Jacob could feel the great hostility from Ellie's voice for the Rich Winter Lady.
'Something is going on here.' Jacob thought before he replied, "I was indeed contacted by Bank Manager Rich Winter Lady before your call, and I was given the same offer the Vice Guild Leader gave me."
Jacob decided to reveal this information as there wasn't anything worth hiding about it. Besides, the Rich Winter Lady gave him a bad feeling when he rejected her offer again and again.
So now Ellie was bringing her all of a sudden could shed some light on this matter. He never believed that he was out of the woods after he rejected her offer, and he was most likely right.
Furthermore, Ellie's naked hostility toward her draws Jacob's interest even more.
'So, that bitch somehow found out about me giving that brainless idiot one million ZC to revoke Faceless Ancient's membership and contacted him even before me. I won't be surprised if that greedy bastard told her himself and earned himself more money.' Ellie's eyes went icy cold when he heard Jacob confirming it, and she asked, "Why did you reject her offer?"
Jacob nonchalantly replied, "Because I found it lacking."
Ellie narrowed her eyes as she clearly didn't believe what Jacob had just said. Still, she felt better. Because if he had accepted Lucy's offer, she would have wasted one million ZC on her arch-enemy, and she most likely has flown into madness.
"Since you decided to join the alchemy guild, I can assure you that it was the best decision of your life. However, you have offended Lucy in the process, and I can assure you that she is the prettiest person in existence.
"From my sources, I have discovered the Universal Mercenaries were snooping around the Alchemy Guild in the inner circle. From what I know about Lucy, it's most likely her who wanted you dead!" Ellie revealed.
Jacob's eyes narrowed behind his mask as he suddenly remembered those watchful eyes he felt when he was coming to the inner circle.
'So, those guys were the reserve members of the bank commission by that woman. She must've put a lavish reward on my head to compel so many people to take risks in the dark city.' He thought, but he wasn't worried about it as well.
Right now, he was afraid of no one in the rare plains, and only Epic tier beings could pose a threat to him or the Star Ocean. If he wanted to massacre in the dark city and then leave, he knew no one was capable of stopping him.
But he won't be going to tell Ellie about it because he could tell she had something else in mind, as she won't be contacting him just to warn him out of the kindness of her heart.
He said, "What should I do then? I'm sure Vice Leader has some good suggestions for me."
Ellie was somewhat surprised when she heard Jacob's voice contain no anxiety despite knowing he was being targeted by the Bank Manager of the Epic Plains.
'Dad was right, someone who can pass a plain trial alone can indeed not be so simple, and I need to be more careful when dealing with him.' She thought gravely.
Ellie then finally spoke, "If it were someone else, I would've suggested they remain in the guild building. But you are someone who can complete a plain trial, so I have a different suggestion for you.
"No, this is not a suggestion, but consider it a personal mission from me. If you choose to accept it, you will get half of your reward first. But if you reject it, I won't hold it against you."
'Here it comes.' Jacob's eyes shimmered in derision, but his voice was impassive when he asked, "I would like to hear about the mission and the rewards before making my decision."
Ellie nodded in understanding before she stated, "It's quite simple. I want you to kill as many reserve or official universal members as possible. With each head, I will reward you with 1000 ZC. You just need to send me the video to claim the reward.
"As for the other half of the reward, which I will give you if you decide to accept the mission, it is a Basic Type-2 Magic Rifle Blueprint! The choice is yours now."
Ellie was full of confidence when she offered the blueprint of a Basic Type-2 magic rifle because she thought Jacob wouldn't be able to resist it since he was an Alchemist.
However, Jacob's words made her confident expression clouded as he coldly said, "I can't use Basic Type-2 Magic Rifle Blueprint since the rare plains lack materials, so it would be useless to me. I'm a very practical person Vice Leader, so how about you send me the map of Star Ocean which has the routes to rare plains and epic plains, as well as the map of the Epic Plains, and I'll accept this mission."
Ellie squinted her eyes as she instantly understood what Jacob was after, "Do you want to travel in toward the epic plains alone?"
"No, I just want to have such an option. Because if I start killing mercenaries, especially the permanent members, Bank Manager Lucy might not take it kindly if she found out it was me.
"Besides, I need to leave the protection of Dark City if I want to kill those mercenaries, and I can't leave rare plains instantly, either. In contrast, your voyage is still sixteen months far.
"I just want to have another way out, and I don't think these maps would cost you anything at all," Jacob said matter-of-factly.
Now that he got the chance to exploit the vendetta between Ellie and Lucy, he won't hesitate to ask for what he really needs. If he could get the map of star ocean routes that lead to the epic plains as he got in the common plains, he doesn't have to wait for anyone or rush things or even collect any information at all. He can leave whenever he wants to leave.
Now the question was if Ellie's vendetta was deep enough with Lucy that she could allow this to happen or not.
Ellie was quite astute, so she also guessed Jacob's motives, but she knew she was still in control as long as she had a bronze invitation in place so Jacob couldn't escape her grasp as long as he didn't want to get kicked out of the guild.
But she won't tell him that yet and hold this trump card hidden for as long as she can.
Right now, she wanted to make Lucy indignant, and Jacob could really achieve it. So, she nodded in agreement, "Alright, I'll give you both maps!"