CH 166

“Why? The Heavenly Silk is precious, but your condition is strange,” Siegfried said.

“Well, we have our reason for that…” Guccio replied.

“Reason?”

“We are limiting the sales of our Heavenly Silk as it has gotten quite popular among noble kids. Those kids love to walk around with a cape woven out of Heavenly Silk… Sigh…”

Guccio let out a sigh before he continued. “The son of an influential noble fashion household attended a ball with a cape woven out of Heavenly Silk, and afterward, we received more than five hundred orders for it…”

“Hmm…”

“Our company isn’t happy that our Heavenly Silk is being treated as just another luxury item…”

“Why? Isn’t it better for you since you can sell it for a higher price?”

“Our production capacity is limited, so we want it to be used for meaningful purposes. Besides, our merchant company has many other streams of income, so we do not really have to depend on selling Heavenly Silk for a higher price just to earn.”

“But what’s the correlation between those young nobles wanting the Heavenly Silk and winning against those Maestros or something?”

“The Heavenly Silk is a treasure that only the Thierry Family can produce, and we cannot simply stand by and watch our treasure be treated as a fashion statement by some kids…” Guccio said.

”I personally cannot stand by and watch a spoiled kid acting high and mighty at the academy just because he has a cape made out of Heavenly Silk, and an arrogant spoiled kid wearing our Heavenly Silk will soil our image as well,” Guccio added.

It was often said that merchants were ruthless and vicious when money was involved, but it seemed that Guccio truly didn’t want to treat the Heavenly Silk as just another commodity that he could sell to other people.

“However, those noble kids come from powerful families, so we cannot keep refusing them. They’re also rich enough to afford it, even at absurd prices.”

“So that’s why…”

“Yes, we added this absurd condition because it is difficult for us to flat-out reject their orders. There is no way that those spoiled brats can defeat the Weapon Academy Maestros, after all… Haha!”

Guccio’s laughter sounded like he was trying to say ‘it must be annoying, right? Bleh!’

‘In the end, he doesn’t want it to be treated as just another item that those spoiled kids could use to show off their wealth…’ Siegfried understood Guccio’s intent.

Money wasn’t the only thing that mattered to people. And the fact that the Heavenly Silk was a treasure of the Thierry Family was another reason for them to value it more than money.

“Then, if I want to purchase the Heavenly Silk…”

“Your Majesty most certainly will not be an exemption. I would love to sell it directly to you right now, but…”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“You are more than worthy to purchase the Heavenly Silk since you are a VVIP customer of both the Bavarian and Autonika workshops.”

“You’ve heard of me?”

“Information is power and the lifeblood of a merchant. Anyone who runs a merchant company should never stay complacent with information gathering. I have heard of your fame and exploits, King Siegfried van Proa.”

Siegfried wasn’t aware of this, but Guccio had a lot of connections.

The Thierry Merchant Company provided design consultations to the Bavarian Workshop, and they collaborated with quite a lot of the Autonika Workshop’s clothing artifacts. Not only that, they even had an existing trade deal with Stone Island as well.

Therefore, Guccio knew Siegfried very well. Of course, a mere employee—like the manager earlier—wouldn’t be aware of Siegfried’s identity because he was the king of a—

“It is unfortunate, but the high-ranking nobles from powerful nations will not stand idly by and watch if we were to sell the Heavenly Silk to you without any conditions.”

“I do not wish to receive any special treatment.”

“…!”

“I’ll give it a shot. Your purchase condition,” Siegfried said with a smile.

Ding!

A message popped up informing Siegfried that he had accepted the quest.

[Challenge]

[Go to the Weapon Academy and get more than three victories over their Maestros.]

[Progress: 0% (0/3)]

[Reward: Right to purchase the Heavenly Silk.]

Siegfried had no idea of the Maestros’ strength, but he still decided to give it a shot.

