FB: Chapter 130 – Dragging Me Down

“Can you repeat that?” I slowly asked. The price I was being asked was ridiculous.

“The cost is 10,000 platinum for a complete summary on your court case,” the information broker said. I just stared at the NPC for a solid minute, but he didn’t even start sweating or blink at the insane price he had just given me.

“Even after everything? I have paid quite a bit to you information brokers over the years to protect my information and have a good relationship,” I asked.

“You are getting the friend discount. Otherwise, that would be 100,000 platinum instead. I can say that our network was paid off to block off all information about this court case. You have some very rich and very powerful people set against you,” the information broker said. The super guilds were aware of my tricks and were countering me in their area of strength, financial power. I didn’t like this, not one bit.

I didn’t want to pay that much money, especially in coinage. The currency fees had only increased over the years. Moving money in and out of the game was brutal. I could afford to, but that wasn’t the point. The super guilds were trying to drag me down by wasting my time and money, exhausting me to the point of despair. On the flip side, I had a ten million platinum bet that was quickly being filled out by various players and organizations. Spending 0.1% of that to get critical information was important, but it just rubbed me the wrong way. Using up my in game cash reserves was a good way to lose everything if I wasn’t careful.

If I just started throwing money at everything, I wouldn’t have any money left. Despite what people might think, I was quite frugal and aware of my spending. It was about knowing when to make an investment, when to back off, and where I could save. I wasn’t some foolish bimbo whose only power was her daddy’s credit card.

“This is everything? Bribes, noble positions, people lined up for a trial by combat?” I asked. If I was going to pay, I wanted to make sure I got my money’s worth.

“Yes. Everything up to today. It doesn’t cover any future changes, but I would be able to provide you with everything. Including the stance of Prime Minister Verus in this entire affair,” the information broker said. That last piece of information was quite valuable, knowing where the Prime Minster stood on this entire legal fight.

“Fine, get out the plate,” I said. He got out a payment plate and I slapped my hand down on it. A bit harder than necessary, but I didn’t like spending this much money when I was forced to by other people. The payment went through and then the information broker out got a packet of paper. I took it and began to flip through all the summarized information.

Trying to get all of this myself, would have been impossible. Well maybe not impossible, since if one was interested enough, the information could be gathered for a much cheaper price. It just took way too much time. The information brokers got their information in legit manner, QAI didn’t just handwave things like he did with financial transactions. The information brokers would have NPCs in the various unions and a few nobles who would get a small payment in exchange for information.

Some players tried to make a living, gathering and selling information to these information brokers. Most weren’t that successful, unless they had an important position, and if they had an important position, then they wouldn’t be selling information normally.

As I finished looking through the documents, I easily got the big picture of my legal situation. I was doing this first before checking in with the Court of Nobility, so I knew how bad things were and they were pretty bad. Of the total nobility, a tenth were player nobles, and they were all on board with the super guilds, since almost all of them were part of one. If they weren’t directly part of a super guild, they were definitely affiliated with one. I was the only truly independent noble player in Exponential. Something that I had missed. I had become isolated.

A third of the NPC nobility had been bribed or blackmailed into going against me. Another third was neutral and another third just wanted to watch other nobles taken down and getting amusement from the fighting. There was no one on my side. The neutral faction was waiting for the bribes to get larger and were holding out for a better deal including Prime Minister Verus. If this case went to trial, it wouldn’t be if I was guilty, but how much I was going to get screwed.

That meant a trial was completely out. Leaving three possible options, each more difficult than the last to implement. The first was the trial by combat. But the NPC that had been hired was a speed melee build and the NPC was highly experienced in one on one duels. They would use some skills and rush me, and I wouldn’t be able to easily defend myself. If we had the same level, it might have been possible to win, but with such a huge absolute level difference, there was no chance. This NPC would definitely have the skill of an S class combatant.

The next option was to appeal to the Cardinals of the Trinity Church. Asking them for assistance and protection. But that was another quagmire. While I knew Cardinal Pious and was considered an Acolyte of the Human God, that was nowhere near enough to get them to intercede on my behalf. I would have do some difficult quest, or a lot of quests. Those rewards would be better put to use elsewhere.

The final and worst option to get out of this mess was to appeal to the Human Emperor. That was an absolutely terrible idea, one that I was never going to even consider. I would be tasked to get the Anvil of the Hellforge. I might as well just erase my character and start over if I had to do that. The Human Emperor wouldn’t let me off with an easier quest.

