Chapter 100: Prelude of the Territory Wars (2)

"Lord, you've arrived."

As Ian entered the Summoner Guild, the two NPCs that guarded the entrance bowed to Ian respectfully.

Ian lightly dipped his head towards them and went inside.

'Since they're all our guild's assets, I should be nice to them.'

The system of Kailan was incredibly detailed, so the attitude that Ian had towards the NPCs within the Domain reflected onto the Popularity of the Domain.

The Popularity was also a stat of the Domain.

Because of that, although there may be NPCs that didn't look like much, he couldn't disregard them.

Ian, who had gone up to the 2nd floor of the Guild, spoke to the NPC that was taking care of business at his seat.

"Good work."

At Ian's words, he was startled, and standing up, he bowed respectfully.

"Ah, Lord, you've arrived."

"Yes, I just came."

At Ian's formality, he opened his mouth while wearing an expression as if he was unsure of what to do.

"Lord, you don't have to speak so formally towards me."

He still wore an apologetic expression as he continued speaking.

"If you told me that you were coming beforehand, I would have at least prepared a bit..."

"No, it's alright. That's not necessary, I just have something I wanted to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"By any chance, do you know where the Summoner named 'Celia', who always sits there, currently is?"

At Ian's question, he nodded his head and responded.

"Yes, of course I know. From what I know, Celia has currently gone to the Familiar Breeding Ground that's on the outskirts of the Domain."

At the slightly unexpected development, Ian wore a satisfied expression.

"Oh-ho, at the Familiar Breeding Ground? Do you happen to know why she went?"

"Celia obtained a young Blue Wyvern not long ago. She left it at the Breeding Ground, and she probably went to go get it."

The Breeding Ground that Professor Lee Jinook was managing.

As he was so busy for a while, he had forgotten about it, but from the unexpected location and situation, he was able to hear something about her.

"Thank you."

After replying, Ian quickly turned his footsteps around and moved to find the Familiar Breeding Ground.

* * *

"Oh, Jinsung, what brings you here? Did you come to leave a Familiar here as well?"

Discovering Ian, who had come to the Breeding Ground, Jinook greeted him warmly.

"Ah, Professor, you were here. Has the Breeding Ground gotten into a little more shape?"

At Ian's question, Jinook let out a hearty laugh as he nodded his head.

"Yes, of course. Thanks to you, it's going really well. It seemed that because a lot of Summoners had formed on the Domain after the Summoner Guild was recently built, there are a lot of customers that come find this place."

As the more customers he had, the more money he made, so Jinook was all smiles.

"There haven't been any customers that are users yet, right?"

"I don't think I've seen any users yet. Once users start to learn about the advantages of the Breeding Ground, there will for sure be a lot of people gathering."

Ian agreed with Jinook's words completely.

But because he hoped that the information related to Potential and evolution wouldn't be revealed yet, he just wasn't actively promoting it.

There also weren't a lot of Summoners that were at a level where they could come to the northern continent either.

'In order to effectively let it out at the most optimal time, I need to wait a little longer.'

However, he also wasn't planning on monopolizing that information forever.

Not long ago, a couple users that succeeded in monster evolution started to appear, and there would soon be users that figured out about the relationship between Potential and evolution.

If he extensively promoted it in the community around then, he felt he could bring tons of users to the Lotus Domain.

If there are more users, there would automatically be a bigger floating population, and it would be a big help to the economical development of the Domain.

Lee Jinook's Familiar Breeding Ground would become an amazing foundation for the Domain's development.

'Even for that, we need to protect the Domain perfectly.'

Ian, who pledged once more to himself, asked Jinook.

"Professor, by any chance, didn't a NPC named Celia come here?"

"Ah, if you're talking about that pretty, young lady, she should be over there. The Blue Wyvern she left here is over there, so."

"Ah, thank you, Professor."

After Ian dipped his head towards Jinook, he walked towards Celia.

Jinook, who saw that, wore a slightly suspicious expression.

This was because Celia was a NPC that came to the Breeding Ground often, and from his perspective, she was completely ordinary.

"Hm, does that young lady NPC at least have some sort of quest?"

And in order to faithfully carry out the request of Harin, who asked Jinook to let her know whenever he saw Ian, he sent her a message.

• Lee Jinook: Harin, Jinsung is at the Breeding Ground right now.

A message returned immediately.

• Harin: Really? Thank you, Professor. But what is Jinsung doing there?

Jinook continued and sent a message without any thought.

• Lee Jinook: Hmm... He's talking to some pretty, young lady over there right now.

• ...

Harin read Lee Jinook's message, but she didn't reply back.

Jinook realized that he had made a mistake.

However, he felt that it was too bothersome to personally explain.

"Kkul-kkul, well, I'm sure something will happen."

On the other hand, Ian, who would have had no idea what kind of terrifying situation just occurred, was checking Celia's information with a bright expression.

• Celia

Level: 108

Race: Human

Class: Summoner

Position: Commoner

Personality: Cheerful

Talent Rank: (Unknown)

Combat Stats (Expand)

Specific Abilities (Expand)

Owned Abilities

• Familiar Healing

20% of maximum Spirit Magic will be consumed, and the target Familiar's Vitality will recover by 60%.

(Cooldown time 5 minutes)

• Blessing of the Spirit

All combat stats of ally Familiars within a 20-metre radius will increase by 5%. (Passive)

• Familiar Cloning (I)

Amongst ally Familiars, one will be cloned and will participate in combat.