‘Even if I fail, the experience will still be a valuable learning experience for me since I’m sure those Maestros are powerful,’ thought Siegfried.

“I’m well aware that you will be in an awkward position if you give me special treatment.”

“Haha…”

Guccio simply laughed in disbelief at Siegfried’s response.

‘He is exactly as I heard… Most people would probably want special treatment, but I had never imagined that he would nonchalantly agree with my condition. He has such an excellent character…’ Guccio thought in awe.

Of course, there was no way he would know just how black-hearted Siegfried was deep inside, and that was the reason he promised an additional reward.

“We will sell the Heavenly Silk at a thirty percent discount if Your Majesty manages to successfully fulfill the condition,” Guccio added.

“Are you serious?” Siegfried asked in surprise.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“All right, I’ll definitely give it a shot.”

Siegfried left the merchant company’s building and headed straight for the Weapon Academy.

***

Murmur… Murmur… 

There was quite a crowd outside the Weapon Academy.

“What the hell? Why is it so crowded?”

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“It’s a flea market here! A flea market! Kyu!”

It was exactly as Hamchi said. The Weapon Academy had turned into a flea market, thanks to the crowd of both NPCs and Adventurers.

Most members of the crowd were Level 30 Adventurers. They would disappear somewhere after paying a fee at the reception.

“Ah… Is this that place? The place where people with Normal classes go to change classes?” Siegfried said while looking around.

Ninety-six percent of BNW players would start as a Normal class Adventurer for their first class. An Adventurer’s class was Normal, and they could choose to become a magician, knight, thief, or other specific classes.

Then, they would level up or clear quests that would allow them to get their second-class advancement to obtain a specific class. The Weapon Academy was a place that the Adventurers could visit to finally change into a specific class.

Tae-Sung started off at a Magic Academy in a rural backwater province as well. It was called a Magic Academy, but it was actually a place where kids learned how to conjure small fireballs and play around with them.

‘I wonder why I chose to go there? Haha…’ Siegfried smiled while looking at the rookie Adventurers. He couldn’t help but reminisce about the past. However, his good vibes were shattered when someone pointed their finger at him.

“What the hell is wrong with this guy?”

A Level 31 Adventurer was pointing at him. It seemed that he had seen Siegfried’s details using his Rune of Insight. Of course, he couldn’t see detailed information about Siegfried because they were masked, but the problem was with his titles…

“What the hell is Seggs Stamina King? Pffft!”

‘Ah…!’ Siegfried was mortified. The Metamorphosis Mask disguised all of his details and titles, but it wouldn’t cover the title Seggs Stamina King for some reason.

He couldn’t manipulate the mask’s ability to disguise details. He could only set a temporary name that he could use whenever he was in disguise.

It seemed that the mask had judged that Siegfried wouldn’t be in any danger even if his title Seggs Stamina King was on full display.

Of course, whether he was going to be severely embarrassed by it or not wasn’t the Metamorphosis Mask’s business.

“Wow! Look at that guy! He’s the Seggs Stamina King! Keke!”

People started flocking and flashing their Rune of Insight at him.

“Pfft! What an amazing title!”

“I-Is he big…?”

“His capsule probably smells like chestnut flowers. He probably jizzes inside his capsule a few times a day, considering his title.”

“I didn’t expect that someone would be that dedicated to adult content. Wow… He must be such a loser in real life he comes to a game to come, get it? Tsk, tsk…”

“Hey, bro! You’re going to get mummified at this rate! Slow down! Kekeke!”

The Adventurers sneered and teased Siegfried upon seeing his Seggs Stamina King title.

‘Ah… What’s going to happen to my image now? Who’s going to compensate me for it?!’ 

Siegfried suddenly felt like hiding in a hole.

He had to run away.

How could he have known that he would be subjected to eternal suffering after opening a skill book out of curiosity?

“Hey! Wait for me, my sexually active owner! Kyu!” Hamchi shouted and chased after Siegfried.

