HC:Pacifist | Ch. 180 - Soul Searching

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE’S GONE?!” screamed Loki, picking up the heavy table at the center of the guild and throwing it at Zin. Zin calmly sidestepped and avoided the table, annoying Loki even further. The massive piece of furniture kept flying and shattered the cases displaying the guilds’ artifacts.

“Zin, this is completely unacceptable. I demand an explanation! Didn’t I tell you to post guards?! And how did they even find the place where his capsule was?”

“I suspect that Brian, the missing member of the IronIre squad, informed the slayer somehow.”

“That’s why I told you to find him!” Loki hissed.

Zin continued reporting, immune to Loki’s threats and menacing tone, “As for the guards, they were all found unconscious, sir.”

“Who? Who helped the rat?!”

“The Ogres, sir. He seems to have cut some kind of deal with them.”

“The Ogres?” the second Loki said it, he regretted it. He had lost control of his emotions, and his voice became a pathetic shrill. Loki cleared his throat and tried to regain his bearings. “How?”

“I can’t be sure, sir. But it was a massive operation. Several vans and dozens of troopers. Other guilds might be involved, too. They’re keeping the slayer in one of their safe condos.”

How had the slayer convinced others in the top 10 to help him like this? This changed things. That explained how Zin failed to find Brian and finish the slayer. Not even Zin could single-handedly take on a powerful organization such as the Ogres.

Loki felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. The slayer was now beyond his reach. “I should have had you get rid of him sooner,” he spat. “How did that brute convince the Ogres to invest so much in him?”

Zin remained silent, showing he didn’t know.

The last two days had been going amazingly well. Loki had unlocked the 3rd job advancement and obtained a unique title. The gold and XP kept pouring in, and he could carry his guild through difficult dungeons, granting them resources beyond everyone else’s grasp. At this rate, reaching the top 3 after a week wasn’t a distant dream. It was just around the corner.

Fortunately, the slayer hadn’t yet left his web. There was something he could still do to get back at that brute. “Good thing I had you boobytrap the capsule,” he told Zin. “He can’t leave the game, and I have his game tag. Go get his brothers and beat them black and blue. Then I’ll send a picture of them toothless to him. Oh, and have his mother evicted. Push our connections in the New Lisbon Bank.”

“Sir, his family is also gone. They’re also with the Ogres.”

Loki squinted his six alien eyes at Zin. The man stood stoically, his face cloaked in shadow, his posture relaxed. The slayer had arranged for his family to be protected, too? Loki felt his maw go dry. This level of resources and operation should be beyond the slayers’ ability. Someone was helping him from the shadows. Who? And why now? It was as if whoever was helping him knew Loki had given the order to kill the slayer.

He hadn’t told anyone about his order to get rid of Roth except Zin. Was he the traitor? It couldn’t be. Why would Zin be helping the slayer? And why would he sit here tall and relaxed if he was the culprit? Could the timing be just a coincidence? He smelled a conspiracy. Someone was using his obsession with the slayer against him.

As incensed as he was that his nemesis had escaped his grasp, nothing frightened him more than betrayal. He resisted the angry urge to ask Zin directly. No, that would give his thoughts away. He had to play the part. “We can only get to him in the game. Make it so. Issue a kill-on-sight order.”

Loki summoned a map of Green Country and located the fishing village where he knew Ogre was camping. “Also, get an excursion ready. I want you to level the fishing village to the ground. The Ogres must know they have disrespected Pegasus, and we won’t let this act of aggression go unanswered.”

“Consider it done, sir.”

*

Roth considered everything that Drake had said. By the looks of it, Roth was still enjailed, but at least he had gotten an upgrade to his accommodation. “Has Loki found out I’m gone?”

“Probably, Roth. Just to be safe, keep a low profile. Loki can only reach you in the game now. He probably won’t let you have it easy.”

Roth nodded. He regretted not taking Cyclops up on her offer to join the Ogres' guild, which would at least have granted him some safety. But he was used to playing while being hunted. He would make it work.

“Speaking of which, did they manage to at least solve my pain settings problem?”

Drake smiled sadly. “Sorry, Roth.”

“Oh well…” Roth stood up. “What are you going to do, right? It’s time to get back to business. How goes the union?”

Drake smiled, and some of the heaviness in the air was dispelled. “The first two thousand people came in like an avalanche, but the more people get in, the more difficult it is for them to think of something we don’t have in our library yet. The people getting in right now are all heavyweights. Especially after that Galatheel blacksmith fella entered, many of the other guilds’ top craftsmen have been applying.”

“Awesome. Any good tailors?”

“Oh yes. There’s a very good tailor from the Basilisks. And another tailor who’s managed to stay solo all this time. Their names are Rapsody and Leanne.”

Having some tailor pros to touch base with was very enticing to Roth. He would have to have a chat with them later.

“What are you going to do now, Roth?”

Roth considered it for a few moments. “I guess I have to send the Ogres a message asking when and where they want to open the portal.”

“Very well. Do you want to see the Union Collective’s guild tent in the meantime?”

“I will. But first,” he said as he looked down at his clothes, “it’s time to get a change of clothes. I’m going to go shopping. I’ll drop by later.”

“The location of the tent is in the Union’s chat. I’ll see you later.”

