HC: Pacifist | Ch. 191 - Freedom
Added 2024-01-11 15:23:39 +0000 UTCAs the money left Roth’s inventory, a window opened before him.
Congratulations! You have a new pet!
You’ve received [Lua’s Ownership Deed].
You’ve unlocked a new title: [Beast Master].
Had he just gained a title? And what was this ownership deed? He had nothing of the sort for Lin or the Leafies. Roth first checked the mare’s stats.
Lua, the Moonlight Mare
Lua (Pet)
Pet rating: E-
Lvl. 10
Affection: 0/100
Endurance: 50
Strength: 33
Restrictions: Lvl. 30.
Skills: [Ride]; [Moonlight Mount]; [Summon]
Ride (Pet Skill)
Description: This animal has been taught how to serve as transport and can help you get places.
Effects:
Passive. You can ride this pet, increasing your movement speed by 100% and weight-carrying capacity by 50kg.
Moonlight Gallop (Pet Skill)
Description: The moonlight herd exhibits its true strength and speed at night.
Effects:
Passive. If it’s dark, your pet can move 50% faster.
Summon (Pet Skill)
Description: Whenever you’re in a pinch, feel free to call for help; it will come to you.
Effects:
Active. Call your pet, and it will appear.
Lua is hungry. [Ride] has been disabled.
Lua is sick. [Moonlight Mount] has been disabled.
Lua is hurt. [Summon] has been disabled.
Lua’s hooves need tending to. Pet grade decreased.
Lua needs deworming. Pet grade decreased.
At first glance, it looked like Lua was a mount with an E- grade, which wasn’t too bad. She had the two basic skills every ride possesses, [Ride] and [Summon], and even came with a bonus one, [Moonlight Gallop].
Roth's eyes widened, seeing all the flashing red messages saying how unhealthy the horse was. All her skills were locked, and even her grade had dropped! That left Roth to wonder what the mare’s true grade was. But that didn’t even matter because, the way the mare was, he couldn’t even ride her right now. Before he could mount her, she had to be nursed back to health.
He considered whether he should really keep the horse, but seeing her tired, sad look, Roth couldn’t bear to leave her. Thinking of the golden acorn he’d bought for the Leafies, the amount of milk Lin required, and now the expenses required to heal Lua, he sighed. He could see that poverty would be a constant in his life in the game.
Roth petted the mare. “It’s OK, girl. We’ll take good care of you.” Turning to the sales rep, he asked, “How much to get her cleaned up?”
“50 silver,” she answered easily.
Roth threw her two gold coins. “I want her treated like a princess. Give her the best food, medicine, and care you can. Under no circumstances do I want anyone to hit her. If she doesn’t want something, don’t do it. Got it?”
“Alright.”
Your concern touches Lua.
+7 reputation with the moonlight herd.
+5 affection with Lua.
Roth studied the notifications. It looked like horses were a bit similar to wolf packs. Reputation was unlocked with only specific groups, not the entire race. From this, Roth learned that horses weren’t all united in one faction.
“Also, is she contracted?” probed Roth.
“She’s a slave,” answered Greta, matter of factly. Hearing the word ‘slave,’ the mare showed signs of distress and threatened to act up again. Roth’s next words immediately made her quiet down, though. “How can I free her?”
“Free her? But you just bought her!”
“I don’t want to keep a slave.”
“Well, since you bought her, you can do whatever you want with her. If you want to keep her, keep her. If you want to free her, free her. Just tear up your ownership deed, and she’ll be free to go.” She looked left and right and then added in a soft voice. “If you are dead set on freeing her, though, I suggest you don’t do it here; otherwise, slavers will just get her before she even leaves the city and just come over to sell it again. Just do it somewhere outside the city. Got it?”
Roth was pleasantly surprised that Greta knew how to speak at a volume other than screaming and nodded in agreement. Again, he wondered if these little hints were a result of his high charisma since the NPC was speaking against her own business.
Lua grunted questioningly toward Roth. Roth approached her and whispered in her ear, “It looks like setting you free can be a bit dangerous. There are slavers around here.”
“Neigh, nicker, grunt, groan,” she responded unhappily while kicking the ground with one of her hooves.
Roth scratched his head. He didn’t feel good about keeping this mare a slave for even a minute. “If I let her go but then contract her, would slavers make trouble for us?”
“Oh, no. Slavers know better than to go after contracted beasts. The city wouldn’t let them trade otherwise.”
She almost makes it sound like slavers have principles. As if there was much of a difference. Slaves are slaves, thought Roth. “What do you say, Lua? Can we be partners until I take you somewhere safe?”
The mare bobbed her head and drew it very close to Roth. He hadn’t realized how big her head was compared to him. She seemed to still be suspicious of Roth. Sighing, he took the document that he had received when he bought the mare. Seeing the paper, Lua became agitated and aggressive.
Right before her eyes, Roth slowly picked it up and tore it into two.
You’ve let Lua go. Lua is no longer your pet.
You have no pleasure in seeing one held against their will.
+10 righteousness.
You saved a horse from captivity and granted back its freedom.
+5 nature affinity.
+100 reputation with the moonlight herd.
You’re now friends with the moonlight herd.
Seeing the paper torn into two, the horse shook her head contentedly and drew Roth closer into an equestrian hug.
“OK! OK! It’s fine. Just be cool.”
As the horse licked him happily, Roth turned to Greta, “Can you help us draft a contract so that I can keep her away from the slavers until I’ve taken her somewhere safe?”
