Battle for the North (Rogue Merchant Book #4): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (the dot read aloud .TXT) 📕

Once upon a time, my scam with arrows had antagonized the Phoenix and drew the attention of the Watchers. I wondered if the clan leader had ever realized that attracting their interest was also a part of my scheme. The soon-to-be Bazaar event was going to be much grander, although only a few people would find out about my role in it.

Akiru Sokolovskaya, my personal manager, answered a diamond client’s call on the forty-seventh second, as per the regulations.

“Nice to see you, Oleg!” Her smile was flawless. “What’s wrong? Do you need my help?”

“I think I do,” I replied slowly, taking a relaxed position. “Hey, Akiru, could you teleport to me right now? I’d like to talk face to face.”

“Of course,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “Just a second. Bazaar, fourteenth tower? I’ll be there soon.”

A few seconds later, the representative of the administration materialized before my eyes.

“Great view, Oleg!” she said, appreciating the panoramic window showing a bird’s eye view of the Bazaar.

“I think it needs a bit more fire,” I replied, smirking.

“Oleg, I’m all ears. What did you want to talk about?”

“Tell me, can I expect you to be discreet? Completely discreet. It’s a life-or-death situation, and I’m not joking.”

“Of course, Oleg.” Akiru stopped smiling. “What happened?”

“I need to set up a meeting and talk to a certain someone. I understand that it might be outside your prerogative, but I think you’ll be able to pass it along to someone who could arrange it. My only request is keeping everything secret.”

“Of course, Oleg. Who is this mysterious person?”

As she heard my answer, Akiru froze. Then she shook her head in denial, sighing.

“I’m sorry, Oleg, but this is impossible. If you’d like, I could arrange a meeting for you with the developer team lead, Mister Yamato. I’m sure he could solve your problem.”

I expected this reaction. Heaven-dwellers never stooped to speaking with mortals.

“No, Yamato won’t do!” I interrupted the girl. “Thank you. You can forget about my request.”

“But Oleg — ”

“Do you like this view, Akiru?” I asked, pointing at the purple sunset above the Bazaar, hundreds of astral ships flying across it.

“I do,” Akiru said, fluttering her eyelashes in confusion. I could understand her sentiment — a call from a petulant client, a likely trifling issue, the client asking her to start from the top instead of filing a simple customer support ticket... My case was different, but I doubted I could explain it to her.

“Akiru, please don’t take my words as a threat, but treat them seriously. I’m not trying to show off — it really is a matter of life and death: mine. Wait, I’m not finished. When everything here burns, and the administration of Sphere wants to stop it, please remember my request. Pass it along to the one who really can arrange this conversation.”

“Oleg, I don’t understand,” she said, knitting her elegant eyebrows.

“It doesn’t matter. It can be fixed. Do you have ten minutes? Would you like some wine?”

Raid leaders finished the briefing on the operative channel used to coordinate Black Friday, giving out Veil amulets and assigning people to the kamikaze skiffs. Cheerful yapping gave way to silence as soldiers took firing positions. The countdown started. I didn’t know how it would end, but the process couldn’t be stopped anymore.

I winked at Akiru, who was standing still by the window, and the first spark of a distant explosion flashed in the sky.

Chapter 15

“I DON’T KNOW, OLEG. I think we should take a break from each other.”

Alena’s voice was sad but firm. She seemed resolved. My wife’s temper only appeared soft: underneath her meek surface hid an iron will. If she got something into her head, there was no going around it.

Taking a break... I knew who was setting her against me. Alena’s parents had never found me good enough for their daughter. A shady character with murky online earnings and no social status, always stuck in one game or another. A sneaking suspicion lurked in my mind. What if she had met someone? No, that was unlikely. A woman’s heart was a mystery, but I held out hope that I had gotten to know her well enough over the last five years. Just like me, she was monogamous by nature, not prone to dalliances.

Fine. There was no point in calling her, writing to her, pushing her. Cleopatra was right: treat them mean, keep them keen. I couldn’t really change my lifestyle at that moment. Actually, I needed to give Sphere my undivided attention, as too much was at stake.

Trying to push hurt and disappointment out of my head, I opened the official forums. Just as expected, the first day of Black Friday roared across the entire game like a cannon shot. It was a truly global-scale event! Everybody immediately forgot Ananizarte, who continued tormenting the Fairs, and the clan war between the Northerners and Pandorum. The Bazaar was the only thing people talked about, being all over the front pages of news portals and VNet, not to mention hundreds of forum topics full of pain and whining.

An unscheduled issue of Sphere Herald, the largest independent medium, announced the following:

BREAKING NEWS! Sphere of Worlds’ main trading hub became a battleground! The NAVY alliance and its many associates started an operation cynically nicknamed Black Friday. An enormous fleet ready for battle and disguised with special artifacts started mercilessly destroying all living beings at the Bazaar! NPC guards proved unprepared to repel an attack of such scale. Per kill rating reports, the Bazaar is currently the most active PVP spot in all of Sphere. The number of kills and demolished ships is beyond count! More than ten thousand players are already taking part in the conflict!

NAVY’s liaisons had the following comment: “We like the taste of your tears.” What are the goals of