Black Online-Chapter 125: War Journalism

"Then what should we do? Are we just letting them leave and get them killed?"

Machary asked.

It was a question in everyone’s mind: if they stopped looking after them constantly, how could they stop them from leaving?

"Go talk to the people that have shown interest in leaving, and convince them to stay."

Fang Raon said.

"...Alright, I’ll do that."

Machary said.

"Well... Not you."

Fang Raon said with a wry smile.

"What do you mean?"

Machary tilted his head in confusion.

"You sound far too aggressive for my taste. It might come off as an order if you go and talk to them. I think people with... softer voices should go talk to them.

"Joanne, Rae, and Ira could do that."

Fang Raon said.

They were the only girls of the group, and Fang Raon thought that their softer voices would be better received by the others.

"...Okay."

Machary scratched the back of his head.

He also thought it was a better idea than for him to go, as he didn’t think of himself as that good of a people person.

Also, his reputation was already quite bad with the locals since he’d been pretty much forcing them to stay indoors.

"What are the rest of us doing?"

Niall asked.

"The locals need to constantly stop thinking about the war. They’re in constant fear, and that can cause erratic behavior.

"What if we get them to help us, Rose Records, and give them a purpose? I am sure doing something will get their minds off of the war."

Fang Raon suggested.

"Help with what?"

"Mansion needs to have the snow shoveled. The front yard is a mess. The firewood needs to be cut and stacked. The reindeer need to be fed and groomed.

"The quarry is also in need of a pair of helping hands. The women and children can go to the mansion to keep it tidy.

"There are a lot of things that they can do. It’s not a good idea to keep them trapped inside their houses."

Fang Raon said.

"I can contact Miranda and think of something. Why don’t you all go knock on the locals’ doors and tell them that there are some job opportunities for them?

"They will, of course, be paid as well."

Rock said.

"Yes, sir."

Everyone nodded and then looked at Fang Raon for further instructions with a twinkle in their eyes.

They finally felt like there was a proper purpose for what they were doing.

They weren’t really fancying the way Machary was doing things, as it made them feel bad, like they were doing something bad by keeping locals inside their houses.

This was much better.

"Well, go now. You heard Rock."

Fang Raon said.

They "ah’d" and then nodded and headed out of the inn room, and even Niall, Joanne, and Ira were planning to leave.

Even though they didn’t sleep at all.

"You three can continue sleeping. I don’t want sleepyheads in my party."

Fang Raon said.

"...What about talking to those locals?"

Joanne asked.

"That can wait for later today. I don’t believe they will leave anywhere when it is still bright and sunny. They will wait for the nightfall."

Fang Raon said.

They nodded and then got comfortable in the bed, and it didn’t take long for the three of them to fall back to sleep.

In that moment, Fang Raon and Rock also left the room and headed straight outside the inn.

"You did well out there. Your reasoning made sense, and it looks like you have a good mind for strategy."

Rock said with a sense of pride.

He already knew that Fang Raon could be quite a strategist since, after all, he had beaten him in the General’s Game.

"Thanks... I am just bothered about something."

Fang Raon said with a troubled look. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"And what’s that?"

"What about the food? If the locals get hungry, we will really be in trouble, and this war can last months."

Fang Raon asked.

"Della has a plan. Just trust in her."

Rock said.

"Mmh... By the way, I had been thinking about something. I am probably going to start making videos. Is it bad if I record the war?"

Fang Raon asked.

"It’s not a bad idea, but just be careful with what you share. I’d suggest keeping behind-closed-doors stuff out of the video altogether.

"I am sure we will have guild meetings, so I’d suggest not to record those, but everything else, sure, go ahead."

Rock said.

"Alright."

Fang Raon said with a smile, and then, he brought out a recording camera from his interface.

It started hovering around him like a drone, and it was just recording them and was sending that feed to his real-life computer.

"What kind of video are you planning to make?"

Rock asked curiously.

"War journalism. The effects that the Guild War will have on locals, the stuff that is happening to Rose Records, and our enemies."

Fang Raon said.

"...Quite heavy stuff. Do you think anyone will like it?"

Rock asked.

"I will add some voice lines to the video and add some editing that should make it more engaging.

"It is my first time making a video, so it’s probably going to be shit, but I have to start from somewhere."

Fang Raon said.

"Hopefully the outcome of your video is our victory. Or the title might be "The End of the Rose Records."

"I’d prefer "The Victory of the Rose Records," to be honest."

Fang Raon said with a chuckle.

"Heh~ Right, I’ll need to contact Miranda. I think you’re right that we need to get locals to work.

"Della has never asked locals if they want to work for us, as she doesn’t want it to come off as exploitative."

Rock said.

"What about now? It might come off as that we are exploiting them when they are at their weakest, and Della might not like this plan."

Fang Raon said.

"The locals can’t do their normal jobs now because of the war, so they cannot earn a living. It is another stress factor for them beside the war.

"If we give them a job and a way to make good money—if we even pay them more than their normal jobs would have paid—they will be very happy and grateful.

"Who knows, maybe they’d prefer to work for us in the future as well. Gotta survive first to see that future, though."

Rock said with a chuckle.

"Yeah..."