Chapter 380: Then let them. [1/2]
After about fifteen minutes, I was able to return to the dispatch office with Delroy and Pixie. Phillip was waiting for me in the main office. I didn't see Tildi or Will, so I assumed they were doing something else.
Pixie and Delroy were showing signs of anxiety, possibly because the dispatch office belonged solely to Administration.
I didn't know if the other professions saw Rogues. But since the White Guard reported directly to Administration, they were pretty extreme about them.
Phillip noticed the two following me. His eyes showed a tense hostility. Since this monocled bastard usually knew more than he let on, I signaled with my eyes that we should go inside.
Although quite hesitant, the two behind me followed without a fuss. As we made our way inside, I could hear muffled chatter about the slave collars around their necks.
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Had they been here alone, they might have been terminated on the spot. But despite their social status, no one could say anything about them.
Why was that?
Naturally, it was because I was here.
This was my "power".
In addition to physical might, I now had political influence. I didn't even want it, but I slowly got it as my organization grew. As I met more and more people, I changed them as much as they changed me.
Before, I focused on killing zombies because that was all I was good at.
But I was not stupid.
I knew from the clickbait titles on my first night. David's insistence that I was his son-in-law only made it worse.
But my actions were slowly changing everything.
Connie's promo was like proof of what I had accomplished in one week.
Faster than I could have ever dreamed, the stagnant reapers began to move. It made no sense from my point of view. But I was at the center of it.
Production knew me as my output surpassed anyone because I never stopped. To successfully meet my demands, over 500 people joined together to form the LLG.
Adventurers learned of me from the food in Inari's Kitchen and those under Wil and Tildi.
Fortifications and Academics now recognized me as a potential employer. It was unheard of for formless groups to leave their professions in search of another. Mainly because Formless had the stigma of being useless.
Of course, the Mercenaries already had a pretty good idea of my name, since I had topped the Annihilation rankings and broken several records. At least, that was what Lilly said. Apart from the Slayer and the Machiavelli, I don't remember meeting anyone else though.
Administration was aware of me because of Phillip's sudden rise in status. The White Guard, because their former leader had left them for me. A reaper who was Formless.
Even the Saints have been asking about me. Yvonne mentioned that numerous powerful saints were asking about Vela's wolves. If the fervor of the Hellsend Saint Division was any indication, they were just as, if not more, driven than the Formless.
The Reapers of North America, on the other hand, would recognize me as the gigantic 500,000 soul bounty. As if that were not enough, I was attacked twice for it. And the fact that I responded with violence both times was also a popular rumor.
Yet Administration did nothing about either incident. Indirectly, I had been vindicated.
Finally, the whole world currently learned about me because of three things. The clickbait articles in North America's Graveyard, David's game in my Seeker war with Savior, and finally Connie's promo.
In all three cases, while my actions were praised, the main point was not that I fought the best or that I was the smartest. It was that I was Formless.
Formless were universally known as free laborers. The Gofers, as they would often say.
Whether as bait, to be turned into horses, or as bottom-of-the-barrel slaves, it was rare for the Formless to band together. After all, there was nothing in it for them.
"In the past, numerous other reapers tried to raise the banner of the Formless. They were all executed without mercy. This is why before you, no one in this generation knew how powerful the Formless could become."
"David Thomas vouched for you."
"David broke the armistice of the seven battlefronts. As the manifested are used to defend against Hellsgate, the Revenants seek to arm the Formless as quickly as possible."
"Yeah, I do. I can see now why David would vouch for you. Until you complete my request, I will guard you. Eva Baker wishes to serve Limitless as her lord."
This was the word of Specters. Even they began to pay more attention to me. Again the words of Bella echoed in my mind. I was the first. The one who started this change. All because I chose not to bow down.
"Honey, because you showed that people like us could fly, thousands now wish to soar to skies. And with the NA continent as your ground zero, the Formless from all over are coming here to meet you."
Despite all the warnings and threats, I never backed down. And the next time I returned to Hellsgate, I would be fighting for my life against Xander Rutherford's army of death seekers, the Saviors.
It was both short and long that all this happened in one week. And while everything I had done seemed like a lot, in truth it was only a little.
None of the Sirens' enemies were defeated. The situation in Hellsgate hadn't changed at all. And what's worse, I now learned of a group that creates rogues for slavery.
Whenever I find myself impressed by the accomplishments everyone heaps upon me, I remember one thing.
For all my supposed strength, I was still weak. Incredibly weak.
I was helpless against Specters. Zachary Lynch, the Nightmare. Raymond Gertrude the Whirlwind. Eva Baker, the Coroner. And Xander Rutherford, whose alias I knew nothing about.
As it is, every time I met a Specter, I got my ass handed to me. Being able to kill thousands of zombies meant nothing if I could not defeat them.
'Especially since my goal lies beyond a Specter,' I thought to myself.
My inner monologue was interrupted as we entered another meeting room. Still emotional from my earlier contemplation, I caressed the ugly as hell wallpaper in the room.
'How many times would I see these fucking walls as a Reaper,' I wondered absentmindedly.
Phillip locked and sealed the door and motioned for us all to sit down.
Pixie and Delroy didn't move and stayed still.
I wanted to ask them, but then I remembered what they were.
"Pixie, Delroy, sit in the chairs."
Only then did both of them become more comfortable.
"My lord, would you care to explain why on earth you came to the Dispatch office with Rogues in tow?"
"I bought them. They are now my {Vassals}. I wish to be their handler."
"But that's impossible! There's a reason why Administration doesn't interfere with the Red-Light district. They are forbidden to come here. It would cause chaos!"
"Then you know? Of the things that happen there?" I asked disappointedly.
"I do. At least on a high level. My {Fate} is called {Scribe}. Everything I see, feel, or know is written in a will in my soulgem. I know all the faces that come to the Battlefront. I did not recognize them, so they must have been smuggled in."
"..."
"And since they are not official reapers, they have no way to leave this place. They cannot return to Earth at all."