MMORPG: Crowd Control

"Griselda?"

Lei Zhen raised an eyebrow, seemingly trying to recall where he heard this name before.

It was definitely a name that he had heard of but forgotten where.

"Do you have an image of her?" Lei Zhen asked.

For new recruits, all of their data and background must be provided, meaning even their appearance would be drawn.

After all, if a traitor were to occur, then they could easily track down who the person was. Hence, the recruitment process was tedious but was definitely a required process to prevent further troubles.

"Yes, I have her file right here." Kate quickly handed over a file to him.

"She was really strong and was able to tell that I was faking my injuries. Thus, I've decided to bring her over to the camp for you to decide. Since she knew I'm faking my injury, it would be bad if she spread this news around."

Kate was afraid of being scolded by Lei Zhen for bringing another person close to the camp, so she explained her reason very thoroughly.

Of all the people she had met in her life, only Lei Zhen was capable of making her act this way.

There was not an ounce of impulsiveness in her mind that could be seen leaking out when she was in front of him.

Seeing Lei Zhen keep quiet for a while, Kate became nervous and wondered if she was going to receive another harsh scolding. Her fingers started fidgeting and her back leaned near the entrance, seemingly trying to escape the room.

"Kate," Lei Zhen calmly called out.

"Yes?!" Kate instantly stood still.

Her action resembled those of the imperial guards that stood straight up when they saw their commander.

"..."

Lei Zhen was speechless when he saw her action. 'Am I really that scary?'

"I'll meet with this Griselda, but I don't wish to reveal my face to her." Lei Zhen said.

And he continued, "I have some reservations toward this Griselda, so I don't want my identity exposed. Do you understand me?"

Kate nodded her head.

How could she not understand his meaning?

He was the chancellor and strategist for this war even though he continuously denied this position.

Hence, his identity was extremely important and must not be revealed casually to outsiders. Thus, only the imperial guards that had changed their allegiance and Chris knew about him besides her.

Therefore, when she brought Griselda to the camp, she was taking a huge risk.

If it weren't for the fact that Griselda was stronger than her and knew about her acts, then she would have silenced her for threatening their whole plan.

"Chris seemed to know about this in advance and had me held on to this mask until you asked me for it," Kate said calmly, taking out a dark mask that covered almost all of his facial features except the eyes.

Lei Zhen was astonished when he saw the dark mask. He didn't expect Chris to be more thorough and had seen this situation from the start.

'This is why one can never be too overconfident.' He thought to himself.

This incident allowed Lei Zhen to know that he might be in control right now, but one slip-up could mean the end of his efforts.

The dark mask was nothing special, just an ordinary oval mask meant to cover one's facial expression. It was even ranked as a common, the lowest rarity possible, but it was good enough.

He wasn't going to act like some cringe person and tried to have a mask to conceal his identity to act as some mysterious person or overlord.

All he wanted was to hide his face and prevent others from knowing who was the one behind the curtain that was advising Kate.

And it was even more crucial to have this dark mask especially when he was going to meet with someone like Griselda, who could seemingly analyze a situation based on the interview he saw on television.

Wearing the dark mask, Lei Zhen was then guided by Kate to meet where Griselda was waiting.

She was sitting in a chair near a small table with two imperial guards watching over her, clearly warning her not to make any rash movements.

After all, this was the heart of their camp and no mistakes could be tolerated.

Despite being watched, Griselda was extremely calm and had an expression that looked like she was on vacation and not at some war camp.

She flashed a gentle smile when she saw someone walking side-by-side with Princess Kate.

'So he must be the person behind Kate and the current situation that left both the princes extremely miserable.' Griselda concluded, glancing at Lei Zhen, who was wearing his dark mask to cover his face.

Since Magnolia doesn't offer any status information about others if the players themselves refuse to show it, there was no way Griselda could tell whether Lei Zhen was a player or a hidden NPC.

Though that doesn't mean she can't try to enquire about things that could expose Lei Zhen's identity.

"Hello, my name is Griselda and this person must be the one that taught you to fake the injury right?" Griselda stood up, smiled, and extended her hand out for a handshake.

Seeing the handshake, Lei Zhen casually ignored it and brushed past her, finding another empty chair to sit on.

Kate didn't question his behavior and merely followed behind. She had been instructed beforehand to not say anything and let him do the talking.

Thus, creating this awkward situation in which Griselda was left standing with her hand extended.

The two imperial guards nearby wanted to laugh at her rejection but stopped when they could sense the intense glare from Lei Zhen.

Lei Zhen made a wave signal, and the two imperial guards bowed before him and Kate before leaving the scene.

It took a few seconds for Griselda to regain her composure as she turned around and sat down, acting as if nothing had happened.

Just when Griselda wanted to talk again, Lei Zhen raised his hand to stop her.

"Seems like the guards have been lacking a bit. They didn't even bother to bring our guest some tea to drink." Lei Zhen said calmly, prompting Griselda to feel annoyed a bit since he had just sent the guards away.