which they cleared earlier that week to ensure that no one would be able to eavesdrop on their conversation without revealing their presence.

Kirou took note of the lengths they were willing to go to in order to keep this conversation from being overheard. Granted, Kirou already had a layer of security up with his shadow clone but seeing them doing this put a smile on his face as it showed that they are aware of the dangers around them, even if it's just a small amount.

"Now that we don't have to worry about any annoying pests stalking and overhearing us, I'd like to formally make this request, Kirou. Would you be able to provide a demonstration of your harvesting abilities to members of our guild tomorrow?" When Navi asked this, she made sure to do so while having her head lowered towards Kirou.

Off to the side, Reya also lowered her head towards Kirou as well. This caused Kirou to feel somewhat helpless as he never expected both would react like this when asking the favor. Looking at how both women were acting, along with what he overheard in the office the day before, Kirou could tell that this was a very important issue for both women.

Kirou allowed a few seconds to pa.s.s before he released a sigh and spoke up, "Come on you two. There is no need to do this. This is just a favor between friends so why are you two acting so formal like this. It's almost as if you are treating me like a stranger." As he said this, Kirou tried to help both women to stand up properly.

Following this, Kirou took a good five minutes to convince the two women to relax and had them sit down with him. After this, Reya was the one who spoke up, "So... will you help us, Mr. Wolf?"

"Calm down, Reya. I'll help." As soon as Kirou said this, both women released a breath that they weren't aware that they were holding. Seeing this, Kirou could only shake his head slightly before asking a question of his own, "While I have no problem doing this favor for you, you two mind telling me what this is all about?"

When they heard this, both women looked towards each other for a moment before Navi was the one who spoke up, "Well, Kirou. It goes like this...."

Like that, Navi explained her position within the Sanming Guild Alliance (pending as no one has unlocked the sect system just yet) as well as her relations.h.i.+p with the other branch leaders and other top members of the guild. She even went as far as letting slip the reason why she wanted his help and was willing to introduce him to her boss, even though she knew what kind of reaction they would have.

**********

While Kirou and the girls were busy talking on the other side of the underwater entrance to the dungeon, Kirou's shadow clone was on a tree nearby the river playing with its threads. While it was manipulating the threads, it had eyes on a few thief players with the 'Sanming' guild tag currently hovering above their heads currently scattered over the area.

The clone could see that the group of thieves was busy looking for the three players but had no idea where they went. After they had lost sight of trio earlier, the group never saw the trio diving into the river so they were busy looking around the forest for any secret mechanism or entrances that may have been hidden in the area. The group completely ignored the river, as if thinking that it was impossible for the trio to have entered the water and have no resurfaced yet or could be hidden underneath when the waters were so clear.

The clone could only shake its head while looking at this group of thieves running around like a bunch of headless chickens, completely ignoring the obvious right before them. The group of thieves kept this up for another ten or so minutes before they finally left the area. All while the group was doing this, the clone was watching them with impa.s.sive eyes while turning his threads into various shapes, unintentionally providing entertainment for the nearby woodland creatures.

When the clone finally noticed that he had attracted such a crowd, the clone smiled for a bit before taking out even more threads and creating even more unique objects, even going as far as to imitate the shape of a few woodland creations, prompting them to crowd its creations. This went on for a while until the clone finally got too tired to use the threads. The woodland creatures were reluctant, but they left the clone after seeing that it had put away the wires.

It was only after the animals left that the clone released a sigh and entered a meditative state to recover the MP it spent while entertaining the animals. As it started meditating, the clone made a comment, "Looks like it wasn't unchecked paranoia on the original's part in creating me." Following those words, the clone went silent as it meditated within the shadow of the tree it was in, seemingly fading out of existence.

*********

Back in the underwater entrance, over fifteen minutes had pa.s.sed since Navi started speaking and she was now at the end of her speech. From start to finish, Kirou listened to every word she said while Reya was off to the side, pitching in once or twice when the need arose.

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Now that Navi had finished speaking, Kirou couldn't stop himself from shaking his head. "This studio of yours is pretty much taking advantage of your hard work in-game. I'm pretty sure you have your reasons for still working there," Kirou said this while glancing at Reya before continuing, "But why do you continue being the leader of the Alchemy Branch when you have to face such setbacks and hurdles being placed in front of you? This isn't even you trying to overcome the hard work that comes with your station but others intentionally sabotaging your hard work. Why not just step down from the position and just operate as a normal guild member?"