“But, sir, aren’t you an accomplished merchant? Surely, you can do that yourself, no?”
Of course! How could he have forgotten about it? Since becoming a novice broker, he gained a skill that allowed him to contract with novice-grade NPCs. That’s how he had issued a contract to Mario and the… Roth froze! The ratans! He had told them to spy on his behalf but had completely forgotten about it! Worse, he had promised them gold and XP! How long had it been since he had issued that quest to them? After wrapping up here, he definitely had to go down to the sewers and check what kind of juicy information the ratans had come up with. He also couldn’t leave the quest active forever. What if he came back one day to meet the sewer rats only to find he owed them a fortune in XP and gold? Hopefully, he still had enough money to pay them. After all, after purchasing Lua, much of his remaining funds had disappeared.
Roth located the [Novice Hire] skill in his dashboard and activated it.
Novice NPC detected:
Lua, Princess of the Moonlight Herd
Lvl. 20
Hp: 5000/5000
NPCs Professions: [Mount]; [Monarch].
Conditions to hire Lua: friendly status with the moonlight herd.
Would you like to issue a quest to Lua?
Level 20? But when he had first inspected her, it said she was only level 10. Could it be that because of how mistreated she was, she had dropped levels, too? And what was this thing about her being a princess and the [Monarch] skill? He fumbled with the controls, wrote what he thought would be the reasonable parameters for the quest, and let the system process it. Soon, there was a new window for his approval.
Serve the Pacifist (Uncommon)
By coincidence, you have run into the righteous pacifist Pax, a zoomorph and friend of animals. He tears your contract and promises to take you somewhere safe. However, he asks that you sign a contract with him to keep slavers away until he helps you find the herd.
Quest objectives:
Serve under Pax for a month.
Would you like to issue this quest to Lua? [Y/N]
Roth clicked yes.
Lua refuses to accept the quest.
“Hey? Why did you refuse?”
The mare looked up and then to the side, letting him know how offended she felt by Roth’s suggestion. What had he done wrong?
You’ve received a new quest: [Take Lua Home].
Serve Lua, the Most Gorgeous, Beautiful, Unparalleled and Prettiest of Mares (Uncommon)
You’ve seen a mare of the famous moonlight herd being mistreated and decided to step in and free her from slavery. She is a princess of the herd, and she wants your help to take her back home.
Quest objectives:
Take care of Lua until you find the moonlight herd;
While you’re helping her, Lua won’t be your mount. You will be her bodyguard instead. Pay attention, human! The difference in wording matters!
Would you like to accept? [Y/N]
Roth looked at the mare, confused. Wasn’t this the same quest he had issued her? Why had she declined it when he did it then? He looked at the mare, who, despite tiredness and hunger, held her head high. He chuckled, thinking of her status and the funny wording in the quest.
“You’re a proud girl, aren’t you? You won’t have it if I hire you. You want to hire me instead.”
The horse neighed and nodded at Roth. “Very well. I accept to take care of you, princess.”
Congratulations! You have a new pet!
“I’ll leave you here to be taken care of, and I’ll come get you later, OK?”
The mare neighed, and before one of the stable boys could come and get her, she went ahead and headed to the stables on her own. “Wait!” the stable boy shouted as he ran after her, but the mare just kept going, refusing to accept the boy's command.
Roth was starting to understand why the captain could not break this mare. She had the pride of a monarch and wouldn’t do what she didn’t want to. Roth was unsure about how he felt about this turn of events. He had a crippled, proud steed, who he wasn’t even sure he would be able to use anytime soon.
Looking at the clock, he saw that there was little time until the crafting battle that would grant him his level 30 accessories ended; therefore, it was time to go visit the sewers and see what the ratans had discovered for him.
*
Zin counted one hundred and fifty players on this hill from at least six different guilds. They weren’t a bunch of wannabes, either. Several guild leaders and their best players were gathered here. He would need 1000 more assassins to deal with such strong opponents and come out unscathed. He would only have attacked Ogre if he had absolute superiority. If he couldn’t get him out of the battle in the first few minutes of the attack, he would become very difficult to deal with. But dealing with the cream of the crop of six of the top ten? That was simply suicide.
It wasn’t that he didn’t have his ways, but what did he have to gain from this? To enact Loki’s petty revenge? He couldn’t care about that lunatic’s erratic commands. He made a report, listing all the players gathered here and explaining why he was calling off the attack.
Loki was sure to throw a tantrum when he heard it, but his paranoia would get the better of him. Zin made sure to feed Loki’s paranoia every chance he got. A paranoid boss was easier to control.
After writing a neat report and telling Loki he had already left the hill, he kept his eyes on this gathering of giants. He wanted to know what the guilds were planning and how he could get something out of it. Information was power.
Zin grabbed a black spherical pill from his inventory. He looked at the treasure he’d gained from exploring a hidden ruin in the Dark Abyss. No one knew he had this item, not even Loki. Especially Loki. Sadly, the number of uses was limited. How he wished this had been a skill. Looking at the distant gathering of players, he judged the information he would get using it worth the investment.
Batman Pill (Consumable)
Description: A funky medicine that some crazy scientist cooked up in the lab.
Item effects:
Transform into a bat for thirty minutes;
While in bat form, you can fly, and your hearing is three times better.
He had only found three such pills in the ruins of the lab and had already used up two. He brought it to his mouth and transformed into a tiny bat. Zin flew toward the trees near the tent to find out what the guilds were planning.
