This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 315: High Tower · Traitorous Owl
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Spicy Onion: What’s going on?
Sinsoo: Not sure.
Spicy Onion: Oh, the Moon Fox came for a sneak attack.
Sinsoo: It’s chaos, I’m pulling out. Meet at the cliff.
Spicy Onion: I’m pulling out too.
After the three traitorous owls regrouped, Rita asked, "What’s the plan?"
Sanchez toyed with the dagger in her hand. "I’ll stay here, assassinate some owls to level up."
Shadow.Q had a more important task. "I plan to go out and gather intel, find out how the owls managed to merge with Lania Kaia."
Compared to Forest Sea, the situation on Blue Star was more dangerous. The population wasn’t as high as Forest Sea’s owls, and the Blue Star people were more technology-based, lacking the special wing abilities of the owls. Additionally, there were many dungeon screens sunken under the sea.
After they finished speaking, both Sanchez and Shadow.Q turned to Rita. "What about you?"
Rita said, "I plan to take assassination missions and earn some skill books."
Though it was an accident, she saw this as a good opportunity to experiment… What would happen if, instead of following the owls’ history within the tower, she became a traitorous owl? Would she face mental punishment when the cycle repeated?
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The three of them exchanged looks and realized their goals didn’t conflict, in fact…
Shadow.Q grinned. "Shall we cause some chaos together?"
Since there was no butterfly effect inside the tower, no matter how much they caused a stir, it wouldn’t change the course of the tower’s history.
Rita thought for a moment, then agreed. It was like having an agent to help take on missions and negotiate for her, freeing up a lot of time to experiment with her alchemical ideas. She had accumulated too many ideas to test. She trusted Shadow.Q’s negotiation skills and would leave the tasks to her. When her reputation grew, she could handle missions herself, even gaining close combat skills. At least she was sure Shadow.Q wouldn’t force her to take on tasks she didn’t want; everything would be done after mutual discussion, and the rewards would be fair.
Sanchez didn’t care much about the negotiations as long as she got her tasks done. She followed Rita’s lead, always remembering Jameson’s instructions—when in doubt, follow Rita. It was a good strategy, so she nodded without hesitation.
The three of them made their way out, and on the way, Shadow.Q finalized the plan. She would manage the trio’s operations and missions. When Shadow.Q took on a mission, she would split the reward into two parts: 20% for the intel she needed, and 80% would go towards getting the skills requested by Sanchez and Rita. Any intel she gathered would be shared with them. If Rita and Sanchez accepted a mission independently, Shadow.Q wouldn’t interfere with the rewards.
"That works," Rita agreed, satisfied with the division.
Sanchez wasn’t bothered by the arrangement either. As long as Rita was leading, everything would work out fine.
They found a safe spot to rest, cooking lunch. While they were eating, Sanchez, after glancing at Rita and then at Nivalis, finally broke the silence. "Where’s Nivalis?"
Rita froze.
— "I was worried if I went to play a game and came back, you two would be sitting together eating."
Rita shot a guilty glance at Sanchez, who was chewing on jerky.
Shadow.Q, seeing the moment, said, "Yeah, call Nivalis out." She then pulled out some grilled meat and added, "Invite her to eat."
Rita, under the pressure of their gazes, sighed and released Nivalis. After all, Nivalis was bound to find out sooner or later… and she couldn’t be blamed. It was Sanchez’s fault for casually killing the NPC!
The moment Nivalis appeared, Shadow.Q waved enthusiastically. "Long time no see~ I’m Sister Shadow.Q~ Do you remember me~~?"
Sanchez didn’t need an introduction; she was already acquainted with Nivalis and handed her a strip of meat for her to chew on.
Nivalis, holding the meat, looked between Spicy Onion and Sinsoo, then at Rita who was busy with her food, and finally at Pinebloom. Her gaze shifted back and forth between the three of them, the expression on her face full of complex emotions. If there was a best "Golden Broom" for the most dramatic expressions, she would definitely win.
Nivalis: "See? I told you I’d miss the plot after I left!"
Nivalis: "I close my eyes for just a second, and look what happens when I come back. Does that make sense?"
Nivalis: "I’m really afraid that next time I’ll come back and hear her calling you ’baby’."
Nivalis: "Explain this!"
Nivalis: "What step are we on now? Can this little dragon that no one cares about still join this warm family?"
Rita: "...." Should I even listen to what you’re saying?
Nivalis jumped up, snatched Rita’s rice ball, and flew off to devour Shadow.Q’s grilled meat instead.
After hearing the trio’s plan, Nivalis commented, "You need a strong name. Something that will let the Twelve Holy Races know that you’re the neutral faction handling all the business."
Shadow.Q, impressed, agreed with Nivalis. "Do you have any good suggestions?"
Nivalis: "How about ’Only for Money’?"
The three of them went silent, but after exchanging glances, they realized that this simple, straightforward name was actually the best. After all, they weren’t trying to create a century-old legacy, just a name to use for this cycle. It didn’t need to be grand; just blunt and clear.
So, the three of them and one dragon sat by the fire, naming their new organization.
Seven years later.
Rita flew swiftly through the dense jungle, dodging branches and leaves as she moved. She veered slightly to the side to avoid a vine that had been disturbed and was now swinging toward her. She shouted to the person behind her, "Why did you kill them?!"
They had been assigned to eliminate a few rising owl rookies, and their ambush had gone smoothly.
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The targets were eliminated, the mission was complete, and they could have left. But Sanchez insisted on sticking around to kill a few more nearby owls before leaving, nearly causing them to be cornered by high-level owl commanders.
Sanchez was not happy. "They called you the disgrace and failure of the Song family, said you weren’t even worthy of the Pinebloom name, and cursed you to lose your wings. Aren’t you mad about that?!"
Great. Another rant.
