Dusk settled over the plains like a blade coated in gold.
Too beautiful for what was about to happen.
Risenne stood behind a low ridge, helmet on, posture coiled with tension. She wasn't supposed to be here. She wasn't supposed to interfere. But she wasn't supposed to leave me alone either.
And I let her come because—
…because she needed it.
And maybe because I needed her there too.
The System materialized in my vision with a flicker.
"Reminder: this is definitely a trap."
I know.
"Perfect. Just making sure we're walking into it on purpose."
Rael Arrives
Rael Goldmare was already waiting on the opposite hill.
No guards.
No escorts.
No banners.
Just him.
A single lantern flickered beside him in the wind, though the sunlight hadn't fully vanished yet.
Dramatic, but effective.
Risenne muttered from her hidden position,
"…Show-off."
I stepped forward.
Rael smiled as if he'd been expecting me for years.
"Montig Levan," he said.
"The Quiet Tyrant."
I didn't flinch.
"You wanted a meeting. I'm here."
"Good," Rael said. "I was beginning to worry you'd hide behind your guards."
"Risenne isn't a guard."
"Oh?" Rael tilted his head. "Then what is she?"
Before I could speak, the System chimed in:
"SAY IT. CALL HER YOUR GIRL. CALL HER—"
I silenced it with a thought.
"She's my deputy," I said.
Risenne shifted slightly behind the ridge.
Even from this distance, I felt the small ripple of emotion she tried to suppress.
The Opening Exchange
Rael circled slowly, examining me from every angle.
"You intrigue me, Montig. You break people without touching them. You burn systems without a single flame. You topple leaders without raising your voice."
"Observation goes a long way."
"Observation," he repeated, amused. "No. You are something else."
Another slow circle.
"You walk like a man expecting a knife in his back.
Talk like a man who knows the blade won't reach him.
And smile like a man who knows where everyone else's weaknesses are."
He leaned closer.
"Tell me… are you planning to destroy Goldmare too?"
I stopped.
Risenne tensed.
The System lit up:
"DON'T SAY YES. DON'T SAY NO. SAY SOMETHING COOL."
I answered calmly:
"I destroy corruption. Not companies."
Rael's eyes gleamed.
"And what is Goldmare to you?"
"An obstacle."
Risenne inhaled sharply behind the ridge.
Rael laughed.
Low.
Chilling.
Delighted.
"Oh, Montig… you are far more dangerous than those guild leaders ever realized."
The Offer
Rael straightened his coat.
"I didn't come here to threaten you. That was earlier."
He gestured lazily toward the guild.
"This time, I'm here to offer you something."
I waited.
He extended a sealed metal box.
"Inside this is a guildmaster contract—not of Seawave, but of one of our subsidiary companies. Wealth. Protection. A direct line to Goldmare's inner circle."
He placed the box at my feet.
"All you must do is kneel."
A quiet smile.
Just a hint.
"Not to me. To the system of power that has ruled this world long before you existed."
Risenne's hand drifted to her sword.
The System screamed:
"DO. NOT. KNEEL."
As if I ever would.
My Response
I nudged the metal box back with my foot.
"I don't kneel."
"You will," Rael said softly. "Eventually."
"No."
He looked slightly frustrated for the first time.
"Montig… I'm offering you everything."
"You're offering me a cage with velvet walls."
"A cage is still safer than a battlefield."
I stepped closer.
"I don't need safety."
His eyes narrowed.
"Then what do you need?"
I looked past him, toward the horizon.
"Freedom. And a world that makes sense."
Rael studied me for a long moment.
Then:
"You will die for those ideals."
"Everyone dies," I said.
"Not everyone chooses the manner."
Behind the ridge, Risenne exhaled shakily.
The System whispered:
"Okay, I hate you sometimes, but damn, that was cool."
Rael's Counterstrike
Rael didn't leave.
He stepped closer.
"You misunderstand something, Montig. I didn't come to give you a choice."
He reached into his coat—
Risenne was about to leap from her hiding spot—
the System flashed red warnings—
—and Rael pulled out…
…a small, silver button.
He pressed it.
A projection flared to life beside us.
A hologram of the Seawave Guild.
Every corridor.
Every room.
Every secret passage.
Risenne whispered in horror:
"…They scanned us?"
Rael smiled at my reaction.
"You think Goldmare is afraid of you?
No. We are studying you."
Another tap.
Red dots appeared across the guild staff.
"Our network already knows who is loyal to you.
Who fears you.
Who wants you dead."
Another tap.
My face appeared in the center of the projection.
"With one word from me," Rael said softly,
"your guild falls in a single night."
Risenne nearly drew her sword.
The System panicked:
"OKAY, NEW PLAN. RUN?? NEGOTIATE?? CRY??"
I stepped forward.
"No."
Rael blinked.
"No?"
"You won't destroy a guild you wish to control."
Rael froze.
The System gasped:
"…Okay, that's actually genius."
"You want me alive," I continued.
"You want me curious.
You want me useful."
Rael's fingers twitched.
He wasn't expecting me to read him that quickly.
I finished:
"You want a tyrant you can predict."
A long silence.
Then Rael smiled again—slow, approving, unsettling.
"…Yes," he admitted.
"I want to know if you are the kind of tyrant I can use… or the kind I must kill."
The Moment Everything Changes
Rael took a step back.
"You interest me, Montig Levan. Truly."
Another step.
"But interest alone is not enough to protect you."
He turned away.
"Prepare your guild," he called.
"Goldmare is coming."
He paused.
"And the next time we meet…"
He looked over his shoulder.
"It will not be a conversation."
He vanished into the dusk, leaving only dust and the echo of a threat that felt more like a promise.
Risenne Runs to Me
The moment Rael left, Risenne sprinted from her hiding place.
"Montig!"
Her voice cracked.
"You spoke with him alone—you shouldn't have—he could've—"
She stopped in front of me, breathing hard.
Her eyes scanned me, checking for wounds even though no blade had been drawn.
Her voice softened to a whisper:
"…I was terrified."
I touched her wrist gently.
"You didn't need to be."
Her eyes trembled.
"I'll always be."
She didn't mean fear of me.
She meant fear of losing me.
The System appeared again.
"Okay wow. Emotional moment. You should maybe hold her hand? Or—"
I closed the panel with a thought.
Not now.
Maybe later.
The Tyrant's Next Step
Risenne steadied herself.
"What now, Montig?"
I looked toward the guild.
"Now," I said quietly,
"we prepare for war."
She nodded.
"I'll follow every step."
"And I'll need you beside me."
This time she didn't flinch.
This time she didn't blush.
This time she held my gaze without fear.
"Always," she whispered.
The Quiet Tyrant had rejected the merchant empire.
And now the world would feel the consequences.