Instead of Navi being the one to answer this question, it was Reya who spoke up, "The reason for this is because of me." Kirou had been paying attention to Reya from before so he was surprised when she said this. Instead, he was just waiting for her to continue. "As I'm sure you've already realized from big sister Navi's story, but I'm the sister of the studio's boss. Because of this, my brother reserved the alchemist branch and the leader position for me, but since I normally don't join in on studio matters, plus I'm normally off doing my own thing, he gave the position to big sister Navi here to take care of."

"Not to mention the fact that he never explicitly point out who Reya was while playing the game, nor that this branch is basically off-limits as matters of this branch aren't as important to the studio as the others, other high ranking members, have been eyeing this branch since the start and have been making it hard for me in order to get me to hand the seat over to one of them. They've even gone as far as to put spies in the guild just to keep track of me from the guild menu. This much I'm absolutely sure of since Reya's cousin has been able to send his people to stalk us so frequently," Navi said all this in one breath before releasing a helpless sigh in the matter.

Kirou listened to their words and could only shake his head in response. It seems that the relations.h.i.+ps in the Sanming Studio aren't as civil as they appear on the surface.

"I don't envy the lives you two live. That being said, I'll meet up with the people from your guild and do the demonstration, but I can't do it tomorrow. I've got something to deal with that might take up a lot of time. That being said, I am free to do the demonstration on Monday." Kirou said this while remembering the large pile of sc.r.a.p..... (cough cough) weapons and armors that currently had his inventory filled to the brim that he needs to take care of.

Both women were slightly disappointed when they heard the first part of Kirou's statement but perked up immediately after hearing the rest. Navi was the one who spoke up, "No problem. I'll let the boss know about this as soon as we are finished here."

"Good. As for the other matter of yours, I have no problem helping out with it as well, but that will have to wait until I upgrade my gear. My current weapons and armor probably won't be suitable for traveling on the Beast Continent so I think it's best I sort them out now while I have the chance." When Kirou said this, he showed both women the details of the two quests he received in Elderwood Village from Bladesmith and Old Wolf. Since neither quest had anything sensitive in them, Kirou had no problem sharing the details with the two.

When both women saw the quest details, they looked at Kirou with somewhat queer gazes. Kirou could only helplessly sigh while explaining just how he received two quests for another continent already, less than an hour after he logged in while not even reaching the previous level cap. It was only after hearing his explanation that the two looked at Kirou with eyes filled with amazement.

"Anyways, now that we've sorted this out, what do you two plan to do for the next few days? I'm going to be busy dealing with the excess materials in my inventory among a few other stuff," Kirou said this while staring at the two women before him, whose eyes were filled with stars.

Reya was the one who spoke up first, "I've got a few more pill recipes that I need to gather the ingredients for before making them. After that, I'm not too sure. What about you, big sister Navi?"

Navi tilted her head to the side in thought for a moment before she responded, "Besides sorting out a few guild affairs and dealing with some potion recipes of my own, I'll probably be stuck trying to avoid whatever plot that a*s of a cousin of yours will come up with next to undermine our branch."

"Ok, good then. By chance, do you two have any preference for armor style?" Kirou asked this while looking at both women's bodies with a peculiar gaze in his eyes. At first, both women didn't notice and just responded with something similar to what they were currently equipped with.

It was only after both women saw his gaze that they simultaneously responded with a 'Pervert' before pouncing at him with deadly intent. Naturally, Kirou being who he was, denied them the satisfaction of catching by diving into the water and disappearing from their sight. Both women gave chase, only to realize that he was quite a distance away and was getting even further.

When the two women finally made it out of the river, Kirou was already onsh.o.r.e, a few meters away, taking in the full form of the two elf women currently soaked from head to toe. This was one of the features that Kirou had to give Immortal Era the respect it deserves as it managed to reproduce such an image, even if it was for a few moments for Kirou to enjoy. Seeing what Kirou was currently doing, both started chasing him again, this time opting to use their cla.s.s skills in order to try and trap him or at the very least slow him down. Kirou, for his part, would just dodge the skills effortlessly while taking in their fl.u.s.tered forms as they chased him throughout the forest.

Atop a tree not far from the trio sat Kirou's shadow clone. The clone saw all of this going on and could only chuckle at the antics that its creator had gotten into. Feeling mischevious itself, the clone intentionally dissolved back into the shadows, prompting Kirou to pause momentarily to receive its memories. Just enough time for the women to get dangerously close to catching him.