***

“Do you wish to enroll?” asked the receptionist.

“No, I am not here to enroll but to duel against the Maestros,” Siegfried stated his reason for coming to the Weapon Academy.

“Ah, duel…” the receptionist grumbled and said, “Here is your number. Please go and wait over there.”

“Huh? Number?”

“Please go wait over there. Next!” The receptionist seemed quite busy as she hurriedly shooed Siegfried away before greeting the Adventurers who came to actually enroll or change classes.

‘What the heck was that? That was a bit rude…’ Siegfried grumbled. He felt that something was off, judging by the receptionist’s response.

He soon arrived at a huge training ground. There were many people, and they looked quite rich. They were also quite handsome and were equipped with all sorts of expensive and flashy artifacts.

If one looked at them from a certain angle, then they were like the fashionistas of the Nürburg Continent.

“A cape made out of Heavenly Silk is the trendiest item of our time. I will definitely beat three Maestros today.”

“An item like a cape made out of Heavenly Silk is a must-have item for people like us.”

“Number 121? How much longer do I have to wait? Tsk!”

They were undoubtedly the children of rich nobles.

However, they looked hopeless in Siegfried’s eyes.

‘Hmm… I don’t think they can fight. They just look like a bunch of spoiled brats to me. No wonder Guccio was against selling the Heavenly Silk to them… Tsk, tsk,’ Siegfried clicked his tongue.

“Number eighty-seven! Number eighty-seven!”

A handsome blond guy stood up when his number was called. He then disappeared somewhere.

“Ugh…” 

Someone was being carried away on a stretcher. He had definitely challenged the Maestros without knowing his place.

The same scene was replayed a few times until Siegfried’s turn finally arrived.

“Number 144! Number 144!”

“Ah, here!”

“Which Maestro do you wish to challenge?” asked the staffer.

“I can choose?”

“Of course, you get to choose how you want to get beaten up…”

“Huh? Excuse me?”

“Ah, nothing! Please don’t mind me!” the staffer exclaimed after a Freudian slip.

However, the staffer’s slip of the tongue gave Siegfried a glance into what the staffers thought of the rich nobles challenging the Maestros.

“You may choose one from the sword, blade, spear, shield, blunt weapon, dagger, and whip. Then, you will be matched with a Maestro of the weapon of your choice.”

“Hmm… I think I’ll go with—” Siegfried was about to choose.

However. the staffer interrupted him. “Go with the spear.”

“Huh? Why?”

“It is the easiest.”

“But I’m not a fan of doing things the easy way…” Siegfried grumbled.

“You might end up regretting it,” the staffer said.

“Then, let’s go with the spear as you suggested.”

“Yes, you might be able to win. Although, it would be your only win…”

Siegfried didn’t like the tone that the staffer was using to talk to him, and he also didn’t like her unwanted advice. However, he decided to go along with it for now.

‘I can just fight all of them, why does the sequence matter?’ he shrugged.

Siegfried was planning on fighting against all of the Maestros at the Weapon Academy, even after winning three times. He made his way to the duel arena of the Weapon Academy to duel against the Spear Maestro.

“Hello, I am the Spear Maestro of this academy, and my name is Luna.”

Spear Maestro Luna was a Level 200 beautiful blonde NPC, and she looked like she wasn’t even twenty years old just yet.

“My name is Siegfried,” Siegfried introduced himself.

“Shall we start?” Luna asked.

“Sure.”

Wooong!

All of a sudden, the arena’s floor emitted a bright red light.

[Alert: ‘Aura of Balance’ has been activated!]

An aura similar to the aura being used in the Martial God’s Arena was activated.

“I will go first,” Spear Maestro Luna said.

She thrust her spear at Siegfried.

‘Huh? That looks somewhat familiar…?’ Siegfried was taken aback by the attack.

The attack that Luna had performed somehow felt a bit familiar to him…