to look at Kashi, who sported a teasing smile. "Not a word."

"Hey, I didn't say anything." Kashi shrugged, the smile widening as he added, "It's just always nice to see Ms. Perfect struggling to talk with girls."

"Urgh," Leila groaned and shook her head. "Forget it. What do you think about the announcement?"

Kashi raised a brow. "What do you mean what do I think? I already told Lune. It's a nice addition. The orcs are strong, you know? It'll be fun meeting them on the battlefield. Did you know they have natural resistances to most magic and elemental attacks?"

"Of course," Leila muttered as she glared at the daeben with disdain. "The only thing you can think about is fighting."

"Is there anything else?"

"Of course!" Leila challenged with a loud shout. "Silver Spear can use this as a springboard to recruit a large number of Summoned, and if my hunch is right, they've also added the entire orc race to their army. This doesn't bother you!?"

Kashi shrugged. "We've always pursued quality over quantity. Doesn't matter how many hyenas gather, lions remain king of the pridelands." The daeben paused and then added, "Who cares if they have orcs? By the time we're done, they'll be forced to either submit or die."

Leila raised a brow and gave the daeben a once-over, curiosity and surprise in her gaze.

Kashi, weirded out by her intense gaze, was forced to ask, "What? Is there something on my face?"

"No, that's not it." Leila shook her head, but did not stop her intense stare. "You've changed. You never used to say such prideful stuff."

Kashi chuckled, his lips curling into a playful smirk as he replied, "Maybe this whole guildmaster stuff is finally getting to my head? What? You want me to stop?"

"No, nothing like that," refused Leila, finally relaxing her gaze. "It's a good look. You should keep it up." After a short pause, she returned to the topic at hand. "To be honest, I do not particularly care if Silver Spear gets more recruits. Anyone who joins them simply because of the orcs can't be trusted anyway."

"So, what's really bothering you?"

Leila's eyes flashed with anger as she questioned, "Why did they get to unlock the orcs?"

"Huh? Didn't the announcement make that clear. They've formed an alliance or something to that effect."

"In that case, what about our guild?" Leila cast an exasperated look at Kashi as she released a frustrated sigh. "To my count, we've made alliances with the Drakul, Centaurs, Dwarfs and the entire nation of Serisis, yet not only did we not get the bonus, we didn't even manage to unlock those races. "What did they do that we didn't?"

"Oh, that's what's really pissing you off," stated Kashi. The daeben sighed, and then confessed with a shrug, "To be honest, that might be my fault."

"What do you mean?"

Kashi shrugged, revealing a helpless expression as he replied, "First, I don't think the drakul and centuars were ever intended to be playable races. Their populations are far too few – Only a couple thousand each. More importantly, though, the drakul originally belong to the 'lesser races' like kobolds and froggers – Not quite beastmen but not completely devoid of intelligence. Through my connection with them, the drakul have evolved into a much more intelligent race, but, even if that should have made them unlockable, by default, all drakul serve me now. In order to keep the lore of this world intact, Genaco never makes one-track mind races playable."

"What about the centaurs?" Leila questioned. "They're much more intelligent, and have individual desires."

"That's a little more tricky," answered Kashi truthfully. "It's one of two things. Either their numbers are too few, or the announcement has been held back for the same reason as the dwarven announcement."

"What's that?"

Pointing at himself, Kashi answered with a guilty smile, "Me," and then clarified, "See, the nature of my quest requires me to completely conquer territories and place them under Rosendun's banner. Trade alliances and such do not cut it. So, I'm assuming, at least in the case of the dwarfs, that I have to wait until Aygorzi is formally under Rosedun before they will be unlocked."

"Wait," said Leila, as she let out a frustrated sigh. "Are you saying that, if another guild had met the dwarfs, liberated them and all that, then they would be playable right now?"

"More than likely," concluded Kashi. "It's because of me, our guild hasn't gotten that announcement yet."

"So, you have to conquer to unlock," muttered Leila, her gaze heavy with thoughts. "Isn't that requirement too harsh?"

Kashi, however, replied with a nonchalant look, "Not particularly. I mean, that is our end goal anyway. The delay only means the rewards will be even better."

"Wow. Nothing's ever easy for you, is it?" Leila and Kashi turned look at Lunette who had returned from the bathroom dressed in a beautiful, navy blue, one-piece dress. The songstress looked at both schemers and then questioned, "So, what exactly counts as conquering?" As far as I know, both the centaurs and the dwarfs have submitted."

"Not yet," Kashi replied with a shake of his head.

"Not until, it's formally established in contract and writing," Leila clarified. "If Kashi's conjecture is true, we should see some result after today's meeting."

Kashi grinned as he said, "To be honest, even if we don't unlock the races, I'm expecting quite the show. We're uniting a whole third of the continent. The rewards cannot be small."

"True," Leila replied. "But it won't be easy. These negotiations need to work, or everything will have been for nothing."

"No pressure," Lunette teased, causing Kashi to wince.

"Yeah, no pressure," affirmed the daeben with a pained smile. He then looked at Leila and said, "As you want, I'll take point on this, but I'll leave the technicalities to you. Deal?"

Leila nodded. "Naturally."

"Alright then..."

*knock* *knock*

"Right on time," Kashi muttered as he walked to and then opened the door to see a maid.

"Good Morning Kashi-dono. We wish to inform you that breakfast is ready. Would you like to dine at the hall, or have it delivered to you?"

Kashi looked at the women behind him, and after getting confirmation, replied, "We'll eat in. Thanks."

"As you wish," The maid nodded, bowed, and then walked down the hallway to inform the other guests.

Kashi closed the door, and then turned to Leila. "So, we've got a few hours. Time to drill everything I need to know for this meeting into my brain."

Leila's eyes shone with a sinister look as she remarked, "It's been a while since my last cramming session with Suzuki. This ought to be fun."

Kashi revealed a weak smile. "Go easy on me..."

VIDEO OF THE DAY

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