HC: Pacifist | Ch. 216 - Tail

“I see,” spoke Drake somberly after hearing Roth’s report.

“It’s not hopeless. The fact that the guilds want to spy on Roth shows how valuable he is,” commended Sarg, a little more optimistic.

Roth wasn’t too far from Hilsford. The torches lit on the city's walls, and the moonlight reflected off the white stone of the citadel, making it a bright dot in the distance. He had to wrap up this conversation.

“So we all agree I should go somewhere else for now?” Roth messaged, trying to get this conference call over with. This call had taken longer than he’d expected. He would have talked but feared the spies chasing him would eavesdrop. Therefore, while everyone else talked, he sent text messages.

“If you can lose them, yes. That would be best,” said the sergeant.

“They probably have spies in the Union already,” stated H.

“Let us know when you’ve made it out,” spoke Drake, forcing a smile. They all left the call. Everyone had unanimously agreed that it was time for him to move on to another region.

The tiny white dot in the night became bigger and bigger as Lua approached it. Roth galloped past the west gate and into the bustling city. Not too long ago, the sight of thousands of players between levels 10 and 40 walking everywhere had dazzled him, but honestly, after being around the top guilds for the last few hours, they all looked lackluster.

Roth headed into the auction house. He chuckled at the memory of Zion roaring those guild representatives into oblivion and Shadow killing them all again by accident. At the time, his life had been on the line, but now that some time had passed and his distaste for the guilds grew, he could see the humor in it.

Arriving at the shopping area, he looked for the necessary items to escape and cover his tracks. Such consumables did exist, but they were pricey!

Cleanser Spray (Consumable)

Description: A spray that can remove any odors or stains.

Effects: Clears tracking skills.

Each one cost 100 gold! Clenching his teeth, he purchased three. It was a worthy investment if he could get the spies off his back. Thankfully, he had mooched some extra gold from BlueFire just before the expedition began.

Looking at his inventory, he weighed his options and, sighing, unloaded all of the clothes he had crafted in the Dark Abyss. Even though he would have gotten better money from selling these at Golden Mountain Inc., knowing that guild spies were trying to find out his secrets, he didn’t want to reveal his connection with Soros. The guilds were disrupting his life and costing him a fortune, too!

He just selected the auction house's automatic feature to assign the items at market price. According to the value calculated by the auction house, he would still have made a good profit, even though he would have made more at Golden Mountain Inc.

Thinking of what Soros had told him the last time they were together, Roth bought an assortment of herbs that were easily found in Green Country but were rare in Rock Canyon. They were light and easy to transport, and since he would make the trip, he might as well make the most of it. After some thought, he also purchased some more alpaca wool in case he had time to craft in the near future.

Knowing that he could get better deals on these items for a few minutes of travel left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he had to settle with the reduced profit for now. Once he shook off the spies, he would return to making good money.

He was careful to leave enough room in his inventory to receive any rewards for his quest while not overloading the reduced weight-carrying capacity of his zoomorph forms. Thankfully, he could carry plenty of weight due to all the bonuses he had gained in Antioch.

Satisfied with his preparations, Roth again mounted Lua and rode away from the city.

*

DryGrass waited for his target to leave the auction house. He didn't know what he had done wrong to get the back-to-back lousy missions. First, he had to stay behind in the Dark Abyss to give his life to let the little crazy tailor escape. After the barrier came down, he was insta-killed.

After losing a level, he was reassigned immediately to monitor the little troublemaker. DavyJones, the chief of Kraken’s Intelligence, wanted to know where he'd gotten his cat and any secrets related to his affinity, class, and race. He didn't understand why this level 30 player could be so interesting to an organization as powerful as the Krakens, but he obeyed; that's what he was paid for.

The target left the auction house and summoned his white horse. DryGrass couldn't help but feel a little envy toward Ticket Boy. Not only did he have a cat, but he also had a horse! That meant that at least one of the pets had a bonus that allowed him to have one extra pet slot. It was probably the cat. According to his briefing package, it had an S grade.

Pets that didn’t take pet slots were exceedingly rare, and he only knew two people in the guild with such pets. Maybe this mission they were sending him on was more worthy than he cared to admit. Instead of cruising the city, Ticket Boy rode on his horse back toward the west gate.

DryGrass chased after him. Most rogues who specialized in stealth missions like himself had no pet they could ride. The reason for this was simple. Camouflage only worked on oneself, not on one's pets. Therefore, since they traveled camouflaged most of the time, they couldn't afford to have a pet that gave their position away. Even so, on foot, DryGrass was faster than many players riding a horse.

Even without his speed-boosting active skills, his movement speed surpassed 400%. He could easily keep up with Ticket Boy's ride. He was only level 30, after all. There was over a 20-level difference.

His target still seemed unaware of his presence and traveled across the grasslands until he reached the southwest road. It looked like his briefing package was right. He was heading toward Antioch. According to his intel, Roth Taylor had been the one to discover the new world region, which was probably located in the Green Woods. If that was the case, things would get tricky since he didn't know how to enter the city.

