"My name is Rudolf Blitzen, Junior Fleet Admiral of the 34th division of the Peacemaker Troops of the Alliance. I have heard much about you, Sir Pendragon."

  Peacemaker Troops... right, they did call themselves that.

  The first wave of the outsiders' attack called themselves the Vanguard Army of the Alliance. Burn fot which division they were, or the names of their anders he faced. At first, they just came and didn’t talk, but when Burn almost fihem all, they begged to talk.

  They introduced themselves then.

  Burn suspected that they came in pairs. The lesser troops were the Vanguard Army, tasked to test the waters. Then, when they were defeated, there came the Peacemaker Troops, the ones in charge of doing the 'divide et impera' strategy.

  "Iing," Burn muttered.

  Rudolf's eyebrow twitched imperceptibly.

  "Despite boasting about rality and prog your arrival with peaceful iions, here you stand before me, clearly aligned with the Wintersin Empire. How intriguing," Burn sneered, his skepticism evident in every word.

  Rudolf's smile vanished in an instant, his retort now ced with the same sharpness. "So you accuse us of taking sides while orchestrating flicts in your own backyard?"

  With a knowing chuckle, Burn quipped back, “Ah, but of course. It was all a matter of y. These i mbs were practically begging to be fleeced, while you ing wolves circled, waiting for the feast. Why should I gift- a world that already sits snugly in the palm of my hand for your taking?”

  “Shameless,” Rudolf sneered.

  "In the first pce, if your Vanguard Army succeeded in taking over this world with violence, you 'Peacemakers' wouldn’t o e down and use the long strategy of slowly buying the people over, right?" Burn said, as if it were just an ope.

  Rudolf sighed. "This is why we o use violen the first pce. People like you just overplicate things."

  The Junior Fleet Admiral was ho, but also unpleasant.

  "For example," Rudolf said, "We could've bee business partners!"

  He didn’t care how Burn took down the Vanguard Army. Fine, he was strong, but why wouldn’t he bend even after seeing the bes the outsiders could give him?!

  After all, it would be easy to sell the world he had on top of his palm to gain even more, right?

  "People like you," Burn looked down on him, "are unpleasant."

  No matter how wretched, no matter how foul this hellhole was, this realm was the soil he was born in.

  The people who intrude into other people's backyard, mess up the peace, and then throw moo pretend to fix the damage only to persuade the people to turn toward each other—how much longer would they disrespect him?

  Especially after they had faced him, and single handedly destroyed by him?

  Did Burn have to take a piss over the whole realm just to mark his territory?

  Apparently, the answer was yes.

  "My world, my rule. You're an uninvited guest who pys the role of a saryman but was actually a robber in disguise. That on you aimed at me nearly obliterated this realm, yet here you are trying to py the peacemaker?" Burioned with a sardonic smirk.

  "Ohhh~" Rudolf chuckled. "Seems there's a slight misuanding here!"

  Burn regarded him with a patronizing expression, clearly unvinced by Rudolf's words.

  "That on? What, just a trifle stolen by some insignifit merary group," Rudolf exaggerated dramatically.

  "They're just a bunch of notorious space troublemakers! 't hold us responsible for that, you?" Rudolf's feeble attempt to deflect bme only served to highlight his btant disregard for the truth, a fact he didn't even bother to ceal.

  How could a motley crew of troublemaking meraries mao pilfer from the Alliance? And rompted them to desd to the surfad target Burn of all people?

  "We've been on a sger hunt for this quaint little on, you see? You have it tucked away somewhere, don't you?" Rudolf inquired. "Kindly return it, Sir Pendragon."

  Even though Rudolf was well aware of Burn's skills in disarming those thugs arieving their doomsday traption, he shamelessly pressed for its return.

  "And what if I have different pns for it?" Burn mused.

  Rudolf chuckled softly. "Oh, don't py coy. The on is rightfully ours in the first pce. It just wandered off here by ce! Holy, what do you io do with it anyway? Decimate everything in sight on nd?"

  "You're fully aware of that and still vely let this little wanderer find its way here?" Burn quipped. "Why should I hand it over to you? What if it goes missing again only to end up back here, by mere act, of course?"

  “Or do you want us to just decimate this little realm of yours?” Rudolf switched back to a cold, hard threat.

  Silence.

  “Pfft—”

  “Pf—hahaha!” Burn burst out ughing. “Sure! Do it! As if our Junior Fleet Admiral make that decision!”

  But why wouldn't they?

  The answer was simple. It was the resources. They could get so much from farming a p, not to mention that this p, in particur, was full of magic. The items, the artifacts, the mining products, everything was juicy.

  Why destroy when you prosper, right? After all, who could resist the allure of such bountiful treasures waiting to be plundered?

  “Hant. Do you even prehend how many worlds out there are simir aer than this little realm of yours?” Rudolf mocked.

  “Then why don’t you just give up aroy our realm already? Or is there somethihat tickles your fancy that you ’t find anywhere else?” Burn fired back, a sly grin dang on his lips.

  The reason they g to this world like a stubborn barnacle, i on taking trol and disposing of him quietly. But what was it?

  Burn had no clue.

  “Fine,” Rudolf raised his arms dramatically. “I see you’re a man with desires. So spill it, what’s your price for the on?”

  Rudolf squinted, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, don’t mind me. I lead you on a quest of Inkia or Wintersin myself. Take your pick.”

  “Oh, how generous of you,” Bured with a faux gracious nod. “But let’s be ho, I could snatch those nds with one hand tied behind my back. How about you entrust our on, our tiny tri of yours to me? I promise not to lose it down the back of the sofa.”

  Rudolf felt uneasy. This man... he was sharper than a tack dipped in lemon juice.

  "What are you pnning? We have been trying to be kind all this time, and you want to ruin it?" Rudolf asked.

  Burn rexed his legs, reing in his chair. Feignihought, he hummed, actively losing i.

  After a solid five seds, Burn decided, "Alright. If you have no more clever suggestions, just leave. My hospitality will soon run out."

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  Another lore drop!

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