There were quite a few significant characters who appeared in the first part of the MMO and Arata Musakabe was one of those faces.

On paper, he was just a lowly member of the guild alliance, someone who had enough power and fame to be noticeable but not enough credit to climb the ladder and reach the 'more influential' parts of the guild ladder.

Of course, that was only on paper. But, Arata Musakabe was a sneaky one, keeping low to avoid trouble.

He was someone who had connections and could get you anything you could pay for. Too bad that his price was not always money so most people avoided him for this.

"Do you need something from me? I could not help but notice that you were staring at me quite passionately all this while. Ah, I am sorry to say this but I am quite a devoted man and I love my partner too much so I won't be going out on a date with you."

Arata Musakabe hugged himself as he made assumptions about why Keith was there.

"Then it's a good thing that I am not here to ask you out but to hand you a job. I heard nothing is impossible for you if I agree to pay your prices."

Keith replied in a relaxed manner. Arata Musakabe was a little too full of himself but Keith could ignore his eccentric personality for his information.

As soon as Keith had made that offer, Arata Musakabe's eyes shined with glee and he sat down.

Gone was the clown-like exterior Keith had been shown before and, in its place, an intelligent and refined man sat.

"You want my help? And you even know about my policies? You seemed to have done your homework. Then, you should also know that it would not be easy for you to persuade me, right?"

Keith internally flinched when he heard those words. He had a feeling that Arata Musakabe would try to push for an advantage and get more than he should for this deal.

'No, do not let your inner modern man out, Keith. Do not instantly start to haggle and barter with this man. At least make your proposal you little bit heavy.'

Keith took in a deep breath to push his impulse down. Nothing he did went unnoticed by Arata who sat in front of him.

While Keith was busy calming himself down and framing his question, Arata Musakabe observed his new 'friend'.

He had heard about this man from Katy Pell and her forum. She had spoken a lot about the incident and the man who had been the star of that show.

'Noah'

That was the only name that came up and was remarkably rememberable from Katy's forum. She had lavished praises on this man and it had sparked a lot of people's curiosity.

Personally, Arata Musakabe did not care much about Katy's form. He preferred to form first impressions himself before he judged anyone.

But this person might just be what Katy described him to be. Quick-witted and powerful.

He was also resourceful since he had managed to find Arata in such a crowded place and even managed to find this back-guild meeting place.

'When I performed a background check, nothing much showed up on this man. He is from a destroyed village out of nowhere and there is no one else left in his village so he got out of there. What an amusing story.'

Arata was intrigued by this man so he decided to help him and keep an eye on him at the same time.

Now, if he managed to get something out of Noah, then it was only a plus in his book.

Meanwhile, Keith had finished thinking about his request and he was finally ready to ask what he had come here for in the first place.

"Mister Arata, do you know anything about Master Olivia's tournament and when it will be held? I need your help with that competition."

Arata's eyebrow shot up in surprise on his face. He knew that Noah would ask him about the tournament since it was the craze these days but he had not expected Noah to ask him this outrightly.

Most people beat around the bush before they came to their real request.

'Hmm, but I have to say that this straightforward attitude is refreshing to face. It keeps on their toes and does not give you much time to think about how to refuse someone.'

Not that Arata was going to refuse this request from Noah.

"Ah, I might know which tournament you are talking about. But if you ask me to tell you what the prize is, I am afraid I will have to raise my hands. I tried to find out the prized item but it is being kept under a lock and key."

If this man was anything like the rest of his customer base, it was the time Noah would rage and make nasty remarks.

Arata Musakabe had faced too many rude and dangerous people in the past few days. Just yesterday, a customer had not only walked out on Arata but also tried to injure him when he refused to answer their questions for them.

Most people felt rather entitled to his information since they were willing to pay the price for it.

'Now let us see what you will do Noah. How will you face this disappointing answer.'

However, contrary to Arata's beliefs, Noah did not do anything rash. He did not even seem angry at Arata, but only tired for now.

"I don't need you to tell me what the prize is, I just need your help getting into the competition. Something that simple should be easy for you, right?"

The man in front of Arata seemed interesting. Arata did not want to jump to conclusions but he had a feeling this man knew what the final prize for this competition was going to be.

And since Arata was such an opportunistic man, how could he let go of such a good opportunity?

"Oh, so you did do your research. I can get you into this competition but there is a price you will have to pay. Let's see…hmmm…for now, why don't you tell me what the final prize of this competition is."

The deal was not fair and Arata knew it. It was leaning too heavily in his favor currently but he did not care.

He had a reputation for giving the answers people sought, not to be fair to them. So, in the end, it was up to Noah if he wanted to tell him or not.

Keith groaned as soon as he heard the terms of the agreement. He did not want to take this bet since it was heavily against him.

After all, telling Arata about the prize was not equal to Arata getting him into the competition. What if Arata decided he wanted the prize for himself and join the competition as well?

'Well, one more person will not make any difference in the end. And if Arata won, I can barter the main prize for what he truly desires in this world.'

That was the advantage Keith had over anyone else in this world. He knew what the personal motivation of a lot of main characters was so he could use them well.

"Alright, it's a deal. Shall we make an oath to help each other out?"

Keith watched shock color Arata's face. The man had not expected this outcome to happen so easily.

But once the shock faded, Arata shook his head in a 'negative' and his eyes shined with trust.

"There is no need for us to sign an oath for such a small thing. Since you agreed to tell me about the prize, I will take your word for it. I will have your entry papers ready by the morning so come and pick them up."

Keith nodded in agreement and left the room. With that, one more ally had been added to his list and Keith had also spread his name out a little more than before.

With two of the most prominent early-game people knowing his name, Keith felt reassured that his background was solid. He would not be compared to or recognized as the grandmaster by these people.

"Now then, I shall stock up on potions and other necessities. I hope I have enough money to buy an enchanting potion."

Keith walked into the store, but he instantly had to duck when his eyes fell on a familiar figure already in the shop.

Amelia had chosen today of all days to come out shopping and Keith had avoided her out of reflexes.

When he stood back up, he noticed that Amelia was looking directly at him and it caused him to flinch.

'No, do not be too nervous Keith. You are not the grandmaster right now so there is no need for you to hide like this.'