Perhaps by observing how his target got in, he could find the juicy secret of how to enter the hidden world region. DryGrass chased Roth mile after mile. His target didn’t seem to stop to recover his energy, and he kept going. Just how many endurance and energy points did he have?

By now, DryGrass was sure that other rogues were around, and he noticed signs of their presence. An unsettling feeling in his stomach, the prickling of his hair, and goose bumps on the skin of his arm were all telltale signs that there were rogues nearby—good ones at that, for those had been the only signs he could pick up. Were he not trained to interpret those sensations, he would have ignored them.

For now, he tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible. A big part of being a good rogue was being patient. He would wait in the shadows, keeping his eyes open, and eliminate any competitors if the opportunity came.

Eventually, before sunrise, they arrived in the beginner region. Once they left the grasslands with mice and entered the woods, DryGrass relaxed. Here, there were more shadows, obstacles, and trees to climb. If he had been invisible on the road here, he would be absolutely undetectable from now on.

His target arrived at the clearing, the entrance to Antioch. Seeing that he was galloping without hesitation toward the barrier, DryGrass hurriedly grabbed his blowpipe and shot a dart.

Prey Mark!

Seeing the skill land, he grinned. With this, he could follow his target, and if he left the city of Antioch, he could keep following him. He found a comfortable branch to perch himself onto and sat. Now, all that he had to do was wait. Just as he was about to finish preparing for a long stakeout, he received a notification that made his jaw drop.

[Prey Mark] has been canceled. You've lost your target.

What? How? Did he have a cleanser spray? He dug his face in his hands. DavyJones would roast him for this.

*

The Ogrelords didn't have it easy inside Antioch. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't find a way to communicate with the NPCs that sold [Miniaturizing Honeydew]. They had been so excited when BlueFire sent them a new, more detailed map of the city. But what use was there to know where a shop was if they couldn't interact with the shopkeeper?

They had done everything that the guide said. They had found work and made themselves useful. Still, no matter how many times they tried, no shop window opened up. Ultimately, as the expedition leader, Trampler asked the others to leave the city and pass all the miniaturizing honeydews left to him so he could have more time to figure out this mess.

He studied the line of ants waiting to interact with the bloated shopkeepers. Trampler tried to find out how they talked to each other. However, they looked oblivious and detached and didn't seem to be speaking or communicating with each other in any way. Was there some secret language he needed to learn before talking to these ants?

“Sir, you won't believe what just happened,” came a message from Ray.

“What is it?”

“We just spotted Pax, the player in the Hall of Fame. He entered the dome and miniaturized before we could speak to him and entered the city.”

“What?!”

The original discoverer of the city was around. That meant he could ask him how he could buy these cursed items. Even if he didn't want to cooperate, he would chase after him and pick up on clues about how he communicated with the ants. With this, he would have something to show for his efforts in his next report.

Leaving the pantry behind, he ran towards the entrance of Antioch. Sure enough, luck was on his side. Trampler found him!

“Hello, friend! Good to see another player here. Mind if I introduce myself?” he said, smiling as he approached the newcomer.

He had expected a player who looked like an adventurer but found someone different. He had heard the stories from his friends who had joined in the fight against Loki, but now he could see him in person. He was tall; if this were real life, Trampler would be scared of such a tall man. His shoulders were broad, and his hairline was somewhat receding. He had a neatly trimmed beard that covered most of his face. He wore woolen garments with a marbled green and white pattern.

When the player spotted him, his eyes widened, and he took off without a word.

“Oh no, you don't!”

Even though the player was fast, Trampler was sure he could outrun him. He chased him through the tunnels, gaining ground on every step. Just as he was about to reach him, a tunnel shut in front of him. It was one of those ants with big heads!

“No, no, no, no.” He drew his weapon but paused just as he was about to force his way through. He was surrounded, and if he attacked an ant, he would become hostile to all these creatures. After that, he would never have the chance to buy the consumables from them. Instead, he just waited patiently. After a while, the turtle ant moved its head, and Trampler resumed the chase. Coming at a crossroads, he clenched his teeth and turned left. There was now a 50% chance he was on the wrong stretch chasing after Pax. He kept running. Arriving at another bifurcation, this time, he turned right. The chances of finding him were decreasing.

Thankfully, luck again seemed to be on his side. He spotted Pax leaving the main tunnel again. Trampler kept gaining ground, but just as he was about to touch him, the player activated some sort of skill and gained a massive burst of speed. Trampler saw the figure of a tall man with two round ears and a tail disappearing into the distance. Had he always had a tail and two ears like that?

Trampler wasn’t ready to give up yet. He activated every dash and sprint skill and ran down the tunnel. There was a chamber up ahead. Finally, he would drive Pax into a corner. Four ant soldiers stepped out as he approached and stood in his path.

“I need to go in there,” he tried.

The soldiers stood unmoving.

“Please let me go in there.” He took a step forward, and the soldiers clenched their bladed jaws twice in unison, threatening to attack if he made another move. He kicked a nearby piece of dirt and grimaced. He had lost track of the explorer who had discovered Antioch. How was he going to explain this to his superiors?

Ch. 215 - Fishbones

INDEX

Ch. 217 - Grooming