Save Point #2

We were back at the large and spacious balcony. Chancellor Sultan had other errands and duties to attend to, so that meant that Koga and I had to warm up to each other on this sunny day.

"Tell me, is…she back yet?" Koga asked. Emphasis on the she was way, way too noticeable. But it wasn't towards me, anyways. Moreso towards Sultan.

He shook his head, "Not yet. She still has more…obligations to fulfill. As you see, that's why I settled on an amazing alternative."

Showing me off to Koga like I'm sort of pet is a wild move, Sultan. But I'll let it slide. I'm just here to ensure the Aurea Islands get a safe election. I don't care about you winning, or Lucen, or a random third candidate we haven't heard of yet.

Just as long as it's successful.

"I see, I see—so, tell me on the entire…terrorist attack thing." Koga asked. For once, I had the opportunity to speak.

"It was a coordinated attack with more than several Apex leveled mages in cloaks. They were all apprehended by the authorities, but one of them in particular caught my eye."

Koga furrowed a brow, "His name?"

"Jonah," I replied immediately.

As if met with certain disgust, Koga groaned. "That guy again? He's gotten into it now, I suppose."

"You know him?"

"Yeah. Long time ago. Was just a rogue or bandit of the weak. Now he's entirely transformed into a Bounty Hunter for the islands. Part of the Underworld Syndicate system around globally. For mages around his level, anyways."

I see…so this is far bigger than I thought it was. It wasn't that Jonah orchestrated it…no, he was hired. Hired by someone, and then tagged alongside the terrorist group as part of a together collective.

Huh, smart.

I lean back in the lawn chair, on the balcony yet again. Koga drinks what appears to be some smoothie. Banana-strawberry, I think. Tropical fruit mixture could be another guess.

"But that also means if someone like Jonah was hired, then it looks like there's a bigger case to be solved." Koga admits. Which, to be fair, was the conclusion I already came to not too long ago.

Yeah…right. But this only gave me another question to ask the Admiral.

"How many run-ins have you had with him? Jonah, I mean."

Koga sighs, then speaks. "More than I would like to admit. Since we were kids. I chose the path of the blade, he chose the path of being an outlaw and bandit. By universal law we were forced to clash. Many times we could've ended each other's lives."

"Never did."

I tilted my head, "Why is that?"

He stirred the smoothie with the plastic straw. Didn't directly look into my eyes.

"Don't know, to be honest. I couldn't tell you what he was thinking, but whenever I get close? It just…warps. At the moment, I don't see him as an enemy."

"He just…I just see him as a childhood friend."

Ah, I see. Jonah and Koga. Separated by destiny. Paths diverging. Both Good and Evil. But now…seems like Jonah is more of the anti-hero role. He gets hired for money, that's the whole bounty hunter class gimmick.

The game had a lot of Bounty Hunters as well. So it's surprising to still see the Crime Syndicate still up. Which was a feature released in a big update. Not an expansion or anything crazy like that.

That's when PvP skyrocketed, but not hit it's peak yet. Ever since then, it became legal to grief other top players. No matter what they were doing, really. You just needed to be in a PvP free zone or you were out of luck.

The bounties…were no different either.

Which brings me to my next question.

"The bounty, what does this have to do with Chancellor Sultan?" I asked. Koga leaned back in his chair, looking at the sea view.

"...I guess the easy answer would be to say that it's to stop Sultan from obtaining the seat of Chancellor. But the Jonah I know wouldn't get in on the gig…unless, there was another kick to it."

"Like…an ulterior motive?"

"No, actually. Just something to correlate to it. He wants to create chaos, and even more. If he finds out that whatever he's doing…that something allows it to be bigger than the greatest election in history…"

His eyes match up to mine.

"He would do it."

I ruffle my hair. What could Jonah exactly want? What type of chain reaction could he get out of this? He's already done a lot…to be fair. But…that's the thing I don't yet understand.

What could be added on to the elections already to make it seem less important? What would take everyones eyes away from the election and focus on the next greater thing?

Exposing Sultan? I don't think so. Not that it's impossible, but stringing the evidence would already be hard. I doubt Jonah has the facilities for that. This is Aurea Islands greatest election yet.

If he could somehow redirect the entire nation's attention…what would it be to?

So what could it be?

I sigh. Lower my hand and tail. Koga's still stirring his smoothe like we just didn't talk about potential doomsday plans.

I shift my view to the sea, instead. 

Jonah never struck me as ideological. Not…sentimental either—no, Koga would've been dead by now, and he would've never entertained the fight with me.

What if…

What if this wasn't about disrupting power or the elections?

What if it was personal? Maybe against Koga if their feud is really that deep. Or against someone. Against me?

No, can't be.

But that's the thing about Jonah, I'm afraid.

He doesn't need to win. Or just doesn't have the drive, too.

Even the thrill of it is enough dopamine for him. Maybe he just needs the nation to look away long enough for something worse to slip through.

Just…possibly, and even then, it would be harder to admit that straight up.

Whatever Jonah was planning, was directly in his hands.

Ironically, the fate of the nation, and future of it, looked like it stemmed from him rather than the Chancellor.

That speaks levels.