Xun Guan sighed vexedly. “If you don’t do it, then you won’t ever become a noble.”

Her patronizing tone irked Lucas a little, but he knew she was likely only frustrated because all of her hard work was going to be for nothing thanks to his apathy. In the end, he just shrugged. “Sorry, but I have a general rule of thumb when it comes to back-and-forth walking quests in video games: I don’t do them. I don’t care which noble you need me to go suck up to or which materials I need to gather for whom. I’m not going to do it.”

“Then how do you plan to fulfill your end of the agreement and become a villain if you can’t rank up within the Imperium? Without a rank, you’ll never be able to collect resources from the serfs, and you won’t be able to buy any worthwhile material or gear, so you’ll be stuck. The only way you’ll be able to grow is through killing players, and then you’ll just be another random player killer, nothing helpful to our game’s sales.”

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to create a need and generate the quest the old-fashioned way.”

“Which is?” Xun Guan asked, leaning forward anxiously. “How are you going to make a quest better than the ones I put together?”

“You’re forgetting a simple fact. You wanted me to be a villain, right? Well, what does every good villain or boss do at the start of his campaign?”

Xun Guan rolled her eyes impatiently and started listing out some of the more common tropes. “Work on his haircut? Sew a cape together? Find a really dark, damp dungeon to call a lair?”

“Consolidate his base,” Lucas answered flatly. “Throughout history, the best and greatest of leaders all started by uniting their people. Before Alexander sieged the Indians at Multan, he started with Thebes and Athens. The first thing Genghis did while rising to power was to unite the Mongol chieftains. If I am to be the villain you want me to be, then I need to unite the base.”

“Exactly. Which is why I’ve detailed out these political quests to help you.”

“Dawn, Lady Xun Guan, or whatever you go by . . .” Lucas began, unsure of how to call her since he had known her for so long only by her friendly NPC disguise.

“Just Xun Guan works best,” she answered.