The cloned Familiar will have 50% of the combat stats of the main body, and has a 30-minute duration period. (Even if the duration period is not over, if its Vitality reaches 0, it will disappear.)

(Cooldown time 20 minutes)

An apprentice Summoner that has outstanding talent.

Has a bright and cheerful personality.

Ian, who had read through all of the information, wore a pleased expression.

'As expected, she's satisfying. It will probably be hard to find an NPC like her.'

Ian, who had approached Celia, spoke to her.

"Celia, hello. You remember seeing me before, right?"

As Celia looked like she was only in her late 10s at most, Ian spoke comfortably.

Celia, who was crouched down and was absorbed in her Blue Wyvern, turned her head around in surprise.

And as she wore a flustered expression, she dropped her head.

"Ah, Lord. Sorry, I didn't even know you had come..."

Ian, who watched Celia hesitate in a cute way, smirked and continued speaking.

"That's okay. Well, it could happen."

As Ian's expression wasn't bad, Celia instantly smiled brightly and opened her mouth.

"Lord, have you also come to leave your Familiars here?"

"Hm? No, nothing like that..."

"Then?"

Ian answered with an awkward expression.

"I came because I had some business with you..."

At those words, a slight blush appeared on both of Celia's cheeks.

"Huh? M, me?"

"Yeah. One second."

Ian rummaged through his chest and pulled out a seal of the Lord, which shone with a gold light.

In Kailan, a favourable NPC could be taken in as a subordinate by handing their aristocrat seal to them.

By handing the seal to Celia, it was a recruitment offer to become Ian's retainer.

And with an expression full of curiosity, she watched Ian.

"I was hoping that you would help me from now on."

While saying that, Ian handed the seal to Celia.

As he did so, a system message popped up at the same time.

• You have offered apprentice Summoner 'Celia' the chance to become a 'Retainer'.

And Celia took the seal of the Lord.

She wore a slightly surprised expression.

"I... Will be able to be of help to you, Lord?"

While looking at Celia, who asked back carefully, Ian relaxed a little.

This was because he was a little worried, since if his Affinity with the subject NPC was low, he could fail in appointing, but Celia's reaction didn't look that bad.

However, truthfully, it was a situation where Ian's chance of failure was incredibly low.

He hadn't met Celia that much, but as he was the Lord of the Domain that Celia was affiliated with, his basic Affinity with her couldn't help but be incredibly high.

"Of course, that's why I'm offering like this."

Ian smiled and continued speaking.

"What do you think, will you help me out a little?"

Along with a bright smile, Celia nodded her head.

"Alright, Lord!"

And the seal of the Lord that was in her hands turned into a white light and permeated into her wrist.

• You have gained apprentice Summoner 'Celia' as your Retainer.

• Retainer 'Celia's Talent Rank is 'Heroic'-rank, and her current abilities are 'Rare'-rank.

• 'Ian's current Retainers: 1/20

• If Retainer 'Celia' is removed, 170 thousand Fame will be reduced. (If your Fame drops below 0, it will turn into Infamy.)

After checking the system messages that popped up one after another, Ian's face lit up.

This was because Celia's Talent Rank was Heroic-rank.

He could see the NPC's abilities before appointing, but Talent Rank could only be checked afterwards.

On top of that, which could also be told from the words that her abilities were 'Rare'-rank, he couldn't figure out the Talent Rank just from her abilities.

There was a bit of an inclination to gamble to an extent.

Ian, who received a talented individual with a Heroic-rank, wore a pleased expression, but after seeing the message right underneath, he was a little taken aback.

'Huh? Wasn't it that my Fame drops by 100 thousand if I removed her?'

After checking the explanation of the talented individual appointing content, he noticed the words that said at least 100 thousand.

'Depending on the abilities of the Retainer, it looks like there's a difference in the decreased Fame.'

He felt it was a system made to prevent players from appointing any NPC unlimitedly until they found a NPC with a high Talent Rank.

Celia approached Ian, whose mind became complicated from all of those thoughts, and bowed deeply towards him.

"Thank you, Lord. Please take care of me."

Ian held out a hand towards Celia.

And her white and lovely hand took Ian's hand lightly.

"Please take care of me as well, Celia."

Both of Celia's large eyes blinked as she asked Ian.

"Lord, then, what do I need to do from now on?"

"Hmm... For now, just keep joining the punitive forces and level up. If there's something I need you for, then I'll call you."

Once the base was promoted to a Domain rank, it was possible to organize a self-governed group that was run by the Domain itself.

The organized self-governed group went on their own and suppressed the nearby monsters surrounding the Domain daily.

And most of the fighting-type NPCs that were affiliated with the Domain belonged to that self-governed group, and Celia was no exception.

Even though she was now Ian's direct retainer.

"Yes, understood!"

"Go on your way now then."

"Yes!"

While looking at Celia, who responded with a cheerful voice, Ian automatically wore a pleased smile.

He couldn't help but be in a good mood as not only were her abilities good, but Ian now had a pretty and kind subordinate.

Ian, who sent Celia off on her way, moved his feet in order to appoint another retainer.

However, as he turned to look another way, the form of someone who looked incredibly familiar to Ian caught his eyes.

And not knowing of the reason why, he felt a chill.