While other people might spend time worrying about this situation, there was one way to cut through all this nonsense that wasn’t in any of the playbooks that the super guilds had. Well, they had this move, but it was something that would hopefully escape their attention as a possibility. It was unlikely, I could only hope my bank account held up under the pressure. I didn’t want to think how much I was taking from the Mercenary Guild’s funds, but it was necessary to keep me financially afloat without having to engage in currency transactions that came with heavy fees.

I looked up at the information broker. “Where is Prime Minster Verus?” I asked. He was fairly low key due to being the errand boy for the Human Emperor, but he was the ultimate arbiter in the affairs of nobles and exerted tremendous power in the Court of Nobility.

“Consider it on the house for the amount you have spent. He is currently in the Administration Union the rest of the day in his office,” the information broker said. I pulled a platinum coin from my inventory and put it down on the table. No need to be rude and sour relations after spending so much. The information broker gave me a nod as I quickly left and hailed down a rickshaw. The only way to get around this stupidly large Capital without wasting an inordinate amount of time. QAI should have put in teleportation platforms instead to waste less time.

I tossed a gold coin to the cart puller. “The Administration Union, quickly,” I ordered. He gave me a nod and quickly set off on the rickshaw. It took five minutes to arrive and I tossed another gold coin to the NPC cart puller. Entering the Administration Union, I spent 100 platinum on bribes to cut the line and see Prime Minister Verus right away.

“Viscountess Foxy Blight, I would say this is a surprise, but your name has come across my desk quite a lot recently,” he said while gesturing at the chair. I gave him a bow before taking my seat.

“Thank you, Prime Minister Verus, I want to plead guilty to all charges and come to agreement on a fine beforehand with your esteemed self,” I said. The answer was to go right to the person in charge of the nobles. The Human Emperor didn’t bother with these trivial matters and going to him was like trying to use a nuke to stop a forest fire. It would just make things worse with all the fallout and start even more fires.

“A lot of bribes have been paid,” he said.

“But none to you and you are the only one who matters. I wish to settle all such claims from the past in their entirety,” I explained. He was the ultimate judge as the Prime Minister, since he spoke on behalf of the Human Emperor. The only one he answered to was that terrible ruler.

“A fight would be interesting,” he said, and I grimaced slightly. The Prime Minister also loved blood sport. “We haven’t had a trial by combat in a long time.”

“It would be a short battle against the Champion that has been prepared. I am completely outclassed,” I replied.

“True. But the screams and desperation of the soon to be defeated are always so interesting. So entertaining,” he replied while licking his lips. While he was an NPC I still felt a bit creeped out.

“Fifty thousand platinum,” I said, hoping to steer the conversation in a more productive direction. That was enough money to make Prime Minister Verus pause in whatever else he was considering and take me much more seriously. He slowly turned one hand palm up and pointed a single finger upwards.

“Seventy thousand platinum,” I said through gritted teeth. He smiled slightly at me and pointed upwards once more. “Eighty thousand, that is my limit.” He lowered his hand and shook his head.

“Unfortunately for you Viscountess, your opposition will probably offer more, or you will fight. Either way it is a win for me” he replied.

“How much to ensure no changes to the Champion at the last moment?” I asked.

“Fifty thousand,” he said. That was ridiculous. I then realized what was happening.

“They already paid you a large sum,” I said.

“Indeed, quite a bit. You are in trouble it seems,” the Prime Minister said as my mind raced. The amount the super guilds were spending was a strategic amount of money to crush me. It was a bit much. There was no way they would be able to make back everything even with my defeat. Even if I was stealing from them, this kind of reckless spending was insane. They had to have bribed the Prime Minister with at least 10,000 platinum.

It was around 200,000,000 dollars. The exchange rate was close to bottoming out. Pocket change for the super guilds and the countries behind them. To counter that bribe, I would need to pay at least 2 billion, or 100,000 platinum. I mentally cursed the super guilds.

Well, there was one way to easily get out of noble entanglements. The nuclear option. Quant Z was going to murder me. But there was no other way. I hadn’t considered it before, since I had already invested quite a bit to reach the noble rank of Viscountess.

“Prime Minister, I wish to formally renounce my noble title and relinquish all claims on nobility,” I said. It hurt to give the title up. Not because of the small stat percentage boost, but everything that came with it. I was no longer going to be recognized as a human noble. That would make a lot of things much more difficult. Hopefully my other titles would be able to carry me forward.