Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2678: Sansa’s Submission

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, TSR Guild Headquarters

Sansa and I had a demon merchant contract in place. It prevented either of us from harming the other until she helped me kill the Emissary of Light. When the time came, we both knew which contract she would choose to break, most likely the one with the least consequences. I hadn’t read their alliance contract, but I knew my demon merchant contract was ironclad.

"Wyatt, I won’t just give you Ned if you help me dissolve my alliance contract with the other two. I’ll also help you fight them," Sansa finally revealed the real reason she had taken the risk of meeting me in her original body.

"What makes you think I can do that? Even if I could, haven’t I made it clear that I want Ned gone?" I feigned ignorance while the reason it was taking so long for Henricks, Ollie, and Cam to find Ned finally became clear to me. Sansa had never released him, despite learning through her Paw Clan’s chat group that she supposedly had. Why was that? Had something changed without me knowing?

"Wyatt, I might not be as smart as you, but don’t insult my intelligence. The entire Five Regions know that you not only resisted the Masters’ world decree, but that the Masters were punished by the World’s Will instead," Sansa said. "Anyone with a little sense knows you have a method to communicate with the World’s Will."

That much was already public knowledge. The Five regions now knew I shared a connection with the World’s will. What they didn’t know was the extent of that connection, how deep it truly went.

"As for Ned," she continued, "with the freedom fighters gone, nearly a third of the underground and black markets in the central capital are under my Paw Clan’s control. I became aware of Henricks’s arrival the moment he entered the central capital."

"Wyatt, even if you somehow manage to face and survive the combined forces of Karl, Gideon, and the Emissary of Light, there are still the five governing bodies of the Five Regions and the other forces to consider. They declared you the enemy of the world just minutes ago. No matter how many you defeat, they will keep coming. It will be endless," Sansa dictated her practiced sales pitch, polished and deliberate, meant to sell herself to me. "Let me help you. No, let me serve you. With your intelligence and prowess combined with my forces, we might witness the birth of a new regime, the Five Regions united under a single ruler."

Among Sansa’s fancy words and flattery, what truly held my attention, however, wasn’t what she said. It was what she left unsaid. She knew how Henricks had known exactly when and where to find Ned in the streets of the central capital.

What I was trying to say was that Sansa knew I was using the VR-Slime cards and the VR universe for surveillance and intelligence gathering. Other world leaders only suspected this and didn’t dare equip the VR-Slime card despite its enticing effects, but Sansa now knew for certain that I was guilty of exactly what they suspected. No wonder she had suddenly become so chatty at the end. She was hoping I wouldn’t notice this buried beneath all her words.

For now, I decided to pretend I didn’t realize that she knew about my intelligence network.

"For someone who wants my help and claims to serve me, you were certainly very humble and genuine," I remarked, hinting at her attempt to threaten me using Susan, Anna, and Jill. Despite being bound by a demon contract and being weaker than me, the woman was crazy enough to threaten me. She really was the loose cannon among the three mischiefs.

"If I hadn’t done that and gone straight to the point, I wouldn’t have satisfied your ego or assured you that you were still in control. Then, you couldn’t have given what I was asking a serious consideration," Sansa revealed honestly. Her confession now landed harder than anything she had said before.

She had willingly humiliated herself to get what she wanted. That alone showed there was nothing she wouldn’t do to achieve her goal. If not for Baylor, she would truly have been a menace, one that even the Supreme Leader, Handsome Fox, and the Emissary of Light would have had to watch closely, like at the end of Clown Mask’s future vision.

"You’re good. I’ll give you that," I said with a chuckle. She was right. I had believed I was reminding her of her new reality, but it was the other way around. She was assuring me that she understood her place, that she had accepted it without reservation. By threatening Susan, Anna, and Jill, she had provoked me just enough for me to overlook that fact and think I was the one defining our relationship.

Sansa was right about one thing. Compared to the last time we met, I had far more to lose now. But I didn’t see that as a weakness. I saw it as having something to live for. The drive I felt to provide for and protect those I loved and cared about reminded me that I wasn’t merely alive, but truly living. I had to admit it. Ever since I made my relationship with Jill, then Anna, and finally all three of them public, I felt a deeper sense of belonging to the Card World than I ever had before.

"But that doesn’t change the fact that I can never trust you," I said plainly. I didn’t beat around the bush. I wasn’t obligated to help her or accept her. The demon merchant contract wasn’t my concern. It price she had willingly paid to save her life and dignity during our last encounter. She alone was responsible for her choices.

"Fine. Then tell me what I can do to earn your trust. As long as it doesn’t harm my dignity, I’m willing to do anything to gain it," Sansa declared resolutely, asking me to give her a path to my trust.

How insane was that? Had she already forgotten that she had turned my mother’s life into a living hell and murdered my parents?