*

As Roth left Drake in the Rolling Hill Inn and walked out of the slums, he examined his emotions. He felt he should be more nervous. After all, he had just discovered he was living inside a bomb. Why was he so calm?

Roth took a long detour to give himself time to think. After several minutes of walking and soul-searching, he felt he had an answer. Previously, he was at Loki’s mercy. Not knowing when that deranged lunatic would pull the plug on him was one thing. It was quite another to rely solely on himself to get out.

Also, even if Drake’s exacerbated fears proved true and the Ogres, or even Nexus, were in some kind of conspiracy to keep him and his family from spreading what had happened to him, the fact was that his family was safe and taken care of.

After sorting out his emotions, he reviewed everything that had happened over the past few days and started thinking of his plans. After Zin had appeared as if he were Death itself and announced he had twenty-four hours to get his capsule out of the apartment, all his worries about equipment, stats, levels, pets, and skills had all gone out the window. From the looks of it, these were the things that could potentially hold the key to freedom.

Therefore, it was time to get some upgrades. He was level 30 and had unlocked an important threshold. It was time to switch out his equipment and invest in better gear. Moreover, he had gold coins burning a hole through his pocket.

Also, since he was last here, many different things had happened. He had gained new titles and new skills and now had pets. He had to evaluate where his character was heading and how he could become stronger.

As Roth made his way back to the auction house, he checked all the notifications he had missed. After being transported back to the auction house, he was so confused that he couldn’t understand them.

Peace prevails among the ratans, snakes, and Mario.

+239,000 XP

There has been a skirmish between the ratans and the snakes.

They pay a 100 gold fine. You gain 2.3 gold.

It looked like it wasn’t just his commercial routes that had kept generating XP and income when he was out. His peace treaties, too, had remained active when he was offline. No wonder that he had gained one more level when he was offline.

His pets also seemed to be growing. He filtered out the never-ending cascade of notifications he had received about his colony and just checked his pet stats.

Leafies (Pet)

Pet rating: A+

Lvl. 2

Eggs: 0

Larvae: 15

Affection: 4/100

Weight Lifting: 10.5 kg

Dexterity: 3

Intelligence: 6

Skills: [Tiny House]

The colony's queen had been able to help the eggs hatch and was now tending to the larvae. Once these larvae underwent metamorphosis, they would become the colony's first workers and help the queen tend to the next generation of ants.

This pet was quite low maintenance for now. Lin, on the other hand, scared him. The little kitten had drunk 35 bottles of milk in minutes. What kind of appetite would it have once it grew stronger?

Once he was done checking what was happening with his pets, he moved on to catching up on the messages he had received from the guilds. Most of them were rubbish.

“Greetings, Pax. I’m Grey, supervisor of the craftsmen division of the Gorgons. We have a few promising craftsmen we believe deserve a VIP place, just like the one you gave to Galatheel from the Ogres. The Union Collective keeps refusing our request, but since you are one of the managers, we were wondering if you could talk to your friends and accept our request. We are willing to pay a handsome amount.”

Roth just deleted it.

“Mr. Pax, I’m BlackHound, the guild leader of Cerberus. Manny told me about the auction and how you’re familiar with Shadow. I was wondering if you could introduce me to the NPC. In return for this small favor, we’ll let you choose any item in our guild’s safehouse.”

Roth appreciated this man’s straightforwardness. It wasn’t too over the top. Unfortunately, he didn’t think he could help. He responded swiftly, saying that he wasn’t that close with Shadow, but if things changed in the future, he would let BlackHound know.

Finally, he came to a string of messages from Mel.

“Hello, Roth. I was thinking about what you told me after you left the auction house. I feel like I’m a horrible person. I’m sorry for being so insensitive. I hope everything turns out well for you and your family.”

“Why aren’t you responding?”

“Oh, my goodness. They did kill you! Oh no! Oh no! There’s blood on my hands! I’m such a terrible person! Please forgive me.”

“So… I just got off the phone with BlueFire, and he tells me you are OK. Ignore the previous messages. Again, I’m sorry.”

Roth paused and sighed. He had been too strung up and blunt with the girl. It turned out that she didn’t have a bad heart. He put a message together, apologizing. “Hey, Mel. We are okay. Thank you for your concern. Sorry if I took my stress out on you. You’re not a terrible person. See you around. Roth.”

Finally, he came to the one message of BlueFire.

“Hello, Roth. Call me when you come online,” was the dry message.

He wondered why BlueFire was so dry and cold to him. Maybe it was because he was his boss now and wanted to keep things professional. Or was it because Roth and his friends had been able to lead him by the nose? He couldn’t tell.

First, he had to ask for permission, though. “Hey, Drake. BlueFire wants to talk. Do you want to be present?”

He waited a few moments, and the swift response soon came, “I can’t right now. I’m in an important Union meeting. It’s OK, though. The results you had in the auction show you can hold your own with the guild reps. Just be careful not to give anything away. Think twice before you say anything. Remember, even though we’re technically under the ogre’s protection, they are NOT our friends.”

Even though Roth felt a little scared at the block of text containing all these fatherly recommendations, he was happy to see Drake put that much trust in him. Roth took a few deep breaths and clicked on the name in his friends list, and the blue-eyed middle-aged general of the ogres appeared.

Ch. 179 - Lights Out

INDEX

Ch. 181 - BlueFire