Meeting the Village Chief

Yohan hesitated, his jaw tightening before he finally nodded. "Yes. A few players started spreading rumors about you."

Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing, letting Yohan continue.

"They're saying you might've lied about your summons' range. That you could have more summons than you've let on and used them to wipe out the other waves of monsters before they even got close to the village."

Arthur's sharp gaze didn't waver, his expression calm but unreadable. Yohan, however, looked uneasy, as if treading on thin ice.

"At first," Yohan went on, "most players dismissed it. They said you contributed too much during the event for that to be true. Some even argued that accusing you was like biting the hand that fed them."

Arthur's lips twitched faintly at the analogy, but he still didn't speak.