MMORPG: Crowd Control

As Lei Zhen sat in his assigned seat next to Kate, he used this chance to check on the title he received.

[Title: Hero of the Siege

Attack: +5

Description: As someone who heroically participated in the war between the two princes and played a crucial role, he shall be valiantly honored as the hero.

Effect: Players gain a 35% discount on all stores affiliated with Yors Castle and could gain extra items as bonuses. Citizens are more prone to be friendlier with you and would request your help.]

When Lei Zhen finished reading the description, he was a bit speechless.

\'Looks like this is the so-called win I said.\' He thought to himself, recalling his consolation words to Kate.

Given that his title was empty in the character status, Lei Zhen didn\'t hesitate to equip the [Hero of the Siege] title to his name, granting him a nice bonus.

The mourning ceremony proceeded for a few minutes and Francis Norton entered the stage as well, prompting everyone to kneel as a greeting.

The whole process took an hour or so before everyone began scattering, mending their broken hearts, and resuming to repair the destruction caused by the war.

"Anyway, now that this is over, I suppose I should leave now." Griselda suddenly said to Kate.

"Are you in a rush?" Kate asked in response, thinking it was an impromptu action of her to suddenly leave without a heads up.

"What can I do in here anymore?" Griselda shrugged her shoulders, her eyes glancing at Lei Zhen.

"I\'m still considered an outsider by someone since they still refuse to introduce themselves to me."

Kate was left in a predicament but didn\'t say anything else.

This was Lei Zhen\'s problem and whether he wished to reveal his identity or not, was up to him solely.

Everyone then stared at Lei Zhen, seemingly waiting for his response.

Lei Zhen took a deep breath before turning around, "Since you insist on leaving, then I won\'t see you off."

"Tsk, suit yourself then," Griselda clicked her tongue in annoyance and left.

By the time her presence was gone, Kate glanced at Lei Zhen with a confused look.

"You must be wondering why I\'m so adamant about keeping my identity a secret, right?" Lei Zhen calmly said, recognizing her look of confusion.

Kate nodded her head. She didn\'t understand why Lei Zhen would hide his identity.

After all, whenever she recalled their first encounter, Lei Zhen was the one who initiated an introduction.

The same goes for Chris, in which Lei Zhen was the one that approached him first and not the other way around.

"I\'ll tell you all later once we return to the royal palace." Lei Zhen said, pointing around his surroundings, warning them that the wall can have ears.

In other words, there could be eavesdroppers around and it would have been terrible if someone else heard it.

Kate and Chris realized they were still in public.

And based on Lei Zhen\'s secrecy, there seemed to be a more hidden reason why he remained anonymous to Griselda.

Thus, they quickly boarded the carriage to return to the royal palace and went to Kate\'s office.

"Alright, you can tell me here. There\'s a magic spell inlaid here to prevent eavesdroppers." Kate said, sitting down on the couch instead of her usual chair.

Chris sat on the opposite side of Kate and Lei Zhen wanted to sit at his usual corner but was dragged by Kate to sit next to her.

Although there were many spaces available, Lei Zhen didn\'t bother with her action and took off his mask.

"Did you all remember when I said I met the black mage during the time Kate was being ambushed?" Lei Zhen said solemnly.

There was no response but their heads were nodding down, indicating they remembered.

ραпdα nᴏνa| сom "Back then, I recall the black mage had to leave urgently because someone was infiltrating his base." He continued, trailing off at this point.

With their intelligence, they could already understand what Lei Zhen meant.

He suspected the intruder of the black mage\'s base to be Griselda.

"Wait a minute, if she was an intruder, then why would she request to join my faction and assist me?" Kate was the first to bring up her doubts. The logic just doesn\'t seem to work with her.

Of course, she wouldn\'t know what kind of benefit would do for Griselda since she wasn\'t a player.

However, Lei Zhen was a player and there was only one reason why Griselda would do all of these: mission or quest, Griselda was doing a mission requested from someone else.

"I\'m still not 100 percent sure, but I have a feeling Griselda is working with someone from Lux Forest." Lei Zhen said, revealing his concern about her.

Griselda\'s appearance was simply too timely and coincidental for him to not doubt her motive, especially when she wanted to meet with him.

Most players that had joined Kate\'s faction were all because of her, and rarely would players even bother to care about his identity or role.

"If this was the case, then wouldn\'t it have become deadly if I had continued to trust Griselda," Kate muttered softly, as her face turned dreadful.

After all, she would have trusted someone that could have been a spy for another place, worse if that place was from Lux Forest.

"But that\'s just your intuition, Lei Zhen. What if she\'s really not a spy?" Chris intervened, not blindly believing in him.

"Hence, I haven\'t actually done anything to her, much less go against her." Lei Zhen shrugged her shoulders.

"Though I\'ve made sure to have someone tail her tracks, so if she\'s really innocent, then I would apologize to her." He explained.

"I see, no wonder why you suddenly turned around and said she\'s free to leave," Chris said, shaking his head as he was becoming more devious and scheming.

He was sure that when Lei Zhen turned around, he was making a signal to the guards to trail her path.

"Anyway, now that you\'ve heard my reasoning, I\'m going to meet with George." Lei Zhen said, putting the mask back on and leaving the office.