Chapter 32: The Art of Righteous Blackmail

“Hey! What are you doing? Didn’t we agree to pull them all?”

The male voice, though trying to suppress his urgency, was laced with anxiety.

“Don’t worry! Just help me pull the sword! Your reward will be plentiful!”

“Forget it, I just feel like that would be far too greedy…”

“For the peace and harmony of the continent of Aethel, and to become an upright and incorruptible adventurer, I’ve decided to reluctantly part with this last sword, leaving it for future generations to pull!”

I declared, my tone utterly righteous.

Beside me, Yingning stifled a laugh, giving me a surreptitious thumbs-up.

“No, don’t! That represents the friendship of the entire Divine Kin (TL Note: A race of divine descendants)! It’s what you adventurers call ‘reputation’!”

“Adventurer, perhaps you don’t yet understand the true value of reputation?”

“To be frank, among the rewards for the three of us, mine might not seem as enticing as the other two, but its value far surpasses the other kinds!”

“With high reputation, you can accept special commissions others can’t!”

“You can hold official positions among the Divine Kin!”

“You can even exchange for divine artifacts!”

“Are you truly not tempted?”

“We are tempted, but we’ve already gained more than enough!”

“No, no, one shouldn’t be too greedy…”

“Senior, this last sword, let’s leave it for the third person who comes in the future to pull!”

“You agree, right, Mas… hmm?”

To conceal my pet’s true identity, I forcibly swallowed the word “master.”

“Of course,” Yingning affirmed, covering her mouth as she nodded.

The mysterious voice seemed momentarily speechless, falling into a profound silence.

I suspected he was silently cursing our entire family in his heart.

“No, this is a duty only you two can fulfill!”

The voice, laced with a hint of guilt, betrayed its desperation.

“This last sword, only the two of you can pull it; no one else can.”

“Why?” I asked, feigning an innocent curiosity, though secretly my senses were heightened to their absolute peak.

“…”

The voice remained silent for a long moment before hesitantly speaking.

“Because… this last sword requires the joint effort of the holders of the *other two* swords to be pulled out… If it’s not the holders of the other two swords, or if only one of them tries, it’s absolutely impossible to move it.”

‘Exactly! This is it!’

‘There’s always a way out, and this is the true breakthrough point for this mission!’

‘Cornered, the other party finally spilled the truth, exposing their greatest weakness!’

“But when we pulled the swords, those two female seniors didn’t keep their promises either…”

I continued to play the fool, though by now even an idiot would have understood my true meaning.

‘Right, it’s a matter of ‘hand over the goods, then pull the sword.’’

‘From their perspective, I must have simply become distrustful because I didn’t receive the mission rewards immediately after pulling the first two swords. This misunderstanding, ironically, made them breathe a sigh of relief—since I hadn’t seen through their true intentions and was still just a greedy, foolish adventurer, everything remained negotiable.’

The next second, he would pay the price for his naivety.

“So then, the divine artifacts and rank inheritances those two female seniors owe us… you, Senior, should take responsibility for them.”

“If you hand over the items to us first, we’ll pull the sword immediately…”

“We’re terribly sorry, Senior, we’re not greedy; it’s just that keeping one’s word is a fundamental virtue for citizens of the continent of Aethel.”

“Not only must the seniors keep their promises, but we, too, must keep our word by taking the items. If we were to return empty-handed, our consciences would be troubled! Right, Mas… hmm?”

My face was utterly serious, every inch of me, from the top of my head to the tip of my tail, radiating an awe-inspiring sense of justice.

“Mhm, mhm!” Yingning nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice.

“…”

‘What kind of ‘keeping one’s word’ is this?! Are you insane?! I’ve never heard anyone make blackmail sound so utterly righteous before!’

“So then, Senior…”

My face etched with apology, I bowed deeply towards the golden light.

“If you don’t give us the items, we’ll just leave! Later, I’ll call other Saint-rank experts from the Jiuhua Alliance to come and see if they can pull it out!”

“No! Please don’t!”

****